Contingent Expenses of the Senate

Contingent Expenses of the Senate senate policy committees For salaries and expenses of the Majority Policy Committee and the Minority Policy Committee, $694,000 for each such committee; in all $1,388,000. For an additional amount for “Senate Policy Committees”, fiscal year 1978, $93,500. automobiles and maintenance For purchase, lease, exchange, maintenance, and operation of vehicles, one for the Vice President, one for the President pro tempore, one for the Majority Leader, one for the Minority Leader, one for the Majority Whip, one for the Minority Whip, for carrying the mails, and for official use of the offices of the Secretary and the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, $58,000. inquiries and investigations For expenses of inquiries and investigations ordered by the Senate, or conducted pursuant to section 134(a) of Public Law 601, Seventy-ninth Congress, as amended, including $740,881 for the Committee on Appropriations, to be available also for the purposes mentioned in Senate Resolution Numbered 193, agreed to October 14, 1943, and Senate Resolution Numbered 140, agreed to May 14, 1975, $30,625,000. For an additional amount for “Inquiries and Investigations”, fiscal year 1978, $1,553,800. 92 STAT. 771 folding documents For the employment of personnel for folding speeches and pamphlets at a gross rate of not exceeding $4.57 per hour per person, $103,000. For an additional amount for “Folding Documents”, fiscal year 1978, $7,600. miscellaneous items For miscellaneous items, $29,443,000. For an additional amount for “Miscellaneous Items”, fiscal year 1978, $4,015,500. postage stamps For postage stamps for the offices of the Secretaries for the Majority and Minority, $420; Chaplain, $200; and for air mail and special delivery postage for the office of the Secretary, $3,925; office of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, $240; and the President of the Senate, as authorized by law, $1,215; in all, $6,000. stationery (revolving fund) For stationery for the President of the Senate, $4,500, and for committees and officers of the Senate, $34,500; in all, $39,000. administrative provisions Sec. 101. Any funds appropriated under the heading “Senate” in any appropriation Act for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978, and any funds made available for obligation through September 30, 1978, by section 109 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1977, shall remain available for obligation through September 30, 1979, for the same purposes for which appropriated or made available. Sec. 102. Effective October 1, 1978, the number of employees in the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the Senate who may be designated as, and receive the compensation of, a Senior Counsel is increased to five. Sec. 103. Effective on the first day of the first month following the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Senate may appoint and fix the compensation of two Senior Assistants, Document Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum each in lieu of two Assistants in Document Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum each; a Senior Assistant, Document Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum in lieu of an Assistant at not to exceed $13,246 per annum; a Senior Assistant, Document Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum in lieu of an Assistant at not to exceed $12,530 per annum; two Senior Assistants, Document Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum each in lieu of two Assistants at not to exceed $12,172 per annum each; an Assistant, Document Room at not to exceed $12,530 per annum in lieu of a Reference Assistant at not to exceed $14,678 per annum; three Assistants, Document Room at not to exceed $12,530 per annum each in lieu of three Assistants in Document Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum each; a Chief Messenger, Library at not to exceed $13,962 per annum in lieu of a Chief Messenger in Library at not to exceed $13,246 per annum; a Messenger, Library at not to exceed $13,246 per annum in lieu of a Messenger at not to exceed $13,962 per annum; and three Counter Clerks, Stationery Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum each in lieu of three Clerks at not to exceed $14,678 per annum each:92 STAT. 772 Provided, That an employee serving as an Assistant in Document Room at not to exceed $14,678 per annum on the last day of the month in which this Act is enacted and who continues to serve as an Assistant, Document Room, after such last day may be paid compensation at not to exceed $14,678 per annum so long as such employee continuously serves in such position. Sec. 104. (a) Effective April 1, 1978, the clerk-hire allowance of each Senator from the State of Georgia is increased to that allowed Senators from States having a population of five million but less than seven million, the population of said State having exceeded five million inhabitants. (b) Effective April 1, 1978, the table contained in section 105(d)(1) of the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1968, as amended and modified (2 U.S.C. 61–1 (d)(1)), is amended by striking out “$644,937 if such population is 7,000,000 but less than 9,000,000;” and inserting in lieu thereof “$644,937 if such population is 7,000,000 but less than 8,000,000; “$664,627 if such population is 8,000,000 but less than 9,000,000;”. Sec 105. (a) for the period beginning on October 1, 1978, and ending on December 31, 1980, there is established within the Office of the Secretary of the Senate an office to be known as the “Office of Classified National Security Information” (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Office”). The Office shall be under the policy direction of the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader, and