{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141205224940/http://wolf.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/wolf-testamony-at-pto-telework-hearing", "Wolf Testimony At PTO Telework Hearing", "2014-11-18", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Frank Wolf", "W000672", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u00a0\u2013 Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Commerce and one of the leading advocates in Congress for telework, gave the following testimony today at a joint hearing on the Patent and Trademark Office\u2019s telework program: \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cGood afternoon.\u00a0 Thank you for allowing me to testify today.\u00a0\n\u201cI am pleased to say I am a huge advocate of telework.\u00a0 Time and again I have said there is nothing magical about strapping yourself into a metal box and driving to an office.\u00a0\u00a0 If you have a job that is conducive to teleworking, then you should be given that opportunity.\u00a0 Many members of my staff regularly telework.\u00a0 Studies show telework increases worker productivity, reduces traffic and helps the environment.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a quality of life issue.\u00a0 Less time sitting in traffic \u2013 particularly in this region \u2013 means more time doing what you want to do, from coaching Little League to volunteering at your church to just spending more time with your family.\n\u201cThe series of articles in The Washington Post over the last several months detailing problems with the Patent and Trademark Office\u2019s telework program are alarming.\u00a0 Secretary Pritzker is well aware of my displeasure.\u00a0 She and I have talked on the phone about the issue and I also have been in written communication with her.\u00a0\n\u201cI want to enter my August 11, 2014 letter to her into the hearing record.\u00a0 It clearly states my unhappiness with PTO and ends with this sentence:\u00a0 \u2018I encourage you to take immediate action to hold these fraudulent employees accountable and send a clear message that this abuse will no longer be tolerated.\u2019\n\u201cI also want to submit to the hearing record my September 15, 2014 letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia urging him to open a criminal investigation into possible fraudulent activities at PTO with regard to time and attendance.\u00a0\n\u201cTo say I am extremely disappointed that PTO failed to manage its telework program and, in general, to provide adequate managerial oversight throughout the organization would be an understatement.\u00a0 Compounding this are attempts, I believe, to minimize the problems.\n\u201cWhile I am confident the vast majority of people working at PTO are honest, hardworking federal employees, there are some, unfortunately, who are abusing the telework program.\u00a0 They need to be fired.\u00a0 In all honesty, they should already have been dismissed. \u00a0\n\u201cI firmly believe if PTO and the Commerce Department fails to terminate employees who abused the system, other telework programs across the federal government could very well be in jeopardy.\u00a0 It is imperative that PTO identify any misconduct and management lapses, and work to put in place systems to ensure that this does not happen in the future.\u00a0\n\u201cI understand that some mid-level managers at PTO feel like their hands are tied, but there are certain things that can be done to ensure that staff are actually working their 80 hours a pay period.\u00a0 I also understand that PTO has the capability to know if their employees are in the building or are working on their computers, but that these tools are not used.\u00a0\n\u201cI also would like to point out that these abuses weren\u2019t just perpetrated by telework employees, but that other employees who report every day to the PTO headquarters building in Alexandria have also been gaming time and attendance through the system.\u00a0\n\u201cI understand PTO has brought in the National Academy of Public Administration to review its telework program.\u00a0 This is a positive first step but it needs to be required to report back to these two committees.\n\u201cNAPA, as you know, was chartered by Congress to assist federal, state, and local governments in improving their effectiveness, efficiency and accountability.\u00a0 I have enlisted NAPA on multiple occasions during my tenure as chairman of the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee.\u00a0 NAPA played a huge role in the transformation of the FBI following the 9/11 attacks.\u00a0 I asked NAPA to work with the Department of Commerce to study the effects of offshoring on the U.S. workforce.\u00a0 In 2013, NAPA worked with NASA to review its security practices.\u00a0\n\u201cNAPA does good work.\u00a0 It is independent and non-partisan.\u00a0 It would bring a fresh set of eyes to the problem and provide a thorough review of PTO\u2019s telework program and make recommendations to return it to the model program it once was.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u201cAgain, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today.\u00a0 This is an important issue and Congress has a clear role in providing oversight.\u00a0 Moreover, I think telework has an important role to play in improving morale, improving productivity, cutting rent and other overhead costs and alleviating traffic congestion.\u00a0 But only if those who participate in these programs follow appropriate \u2013 and effective \u2013 management guidelines.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141205224940/http://wolf.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/wolf-testamony-at-pto-telework-hearing"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.768550205975771, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}