Senate officials announced last week the expansion of an awards program honoring the chamber’s longtime employees.

The Senate Service Pin award program, created in 1965, now will offer recognition to employees at their 20- and 30-year career anniversaries. The program also will continue to award service pins to employees who have served 12 years on the Senate payroll, a practice that began in 1987.

“There was a feeling that those members of the Senate community with longevity above and beyond the 12-year period should be recognized,” said Susan Irby, spokeswoman for Rules and Administration Chairman Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who announced the new awards on the Senate floor last week.

“He wanted to do something for the Senate community for those who have contributed longer terms of service,” Irby added.

Under the new program, 430 of the Senate’s approximately 6,000 employees will qualify for the 20-year pin, and another 65 will receive the 30-year service award.

Any employee on the Senate payroll is eligible for the awards, which are distributed by the Secretary of the Senate’s office along with a certificate of service.

Employees are not required to serve a continuous period to receive the awards.

The new regulations will not affect the distribution of Senate pins to newly elected officials or the chamber’s officers, who will continue to be issued pins upon taking office.