[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 11013-11016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5146]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 28, 1995 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 11013]]
Executive Order 12953 of February 27, 1995
Actions Required of all Executive Agencies To
Facilitate Payment of Child Support
Children need and deserve the emotional and financial
support of both their parents.
The Federal Government requires States and, through
them, public and private employers to take actions
necessary to ensure that monies in payment of child
support obligations are withheld and transferred to the
child's caretaker in an efficient and expeditious
manner.
The Federal Government, through its civilian employees
and Uniformed Services members, is the Nation's largest
single employer and as such should set an example of
leadership and encouragement in ensuring that all
children are properly supported.
NOW, THEREFORE, by the authority vested in me as
President by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States of America, including section 301 of
title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
PART I--PURPOSE
Section 101. This executive order: (a) Establishes the
executive branch of the Federal Government, through its
civilian employees and Uniformed Services members, as a
model employer in promoting and facilitating the
establishment and enforcement of child support.
(b) Requires all Federal agencies, including the
Uniformed Services, to cooperate fully in efforts to
establish paternity and child support orders and to
enforce the collection of child and medical support in
all situations where such actions may be required.
(c) Requires each Federal agency, including the
Uniformed Services, to provide information to its
employees and members about actions that they should
take and services that are available to ensure that
their children are provided the support to which they
are legally entitled.
PART 2--DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this order:
Sec. 201. ``Federal agency'' means any authority as
defined at 5 U.S.C. 105, including the Uniformed
Services, as defined in section 202 of this order.
Sec. 202. ``Uniformed Services'' means the Army, Navy,
Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the
Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health
Service.
Sec. 203. ``Child support enforcement'' means any
administrative or judicial action by a court or
administrative entity of a State necessary to establish
paternity or establish a child support order, including
a medical support order, and any actions necessary to
enforce a child support or medical support order. Child
support actions may be brought under the civil or
criminal laws of a State and are not limited to actions
brought on behalf of the State or individual by State
agencies providing services under title IV-D of the
Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.
Sec. 204. ``State'' means any of the fifty States, the
District of Columbia, the territories, the possessions,
and the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and of the Mariana
Islands.
[[Page 11014]] PART 3--IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TO ENSURE
CHILDREN ARE SUPPORTED BY THEIR PARENTS
Sec. 301. Wage Withholding. (a) Within 60 days from the
date of this order, every Federal agency shall review
its procedures for wage withholding under 42 U.S.C. 659
and implementing regulations to ensure that it is in
full compliance with the requirements of that section,
and shall endeavor, to the extent feasible, to process
wage withholding actions consistent with the
requirements of 42 U.S.C. 666(b).
(b) Beginning no later than July 1, 1995, the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
shall publish annually in the Federal Register the list
of agents (and their addresses) designated to receive
service of withholding notices for Federal employees.
Sec. 302. Service of Legal Process. Every Federal
agency shall assist in the service of legal process in
civil actions pursuant to orders of courts of States to
establish paternity and establish or enforce a support
obligation by making Federal employees and members of
the Uniformed Services stationed outside the United
States available for the service of process. Each
agency shall designate an official who shall be
responsible for facilitating a Federal employee's or
member's availability for service of process,
regardless of the location of the employee's workplace
or member's duty station. The OPM shall publish a list
of these officials annually in the Federal Register,
beginning no later than July 1, 1995.
Sec. 303. Federal Parent Locator. Every Federal agency
shall cooperate with the Federal Parent Locator
Service, established under 42 U.S.C. 653, by providing
complete, timely and accurate information that will
assist in locating noncustodial parents and their
employers.
Sec. 304. Crossmatch for Delinquent Obligors. (a) The
master file of delinquent obligors that each State
child support enforcement agency submits to the
Internal Revenue Service for Federal income tax refund
offset purposes shall be matched at least annually with
the payroll or personnel files of Federal agencies in
order to determine if there are any Federal employees
with child support delinquencies. The list of matches
shall be forwarded to the appropriate State child
support enforcement agency to determine, in each
instance, whether wage withholding or other enforcement
actions should be commenced. All matches will be
performed in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)-(u).
(b) All Federal agencies shall inform current and
prospective employees that crossmatches are routinely
made between Federal personnel records and State
records on individuals who owe child support, and
inform employees how to initiate voluntary wage
withholding requests.
