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31 U.S.C.-MONEY AND FINANCE-SEC. 93

the account pertains, or the Comptroller General of the United States, may, within a year, obtain a revision of the said account by the Comptroller General of the United States, whose decision upon such revision shall be final and conclusive upon the Executive Branch of the Government. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the General Accounting Office from suspending items in an account in order to obtain further evidence or explanations necessary to their settlement.

The General Accounting Office shall preserve all accounts which have been finally adjusted, together with all vouchers, certificates, and related papers, until disposed of as provided by law.

Disbursing officers, or the head of any executive department, or other establishment not under any of the executive departments, may apply for and the Comptroller General shall render his decision upon any question involving a payment to be made by them or under them, which decision, when rendered, shall govern the General Accounting Office in passing upon the account containing said disbursement. (July 31, 1894, ch. 174, § 8, 28 Stat. 207; June 10, 1921, ch. 18, title III, § 304, 42 Stat. 24; Oct. 25, 1951, ch. 562, § 3(1), 65 Stat. 639.)

§ 93. General Accounting Office superintending recovery of debts.

The General Accounting Office shall superintend the recovery of all debts finally certified by it to be due to the United States. (June 10, 1921, ch. 18, title III, § 304, 42 Stat. 24.)

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COMPROMISE OF CLAIMS GENERALLY

§ 194. Compromise.

Upon a report by a United States attorney, or any special attorney or agent having charge of any claim in favor of the United States, showing in detail the condition of such claim, and the terms upon which the same may be compromised, and recommending that it be compromised upon the terms so offered, and upon the recommendation of the General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to compromise such claim accordingly. But the provisions of this section shall not apply to any claim arising under the postal laws. (R. S. § 3469; May 10, 1934, ch. 277, § 512, 48 Stat. 758; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, § 1, 62 Stat. 909.)

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FEES AND CHARGES BY FEDERAL AGENCIES

§ 483a. Services as self-sustaining; uniformity; regulations; deposit in Treasury; effect on other laws.

It is the sense of the Congress that any work, service publication, report, document, benefit, privilege, authority, use, franchise, license, permit, certificate,

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31 U.S.C.-MONEY AND FINANCE-SEC. 487 registration or similar thing of value or utility performed, furnished, provided, granted, prepared, or issued by any Federal agency (including wholly owned Government corporations as defined in the Government Corporation Control Act of 1945) to or for any person (including groups, associations, organizations, partnerships, corporations, or businesses), except those engaged in the transaction of official business of the Government, shall be self-sustaining to the full extent possible, and the head of each Federal agency is authorized by regulation (which, in the case of agencies in the executive branch, shall be as uniform as practicable and subject to such policies as the President may prescribe) to prescribe therefor such fee, charge, or price, if any, as he shall determine, in case none exists, or redetermine, in case of any existing one, to be fair and equitable taking into consideration direct and indirect cost to the Government, value to the recipient, public policy or interest served, and other pertinent facts, and any amount so determined or redetermined shall be collected and paid into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts: Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall repeal or modify existing statutes prohibiting the collection, fixing the amount, or directing the disposition of any fee, charge or price: Provided further, That nothing contained in this section shall repeal or modify existing statutes prescribing bases for calculation of any fee, charge or price, but this proviso shall not restrict the redetermination or recalculation in accordance with the prescribed bases of the amount of any such fee, charge or price. (Aug. 31, 1951, ch. 376, title V, § 501, 65 Stat. 290.)

The gross amount of all moneys received from whatever source for the use of the United States, except as otherwise provided in section 487 of this title, shall be paid by the officer or agent receiving the same into the Treasury, at as early a day as practicable, without any abatement or deduction on account of salary, fees, costs, charges, expenses, or claim of any description whatever. But nothing herein shall affect any provision relating to the revenues of the Post Office Department. (R. S. § 3617.)

§ 487. Proceeds of sales of material.

All proceeds of sales of old material, condemned stores, supplies, or other public property of any kind, except the proceeds of the sale or leasing of marine hospitals, or of the sales of commissary stores to the officers and enlisted men of the Army, or of materials, stores, or supplies sold to officers and soldiers of the Army or of the sale of condemned Navy clothing, or of sales of materials, stores, or supplies to any exploring or surveying expedition authorized by law, or as provided in section 485 of Title 40, or in other law, shall be deposited and covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, on account of "proceeds of

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31 U.S.C.-MONEY AND FINANCE-SEC. 489

Government property", and shall not be withdrawn or applied, except in consequence of a subsequent appropriation made by law. Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Army may prescribe, the commanding officers of mounted units of the National Guard may sell all stable refuse and empty grain sacks and containers at public or private sale and apply the proceeds derived therefrom to the purchase of feed, supplementing the regular allowance and issue for the animals of the said units, and for the purchase of stable equipment, and horseshoers', saddlers', blacksmiths', and wagoners' tools not an article of issue to such organizations. (R. S. § 3618; Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, § 1, 19 Stat. 249; Oct. 14, 1940, ch. 875, § 4, 54 Stat. 1136; Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, § 20, 63 Stat. 561; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 654, § 4(3), 65 Stat. 708.)

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§ 489. Payment of expenses of sales from proceeds.

