IIA

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 930

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 17, 1997

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

AN ACT

To require Federal employees to use Federal travel charge

cards for all payments of expenses of official Government

travel, to amend title 31, United States Code, to establish requirements for prepayment audits of Federal agency transportation expenses, to authorize reimbursement

of Federal agency employees for taxes incurred on travel

or transportation reimbursements, and to authorize test
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programs for the payment of Federal employee travel expenses and relocation expenses.

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 ‘‘Travel and Transpor5 tation Reform Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRING USE OF THE TRAVEL CHARGE CARD.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Under regulations issued by the

8 Administrator of General Services after consultation with

9 the Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator shall re10 quire that Federal employees use the travel charge card

11 established pursuant to the United States Travel and

12 Transportation Payment and Expense Control System, or

13 any Federal contractor-issued travel charge card, for all

14 payments of expenses of official Government travel. The

15 Administrator shall exempt any payment, person, type or

16 class of payments, or type or class of personnel from any

17 requirement established under the preceding sentence in

18 any case in which—

19 (1) it is in the best interest of the United

20 States to do so;

21 (2) payment through a travel charge card is im22 practical or imposes unreasonable burdens or costs

23 on Federal employees or Federal agencies; or
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1 (3) the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of

2 Transportation (with respect to the Coast Guard)

3 requests an exemption with respect to the members

4 of the uniformed services.

5 (b) LIMITATION ON RESTRICTION ON DISCLO6 SURE.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1113 of the Right to

8 Financial Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3413) is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new

10 subsection:

11 ‘‘(q) Nothing in this title shall apply to the disclosure

12 of any financial record or information to a Government

13 authority in conjunction with a Federal contractor-issued

14 travel charge card issued for official Government travel.’’.

15 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

16 by paragraph (1) is effective as of October 1, 1983,

17 and applies to any records created pursuant to the

18 United States Travel and Transportation Payment

19 and Expense Control System or any Federal con20 tractor-issued travel charge card issued for official

21 Government travel.

22 (c) COLLECTION OF AMOUNTS OWED.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under regulations issued by

24 the Administrator of General Services and upon

25 written request of a Federal contractor, the head of
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1 any Federal agency or a disbursing official of the

2 United States may, on behalf of the contractor, col3 lect by deduction from the amount of pay owed to

4 an employee of the agency any amount of funds the

5 employee owes to the contractor as a result of delin6 quencies not disputed by the employee on a travel

7 charge card issued for payment of expenses incurred

8 in connection with official Government travel. The

9 amount deducted from the pay owed to an employee

10 with respect to a pay period may not exceed 15 per11 cent of the disposable pay of the employee for that

12 pay period, except that a greater percentage may be

13 deducted upon the written consent of the employee.

14 (2) DUE PROCESS PROTECTIONS.—Collection

15 under this subsection shall be carried out in accord16 ance with procedures substantially equivalent to the

17 procedures required under section 3716(a) of title

18 31, United States Code.

19 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this

20 subsection:

21 (A) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the

22 meaning that term has under section 101 of

23 title 31, United States Code.

24 (B) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’

25 means an individual employed in or under an
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1 agency, including a member of any of the uni2 formed services. For purposes of this sub3 section, a member of one of the uniformed serv4 ices is an employee of that uniformed service.

5 (C) MEMBER; UNIFORMED SERVICE.—

6 Each of the terms ‘‘member’’ and ‘‘uniformed

7 service’’ has the meaning that term has in sec8 tion 101 of title 37, United States Code.

9 (d) REGULATIONS.—Within 270 days after the date

10 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General

11 Services shall promulgate regulations implementing this

12 section, that—

13 (1) make the use of the travel charge card es14 tablished pursuant to the United States Travel and

15 Transportation System and Expense Control Sys16 tem, or any Federal contractor-issued travel charge

17 card, mandatory for all payments of expenses of offi18 cial Government travel pursuant to this section;

19 (2) specify the procedures for effecting under

20 subsection (c) a deduction from pay owed to an em21 ployee, and ensure that the due process protections

22 provided to employees under such procedures are no

23 less than the protections provided to employees pur24 suant to section 3716 of title 31, United States

25 Code;
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1 (3) provide that any deduction under subsection

2 (c) from pay owed to an employee may occur only

3 after reimbursement of the employee for the ex4 penses of Government travel with respect to which

5 the deduction is made; and

6 (4) require agencies to promptly reimburse em7 ployees for expenses charged on a travel charge card

8 pursuant to this section, and by no later than 30

9 days after the submission of a claim for reimburse10 ment.

