106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1442

AN ACT

To reduce waste, fraud, and error in Government

programs, and for other purposes.tices, Federal payment systems, Federal benefitto Federal management and debt collection pracprograms by making improvements with respect
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1442

AN ACT

To reduce waste, fraud, and error in Government programs

by making improvements with respect to Federal management and debt collection practices, Federal payment

systems, Federal benefit programs, and for other purposes.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Government Waste, Fraud, and Error Reduction Act of

6 1999’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Purposes.

Sec. 3. Definition.

Sec. 4. Application of Act.

TITLE I—GENERAL MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 101. Improving financial management.

Sec. 102. Improving travel management.

TITLE II—IMPROVING FEDERAL DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES

Sec. 201. Miscellaneous corrections to subchapter II of chapter 37 of title 31,

United States Code.

Sec. 202. Barring delinquent Federal debtors from obtaining Federal benefits.

Sec. 203. Collection and compromise of nontax debts and claims.

TITLE III—SALE OF NONTAX DEBTS OWED TO UNITED STATES

Sec. 301. Authority to sell nontax debts.

Sec. 302. Requirement to sell certain nontax debts.

TITLE IV—TREATMENT OF HIGH VALUE NONTAX DEBTS

Sec. 401. Annual report on high value nontax debts.

Sec. 402. Review by Inspectors General.

Sec. 403. Requirement to seek seizure and forfeiture of assets securing high

value nontax debt.
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TITLE V—FEDERAL PAYMENTS

Sec. 501. Transfer of responsibility to Secretary of the Treasury with respect

to prompt payment.

Sec. 502. Promoting electronic payments.

Sec. 503. Debt services account.

TITLE VI—FEDERAL PROPERTY

Sec. 601. Amendment to Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of

1949.

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are the following:

3 (1) To reduce waste, fraud, and error in Fed4 eral benefit programs.

5 (2) To focus Federal agency management at6 tention on high-risk programs.

7 (3) To better collect debts owed to the United

8 States.

9 (4) To improve Federal payment systems.

10 (5) To improve reporting on Government oper11 ations.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

13 As used in this Act, the term ‘‘nontax debt’’ means

14 any debt (within the meaning of that term as used in

15 chapter 37 of title 31, United States Code) other than a

16 debt under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the Tar17 iff Act of 1930.
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1 SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF ACT.

2 No provision of this Act shall apply to the Depart3 ment of the Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service to

4 the extent that such provision—

5 (1) involves the administration of the internal

6 revenue laws; or

7 (2) conflicts with the Internal Revenue Service

8 Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, the Internal

9 Revenue Code of 1986, or the Tariff Act of 1930.

10 TITLE I—GENERAL

11 MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS

12 SEC. 101. IMPROVING FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.

13 Section 3515 of title 31, United States Code, is

14 amended—

15 (1) in subsection (a)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘1997’’ and inserting

17 ‘‘2000’’; and

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘Congress and’’ after

19 ‘‘submit to’’; and

20 (2) by striking subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h).

21 SEC. 102. IMPROVING TRAVEL MANAGEMENT.

22 (a) LIMITED EXCLUSION FROM REQUIREMENT RE23 GARDING OCCUPATION OF QUARTERS.—Section 5911(e)

24 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at

25 the end the following new sentence: ‘‘The preceding sen-
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1 tence shall not apply with respect to lodging provided

2 under chapter 57 of this title.’’.

3 (b) USE OF TRAVEL MANAGEMENT CENTERS,

4 AGENTS, AND ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS.—

5 (1) REQUIREMENT TO ENCOURAGE USE.—The

6 head of each executive agency shall, with respect to

7 travel by employees of the agency in the perform8 ance of the employment duties by the employee, re9 quire, to the extent practicable, the use by such em10 ployees of travel management centers, travel agents

11 authorized for use by such employees, and electronic

12 reservation and payment systems for the purpose of

13 improving efficiency and economy regarding travel

14 by employees of the agency.