the chairman of the committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, and shall be under the administrative direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Senate. The Office shall have the responsibility for safeguarding such restricted data and such other classified information as any committee of the Senate may from time to time assign to it. (b) The Office shall have authority— (1) upon application of any committee of the Senate, to perform the administrative functions necessary to classify and declassify information relating to the national security considerations of nuclear technology in accordance with guidelines developed for restricted data by the responsible executive agencies; (2) to provide appropriate facilities for hearings of committees of the Senate at which restricted data or other classified information is to be presented or discussed; and (3) to establish and operate a central repository in the United States Capitol for the safeguarding of restricted data and other classified information for which such Office is responsible. (c) All records, documents, and data in the custody of the Office of Classified National Security Information established by section 2 of Senate Resolution Numbered 252, Ninety-fifth Congress, are transferred to the Office established by subsection (a). (d) As an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate, section 2 of Senate Resolution Numbered 252, Ninety-fifth Congress, is repealed effective October 1, 1978. Sec. 106. Section 117 of the Second Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1976 (2 U.S.C. 61f-1a), is amended by striking out “$10,000” and inserting in lieu thereof “$25,000”. Sec. 107. During the fiscal year ending September 30, 1979, amounts required to be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund under section 8344 of title 5, United States Code, with respect to any officer or employee of the Senate (including an employee in the office of a92 STAT. 773 Senator) shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate. Effective October 1, 1979, amounts required to be so deposited with respect to any individual who is an officer or employee of the Senate (including an employee in the office of a Senator) on September 30, 1979, shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate so long as the individual serves continuously as an officer or employee of the Senate. Sec. 108. (a) Section 506 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1973 (2 U.S.C. 58), is amended by redesignating subsections (h) through (j) as subsections (i) through (k), respectively, and by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection: “(h) (1) For purposes of subsections (a) and (e), an individual who is selected by a Senator to serve on a panel or other body to make recommendations for nominees to one or more Federal judgeships or to one or more service academies shall be considered to be an employee in the office of that Senator with respect to travel and official expenses incurred in performing duties as a member of such panel or other body, and shall be reimbursed (A) for actual transportation expenses and per diem expenses (but not exceeding actual travel expenses) incurred while traveling in performing such duties within the Senator’s home State or between that State and Washington, District of Columbia, and each of the service academies, (B) for official expenses incurred in performing such duties. For purposes of this subsection and subsection (a), ‘official expenses’ means expenses of the type for which reimbursement may be made under subsection (a)(9) when such expenses are incurred by or on behalf of a Senator, and, for accounting purposes, such expenses shall be treated as expenses for which reimbursement may be made under subsection (a)(5). “(2) The amount of official expenses incurred by individuals selected by a Senator for which reimbursement may be made under this subsection shall not exceed $500 each calendar year, and the total amount of expenses incurred by such individuals for which reimbursement may be made under this subsection shall not exceed $3,000 each calendar year.”. (b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on January 1, 1978. Sec. 109. (a) Effective with the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1978, and each fiscal year thereafter, the appropriations for “office of the secretary” and “office of sergeant at arms and doorkeeper” under the heading “Salaries, Officers, and Employees” shall be available for the payment of additional annual compensation (hereinafter referred to as “merit compensation") to employees rated as outstanding and exceptional by the Secretary of the Senate and Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, respectively. (b) Subject to the provisions of subsections (c) and (d), each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Senate may authorize merit compensation for not to exceed 8 employees of his Office and the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper may authorize merit compensation for not to exceed 18 employees of his Office. Each such authorization shall continue in effect until it is terminated or changed by the Secretary of the Senate or the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, as the case may be. (c) No employee shall be eligible to receive merit compensation unless such employee has occupied the same position for at least two years and is being compensated at the maximum annual salary for the position so occupied, except that, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Senate or the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, as the case92 STAT. 774 may be, an employee who is receiving merit compensation and is transferred to another position in which he is compensated at the maximum annual salary