I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 633

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

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. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE FOREIGN

4 SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYS5 TEM.

6 (a) DEFINITION OF A SPECIAL AGENT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 804 of the Foreign

2 Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4044) is amended by

3 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (13), by

4 striking the period at the end of paragraph (14) and

5 inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(15) ‘special agent’ means an employee of the

8 Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Department of

9 State, who occupies a position that is classified as

10 a foreign service specialist, 2501 series or skill code,

11 including—

12 ‘‘(A) any position so classified before, on,

13 or after the date of the enactment of this para14 graph (including any position which would have

15 been so classified but for any series or skill code

16 redesignation effected after December 31,

17 1996); and

18 ‘‘(B) any such position which is super19 visory or administrative in nature.’’.

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 852

21 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4071a) is amended by strik22 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (7), by striking

23 the period at the end of paragraph (8) and inserting

24 ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(9) the term ‘special agent’ has the same

2 meaning given in section 804(15).’’.

3 (b) CONTRIBUTIONS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section

5 805 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4045(a)) is amended by

6 adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(3) In the case of a special agent, paragraph (1)

8 shall be applied by substituting for ‘7 percent’ the percent9 age which would apply under section 8334(c) of title 5,

10 United States Code, with respect to the period of service

11 involved, if that service had been performed as a law en12 forcement officer (as defined by section 8331(20) of such

13 title).’’.

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1)

15 of section 805(a) of such Act is amended by striking

16 ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (h),’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this section,’’.

18 (c) SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION FOR PRIOR NON19 DEPOSIT SERVICE.—Subsection (d) of section 805 of such

20 Act (22 U.S.C. 4045(d)) is amended by adding at the end

21 the following:

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

23 purposes of applying this subsection with respect to prior

24 service as a special agent, the percentages of basic pay

25 set forth in section 8334(c) of title 5, United States Code,
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1 with respect to a law enforcement officer, shall apply in2 stead of the percentages set forth in paragraph (1).’’.

3 (d) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section

5 806 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4046(a)) is amended—

6 (A) by redesignating paragraph (6) as

7 paragraph (7); and

8 (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the

9 following:

10 ‘‘(6)(A) The annuity of a special agent retiring under

11 this subchapter shall be computed under paragraph (1)

12 except that, in the case of a special agent described in

13 subparagraph (B), paragraph (1) shall be applied by sub14 stituting for ‘2 percent’—

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

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

17 so much of the participant’s total service as is speci18 fied thereunder; and

19 ‘‘(ii) the percentage under subparagraph (B) of

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

21 so much of the participant’s total service as is speci22 fied thereunder.

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

24 is any such agent who—
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1 ‘‘(i) retires voluntarily or involuntarily under

2 section 607, 608, 611, 811, 812, or 813, under con3 ditions authorizing an immediate annuity, other

4 than for cause on charges of misconduct or delin5 quency; and

6 ‘‘(ii) at the time of retirement—

7 ‘‘(I) if voluntary, is at least 50 years of

8 age and has completed at least 20 years of serv9 ice as a special agent; or

10 ‘‘(II) if involuntary, has completed at least

11 20 years of service as a special agent.

12 ‘‘(C) For purposes of clause (ii) of subparagraph (B),

13 included with the years of service performed by an individ14 ual as a special agent shall be any service performed by

15 such individual as a law enforcement officer (within the

16 meaning of section 8331(20) or section 8401(17) of title

17 5, United States Code), a member of the Metropolitan Po18 lice of the District of Columbia, or a member of the Cap19 itol Police.’’.

20 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR THOSE WHO EXERCISED

21 ELECTION RIGHTS UNDER SECTION 860.—Subsection

22 (a) of section 806 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4046(a)),

23 as amended by paragraph (1), is further amended—
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1 (A) by redesignating paragraph (7) (as so

2 redesignated by paragraph (1)) as paragraph

3 (8); and

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

5 added by paragraph (1)) the following:

6 ‘‘(7) In the case of special agent who becomes or be7 came subject to subchapter II pursuant to an election

8 under section 860—

9 ‘‘(A) for purposes of clause (ii) of paragraph

10 (6)(B), any service performed by the individual as a

11 special agent (whether under this subchapter or

12 under subchapter II) shall be creditable; and

13 ‘‘(B) if the individual satisfies paragraph

14 (6)(B), the portion of such individual’s annuity

15 which is attributable to service preceding the effec16 tive date of such election shall be computed in con17 formance with paragraph (6).’’.

18 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND19 MENTS.—(A) Paragraph (7) of section 806(a) of

20 such Act (22 U.S.C. 4046(a)), as so designated by

21 paragraph (1), is amended by striking ‘‘and (4)’’

22 and inserting ‘‘(4), and (6)’’.

