Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 15, 1995 / Notices 14055

§ 2D1.2, should instead be made specific

offense characteristics under § 2D1.1.

Inclusion in § 2D1.1 would make

these enhancements applicable to all

drug defendants whose relevant conduct

involved juveniles or pregnant

individuals, regardless of whether the

defendant was convicted of the

particular statutes now indexed to

§ 2D1.2 (21 U.S.C. 859, 860, and 861).

The circuits appear to be split regarding

whether conviction under one of these

statutes is a prerequisite for application

of the § 2D1.2 enhancements. (Compare

United States v. Oppedahl, 998 F.2d 584

(8th Cir. 1993), with United States v.

Locklear, 24 F.3d 641 (4th Cir. 1994),

cert. denied, 115 S. Ct. 278, 457 (1994).)

4. Synopsis of Proposed Amendment

This amendment inserts additional

background commentary explaining the

Commission’s rationale and authority

for § 4B1.1 (Career Offender). The

amendment responds to a decision by

the United States Court of Appeals for

the District of Columbia Circuit in

United States v. Price, 990 F.2d 1367

(D.C. Cir. 1993). In Price, the court

invalidated application of the career

offender guideline to a defendant

convicted of a drug conspiracy because

28 U.S.C. 994(h), which the Commission

cites as the mandating authority for the

career offender guideline, does not

expressly refer to inchoate offenses. The

court indicated that it did not foreclose

Commission authority to include

conspiracy offenses under the career

offender guideline by drawing upon its

broader guideline promulgation

authority in 28 U.S.C. 994(a). See also

United States v. Mendoza-Figueroa, 28

F.3d 766 (8th Cir. 1994), vacated (Sept.

2, 1994); United States v. Bellazerius, 24

F.3d 698 (5th Cir.) cert. denied, 115 S.

Ct. 375 (1994). Other circuits have

rejected the Price analysis and upheld

the Commission’s definition of

‘‘controlled substance offense.’’ The

Ninth Circuit considered the legislative

history to section 994(h) and

determined that the Senate Report

clearly indicated that section 994(h) was

not the sole enabling statute for the

career offender guidelines. United States

v. Heim, 15 F.3d 830 (9th Cir.) cert.

denied, 115 S. Ct. 445 (1994). See also

United States v. Hightower, 25 F.3d 182

(3d Cir.), cert. denied, 115 S. Ct. 370

(1994). United States v. Damerville, 27

F.3d 254 (7th Cir), cert. denied, 115 S.

Ct. 55 (1994).

Proposed Amendment

Application Note 1 of the

Commentary to § 4B1.2 is

repromulgated without change.

The Commentary to § 4B1.1 captioned

‘‘Background’’ is amended to read as

follows:

Background

28 U.S.C. 994(h) mandates that the

Commission assure that certain ‘‘career’’

offenders receive a sentence of

imprisonment ‘‘at or near the maximum

term authorized.’’ Section 4B1.1

implements this directive, with the

definition of a career offender tracking

in large part the criteria set forth in 28

U.S.C. 994(h). However, in accord with

its general guideline promulgation

authority under 28 U.S.C. 994(a)-(f) and

its amendment authority under 28

U.S.C. 994(o) and (p), the Commission

has modified this definition in several

respects to focus more precisely on the

class of recidivist offenders for whom a

lengthy term of imprisonment is

appropriate and avoid ‘‘unwarranted

sentencing disparities among

defendants with similar records who

have been found guilty of similar

criminal conduct * * * .’’ 28 U.S.C.

991(b)(1)(B). The Commission’s

refinement of this definition over time

is consistent with Congress’s choice of

a directive to the Commission rather

than a mandatory minimum sentencing

statute (‘‘The [Senate Judiciary]

Committee believes that such a directive

to the Commission will be more

effective; the guidelines development

process can assure consistent and

rational implementation for the

Committee’s view that substantial

prison terms should be imposed on

repeat violent offenders and repeat drug

traffickers.’’ S. Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong.,

1st Sess. 175 (1983)).

The legislative history of this

provision suggests that the phrase

‘‘maximum term authorized’’ should be

construed as the maximum term

authorized by statute. See S. Rep. No.

225, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 175 (1983),

128 Cong. Rec. 26,511–12 (1982) (text of

‘‘Career Criminals’’ amendment by

Senator Kennedy), id. at 26,515 (brief

summary of amendment), id. at 26,517–

18 (statement of Senator Kennedy).’’.

Additional Issue for Comment

The Commission invites comment on

whether, as an alternative to, or in

addition to, the proposed amendment to

§ 4B1.1, Chapter I, Part A of the

Guidelines Manual should be amended

to state that in its promulgation of

specific guidelines, the Commission

intends in all cases to rely on its general

authority under 28 U.S.C. 994(a) as well

as any other more specific grant of

statutory authority.

