Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - November 18, 2005)
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Mr. LEAHY. I am pleased to join with Senator Hatch in introducing the Assistant United States Attorney Retirement Benefit Equity Act of 2005. This bill was previously introduced in the 107th and 108th Congresses. A House companion bill, H.R. 3183, has already been introduced and currently has 43 bipartisan cosponsors.
Fairness is the driving force behind this legislation. The bill would correct an inequity that exists under current law, whereby AUSAs receive substantially less favorable retirement benefits than nearly all other people involved in the Federal criminal justice system. The bill would increase the retirement benefits given to AUSAs, as well as other designated attorneys employed by DOJ who act primarily as criminal prosecutors, by including them in the Civil Service Retirement System. This change would bring their retirement benefits inline with thousands of other employees involved in the Federal criminal justice system.
Enhanced retirement benefits will allow us to attract and retain the best and the brightest for these vital positions in Government. As a former prosecutor, I know that experienced prosecutors are needed to bring ever more sophisticated cases under increasingly complex federal criminal laws. The Government's success in combating the threats posed by organized crime, drug cartels, terrorist groups, and other sophisticated criminals depends upon representation by skilled, experienced litigators.
Because of the lure of higher salaries and benefits, the average assistant U.S. attorney remains with the Department of Justice only 8 years. The hours are long, the pay is low, and they place themselves in harm's way by prosecuting criminals. Surveys of assistant U.S. attorneys have shown that a fair retirement benefit is the foremost incentive that would increase their tenure with the Department of Justice. Creating an enticement for them to remain with the Department of Justice for the length of their careers would be a tremendous victory for the American people. This legislation would improve public safety for us all by ensuring a strong, knowledgeable, and experienced crop of prosecutors at the federal level.
I want to thank Senators Hatch, Mikulski, Durbin, DeWine, Biden, Feinstein, Feingold, Smith, Dodd, Chambliss, Rockefeller, Lieberman, Boxer, Wyden, Nelson, and Corzine, for cosponsoring this important legislation.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.
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