Mr. CICCOLELLA. We have the necessary resources. I will say that some of our investigators sometimes meet themselves coming and going doing these investigations and in working across the agency lines. We obviously could not do what we're doing without the good efforts of ESGR and without the cooperation of OSC and Department of Justice.

But we're ideally structured to do these investigations. We have a state director of Veterans Employment and Training in every one of the states, and normally that individual has a staff to help him or her. Earl Shultz, for example in your home state of South Dakota, does a very, very fine job, and if Earl had a problem with too many USERRA cases, we could very easily surge to meet his requirements.

Again, we are structured for success and we can rise to any occasion.

MS. HERSETH. Thank you. That's all I have.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Would anyone on the panel want to add anything before we welcome our fifth panel? If not, I want to thank you again for your extraordinary good work, and we look forward to working with you as we go forward. Thanks.

Before I introduce Panel 5, I do want to mention that the American Bar Association's president, Dennis Archer, wasn't able to be here to testify, but they have submitted a written statement for the record on behalf of the ABA, and without objection, that statement will be made a part of the record.

[The statement of Dennis Archer appears on p. 172.]

The CHAIRMAN. Let me introduce our next panel, Panel 5, beginning with the Honorable Pat Quinn, the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and a representative of the Council of State Governments. Lieutenant Governor Quinn is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and holds an international economics degree from Georgetown University. Recently, Lieutenant Governor Quinn led the successful effort to enact the Illinois Military Family Relief Act, which provides emergency financial assistance to families of Illinois National Guard members and Reservists called to active duty.

My understanding is that he is hard-pressed for time, so we will go to him first and then I'll introduce the remainder of the panel. I understand you have a plane to catch very shortly.

STATEMENTS OF PAT QUINN, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS; HARRY VAN SICKLE, COMMISSIONER, UNION COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA AND CHAIR OF THE LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES (NACO); COL. ROBERT F. NORTON, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED), DEPUTY DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, THE MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA; KATHLEEN B. MOAKLER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, THE NATIONAL MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION; AND MARGOT SAUNDERS, MANAGING ATTORNEY, NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER

STATEMENT OF PAT QUINN

Mr. Pat QUINN. Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf not only of my office but the State of Illinois, the Council of State Governments, and also the National Lieutenant Governors Association, and the nearly 400,000 National Guard members and Reservists who have been called to active duty.

Earlier this year, I traveled to Baghdad in Iraq. I visited with soldiers from our country, slept in military tents, ate in the mess hall, traveled in military convoys, flew in Black Hawk helicopters. We were with the ESGR and also about half a dozen NASCAR drivers. I would not advise flying in a Black Hawk helicopter with a NASCAR driver for most people. They like to go fast.

Anyhow, we had a firsthand opportunity to visit firsthand with real soldiers who are in the front line, men and women who are from the Reserves, the National Guard and active duty. Clearly, the need to have a law posting at the workplace for all to see, for both employers and employees, the Patriotic Employer Act of 2004, is very needed.

We had an incidence in Illinois on Veterans Day where the wife of a National Guard member on Veterans Day received a letter of termination from a very large insurance company headquartered in Illinois terminating her husband because he was in the National Guard and his leave from the company had expired. He was in Iraq. He had already served once before during the call up after 9/ 11. He also had served in Vietnam. The company was seeking to terminate him and two others. My office intervened and had that stopped. But the company was blithefully unaware of their obligations under the federal law.

We have a current instance in Illinois of a police department in Rockton, Illinois near Rockford, where a police officer who had been activated, and upon his return to the United States after serving in Iraq was fired by the police chief because he was a member of the National Guard.

A large department store in Illinois had a Marine reservist who was being trained, was called to active duty, and was told he was fired. I would say my office on a regular basis, almost weekly, perhaps even more frequently than that, receives communications from reservists or Guard members who are having difficulties with their employer with respect to their rights.

We have a web site, Operationhomefront.org, that has gotten over 7.2 million hits from really people not only across our state

but across the world. And a lot of the e-mails we've received are from military men and women who have had difficulties with respect to their employer, or has been mentioned, other matters involving leases and things like that.

So I think this is a very important matter. The ESGR, I have a great deal of regard for, but we must work with all the employers to make sure that they know what the federal law is. In Illinois, we have recently passed through the General Assembly, it's on the Governor's desk, a state statute called The Illinois Citizen-Soldier Initiative 2004. And basically, that would prohibit any kind of discrimination against Guard members and reservists. They would be part of our states human rights law.

Military status would include Guard members and reservists who have not yet been activated but when they're asked by their prospective employers regarding their status in the military, some are hesitant to indicate they are a member of the Reserves or the Guard for fear they won't be hired, or they won't be trained. So that's another issue that we've uncovered on a regular basis in our state.

I think the schoolchildren law, the safeguarding schoolchildren law of deployed soldiers, is a very important statute. I want to point out that we did some checking. Some of the counties in Illinois, if you don't live in districts, the right school district, and you're out of district, you have to pay out-of-district tuition or a fee, and that can rise as high as $7,000 to $10,000. So a boy or girl who is living with another relative when their mom or dad is called to active duty, they have to change their residence, and they may be out of district. A lot of these school districts I think may be seeking to charge excess tuition to those children. We should prevent that from happening.

