FERGUSON GETS HER 38 BUCKS BACK (#30028)








FOR RELEASE:  May 25, 1993              CONTACT:   John Barclay
                                                 (202) 208-3983

                INTERIOR EMPLOYEE GETS APOLOGY...
                AND HER 38 BUCKS BACK (#30028)


     President Clinton asked all Americans to make contributions,
but Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt says making government
employees pay their own travel expenses isn't what he meant. 
Consequently, the Interior Department employee who lost $38 in
her effort to save the government $331 got her money back this
week after she took her case to Secretary Babbitt and Vice
President Al Gore.

     Edythe Ferguson of the Minerals Management Service (MMS)
earned headlines last week during a Monday "Town Hall" meeting of
Interior employees with Gore and Babbitt.  When Gore asked for
examples of bureaucratic inefficiency, Ferguson said she'd used a
free, frequent flier ticket for government travel rather than
buying a new, $331 fare.  The free ticket required her to stay at
her destination an extra day, but the government refused to
reimburse her $38 per diem allowance.  When Gore asked why,
Ferguson told him, "You got me!"

      Babbitt promised Gore that Ferguson would get her money,
even if it had to come out of his own pocket (it did not).  The
contested amount, he noted, probably would not cover the cost of
the labor involved in rejecting the claim in the first place.

     Babbitt said the Saturday night stopover requirement had not
appeared on the voucher submitted to MMS's finance personnel. 
The stipulation appeared in other materials Ferguson submitted,
but was overlooked.  "When my office called," he said, "they
immediately realized their mistake.  Of course, having the Vice
President on her side probably didn't hurt her case too much."  

     Babbitt's $38 promise during the May 17 meeting was quickly
kept:  Ferguson's refund was processed that afternoon, he said.

                              -MMS-