IB

Union Calendar No. 433

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 633

[Report No. 105–755, Part I]

To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to provide that the annuities

of certain special agents and security personnel of the Department of

State be computed in the same way as applies generally with respect

to Federal law enforcement officers, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 6, 1997

Mr. DAVIS of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee

on Government Reform and Oversight, for a period to be subsequently

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Reported from the Committtee on International Relations with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight extended for

a period ending not later than September 28, 1998

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Additional sponsors: Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MCGOVERN,

Mr. BERMAN, Mr. HORN, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. BRYANT, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. WOLF, Mr. HALL

of Texas, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. CARDIN, Mr.

HINCHEY, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. WISE,

Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. DELAHUNT, and Mr. SHERMAN

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Committee on Government Reform and Oversight discharged; committed to

the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 6, 1997]

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to provide that

the annuities of certain special agents and security personnel of the Department of State be computed in the

same way as applies generally with respect to Federal

law enforcement officers, and for other purposes.

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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of State

5 Special Agents Retirement Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE FOREIGN SERVICE

7 RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM.

8 (a) DEFINITION OF A SPECIAL AGENT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 804 of the Foreign

10 Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4044) is amended—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para12 graph (13);

13 (B) by striking the period at the end of

14 paragraph (14) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

15 (C) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(15) ‘special agent’ means an employee of the

2 Department of State with a primary skill code of

3 2501—

4 ‘‘(A) the duties of whose position—

5 ‘‘(i) are primarily—

6 ‘‘(I) the investigation, apprehen7 sion, or detention of individuals sus8 pected or convicted of offenses against

9 the criminal laws of the United States,

10 or

11 ‘‘(II) the protection of persons

12 pursuant to section 2709(a)(3) of title

13 22, United States Code, against threats

14 to personal safety; and

15 ‘‘(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that em16 ployment opportunities should be limited to

17 young and physically vigorous individuals,

18 as determined by the Secretary of State

19 pursuant to section 4823 of title 22, United

20 States Code;

21 ‘‘(B) performing duties described in sub22 paragraph (A) before, on, or after the date of the

23 enactment of this paragraph; or

24 ‘‘(C) transferred directly to a position

25 which is supervisory or administrative in nature
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1 after performing duties described in subpara2 graph (A) for at least 3 years.’’.

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 852 of

4 such Act (22 U.S.C. 4071a) is amended—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para6 graph (7);

7 (B) by striking the period at the end of

8 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

9 (C) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(9) the term ‘special agent’ has the same mean11 ing given in section 804(15).’’.

12 (b) CONTRIBUTIONS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 805(a) of such Act

14 (22 U.S.C. 4045(a)) is amended by adding at the end

15 the following:

16 ‘‘(3) For service as a special agent, paragraph (1) shall

17 be applied by substituting for ‘7 percent’ the percentage that

18 applies to law enforcement officers under section 8334(a)(1)

19 of title 5, United States Code.’’.

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

21 805(a)(1) (22 U.S.C. 4045(a)(1)) of such Act is

22 amended by striking ‘‘Except as provided in sub23 section (h),’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as otherwise pro24 vided in this section,’’.
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1 (c) SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION FOR PRIOR NONDEPOSIT

2 SERVICE.—Section 805(d) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4045(d))

3 is amended by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(6) Subject to paragraph (4) and subsection (h), for

5 purposes of applying this subsection with respect to prior

6 service as a special agent, the percentages of basic pay set

7 forth in section 8334(c) of title 5, United States Code, with

8 respect to a law enforcement officer, shall apply instead of

9 the percentages set forth in paragraph (1).’’.

10 (d) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 806(a) of such Act

12 (22 U.S.C. 4046(a)) is amended—

13 (A) by redesignating paragraph (6) as

14 paragraph (7); and

15 (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol16 lowing:

17 ‘‘(6)(A) The annuity of a special agent under this sub18 chapter shall be computed under paragraph (1) except that,

19 in the case of a special agent described in subparagraph

20 (B), paragraph (1) shall be applied by substituting for ‘2

21 percent’—

22 ‘‘(i) the percentage under subparagraph (A) of

23 section 8339(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, for

24 so much of the participant’s total service as is speci25 fied thereunder; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the percentage under subparagraph (B) of

2 section 8339(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, for

3 so much of the participant’s total service as is speci4 fied thereunder.

5 ‘‘(B) A special agent described in this subparagraph

6 is any such agent or former agent who—

7 ‘‘(i)(I) retires voluntarily or involuntarily under

8 section 607, 608, 611, 811, 812, or 813, under condi9 tions authorizing an immediate annuity, other than

10 for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency, or

11 retires for disability under section 808; and

12 ‘‘(II) at the time of retirement—

13 ‘‘(aa) if voluntary, is at least 50 years of

14 age and has completed at least 20 years of serv15 ice as a special agent; or

16 ‘‘(bb) if involuntary or disability, has com17 pleted at least 20 years of service as a special

18 agent; or

19 ‘‘(ii) dies in Service after completing at least 20

20 years of service as a special agent, when an annuity

21 is payable under section 809.

22 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B), included with

23 the years of service performed by an individual as a special

24 agent shall be any service performed by such individual as

25 a law enforcement officer (within the meaning of section
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1 8331(20) or section 8401(17) of title 5, United States Code),

2 or a member of the Capitol Police.’’.

