Text of Senate Amendment 6070

On 2026-06-24, Senator John R. Curtis (R-UT) delivered a floor speech titled "Text Of Senate Amendment 6070" in the Senate.

Text of Senate Amendment 6070

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S3275-S3278] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 6070. Mr. CURTIS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the end of title X, add the following: Subtitle ___--Research Program and Demonstration Project SEC. ___01. DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle: (1) Academy.--The term ``Academy'' means the National Academy of Public Administration. (2) Agency; employee; demonstration project; research program.--The terms ``agency'', ``employee'', ``demonstration project'', and ``research program'' have the meanings given those terms in section 4701(a) of title 5, United States Code. (3) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means-- (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives. (4) Career level.--The term ``career level'' means a cluster of positions within a job family that-- (A) reflects a distinct level of work within the job family, as indicated by-- (i) the duties of the positions in the cluster; and (ii) the acquired skills, knowledge, and experience necessary for employees to fulfill the duties described in clause (i); and (B) relative to other clusters of positions, is distinguished by characteristics such as the scope of responsibility, degree of independence, and nature of contribution expected of employees occupying positions within the cluster. (5) Comptroller general.--The term ``Comptroller General'' means the Comptroller General of the United States. (6) Covered demonstration project.--The term ``covered demonstration project'' means the demonstration project described in section ___2(a), the structure and implementation with respect to which are established under section ___2(d). (7) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. (8) Federal salary council.--The term ``Federal Salary Council'' means the Federal Salary Council established under section 5304(e) of title 5, United States Code. (9) Job family.--The term ``job family'' means a grouping of occupations in which-- (A) the occupations are commonly understood to be similar in the relevant industry, to the extent practicable; and [[Page S3276]] (B) the grouping consists of a broad pool of comparable jobs that may not be interchangeable but that share similar tasks, competencies, and knowledge bases. (10) Pay compression.--The term ``pay compression'' means a situation in which there is no, or a small, relative difference in compensation between workers despite substantial differences in the experience, tenure, or abilities of those workers or the market rate for the labor of those workers. (11) Pay disparity.--The term ``pay disparity'' means the extent to which rates of pay for work under a Federal pay system are generally lower than the rates of pay for similar and commensurate non-Federal work in the same labor market, including with respect to career level, geographic area, and job family characteristics. SEC. ___02. RESEARCH PROGRAM AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO MODERNIZE FEDERAL EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION. (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (e), the Director shall use the authorities under chapter 47 of title 5, United States Code, to carry out a research program and a demonstration project to study and test modernized methods of classifying positions and compensating employees, each of which shall be designed, implemented, and evaluated in a manner that advances the goals described in subsection (b). (b) Goals of the Research Program and Demonstration Project.--The goals described in this subsection are to improve the ability of the Federal Government to-- (1) recruit and retain individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to-- (A) faithfully execute statutes; (B) efficiently achieve Government priorities; and (C) effectively deliver services to the public; (2) compete in every relevant labor market in the United States for talent, including by reducing pay disparities; (3) take advantage of leading compensation management practices to calibrate Federal compensation offerings to the labor markets in which agencies operate, which-- (A) shall include the use of cost-of-labor indicators provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and (B) may include the use of cost-of-living indicators provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) effectively navigate personnel classification and compensation systems that are-- (A) coherent across agencies and job families; and (B) adaptable to changing labor markets and evolving human resources best practices; (5) ensure similar and consistent compensation for similar and commensurate work that occurs across the Federal Government, the private sector, and the non-Federal public sector; (6) ensure that processes for setting compensation under a Federal pay system factor in labor market variation, including with respect to geographic area and job family characteristics; and (7) alleviate pay compression within Federal pay systems. (c) Contract to Produce Reports; Research Program.-- (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter into a contract with the Academy under which the Academy shall submit the initial report described in paragraph (4) and the subsequent report described in section ___3(c). (2) Consultation.--While developing each report described in paragraph (1), the Academy shall consult with the Director and the Federal Salary Council. (3) Data access.--The Director, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Secretary of Labor shall grant the Academy access to all reasonable data needed for the Academy to produce the reports described in paragraph (1). (4) Initial report.-- (A) Draft version.--Not later than 335 days after the date on which the Director enters into a contract with the Academy under paragraph (1), the Academy shall submit to the Director, the appropriate committees of Congress, and the Comptroller General a draft version of the report required under this paragraph, which shall-- (i) review modern methodologies and leading human resources practices for classifying positions and establishing compensation for employees based on a principle of labor market comparability between positions in the Federal Government and positions outside of the Federal Government; (ii) assess the tradeoffs associated with the various methodologies and practices reviewed under clause (i), including potential tradeoffs if applied to classifying Federal positions and establishing compensation for employees so as to be comparable with non-Federal employment; (iii) include a comprehensive list of relevant indices or other measurable labor market factors and data to inform strategies for classifying Federal positions and establishing compensation for employees; (iv) in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (5), recommend the design of the covered demonstration project, and an ongoing research program (which shall begin with the report required under this paragraph and continue with efforts by the Director to continue to analyze the matters to which that report applies), in support of the goals described in subsection (b); and (v) describe how the recommendations under clause (iv) will use labor market measures and advance the goals described in subsection (b). (B) Final version.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Academy submits the draft report under subparagraph (A), the Academy shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress, the Director, and the Comptroller General, and shall make publicly available on the website of the Academy, the final version of the report required under this paragraph, which shall contain an analysis of all of the matters described in subparagraph (A). (5) Requirements of demonstration project recommendations.--The Academy, to develop the recommendations described in paragraph (4)(A)(iv), shall assess and discuss within each version of the report required under paragraph (4)-- (A) whether the covered demonstration project should involve a job classification scheme that-- (i) organizes occupations into job families; (ii) determines the appropriate number and types of career levels within each job family; (iii) establishes pay tables specific to each job family that factor in relevant labor market measures, such as cost- of-labor or cost-of-living indices; and (iv) considers variations of labor market measures across geographic areas and different categories of occupations; (B) the appropriate sites, agencies, occupations, and positions for the covered demonstration project in order to-- (i) prioritize States, regional markets, or geographic areas in which-- (I) pay disparities are compounded by rapid growth in private sector compensation; and (II) there have been demonstrated sustained difficulties in recruiting or retaining employees in defense or technical positions despite the use of existing compensation flexibilities; and (ii) ensure that all agencies, occupations, and positions within a given geographic area are included in the site for the covered demonstration project; (C) whether any sites in addition to the sites described in subparagraph (B) should be incorporated into the covered demonstration project in order to-- (i) make the covered demonstration project more representative of th