Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURGESS. Madam Chair, my amendment would place a funding limitation on the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to utilize the Title 42 hiring authority.

The Title 42 hiring authority gives the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the ability to incentivize and expedite the recruitment of scientists and other experts working in the cutting edge of public health. Congress authorized this authority for HHS alone in the 1940s. However, in 2006, this authority was extended to the Environmental Protection Agency by an appropriations bill--it did not go through the authorization process.

A 2015 report by the EPA's Office of Inspector General discovered that the EPA did not properly demonstrate a need to use the Title 42 hiring authority, nor did it provide clear and convincing justification for its continued use. As of 2015, the total annual salary for EPA Title 42 appointments is between $3.5 million and $6.75 million. This is just further evidence that the EPA's use of the Title 42 hiring authority must come to an end. The ability of the EPA to hire outside of the regular General Services scale must first go through regular order.

I urge support for this amendment so that Congress has the time to fully review this problematic hiring authority before appropriating additional funding.

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