TEXT

Children need and deserve the emotional and financial support of
both their parents.

The Federal Government requires States and, through them, public
and private employers to take actions necessary to ensure that
monies in payment of child support obligations are withheld and
transferred to the child's caretaker in an efficient and
expeditious manner.

The Federal Government, through its civilian employees and
Uniformed Services members, is the Nation's largest single
employer and as such should set an example of leadership and
encouragement in ensuring that all children are properly
supported.

NOW, THEREFORE, by the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is
hereby ordered as follows:

     PART 1--PURPOSE

Section 101.  This executive order: (a) Establishes the executive
branch of the Federal Government, through its civilian employees
and Uniformed Services members, as a model employer in promoting
and facilitating the establishment and enforcement of child
support.
     (b) Requires all Federal agencies, including the Uniformed
Services, to cooperate fully in efforts to establish paternity
and child support orders and to enforce the collection of child
and medical support in all situations where such actions may be
required.
     (c) Requires each Federal agency, including the Uniformed
Services, to provide information to its employees and members
about actions that they should take and services that are
available to ensure that their children are provided the support
to which they are legally entitled.
     PART 2--DEFINITIONS

For purposes of this order:

Sec. 201. "Federal agency" means any authority as defined at     

5 U.S.C. 105, including the Uniformed Services, as defined in
section 202 of this order.

Sec. 202.  "Uniformed Services" means the Army, Navy, Marine
Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the Commissioned Corps of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public
Health Service.

Sec. 203.  "Child support enforcement" means any administrative
or judicial action by a court or administrative entity of a State
necessary to establish paternity or establish a child support
order, including a medical support order, and any actions
necessary to enforce a child support or medical support order. 
Child support actions may be brought under the civil or criminal
laws of a State and are not limited to actions brought on behalf
of the State or individual by State agencies providing services
under title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 651 et
seq.

Sec. 204.  "State" means any of the fifty States, the District of
Columbia, the territories, the possessions, and the Commonwealths
of Puerto Rico and of the Mariana Islands.

     PART 3--IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TO ENSURE CHILDREN ARE SUPPORTED
BY THEIR PARENTS

Sec. 301.  Wage Withholding (a) Within 60 days from the date of
this order, every Federal agency shall review its procedures for
wage withholding under 42 U.S.C. 659 and implementing regulations
to ensure that it is in full compliance with the requirements of
that section, and shall endeavor, to the extent feasible, to
process wage withholding actions consistent with the requirements
of 42 U.S.C. 666(b).
     (b) Beginning no later than July 1, 1995, the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) shall publish annually
in the Federal Register the list of agents (and their addresses)
designated to receive service of withholding notices for Federal
employees.

Sec. 302.  Service of Legal Process.  Every Federal agency shall
assist in the service of legal process in civil actions pursuant
to orders of courts of States to establish paternity and
establish or enforce a support obligation by making Federal
employees and members of the Uniformed Services stationed outside
the United States available for the service of process.  Each
agency shall designate an official who shall be responsible for
facilitating a Federal employee's or member's availability for
service of process, regardless of the location of the employee's
workplace or member's duty station.  The OPM shall publish a list
of these officials annually in the Federal Register, beginning no
later than July 1, 1995.

Sec. 303.  Federal Parent Locator.  Every Federal agency shall
cooperate with the Federal Parent Locator Service, established
under 42 U.S.C. 653, by providing complete, timely and accurate
information that will assist in locating noncustodial parents and
their employers.

Sec. 304.  Crossmatch for Delinquent Obligors.  (a) The master
file of delinquent obligors that each State child support
enforcement agency submits to the Internal Revenue Service for
Federal income tax refund offset purposes shall be matched at
least annually with the payroll or personnel files of Federal
agencies in order to determine if there are any Federal employees
with child support delinquencies.  The list of matches shall be
forwarded to the appropriate State child support enforcement
agency to determine, in each instance, whether wage withholding
or other enforcement actions should be commenced.  All matches
will be performed in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)-(u).
     (b) All Federal agencies shall inform current and
prospective employees that crossmatches are routinely made
between Federal personnel records and State records on
individuals who owe child support, and inform employees how to
initiate voluntary wage withholding requests.

