Postal Service FY98 Appropriations bill

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Department of the Treasury

Title II: Postal Service

Title III: Executive Office of the President and Funds

Appropriated to the President

Title IV: Independent Agencies

Title V: General Provisions

Title VI: General Provisions

Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1998 - Makes appropriations for FY 1998 for the Treasury Department, the U.S. Postal Service, the Executive Office of the President, and certain independent agencies.

Title I: Department of the Treasury - Makes appropriations for the Department of the Treasury for: (1) departmental offices; (2) the Office of Professional Responsibility; (3) automation enhancement; (4) the Office of Inspector General; (5) repair and restoration of the Treasury building and annex; (6) the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; (7) violent crime reduction programs; (8) the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, including amounts for maintenance and facility improvements; (9) interagency law enforcement with respect to organized crime drug trafficking; (10) the Financial Management Service; (11) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, including an amount for construction of specified laboratory facilities; (12) the U.S. Customs Service, including amounts for operations and maintenance of marine vessels and aircraft, services at small airports, and collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee; (13) the Bureau of the Public Debt; (14) the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including amounts for tax law enforcement, information systems, and information technology investments; and (15) the Secret Service, including an amount for construction and improvement of facilities.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds.

(Sec. 117) Provides that the compensation and other emoluments attached to the Secretary of the Treasury shall be those that would apply if Public Law 103-2 (which sets such compensation and emoluments at those in effect on January 1, 1989) had never been enacted. Makes such adjustment effective on the later of: (1) the day after the date on which the individual holding such office on January 1, 1997, ceases to hold such office; or (2) this Act's enactment date.

(Sec. 118) Amends the District of Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1958 to revise provisions regarding compensation for the Secret Service Uniformed Division. Establishes a rate schedule for such compensation and sets forth administrative provisions regarding conversion to the new schedule. Revises provisions regarding premium pay for the Division and sets new limits on premium pay and compensatory time for Division members whose basic pay exceeds a specified amount.

Makes any existing special salary rates, rates of pay, or pay adjustments under specified Federal laws inapplicable to the Division on the effective date of this section.

(Sec. 120) Requires the Secretary to establish the port of Kodiak, Alaska, as a port of entry to be served by Customs Service personnel. Authorizes appropriations.

Title II: Postal Service - Makes appropriations for payments to the Postal Service Fund for revenue foregone on free and reduced rate mail and for meeting the liabilities of the former Post Office Department to the Employees' Compensation Fund.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds.

Title III: Executive Office of the President and Funds Appropriated to the President - Makes appropriations for: (1) compensation of the President and the White House office; (2) operating and maintenance expenses of the Executive Residence at the White House; (3) White House repair and restoration; (4) special assistance to the President and the official residence of the Vice President; (5) the Council of Economic Advisers; (6) the Office of Policy Development; (7) the National Security Council; (8) the Office of Administration; (9) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); (10) the Office of National Drug Control Policy; and (11) Federal drug control programs, including amounts for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and for a national media campaign for youth.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds.

Title IV: Independent Agencies - Makes appropriations for the: (1) Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled; (2) Federal Election Commission; (3) Federal Labor Relations Authority; and (4) General Services Administration, including amounts for the Federal Buildings Fund, Government-wide policy and operations, Office of Inspector General, and allowances and office staff for former Presidents.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds.

(Sec. 409) Removes time limitations on certain allowances and mailing privileges extended to former Presidents.

Makes appropriations for: (1) expenses to carry out the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992; (2) the Merit Systems Protection Board; (3) the National Archives and Records Administration, including amounts for repairs and restoration of archives and presidential libraries; (4) the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; (5) the Office of Government Ethics; (6) the Office of Personnel Management, including an amount for the Office of Inspector General; (7) Government contributions for health and life insurance benefits for annuitants; (8) the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (9) the Office of Special Counsel; and (10) the U.S. Tax Court.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds.

Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of funds made available under this Act.

(Sec. 509) Sets forth Buy American provisions.

(Sec. 512) Requires, except as otherwise provided, that no more than 50 percent of unobligated balances remaining at the end of FY 1998 from appropriations for salaries and expenses remain available through FY 1999. Requires a request to specified congressional committees before expenditure of the funds.

(Sec. 513) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act by the Executive Office of the President to request an official background investigation report on any individual from the Federal Bureau of Investigation unless such individual has given prior written consent during the same presidential administration or such request is due to extraordinary national security circumstances.

Title VI: General Provisions - Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of funds appropriated for Federal departments, agencies, and corporations.

(Sec. 625) Requires the OMB Director to report to the Congress: (1) estimates of costs and benefits of Federal regulatory programs; (2) impacts of Federal rules on the private sector and all levels of government; and (3) recommendations for reform or elimination of inefficient regulatory programs.

(Sec. 632) Requires the OMB Director to implement a budget object classification to record obligations for the expenses of employee relocation.

(Sec. 633) Requires the U.S. Postal Service to establish a special rate of postage for first-class mail that is one cent higher than the regular rate as an alternative that patrons may use voluntarily to contribute to funding for breast-cancer research. Authorizes the Service to design and sell special stamps.

Requires the Service to pay amounts attributable (additional revenues minus costs) to the one-cent differential to the Department of Health and Human Services at least twice a year.

(Sec. 634) Amends the Federal judicial code to: (1) provide for annual judicial cost-of-living adjustments; and (2) base such adjustments upon the General Schedule. Amends Federal law to repeal the requirement that the Congress must vote for judicial cost-of-living adjustments.

(Sec. 636) Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require certain designations, statements, and reports by the Republican and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committees to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate.

(Sec. 637) Bars cost-of-living adjustments for Members of Congress under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 during FY 1998.

(Sec. 638) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the United States should implement the recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT); and (2) fish taken and retained in a manner inconsistent with ICCAT's recommendations should be prohibited entry into the United States.

(Sec. 639) Directs heads of Federal agencies to: (1) remove computer games not required for official business from agency computers; and (2) prohibit their installation into such computers.

Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to prohibit heads of executive agencies from accepting delivery of information technology loaded with game programs not required for official purposes. Waives such prohibition if an agency head certifies to the Congress that costs of compliance outweigh the benefits.

(Sec. 640) Requires the congressional ethics committees to provide for voluntary reporting by Members of Congress on the financial disclosure reports filed under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 on participation in the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System.

(Sec. 641) Requires Federal employees to be separated from service and barred from reemployment in the Federal service if: (1) convicted of a violation or attempted violation of Federal criminal code provisions relating to bribery of public officials and witnesses; and (2) such violation related to conduct concerning the import, export, or distribution of controlled substances prohibited under the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act.

(Sec. 642) Requires the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to submit to specified congressional committees a plan to improve coordination, and eliminate duplication, among the counterdrug intelligence centers and activities of the Federal Government.

(Sec. 643) Directs the U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) initiate discussions with Mexican and Canadian officials to achieve parity in the duty-free personal allowance structure of the United States, Mexico, and Canada; and (2) submit recommendations to the Congress for appropriate legislation and action if parity is not achieved within 180 days of this Act's enactment date.

(Sec. 644) Prohibits funds appropriated by this Act from being available to pay for an abortion or for the administrative expenses of health plans under the Federal employees health benefit program which provide benefits or coverage for abortions. Makes such prohibition inapplicable in cases where the mother's life would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.