[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 6, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S33]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                      FEDERAL VACANCIES REFORM ACT

 Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. President, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act 
was passed as part of the omnibus appropriations bill. As reported by 
the Governmental Affairs Committee, and as confirmed in all the 
statements made when the bill passed the Senate, section 3347 of that 
statute made clear that so-called vesting and delegation statutes 
allowing the heads of departments to delegate duties to other officials 
in their departments do not constitute statutes providing for the 
filling of a specific vacant position that the law retains in lieu of 
the procedures contained in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The 
vesting and delegation statutes were cross-referenced to not fall 
within the statutes that subparagraph (a)(2) of the bill retained. 
While that was the appropriate cross-reference as the bill was 
reported, subsequent language changes made to clarify the issue altered 
the numbering of the subsections, but the earlier cross-reference was 
retained. As is obvious by reading the statements and the statutory 
language itself, the clear intent was to state that vesting and 
delegation statutes fall not within subsection (a)(2), which relates to 
recess appointments, but to subsection (a)(1), statutes that provide 
for the temporary filling of specific positions. We will make a 
technical change to the language next year, as the urgency of the 
legislation sent this bill directly to the President for his signature 
without the chance to make that technical correction. There is no 
question that the vesting and delegation statutes do not constitute 
provisions for the temporary appointment of specific officers, even 
without the crossreference, which was designed to be even more 
emphatic.

                          ____________________