3 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR THOSE WHO EXERCISED

4 ELECTION RIGHTS UNDER SECTION 860.—Section

5 806(a) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4046(a)), as amended

6 by paragraph (1), is further amended—

7 (A) by redesignating paragraph (7) (as so

8 redesignated by paragraph (1)(A)) as paragraph

9 (8); and

10 (B) by inserting after paragraph (6) (as

11 added by paragraph (1)) the following:

12 ‘‘(7) In the case of a special agent who becomes or be13 came subject to subchapter II pursuant to an election under

14 section 860—

15 ‘‘(A) for purposes of paragraph (6)(B), any serv16 ice performed by the individual as a special agent

17 (whether under this subchapter or under subchapter

18 II) shall be creditable; and

19 ‘‘(B) if the individual satisfies paragraph (6)(B),

20 the portion of such individual’s annuity which is at21 tributable to service preceding the effective date of

22 such election shall be computed in conformance with

23 paragraph (6).’’.

24 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND25 MENTS.—
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1 (A) Paragraph (8) of section 806(a) of such

2 Act (22 U.S.C. 4046(a)), as so redesignated by

3 paragraph (2)(A), is amended by striking ‘‘and

4 (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4), and (6)’’.

5 (B) Paragraphs (1) and (3) of section

6 855(b) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4071d(b)) are each

7 amended by inserting ‘‘611,’’ after ‘‘608,’’.

8 SEC. 3. MANDATORY SEPARATION OF SPECIAL AGENTS.

9 The first sentence of section 812(a)(2) of the Foreign

10 Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4052(a)(2)) is amended to

11 read as follows: ‘‘Notwithstanding paragraph (1)—

12 ‘‘(A) an individual described in section

13 4(a)(2)(B) of the Department of State Special Agents

14 Retirement Act of 1998 who is otherwise eligible for

15 immediate retirement under this chapter, or

16 ‘‘(B) a Foreign Service criminal investigator/in17 spector of the Office of Inspector General of the Agen18 cy for International Development who would have

19 been eligible for retirement pursuant to either section

20 8336(c) or 8412(d) of title 5, United States Code, as

21 applicable, had the employee remained in civil serv22 ice,

23 shall be separated from the Service on the last day of the

24 month in which such individual under subparagraph (A)

25 or such Foreign Service criminal investigator/inspector
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1 under subparagraph (B) attains 57 years of age or com2 pletes 20 years of service if then over that age.’’.

3 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

5 (b), this Act and the amendments made by this Act—

6 (1) shall take effect on the date of the enactment

7 of this Act; and

8 (2) shall apply with respect to—

9 (A) any individual first appointed on or

10 after that date as a special agent; and

11 (B) any individual making an election

12 under subsection (b), subject to the provisions of

13 such subsection.

14 (b) ELECTION FOR CURRENT PARTICIPANTS.—

15 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—An election under this sub16 section may be made by any currently employed par17 ticipant under chapter 8 of the Foreign Service Act

18 of 1980 who is serving or has served as a special

19 agent, or by a survivor of a special agent who was

20 eligible to make an election under this section.

21 (2) EFFECT OF AN ELECTION.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an individual makes

23 an election under this subsection, the amend24 ments made by this Act shall become applicable
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1 with respect to such individual, subject to sub2 paragraph (B).

3 (B) TREATMENT OF PRIOR SERVICE.—

4 (i) SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION.—An indi5 vidual may, after making the election under

6 this subsection, make a special contribution

7 up to the full amount of the difference be8 tween the contributions actually deducted

9 from pay for prior service and the deduc10 tions that would have been required if the

11 amendments made by this Act had then

12 been in effect. Any special contributions

13 under this clause shall be computed under

14 regulations based on section 805(d) of the

15 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (as amended by

16 section 2), including provisions relating to

17 the computation of interest.

18 (ii) ACTUARIAL REDUCTION.—

19 (I) RULE IF THE SPECIAL CON20 TRIBUTION IS PAID.—If the full

21 amount of the special contribution

22 under clause (i) is paid, no reduction

23 under this clause shall apply.

24 (II) RULE IF LESS THAN THE EN25 TIRE AMOUNT IS PAID.—If no special
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1 contribution under clause (i) is paid,

2 or if less than the entire amount of

3 such special contribution is paid, the

4 recomputed annuity shall be reduced

5 by an amount sufficient to make up

6 the actuarial present value of the short7 fall.

8 (c) REGULATIONS AND NOTICE.—Not later than 6

9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of State—

11 (1) shall promulgate such regulations as may be

12 necessary to carry out this Act; and

13 (2) shall take measures reasonably designed to

14 provide notice to participants as to any rights they

15 might have under this Act.

16 (d) ELECTION DEADLINE.—An election under sub17 section (b) must be made not later than 90 days after the

18 date on which the relevant notice under subsection (c)(2)

19 is provided.

20 (e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

21 term ‘‘special agent’’ has the meaning given such term

22 under section 804(15) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980

23 (22 U.S.C. 4044(15)), as amended by section 2(a).
Union Calendar No. 433

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 633

[Report No. 105–755, Part I]

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to proment officers, and for other purposes. generally with respect to Federal law enforce- State be computed in the same way as applies and security personnel of the Department of vide that the annuities of certain special agents

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Reported from the Committee on International Relations

with an amendment

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Referral to the Committee on Government Reform and

September 28, 1998Oversight extended for a period ending not later than

SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

Commmittee on Government Reform and Oversight disprinted House on the State of the Union and ordered to be charged; committed to the Committee of the Whole