The U.S. government’s chief HR officer, John Berry, testified before Congress in support of a bill that would extend full benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian federal employees — and said the move makes employers more competitive.

Berry said, in testimony before Congress, that extending benefit coverage would ensure the federal government remains competitive with the private sector in employee hiring.

He pointed out that most Fortune 500 companies, 22 states and more than 150 local governments already extend such benefits.

If approved — called the “Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009″ — would cost taxpayers $56 million a year, or about 0.2% of the entire cost of the government’s federal employee health insurance.

Estimates show same-sex benefits cost an average of 0.5% of a company’s total spent on employee health care.

Tags: Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, John Berry