Sec 305.  Availability of Service.  All Federal agencies shall
advise current and prospective employees of services authorized
under title IV-D of the Social Security Act that are available
through the States.  At a minimum, information shall be provided
annually to current employees through the Employee Assistance
Program, or similar programs, and to new employees during routine
orientation.

Sec. 306. Report on Actions Taken.  Within 90 days of the date of
this order, all Federal agencies shall report to the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the actions they
have taken to comply with this order and any statutory,
regulatory, and administrative barriers that hinder them from
complying with the requirements of part 3 of this order.

     PART 4--ADDITIONAL ACTIONS

Sec. 401.  Additional Review for the Uniformed Services.  (a) In
addition to the requirements outlined above, the Secretary of the
Department of Defense (DOD) will chair a task force, with
participation by the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS), the Department of Commerce, and the Department of
Transportation, that shall conduct a full review of current
policies and practices within the Uniformed Services to ensure
that children of Uniformed Services personnel are provided
financial and medical support in the same manner and within the
same time frames as is mandated for all other children due such
support.  This review shall include, but not be limited to,
issues related to withholding non-custodial parents' wages,
service of legal process, activities to locate parents and their
income and assets, release time to attend civil paternity and
support proceedings, and health insurance coverage under the
Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services
(CHAMPUS).  All relevant existing statues, including the Soldiers
and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940, the Uniformed Services
Former Spouses Protection Act, and the Tax Equity and Fiscal
Responsibility Act of 1982, shall be reviewed and appropriate
legislative modifications shall be identified.
     (b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, DOD shall
submit to OMB a report based on this review.  The report shall
recommend additional policy, regulatory and legislative changes
that improve and enhance the Federal Government's commitment to
ensuring parental support for all children.

Sec. 402.  Additional Federal Agency Actions.  (a) POM and HHS
jointly study and prepare recommendations concerning additional
administrative, regulatory, and legislative improvements in the
policies and procedures of Federal agencies affecting child
support enforcement.  Other agencies shall be included in the
development of recommendations for specific items as appropriate.

The recommendations shall address, among other things:
     (i) any changes that would be needed to ensure that Federal
employees comply with child support orders that require them to
provide health insurance coverage for their children:
     (ii) changes needed to ensure that more accurate and up-to-
date data about civilian and uniformed personnel who are being
sought to conjunction with State paternity or child support
actions can be obtained from Federal agencies and their payroll
and personnel records, to improve efforts to locate noncustodial
parents and their income and assets;
     (iii) changes needed for selecting Federal agencies to test
and evaluate new approaches to the establishment and enforcement
of child support obligations;
     (iv) proposals to improve service of process for civilian
employees and members of the Uniformed Services stationed outside
the United States, including the possibility of serving process
by certified mail in establishment and enforcement cases or of
designating an agent for service of process that would have the
same effect and bind employees to the same extent as actual
service upon the employees;
     (v) strategies to facilitate compliance with Federal and
State child support requirements by quasi-governmental agencies,
advisory groups, and commissions; and 
     (vi) analysis of whether compliance with support orders
should be a factor used in defining suitability for Federal
employment.
     (b) The recommendations are due within 180 days of the date
of this order.  The recommendations are to be submitted in
writing to the Office of Management and Budget.

Sec. 501.  Internal Management.  This order is intended only to
improve the internal management of the executive branch with
regard to child support enforcement and shall not be interpreted
to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law by a party against the United States, its
officers, or any other person.

Sec. 502.  Sovereignty of the United States Government.  This
order is intended only to provide that the Federal Government has
elected to require Federal agencies to adhere to the same
standards as are applicable to all other employers in the Nation
and shall not be interpreted as subjecting the Federal Government
to any State law or requirement.  This order should not be
construed as a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the United
States Government or of any existing statutory or regulatory
provisions, including 42 U.S.C. 659, 662, and 665; 5 CFR Part
581; 42 CFR Part 21, Subpart C; 32 CFR Part 54; and 32 Part 81.

Sec. 503.  Defense and Security.

This order is not intended to require any action that would
compromise the defense or national security interest of the
United States.

                         /s/William J. Clinton


THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 27, 1995.