PUBLIC LAW 104-106—FEB. 10, 1996 110 STAT. 431 "(B) The period of service represented by an amount of severance pay repaid by an employee under subparagraph (A) shall be considered service for which severance pay has not been received by the employee under this section. "(C) Amounts repaid to an agency under this paragraph shall be credited to the appropriation available for the pay of employees of the agency for the fiscal year in which received. Amounts so credited shall be merged with, and shall be available for the same purposes and the same period as, the other funds in that appropriation. "(3) If an employee fails to repay to an agency an amount required to be repaid under paragraph (2)(A), that amount is recoverable from the employee as a debt due the United States. "(4) This subsection applies with respect to severance pay pay- Applicability, able under this section for separations taking effect on or after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 and before October 1, 1999.". SEC. 1036. CONTINUED HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE. Section 8905a(d)(4) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ", or a voluntary separation from a surplus position," after "an involuntary separation from a position"; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: "(C) For the purpose of this paragraph, 'surplus position' means a position which is identified in pre-reduction-in-force planning as no longer required, and which is expected to be eliminated under formal reduction-in-force procedures.". SEC. 1037. REVISION OF AUTHORITY FOR APPOINTMENTS OF INVOL- UNTARILY SEPARATED MILITARY RESERVE TECHNI- CIANS. (a) REVISION OF AUTHORITY. —Section 3329 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 544 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (Public Law 102-484; 106 Stat. 2415), is amended— (1) in subsection (b), by striking out "be offered" and inserting in lieu thereof "be provided placement consideration in a position described in subsection (c) through a priority placement program of the Department of Defense"; and (2) by striking out subsection (c) and inserting in lieu thereof the following new subsection (c): "(c)(1) The position for which placement consideration shall be provided to a former military technician under subsection (b) shall be a position— "(A) in either the competitive service or the excepted service; "(B) within the Department of Defense; and "(C) in which the person is qualified to serve, taking into consideration whether the employee in that position is required to be a member of a reserve component of the armed forces as a condition of employment. "(2) To the maximum extent practicable, the position shall also be in a pay grade or other pay classification sufficient to ensure that the rate of basic pay of the former military technician, upon appointment to the position, is not less than the rate of basic pay last received by the former military technician for technician service before separation.".
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