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                              June 11, 1997
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                             GSBCA 13711-TRAV


                     In the Matter of FRANK H. KHATTAT


     Frank H. Khattat, Camp Springs, MD, Claimant.

     Frederick W. Dorsey, Washington Liaison Officer, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC,
appearing for Department of the Interior.

HYATT, Board Judge.

     Mr. Frank H. Khattat, a retired employee of the Department of
the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Indian Affairs, seeks reimbursement
of costs incurred during official travel which took place between
October 1985 and February 1988.  The expenses claimed were incurred
during six trips taken on the following dates:  1) October 2-4,
1985; 2) November 5-8, 1985; 3) February 4-12, 1987; 4) April 13-
16, 1987; 5) December 14-16, 1987; and 6) February 17-19, 1988.
Following the initial submission of claimant's reimbursement
requests, the agency determined, based on a review of claimant's
paperwork, that proper documentation of all expenses had not been
provided.  At that time, Mr. Khattat was partially reimbursed for
his travel expenses and told that he could receive additional
amounts upon furnishing the necessary documentation for the
remainder of his claims.  
     Although Mr. Khattat s last claim was denied in April 1988, on
the record before us no reclaims were made for any of these travel
expenses until September 1995, when Mr. Khattat submitted further
documentation with the explanation that his medical condition had
prevented him from pursuing this matter sooner.  In filing his
reclaims, Mr. Khattat provided extensive documentation of his
medical situation.  Upon submission of his reclaims to the agency,
Mr. Khattat was informed that he could not be reimbursed under the
six year statute of limitations applicable to such claims.  It is
from this denial of reimbursement that Mr. Khattat sought review 
by the General Accounting Office (GAO).  His claim was filed with
GAO on May 3, 1996.

     At the time Mr. Khattat's reclaims were forwarded to GAO, 31
U.S.C. 3702 authorized the Comptroller General, who heads that
office, to settle claims against the Government arising out of
official travel.  This statute provided that a claim presented
under it "must be received by the Comptroller General within 6
years after the claim accrues," with two exceptions not relevant
here.  31 U.S.C.  3702(b)(1) (1994).  The issue before us is
whether Mr. Khattat s reclaims may be considered to have been
timely filed with GAO, and subsequently with the Board, in light of
the six-year statute of limitations.  Under GAO regulations in
effect at the time Mr. Khattat's claim was filed,  [t]o satisfy the
statutory limitation, a claim must be received by the General
Accounting Office, or by the department or agency out of whose
activities the claim arose, within six years from the date the
claim accrued.   4 CFR 31.5(a) (1995).  Further,  the burden of
establishing compliance with the statute of limitations rests with
the claimant.   Id.  Here, more than six, and in some cases up to
ten, years elapsed between the agency's rulings on Mr. Khattat's
claims for reimbursement of official travel expenses and the
eventual submission of reclaims with supporting documentation.  We
thus conclude that Mr. Khattat has failed to carry his burden and
that the six-year statute of limitations on the authority to
resolve travel claims, as interpreted by GAO at the time the
reclaim was filed with that office, had expired before the date of
filing.

     Furthermore, this is not a case where equitable tolling of the
limitations period or relating back the reclaim to the date of the
original filing would be appropriate.  Equitable tolling is
generally reserved for the claimant who, without fault, allows the
limitations period to run.  Irwin v. Department of Veterans
Affairs, 498 U.S. 89, 96 (1990) ( We have generally been much less
forgiving in receiving late filings where the claimant failed to
exercise due diligence in preserving his legal rights. ); Kelley v.
NLRB, 79 F.3d 1238, 1248 (1st Cir. 1996) (Equitable tolling is
 appropriate only when the circumstances that cause a plaintiff to
miss a filing deadline are out of his [or her] hands. ) (citations
omitted).  Mr. Khattat is not such a claimant.  Mr. Khattat had
notice of his claim against the Government and controlled the
information needed to obtain reimbursement.  The Government told
Mr. Khattat that he could obtain reimbursement through a properly
documented reclaim.  While the Board recognizes that Mr. Khattat
developed considerable health problems sometime after the travel at
issue was performed, it nonetheless would seem that there was
adequate opportunity for him to submit his reclaim before he became
so disabled that he was forced to retire.  

     For the foregoing reasons this request for review is dismissed
as untimely filed.





                                   ___________________________
                                   CATHERINE B. HYATT
                                   Board Judge