[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2749 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2749

 To provide an exception from the reduced flat rate per diem for long-
    term temporary duty under Joint Travel Regulations for civilian 
 employees of naval shipyards traveling for direct labor in support of 
                 off-yard work, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 5, 2016

   Ms. Ayotte (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Kaine, Ms. 
 Cantwell, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Warner, Mr. King, 
and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide an exception from the reduced flat rate per diem for long-
    term temporary duty under Joint Travel Regulations for civilian 
 employees of naval shipyards traveling for direct labor in support of 
                 off-yard work, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Department of Defense has instituted a new flat 
        rate per diem policy that reduces the reimbursement rate for 
        personnel traveling on temporary duty (TDY) longer than 30 
        days.
            (2) In its report to accompany S. 1376 (114th Congress), 
        dated May 19, 2015 (Report 114-49), the Committee on Armed 
        Services of the Senate expresses concern that the new policy 
        should not discourage civilian workers from volunteering for 
        important temporary duty assignments. The Committee also 
        expresses its view that the Department should ``ensure that 
        those who volunteer for mission essential travel are fully 
        supported and encouraged''.
            (3) On January 19, 2016, the Commander of Naval Sea Systems 
        Command (NAVSEA), Admiral William Hilarides, wrote a letter 
        expressing concerns about the long-term temporary duty per diem 
        policy of the Department. In the letter, Admiral Hilarides 
        states that the new policy ``has already had a negative impact 
        on the Naval Shipyards' ability to effectively and efficiently 
        conduct Navy ship maintenance''. As the officer who oversees 
        all four public shipyards, he also said that the policy ``has 
        the potential to increase the end cost of projects''.
            (4) In the letter, Admiral Hilarides requests an immediate 
        waiver from and permanent change to the long-term temporary 
        duty per diem policy of the Department under the Joint Travel 
        Regulations of the Department for all naval shipyard workers 
        who support Navy ship maintenance.
            (5) On March 15, 2016, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, 
        Admiral Michelle Howard, testified that the temporary duty 
        policy for civilian public shipyard workers may end up costing 
        more money. She also expressed concern that any policy should 
        reflect the commitment of the Navy to ``these artisans and 
        their skillsets'' and ensure public shipyard workers are not 
        paying money out of their pockets for appropriate expenses.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) Department of Defense civilian public shipyard workers 
        play a critical role in maintaining the ships and submarines of 
        the United States, ensuring our sailors and the commanders of 
        the combatant commands have the safe and combat-ready naval 
        vessels required to protect the economic and national security 
        interests of the United States;
            (2) the Department must continue to scrutinize costs 
        carefully in order to eliminate waste, but in a well-
        intentioned effort to save money, the Department has pursued a 
        misguided one-size-fits-all approach to its long-term temporary 
        duty (TDY) per diem policy, which has adversely affected 
        shipyard workers while potentially costing more and harming the 
        naval readiness of the United States; and
            (3) in order to reduce temporary duty expenses, the 
        Department should eliminate unnecessary temporary duty and not 
        cut the reimbursement rate for workers undertaking temporary 
        duty that is essential to sustain military readiness, such as 
        temporary duty in support of ship and submarine maintenance, 
        modernization, and repair.

SEC. 3. EXCEPTION FROM REDUCED FLAT RATE PER DIEM FOR LONG-TERM 
              TEMPORARY DUTY UNDER JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS FOR 
              CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES OF NAVAL SHIPYARDS TRAVELING FOR 
              DIRECT LABOR IN SUPPORT OF OFF-YARD WORK.

    (a) Modification of Joint Travel Regulations.--The Joint Travel 
Regulations (JTR) of the Department of Defense shall be modified to 
provide that the reduced flat rate per diem for long-term temporary 
duty (TDY) otherwise imposed under paragraph 4250 of section 4 of part 
B of chapter 4 of the Joint Travel Regulations shall not be imposed on 
civilian employees of naval shipyards traveling on such duty for direct 
labor in support of off-yard work and such employees shall be paid the 
full per diem rate for such travel.
    (b) Inapplicability of Current Regulations.--The per diem rate 
payable to any employee described in subsection (a) for travel 
described in that subsection that occurs during the period beginning on 
the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the effective date 
of the modification required by subsection (a) shall be the rate 
provided for as a result of the modification.
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