[House Report 109-390]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-390

======================================================================
 
  COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR TRAVEL BY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ATTORNEYS

                                _______
                                

 March 14, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, from the Committee on Government Reform, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4057]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Government Reform, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 4057) to provide that attorneys employed by the 
Department of Justice shall be eligible for compensatory time 
off for travel under section 5550b of title 5, United States 
Code, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Committee Statement and Views....................................     2
Section-by-Section...............................................     2
Explanation of Amendments........................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Roll Call Votes..................................................     3
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch.....................     3
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the 
  Committee......................................................     3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     3
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     3
Federal Advisory Committee Act...................................     3
Unfunded Mandate Statement.......................................     3
Committee Estimate...............................................     3
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate...     4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported.............     4

                     COMMITTEE STATEMENT AND VIEWS

Purpose and summary

    H.R. 4057 would amend Section 5550b of title 5, U.S. Code, 
to extend compensatory time off for travel to attorneys in the 
Department of Justice.

Background and need for legislation

    Section 203 of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 
2004 (Pub. L. 108-411, October 30, 2004) amended title 5, U.S. 
Code, by creating a new Sec. 5550b. Section 5550b requires an 
employing agency to grant an employee compensatory time off for 
time spent in travel status away from his or her official duty 
station, if the time is not otherwise compensable. An employee 
whose travel time is credited as compensatory time off is not 
entitled to pay for those hours.
    When the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 was 
enacted, it was understood that Sec. 5550b of title 5, U.S. 
Code, would apply to all Federal employees in Executive branch 
agencies. However, after the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act 
of 2004 became law, the Department of Justice stated the view 
that Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(1) [title I, Sec. 
115], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A-21, and Pub. L. 106-
553, Sec. 1(a)(2) [title I, Sec. 111], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 
2762, 2762A-68 (set out as a note under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 5541), 
prevented the Department from applying Sec. 5550b to any 
individual employed as an attorney, including an Assistant 
United States Attorney, in the Department of Justice. H.R. 4057 
would remove any ambiguity regarding the application of Sec. 
5550b of title 5, U.S. Code, to an individual employed as an 
attorney with the Department of Justice.

Legislative history

    H.R. 4057 was introduced on October 17, 2005 by 
Representative Jon Porter and referred to the Committee on 
Government Reform. On October 20, 2005, the Committee on 
Government Reform held a consideration and markup hearing and 
the bill was reported favorably by voice vote.

                           SECTION-BY-SECTION

Sec. 1. Compensatory time off for travel

    Subsection (a) allows attorneys, including assistant U.S. 
attorneys, employed with the Department of Justice to receive 
compensatory time for travel under the provisions of section 
5550b of title, U.S. Code, without regard to the provisions of 
Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(1) [title I, Sec. 115] 
and Pub. L. 106-553, Sec. 1(a)(2) [title I, Sec. 111].
    Subsection (b) provides that subsection (a) applies to time 
spent in travel status on or after the date of enactment.

                       EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS

    The provisions of the substitute are explained in this 
report.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    On October 20, 2005, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 4057, as introduced, 
by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                             ROLLCALL VOTES

    No rollcall votes were held.

              APPLICATION OF LAW TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a 
description of the application of this bill to the legislative 
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of 
employment or access to public services and accommodations. 
This bill extends an executive branch authority to provide 
compensatory time off for travel to attorneys in the Department 
of Justice. As such this bill does not relate to employment or 
access to public services and accommodations.

  STATEMENT OF OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of 
this report.

         STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance 
goals and objectives are reflected in the descriptive portions 
of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Under clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee must include a statement 
citing the specific powers granted to Congress to enact the law 
proposed by H.R. 4057. Article I, Section 8, clause 18 of the 
Constitution of the United States grants the Congress the power 
to enact this law.

                     FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish 
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within 
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).

                       UNFUNDED MANDATE STATEMENT

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded 
Mandate Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement whether 
the provisions of the reported include unfunded mandates. In 
compliance with this requirement the Committee has received a 
letter from the Congressional Budget Office included herein.

                           COMMITTEE ESTIMATE

    Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out 
H.R. 4057. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has 
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the 
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.

     BUDGET AUTHORITY AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and Section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received 
the following cost estimate for H.R. 4057 from the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 4057--A bill to provide that attorneys employed by the Department 
        of Justice shall be eligible for compensatory time off for 
        travel under section 5550b of title 5, United States Code

    H.R. 4057 would amend the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act 
of 2004 (Public Law 108-411) to clarify that Department of 
Justice (DOJ) attorneys are eligible to receive compensatory 
time off for time spent in travel status if that time is not 
otherwise compensable. Office of Personnel Management 
regulations allow DOJ attorneys to receive equal time off in 
exchange for work-related travel outside of regular business 
hours. Current DOJ guidelines, however, specifically bar agency 
attorneys from receiving the benefit.
    H.R. 4057 could increase costs for DOJ if the use of 
compensatory time by attorneys necessitated hiring new 
attorneys to complete their current workload. Based on 
information from DOJ and the experience of other agencies, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 4057 would not have a 
significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting the bill 
would not affect direct spending or revenues.
    H.R. 4057 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

          CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL AS REPORTED

    H.R. 4057 makes no changes to existing law.

                                  
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