ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS.

SEC. 608. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS. Section 333B (7 U.S.C. 1983b) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsections: “(d) The Secretary shall establish and maintain within the Farmers Home Administration a national appeals division, which shall consist of a director, hearing officers, and such other personnel necessary to the administration of the division, all of whom shall be employees of the Farmers Home Administration who shall have no duties other than hearing and determining formed appeals arising under this section. “(e) (1) Hearing officers within the appeals division in a State shall hear and determine all formal appeals of decisions which are subject to this section and are made by county supervisors, county committees, district directors, State directors, or other employees of the Secretary working in the State. Such hearings shall be held in the 101 STAT. 1668State of residence of the appellant. The decisions of hearing officers shall, on the request and election of the borrower, be reviewed by the State director of the State of residence of the appellant or shall be referred directly to the director of the national appeals division. If the borrower elects review by the State director, the decisions of the State director shall, on request of the borrower, be subject to further review by the director of the national appeals division. “(2) Each hearing before a hearing officer in the appeals division shall be recorded verbatim by voice recorder, stenographer, or other method, and a transcript of the hearing, together with all documents and evidence submitted, shall be made available to the appellant, on request, if the decision of the hearing officer is appealed. The record of the hearing shall consist of copies of all documents and other evidence presented to the hearing officer and the transcript of the hearing. “(3) If a decision of a hearing officer is appealed, the hearing officer shall certify the record and deliver or otherwise provide the certified record to the director of the national appeals division and the Secretary. The national appeals division shall base its review of the hearing on the transcript of the hearing and the evidence presented to the hearing officer. “(f) All hearing officers within the national appeals division shall report to the principal officers of the division, and shall not be under the direction or control of, or receive administrative support (except on a reimbursable basis) from, offices other than the national appeals division. “(g) The Secretary shall ensure that the national appeals division has resources and personnel adequate to hear and determine all initial appeals in the State of residence of the appellant on a timely basis, and that hearing officers receive training and retraining adequate for their duties on initial employment and at regular intervals thereafter. The Secretary may expend sums available in the Farmers Home Administration’s various revolving insurance funds for the purposes of this subsection in the event that necessary appropriations sufficient to fund the division are not available.”.