11 (e) REPORTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of Gen13 eral Services shall submit 2 reports to the Congress

14 on agency compliance with this section and regula15 tions that have been issued under this section.

16 (2) TIMING.—The first report under this sub17 section shall be submitted before the end of the 180-

18 day period beginning on the date of enactment of

19 this Act, and the second report shall be submitted

20 after that period and before the end of the 540-day

21 period beginning on that date of enactment.

22 (3) PREPARATION.—Each report shall be based

23 on a sampling survey of agencies that expended

24 more than $5,000,000 during the previous fiscal

25 year on travel and transportation payments, includ-
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1 ing payments for employee relocation. The head of

2 an agency shall provide to the Administrator the

3 necessary information in a format prescribed by the

4 Administrator and approved by the Director of the

5 Office of Management and Budget.

6 SEC. 3. PREPAYMENT AUDITS OF TRANSPORTATION EX7 PENSES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Section 3322 of title 31, Unit9 ed States Code, is amended in subsection (c) by inserting

10 after ‘‘classifications’’ the following: ‘‘if the Administrator

11 of General Services has determined that verification by a

12 prepayment audit conducted pursuant to section 3726(a)

13 of this title for a particular mode or modes of transpor14 tation, or for an agency or subagency, will not adequately

15 protect the interests of the Government’’.

16 (2) Section 3528 of title 31, United States Code, is

17 amended—

18 (A) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘and’’ after

19 the semicolon at the end of paragraph (3), by strik20 ing the period at the end of subsection (a)(4)(C) and

21 inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(5) verifying transportation rates, freight clas24 sifications, and other information provided on a Gov25 ernment bill of lading or transportation request, un-
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1 less the Administrator of General Services has deter2 mined that verification by a prepayment audit con3 ducted pursuant to section 3726(a) of this title for

4 a particular mode or modes of transportation, or for

5 an agency or subagency, will not adequately protect

6 the interests of the Government.’’;

7 (B) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting after ‘‘de8 ductions’’ the following: ‘‘and the Administrator of

9 General Services has determined that verification by

10 a prepayment audit conducted pursuant to section

11 3726(a) of this title for a particular mode or modes

12 of transportation, or for an agency or subagency,

13 will not adequately protect the interests of the Gov14 ernment’’; and

15 (C) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting after

16 ‘‘agreement’’ the following: ‘‘and the Administrator

17 of General Services has determined that verification

18 by a prepayment audit conducted pursuant to sec19 tion 3726(a) of this title for a particular mode or

20 modes of transportation, or for an agency or sub21 agency, will not adequately protect the interests of

22 the Government’’.

23 (3) Section 3726 of title 31, United States Code, is

24 amended—
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1 (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol2 lows:

3 ‘‘(a)(1) Each agency that receives a bill from a car4 rier or freight forwarder for transporting an individual or

5 property for the United States Government shall verify its

6 correctness (to include transportation rates, freight classi7 fications, or proper combinations thereof), using prepay8 ment audit, prior to payment in accordance with the re9 quirements of this section and regulations prescribed by

10 the Administrator of General Services.

11 ‘‘(2) The Administrator of General Services may ex12 empt bills, a particular mode or modes of transportation,

13 or an agency or subagency from a prepayment audit and

14 verification and in lieu thereof require a postpayment

15 audit, based on cost effectiveness, public interest, or other

16 factors the Administrator considers appropriate.

17 ‘‘(3) Expenses for prepayment audits shall be funded

18 by the agency’s appropriations used for the transportation

19 services.

20 ‘‘(4) The audit authority provided to agencies by this

21 section is subject to oversight by the Administrator.’’;

22 (B) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d),

23 (e), (f), and (g) in order as subsections (d), (e), (f),

24 (g), (h), and (i), respectively;
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1 (C) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow2 ing new subsections:

3 ‘‘(b) The Administrator may conduct pre- or

4 postpayment audits of transportation bills of any Federal

5 agency. The number and types of bills audited shall be

6 based on the Administrator’s judgment.

7 ‘‘(c)(1) The Administrator shall adjudicate transpor8 tation claims which cannot be resolved by the agency pro9 curing the transportation services, or the carrier or

10 freight-forwarder presenting the bill.

11 ‘‘(2) A claim under this section shall be allowed only

12 if it is received by the Administrator not later than 3 years

13 (excluding time of war) after the later of the following

14 dates:

15 ‘‘(A) The date of accrual of the claim.

16 ‘‘(B) The date payment for the transportation

17 is made.

18 ‘‘(C) The date a refund for an overpayment for

19 the transportation is made.