15 (2) PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—(A) The Ad16 ministrator of General Services shall develop a plan

17 regarding the implementation of this subsection and

18 shall, after consultation with the heads of executive

19 agencies, submit to Congress a report describing

20 such plan and the means by which such agency

21 heads plan to ensure that employees use travel man22 agement centers, travel agents, and electronic res23 ervation and payment systems as required by this

24 subsection.
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1 (B) The Administrator shall submit the plan re2 quired under subparagraph (A) not later than March

3 31, 2000.

4 (c) PAYMENT OF STATE AND LOCAL TAXES ON

5 TRAVEL EXPENSES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of Gen7 eral Services shall develop a mechanism to ensure

8 that employees of executive agencies are not inap9 propriately charged State and local taxes on travel

10 expenses, including transportation, lodging, auto11 mobile rental, and other miscellaneous travel ex12 penses.

13 (2) REPORT.—Not later than March 31, 2000,

14 the Administrator shall, after consultation with the

15 heads of executive agencies, submit to Congress a

16 report describing the steps taken, and proposed to

17 be taken, to carry out this subsection.

18 TITLE II—IMPROVING FEDERAL

19 DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES

20 SEC. 201. MISCELLANEOUS CORRECTIONS TO SUBCHAPTER

21 II OF CHAPTER 37 OF TITLE 31, UNITED

22 STATES CODE.

23 (a) CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—Section

24 3716(h)(3) of title 31, United States Code, is amended

25 to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(3) In applying this subsection with respect to

2 any debt owed to a State, other than past due sup3 port being enforced by the State, subsection

4 (c)(3)(A) shall not apply.’’.

5 (b) DEBT SALES.—Section 3711 of title 31, United

6 States Code, is amended by striking subsection (i).

7 (c) GAINSHARING.—Section 3720C(b)(2)(D) of title

8 31, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘delin9 quent loans’’ and inserting ‘‘debts’’.

10 (d) PROVISIONS RELATING TO PRIVATE COLLECTION

11 CONTRACTORS.—

12 (1) COLLECTION BY SECRETARY OF THE

13 TREASURY.—Section 3711(g) of title 31, United

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

15 following:

16 ‘‘(11) In attempting to collect under this subsection

17 through the use of garnishment any debt owed to the

18 United States, a private collection contractor shall not be

19 precluded from verifying the debtor’s current employer,

20 the location of the payroll office of the debtor’s current

21 employer, the period the debtor has been employed by the

22 current employer of the debtor, and the compensation re23 ceived by the debtor from the current employer of the

24 debtor.
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1 ‘‘(12) In evaluating the performance of a contractor

2 under any contract entered into under this subsection, the

3 Secretary of the Treasury shall consider the contractor’s

4 gross collections net of commissions (as a percentage of

5 account amounts placed with the contractor) under the

6 contract. The existence and frequency of valid debtor com7 plaints shall also be considered in the evaluation criteria.

8 ‘‘(13) In selecting contractors for performance of col9 lection services, the Secretary of the Treasury shall evalu10 ate bids received through a methodology that considers the

11 bidder’s prior performance in terms of net amounts col12 lected under Government collection contracts of similar

13 size, if applicable. The existence and frequency of valid

14 debtor complaints shall also be considered in the evalua15 tion criteria.’’.

16 (2) COLLECTION BY PROGRAM AGENCY.—Sec17 tion 3718 of title 31, United States Code, is amend18 ed by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(h) In attempting to collect under this subsection

20 through the use of garnishment any debt owed to the

21 United States, a private collection contractor shall not be

22 precluded from verifying the current place of employment

23 of the debtor, the location of the payroll office of the debt24 or’s current employer, the period the debtor has been em25 ployed by the current employer of the debtor, and the com-
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1 pensation received by the debtor from the current em2 ployer of the debtor.

3 ‘‘(i) In evaluating the performance of a contractor

4 under any contract for the performance of debt collection

5 services entered into by an executive, judicial, or legislative

6 agency, the head of the agency shall consider the contrac7 tor’s gross collections net of commissions (as a percentage

8 of account amounts placed with the contractor) under the

9 contract. The existence and frequency of valid debtor com10 plaints shall also be considered in the evaluation criteria.

