IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 49 

Establishing the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking to review, analyze, and make recommendations to Congress to promote the use of 

Federal data for evidence-building and evidence-based policymaking, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2023 

Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr. MORELLE, and Mr. PHILLIPS) 

submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee 

on Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Establishing the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking to review, analyze, and make recommendations 

to Congress to promote the use of Federal data for 

evidence-building and evidence-based policymaking, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Con5 gressional Evidence-Based Policymaking Resolution’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ON EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 legislative branch the Commission on Evidence-Based Pol4 icymaking (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commis5 sion’’) to review, analyze, and make recommendations with 

6 respect to promoting the use of Federal data for evidence7 building and evidence-based policymaking. 

8 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com9 posed of 12 members, appointed not later than 45 days 

10 after the date of the adoption of this resolution, as follows: 

11 (1) Three shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

12 the House of Representatives, of whom— 

13 (A) one shall be an academic researcher 

14 specializing in Congress, social science, or data 

15 science; 

16 (B) one shall be a former Member or sen17 ior staffer of the House; and 

18 (C) one shall be an employee of an office 

19 that participates in the Congressional Data 

20 Task Force or other legislative branch support 

21 agency as appropriate for the purposes of 

22 studying and developing the recommendations 

23 under subsection (g). 

24 (2) Three shall be appointed by the minority 

25 leader of the House of Representatives, of whom— 


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1 (A) one shall be an academic researcher 

2 specializing in Congress, social science, or data 

3 science; 

4 (B) one shall be a former Member or sen5 ior staffer of the House; and 

6 (C) one shall be an employee of an office 

7 that participates in the Congressional Data 

8 Task Force or other legislative branch support 

9 agency as appropriate for the purposes of 

10 studying and developing the recommendations 

11 under subsection (g). 

12 (3) Three shall be appointed by the majority 

13 leader of the Senate, of whom— 

14 (A) one shall be an academic researcher 

15 specializing in Congress, social science, or data 

16 science; 

17 (B) one shall be a former Member or sen18 ior staffer of the Senate; and 

19 (C) one shall be an employee of an office 

20 that participates in the Congressional Data 

21 Task Force or other legislative branch support 

22 agency as appropriate for the purposes of 

23 studying and developing the recommendations 

24 under subsection (g). 


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1 (4) Three shall be appointed by the minority 

2 leader of the Senate, of whom— 

3 (A) one shall be an academic researcher 

4 specializing in Congress, social science, or data 

5 science; 

6 (B) one shall be a former Member or sen7 ior staffer of the Senate; and 

8 (C) one shall be an employee of an office 

9 that participates in the Congressional Data 

10 Task Force or other legislative branch support 

11 agency as appropriate for the purposes of 

12 studying and developing the recommendations 

13 under subsection (g). 

14 (c) PROHIBITION AGAINST SERVICE BY CURRENT

15 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—An individual is not eligible to 

16 serve on the Commission if the individual is a current 

17 Member of Congress (including a Delegate or Resident 

18 Commissioner to the Congress). 

19 (d) CO-CHAIRS.—The Speaker of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the majority leader of the Senate shall 

21 each select one member of the Commission to serve as co22 chairs. 

23 (e) TERMS; VACANCIES.—Each member shall be ap24 pointed for the duration of the Commission. Any vacancy 

25 in the Commission shall not affect its powers, and shall 


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1 be filled in the manner in which the original appointment 

2 was made. 

3 (f) STAFF.— 

4 (1) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a 

5 Director who shall be appointed jointly by the co6 chairs. The Director shall be paid at a rate of pay 

7 established by the co-chairs, not to exceed the an8 nual rate of basic pay payable for level V of the Ex9 ecutive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (2) OTHER STAFF.—The Director may appoint 

12 and fix the pay of not more than 8 full-time equiva13 lent employees and 4 part-time employees. 

14 (3) COVERAGE UNDER CONGRESSIONAL AC15 COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995.—For purposes of the 

16 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

17 1301 et seq.)— 

18 (A) the Commission shall be treated as an 

19 employing office under the Act; and 

20 (B) an employee of the Commission shall 

21 be treated as a covered employee under the Act. 

22 (4) DETAIL OF EMPLOYEES.—At the request of 

23 the Commission, an employee of an office of the 

24 House of Representatives or Senate may be detailed 


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1 to the Commission to assist the Commission with 

2 carrying out its duties. 

3 (g) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall study 

5 and consider approval of applicable recommenda6 tions with respect to evidence-based policymaking 

7 within the Federal Government, including— 

8 (A) how Congress may encourage Federal 

9 agencies to produce and prioritize evidence on 

10 effectiveness for major new programs and reau11 thorizations, consistent with the Foundations 

12 for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 

13 (Public Law 115–435) and the amendments 

14 made by such Act; 

15 (B) how Congress may encourage Federal 

16 agencies to support States in making data more 

17 open and accessible, in a manner similar to that 

18 provided under the Foundations for Evidence19 Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 

20 115–435) and the amendments made by such 

21 Act; 

22 (C) how Congress can revise existing laws 

23 or enact new laws to improve access to adminis24 trative and survey data for evidence building; 


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1 (D) how to incorporate evidence such as 

2 outcomes measurement, rigorous impact anal3 ysis, and implementation-aligned language into 

4 the lawmaking process; 

5 (E) how Congress can access and incor6 porate real-time, structured, integrated, and 

7 machine-readable data into the lawmaking proc8 ess; 

9 (F) the potential need for and duties of a 

10 congressional Chief Data Officer, including 

11 whether the officer should be located in a 

12 stand-alone office or housed within another ex13 isting agency and how such an office would 

14 function with existing data and transformation 

15 units in Congress; and 

16 (G) ways to increase data and data privacy 

17 expertise in Congress through the incorporation 

18 of technologists, data scientists, data analysts, 

19 privacy experts, social scientists, and engineers 

20 to assist in policy evaluation and legislative 

21 drafting. 

22 (2) ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—Any 

23 recommendation considered by the Commission shall 

24 only be considered adopted by the Commission upon 


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1 receiving the votes of at least two-thirds of the mem2 bers of the Commission. 

3 (h) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Commission may 

5 submit to the Speaker of the House and the major6 ity leader of the Senate interim reports containing 

7 such findings, conclusions, and recommendations as 

8 have been agreed to by at least two-thirds of the 

9 members of the Commission. 

10 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the final 

11 day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, the 

12 Commission shall submit a report to the Speaker of 

13 the House and the majority leader of the Senate on 

14 the activities and findings of the Commission. 

15 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

17 necessary to carry out this section, of which— 

18 (1) 50 percent shall be derived from the appli19 cable accounts of the House of Representatives; and 

20 (2) 50 percent shall be derived from the contin21 gent fund of the Senate. 

Æ 


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