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-
C O N F I D E N T I A L
-
-
Item 3247
- "No officer in any branch of the public service, or any other
person whose
salary, pay, or emoluments are fixed by law or regula-
tions, shall receive any additional
pay, extra allowance, or compen-
sation, in any form whatever, for the disbursement of public money,
or for any other service or duty whatever, unless the same is
authorized by
law, and the appropriation therefor explicitly states
that it is for such additional pay, extra allowance, or compensation."
- There is no statutory authority for the payment of
premiums for insuring
- the lives of military and civilian personnel, and current
appropriations
- for military and civilian pay and allowances do not expressly provide
- therefor. It follows that the payment of such premiums from appropriated
- funds is
prohibited by the quoted section. The statutory provision in
- question is applicable to all
military and civilian personnel of the
- Army "whose salary, pay, or emoluments are
fixed by law or regulations"
- (24 Comp.
Gen. 646 (1945).
-
- d.
Private Citizens. Section 3679 of the Revised Statutes,
as amended (31 U.S.C.
665(b)), provides:
"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."
- It is the policy of the quoted statute to prohibit the
acceptance of
voluntary services which may provide a basis for future claims against the
Government. The stated policy applies not only where legal claims for
compensation may
arise from performance of the services, but also where
the circumstances surrounding the
proffer support a reasonable possibility
that the services may provide the basis for
seeking remedial Legislation
from the Congress. The JAG is therefore of the opinion that the services
in question should not be accepted by the Department of the Army. In
view
of this conclusion, it is unnecessary to consider the extent to which such
persons
could exert claims against the Government by reason of disability
or death resulting
from participation in the proposed experiments, or
whether premiums on life insurance for
the said participants may be paid
from appropriated funds.
-
-
e. Contractors' Employees. The applicability of the foregoing
- considerations
to contractors' employees is considered below:
-
-
(1) Legality of employment. The authority of the Secretary
of the Army to contract
for services necessary to effectuate research
and development activities is contained in
section 104 of the act of 10
July 1950 (64 Stat. 322; 5 U.S.C. 235a), quoted in
subparagraph a, above.
There appears to be no provision of law which would prevent a contractor
from employing his personnel upon experiments of the nature contemplated.
In
the literal sense, no question of "acceptance" of the services in
question by the Government
is involved, as the private relation of such an
employee is with the contractor rather
than the Government. It devolves
C O N F I D E N T I A L
273
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