Subject to applicable regulations under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, from the proceeds of sales of old material, condemned stores, supplies, or other public property of any kind, before being deposited into the Treasury, either as miscellaneous receipts on account of "proceeds of Government property" or to the credit of the appropriations to which such proceeds are by law authorized to be made, there may be paid the expenses of such sales, as approved by the General Accounting Office, so as to require only the net proceeds of such sales to be deposited into the Treasury, either as miscellaneous receipts or to the credit of such appropriations, as the case may be. (June 8, 1896, ch. 373, § 1, 29 Stat. 268; June 10, 1921, ch. 18, title III, § 304, 42 Stat. 24; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 654, § 2 (20, 65 Stat. 707.)

ADVANCES OF PUBLIC MONEY

§ 529. Advances of public moneys; prohibition against.

No advance of public money shall be made in any case unless authorized by the appropriation concerned or other law. And in all cases of contracts for the performance of any service, or the delivery of articles of any description, for the use of the United States, payment shall not exceed the value of the service rendered, or of the articles delivered previously to such payment. It shall, however, be lawful, under the special direction of the President, to make such advances to the disbursing officers of the Government as may be necessary to the faithful and prompt discharge of their respective duties, and to the fulfillment of the public engagements. The President may also direct such advances as he may deem necessary and proper, to persons in the military and naval service employed on distant stations, where the discharge of the pay and emoluments to which they may be entitled cannot be regularly effected. (R. S. § 2648; Aug. 2, 1946, ch. 744, § 11, 60 Stat. 809.)

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31 U.S.C.-MONEY AND FINANCE-SEC. 665

SPECIFIC APPROPRIATIONS REQUIRED

§ 627. Construction of appropriation Acts.

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No Act of Congress passed after June 30, 1906, shall be construed to make an appropriation out of the Treasury of the United States, or to authorize the execution of a contract involving the payment of money in excess of appropriations made by law, unless such Act shall in specific terms declare an appropriation to be made or that a contract may be executed. (June 30, 1906, ch. 3914, § 9, 34 Stat. 764.)

§ 628. Application of moneys appropriated.

Except as otherwise provided by law, sums appropriated for the various branches of expenditure in the public service shall be applied solely to the objects for which they are respectively made, and for no others. (R. S. § 3678.)

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ANTI-DEFICIENCY LAW

§ 665. Appropriations.

(a) Expenditures or contract obligations in excess of funds prohibited. No officer or employee of the United States shall make or authorize an expenditure from or create or authorize an obligation under any appropriation or fund in excess of the amount available therein; nor shall any such officer or employee involve the Government in any contract or other obligation, for the payment of money for any purpose, in advance of appropriations made for such purpose, unless such contract or obligation is authorized by law. (b) Voluntary service forbidden.

No officer or employee of the United States shall accept voluntary service for the United States or employ personal service in excess of that authorized by law, except in cases of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.

(c) Apportionment of appropriations; reserves; distribution; review.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all appropriations or funds available for obligation for a definite period of time shall be so apportioned as to prevent obligation or expenditure thereof in a manner which would indicate a necessity for deficiency or supplemental appropriations for such period; and all appropriations or funds not limited to a definite period of time, and all authorizations to create obligations by contract in advance of appropriations, shall be so apportioned as to achieve the most effective and economical use thereof. As used hereafter in this section, the term "appropriation" means appropriations, funds, and authorizations to create obligations by contract in advance of appropriations.

(2) In apportioning any appropriation, reserves may be established to provide for contingencies, or to effect savings whenever savings are made possible

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31 U.S.C.-MONEY AND FINANCE-SEC. 665

by or through changes in requirements, greater efficiency of operations, or other developments subsequent to the date on which such appropriation was made available. Whenever it is determined by an officer designated in subsection (d) of this section to make apportionments and reapportionments that any amount so reserved will not be required to carry out the purposes of the appropriation concerned, he shall recommend the rescission of such amount in the manner provided in the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, for estimates of appropriations. (3) Any appropriation subject to apportionment shall be distributed by months, calendar quarters, operating seasons, or other time periods, or by activities, functions, projects, or objects, or by a combination thereof, as may be deemed appropriate by the officers designated in subsection (d) of this section to make apportionments and reapportionments. Except as otherwise specified by the officer making the apportionment, amounts so apportioned shall remain available for obligation, in accordance with the terms of the appropriation, on a cumulative basis unless reapportioned.

(4) Apportionments shall be reviewed at least four times each year by the officers designated in subsection (d) of this section to make apportionments and reapportionments, and such reapportionments made or such reserves established, modified, or released as may be necessary to further the effective use of the appropriation concerned, in accordance with the purposes stated in paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(d) Officers controlling apportionment or reapportionment.

(1) Any appropriation available to the legislative branch, the judiciary, or the District of Columbia, which is required to be apportioned under subsection (c) of this section, shall be apportioned or reapportioned in writing by the of ficer having administrative control of such appropriation. Each such appropriation shall be apportioned not later than thirty days before the beginning of the fiscal year for which the appropriation is available, or not more than thirty days after approval of the Act by which the appropriation is made available, whichever is later.

(2) Any appropriation available to an agency, which is required to be apportioned under subsection (c) of this section, shall be apportioned or reapportioned in writing by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. The head of each agency to which any such appropriation is available shall submit to the Bureau of the Budget information, in such form and manner and at such time or times as the Director may prescribe, as may be required for the apportionment of such appropriation. Such information shall be submitted not later than forty days before the beginning of any fiscal year for which the appropriation is available, or not more than fifteen days after approval of the Act by which such appropriation is made available, whichever is later. The Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall apportion each such appropriation and shall notify the agency concerned of his action not later than twenty days before the beginning of the fiscal year for which the appropriation is available, or not more than thirty days after the approval of the Act by which such appropriation is made available, whichever is later. When used in this section, the term "agency" means any