B-124024, AUG. 15, 1955
Highlights
SANTACROCE: REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER DATED APRIL 20. WHICH SUM WAS DISALLOWED IN THE SETTLEMENT OF MARCH 31. YOU URGE THAT REIMBURSEMENT SHOULD BE MADE IN VIEW OF THE ADDITIONAL AMOUNT IT WOULD HAVE COST HAD YOU AND YOUR DEPENDENTS USED ACCOMMODATIONS ON THE SHIP REGISTERED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AVAILABLE AT THE TIME. WAS PROPER AND IS SUSTAINED.
B-124024, AUG. 15, 1955
TO MR. NUNZIO G. SANTACROCE:
REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER DATED APRIL 20, 1955, REQUESTING REVIEW OF THAT PART OF OUR CLAIMS DIVISION SETTLEMENT DATED MARCH 31, 1955, WHICH DISALLOWED YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES OF TRAVEL PERFORMED BY YOU ON A FOREIGN VESSEL, THE S. S. MAASDAM, FROM NEW YORK, NEW YORK, TO ROTTERDAM, HOLLAND, DURING THE PERIOD FROM JULY 9 TO 19, 1954, UNDER TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION DATED APRIL 14, 1954, AS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, PLANT QUARANTINE BRANCH.
YOU PRESENTED A CLAIM FOR $196.70, REPRESENTING TOURIST-CLASS FARE, PLUS THE COST OF A DECK CHAIR, WHICH SUM WAS DISALLOWED IN THE SETTLEMENT OF MARCH 31, IN THE ABSENCE OF A SHOWING THAT ,EXCESSIVE DELAY WOULD BE OCCASIONED BY USING AN AMERICAN VESSEL.'
SECTION 901 OF THE MERCHANT MARINE ACT OF 1936, 49 STAT. 2015, REQUIRES OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE UNITED STATES TRAVELING ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS TO USE SHIPS REGISTERED UNDER LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES WHERE AVAILABLE, UNLESS THE NECESSITY OF HIS MISSION REQUIRES THE USE OF A SHIP UNDER A FOREIGN FLAG. IN YOUR LETTER OF APRIL 20, YOU URGE THAT REIMBURSEMENT SHOULD BE MADE IN VIEW OF THE ADDITIONAL AMOUNT IT WOULD HAVE COST HAD YOU AND YOUR DEPENDENTS USED ACCOMMODATIONS ON THE SHIP REGISTERED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AVAILABLE AT THE TIME. THE ARGUMENTS CONTAINED IN YOUR LETTER DO NOT REVEAL ANY FACT OR CIRCUMSTANCE WHICH MIGHT BE REGARDED AS EVIDENCE THAT THE NATURE OF YOUR DUTY OR MISSION OVERSEAS REQUIRED THAT YOU USE A FOREIGN VESSEL. ALSO, IT REPEATEDLY HAS BEEN HELD THAT QUESTIONS OF CONVENIENCE OF THE TRAVELER OR ECONOMY ALONE DO NOT JUSTIFY THE USE OF FOREIGN VESSELS BY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, OR THEIR DEPENDENTS, IN TRAVELING OVERSEAS. SEE B-106864, OCTOBER 20, 1953, CONCERNING USE OF FOREIGN VESSELS FOR TRAVEL TO HOLLAND. ALSO SEE, GENERALLY, 18 COMP. GEN. 375; ID. 858; 30 ID. 407; AND 31 ID. 351.
ACCORDINGLY, THE SETTLEMENT OF MARCH 31, 1955, WAS PROPER AND IS SUSTAINED.