Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to this bill. Certainly, we can agree that federal agencies, like many large employers, need to reevaluate their office space requirements in response to more hybrid work options post-COVID.

But this is not a new endeavor for the federal government. This is something the federal government was doing for more than a decade before the pandemic.

When we passed the Telework Enhancement Act in 2009, federal telework participation was below 14 percent. By 2016, that number grew by more than 50 percent to 22 percent. During that intervening period, agencies created hoteling options, reevaluated office space needs, and even identified telework savings associated with reduced real estate requirements.

So again, this is not new territory for the federal government. What is new is the mindless and punitive approach Republicans have started to take towards agency decisions about workplace environments.

During the pandemic, Republicans on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, voted to require 100 percent of federal employees back into the office for full-time in-person work--a standard that did not exist even before the pandemic and one that envisions a 19th century workplace complete with hole-punched timecards.

Concurrently, they opposed my legislation, the Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act, to implement common sense workplace public health standards to protect federal employees during COVID and any future public health emergencies.

Their opposition is, as I said, mindless and punitive.

With this bill, House Republicans are at it again. This bill would establish an arbitrary requirement for agencies to dispose of property and leases.

It makes no accommodations for the workplace flexibility our federal agencies need, not just to compete for talent, but also to accommodate those with disabilities or military spouses whose employment would not be possible without hybrid or remote work.

This bill demagogues the issue of hybrid work at a time when we should be taking meaningful action to help the federal workplace remain competitive and productive.

I welcome the Administration's efforts to end pandemic era remote work postures while strengthening robust telework options for federal employees, which we helped create with the Telework Enhancement Act.

There is a way forward that helps agencies adjust to post-pandemic workforce needs, but this bill is not the solution and I urge my colleagues to oppose it.

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