Sec. 305. Availability of Service. All Federal agencies
shall advise current and prospective employees of
services authorized under title IV-D of the Social
Security Act that are available through the States. At
a minimum, information shall be provided annually to
current employees through the Employee Assistance
Program, or similar programs, and to new employees
during routine orientation.
Sec. 306. Report on Actions Taken. Within 90 days of
the date of this order, all Federal agencies shall
report to the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) on the actions they have taken to comply
with this order and any statutory, regulatory, and
administrative barriers that hinder them from complying
with the requirements of part 3 of this order.
PART 4--ADDITIONAL ACTIONS
Sec. 401. Additional Review for the Uniformed Services.
(a) In addition to the requirements outlined above, the
Secretary of the Department of Defense (DOD) will chair
a task force, with participation by the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of
Commerce, and the Department of Transportation, that
shall conduct a full review of current policies and
practices within the Uniformed Services to ensure that
children [[Page 11015]] of Uniformed Services personnel
are provided financial and medical support in the same
manner and within the same time frames as is mandated
for all other children due such support. This review
shall include, but not be limited to, issues related to
withholding non-custodial parents' wages, service of
legal process, activities to locate parents and their
income and assets, release time to attend civil
paternity and support proceedings, and health insurance
coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program
of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). All relevant
existing statutes, including the Soldiers and Sailors
Civil Relief Act of 1940, the Uniformed Services Former
Spouses Protection Act, and the Tax Equity and Fiscal
Responsibility Act of 1982, shall be reviewed and
appropriate legislative modifications shall be
identified.
(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, DOD
shall submit to OMB a report based on this review. The
report shall recommend additional policy, regulatory
and legislative changes that would improve and enhance
the Federal Government's commitment to ensuring
parental support for all children.
Sec. 402. Additional Federal Agency Actions. (a) OPM
and HHS shall jointly study and prepare recommendations
concerning additional administrative, regulatory, and
legislative improvements in the policies and procedures
of Federal agencies affecting child support
enforcement. Other agencies shall be included in the
development of recommendations for specific items as
appropriate. The recommendations shall address, among
other things:
(i) any changes that would be needed to ensure that
Federal employees comply with child support orders that
require them to provide health insurance coverage for
their children;
(ii) changes needed to ensure that more accurate
and up-to-date data about civilian and uniformed
personnel who are being sought in conjunction with
State paternity or child support actions can be
obtained from Federal agencies and their payroll and
personnel records, to improve efforts to locate
noncustodial parents and their income and assets;
(iii) changes needed for selecting Federal agencies
to test and evaluate new approaches to the
establishment and enforcement of child support
obligations;
(iv) proposals to improve service of process for
civilian employees and members of the Uniformed
Services stationed outside the United States, including
the possibility of serving process by certified mail in
establishment and enforcement cases or of designating
an agent for service of process that would have the
same effect and bind employees to the same extent as
actual service upon the employees;
(v) strategies to facilitate compliance with
Federal and State child support requirements by quasi-
governmental agencies, advisory groups, and
commissions; and
(vi) analysis of whether compliance with support
orders should be a factor used in defining suitability
for Federal employment.
(b) The recommendations are due within 180 days of
the date of this order. The recommendations are to be
submitted in writing to the Office of Management and
Budget.
Sec. 501. Internal Management. This order is intended
only to improve the internal management of the
executive branch with regard to child support
enforcement and shall not be interpreted to create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law by a party against the United
States, its officers, or any other person.
Sec. 502. Sovereignty of the United States Government.
This order is intended only to provide that the Federal
Government has elected to require Federal agencies to
adhere to the same standards as are applicable to all
other employers in the Nation and shall not be
interpreted as subjecting the Federal Government to any
State law or requirement. This order should not be
construed as a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the
United [[Page 11016]] States Government or of any
existing statutory or regulatory provisions, including
42 U.S.C. 659, 662, and 665; 5 CFR Part 581; 42 CFR
Part 21, Subpart C; 32 CFR Part 54; and 32 CFR Part 81.
Sec. 503. Defense and Security.
This order is not intended to require any action that
would compromise the defense or national security
interest of the United States.
(Presidential Sig.)>
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 27, 1995.
[FR Doc. 95-5146
Filed 2-27-95; 11:23 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P