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Polar research and operations support, and for reimburse-
ment to other Federal agencies for operational and science
support and logistical and other related activities for the
United States Antarctic program; the balance to remain
available until September 30, 2000: Provided, That re-
ceipts for scientific support services and materials fur-
nished by the National Research Centers and other Na-
tional Science Foundation supported research facilities
may be credited to this appropriation: Provided further,
That to the extent that the amount appropriated is less
than the total amount authorized to be appropriated for
included program activities, all amounts, including floors
and ceilings, specified in the authorizing Act for those pro-
gram activities or their subactivities shall be reduced pro-
portionally: Provided further, That none of the funds ap-
propriated or otherwise made available to the National
Science Foundation in this or any prior Act may be obli-
gated or expended by the National Science Foundation to
enter into or extend a grant, contract, or cooperative
agreement for the support of administering the domain
name and numbering system of the Internet after Septem-
ber 30, 1998.
MAJOR RESEARCH EQUIPMENT
For necessary expenses of major construction
projects pursuant to the National Science Foundation Act
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of 1950, as amended, $90,000,000, to remain available
until expended.
EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES
For necessary expenses in carrying out science and
engineering education and human resources programs and
activities pursuant to the National Science Foundation
Act of 1950, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1861–1875), includ-
ing services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109 and rental
of conference rooms in the District of Columbia,
$642,500,000, to remain available until September 30,
2000: Provided, That to the extent that the amount of
this appropriation is less than the total amount authorized
to be appropriated for included program activities, all
amounts, including floors and ceilings, specified in the au-
thorizing Act for those program activities or their sub-
activities shall be reduced proportionally.
SALARIES AND EXPENSES
For salaries and expenses necessary in carrying out
the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended
(42 U.S.C. 1861–1875); services authorized by 5 U.S.C.
3109; hire of passenger motor vehicles; not to exceed
$9,000 for official reception and representation expenses;
uniforms or allowances therefor, as authorized by 5 U.S.C.
5901–5902; rental of conference rooms in the District of
Columbia; reimbursement of the General Services Admin-
istration for security guard services; $144,000,000: Pro-
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vided, That contracts may be entered into under ‘‘Salaries
and expenses’’ in fiscal year 1999 for maintenance and
operation of facilities, and for other services, to be pro-
vided during the next fiscal year.
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector
General as authorized by the Inspector General Act of
1978, as amended, $5,200,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2000.
NEIGHBORHOOD REINVESTMENT CORPORATION
PAYMENT TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD REINVESTMENT
CORPORATION
For payment to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Cor-
poration for use in neighborhood reinvestment activities,
as authorized by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corpora-
tion Act (42 U.S.C. 8101–8107), $90,000,000, of which
$25,000,000 shall be for a pilot homeownership initiative,
including an evaluation by an independent third party to
determine its effectiveness.
SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM
SALARIES AND EXPENSES
For necessary expenses of the Selective Service Sys-
tem, including expenses of attendance at meetings and of
training for uniformed personnel assigned to the Selective
Service System, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 4101–4118 for
civilian employees; and not to exceed $1,000 for official
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reception and representation expenses; $24,176,000: Pro-
vided, That during the current fiscal year, the President
may exempt this appropriation from the provisions of 31
U.S.C. 1341, whenever he deems such action to be nec-
essary in the interest of national defense: Provided further,
That none of the funds appropriated by this Act may be
expended for or in connection with the induction of any
person into the Armed Forces of the United States.
TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 401. Where appropriations in titles I, II, and
III of this Act are expendable for travel expenses and no
specific limitation has been placed thereon, the expendi-
tures for such travel expenses may not exceed the amounts
set forth therefore in the budget estimates submitted for
the appropriations: Provided, That this provision does not
apply to accounts that do not contain an object classifica-
tion for travel: Provided further, That this section shall
not apply to travel performed by uncompensated officials
of local boards and appeal boards of the Selective Service
System; to travel performed directly in connection with
care and treatment of medical beneficiaries of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs; to travel performed in connec-
tion with major disasters or emergencies declared or deter-
mined by the President under the provisions of the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
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Act; to travel performed by the Offices of Inspector Gen-
eral in connection with audits and investigations; or to
payments to interagency motor pools where separately set
forth in the budget schedules: Provided further, That if
appropriations in titles I, II, and III exceed the amounts
set forth in budget estimates initially submitted for such
appropriations, the expenditures for travel may cor-
respondingly exceed the amounts therefore set forth in the
estimates in the same proportion.
SEC. 402. Appropriations and funds available for the
administrative expenses of the Department of Housing
and Urban Development and the Selective Service System
shall be available in the current fiscal year for purchase
of uniforms, or allowances therefor, as authorized by 5
U.S.C. 5901–5902; hire of passenger motor vehicles; and
services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109.