shall be eligible to receive merit compensation while occupying such other position. (d) (1) The amount of merit compensation which may be paid to an employee (as authorized by the Secretary of the Senate or the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, as the case may be) shall not exceed an amount equal to ten percent of the maximum annual rate of compensation of the position occupied by such employee rounded to the next highest multiple contained in section 1(a) of the applicable Order of the President pro tempore of the Senate issued under authority of Section 4 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970. (2) The amount of merit compensation which may be paid to an employee, when added to his regular annual compensation and his longevity compensation, shall not exceed the maximum annual compensation which may be paid to Senate employees generally as prescribed by law or orders of the President pro tempore issued under authority of section 4 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970. (e) Within thirty days following the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper shall file reports with the Senate Committee on Appropriations detailing the use and implementation of the authority contained in this section. Such reports shall include the names of all employees receiving merit compensation under authority of this section at the end of the fiscal year, the positions occupied by them, and the date when each such employee first began to receive merit compensation. Sec. 110. (a) Subsection (a) and (b) of section 106 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1963 (2 U.S.C. 60]), are amended to read as follows: “Sec. 106. (a) This section shall apply to— “(1) each employee of the Senate whose compensation is paid from the appropriation for Salaries, Officers and Employees under the following headings: “(A) Office of the Secretary, including individuals employed under authority of section 244 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 74b); “(B) Office of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, except employees designated as ‘special employees’; and “(C) Offices of the Secretaries for the Majority and the Minority; “(2) each employee of the Senate authorized by Senate resolution to be appointed by the Secretary of the Senate or the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, except employees designated as ‘special employees’; and “(3) each employee of the Capitol Guide Service established under section 441 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. “(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), an employee to whom this section applies shall be paid, during any period of continuous creditable service, additional annual compensation (hereinafter referred to as ‘longevity compensation’) at the rate of two times the multiple contained in section 1(a) of the applicable Order of the President pro tempore of the Senate issued under authority of section 4 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970 for (A) “each year of creditable service performed for the first five years and (B) each two years of creditable service performed during the twenty-year period following the first five years. 92 STAT. 775 “(2) The amount of longevity compensation which may be paid to an employee, when added to his regular annual compensation, shall not exceed the maximum annual compensation which may be paid to Senate employees generally as prescribed by law or orders of the President pro tempore issued under authority of section 4 of the Federal Pay Comparability Act of 1970. “(3) For purposes of this section— “(A) creditable service includes (i) service performed as an employee described in subsection (a), (ii) service performed as a member of the Capitol Police or as an employee of the United States Capitol Telephone Exchange while compensation therefor is disbursed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and (iii) service which is creditable for purposes of this section as in effect on the last day of the month in which the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1979, is enacted; “(B) in computing length of continuous creditable service, only creditable service performed subsequent to August 31, 1957, shall be taken into account, except that, in the case of service as an employee employed under authority of section 244 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, only creditable service performed subsequent to January 2, 1971, shall be taken into account; and “(C) continuity of creditable service shall not be deemed to be broken by separations from service of not more than thirty days, by the performance of service as an employee (other than an employee subject to the provisions of this section) whose compensation is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, or by the performance of active military service in the armed forces of the United States, but periods of such separations and service shall not be creditable service. “(4) Longevity compensation shall be payable on and after the first day of the first month following completion of each period of creditable service upon which such compensation is based.”. (b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of the first month which begins after the date of the enactment of this Act. The gross compensation of employees entitled to longevity compensation on such first day under section 106 of the legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1963, shall be adjusted in accordance with the provisions of such section as amended by subsection (a). No increase in compensation by reason of such amendment shall take effect for any pay period beginning before such first day, and no monetary benefit by reason of such amendment shall accrue for any period before such first day.