II

Calendar No. 533

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 930

[Report No. 105–295]

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 17, 1997

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

AUGUST 25, 1998

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of July 31, 1998, by Mr.

THOMPSON, with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

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

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Travel and Transpor3 tation Reform Act of 1997 1998’’.

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

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

6 Administrator of General Services after consultation with

7 the Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator shall re8 quire that Federal employees use the travel charge card

9 established pursuant to the United States Travel and

10 Transportation Payment and Expense Control System, or

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

12 payments of expenses of official Government travel. The

13 Administrator shall exempt any payment, person, type or

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

15 requirement established under the preceding sentence in

16 any case in which—

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

18 States to do so;

19 (2) payment through a travel charge card is im20 practical or imposes unreasonable burdens or costs

21 on Federal employees or Federal agencies; or

22 (3) the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of

23 Transportation (with respect to the Coast Guard)

24 requests an exemption with respect to the members

25 of the uniformed services.
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1 (b) AGENCY EXEMPTION.—The head of a Federal agen2 cy or the designee of such head may exempt any payment,

3 person, type or class of payments, or type or class of agency

4 personnel from subsection (a) if the agency head or the des5 ignee determines the exemption to be necessary in the inter6 est of the agency. Not later than 30 days after granting

7 such an exemption, the head of such agency or the designee

8 shall notify the Administrator of General Services in writ9 ing of such exemption stating the reasons for the exemption.

10 (b) (c) LIMITATION ON RESTRICTION ON DISCLO11 SURE.—

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

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

14 amended by adding at the end the following new

15 subsection:

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

17 of any financial record or information to a Government

18 authority in conjunction with a Federal contractor-issued

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

20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

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

22 and applies to any records created pursuant to the

23 United States Travel and Transportation Payment

24 and Expense Control System or any Federal con-
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1 tractor-issued travel charge card issued for official

2 Government travel.

3 (c) (d) COLLECTION OF AMOUNTS OWED.—

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

5 the Administrator of General Services and upon

6 written request of a Federal contractor, the head of

7 any Federal agency or a disbursing official of the

8 United States may, on behalf of the contractor, col9 lect by deduction from the amount of pay owed to

10 an employee of the agency any amount of funds the

11 employee owes to the contractor as a result of delin12 quencies not disputed by the employee on a travel

13 charge card issued for payment of expenses incurred

14 in connection with official Government travel. The

15 amount deducted from the pay owed to an employee

16 with respect to a pay period may not exceed 15 per17 cent of the disposable pay of the employee for that

18 pay period, except that a greater percentage may be

19 deducted upon the written consent of the employee.

20 (2) DUE PROCESS PROTECTIONS.—Collection

21 under this subsection shall be carried out in accord22 ance with procedures substantially equivalent to the

23 procedures required under section 3716(a) of title

24 31, United States Code.
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1 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this

2 subsection:

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

4 meaning that term has under section 101 of

5 title 31, United States Code.

6 (B) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’

7 means an individual employed in or under an

8 agency, including a member of any of the uni9 formed services. For purposes of this sub10 section, a member of one of the uniformed serv11 ices is an employee of that uniformed service.

12 (C) MEMBER; UNIFORMED SERVICE.—

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

14 service’’ has the meaning that term has in sec15 tion 101 of title 37, United States Code.

16 (d) (e) REGULATIONS.—Within 270 days after the

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of Gen18 eral Services shall promulgate regulations implementing

19 this section, that—

20 (1) make the use of the travel charge card es21 tablished pursuant to the United States Travel and

22 Transportation System and Expense Control Sys23 tem, or any Federal contractor-issued travel charge

24 card, mandatory for all payments of expenses of offi25 cial Government travel pursuant to this section;
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1 (2) specify the procedures for effecting under

2 subsection (c) (d) a deduction from pay owed to an

3 employee, and ensure that the due process protec4 tions provided to employees under such procedures

5 are no less than the protections provided to employ6 ees pursuant to section 3716 of title 31, United

7 States Code;

8 (3) provide that any deduction under subsection

9 (c) (d) from pay owed to an employee may occur

10 only after reimbursement of the employee for the ex11 penses of Government travel with respect to which

12 the deduction is made; and

13 (4) require agencies to promptly reimburse em14 ployees for expenses charged on a travel charge card

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

16 days after the submission of a claim for reimburse17 ment.

