Y 4.V 64/3:108-46 FED-DOCS PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF THOSE WHO PRO- HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 23, 2004 Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs Serial No. 108-46 99-987PDF DEPOSITORY U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2005 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GovernmentAngffi 2005 Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 UNIVERSIT JONSSON URRAC CONTENTS Protecting the Rights of Those Who Protect Us: Public Sector Compliance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act Hon. Lane Evans, ranking democratic member, full committee on Veterans' Prepared statement of Congressman Evans Hon. Henry E. Brown, Jr., chairman, Subcommittee on Benefits Blair, Dan J., Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management, accompanied by Michael Mahoney, Staffing Group Manager, Office of Personnel Manage- Ciccolella, Charles, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Veterans' Employment and Cox, Col. Brarry, Director, Military Member Support and Ombudsman Serv- ices, National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve 63 Page Moakler, Kathleen B., Deputy Director, Government Relations, The National Prepared statement of Ms. Moakler 206 Norton, Col. Robert F., U.S. Army (ret.), Deputy Director, Government Relations, The Military Officers Association of America 77 Prepared statement of Colonel Norton 198 Quinn, Pat, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 73 Prepared statement of Lieutenant Governor Quinn, with attachments Saunders, Margot, Managing Attorney, National Consumer Law Center Prepared statement of Ms. Saunders 176 81 213 Slaughter, Hon. Louise M., a Representative in Congress from the State of New York 61 Van Sickle, Harry, Commissioner, Union County, Pennsylvania and Chair of the Labor and Employment Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties (NACO) Bills: Prepared statement of Mr. Van Sickle ......... MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD H.R. 4477, a bill to amend the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 to require employers to post a notice of the rights and duties that apply under that Act H.R. 3779, a bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to prevent the disruption of the education of children who change residence based on the military service of their parents Draft bills: H.R. a bill to amend chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code, to extend the period for which an individual may elect to continue employer-sponsored health care coverage under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, and for other purposes H.R. a bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to make certain improvements and technical corrections to that Act Statement: Sarah J. Hayhurst, Army spouse 111 Dennis W. Archer, President, American Bar Association 172 Reports: "Agencies without policies regarding Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) premium payment for Reserves and Guardsmen, submitted by Mr. Bloch "Veterans' Employment Audit Report," prepared by Office of Personnel Management, June 2004, submitted by Mr. Bloch "Has the Deployment of Reserves Affected Your County?" June, 2004, submitted by Mr. Van Sickle 187 Written committee questions and their responses: 219 PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF THOSE WHO PROTECT US: PUBLIC SECTOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT AND IMPROVEMENT OF SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT THE Wednesday, June 23, 2004 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in room 334, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Smith (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Representatives Smith, Quinn, Brown, Boozman, Bradley, Beauprez, Brown-Waite, Evans, Hooley, Strickland, Udall, Davis, and Herseth. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SMITH The CHAIRMAN. The hearing will come to order. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today's hearing is entitled "Protecting the Rights of Those Who Protect Us." We'll examine how well the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, commonly known as USERRA, as well as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, are operating to protect our servicemembers called to active duty. These two major Federal statutes are designed to protect the legal, financial, and job rights of active duty Guard and Reserve members of our armed forces that could be adversely affected by their service. Both of these laws are particularly important to our nations Reserve and Guard members more than 153,000 of whom have been called to active duty in the war on terrorism. It is worth noting that many of these brave men and women are also first responders in their civilian jobs, including police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel. We must ensure that the laws designed to protect them are complete, effective and, perhaps most important, faithfully executed and enforced. With thousands of Reserve and Guard members returning from active duty every month, we need to be certain that USERRA is doing the job Congress intended. (1) |