TITLE:  Immigration and Naturalization Service-Appropriations-Purchase of, B-280440, February 26, 1999
BNUMBER:  B-280440
DATE:  February 26, 1999
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Immigration and Naturalization Service-Appropriations-Purchase of, B-280440,
February 26, 1999

Decision

Matter of: Immigration and Naturalization Service-Appropriations-Purchase of
Medals-75th Anniversary

File: B-280440

Date: February 26, 1999

DIGEST

The INS salaries and expenses appropriation is available to purchase medals
to be worn by uniformed employees of the Border Patrol division of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to commemorate the division's
75th anniversary.

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DECISION

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of Justice,
asks whether INS' Border Patrol division may use INS appropriations to
purchase medals commemorating the Border Patrol's 75th anniversary. The
Border Patrol would issue the medals, to be worn by its uniformed agents, as
a part of the division's 75th anniversary celebration. For the reasons
discussed below, INS appropriations are available for the purchase of the
medals.

INS, in its June 18, 1998, letter to us, stated that the medals would be
issued "to commemorate the honorable service of and sacrifices made by
thousands of men and women, officers and non-officers, who have served in
the Border Patrol since its inception." An agency official explained that
the Border Patrol considers the medals accompaniments to agents' uniforms
and that the agents would wear the medals at certain specified times. The
Border Patrol estimates that the medals will cost between $8 and $9 each,
with the total cost at around $99,000.

The Border Patrol would charge the INS salaries and expenses appropriation
to pay for the medals. Border Patrol officials assert that in recognizing
the division's 75 years of service, the medals would heighten public
awareness of the stability and longevity of the division, hopefully creating
goodwill that would benefit the agents while they perform their duties. The
officials consider the expenditure for the medals as necessary and proper in
assisting the division to carry out its authorized functions.

INS recognizes that an agency, generally, has discretion to decide how to
apply its appropriations, but asks whether the Border Patrol's justification
is adequate. INS expresses concern that "[t]he expenditures associated with
the development, production and distribution of the commemorative medals
would not in any way be directly connected to, or further the purposes
underlying, INS' salaries and expenses appropriation." INS concludes that
its salaries and expenses appropriation is not available for the purchase of
commemorative medals, but asks for our decision nevertheless.

An appropriation is available only for the objects for which the
appropriation was made. 31 U.S.C. sect. 1301(a). The INS salaries and expenses
appropriation does not specifically provide for the purchase of the medals.
It is generally available for "expenses necessary for the administration and
enforcement of the laws relating to immigration, naturalization, and alien
registration as follows: . . . For salaries and expenses for the Border
Patrol program . . .." H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 105-825, at 61 (1998). [1] When
the appropriation in question does not specifically authorize the proposed
purchase, the standard for measuring the propriety of the expenditure is the
"necessary expense" rule. 66 Comp. Gen. 356, 359 (1987). An expenditure is
permissible if it is reasonably necessary to carry out an authorized
function or will contribute materially to the effective accomplishment of
that function, and is not otherwise prohibited by law. Id.

The application of the necessary expense rule, in the first instance, is a
matter of agency discretion. When an agency determines that an expenditure
is a permissible use of its appropriation under a necessary expense
analysis, we will review the reasonableness of that determination. In those
instances, our inquiry focuses on whether the relationship of the proposed
expenditure to the appropriation sought to be charged is so attenuated as to
take the proposed expenditure beyond the agency's legitimate range of
discretion. See B-247563, B-247563.2, May 12, 1993. In this case, we would
not object to INS' use of its salaries and expenses appropriations to
purchase commemorative uniform medals for Border Patrol agents, if it
chooses to do so.

Whether the purchase of particular items directly furthers an agency's
mission depends largely on the facts and circumstances of the case. Items
such as the commemorative medals at issue here are often viewed as gifts or
souvenirs of a personal nature, for which appropriations, generally, are not
available. See generally 70 Comp. Gen. 248, 250-52 (1991); 57 Comp. Gen.
385, 386-87 (1978). Such items, while clearly personal in some contexts,
nevertheless may advance legitimate agency goals and policies in other
contexts, particularly where the items have no independent intrinsic value
to the recipients.

In B-257488, Nov. 6, 1995, we did not object to the Food and Drug
Administration's use of its lump-sum salaries and expenses appropriations to
purchase buttons printed with the slogan, "No Red Tape", for distribution to
its employees. The buttons served as a reminder to FDA employees to find
ways to work efficiently to satisfy customer needs. Where an item, such as
the "No Red Tape" button, has "no intrinsic value to its recipient, and is
designed solely to assist in achieving internal agency management
objectives, the agency must show that the item will contribute to the
agency's mission." B-257488, Nov. 6, 1995. The "No Red Tape" buttons were
"clearly informational and directed at the promotion of an internal agency
management objective" serving much the same purpose as other internal agency
informational media such as posters and memos, which remind agency employees
of institutional objectives and goals. Id.

For similar reasons, we would not object to INS' proposed use of its
salaries and expenses appropriation to purchase the commemorative medals.
The medals are not gifts, but are a part of a Border Patrol agent's uniform
that the agent will wear at specified times. The medals convey as well as
serve an institutional purpose- i.e., reminding the public and agency staff
of the Border Patrol's 75 years of hard work and dedication, advancing
knowledge and appreciation for the agency's history and mission and
promoting the stability and longevity of the agency. We do not find the
Border Patrol's justification for use of the salaries and expenses
appropriation so attenuated as to remove the proposed expenditure of the
appropriation beyond INS' range of discretion. Accordingly, we would not
object if INS decides to purchase the medals.

Comptroller General
of the United States

Notes

1. On October 21, 1998, Congress enacted the Omnibus Consolidated and
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub. L. No. 105-277. At the
time of this decision, the Government Printing Office had not printed its
text. The House agreed to the language of the conference report on October
20, 1998, and the Senate agreed to the language on October 21, 1998.