20 ‘‘(D) The date a deduction under subsection (d)

21 of this section is made.’’;

22 (D) in subsection (f), as so redesignated, by

23 striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection

24 (e)’’, and by adding at the end the following new
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1 sentence: ‘‘This reporting requirement expires De2 cember 31, 1998.’’;

3 (E) in subsection (i)(1), as so redesignated, by

4 striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection

5 (c)’’; and

6 (F) by adding after subsection (i), as so redes7 ignated, the following new subsection:

8 ‘‘(j) The Administrator of General Services may pro9 vide transportation audit and related technical assistance

10 services, on a reimbursable basis, to any other agency.

11 Such reimbursements may be credited to the appropriate

12 revolving fund or appropriation from which the expenses

13 were incurred.’’.

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

15 this section shall become effective 18 months after the

16 date of enactment of this Act.

17 SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR TAXES ON MONEY RECEIVED

18 FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 5, United States Code, is

20 amended by inserting after section 5706b the following

21 new section:

22 ‘‘§ 5706c. Reimbursement for taxes incurred on

23 money received for travel expenses

24 ‘‘(a) Under regulations prescribed pursuant to section

25 5707 of this title, the head of an agency or department,
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1 or his or her designee, may use appropriations or other

2 funds available to the agency for administrative expenses,

3 for the reimbursement of Federal, State, and local income

4 taxes incurred by an employee of the agency or by an em5 ployee and such employee’s spouse (if filing jointly), for

6 any travel or transportation reimbursement made to an

7 employee for which reimbursement or an allowance is pro8 vided.

9 ‘‘(b) Reimbursements under this section shall include

10 an amount equal to all income taxes for which the em11 ployee and spouse, as the case may be, would be liable

12 due to the reimbursement for the taxes referred to in sub13 section (a). In addition, reimbursements under this section

14 shall include penalties and interest, for the tax years 1993

15 and 1994 only, as a result of agencies failing to withhold

16 the appropriate amounts for tax liabilities of employees

17 affected by the change in the deductibility of travel ex18 penses made by Public Law 102–486.’’.

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

20 at the beginning of chapter 57 of title 5, United States

21 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to

22 section 5706b the following new item:

‘‘5706c. Reimbursement for taxes incurred on money received for travel expenses.’’.

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall be effective

24 as of January 1, 1993.
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY FOR TEST PROGRAMS.

2 (a) TRAVEL EXPENSES TEST PROGRAMS.—Sub3 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code,

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

5 ‘‘§ 5710. Authority for travel expenses test programs

6 ‘‘(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this

7 subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator

8 of General Services determines to be in the interest of the

9 Government and approves, an agency may pay through the

10 proper disbursing official for a period not to exceed 24

11 months any necessary travel expenses in lieu of any pay12 ment otherwise authorized or required under this sub13 chapter. An agency shall include in any request to the Ad14 ministrator for approval of such a test program an analy15 sis of the expected costs and benefits and a set of criteria

16 for evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

17 ‘‘(2) Any test program conducted under this section

18 shall be designed to enhance cost savings or other effi19 ciencies that accrue to the Government.

20 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the

21 authority of any agency to conduct test programs.

22 ‘‘(b) The Administrator shall transmit a copy of any

23 test program approved by the Administrator under this

24 section to the appropriate committees of the Congress at

25 least 30 days before the effective date of the program.
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1 ‘‘(c) An agency authorized to conduct a test program

2 under subsection (a) shall provide to the Administrator

3 and the appropriate committees of the Congress a report

4 on the results of the program no later than 3 months after

5 completion of the program.

6 ‘‘(d) No more than 10 test programs under this sec7 tion may be conducted simultaneously.

8 ‘‘(e) The authority to conduct test programs under

9 this section shall expire 7 years after the date of enact10 ment of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of

11 1997.’’.

12 (b) RELOCATION EXPENSES TEST PROGRAMS.—Sub13 chapter II of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code,

14 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

15 section:

16 ‘‘§ 5739. Authority for relocation expenses test pro17 grams

18 ‘‘(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this

19 subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator

20 of General Services determines to be in the interest of the

21 Government and approves, an agency may pay through the

22 proper disbursing official for a period not to exceed 24

23 months any necessary relocation expenses in lieu of any

24 payment otherwise authorized or required under this sub25 chapter. An agency shall include in any request to the Ad-
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1 ministrator for approval of such a test program an analy2 sis of the expected costs and benefits and a set of criteria

3 for evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

4 ‘‘(2) Any test program conducted under this section

5 shall be designed to enhance cost savings or other effi6 ciencies that accrue to the Government.

7 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the

8 authority of any agency to conduct test programs.