[FR Doc. 95–6330 Filed 3–14–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 2210–40–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

Information Collection Under OMB

Review: VA MATIC Change, VA Form

29–0165

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

The Department of Veterans Affairs

has submitted to OMB the following

proposal for the collection of

information under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35). This document lists the

following information: (1) The title of

the information collection, and the

Department form number(s), if

applicable; (2) a description of the need

and its use; (3) who will be required or

asked to respond; (4) an estimate of the

total annual reporting hours, and

recordkeeping burden, if applicable; (5)

the estimated average burden hours per

respondent; (6) the frequency of

response; and (7) an estimated number

of respondents.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed

information collection and supporting

documents may be obtained from Trish

Fineran, Veterans Benefits

Administration (20M30), Department of

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue

NW., Washington, DC 20420, (202) 273–

6886.

Comments and questions about the

items on the list should be directed to

VA’s OMB Desk Officer, Joseph Lackey,

NEOB, Room 10102, Washington, DC

20503, (202) 395–7316. Do not send

requests for benefits to this address.

DATES: Comments on the information

collection should be directed to the

OMB Desk Officer on or before April 14,

1995.

Dated: March 8, 1995.

By direction of the Secretary.

Donald L. Neilson,

Director, Information Management Service.

Reinstatement

1. VA MATIC Change, VA Form 29–

0165

2. The form is used by the insured to

request VA to change the account

number and/or financial institution

from which a VA MATIC deduction

was previously authorized.

3. Individuals or households

4. 1,250 hours

5. 15 minutes
14056 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 15, 1995 / Notices

6. On occasion

7. 5,000 respondents.

[FR Doc. 95–6365 Filed 3–14–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–M

Privacy Act of 1974; Report of

Amended Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

Notice is hereby given that the

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

intends to conduct a recurring computer

matching program matching Social

Security Administration (SSA) benefit

recipient records with VA pension and

parents’ dependency and indemnity

compensation records.

The goal of this match is to compare

income status as reported to VA with

benefit records maintained by SSA.

The Department of Veterans Affairs

(VA) plans to match records of veterans

and surviving spouses and children who

receive pension and parents who

receive dependency and indemnity

compensation (DIC) from VA with

Social Security Administration benefit

records maintained by SSA. The match

with SSA will provide VA with data

from the SSA Master Beneficiary

Record. VA will use the data to update

the master records of VA beneficiaries

receiving income dependent benefits

and to adjust VA benefit payments as

prescribed by law. Otherwise,

information about a VA beneficiary’s

receipt of SSA benefits is obtained from

reporting by the beneficiary. The

proposed matching program will enable

VA to ensure accurate reporting of

income.

RECORDS TO BE MATCHED: The VA

records involved in the match are the

VA system of records, Compensation,

Pension, Education and Rehabilitation

Records—VA (58 VA 21/22) contained

in the Privacy Act Issuances, 1991

compilation, Volume II, pages 967–971

as amended. The SSA records consist of

information from the SSA Master

Beneficiary Record 09–60–0090

published at 58 FR 35302, June 30,

1993.

In accordance with Title 5 U.S.C.

subsection 552a(o)(2) and (r), copies of

the agreement are being sent to both

Houses of Congress and to the Office of

Management and Budget.

This notice is provided in accordance

with the provisions of the Privacy Act

of 1974 as amended by Public Law 100–

503.

The match is estimated to start April

1, 1995, but will start no sooner than 40

days after publication of this Notice in

the Federal Register, or 40 days after

copies of this Notice and the agreement

of the parties are submitted to Congress

and the Office of Management and

Budget, whichever is later, and end not

more than 18 months after the

agreement is properly implemented by

the parties. The involved agencies’ Data

Integrity Boards (DIB) may extend this

match for 12 months provided the

agencies certify to their DIBs, within

three months of the ending date of the

original match, that the matching

program will be conducted without

change and that the matching program

has been conducted in compliance with

the original matching program.

ADDRESSES: Interested individuals may

comment on the proposed matches by

writing to the Director, Compensation

and Pension Service (21), Department of

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue

NW., Washington, DC 20420.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David G. Spivey (213B), (202) 273–7258.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

information is required by Title 5 U.S.C.

subsection 552a(e)(12), the Privacy Act

of 1974. A copy of this notice has been

provided to both Houses of Congress

and the Office of Management and

Budget.

Approved: March 2, 1995.

Jesse Brown,

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

[FR Doc. 95–6364 Filed 3–14–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320–01–M