[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 118 (Friday, August 19, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         JERRY L. LITTON U.S. POST OFFICE BUILDING ACT OF 1994

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar No. 563, H.R. 1779, 
designating the ``Jerry L. Litton U.S. Post Office Building'' in 
Chillicothe, MO.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1779) to designate the facility of the United 
     States Postal Service located at 401 South Washington Street 
     in Chillicothe, MO, as the ``Jerry L. Litton United States 
     Post Office Building.''

  The Senate proceeded to consider the bill which had been reported 
from the Committee on Governmental Affairs, with an amendment, as 
follows:
  (The parts of the bill intended to be inserted are shown in italic.)

                               H.R. 1779

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The facility of the United States Postal Service located at 
     401 South Washington Street in Chillicothe, Missouri, is 
     designated as the ``Jerry L. Litton United States Post Office 
     Building''.

     SEC. 2. LEGAL REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, regulation, document, record, map, 
     or other paper of the United States to the facility referred 
     to in section 1 is deemed to be a reference to the ``Jerry L. 
     Litton United States Post Office Building''.

     SEC. 3. TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES OF CERTAIN FEDERAL 
                   CAREER APPOINTEES.

       (a) In General.--Section 5724(a)(3) of title 5, United 
     States Code, is amended by striking out ``November 27, 1988'' 
     and inserting in lieu thereof ``November 17, 1988''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in the Technical and 
     Miscellaneous Civil Service Amendments Act of 1992 (Public 
     Law 102-378; 106 Stat. 1346; 5 U.S.C. 1101 note).
       Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to designate the 
     facility of the United States Postal Service located at 401 
     South Washington Street in Chillicothe, Missouri, as the 
     `Jerry L. Litton United States Post Office Building, and to 
     authorize travel and transportation expenses for certain 
     Federal career appointees, and for other purposes.''.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the committee 
amendment.
  The committee amendment was agreed to.


                           amendment no. 2573

 (Purpose: To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for travel 
and transportation expenses for the family of a career appointee in the 
Senior Executive Service who dies after transferring in the interest of 
the Government to an official duty station and who was eligible for an 
                     annuity at the time of death)

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, on behalf of Senators Pryor and Stevens, 
I send an amendment to the desk. I ask unanimous consent that the 
amendment be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2573) was agreed to, as follows:

       On page 1, insert after line 11, the following new section:

     SEC.   . TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES FOR FAMILY 
                   MEMBERS OF CAREER APPOINTEES.

       Paragraph (3) of section 5724(a) of title 5, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:
       ``(3) upon the separation (or death in service) of a career 
     appointee, as defined in section 3132(a)(4) of this title, 
     the travel expenses of that individual (if applicable), the 
     transportation expenses of the immediate family of such 
     individual, and the expenses of moving (including 
     transporting, packing, crating, temporarily storing, draying, 
     and unpacking) the household goods of such individual and 
     personal effects not in excess of eighteen thousand pounds 
     net weight, to the place where the individual will reside 
     (or, in the case of a career appointee who dies in service or 
     who dies after separating but before the travel, 
     transportation, and moving is completed, to the place where 
     the family will reside) within the United States, its 
     territories or possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
     or the areas and installations in the Republic of Panama made 
     available to the United States pursuant to the Panama Canal 
     Treaty of 1977 and related agreements, as described in 
     section 3(a) of the Panama Canal Act of 1979, if such 
     individual--
       ``(A) during or after the five years proceeding eligibility 
     to relieve an annuity under subchapter III of chapter 83, or 
     of chapter 84 of this title, has been transferred in the 
     interest of the Government from one official station to 
     another for permanent duty as a career appointee in the 
     Senior Executive Service or as a director under section 
     4103(a)(8) of title 38 (as in effect on November 17, 1988); 
     and
       ``(B) is eligible to receive an annuity upon such 
     separation (or, in the case of death in service, met the 
     requirements for being considered eligible to receive an 
     annuity, as of date of death) under the provisions of 
     subchapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of this title.''.

     SEC.    . EFFECTIVE DATE.

       (a) In General.--This Act and the amendment made by this 
     Act shall take effect on October 1, 1994, or, if later, the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.
       (b) Special Rule.--
       (1) In general.--Under regulations prescribed by the 
     President or his designee, an agency shall, as appropriate, 
     pay or make reimbursement for any moving expenses which would 
     be payable under the provisions of section 5724(a)(3) of 
     title 5, United States Code, as amended by section 1 (but 
     which would not have been payable under such provisions, as 
     last in effect before being so amended).
       (2) Applicability.--The moving expenses to which this 
     subsection applies are those incurred by the family of an 
     individual who died--
       (i) before separating from Government service; and
       (ii) during the period beginning on January 1, 1994, and 
     ending on the effective date of this Act.
       (3) Condition.--Payment or reimbursement under this 
     subsection may not be made except upon appropriate written 
     application submitted within 12 months after date on which 
     the regulations referred to in paragraph (1) take effect.

  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, the amendment that I am offering with 
Senator Stevens would correct a problem with the statute that controls 
travel reimbursements for certain Federal employees and their families.
  Currently, senior executive service [SES] members are entitled to 
certain travel expenses for the so-called last move home. However, if 
an individual dies prior to his or her return home, the immediate 
family is not eligible to be reimbursed for those expenses. A small 
number of cases have arisen recently where the widows of career SES 
members have been denied expenses for returning to their homes after 
their husbands have died.
  The Pryor-Stevens amendment would correct this deficiency by amending 
section 5724(a) of title 5, United States Code, to extend agency 
coverage of travel and transportation expenses for moving household 
goods and personal effects of eligible SES career employees to the 
place where the employee will reside, even when the employee dies 
before actually retiring from Federal service.
  The Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel 
Management, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the General 
Services Administration have all informally indicated their support for 
the amendment. This language has been approved by the House of 
Representatives as H.R. 4549. I urge my colleagues to support this 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment of the 
amendment and third reading of the bill.
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read a third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the 
question is, Shall the bill pass?
  So the bill (H.R. 1779), as amended, was passed.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which 
the bill was passed.
  Mr. COHEN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the title 
amendment be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The title was amended so as to read:

       An Act to designate the facility of the United States 
     Postal Service located at 401 South Washington Street in 
     Chillicothe, Missouri, as the ``Jerry L. Litton United States 
     Post Office Building'', and to authorize travel and 
     transportation expenses for certain Federal career 
     appointees, and for other purposes.

                          ____________________