AUTHORITY’ TO PAY SEVERANCE PAYMENTS IN LUMP SUMS.

SEC. 1035. AUTHORITY’ TO PAY SEVERANCE PAYMENTS IN LUMP SUMS. Section 5595 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “(i) (1) In the case of an employee of the Department of Defense who is entitled to severance pay under this section, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the military department concerned may, upon application by the employee, pay the total amount of the severance pay to the employee in one lump sum. “(2) (A) If an employee paid severance pay in a lump sum under this subsection is reemployed by the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia at such time that, had the employee been paid severance pay in regular pay periods under subsection (b), the payments of such pay would have been discontinued under subsection (d) upon such reemployment, the employee shall repay to the Department of Defense (for the military department that formerly employed the employee, if applicable) an amount equal to the amount of severance pay to which the employee was entitled under this section that would not have been paid to the employee under subsection Id) by reason of such reemployment. 110 STAT. 431 “(B) The period of service represented by an amount of severance pay repaid by an employee under subparagraph (A) shall be considered service for which severance pay has not been received by the employee under this section. “(C) Amounts repaid to an agency under this paragraph shall be credited to the appropriation available for the pay of employees of the agency for the fiscal year in which received. Amounts so credited shall be merged with, and shall be available for the same purposes and the same period as, the other funds in that appropriation. “(3) If an employee fails to repay to an agency an amount required to be repaid under paragraph (2)(A), that amount is recoverable from the employee as a debt due the United States. “(4) This subsection applies with respect to severance pay payable under this section for separations taking effect on or after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 and before October 1, 1999.”.