[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 137 (Monday, September 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H10384-H10385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AUTHORIZING THE PEACE CORPS TO PROVIDE SEPARATION PAY FOR HOST COUNTRY 
                 RESIDENT PERSONAL SERVICES CONTRACTORS

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3528) to provide authority to the Peace Corps to provide 
separation pay for host country resident personal services contractors 
of the Peace Corps.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3528

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

     SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION FOR PEACE CORPS TO PROVIDE 
                   SEPARATION PAY FOR HOST COUNTRY RESIDENT 
                   PERSONAL SERVICES CONTRACTORS OF THE PEACE 
                   CORPS.

       (a) Establishment of Fund.--There is established in the 
     Treasury of the United States a fund for the Peace Corps to 
     provide separation pay for host country resident personal 
     services contractors of the Peace Corps.
       (b) Funding.--The Director of the Peace Corps may deposit 
     in the fund established under subsection (a)--
       (1) amounts previously obligated and not canceled to 
     provide the separation pay described in such subsection; and
       (2) amounts obligated for fiscal years after fiscal year 
     2006 for current and future costs of providing such 
     separation pay.
       (c) Availability.--Beginning in fiscal year 2007, amounts 
     deposited in the fund established under subsection (a) shall 
     be available without fiscal year limitation for severance, 
     retirement, or other separation payments to host country 
     resident personal services contractors of the Peace Corps in 
     countries where such payments are legally authorized.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega)

[[Page H10385]]

and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) each will control 20 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from American Samoa.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from American Samoa?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, again I rise in strong support of this legislation and 
thank my good friend, the gentleman from New Jersey, on the other side 
of the aisle for his support in managing this legislation. I also want 
to thank the leadership of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman 
Lantos and our senior ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for their 
leadership and support of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, to millions around the globe, Peace Corps is the ``human 
face'' of America. For more than 46 years, the Peace Corps has helped 
the people of developing countries meet their needs for trained men and 
women and in the process has promoted a better understanding of 
America.
  The legislation before the House today is a technical bill requested 
by the administration. It will facilitate the provision of separation 
pay to the many foreign nationals who work for the Peace Corps 
overseas. The bill accomplishes this objective in an open and 
transparent manner to ensure the complete accountability to the 
American taxpayers.
  With that, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 3528, legislation introduced by our 
distinguished chairman, Tom Lantos, that will help the Peace Corps 
eliminate a small but important discrepancy between its accounting and 
its expenditures.
  Under foreign local law and the terms of their contracts, the Peace 
Corps is frequently required to make separation payments to personal 
service contractors overseas, for example, a lump sum payment equal to 
1 month's salary for every year of service. The Peace Corps is required 
to account for that liability on its books every year even though those 
funds are not paid out to the contractor until the end of their service 
with the Peace Corps, which sometimes can be more than a decade.
  However, because unspent funds revert back to the U.S. Treasury 5 
years after they are obligated, the Peace Corps must pay obligations 
from beyond that time frame out of current operating funds. The bill 
would create a fund into which those obligations could be paid as they 
accrue, which can be used only for that purpose. Since this does not 
affect Peace Corps appropriations or obligations, there are no costs 
associated with this fix.
  This also provides us with an opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to again 
commend the Peace Corps and its many volunteers for the important work 
that they do in building bridges of understanding between the American 
people and communities, families, and individuals overseas.
  We support this legislation
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3528.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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