11 ‘‘(j) In selecting contractors for performance of col12 lection services, the head of an executive, judicial, or legis13 lative agency shall evaluate bids received through a meth14 odology that considers the bidder’s prior performance in

15 terms of net amounts collected under government collec16 tion contracts of similar size, if applicable. The existence

17 and frequency of valid debtor complaints shall also be con18 sidered in the evaluation criteria.’’.

19 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—None of the amendments

20 made by this subsection shall be construed as alter21 ing or superseding the provisions of title 11, United

22 States Code, or section 6103 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986.

24 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 3720A(h) of

25 title 31, United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) beginning in paragraph (3), by striking the

2 close quotation marks and all that follows through

3 the matter preceding subsection (i); and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘For purposes of this subsection, the disbursing official

6 for the Department of the Treasury is the Secretary of

7 the Treasury or his or her designee.’’.

8 (f) CORRECTION OF REFERENCES TO FEDERAL

9 AGENCY.—Sections 3716(c)(6) and 3720A(a), (b), (c),

10 and (e) of title 31, United States Code, are each amended

11 by striking ‘‘Federal agency’’ each place it appears and

12 inserting ‘‘executive, judicial, or legislative agency’’.

13 (g) INAPPLICABILITY OF ACT TO CERTAIN AGEN14 CIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no

15 provision in this Act, the Debt Collection Improvement Act

16 of 1996 (chapter 10 of title III of Public Law 104–134;

17 31 U.S.C. 3701 note), chapter 37 or subchapter II of

18 chapter 33 of title 31, United States Code, or any amend19 ments made by such Acts or any regulations issued there20 under, shall apply to activities carried out pursuant to a

21 law enacted to protect, operate, and administer any de22 posit insurance funds, including the resolution and liq23 uidation of failed or failing insured depository institutions.

24 (h) CONTRACTS FOR COLLECTION SERVICES.—Sec25 tion 3718 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (b)(1)(A),

2 by inserting ‘‘, or, if appropriate, any monetary

3 claim, including any claims for civil fines or pen4 alties, asserted by the Attorney General’’ before the

5 period;

6 (2) in the third sentence of subsection

7 (b)(1)(A)—

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘or in connection with

9 other monetary claims’’ after ‘‘collection of

10 claims of indebtedness’’;

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘or claim’’ after ‘‘the in12 debtedness’’; and

13 (C) by inserting ‘‘or other person’’ after

14 ‘‘the debtor’’; and

15 (3) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘or any other

16 monetary claim of’’ after ‘‘indebtedness owed’’.

17 SEC. 202. BARRING DELINQUENT FEDERAL DEBTORS FROM

18 OBTAINING FEDERAL BENEFITS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3720B of title 31, United

20 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

21 ‘‘§ 3720B. Barring delinquent Federal debtors from

22 obtaining Federal benefits

23 ‘‘(a)(1) A person shall not be eligible for the award

24 or renewal of any Federal benefit described in paragraph

25 (2) if the person has an outstanding nontax debt that is
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1 in a delinquent status with any executive, judicial, or legis2 lative agency, as determined under standards prescribed

3 by the Secretary of the Treasury. Such a person may ob4 tain additional Federal benefits described in paragraph (2)

5 only after such delinquency is resolved in accordance with

6 those standards.

7 ‘‘(2) The Federal benefits referred to in paragraph

8 (1) are the following:

9 ‘‘(A) Financial assistance in the form of a loan

10 (other than a disaster loan) or loan insurance or

11 guarantee.

12 ‘‘(B) Any Federal permit or Federal license re13 quired by law.

14 ‘‘(b) The Secretary of the Treasury may exempt any

15 class of claims from the application of subsection (a) at

16 the request of an executive, judicial, or legislative agency.

17 ‘‘(c)(1) The head of any executive, judicial, or legisla18 tive agency may waive the application of subsection (a)

19 to any Federal benefit that is administered by the agency

20 based on standards promulgated by the Secretary of the

21 Treasury.

22 ‘‘(2) The head of an executive, judicial, or legislative

23 agency may delegate the waiver authority under para24 graph (1) to the chief financial officer or, in the case of
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1 any Federal performance-based organization, the chief op2 erating officer of the agency.

