PAYMENT OF GOVERNMENT LOSSES IN SHIPMENT For an additional amount for payment of Government losses in shipment, in accordance with section 2 of the Act approved July 8, 1937 (40 U.S.C. 722), [$300,000 $800,000, to remain available until expended. (Treasury Department Appropriation Act, 1973.) This account was created as self-insurance to cover losses in shipment of Government property such as coins, currency, securities, and losses in connection with the redemption of savings bonds. It is now anticipated that claims chargeable against this fund will amount to $302 thousand in 1973, and $800 thousand in 1974. Bureau of Accounts, Payment of Government Losses in Shipment ANALYSIS OF AUTHORIZED LEVEL FOR FISCAL YEAR 1973 (Dollars in Thousands) This account was created as self insurance to cover losses in shipment of Government property such as coins, currency, securities, and losses in connection with the redemption of savings bonds. It is now anticipated that claims chargeable against this fund will amount to $300,000 in fiscal year 1973 and $800,000 in 1974. The following table shows the amounts made available to the fund, charges against the fund by type of claims, and recoveries from the inception of the fund to fiscal year 1974. 1/ The original act authorized appropriations of $2,500,000 for the first 10 years and such additional sums as may be necessary from time to time for the purposes of the act. Through fiscal 1972 -- a 35 year period appropriations totaling $3,117,000 and transfers from other Government accounts totaling $766,803 (1940 $91,803 transferred from Securities Trust Fund; 1959 - $50,000, 1961 $100,000, and 1963 $525,000 transferred from the account "Unclaimed partial payments on United States Savings Bonds") have provided the total of $3,883,803 funds authorized. 2/ In recent years shipment losses have involved preponderantly physical transfers of currency by the Department of Defense, by banks in behalf of the Treasury Department, by the Department of the Interior and by the Veterans Administration. 3/ Since this fund was established, premium rates for commercial insurance of well over $110 million have been avoided. Legislative History The original act - "The Government Losses in Shipment Act" established a revolving fund known as "the fund for the pay- "The Government Losses in Shipment Act, amendments "- authorized charges to the fund for losses arising from Post Office "Public Debt Act of 1943" - authorized charges to the Government Losses in Shipment fund for any losses resulting from "Revenue Act of 1945"- amended Section 8 (c) of the "Government Losses in Shipment Act" extending the same provisions to the redemptions of Armed Forces leave bonds as those for the U. S. savings bonds. OFFICE OF THE TREASURER, UNITED STATES SALARIES AND EXPENSES WITNESSES MRS. ROMANA ACOSTA BANUELOS, TREASURER OF THE UNITED STATES DARIO A. PAGLIAI, ACTING DEPUTY TREASURER ORION H. TOMKINSON, ASSISTANT TO THE DEPUTY TREASURER DONALD L. OWENS, BUDGET OFFICER RAYMOND D. FLAVIN, JR., CHECK CLAIMS AUTOMATION PROJECT LEADER EDWARD J. WIDMAYER, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF BUDGET AND FINANCE Mr. STEED. The committee will be in order. The committee is in session for further consideration of the 1974 budget request of the Department of the Treasury and we now take up the budgeted item for the Office of the Treasurer. We are very delighted and pleased to have so charming a witness as Mrs. Banuelos. Mrs. BANUELOS. Thank you. Mr. STEED. If you would like to identify your associates for the record we would be very pleased to have your statement. Mrs. BANUELOS. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman and committee members, I welcome this opportunity to present you the appropriation request of the Office of the Treasurer of the United States for fiscal year 1974. During the past year Mr. William T. Howell, former Deputy Treasurer and Mr. Willard E. Scott, former Assistant Deputy Treasurer, retired after brilliant careers as civil servants. I would like at this time to introduce their successors, Mr. Dario A. Pagliai, who has been Acting Deputy Treasurer, and Mr. Orion H. Tomkinson, who has been acting as his assistant. I have Mr. Tomkinson's biography to submit for the record. Mr. Donald L. Owens, our Budget Officer, has appeared before and you have his biography. We have another new member in our group, Mr. R. D. Flavin, our check claims automation project leader. I would like to present his biography, if I may. Mr. STEED. Yes, we will be pleased to have them for our record. [The information follows:] BIOGRAPHY OF ORION H. TOMKINSON Mr. Tomkinson was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in August 1918, and attended public schools in Philadelphia and in Tampa and Brooksville, Fla. In 1935 he enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps and served at Soil Conservation Service camps in Alabama until he was honorably discharged on March 31, 1939. He entered Government service on May 6, 1940, as a messenger in the Office of the Treasurer of the United States, and since then has occupied positions in the fields of accounting and management analysis. He participated in the Department of the Treasury's fiscal service intern program in 1952-53 and in the Civil Service Commission's financial management intern program in 1958. Before assuming his present position, he served as the Bureau's management analysis officer for over 10 years. Since October 1972 he has been an assistant to the Deputy Treasurer, with overall management responsibilities for the staff services provided by the Bureau. BIOGRAPHY OF RAYMOND D. FLAVIN, JR. Mr. Flavin was born in Chicago, Ill. He served 2 years in the U.S. Army as an auditor and in 1963 graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology with a B.S. in political science. That same year Mr. Flavin joined the Internal Revenue Service as an administrative intern and later became a computer systems analyst. He transferred to the Office of the Treasurer of the United States in 1967 and currently serves as the acting management analysis officer and the leader of project claims, the effort to automate the check claims clerical operations. Mrs. BANUELOS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to read a brief statement on the highlights of our budget submission for fiscal year 1974, and ask that the full introductory statement be entered in the record. Our budget request is made for the purpose of meeting the needs of what is basically a service organization to the public and other Government agencies. We pay and reconcile all checks drawn on the Treasurer of the United States, we settle claims arising from the loss or nonreceipt of the checks, and we account for the public moneys of the United States. At the end of fiscal year 1972, the assets in my account exceeded $22 billion, and the annual turnover of funds in the account runs well into the hundreds of billions of dollars. To properly discharge my responsibility in dealing with such huge sums of money is an awesome task. For the purpose of carrying out the duties of the Office of the Treasurer of the United States in fiscal year 1974, we are asking for an appropriation of $12,700,000. This is an increase of $1,400,000 over 1973. The major part of the increase is due to the effect of about 45 million more Government checks which will be issued under the provisions of Public Law 92-603, the Social Security Amendments of 1972. This law federalizes current State programs of assistance to the aged, blind, and disabled. Our experience with claims received from payees residing in areas where checks of this type will be going leads us to expect about 71,000 additional claims. We will need a total of 58 employees to handle the check payment and check claims workload generated by Public Law 92–603. I think it is important to point out here, however, that we are not asking for additional resources to process the 14 million checks and 12,000 claims that are attributed to the constantly increasing number of people becoming eligible for social security benefits. Also of major importance is the need for continuing our check claims automation project. We are requesting $140,000 to annualize the rental costs which were appropriated last year for a partial year and $49,000 for rental of needed peripheral equipment. In the interest of improving internal communications and efficiency of operations in the bureau, the Treasurer's Office would like to consolidate its related activities into one location. We are asking $325,000 for this purpose. On The remaining items totaling $222,000 are necessary to maintain current levels of operations. Mr. Chairman, I believe that quickly summarizes our budget request for 1974. We shall be glad to discuss any points on which you have questions. [The prepared statement follows:] |