prescribed in earlier laws which have been superseded as to other classes of personnel, particularly in view of the fact that they are authorized to receive the same rates as officers for travel by air. Your decision is accordingly requested as to whether members of the Army Nurse Corps may be authorized by regulations to receive, while in a travel status, reimbursement of expenses actually incurred not in excess of $7.00 per day, or per diem in lieu thereof not exceeding $6.00 per day.

As this is a matter affecting the entire Army Nurse Corps, it is requested that I be advised of your decision at the earliest practicable date.

The act of April 6, 1914, 38 Stat. 318, provides:

On and after July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, no officer or employee of the United States shall be allowed or paid any sum in excess of expenses actually incurred for subsistence while traveling on duty outside of the District of Columbia and away from his designated post of duty, nor any sum for such expenses actually incurred in excess of $5 per day

The act of August 1, 1914, 38 Stat. 680, provides:

That the heads of executive departments and other Government establishments are authorized to prescribe per diem rates of allowance not exceeding $4 in lieu of subsistence to persons engaged in field work or traveling on official business outside of the District of Columbia and away from their designated posts of duty when not otherwise fixed by law.

*

The quotation of the statute in your letter suggests the inference at least of an interpretation. Section 6 of the act of July 9, 1918, 40 Stat. 879, in full, provides:

That members of said Nurse Corps shall receive transportation and necessary expenses when traveling under orders, and such allowances of quarters and subsistence and, during illness, such medical care as may be prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of War; and when at places where no public quarters are available, commutation in lieu thereof, and of heat and light therefor at such rates and upon such conditions as are now or shall hereafter be provided by law.

Section 783, Title 10 of United States Code, codifies a part of this section as follows:

Members of the Nurses Corps shall receive transportation and necessary expenses when traveling under orders, and, during illness, such medical care as may be prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of War.

Section 7 of the act of July 9, 1918, page 880, specifically repealed certain prior legislation, among others

* Chapter one hundred and ninety-two of Thirty-first Statutes, page seven hundred and fifty-three;

The Statute last cited, 31 Stat. 753, provided for the appointment of nurses, their pay, etc., and included a proviso:

That the Superintendent and nurses shall receive transportation and necessary expenses when traveling under orders; that the pay shall be entitled to quarters, subsistence, and medical attendance during illness, and they may be granted leave of absence

They

There was also repealed by section 7 of the act of July 9, 1918

that part of the Act approved August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve (Thirty-seventh Statutes, page five hundred and seventyfive), providing for allowances, subsistence, and medical care during illness for the Superintendent of the Nurse Corps;

*

The act of August 24, 1912, 37 Stat. 575, contained a proviso after the appropriation for the pay of the Superintendent of the Nurse Corps:

That the Superintendent shall receive such allowances of quarters, subsistence and medical care during illness as may be prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of War.

There is no question that under the statutes, including the act of July 9, 1918, after the passage of the acts of 1914 quoted above, the 1914 statutes applied to the traveling expenses of nurses of the Army Nurse Corps, and that, certainly from the date of these 1914 acts, the Secretary of War was not authorized to prescribe by regulations any higher rates for actual expense of subsistence or per diem in lieu thereof for nurses of the Army Nurse Corps. The interpretation inferentially suggested in your question that rates of payment for actual expenses or per diem in lieu thereof are to be by regulations of the Secretary of War clearly was not intended by the statute.

Section 12 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat. 631, authorized "for officers mentioned in the title of" that act actual expenses or per diem in lieu of subsistence in the situations described therein and provided that:

Unless otherwise expressly provided by law, no officer of the services mentioned in the title of this Act shall be allowed or paid any sum in excess of expenses actually incurred for subsistence while traveling on duty away from his designated post of duty, nor any sum for such expenses actually incurred in excess of $7 per day. The heads of the executive departments concerned are authorized to prescribe per diem rates of allowance, not exceeding $6, in lieu of subsistence to officers traveling on official business and away from their designated posts of duty.

Section 12 of the act of June 16, 1942, 56 Stat. 364, Public Law 607, is identical in this respect to section 12 of the act of June 10, 1922. The Subsistence Expense Act of 1926, act of June 3, 1926, 44 Stat. 688, 689, by its terms, section 3, applied only to "civilian officers and employees of the departments and establishments." Public Law No. 424, approved January 30, 1942, 56 Stat. 39, is an amendment of section 3 of the act of 1926, and also applies only to "civilian officers and employees of the departments and establishments."