3 ‘‘(3) The chief financial officer or chief operating offi4 cer of an agency to whom waiver authority is delegated

5 under paragraph (2) may redelegate that authority only

6 to the deputy chief financial officer or deputy chief oper7 ating officer of the agency. Such deputy chief financial of8 ficer or deputy chief operating officer may not redelegate

9 such authority.

10 ‘‘(d) As used in this section, the term ‘nontax debt’

11 means any debt other than a debt under the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 or the Tariff Act of 1930.’’.

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

14 at the beginning of chapter 37 of title 31, United States

15 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section

16 3720B and inserting the following:

‘‘3720B. Barring delinquent Federal debtors from obtaining Federal benefits.’’.

17 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment made by this

18 section shall not be construed as altering or superseding

19 the provisions of title 11, United States Code.

20 SEC. 203. COLLECTION AND COMPROMISE OF NONTAX

21 DEBTS AND CLAIMS.

22 (a) USE OF PRIVATE COLLECTION CONTRACTORS

23 AND FEDERAL DEBT COLLECTION CENTERS.—Para24 graph (5) of section 3711(g) of title 31, United States

25 Code, is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(5)(A) Nontax debts referred or transferred under

2 this subsection shall be serviced, collected, or com3 promised, or collection action thereon suspended or termi4 nated, in accordance with otherwise applicable statutory

5 requirements and authorities.

6 ‘‘(B) The head of each executive agency that operates

7 a debt collection center may enter into an agreement with

8 the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out the purposes

9 of this subsection.

10 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of the Treasury shall—

11 ‘‘(i) maintain a schedule of private collection

12 contractors and debt collection centers operated by

13 agencies that are eligible for referral of claims under

14 this subsection;

15 ‘‘(ii) maximize collections of delinquent nontax

16 debts by referring delinquent nontax debts to private

17 collection contractors promptly;

18 ‘‘(iii) maintain competition between private col19 lection contractors;

20 ‘‘(iv) ensure, to the maximum extent prac21 ticable, that a private collection contractor to which

22 a nontax debt is referred is responsible for any ad23 ministrative costs associated with the contract under

24 which the referral is made.
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1 ‘‘(D) As used in this paragraph, the term ‘nontax

2 debt’ means any debt other than a debt under the Internal

3 Revenue Code of 1986 or the Tariff Act of 1930.’’.

4 (b) LIMITATION ON DISCHARGE BEFORE USE OF

5 PRIVATE COLLECTION CONTRACTOR OR DEBT COLLEC6 TION CENTER.—Paragraph (9) of section 3711(g) of title

7 31, United States Code, is amended—

8 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through

9 (H) as clauses (i) through (viii);

10 (2) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(9)’’;

11 (3) in subparagraph (A) (as designated by

12 paragraph (2) of this subsection) in the matter pre13 ceding clause (i) (as designated by paragraph (1) of

14 this subsection), by inserting ‘‘and subject to sub15 paragraph (B)’’ after ‘‘as applicable’’; and

16 (4) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(B)(i) The head of an executive, judicial, or legisla18 tive agency may not discharge a nontax debt or terminate

19 collection action on a nontax debt unless the debt has been

20 referred to a private collection contractor or a debt collec21 tion center, referred to the Attorney General for litigation,

22 sold without recourse, administrative wage garnishment

23 has been undertaken, or in the event of bankruptcy, death,

24 or disability.
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1 ‘‘(ii) The head of an executive, judicial, or legislative

2 agency may waive the application of clause (i) to any

3 nontax debt, or class of nontax debts if the head of the

4 agency determines that the waiver is in the best interest

5 of the United States.

6 ‘‘(iii) As used in this subparagraph, the term ‘nontax

7 debt’ means any debt other than a debt under the Internal

8 Revenue Code of 1986 or the Tariff Act of 1930.’’.

9 TITLE III—SALE OF NONTAX

10 DEBTS OWED TO UNITED

11 STATES

12 SEC. 301. AUTHORITY TO SELL NONTAX DEBTS.

13 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro14 vide that the head of each executive, judicial, or legislative

15 agency shall establish a program of nontax debt sales in

16 order to—

17 (1) minimize the loan and nontax debt port18 folios of the agency;

19 (2) improve credit management while serving

20 public needs;

21 (3) reduce delinquent nontax debts held by the

22 agency;

23 (4) obtain the maximum value for loan and

24 nontax debt assets; and
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1 (5) obtain valid data on the amount of the Fed2 eral subsidy inherent in loan programs conducted

3 pursuant to the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990

4 (Public Law 93–344).

