[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1402-H1403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CORRECTING A PROVISION RELATING TO TERMINATION OF BENEFITS FOR 
                           CONVICTED PERSONS

  The Clerk called the bill (H.R. 3096) to correct a provision relating 
to termination of benefits for convicted persons.
  The Clerk read the bill, as follows:

                               H.R. 3096

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

     SECTION 1. CORRECTION.

       Section 8148(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
     by striking ``a receipt'' and inserting ``or receipt''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Owens) each will be recognized for 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood).
  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  The subject of H.R. 3096 is the Federal Employees Compensation Act. 
The Federal Employees Compensation Act is a good statute, it is an 
important one, it makes sure that when Federal employees are injured in 
the line of work that their lost wages are made up by the Federal 
Government and that their medical bills are paid for. It is a program 
that has been in place for a long time and it is one that we need to 
have, of course.
  There are some problems with this program in my view. We are now 
spending $1.9 billion a year to pay for the costs of 270,000 Federal 
workers. There are some changes that I will propose at a future date. 
We had a hearing on those changes this morning. But today, for 
Corrections Day, we are considering H.R. 3096, which unlike some of the 
other more controversial changes that I will propose, is 
noncontroversial and enjoys bipartisan support.
  The loophole that we are trying to close with this Corrections Day 
Calendar has to do with the following:
  Under the current law, if an individual files a valid claim for an 
injury during the course of Federal employment and then subsequently 
files a false claim or false follow-up information and is convicted and 
may even go to jail, under that scenario that individual can still, 
believe it or not, receive every 4 weeks a Federal workers' 
compensation check from the very funds supported by the taxpayers that 
that individual has defrauded.
  We are going to simply change one word, change the word ``a'' to 
``or'' so that we make sure that an individual will be ineligible to 
receive workers' compensation funds whether they had committed the 
initial fraud at the first claim or any subsequent fraud thereafter.
  It is a good bill, it is an important thing do to make the system 
have a bit more integrity. It has bipartisan support. It is supported 
by the Department of Labor and the Department of Labor's Office of 
Inspector General, and I would urge an aye vote.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Greenwood), the sponsor of H.R. 3096, and the Inspector General of the 
Department of Labor who recommended that we make this correction to the 
statute. The statute as presently drafted and the parallel language in 
the Federal Criminal Code differ, creating a discrepancy in the law 
which could have been interpreted to allow persons to receive FECA 
benefits on the basis of fraudulent information. The legislation before 
us makes a minor technical correction, changing an ``a'' to an ``or.'' 
This will ensure that persons who commit fraud and the receipt of FECA 
benefits would lose their entitlements to such benefits.
  I am pleased to support this legislation and again I commend the 
sponsor, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), for bringing 
it before us.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp).
  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the Corrections Advisory Group, 
I rise today in full support of the legislation of the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), H.R. 3096. This is truly a technical 
correction, and it is fitting for the bill to be considered on the 
Corrections Calendar.
  Mr. Speaker, our Nation's laws are complex and sometimes confusing, 
and when someone interprets the law, one word can make a difference. In 
this case, the inconsistent use of one word and the thousands of words 
that make up our laws called into question the law's application to 
certain individuals.
  The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood) recognized this 
inconsistency and quickly acted to make a change. He contacted the 
Corrections Advisory Group, which moved to correct the problem. The 
bill ensures that no Federal employee can lie on a benefit application 
or any subsequent request for information and get away with it.
  The Corrections Calendar was created to fix small, technical 
corrections such as this, and I am pleased the bill has made its way to 
the House floor so quickly.
  I would like to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for introducing 
this bill and for utilizing the Corrections Advisory Group, and I urge 
my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Owens) for his bipartisan support of this legislation. I want to thank 
the full committee chairman, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Goodling), and the Subcommittee on Workforce Protection chairman, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballenger), for their support of 
H.R. 3096 and for moving it so quickly through the committee. I would 
also like to again express my appreciation to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Owens) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay), as well as 
the Members on both sides of the aisle and, as well, the Corrections 
Day committee for their support of H.R. 3096.

[[Page H1403]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers and I, too, 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the previous question 
is ordered.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I, further 
proceedings on this question are postponed.

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