18 (e) (f) REPORTS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of Gen20 eral Services shall submit 2 reports to the Congress

21 on agency compliance with this section and regula22 tions that have been issued under this section.

23 (2) TIMING.—The first report under this sub24 section shall be submitted before the end of the 180-

25 day period beginning on the date of enactment of
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1 this Act, and the second report shall be submitted

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

3 period beginning on that date of enactment.

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

5 on a sampling survey of agencies that expended

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

7 year on travel and transportation payments, includ8 ing payments for employee relocation. The head of

9 an agency shall provide to the Administrator the

10 necessary information in a format prescribed by the

11 Administrator and approved by the Director of the

12 Office of Management and Budget.

13 (g) REIMBURSEMENT OF TRAVEL EXPENSES.—In ac14 cordance with regulations prescribed by the Administrator

15 of General Services, the head of an agency shall ensure that

16 the agency reimburses an employee who submits a proper

17 voucher for allowable travel expenses in accordance with ap18 plicable travel regulations within 30 days after submission

19 of the voucher. If an agency fails to reimburse an employee

20 who has submitted a proper voucher within 30 days after

21 submission of the voucher, the agency shall pay the em22 ployee a late payment fee as prescribed by the Adminis23 trator.
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1 SEC. 3. PREPAYMENT AUDITS OF TRANSPORTATION EX2 PENSES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Section 3322 of title 31,

4 United States Code, is amended in subsection (c) by in5 serting after ‘‘classifications’’ the following: ‘‘if the Ad6 ministrator of General Services has determined that ver7 ification by a prepayment audit conducted pursuant to

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

9 of transportation, or for an agency or subagency, will not

10 adequately protect the interests of the Government’’.

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

12 amended—

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

14 the semicolon at the end of paragraph (3), by strik15 ing the period at the end of subsection (a)(4)(C) and

16 inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(5) verifying transportation rates, freight clas19 sifications, and other information provided on a Gov20 ernment bill of lading or transportation request, un21 less the Administrator of General Services has deter22 mined that verification by a prepayment audit con23 ducted pursuant to section 3726(a) of this title for

24 a particular mode or modes of transportation, or for

25 an agency or subagency, will not adequately protect

26 the interests of the Government.’’;
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1 (B) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting after ‘‘de2 ductions’’ the following: ‘‘and the Administrator of

3 General Services has determined that verification by

4 a prepayment audit conducted pursuant to section

5 3726(a) of this title for a particular mode or modes

6 of transportation, or for an agency or subagency,

7 will not adequately protect the interests of the Gov8 ernment’’; and

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

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

11 of General Services has determined that verification

12 by a prepayment audit conducted pursuant to sec13 tion 3726(a) of this title for a particular mode or

14 modes of transportation, or for an agency or sub15 agency, will not adequately protect the interests of

16 the Government’’.

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

18 amended—

19 (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol20 lows:

21 ‘‘(a)(1) Each agency that receives a bill from a car22 rier or freight forwarder for transporting an individual or

23 property for the United States Government shall verify its

24 correctness (to include transportation rates, freight classi25 fications, or proper combinations thereof), using prepay-
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1 ment audit, prior to payment in accordance with the re2 quirements of this section and regulations prescribed by

3 the Administrator of General Services.

4 ‘‘(2) The Administrator of General Services may ex5 empt bills, a particular mode or modes of transportation,

6 or an agency or subagency from a prepayment audit and

7 verification and in lieu thereof require a postpayment

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

9 factors the Administrator considers appropriate.