5 (b) SALES AUTHORIZED.—(1) Section 3711 of title

6 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sub7 section (h) the following new subsection:

8 ‘‘(i)(1) The head of an executive, judicial, or legisla9 tive agency may sell, subject to section 504(b) of the Fed10 eral Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661c(b)) and

11 using competitive procedures, any nontax debt owed to the

12 United States that is administered by the agency.

13 ‘‘(2) Costs the agency incurs in selling nontax debt

14 pursuant to this subsection may be deducted from the pro15 ceeds received from the sale. Such costs include—

16 ‘‘(A) the costs of any contract for identification,

17 billing, or collection services;

18 ‘‘(B) the costs of contractors assisting in the

19 sale of nontax debt;

20 ‘‘(C) the fees of appraisers, auctioneers, and re21 alty brokers;

22 ‘‘(D) the costs of advertising and surveying;

23 and
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1 ‘‘(E) other reasonable costs incurred by the

2 agency, as determined by the Director of the Office

3 of Management and Budget.

4 ‘‘(3) Sales of nontax debt under this subsection—

5 ‘‘(A) shall be for—

6 ‘‘(i) cash; or

7 ‘‘(ii) cash and a residuary equity, joint

8 venture, or profit participation, if the head of

9 the agency, in consultation with the Director of

10 the Office of Management and Budget and the

11 Secretary of the Treasury, determines that the

12 proceeds will be greater than the proceeds from

13 a sale solely for cash;

14 ‘‘(B) shall be without recourse against the

15 United States; and

16 ‘‘(C) shall transfer to the purchaser all rights

17 of the United States to demand payment of the

18 nontax debt, other than with respect to a residuary

19 equity, joint venture, or profit participation under

20 subparagraph (A)(ii), but shall not transfer to the

21 purchaser any rights or defenses uniquely available

22 to the United States.

23 ‘‘(3) This subsection is not intended to limit existing

24 statutory authority of the head of an executive, judicial,
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1 or legislative agency to sell loans, nontax debts, or other

2 assets.’’.

3 SEC. 302. REQUIREMENT TO SELL CERTAIN NONTAX

4 DEBTS.

5 Section 3711 of title 31, United States Code, is

6 amended further by adding at the end the following new

7 subsection:

8 ‘‘(j)(1)(A) The head of each executive, judicial, or leg9 islative agency shall sell any nontax loan owed to the

10 United States by the later of—

11 ‘‘(i) the date on which the nontax debt becomes

12 24 months delinquent; or

13 ‘‘(ii) 24 months after referral of the nontax

14 debt to the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to

15 section 3711(g)(1) of title 31, United States Code.

16 Sales under this subsection shall be conducted under

17 the authority in section 301.

18 ‘‘(B) The head of an executive, judicial, or legislative

19 agency, in consultation with the Director of the Office of

20 Management and Budget and the Secretary of the Treas21 ury, may exempt from sale delinquent debt or debts under

22 this subsection if the head of the agency determines that

23 the sale is not in the best financial interest of the United

24 States.
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1 ‘‘(2) The head of each executive, judicial, or legisla2 tive agency shall sell each loan obligation arising from a

3 program administered by the agency, not later than 6

4 months after the loan is disbursed, unless the head of the

5 agency determines that the sale would interfere with the

6 mission of the agency administering the program under

7 which the loan was disbursed, or the head of the agency,

8 in consultation with the Director of the Office of Manage9 ment and Budget and the Secretary of the Treasury, de10 termines that a longer period is necessary to protect the

11 financial interests of the United States. Sales under this

12 subsection shall be conducted under the authority in sec13 tion 301.