9 ‘‘(b) The Administrator shall transmit a copy of any

10 test program approved by the Administrator under this

11 section to the appropriate committees of the Congress at

12 least 30 days before the effective date of the program.

13 ‘‘(c) An agency authorized to conduct a test program

14 under subsection (a) shall provide to the Administrator

15 and the appropriate committees of the Congress a report

16 on the results of the program no later than 3 months after

17 completion of the program.

18 ‘‘(d) No more than 10 test programs under this sec19 tion may be conducted simultaneously.

20 ‘‘(e) The authority to conduct test programs under

21 this section shall expire 7 years after the date of enact22 ment of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of

23 1997.’’.
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1 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections

2 for chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is further

3 amended by—

4 (1) inserting after the item relating to section

5 5709 the following new item:

‘‘5710. Authority for travel expenses test programs.’’;

6 and

7 (2) inserting after the item relating to section

8 5738 the following new item:

‘‘5739. Authority for relocation expenses test programs.’’.

9 SEC. 6. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES.

10 Chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is amend11 ed—

12 (1) in section 5721—

13 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’

14 following the semicolon at the end;

15 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe16 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

17 (C) by adding at the end the following new

18 paragraphs:

19 ‘‘(6) ‘United States’ means the several States,

20 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

21 Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern

22 Mariana Islands, the territories and possessions of

23 the United States, and the areas and installations in

24 the Republic of Panama that are made available to
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1 the United States pursuant to the Panama Canal

2 Treaty of 1977 and related agreements (as described

3 in section 3(a) of the Panama Canal Act of 1979);

4 and

5 ‘‘(7) ‘Foreign Service of the United States’

6 means the Foreign Service as constituted under the

7 Foreign Service Act of 1980.’’;

8 (2) in section 5722—

9 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘out10 side the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘outside

11 the continental United States’’; and

12 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘United

13 States’’ each place it appears and inserting

14 ‘‘Government’’;

15 (3) in section 5723(b), by striking ‘‘United

16 States’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Govern17 ment’’;

18 (4) in section 5724—

19 (A) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘, its

20 territories or possessions’’ and all that follows

21 through ‘‘1979’’; and

22 (B) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘United

23 States’’ each place it appears in the last sen24 tence and inserting ‘‘Government’’;

25 (5) in section 5724a, by striking subsection (j);
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1 (6) in section 5725(a), by striking ‘‘United

2 States’’ and inserting ‘‘Government’’;

3 (7) in section 5727(d), by striking ‘‘United

4 States’’ and inserting ‘‘continental United States’’;

5 (8) in section 5728(b), by striking ‘‘an em6 ployee of the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘an em7 ployee of the Government’’;

8 (9) in section 5729, by striking ‘‘or its terri9 tories or possessions’’ each place it appears;

10 (10) in section 5731(b), by striking ‘‘United

11 States’’ and inserting ‘‘Government’’; and

12 (11) in section 5732, by striking ‘‘United

13 States’’ and inserting ‘‘Government’’.

14 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE FEDERAL EM15 PLOYEE TRAVEL REFORM ACT OF 1996.

16 Section 5724a of title 5, United States Code, is

17 amended—

18 (1) in subsections (a) and (d) (1) and (2), by

19 striking ‘‘An agency shall pay’’ each place it appears

20 and inserting ‘‘Under regulations prescribed under

21 section 5738, an agency shall pay’’;

22 (2) in subsections (b)(1), (c)(1), (d)(8), and (e),

23 by striking ‘‘An agency may pay’’ each place it ap24 pears and inserting ‘‘Under regulations prescribed

25 under section 5738, an agency may pay’’;
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1 (3) by amending subsection (b)(1)(B)(ii) to

2 read as follows:

3 ‘‘(ii) an amount for subsistence expenses,

4 that may not exceed a maximum amount deter5 mined by the Administrator of General Serv6 ices.’’;

7 (4) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘an

8 amount for subsistence expenses’’ and inserting ‘‘an

9 amount for subsistence expenses, that may not ex10 ceed a maximum amount determined by the Admin11 istrator of General Services,’’;

12 (5) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘for the

13 sale’’ and inserting ‘‘of the sale’’;

14 (6) in subsection (d)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘for the

15 purchase’’ and inserting ‘‘of the purchase’’;

16 (7) in subsection (d)(8), by striking ‘‘paragraph

17 (2) or (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1) or (2)’’;

18 (8) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘Subject to

19 paragraph (2),’’ and inserting ‘‘Under regulations

20 prescribed under section 5738 and subject to para21 graph (2),’’; and

22 (9) by striking subsection (i).

Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 1997.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE, Clerk.