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

11 by the agency’s appropriations used for the transportation

12 services.

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

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

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

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

17 (g), (h), and (i), respectively;

18 (C) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow19 ing new subsections:

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

21 postpayment audits of transportation bills of any Federal

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

23 based on the Administrator’s judgment.

24 ‘‘(c)(1) The Administrator shall adjudicate transpor25 tation claims which cannot be resolved by the agency pro-
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1 curing the transportation services, or the carrier or

2 freight-forwarder presenting the bill.

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

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

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

6 dates:

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

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

9 is made.

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

11 the transportation is made.

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

13 of this section is made.’’;

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

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

16 (e)’’, and by adding at the end the following new

17 sentence: ‘‘This reporting requirement expires De18 cember 31, 1998.’’;

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

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

21 (c)’’; and

22 (F) by adding after subsection (i), as so redes23 ignated, the following new subsection:

24 ‘‘(j) The Administrator of General Services may pro25 vide transportation audit and related technical assistance
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1 services, on a reimbursable basis, to any other agency.

2 Such reimbursements may be credited to the appropriate

3 revolving fund or appropriation from which the expenses

4 were incurred.’’.

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

6 this section shall become effective 18 months after the

7 date of enactment of this Act.

8 SEC. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR TAXES ON MONEY RECEIVED

9 FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES.

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

11 amended by inserting after section 5706b the following

12 new section:

13 ‘‘§ 5706c. Reimbursement for taxes incurred on

14 money received for travel expenses

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

16 5707 of this title, the head of an agency or department,

17 or his or her designee, may use appropriations or other

18 funds available to the agency for administrative expenses,

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

20 taxes incurred by an employee of the agency or by an em21 ployee and such employee’s spouse (if filing jointly), for

22 any travel or transportation reimbursement made to an

23 employee for which reimbursement or an allowance is pro24 vided.
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1 ‘‘(b) Reimbursements under this section shall include

2 an amount equal to all income taxes for which the em3 ployee and spouse, as the case may be, would be liable

4 due to the reimbursement for the taxes referred to in sub5 section (a). In addition, reimbursements under this section

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

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

8 the appropriate amounts for tax liabilities of employees

9 affected by the change in the deductibility of travel ex10 penses made by Public Law 102–486.’’.

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

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

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

14 section 5706b the following new item:

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

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

16 as of January 1, 1993.

17 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY FOR TEST PROGRAMS.

18 (a) TRAVEL EXPENSES TEST PROGRAMS.—Sub19 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code,

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

21 ‘‘§ 5710. Authority for travel expenses test programs

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

23 subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator

24 of General Services determines to be in the interest of the
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1 Government and approves, an agency may pay through the

2 proper disbursing official for a period not to exceed 24

3 months any necessary travel expenses in lieu of any pay4 ment otherwise authorized or required under this sub5 chapter. An agency shall include in any request to the Ad6 ministrator for approval of such a test program an analy7 sis of the expected costs and benefits and a set of criteria

8 for evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

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

10 shall be designed to enhance cost savings or other effi11 ciencies that accrue to the Government.

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

13 authority of any agency to conduct test programs.

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

15 test program approved by the Administrator under this

16 section to the appropriate committees of the Congress at

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

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

19 under subsection (a) shall provide to the Administrator

20 and the appropriate committees of the Congress a report

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

22 completion of the program.

23 ‘‘(d) No more than 10 test programs under this sec24 tion may be conducted simultaneously.
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1 ‘‘(e) The authority to conduct test programs under

2 this section shall expire 7 years after the date of enact3 ment of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of

4 1997 1998.’’.

