Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 2.djvu/506

 110 STAT. 1321-359 PUBLIC LAW 104-134—APR. 26, 1996 nizant of their financial obligations to repay amounts owed to the Federal Government. (5) To ensure that debtors have all appropriate due process rights, including the ability to verify, challenge, and compromise claims, and access to administrative appeals procedures which are both reasonable and protect the interests of the United States. (6) To encourage agencies, when appropriate, to sell delinquent debt, particularly debts with underlying collateral. (7) To rely on the experience and expertise of private sector professionals to provide debt collection services to Federal agencies. (c) Chapter 37 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— (1) in each of sections 3711, 3716, 3717, and 3718, by striking "the head of an executive or legislative agency" each place it appears and inserting "the head of an executive, judicial, or legislative agency"; and (2) by amending section 3701(a)(4) to read as follows: "(4) 'executive, judicial, or legislative agency' means a department, agency, court, court administrative office, or instrumentality in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of Government, including government corporations.". (d)(1) PERSONS SUBJECT TO ADMINISTRATIVE OFFSET. —Section 3701(c) of title 31, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "(c) In sections 3716 and 3717 of this title, the term 'person' does not include an agency of the United States Government.". (2) REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES.— Section 3716 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— (A) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows: "(b) Before collecting a claim by administrative offset, the head of an executive, judicial, or legislative agency must either— "(1) adopt, without change, regulations on collecting by administrative offset promulgated by the Department of Justice, the General Accounting Office, or the Department of the Treasury; or "(2) prescribe regulations on collecting by administrative offset consistent with the regulations referred to in paragraph (1)."; (B) by amending subsection (c)(2) to read as follows: "(2) when a statute explicitly prohibits using administrative offset or setoff to collect the claim or type of claim involved."; (C) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (e); and (D) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsections: "(c)(1)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a disbursing official of the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Defense, the United States Postal Service, or any other government corporation, or any disbursing official of the United States designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall offset at least annually the amount of a payment which a payment certify- ing agency has certified to the disbursing official for disbursement, by an amount equal to the amount of a claim which a creditor agency has certified to the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to this subsection. "(B) An agency that designates disbursing officials pursuant to section 3321(c) of this title is not required to certify claims

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