| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1597 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To provide that former civil service employees who were wrongfully fired |
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| 6 | 6 | | are eligible to enroll in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, |
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| 7 | 7 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY26, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mrs. C |
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| 11 | 11 | | HERFILUS-MCCORMICKintroduced the following bill; which was referred |
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| 12 | 12 | | to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To provide that former civil service employees who were |
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| 15 | 15 | | wrongfully fired are eligible to enroll in the Federal |
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| 16 | 16 | | Employee Health Benefits Program, and for other pur- |
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| 17 | 17 | | poses. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Compassion for Vul-4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | nerable and Struggling Workers Act’’. 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY TO ENROLL IN FEHBP FOR FIRED 6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 7 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) E |
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| 26 | 26 | | LIGIBILITYTOENROLL.— 8 |
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| 27 | 27 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 |
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| 28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •HR 1597 IH |
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| 30 | 30 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | provision of law, any individual described in para-2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | graph (2) may elect to continue coverage under, or 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | enroll in, a health benefits plan under chapter 89 of 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | title 5, United States Code. 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (2) I |
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| 36 | 36 | | NDIVIDUALS.—An individual described in 6 |
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| 37 | 37 | | this paragraph is any individual who was involun-7 |
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| 38 | 38 | | tarily removed from a civil service position during 8 |
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| 39 | 39 | | the period beginning on January 20, 2025, and end-9 |
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| 40 | 40 | | ing on January 1, 2026 and— 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (A) who was removed without cause; 11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (B) whose most recent performance review 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | was at least fully successful (or equivalent); 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (C) who was pregnant at the time of the 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | removal; or 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (D) who was diagnosed with cancer during 16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | the 5-year period preceding the date of removal. 17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (b) C |
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| 49 | 49 | | ONTRIBUTIONS.—The Government and indi-18 |
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| 50 | 50 | | vidual contributions for the health benefits of any indi-19 |
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| 51 | 51 | | vidual who makes an affirmative election to be covered 20 |
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| 52 | 52 | | under such chapter 89 under subsection (a) shall be de-21 |
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| 53 | 53 | | rived from any Federal funds saved by the activities of 22 |
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| 54 | 54 | | the United States DOGE Service (established by the exec-23 |
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| 55 | 55 | | utive order relating to ‘‘Establishing and Implementing 24 |
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| 56 | 56 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 |
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| 57 | 57 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •HR 1597 IH |
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| 59 | 59 | | the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’’’, 1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | issued on January 20, 2025). 2 |
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| 61 | 61 | | Æ |
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| 62 | 62 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 |
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| 63 | 63 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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