5 (b) RELOCATION EXPENSES TEST PROGRAMS.—Sub6 chapter II of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code,

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

8 section:

9 ‘‘§ 5739. Authority for relocation expenses test pro10 grams

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

12 subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator

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

14 Government and approves, an agency may pay through the

15 proper disbursing official for a period not to exceed 24

16 months any necessary relocation expenses in lieu of any

17 payment otherwise authorized or required under this sub18 chapter. An agency shall include in any request to the Ad19 ministrator for approval of such a test program an analy20 sis of the expected costs and benefits and a set of criteria

21 for evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

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

23 shall be designed to enhance cost savings or other effi24 ciencies that accrue to the Government.
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1 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the

2 authority of any agency to conduct test programs.

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

4 test program approved by the Administrator under this

5 section to the appropriate committees of the Congress at

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

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

8 under subsection (a) shall provide to the Administrator

9 and the appropriate committees of the Congress a report

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

11 completion of the program.

12 ‘‘(d) No more than 10 test programs under this sec13 tion may be conducted simultaneously.

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

15 this section shall expire 7 years after the date of enact16 ment of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of

17 1997 1998.’’.

18 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections

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

20 amended by—

21 (1) inserting after the item relating to section

22 5709 the following new item:

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

23 and
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1 (2) inserting after the item relating to section

2 5738 the following new item:

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

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES.

4 Chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is amend5 ed—

6 (1) in section 5721—

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

8 following the semicolon at the end;

9 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe10 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

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

12 paragraphs:

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

14 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

15 Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern

16 Mariana Islands, the territories and possessions of

17 the United States, and the areas and installations in

18 the Republic of Panama that are made available to

19 the United States pursuant to the Panama Canal

20 Treaty of 1977 and related agreements (as described

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

22 and

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

24 means the Foreign Service as constituted under the

25 Foreign Service Act of 1980.’’;
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1 (2) in section 5722—

2 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘out3 side the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘outside

4 the continental United States’’; and

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

6 States’’ each place it appears and inserting

7 ‘‘Government’’;

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

9 States’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Govern10 ment’’;

11 (4) in section 5724—

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

13 territories or possessions’’ and all that follows

14 through ‘‘1979’’; and

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

16 States’’ each place it appears in the last sen17 tence and inserting ‘‘Government’’;

18 (5) in section 5724a, by striking subsection (j);

19 (6) in section 5725(a), by striking ‘‘United

20 States’’ and inserting ‘‘Government’’;

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

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

23 (8) in section 5728(b), by striking ‘‘an em24 ployee of the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘an em25 ployee of the Government’’;
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1 (9) in section 5729, by striking ‘‘or its terri2 tories or possessions’’ each place it appears;

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

4 States’’ and inserting ‘‘Government’’; and

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

6 States’’ and inserting ‘‘Government’’.

7 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE FEDERAL EM8 PLOYEE TRAVEL REFORM ACT OF 1996.

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

10 amended—

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

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

13 and inserting ‘‘Under regulations prescribed under

14 section 5738, an agency shall pay’’;

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

16 by striking ‘‘An agency may pay’’ each place it ap17 pears and inserting ‘‘Under regulations prescribed

18 under section 5738, an agency may pay’’;

19 (3) by amending subsection (b)(1)(B)(ii) to

20 read as follows:

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

22 that may not exceed a maximum amount deter23 mined by the Administrator of General Serv24 ices.’’;
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1 (4) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘an

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

3 amount for subsistence expenses, that may not ex4 ceed a maximum amount determined by the Admin5 istrator of General Services,’’;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 prescribed under section 5738 and subject to para15 graph (2),’’; and

16 (9) by striking subsection (i).

Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 1997.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE, Clerk.

Calendar No. 533

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 930

[Report No. 105–295]

AN ACT

To require Federal employees to use Federal travel

ployee travel expenses and relocation expenses.test programs for the payment of Federal emtransportation reimbursements, and to authorizeagency employees for taxes incurred on travel orexpenses, to authorize reimbursement of Federalpayment audits of Federal agency transportationStates Code, to establish requirements for precial Government travel, to amend title 31, Unitedcharge cards for all payments of expenses of offiAUGUST 25, 1998

Reported with amendments