The Nurse Corps of the Army is a part of the Medical Department of the Army, section 10 of the National Defense Act, Title 10, U. S. Code, section 81. Provision has been made for officers of the six services included in the Pay Readjustment Act which does not include members of the Army Nurse Corps; and provision has been made for civilian officers and employees of the departments and establishments in the Subsistence Expense Act of 1926, as amended. No provision has been made for members of the Army Nurse Corps other than was made in the acts of 1914, and the Secretary of War was and is not authorized to provide by regulations that members of the Army Nurse Corps sh

receive more than the laws of 1914 provide. If more is believed to be necessary the matter should be presented to the Congress for consideration.

(B-28820)

USE OF PRIVATELY OWNED AUTOMOBILE AT OFFICIAL STATION ON ACTUAL EXPENSE BASIS

In view of the prohibition in section 5 of the act of July 16, 1914. against the use of appropriated moneys for the purchase, maintenance, repair, or operation of motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicles unless specifically authorized by law, an employee may not be reimbursed on an actual expense basis or otherwise for use of a privately owned automobile for official travel performed within the corporate limits of the employee's official station, in the absence of a provision in the appropriation sought to be charged authorizing, generally, the operation, etc., of motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicles. 22 Comp. Gen. 62, amplified; 15 Comp. Gen. 819, distinguished.

An appropriation providing for the maintenance and operation of three designated passenger-carrying vehicles may not be regarded as overcoming the prohibition in section 5 of the act of July 16, 1914, against the use of appropriated moneys for the purchase, maintenance, repair, or operation of motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicles unless specifically authorized by law, to the extent of authorizing reimbursement from such appropriation of an employee's actual expenses of operating a privately owned automobile on official business within the corporate limits of the employee's official station.

Comptroller General Warren to Raymond J. Weir, Department of Agriculture, October 1, 1942:

There has been considered your letter of September 9, 1942, as follows:

Reference is made to the Act of December 29, 1941, Public Law No. 389, 77th Congress. In accordance with Section 3 of this Act which provides that—

certifying officers * * shall have the right to apply for and obtain a decision by the Comptroller General on any question of law involved in a payment on any vouchers presented to them for certification."

there is transmitted for advance decision as to legality of payment travel reimbursement voucher in favor of Mrs. Phylis H. Hawkins.

Mrs. Hawkins' letter of authority, copy of which is attached to the voucher, provides for use of privately owned automobile as follows:

"(a) 5¢ per mile for travel within 50 mile radius outside the corporate limits of official station.

"(b) Actual expenses for gasoline and oil for travel wholly within the area defined by official station."

As indicated in the supporting statement of Mr. Chalmers T. Forster, Chief, Division of Investigations, the work was of a confidential nature directly connected with the war effort of the Department, and it was extremely necessary that it be conducted with all possible speed. The traveler worked not only during office hours, but in the evenings, on Sundays, and on Saturday afternoons, making stops within the District, in Maryland and in Virginia, in her investigation of the employees affected, accumulating during the period of the travel a total of 441 miles.

In order to conform to the restrictions of the Act of February 14, 1931, 46 Stat. 1103, which restricts reimbursement for use of personally owned automobile upon a mileage basis to travel outside the limits of designated post of duty, strict record was kept of the mileage driven within the States of Maryland and Virginia, and claim for reimbursement has been prepared on the basis of that record, as reported on Mileage Report Form 1012-e.

The official necessity for the use of privately owned automobile in the conduct of the work has been amply set forth, and adequate authority for incurring the expense is furnished in the letter of authorization.

Since the claim for reimbursement indicates that the travel was within the city limits of Washington or adjacent communities and some trips involved both a mileage claim and actual expenses, the voucher is submitted for determination as to the legality of payment.

The voucher submitted with your letter represents that the mileage claimed by the employee involves only the travel performed by her outside of the corporate limits of Washington, D. C., the employee's official headquarters, and that the amount claimed for reimbursement on an estimated actual expense basis for gas and oil involves official travel performed within the corporate limits of Washington, D. C. In that connection the employee stated on the voucher as follows:

Mileage, outside District of Columbia, @ 5¢ per mi.

District of Columbia travel, figured on reimbursable basis-15 miles, predetermined on basis of OPA rulings, per gallon, or 131⁄2 gallons @ 21.2¢ per gallon. I hereby certify that travel indicated was performed in connection with confidential investigations, within the corporate limits of the District of Columbia as well as outside, as claimed; that the information is correct; and that no part of the travel for which compensation is claimed was performed between residence and place of business.