SEC. 403. Funds of the Department of Housing and
Urban Development subject to the Government Corpora-
tion Control Act or section 402 of the Housing Act of
1950 shall be available, without regard to the limitations
on administrative expenses, for legal services on a contract
or fee basis, and for utilizing and making payment for
services and facilities of Federal National Mortgage Asso-
ciation, Government National Mortgage Association, Fed-
eral Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal Financ-
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ing Bank, Federal Reserve banks or any member thereof,
Federal Home Loan banks, and any insured bank within
the meaning of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1811–1831).
SEC. 404. No part of any appropriation contained in
this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the
current fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.
SEC. 405. No funds appropriated by this Act may be
expended—
(1) pursuant to a certification of an officer or
employee of the United States unless—
(A) such certification is accompanied by,
or is part of, a voucher or abstract which de-
scribes the payee or payees and the items or
services for which such expenditure is being
made, or
(B) the expenditure of funds pursuant to
such certification, and without such a voucher
or abstract, is specifically authorized by law;
and
(2) unless such expenditure is subject to audit
by the General Accounting Office or is specifically
exempt by law from such audit.
SEC. 406. None of the funds provided in this Act to
any department or agency may be expended for the trans-
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portation of any officer or employee of such department
or agency between their domicile and their place of em-
ployment, with the exception of any officer or employee
authorized such transportation under 31 U.S.C. 1344 or
5 U.S.C. 7905.
SEC. 407. None of the funds provided in this Act may
be used for payment, through grants or contracts, to re-
cipients that do not share in the cost of conducting re-
search resulting from proposals not specifically solicited
by the Government: Provided, That the extent of cost
sharing by the recipient shall reflect the mutuality of in-
terest of the grantee or contractor and the Government
in the research.
SEC. 408. None of the funds in this Act may be used,
directly or through grants, to pay or to provide reimburse-
ment for payment of the salary of a consultant (whether
retained by the Federal Government or a grantee) at more
than the daily equivalent of the rate paid for level IV of
the Executive Schedule, unless specifically authorized by
law.
SEC. 409. None of the funds provided in this Act
shall be used to pay the expenses of, or otherwise com-
pensate, non-Federal parties intervening in regulatory or
adjudicatory proceedings. Nothing herein affects the au-
thority of the Consumer Product Safety Commission pur-
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suant to section 7 of the Consumer Product Safety Act
(15 U.S.C. 2056 et seq.).
SEC. 410. Except as otherwise provided under exist-
ing law, or under an existing Executive Order issued pur-
suant to an existing law, the obligation or expenditure of
any appropriation under this Act for contracts for any
consulting service shall be limited to contracts which are
(1) a matter of public record and available for public in-
spection, and (2) thereafter included in a publicly available
list of all contracts entered into within twenty-four months
prior to the date on which the list is made available to
the public and of all contracts on which performance has
not been completed by such date. The list required by the
preceding sentence shall be updated quarterly and shall
include a narrative description of the work to be per-
formed under each such contract.
SEC. 411. Except as otherwise provided by law, no
part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be
obligated or expended by any executive agency, as referred
to in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41
U.S.C. 401 et seq.), for a contract for services unless such
executive agency (1) has awarded and entered into such
contract in full compliance with such Act and the regula-
tions promulgated thereunder, and (2) requires any report
prepared pursuant to such contract, including plans, eval-
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uations, studies, analyses and manuals, and any report
prepared by the agency which is substantially derived from
or substantially includes any report prepared pursuant to
such contract, to contain information concerning (A) the
contract pursuant to which the report was prepared, and
(B) the contractor who prepared the report pursuant to
such contract.
SEC. 412. Except as otherwise provided in section
406, none of the funds provided in this Act to any depart-
ment or agency shall be obligated or expended to provide
a personal cook, chauffeur, or other personal servants to
any officer or employee of such department or agency.
SEC. 413. None of the funds provided in this Act to
any department or agency shall be obligated or expended
to procure passenger automobiles as defined in 15 U.S.C.
2001 with an EPA estimated miles per gallon average of
less than 22 miles per gallon.
SEC. 414. None of the funds appropriated in title I
of this Act shall be used to enter into any new lease of
real property if the estimated annual rental is more than
$300,000 unless the Secretary submits, in writing, a re-
port to the Committees on Appropriations of the Congress
and a period of 30 days has expired following the date
on which the report is received by the Committees on Ap-
propriations.
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SEC. 415. (a) It is the sense of the Congress that,
to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and prod-
ucts purchased with funds made available in this Act
should be American-made.
(b) In providing financial assistance to, or entering
into any contract with, any entity using funds made avail-
able in this Act, the head of each Federal agency, to the
greatest extent practicable, shall provide to such entity a
notice describing the statement made in subsection (a) by
the Congress.
