That’s the take of the U.S. government’s chief HR officer, John Berry, in testimony before Congress in support of a bill that would extend full benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian federal employees.

Berry says extending benefit coverage would ensure the federal government remains competitive with the private sector in employee hiring.

Most Fortune 500 companies, 22 states and more than 150 local governments already extend such benefits.

If approved, the bill would cost taxpayers $56 million a year, or about 0.2% of the entire cost of the government’s federal employee health insurance.

It’s estimated that same-sex benefits account for about 0.5% of the average company’s healthcare costs.