    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [October 28, 1993]
    [Pages 1855-1856]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Treasury, Postal Service, and General
    Government Appropriations Act, 1994
    October 28, 1993

        Today I have signed into law H.R. 2403, the ``Treasury, Postal
    Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1994.''
        This Act provides funding for the Department of the Treasury, the
    U.S. Postal Service, the General Services Administration, the Office of
    Personnel Management, the Executive Office of the President, and several
    smaller agencies. Programs within these agencies address major law
    enforcement activities in the United States as well as the fiscal
    operations and general management functions of the Federal Government.
        This Act provides funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax
    system modernization initiative and the tax law enforcement initiative.
    These initiatives are part of my investment program that was transmitted
    in the FY 1994 Budget. The investment in modernizing IRS will improve
    service to taxpayers, increase the productivity of IRS operations, and
    increase tax compliance. The tax law enforcement initiative will provide
    IRS with resources to address serious tax compliance problems and
    increase revenue collections.
        This Act also contains a provision that would implement, on a pilot
    basis, the recommendation made by the National Performance Review (NPR)
    that would allow up to 50 percent of an agency's unobligated funding for
    salaries and expenses at the end of FY 1994 to be carried forward to FY
    1995. The authority is limited to agencies covered by this bill. Of the
    50 percent carry-over, up to two percent of the funds may be used to
    finance cash awards to employees whose actions contributed to producing
    the savings, and up to three percent may be used for employee training
    programs.
        As requested by the Administration, this Act eliminates a long-
    standing restriction on the use of Federal Employee Health Benefit
    program funds for eligible persons seeking abortions.
        Several provisions in H.R. 2403 condition the President's
    authority--and the authority of certain agency officials--to use funds
    appropriated by this Act on the approval of congressional committees.
    The Administration will interpret

    [[Page 1856]]

    such provisions to require notification only, since any other
    interpretation of such provisos would contradict the Supreme Court
    ruling in INS vs. Chadha.
        The Act contains a prohibition on the implementation of the NPR
    recommendation to transfer the functions of the Bureau of Alcohol,
    Tobacco and Firearms to the Department of Justice. Because this
    prohibition is representative of the kind of restriction cited by the
    NPR as counterproductive to efficient government operations, I will work
    with the Congress to lift it.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,
    October 28, 1993.

    Note: H.R. 2403, approved October 28, was assigned Public Law No. 103-
    123. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    October 29.