The voucher is accompanied by an administrative explanatory statement as follows:

Herewith is the reimbursement account of Mrs. Phyllis H. Hawkins for the period July 8 to 31, 1942, covering expenses incurred by her under a letter of authorization, No. 34-(0), dated July 2, 1942. This account claims reimbursement on an actual expense basis for the use of her personally owned automobile within the corporate limits of her headquarters, the District of Columbia, and outside her headquarters in visiting such points as Beltsville, Lanham, and Suitland, Maryland, various points in Arlington County and Alexandria, Virginia, etc., at the rate of five cents a mile.

For consideration in connection with this account, I should like to explain that this office has the responsibility of investigating as quickly as possible the background of a large number of employees who are engaged on vital war work of a confidential nature. Because of the urgency for the completion of this work, and also because of the shortage of investigators by reason of their loss to the armed services and to agencies of higher priority than this Department, it is deemed advisable to use automobile transportation in locating and interviewing employees and examining records at outlying points. In locating and interviewing employees and examining records at nearby points, we are using streetcar transportation.

It was our purpose, in requesting the letter of authorization for Mrs. Hawkins, to make it possible for her to be reimbursed on an actual cost basis for mileage incurred within the corporate limits of the District of Columbia, using as a basis of 15 miles per gallon of gasoline (OPA formula), and at the rate of five cents a mile for mileage incurred in visiting points definitely outside the limits of her headquarters. Much of this work must be done after regular working hours and on Sundays, which naturally makes it more difficult to locate the persons who are to be interviewed, and consequently the investigation will entail more mileage than would ordinarily be required.

The Secretary personally has authorized the use of Mrs. Hawkins' automobile for this work, and the appropriate rationing board, on the basis of the facts submitted, has issued supplemental gasoline rationing coupons for use in this work.

My primary concern in this matter, of course, is to get this work done as promptly and effectively as possible, but I am reluctant to have Mrs. Hawkins incur too much expense before we know definitely the attitude of the General Accounting Office toward allowing reimbursement for expenses incurred under these conditions. Therefore, I shall appreciate it if this account may be passed along for consideration so that we may know whether the work in this manner with the knowledge that our bursed for the expenses which they incur.

proceed to do

m be reim

Travel authorization No. 34-(O) dated July 1, 1942, issued to Mrs. Hawkins, reads, in pertinent part, as follows:

5. Travel by privately owned automobile for which there will be allowed:

(a) 5 cents per mile in lieu of all other transportation costs if such allowance is more economical and advantageous to the Government. Since economy and advantage have not been predetermined, a showing of such economy and advantage must accompany vouchers covering such travel. (See on page 2)

(d) Actual expenses for gasoline and oil within the corporate limits of your official station. (See ** on page 2)

*This authority applies only to travel within 50 mile radius outside the corporate limits of your official station.

**This authority applies only to travel wholly within the area defined as your official station.

The act of February 14, 1931, 46 Stat. 1103, as amended by section 9 of the act of March 3, 1933, 47 Stat. 1516, and the act of April 25, 1940, 54 Stat. 167, provides as follows:

That a civilian officer or employee engaged in necessary travel on official business away from his designated post of duty may be paid, in lieu of actual expenses of transportation, under regulations to be prescribed by the President, not to exceed 2 cents per mile for the use of a privately owned motorcycle or 5 cents per mile for the use of a privately owned automobile for such transportation, whenever such mode of travel has been previously authorized and payment on such mileage basis is more economical and advantageous to the United States.

The above-quoted administrative explanatory statement submitted with the voucher will be accepted by this office as establishing that it has been determined, as required by law and by the terms of paragraph 5 (a) of the travel order, that payment on a mileage basis for travel performed outside of the corporate limits of Washington, D. C., is more economical and advantageous to the United States than travel by common carrier, and if otherwise correct, the amount claimed for mileage for travel outside the District of Columbia is payable. Whether the amount claimed for estimated actual expenses for travel within the corporate limits of Washington, D. C., is payable requires the consideration of other applicable statutes.

Section 5 of the act of July 16, 1914, 38 Stat. 508, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

there shall not be expended out of any appropriation made by Congress any sum for the purchase, maintenance, repair, or operation of motorpropelled or horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles for any branch of the public service of the United States unless the same is specifically authorized by law

With reference to that statute it was stated in the decision of September 24, 1926, 6 Comp. Gen. 212, 213, as follows:

Section 5 of the act of July 16, 1914, 38 Stat. 508, contains the general prohibition against the use of appropriated funds for purchase, maintenance, repair, or operation of motor-propelled or horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles unless the same is specifically authorized by law. Decisions of this office have distinguished between the use of a privately owned conveyance for official business at the official headquarters or duty station of an officer or employee and the