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ignation in this Act shall be the permanent law with re-
spect thereto: Provided, That the provisions in this Act 
for the various items of official expenses of Members, offi-
cers, and committees of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives, and clerk hire for Senators and Members of 
the House of Representatives shall be the permanent law 
with respect thereto. 
SEC. 204. CONSULTING SERVICES. The expenditure 
of any appropriation under this Act for any consulting 
service through procurement contract, under section 3109 
of title 5, United States Code, shall be limited to those 
contracts where such expenditures are a matter of public 
record and available for public inspection, except where 
otherwise provided under existing law, or under existing 
Executive order issued under existing law. 
SEC. 205. AWARDS AND SETTLEMENTS. Such sums 
as may be necessary are appropriated to the account de-
scribed in subsection (a) of section 415 of the Congres-
sional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415(a)) to 
pay awards and settlements as authorized under such sub-
section. 
SEC. 206. COSTS OF LBFMC. Amounts available for 
administrative expenses of any legislative branch entity 
which participates in the Legislative Branch Financial 
Managers Council (LBFMC) established by charter on
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March 26, 1996, shall be available to finance an appro-
priate share of LBFMC costs as determined by the 
LBFMC, except that the total LBFMC costs to be shared 
among all participating legislative branch entities (in such 
allocations among the entities as the entities may deter-
mine) may not exceed $2,000. 
SEC. 207. LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE. The Architect 
of the Capitol, in consultation with the District of Colum-
bia, is authorized to maintain and improve the landscape 
features, excluding streets and sidewalks, in the irregular 
shaped grassy areas bounded by Washington Avenue, SW 
on the northeast, Second Street SW on the west, Square 
582 on the south, and the beginning of the I–395 tunnel 
on the southeast. 
SEC. 208. TRANSFER OF FUNDS. None of the funds 
made available in this Act may be transferred to any de-
partment, agency, or instrumentality of the United States 
Government, except pursuant to a transfer made by, or 
transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other ap-
propriation Act. 
SEC. 209. ETRAVEL SERVICE. Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, no entity within the legislative 
branch shall be required to use the eTravel Service estab-
lished by the Administrator of General Services for official
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travel by officers or employees of the entity during fiscal 
year 2005 or any succeeding fiscal year. 
SEC. 210. VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVE PAY-
MENTS. (a) AUTHORITY TO OFFER PAYMENTS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the head of any office 
in the legislative branch may establish a program under 
which voluntary separation incentive payments may be of-
fered to eligible employees of the office to encourage such 
employees to separate from service voluntarily (whether by 
retirement or resignation), in accordance with this section. 
(b) AMOUNT AND ADMINISTRATION OF PAYMENTS.— 
A voluntary separation incentive payment made under this 
section— 
(1) shall be paid in a lump sum after the em-
ployee’s separation; 
(2) shall be equal to the lesser of— 
(A) an amount equal to the amount the 
employee would be entitled to receive under sec-
tion 5595(c) of title 5, United States Code, if 
the employee were entitled to payment under 
such section (without adjustment for any pre-
vious payment made); or 
(B) an amount determined by the head of 
the office involved, not to exceed $25,000;
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(3) may be made only in the case of an em-
ployee who voluntarily separates (whether by retire-
ment or resignation) under this section; 
(4) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall 
not be included in the computation, of any other 
type of Government benefit; 
(5) shall not be taken into account in deter-
mining the amount of any severance pay to which 
the employee may be entitled under section 5595 of 
title 5, United States Code, based on any other sepa-
ration; and 
(6) shall be paid from appropriations or funds 
available for the payment of the basic pay of the em-
ployee. 
(c) PLAN.— 
(1) PLAN REQUIRED FOR MAKING PAYMENTS.— 
No voluntary separation incentive payment may be 
paid under this section with respect to an office un-
less the head of the office submits a plan described 
in paragraph (2) to each applicable Committee de-
scribed in paragraph (3), and each applicable Com-
mittee approves the plan. 
(2) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—A plan described in 
this paragraph with respect to an office is a plan 
containing the following information:
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(A) The specific positions and functions to 
be reduced or eliminated. 
(B) A description of which categories of 
employees will be offered incentives. 
(C) The time period during which incen-
tives may be paid. 
(D) The number and amounts of voluntary 
separation incentive payments to be offered. 
(E) A description of how the office will op-
erate without the eliminated positions and func-
tions. 
(3) APPLICABLE COMMITTEE.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the ‘‘applicable Committee’’ with re-
spect to an office means— 
(A) in the case of an office of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee on House 
Administration of the House of Representatives; 
and 
(B) in the case of any other office, the 
Committee on House Administration of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Rules and Administration of the Senate. 
(d) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN OFFICES.—This section 
shall not apply—