23 (B) Paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 855(b) of

24 such Act (22 U.S.C. 4071d(b)) are amended by in25 serting ‘‘611,’’ after ‘‘608,’’.
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1 (e) TREATMENT OF SERVICE IF PARTICIPANT

2 TRANSFERS.—

3 (1) TO CSRS.—Section 811 of such Act (22

4 U.S.C. 4051) is amended by adding at the end the

5 following: ‘‘For purposes of any annuity under the

6 Civil Service Retirement System to which a partici7 pant becomes entitled under the preceding sentence,

8 service performed by such participant as a special

9 agent shall be treated in the same way as if it had

10 been performed as a law enforcement officer (within

11 the meaning of section 8331(20) of such title 5).’’.

12 (2) TO FERS.—Section 859 of such Act (22

13 U.S.C. 4071h) is amended by adding at the end the

14 following:

15 ‘‘(d) For purposes of any annuity to which a partici16 pant becomes entitled under the Federal Employees’ Re17 tirement System, any service performed by such partici18 pant as a special agent under this subchapter shall (if or

19 to the extent that it becomes creditable under that system)

20 be treated in the same way as if it had been performed

21 as a law enforcement officer (within the meaning of sec22 tion 8401(17) of title 5, United States Code).’’.

23 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

24 by this subsection shall apply with respect to any an25 nuity under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5, United
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1 States Code, commencing on or after the date of the

2 enactment of this Act.

3 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

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

5 1(e)(3), this Act and the amendments made by this Act—

6 (1) shall take effect as of the first day of the

7 first month beginning after the end of the 6-month

8 period which begins on the date of the enactment of

9 this Act; and

10 (2) shall apply with respect to—

11 (A) any individual first appointed on or

12 after that date as a special agent; and

13 (B) any individual making an election

14 under subsection (b) or (c), subject to the provi15 sions of such subsection.

16 (b) ELECTION FOR CURRENT PARTICIPANTS.—

17 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—An election under this sub18 section may be made by any individual who is serv19 ing as a special agent at the time of making such

20 election.

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 in5 dividual may, at the time of making the

6 election under this subsection, make a spe7 cial contribution up to the full amount of

8 the difference between the contributions

9 actually deducted from pay for prior serv10 ice and the deductions that would have

11 been required if the amendments made by

12 this Act had then been in effect. Any spe13 cial contribution under this clause shall be

14 computed under regulations based on sec15 tion 805(d) of the Foreign Service Act of

16 1980 (as amended by section 1), including

17 provisions relating to the computation of

18 interest.

19 (ii) ACTUARIAL REDUCTION.—

20 (I) RULE IF THE SPECIAL CON21 TRIBUTION IS PAID.—If the full

22 amount of the special contribution

23 under clause (i) is paid, no reduction

24 under this clause shall apply.
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1 (II) RULE IF LESS THAN THE

2 ENTIRE AMOUNT IS PAID.—If no spe3 cial contribution under clause (i) is

4 paid, or if less than the entire amount

5 of such special contribution is paid,

6 the recomputed annuity shall be re7 duced by an amount sufficient to

8 make up the actuarial present value of

9 the shortfall.

10 (c) ELECTION FOR CERTAIN RETIREES.—

11 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—An election under this sub12 section may be made by any individual who—

13 (A) separates from service, as a special

14 agent, on or after January 1, 1997;

15 (B) as of the date of such election, is enti16 tled to an immediate annuity under chapter 8

17 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980; and

18 (C) would have satisfied the age and serv19 ice requirements for an annuity under section

20 806(a)(6) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 if

21 the amendments made by this Act had been ap22 plied with respect to such individual since the

23 time such individual commenced service as a

24 special agent.
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1 (2) EFFECT OF AN ELECTION.—An individual

2 who makes an election under this subsection is enti3 tled to a recomputed annuity, determined as if the

4 amendments made by this Act had been applied with

5 respect to such individual since the time such indi6 vidual commenced service as a special agent. The

7 provisions of subsection (b)(2)(B) shall apply with

8 respect to any recomputed annuity under this sub9 section.

10 (3) EARLIER PAYMENTS.—Any change in an

11 annuity resulting from a recomputation under para12 graph (2) shall be effective with respect to payments

13 accruing since the commencement date of the annu14 ity. However, the amount payable to make up for

15 any shortfall in payments for periods preceding the

16 effective date of any such recomputation shall be de17 termined without interest.

18 (d) REGULATIONS AND NOTICE.—Not later than 6

19 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

20 Secretary of State—

21 (1) shall promulgate such regulations as may be

22 necessary to carry out this Act, including provisions

23 under which an election under this section may be

24 made by a survivor; and
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1 (2) shall take measures reasonably designed to

2 provide notice to participants and former partici3 pants as to any rights they might have under this

4 Act, including provisions for determining the date as

5 of which such notice shall be considered for purposes

6 of subsection (e) to have been provided.

7 (e) ELECTION DEADLINE.—An election under sub8 section (b) or (c) shall not be effective unless it is made

9 within 90 days after the date on which the relevant notice

10 under subsection (d)(2) is provided.

11 (f) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

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

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

14 (22 U.S.C. 4044(15)), as amended by section 1(a).

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