THIS SEARCH     THIS DOCUMENT     THIS CR ISSUE     GO TO
Next Hit        Forward           Next Document     New CR Search
Prev Hit        Back              Prev Document     HomePage
Hit List        Best Sections     Daily Digest      Help
                Doc Contents      

TREASURY AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000 -- (House of Representatives - July 15, 1999)

SEC. 637. Notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 1346 and section 610 of this Act, the head of each Executive department and agency is hereby authorized to transfer to the ``Policy and Operations'' account, General Services Administration, with the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, funds made available for fiscal year 2000 by this or any other Act, including rebates from charge card and other contracts. These funds shall be administered by the Administrator of General Services to support government-wide financial, information technology, procurement, and other management innovations, initiatives, and activities, as approved by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the appropriate interagency groups designated by the Director (including the Chief Financial Officers Council and the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program for financial management initiatives and the Chief Information Officers Council for information technology initiatives). The total funds transferred shall not exceed $7,000,000. Such transfers may only be made 15 days following

[Page: H5646]  GPO's PDF
notification of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

   CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER IN THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

    SEC. 638. (a) IN GENERAL.--Section 901 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

    ``(c)(1) There shall be within the Executive Office of the President a Chief Financial Officer, who shall be designated or appointed by the President from among individuals meeting the standards described in subsection (a)(3). The position of Chief Financial Officer established under this paragraph may be so established in any Office (including the Office of Administrator) of the Executive Office of the President.

    ``(2) The Chief Financial Officer designated or appointed under this subsection shall, to the extent that the President determines appropriate and in the interest of the United States, have the same authority and perform the same functions as apply in the case of a Chief Financial Officer of an agency described in subsection (b).

    ``(3) The President shall submit to Congress notification with respect to any provision of section 902 that the President determines shall not apply to a Chief Financial Officer designated or appointed under this subsection.

    ``(4) The President may designate an employee of the Executive Office of the President (other than the Chief Financial Officer), who shall be deemed `the head of the agency' for purposes of carrying out section 902, with respect to the Executive Office of the President.''.

    (b) PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall communicate in writing, to the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, Chairman of the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, a plan for implementation of the provisions of, and amendments made by this section.

    (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.--The Chief Financial Officer designated or appointed under section 901(c) of title 31, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall be so designated or appointed not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

    (d) PAY.--The Chief Financial Officer designated or appointed under such section shall receive basic pay at the rate payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code.

    (e) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.--(1) The President may transfer such offices, functions, powers, or duties thereof, as the President determines are properly related to the functions of the Chief Financial Officer under section 901(c) of title 31, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)).

    (2) The personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds employed, held, used, arising from, available or to be made available, of any office the functions, powers, or duties of which are transferred under paragraph (1) shall also be so transferred.

    (f) SEPARATE BUDGET REQUEST.--Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (30) the following new paragraph:

    ``(31) a separate statement of the amount of appropriations requested for the Chief Financial Officer in the Executive Office of the President.''.

    (g) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.--Section 503(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--

    (1) in paragraph (7) by striking ``respectively.'' and inserting ``respectively (excluding any officer designated or appointed under section 901(c)).''; and

    (2) in paragraph (8) by striking ``Officers.'' and inserting ``Officers (excluding any officer designated or appointed under section 901(c)).''.

   ELECTRONIC FILING THRESHOLD

    SEC. 639. Section 304(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (11) and inserting the following:

    ``(11)(A) The Commission shall promulgate a regulation under which a person required to file a designation, statement, or report under this Act--

    ``(i) is required to maintain and file a designation, statement, or report for any calendar year in electronic form accessible by computers if the person has, or has reason to expect to have, aggregate contributions or expenditures in excess of a threshold amount determined by the Commission; and

    ``(ii) may maintain and file a designation, statement, or report in electronic form or an alternative form if not required to do so under the regulation promulgated under clause (i).

    ``(B) The Commission shall make a designation, statement, report, or notification that is filed electronically with the Commission accessible to the public on the Internet not later than 24 hours after the designation, statement, report, or notification is received by the Commission.

    ``(C) In promulgating a regulation under this paragraph, the Commission shall provide methods (other than requiring a signature on the document being filed) for verifying designations, statements, and reports covered by the regulation. Any document verified under any of the methods shall be treated for all purposes (including penalties for perjury) in the same manner as a document verified by signature.''.

   ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR IMPOSITION OF PENALTIES FOR REPORTING VIOLATIONS

    SEC. 640. (a) IN GENERAL.--Section 309(a)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(4)) is amended--

    (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ``clause (ii)'' and inserting ``clauses (ii) and subparagraph (C)''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

    ``(C)(i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in the case of a violation of any requirement under this Act relating to the reporting of receipts or disbursements, the Commission may--

    ``(I) find that a person committed such a violation on the basis of information obtained pursuant to the procedures described in paragraphs (1) and (2); and

    ``(II) based on such finding, require the person to pay a civil money penalty in an amount determined under a schedule of penalties which is established and published by the Commission and which takes into account the amount of the violation involved, the existence of previous violations by the person, and such other factors as the Commission considers appropriate.

    ``(ii) The Commission may not make any determination adverse to a person under clause (i) until the person has been given written notice and an opportunity for the determination to be made on the record.

    ``(iii) Any person against whom an adverse determination is made under this subparagraph may obtain a review of such determination in the district court of the United States for the district in which the person is found, resides, or transacts business, by filing in such court (prior to the expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the date the person receives notification of the determination) a written petition requesting that the determination be modified or set aside.''

    (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.--Section 309(a)(6)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(6)(A)) is amended by striking ``paragraph (4)(A)'' and inserting ``paragraph (4)''.

    (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.--The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring on or after January 1, 2000.

   CHANGE IN CERTAIN REPORTING FROM A CALENDAR YEAR BASIS TO AN ELECTION CYCLE BASIS

    SEC. 641. Section 304(b) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(b)) is amended by inserting ``(or election cycle, in the case of an authorized committee of a candidate for Federal office)'' after ``calendar year'' each place it appears in paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (6), and (7).

   PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

    SEC. 642. (a) IN GENERAL.--Section 636 of the Treasury Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. prec. 5941 note) is amended in the first sentence by striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall, subject to the availability of appropriations,''.

    (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1999, or the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later.

    SEC. 643. IN GENERAL.--Hereafter, an Executive agency which provides or proposes to provide child care services for Federal employees may use appropriated funds (otherwise available to such agency for salaries) to provide child care, in a Federal or leased facility, or through contract, for civilian employees of such agency.

    (b) AFFORDABILITY.--Amounts so provided with respect to any such facility or contractor shall be applied to improve the affordability of child care for lower income Federal employees using or seeking to use the child care services offered by such facility or contractor.

    (c) REGULATIONS.--The Office of Personnel Management shall, within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, issue regulations necessary to carry out this section.

    (d) DEFINITION.--For purposes of this section, the term ``Executive agency'' has the meaning given such term by section 105 of title 5, United States Code, but does not include the General Accounting Office.

   COMPENSATION OF THE PRESIDENT

    Sec. 644. (a) INCREASE IN ANNUAL COMPENSATION.--Section 102 of title 3, United States Code, is amended by striking ``$200,000'' and inserting ``$400,000''.

    (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.--The amendment made by this section shall take effect at noon on January 20, 2001.

   The CHAIRMAN. Are there any amendments to that portion of the bill?

   AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. WELDON OF FLORIDA

   Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

   The Clerk read as follows:

   Amendment offered by Mr. Weldon of Florida:

   In section 635 (relating to contraceptive coverage), redesignate subsection (d) as subsection (e) and insert after subsection (c) the following new subsection:

   (d)(1) None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used by the Office of Personnel Management to enter into or renew a contract with a health benefits plan which does not offer health plan enrollees at the time of enrollment the option of choosing an enhanced benefit described in paragraph (2)

[Page: H5647]  GPO's PDF
in lieu of the contraceptive coverage mandated by this section.

   (2) An enrollee may elect enhanced benefits for any one of the following categories of benefits: dental, optometry, prenatal, infertility, or prescription drug. Each enhanced benefits option shall be designed by the plan involved and shall be equivalent in value to what the plan spends for the average enrollee who chooses the contraceptive coverage.

   (3) Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to require a plan to offer an enhanced benefits option for any category of benefits for which no coverage would otherwise be available under the plan.

