Date: 1983-10-24
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. e thle bill. H.R. 3083. would amend three waiver statutes to extend thle existing 1 waiver authority to overpayments of travei and transportation allowances and expenses and to overpayments of relocation expenses. The bill was Introduced in accordance with the recommendations of the Comptroller General of the United States. The bill would amend the existing waiver statutes. 5 U.S.C. 5584. 10 U.S.C. 2774: and 32 U.S.C. 3716. to permit waiver of travel and transportation expense and allowance overpayments or relocation expense overpayments onl thle same basis as currently provided for waiver of all other pay and allowance overpayments. These waiver statutes now permit a Federal employees liability for overpayments of pay and allowances to be waived where collection would be against equity and good conscience and not in the best interests of the United States. and where the employee seeking a waiver has acted in good faith. Thle bill would remedy the present lack in these sections since thley presently do not apply to overpayments of travel and transportation allowances and expenses and relocation expenses. The General Accounting Office has advised the Committee that since the first general waiver authority statute. there have bcen dramatic changes in thle diversity and scope of travel performed in the Governments interest. In addition the statute allowing relocation expenses. 5 U.S.C. 572a. was enacted in 1967 and was not taken Into account when the original waiver stattite was considered in 1968. Similarly. these developments were not recognizcd in 1972 when parallel waiver language was incorporatcd in section 2774 of title 10 and section 716 of title 32 concerning military and National Guard personnel respectively. Thle GAO has concluded that holding an employee to a standard of constructive knowledge of complex travel and relocation regulations in certain Instances Is unreasonable. particularly when even those charged with administering thle regulations make mistakes in determining an employees entitlement. Many claims arise from erroneous agency authorizations which an employee relies on in good faith to his detriment. Despite the unfairness of the situation. such erroneous payments must be collected back by thle agency. Collection is mandated because waiver of travel. transportation. and relocation overpayment is precluded by the existing statutes. The only relief In such cases is for the claimant to seek a private relief bill in thle Congress. and a number of such ills have been reported by the corn- p -ittee in the current Congress. t The procedural appa--atuis for the a onsideration of waiver .equests In the t rca of travel. transportation. and re- c ocation cases Is already in place and a mmediately subject to the oversight esponsibility of the Comptroller Genr ral. The overall procedures for han- t iling waivers would not be significant- t y changed because waiver cases would s ontinue to be handled in accordance c with standards prescribed by the .omptroller General. Agency performlnce would continue to be evaluated )y GAO during onsite reviews of igency operations and doubtful cases and appeals would continue to be submitted to the Comptroller General for reviewv. In this connection the GAO h~as stated that it anticipates that the establishment of standards for utilization at the individual agency level wouk! not involve any great difficulty. Significantly. the GAO has advised the committee that performance under the existing waiver authority has proven that this type of legislation is practical and fair both to the individual and thle Government. Under the three sections referred to in this bill. the agency authority for waiver is limited to claims of not more than $500. Claims in excess of that amount must be considered by the Comptroller General. AS has been noted. consideration for requests for waiver of claims falling within the agency jurisdiction is governed by regulations promulgated by the Comptroller General. These regulations. which are contained at parts 9 193 of title 4. Code of Federal Regulations (1983). provide the Comptroller General with a comprehensive oversight capability. The committee agree with the recommendations of the Comptroller General and recommends that the bill be considered favorably. Mr. Speaker. I have no further requests for time. and I yield back the balance of my time.