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Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73not60

§277d–3 Authorization for Appropriations; Activities for Which Available; Contracts for Excess Amounts

Title 22 › Chapter 7— INTERNATIONAL BUREAUS, CONGRESSES, ETC. › Subchapter IV— INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION › § 277d–3

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Authorizes Congress to give the Department of State whatever money is needed for the U.S. Section to carry out the Treaty of February 3, 1944, and other U.S.–Mexico treaties, and to do its required jobs. The money can pay for things like building, running, and fixing stream gaging stations and their equipment and sites; staff pay and rent in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere; hired services (such as lawyers and appraisers) at pay no higher than the top GS‑15 daily rate; and the hiring of retired U.S. military members as consultants without following normal civil‑service rules and without them having to return to active duty. Funds may also be used for travel and meeting attendance, hiring animals and vehicles (including aircraft), buying or taking land and other property, buying ice and drinking water, inspecting equipment, drilling and testing dam sites, field telephone service in private homes when authorized, firearms and ammunition for guards, official entertainment and representation within the United States, and other lawful purposes related to the U.S. Section. When money has already been appropriated for starting or continuing a project, the United States Commissioner may sign contracts that go beyond the money on hand if the work’s physical and orderly sequence requires it, provided those contracts depend on future Congressional appropriations and notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1342, 1349–1351 and subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31, and 41 U.S.C. §§ 6301(a) and (b) and 6303. The Commissioner must prepare, within 30 days after each fiscal year ends, a report of that year’s official entertainment and representation spending and make it available for public inspection.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §277d–3

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State for the use of the Commission, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the Treaty of February 3, 1944, and other treaties and conventions between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, under which the United States Section operates, and to discharge the statutory functions and duties of the United States Section. Such sums shall be available for construction, operation and maintenance of stream gaging stations, and their equipment and sites therefor; personal services and rent in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; services, including those of attorneys and appraisers, in accordance with the provisions of section 3109 of title 5, at rates for individuals not in excess of the maximum daily rate for grade GS–15 of the General Schedule and the United States Commissioner is authorized, notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act, to employ as consultants by contract or otherwise without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, and the civil-service laws and regulations, retired personnel of the Armed Forces of the United States, who shall not be required to revert to an active status; travel expense, including, in the discretion of the Commissioner, expenses of attendance at meetings of organizations concerned with the activities of the Commission which may be necessary for the efficient discharge of the responsibilities of the Commission; hire, with or without personal services, of work animals, and animal-drawn, and motor-propelled (including passenger) vehicles and aircraft and equipment; acquisition by donation, purchase, or condemnation, of real and personal property, including expenses of abstracts, certificates of title, and recording fees; purchase of ice and drinking water; inspection of equipment, supplies and materials by contract or otherwise; drilling and testing of foundations and dam sites, by contract if deemed necessary; payment for official telephone service in the field in case of official telephones installed in private houses when authorized under regulations established by the Commissioner; purchase of firearms and ammunition for guard purposes; official entertainment and other representation expenses within the United States for the United States section; and such other objects and purposes as may be permitted by laws applicable, in whole or in part, to the United States Section: Provided, That, when appropriations have been made for the commencement or continuation of construction or operation and maintenance of any such project, the United States Commissioner, notwithstanding the provisions of section 1341, 1342, and 1349 to 1351 and subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31, and section 6301(a) and (b) and 6303 of title 41, or any other law, may enter into contracts beyond the amount actually appropriated for so much of the work on any such authorized project as the physical and orderly sequence of construction makes necessary, such contracts to be subject to and dependent upon future appropriations by Congress: Provided further, That the United States Commissioner shall prepare, within 30 days after the end of each fiscal year, a report of all expenditures during that year for official entertainment and other representation expenses, which shall be available for public inspection.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Grade GS–15, referred to in text, is contained in the General Schedule which is set out under section 5332 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Codification In text, “section 3109 of title 5” and “chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5” substituted for “section 15 of the Act of August 2, 1946 (5 U.S.C. sec. 55a)” and “the Classification Act of 1949, as amended”, respectively, on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, § 7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, which Act enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. In text, “section 1341, 1342, and 1349 to 1351 and subchapter II of chapter 15 of title 31 and section 6301(a) and (b) and 6303 of title 41” substituted for “section 3679, 3732, and 3733 of the Revised Statutes” on authority of Pub. L. 97–258, § 4(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1067, which Act enacted Title 31, Money and Finance, and Pub. L. 111–350, § 6(c), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3854, which Act enacted Title 41, Public Contracts.

Amendments

1991—Pub. L. 102–138 inserted “official entertainment and other representation expenses within the United States for the United States section;” after “guard purposes;” and concluding provision that the United States Commissioner prepare, within 30 days after the end of each fiscal year, a report of all expenditures during that year for official entertainment and other representation expenses, with such report to be available for public inspection. 1977—Pub. L. 95–105 substituted “the maximum daily rate for grade GS–15 of the General Schedule” for “$100 per diem”. 1964—Pub. L. 88–448 struck out provisions which permitted retired personnel of the Armed Forces of the United States employed by the Commission to receive as compensation for temporary service, the difference between the rates of pay established therefor and their retired pay during the period or periods of their temporary employment.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1977 Amendment Pub. L. 95–105, title V, § 514(d), Aug. 17, 1977, 91 Stat. 862, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [amending this section and section 277d–28 and 277d–31 of this title] shall take effect on October 1, 1977.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 277d–3

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60