Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Graves for his help with this legislation.

I rise in support of H.R. 4693, bipartisan legislation to promote additional transparency over the management structure of the TVA.

I thank my dear friend and colleague from days in Tennessee and days up here, Representative Burchett, for his tireless work on this issue and for partnering with me on this act.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, or the TVA, is better known as the Nation's largest government-owned wholesale power producer, supplying power to ten million people across the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.

The legislation corrects a change enacted in 1995 that removed a requirement to disclose the management structure and salaries of TVA executives as part of the legislation to eliminate antiquated Federal agency reporting requirements. Well, this wasn't an antiquated portion that was deleted. This was something the public needs to see and know.

This bill reflects a fair compromise between our legitimate congressional oversight responsibilities over TVA and the need of TVA to retain and maintain a pool of talented, diverse, and effective management staff, executives, and board members.

It would ensure that Congress has the ability to provide effective oversight of the TVA and its management and executives.

I have asked TVA for salary transparency time and time again but have been refused information beyond that of the five highest-paid employees included in their annual SEC disclosure, which does indicate that the head of TVA makes $10 million. That is, in my opinion, too much for a public employee, even if it is a quasi-public employee. The fact is, when this gentleman, who is a good gentleman, was working in Canada when we hired him, he was earning $2 million managing a utility. When he came to Tennessee, he followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, and his salary crept up to $10 million.

Congress should have oversight, and the public should know what people are being paid. There are quite a few people being paid multimillions of dollars, not what F.D.R. envisioned when he helped pass the TVA bill back in the days of F.D.R.'s administration.

TVA's mission to make life better for the people in the Tennessee Valley is still there. We strayed from it in some ways. Hopefully, this bill is a vote for a more transparent and more accountable, better TVA.

It is going to give TVA a new deal, the New Deal they were originally passed under.

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 4693, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, first, I would have to say in the spirit of Elvis: ``Thank you, thank you very much.'' That is nice company to be put into, with Stax, Al Green, and barbecue.

I thank Mr. Burchett for his work. In fact, this morning, Mr. Burchett's picture was in The Commercial Appeal looking up at the solar eclipse. He had glasses on, though; that was a good thing.

This is a good bill. I appreciate all the help we have had to get it to this point. The public deserves to see what the salaries are of the people serving in the public sector of the TVA.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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