On behalf of the National Lieutenant Governors Association, we passed a resolution earlier this year supporting what we have done in Illinois. It is a state law called the Military Family Relief Trust Fund. It's set up in our state law. It's not-for-profit trust fund in the state treasury where citizens can voluntarily make donations to a trust fund where all the proceeds are given to provide financial assistance to military families.

We've distributed more than $1.3 million to more than 2,500 families. We've encouraged other states to adopt this law. Two already have, Maine and Wyoming. Another one is pending on the desk of the Governor of South Carolina. There are ten other states that are considering this law, including California, New York and Pennsylvania. And I think that is another area that needs to be explored at the federal level, how to encourage states to adopt trust funds, military family trust funds, at the local state level to allow families to get emergency assistance when they need it.

We have had very sad cases of reservists and Guard members called to active duty in the case of a unit from Freeport, Illinois, some of the members are from Congressman Evans' district, they were at Kuwait waiting to come back from Iraq, and they were called and told their deployment would be extended from April of this year perhaps until August. And as a result, a lot of those families had additional displacements with respect to their jobs and paying utility bills back home and many other things.

So we really have to be sensitive to the citizen-soldiers of our country, the heroic men and women who are on the front line for democracy, combatting terrorism. All of their personal, financial, emotional needs I think we need to attend to. Our state, Land of Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln said during the Civil War that it's the duty of us on the homefront to take care of the families of those who bear the battle on the front lines.

And I appreciate the opportunity to testify today.

[The prepared statement of Lieutenant Governor Quinn, with attachments, appears on p. 176.]

The CHAIRMAN. Governor Quinn, thank you very much for your testimony.

Mr. Evans?

Mr. EVANS. I just want to thank the governor for his work and look forward to working on these issues with you.

Mr. Pat QUINN. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Hope you make the plane.

Mr. Pat QUINN. Oh, I will.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. I'd like to introduce the remaining members of our fifth panel. Mr. Harry Van Sickle is a County Commissioner in Union County, Pennsylvania and Chairman of the Labor and Employment Steering Committee for the National Association of Counties. He's a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and has been a small business owner since 1976.

Colonel Robert F. Norton is a retired Army colonel and Deputy Director for Government Relations of the Military Officers Association and a very respected spokesman who frequently comes before this committee and provides us very fine testimony. He has been with MOAA national staff for seven years and is a familiar face, as I said, before this committee.

Ms. Kathleen Moakler is the Deputy Director of Government Relations at the National Military Family Association. She is an Army spouse of over 28 years and has served in various leadership positions in civilian and military community organizations.

And finally, Ms. Margot Saunders is the Managing Attorney of the Washington office of the National Consumer Law Center. Her duties include representing the National Consumer Law Center on electronic commerce issues, predatory mortgages and other financial credit issues as well as water and energy matters. Mr. Van Sickle, if you could begin.

STATEMENT OF HARRY VAN SICKLE

Mr. VAN SICKLE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for that introduction. On behalf of county officials throughout the country, I would like to express our support and gratitude for the men and women serving in the military, including those in our civilian workforce called to serve and protect our nation.

We commend and appreciate our military troops for their vital service and sacrifice. County governments are diligently working to ensure smooth transition for these civilian employees into active military service and for their return to county government employment. I am deeply honored to be here today and would like to thank the chairman for the opportunity to testify on behalf of

NACO regarding how county governments are protecting the rights of civilian employees deployed for military service.

As public sector employers, county governments play a critical role in planning, management and implementation of labor and employment laws. In response to the federal laws and recent increases in military deployment, many counties have followed the lead of USERRA and adopted policies and procedures with supplementary rights and benefits in addition to those provided by

USERRA.

Since U.S. military deployment significantly increased post-September 11th, 2001, county government employers have dealt with the influx of personnel going to serve and returning home in a number of ways. NACO recently surveyed member counties and has received over 160 responses from 27 states thus far, and I ask that that survey please be included in the record.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, it will be. [The provided material appears on p. 187.]

Mr. VAN SICKLE. Responses indicated that counties are using a number of methods to ensure transition will go as smoothly as possible for reserve employees and the county. While there were reports of a few problems, all those cited were resolved by the county officials in an appropriate manner.

Many county governments surveyed not only retained employees' positions and benefits as required by the federal law, they also continued to provide such employees with their full salary by supplementing the difference between the employee's county salary and military salary if their county pay is higher. DeKalb County, Illinois follows a hold harmless policy of covering the difference in pay for those employees serving.

Other counties provide the option of allowing deployed employees to use their vacation and/or sick time to supplement their pay before placing them on military leave without pay. Some counties have a combination where they pay the difference after such employees use their accumulated leave time.

While the military provides health benefits for service members and their dependents, by federal law, county employers are required to offer medical benefits coverage to employees on a military leave of absence for up to 18 months, which the employee can be required to pay. Thirty-five percent of those surveyed offer continuing health benefits coverage for employees and their dependents beyond the federal law requirements, some even paying the employees' portion of the expenses for these benefits.

Many county government employers keep in touch with their deployed employees. Many counties send monthly care packages to uniformed members and check up on their family members. Others assist family members with home improvement chores. Several counties have ceremonies of appreciation for returning members and their families to recognize the importance of their service.

Counties have faced some challenges, particularly filling the work gaps during the employees' military deployment. Of those surveyed, 74 percent report that law enforcement personnel were the most affected. Losing even one of these vital workers can affect important county services, particularly in rural areas.