Valadao Remarks at FY25 Budget Hearing For The John C. Stennis Center for Public Service, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, and the Congressional Office for[...]

Apr 15, 2024

Statements

The subject of today's hearing is the Fiscal Year 2025 request for the Stennis Center for Public Service, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, and the Congressional Office for International Leadership.

I'd like to thank Ranking Member Espaillat, Committee Members, and our Executive Directors for being here this morning.

The Stennis Center for public service was established to promote and strengthen the highest ideals of public service. The congressional programs we fund enable staffers across chamber and party lines to learn from each other and build relationships that would otherwise not be possible. The Stennis Center fiscal year 2025 budget request is $430,000, the same as fiscal year 2024.

The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights was established by Congress to administer the Congressional Accountability Act, which is done through outreach, advising services, and training programs tailored to the needs of the legislative branch. The OCWR oversees the operation of an Administrative Dispute Resolution program, as well as inspecting over 18 million square feet of facilities and ground to ensure they are hazard free and accessible. The OCWR provides recommendations to Congress regarding the applicability to the legislative branch of workplace and accessibility laws, and administers a biennial Congressional Workplace Climate Survey of legislative branch employees. The budget request for OCWR for fiscal year 2025 is $8.591 million, a five percent increase from FY24.

Finally, the Congressional Office for International Leadership was founded by Congress to support international outreach efforts by conducting exchanges that establish lasting progressional relationships between emerging leaders from strategic countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and more recently the Indo-Pacific and their U.S. counterparts. The COIL budget request for fiscal year 2025 is $7.2 million, an increase of 20%.

I look forward to learning more about your programs today. I now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Espaillat for his opening remarks.