Washington, D.C. - Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to introduce the Disabled Federal Employees Protection Act.
The Disabled Federal Employees Protection Act (DFEPA) simply states that in cases where federal jobs are contracted out, a Federal employee should not lose his or her job if that employee is an individual with a significant physical or developmental disability and had been hired under a program designed for individuals with such disabilities.
The DFEPA was drafted to respond to a particular situation that occurred at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Last fall I visited the Hospital, which has developed an innovative and successful program hiring developmentally disabled individuals from our local community to work in its kitchen and cafeteria. Many of these individuals have worked there for more than 20 years. They are hard-working, reliable, and beloved by the naval officers and staff. I was shocked to learn that the Administration had selected these positions to be subject to competitive sourcing. In other words, these hard-working disabled employees, who had been hired under a federal program designed specifically to hire the severely disabled, would be forced to compete for their own jobs against people who were not disabled, leaving them on the verge of losing their jobs. I wrote the President about this injustice and am pleased that as a result of our timely intervention, plans to compete these jobs have been withdrawn and these individuals have been able to keep their jobs and the sense of dignity that comes with them.
But it is unconscionable that other severely disabled Federal workers might have to suffer through the same thing. The DFEPA will protect Federal employees with severe disabilities from losing their Federal jobs as a result of contracting out. The bill does allow for jobs to continue to be contracted out to organizations like NISH (formerly known as the National Institute for the Severely Handicapped) and the National Industries for the Blind covered under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (JWOD). JWOD established specific programs to hire the severely disabled; it is not the intention of the DFEPA to interfere with JWOD.
The DFEPA is supported by many organizations, including ANCOR (The American Network of Community Options and Resources), The Public Policy Collaboration of United Cerebral Palsy and the Arc of the United States. The DFEPA also has the support of the Professional Services Council, one of the principal organizations representing government contractors, because they agree that supporting employment opportunities for the disabled is important.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that everyone in this body wants to protect employment opportunities for the severely disabled. I urge my colleagues to support and cosponsor the Disabled Federal Employees Protection Act.