Representative Frank R. Wolf (R-VA), in his Opening Remarks on Telecommuting to the House Government Reform Committee
July 8, 2004, made a strong case in support of continued legislative pressure to get the federal government teleworking.

"The federal government must get serious about the telework program. While it was good of Chairman Davis to hold this hearing today, we shouldn’t have to be here talking about why the federal government has been so slow to embrace a policy that works.

I’ve taken steps this year to show the agencies under the jurisdiction of the Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee that teleworking is serious business."

His remarks include the following synopsis of the Telework Consortium's pilot with Loudoun Magazine:

"I will submit for the committee’s review the Summmer 2004 edition of Loudoun Magazine, published in the 10th District of Virginia.

"While it looks like the regular magazine, there is something special about this edition:

"It is entirely the product of telecommuting.

"The staff all worked out of their homes.

"They never went to the “office” for meetings, to discuss story ideas or lay out the publication.

"The magazine is participating in a pilot program being run by the Software Productivity Consortium, or SPC, here in northern Virginia.

"Through the wonders of modern technology, some off-the-shelf software, inexpensive Web cameras and ingenuity, all the employees are able to collaborate face-to-face in real time on a daily basis.

"From what I have been told, once the magazine’s staff got used to the program, video conferencing with each other has become second nature.

Bringing the point back to his starting topic, Wolf concluded that:

"The federal government and its employees are, for the most part, no different than the staff of Loudoun Magazine.

"Telecommuting works."

4:44:40 PM    
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