SEC. 416. None of the funds appropriated in this Act
may be used to implement any cap on reimbursements to
grantees for indirect costs, except as published in Office
of Management and Budget Circular A–21.
SEC. 417. Such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
year 1999 pay raises for programs funded by this Act shall
be absorbed within the levels appropriated in this Act.
SEC. 418. None of the funds made available in this
Act may be used for any program, project, or activity,
when it is made known to the Federal entity or official
to which the funds are made available that the program,
project, or activity is not in compliance with any Federal
law relating to risk assessment, the protection of private
property rights, or unfunded mandates.
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SEC. 419. Corporations and agencies of the Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban Development which are sub-
ject to the Government Corporation Control Act, as
amended, are hereby authorized to make such expendi-
tures, within the limits of funds and borrowing authority
available to each such corporation or agency and in accord
with law, and to make such contracts and commitments
without regard to fiscal year limitations as provided by
section 104 of the Act as may be necessary in carrying
out the programs set forth in the budget for 1999 for such
corporation or agency except as hereinafter provided: Pro-
vided, That collections of these corporations and agencies
may be used for new loan or mortgage purchase commit-
ments only to the extent expressly provided for in this Act
(unless such loans are in support of other forms of assist-
ance provided for in this or prior appropriations Acts), ex-
cept that this proviso shall not apply to the mortgage in-
surance or guaranty operations of these corporations, or
where loans or mortgage purchases are necessary to pro-
tect the financial interest of the United States Govern-
ment.
SEC. 420. Notwithstanding section 320(g) of the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(g)),
funds made available pursuant to authorization under
such section for fiscal year 1999 and prior fiscal years
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may be used for implementing comprehensive conservation
and management plans.
SEC. 421. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the term ‘‘qualified student loan’’ with respect to na-
tional service education awards shall mean any loan made
directly to a student by the Alaska Commission on Post-
secondary Education, in addition to other meanings under
section 148(b)(7) of the National and Community Service
Act.
SEC. 422. Notwithstanding any other law, funds
made available by this or any other Act to the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, the National Science Founda-
tion, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-
tion for the United States/Mexico Foundation for Science
may be used for the endowment of such Foundation.
SEC. 423. (a) Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safe-
ty Commission shall propose for comment and, not later
than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
issue a final rule amending its Flammable Fabrics Act
standards to revoke the amendments to the standards for
the flammability of children’s sleepwear sizes 0 through
6X (contained in regulations published at 16 CFR part
1615) and 7 through 14 (contained in regulations pub-
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lished at 16 CFR part 1616) issued by the Commission
on September 9, 1996 (61 FR 47634).
(b) None of the following shall apply with respect to
the promulgation of the amendment prescribed by sub-
section (a):
(1) The Consumer Product Safety Act (15
U.S.C. 2051 et seq.).
(2) The Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C.
1191 et seq.).
(3) Chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code.
(4) The National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(5) The Small Business Regulatory Enforce-
ment Fairness Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–121).
(6) Any other statute or Executive order.
(c) Sleepwear manufactured or imported before the
effective date (as established by the Commission) of the
Consumer Product Safety Commission’s revocation re-
quired by subsection (a) shall not be considered in viola-
tion of the Flammable Fabrics Act if it complied with the
Commission rules in effect at the time it was manufac-
tured or imported.
SEC. 424. (a) Subparagraph (A) of section 203(b)(2)
of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)(2)(A))
is amended by striking clause (ii) and all that follows
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through the end of the subparagraph and inserting the
following:
‘‘(ii) 87 percent of the dollar amount
limitation 
determined 
under 
section
305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation Act for a residence
of the applicable size; except that the dol-
lar amount limitation in effect for any area
under this subparagraph may not be less
than 48 percent of the dollar limitation de-
termined under section 305(a)(2) of the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
Act for a residence of the applicable size;
and’’,
and, in addition to the amounts appropriated in other
parts of this Act, $10,000,000 is appropriated to the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs, ‘‘Medical and prosthetic re-
search’’, and $70,000,000 is appropriated to the National
Science Foundation, ‘‘Research and related activities’’.
(b) The first sentence in the matter following section
203(b)(2)(B)(iii) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.
1709(b)(2)(B)(iii) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘For
purposes of the preceding sentence, the term ‘area’ means
a metropolitan statistical area as established by the Office
of Management and Budget; and the median 1-family
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house price for an area shall be equal to the median 1-
family house price of the county within the area that has
the highest such median price.’’.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Departments of Veter-
ans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999’’.
Union Calendar No. 344
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4194
[Report No. 105–610]
A BILL
Making appropriations for the Departments of Vet-
erans Affairs and Housing and Urban Develop-
ment, and for sundry independent agencies,
boards, commissions, corporations, and offices
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999,
and for other purposes.
JULY 8, 1998
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed