[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)] [October 28, 1993] [Pages 1855-1856] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]Statement on Signing the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1994 October 28, 1993 Today I have signed into law H.R. 2403, the ``Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1994.'' This Act provides funding for the Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Postal Service, the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Executive Office of the President, and several smaller agencies. Programs within these agencies address major law enforcement activities in the United States as well as the fiscal operations and general management functions of the Federal Government. This Act provides funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax system modernization initiative and the tax law enforcement initiative. These initiatives are part of my investment program that was transmitted in the FY 1994 Budget. The investment in modernizing IRS will improve service to taxpayers, increase the productivity of IRS operations, and increase tax compliance. The tax law enforcement initiative will provide IRS with resources to address serious tax compliance problems and increase revenue collections. This Act also contains a provision that would implement, on a pilot basis, the recommendation made by the National Performance Review (NPR) that would allow up to 50 percent of an agency's unobligated funding for salaries and expenses at the end of FY 1994 to be carried forward to FY 1995. The authority is limited to agencies covered by this bill. Of the 50 percent carry-over, up to two percent of the funds may be used to finance cash awards to employees whose actions contributed to producing the savings, and up to three percent may be used for employee training programs. As requested by the Administration, this Act eliminates a long- standing restriction on the use of Federal Employee Health Benefit program funds for eligible persons seeking abortions. Several provisions in H.R. 2403 condition the President's authority--and the authority of certain agency officials--to use funds appropriated by this Act on the approval of congressional committees. The Administration will interpret [[Page 1856]] such provisions to require notification only, since any other interpretation of such provisos would contradict the Supreme Court ruling in INS vs. Chadha. The Act contains a prohibition on the implementation of the NPR recommendation to transfer the functions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to the Department of Justice. Because this prohibition is representative of the kind of restriction cited by the NPR as counterproductive to efficient government operations, I will work with the Congress to lift it. William J. Clinton The White House, October 28, 1993. Note: H.R. 2403, approved October 28, was assigned Public Law No. 103- 123. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on October 29.