Dave Camp: “as chairman of the Corrections Advisory Group, I am pleased to again appear before the House under the Corrections…”

“as chairman of the Corrections Advisory Group, I am pleased to again appear before the House under the Corrections Calendar to correct an unintended consequence of current law. Passage of this bill will once again place the scissors of efficiency on the hunt for redtape. My distinguished colleague from Georgia, Mr. Collins, a fellow member of the Committee on Ways and Means, introduced H.R. 1316 on April 14, 1997, to correct what we all agree was an unintentional byproduct of Federal law affecting Federal employees. There is a law of physics that says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Unfortunately, there is no law that says these reactions must be beneficial. Currently when a Federal beneficiary dies, the Federal life insurance benefits are granted to the individual named as beneficiary. If, however, no beneficiary has been named, there may be uncertainty and turmoil that can result. So in these trying times, families are often faced with difficult decisions on benefits and are made to face court challenges from others who seek to take advantage of the Federal employee's inaction in naming a beneficiary. Unfortunately, under current law, State domestic relations orders such as divorce decrees or property settlements do not affect the life insurance payments of Federal employees if no beneficiary has been named.”