Administrative Leave Reform Act

Floor Speech

I think we can all agree that agency overuse of administrative leave can be a problem and that we need to pursue ways that agencies can use administrative leave more efficiently, while preserving due process protections for Federal employees.

I want to thank the chairman for working with the minority, and particularly with Representative Lynch, to address our concerns that the original bill could have encouraged agencies to suspend employees without pay and without due process.

The bill, as reported, would preserve the ability of an agency to place employees on administrative leave in those exceptional circumstances when they may pose a threat to safety, agency mission, or government property. It would also allow the agency to consider the results of a thorough and complete investigation prior to taking disciplinary action. The bill, however, would not punish employees by stripping them of pay before allegations are properly adjudicated, preserving the principle that one is innocent until proven guilty.

The bill before us strikes the appropriate balance, we believe, between the need for stricter oversight of agency use of administrative leave and the due process rights of Federal employees. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4359.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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