14 ‘‘(3) After terminating collection action, the head of

15 an executive, judicial, or legislative agency shall sell, using

16 competitive procedures, any nontax debt or class of nontax

17 debts owed to the United States unless the head of the

18 agency, in consultation with the Director of the Office of

19 Management and Budget and the Secretary of the Treas20 ury, determines that the sale is not in the best financial

21 interests of the United States. Sales under this paragraph

22 shall be conducted under the authority of subsection (i).

23 ‘‘(4)(A) The head of an executive, judicial, or legisla24 tive agency shall not, without the approval of the Attorney

25 General, sell any nontax debt that is the subject of an
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1 allegation of or investigation for fraud, or that has been

2 referred to the Department of Justice for litigation.

3 ‘‘(B) The head of an executive, judicial, or legislative

4 agency may exempt from sale under this subsection any

5 class of nontax debts or loans if the head of the agency

6 determines that the sale would interfere with the mission

7 of the agency administering the program under which the

8 indebtedness was incurred.’’.

9 TITLE IV—TREATMENT OF HIGH

10 VALUE NONTAX DEBTS

11 SEC. 401. ANNUAL REPORT ON HIGH VALUE NONTAX

12 DEBTS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the

14 end of each fiscal year, the head of each agency that ad15 ministers a program that gives rise to a delinquent high

16 value nontax debt shall submit a report to Congress that

17 lists each such debt.

18 (b) CONTENT.—A report under this section shall, for

19 each debt listed in the report, include the following:

20 (1) The name of each person liable for the debt,

21 including, for a person that is a company, coopera22 tive, or partnership, the names of the owners and

23 principal officers.

24 (2) The amounts of principal, interest, and pen25 alty comprising the debt.
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1 (3) The actions the agency has taken to collect

2 the debt, and prevent future losses.

3 (4) Specification of any portion of the debt that

4 has been written-down administratively or due to a

5 bankruptcy proceeding.

6 (5) An assessment of why the debtor defaulted.

7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this title:

8 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the

9 meaning that term has in chapter 37 of title 31,

10 United States Code, as amended by this Act.

11 (2) HIGH VALUE NONTAX DEBT.—The term

12 ‘‘high value nontax debt’’ means a nontax debt hav13 ing an outstanding value (including principal, inter14 est, and penalties) that exceeds $1,000,000.

15 SEC. 402. REVIEW BY INSPECTORS GENERAL.

16 The Inspector General of each agency shall review the

17 applicable annual report to Congress required in section

18 401 and make such recommendations as necessary to im19 prove performance of the agency. Each Inspector General

20 shall periodically review and report to Congress on the

21 agency’s nontax debt collection management practices. As

22 part of such reviews, the Inspector General shall examine

23 agency efforts to reduce the aggregate amount of high

24 value nontax debts that are resolved in whole or in part

25 by compromise, default, or bankruptcy.
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1 SEC. 403. REQUIREMENT TO SEEK SEIZURE AND FOR2 FEITURE OF ASSETS SECURING HIGH VALUE

3 NONTAX DEBT.

4 The head of an agency authorized to collect a high

5 value nontax debt that is delinquent shall, when appro6 priate, promptly seek seizure and forfeiture of assets

7 pledged to the United States in any transaction giving rise

8 to the nontax debt. When an agency determines that sei9 zure or forfeiture is not appropriate, the agency shall in10 clude a justification for such determination in the report

11 under section 401.

12 TITLE V—FEDERAL PAYMENTS

13 SEC. 501. TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY TO SECRETARY

14 OF THE TREASURY WITH RESPECT TO

15 PROMPT PAYMENT.

16 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 3901(a)(3) of title 31,

17 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Director of

18 the Office of Management and Budget’’ and inserting

19 ‘‘Secretary of the Treasury’’.

20 (b) INTEREST.—Section 3902(c)(3)(D) of title 31,

21 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Director of

22 the Office of Management and Budget’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘Secretary of the Treasury’’.

24 (c) REGULATIONS.—Section 3903(a) of title 31,

25 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Director of
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1 the Office of Management and Budget’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘Secretary of the Treasury’’.