   Mr. WELDON of Florida (during the reading). Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read and printed in the Record.

   The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida?

   There was no objection.

   Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order.

   The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Arizona reserves a point of order.

   Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, last year, Congress adopted the Lowey mandate that all FEHBP plans include coverage of contraceptive care. This year, that language was considered in the base text of the bill. There are millions of Americans who object to being forced to subsidize, through higher premiums, contraceptive benefits for other plan enrollees, for one reason or another, including many Federal employees.

   They have many reasons to object to being forced to subsidize these benefits. They may have moral and religious objections. They may be a single person, and they feel that they should not be forced to subsidize this benefit. They may be an infertile couple facing the tragedy of having to pay tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills for infertility work-ups while they are simultaneously paying a higher premium for this benefit for others.

   Why should those older Federal employees who may be beyond the childbearing years pay the higher premium when they might prefer better dental care coverage or preventive care?

   My amendment ensures that Federal employees are given the choice of opting out of this mandate of contraceptive benefits. My amendment would give enrollees the choice to select the contraceptive benefit currently required in the bill, or they could, if they preferred, exercise and choose enhanced dental, optometry, prenatal, infertility, or prescription drug benefits.

   My amendment will not result in additional costs to plans, because the language in my amendment calls for these benefits to be of equivalent value of what the plan spends for the average beneficiary choosing the contraceptive benefit.

   My amendment does not require a plan to offer any new benefits that they do not already offer. Plans could opt to provide these enhanced benefits through lower copays for doctors visits or lower copays for prescription drugs. They could enhance preventive care benefits like providing free dental checkups. I believe that my amendment is a significant improvement over the base text language.

   I understand the decision of the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman KOLBE) to raise a point of order against my amendment. I will, therefore, withdraw my amendment from consideration. But I would encourage members of this subcommittee to consider language such as this when they go to conference or when they take this bill up next year.

   Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

   Mr. WELDON of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

   Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for withdrawing his amendment. As the gentleman knows, I would have supported the chairman's point of order. But I do want to commend the gentleman. Significantly, Federal employees do not have the dental benefits that are available in some other policies.

   I think the gentleman raises a good issue, not in the context he raises it, he and I would disagree on that, but in a separate context outside of that. I think that it is a good issue, and I am pursuing it, along with others.

   Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. HOYER) for his input. I would be very happy to work with him on this issue in the future.

   Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

   The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida?

   There was no objection.

   AMENDMENT NO. 10 OFFERED BY MR. SESSIONS

   Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

   The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

   The text of the amendment is as follows:

   Amendment No. 10 offered by Mr. SESSIONS:

   Strike section 644 (relating to compensation of the President).

   Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, this amendment strikes section 664, which doubles the President of the United States' salary from $200,000 to $400,000 effective January 20 at noon in the year 2001.

   I believe that doubling the President's salary in an era when we are expected to make tough, responsible decisions to save the American people's money, to save Social Security, and to ensure a smaller, smarter, common sense budget, means that we did not attempt to invoke reason or balance in this process.

   Our amendment is sponsored by the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, and Americans for Tax Reform.

   I am joined in this effort by the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. SANFORD).

   Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. SANFORD).

   Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Chairman, I concur wholeheartedly with what the gentleman from Texas (Mr. SESSIONS) said and what this amendment is about. As the gentleman suggested, it is simply about leaving the presidential salary at $200,000 rather than doubling it to $400,000. That has absolutely nothing to do with Bill Clinton. It has absolutely nothing to do with George Bush. It has everything to do with George Washington.

   Because our Founding Fathers, and George Washington in particular, went to absolutely great degrees to make sure that we did not elect a king but that we had representative government.

   The idea of representative government was that it would be of the people, by the people, for the people. Instead, we have gone from there to the point where, and as we all remember, George Washington was going through the checkout line at the grocery store, and he could not remember how much a gallon of milk cost.

   People have become very removed in this political process from what regular day people feel. So what this amendment is about is simply trying to keep some small thread of connection between elected leadership and what people feel on a daily basis.


THIS SEARCH     THIS DOCUMENT     THIS CR ISSUE     GO TO
Next Hit        Forward           Next Document     New CR Search
Prev Hit        Back              Prev Document     HomePage
Hit List        Best Sections     Daily Digest      Help
                Doc Contents