3 SEC. 502. PROMOTING ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS.

4 (a) EARLY RELEASE OF ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS.—

5 Section 3903(a) of title 31, United States Code, is

6 amended—

7 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol8 lows:

9 ‘‘(1) provide that the required payment date

10 is—

11 ‘‘(A) the date payment is due under the

12 contract for the item of property or service pro13 vided; or

14 ‘‘(B) no later than 30 days after a proper

15 invoice for the amount due is received if a spe16 cific payment date is not established by con17 tract;’’; and

18 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the

19 end of paragraph (8), by striking the period at the

20 end of paragraph (9) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by

21 adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(10) provide that the Secretary of the Treas23 ury may waive the application of requirements under

24 paragraph (1) to provide for early payment of ven25 dors in cases where an agency will implement an
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1 electronic payment technology which improves agen2 cy cash management and business practice.’’.

3 (b) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT ELECTRONIC PAY4 MENT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to an agreement be6 tween the head of an executive agency and the appli7 cable financial institution or institutions based on

8 terms acceptable to the Secretary of the Treasury,

9 the head of such agency may accept an electronic

10 payment, including debit and credit cards, to satisfy

11 a nontax debt owed to the agency.

12 (2) GUIDELINES FOR AGREEMENTS REGARDING

13 PAYMENT.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall de14 velop guidelines regarding agreements between agen15 cies and financial institutions under paragraph (1).

16 SEC. 503. DEBT SERVICES ACCOUNT.

17 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO DEBT SERVICES AC18 COUNT.—The Secretary of the Treasury may transfer bal19 ances in accounts established before the date of the enact20 ment of this Act pursuant to section of 3711(g)(7) of title

21 31, United States Code, to the Debt Services Account es22 tablished under subsection (b). All amounts transferred to

23 the Debt Services Account under this section shall remain

24 available until expended.
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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF DEBT SERVICES AC2 COUNT.—Subsection (g)(7) of section 3711 of title 31,

3 United States Code, is amended by striking the second

4 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘Any fee charged

5 pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into an ac6 count established in the Treasury to be known as the

7 ‘Debt Services Account’ (hereinafter referred to in this

8 section as the ‘Account’).’’.

9 (c) REIMBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.—Section 3711(g)

10 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—

11 (1) by striking paragraph (8);

12 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (9) and (10)

13 as paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; and

14 (3) by amending paragraph (9) (as redesig15 nated by paragraph (2)) to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(9) To carry out the purposes of this sub17 section, including services provided under sections

18 3716 and 3720A, the Secretary of the Treasury

19 may—

20 ‘‘(A) prescribe such rules, regulations, and

21 procedures as the Secretary considers nec22 essary;

23 ‘‘(B) transfer such funds from funds ap24 propriated to the Department of the Treasury

25 as may be necessary to meet liabilities and obli-
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1 gations incurred prior to the receipt of fees that

2 result from debt collection; and

3 ‘‘(C) reimburse any funds from which

4 funds were transferred under subparagraph (B)

5 from fees collected pursuant to sections 3711,

6 3716, and 3720A. Any reimbursement under

7 this subparagraph shall occur during the period

8 of availability of the funds transferred under

9 subparagraph (B) and shall be available to the

10 same extent and for the same purposes as the

11 funds originally transferred.’’.

12 (d) DEPOSIT OF TAX REFUND OFFSET FEES.—The

13 last sentence of section 3720A(d) of title 31, United

14 States Code, is amended to read as follows: ‘‘Amounts

15 paid to the Secretary of the Treasury as fees under this

16 section shall be deposited into the Debt Services Account

17 of the Department of the Treasury described in section

18 3711(g)(7) and shall be collected and accounted for in ac19 cordance with the provisions of that section.’’.

20 TITLE VI—FEDERAL PROPERTY

21 SEC. 601. AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL PROPERTY AND AD22 MINISTRATIVE SERVICES ACT OF 1949.

23 Section 203(p)(1)(B) of the Federal Property and

24 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.

25 484(p)(1)(B)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking clause (ii);

2 (2) by striking ‘‘(i)’’;

3 (3) by striking ‘‘(I)’’ and inserting ‘‘(i)’’; and

4 (4) by striking ‘‘(II)’’ and inserting ‘‘(ii)’’.

Passed the House of Representatives August 2,

1999.

Attest:

Clerk.