I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2888

To ensure the economy, efficiency, and management of Government operations

and activities relating to travel arranged by the Executive Office of

the President, by abolishing the White House travel office and requiring

procurement of travel-related services by the Executive Office of the

President from private-sector sources.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 25, 1996

Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois, and Mr. BARRETT of

Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

A BILL

To ensure the economy, efficiency, and management of Government operations and activities relating to travel arranged by the Executive Office of the President, by abolishing the White House travel office and requiring procurement of travel-related services by the Executive Office of the President from private-sector sources.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Office Travel

5 Management Imrovement Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) In May of 1993, the accounting firm Peat

4 Warwick prepared a study of the White House travel

5 office and found a lack of basic financial manage6 ment procedures, including—

7 (A) lack of formal guidelines and proce8 dures for procurement,

9 (B) poor accounting systems,

10 (C) inadequate documentation and billing

11 practices, and

12 (D) ineffective cash management controls.

13 (2) In May of 1994, the General Accounting

14 Office issued a report reviewing the White House

15 travel office and establishing 29 management cri16 teria that should be applied to operations of the

17 White House travel office.

18 (3) Peat Warwick has confirmed to the General

19 Accounting Office that its May 1993 study had ad20 dressed 25 out of the 29 criteria and that the White

21 House travel office operations at that time satisfied

22 only 6 of the 25 criteria addressed.

23 (4) The White House travel office has greatly

24 improved and professionalized its operations, and

25 the General Accounting Office has determined that
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1 the office’s operations now satisfy 27 of the 29 cri2 teria.

3 (5) The functions of the White House travel of4 fice are unique within the Government and involve

5 arranging, facilitating, and coordinating complex

6 travel, transportation, communications, and other

7 logistical requirements.

8 (6) The travel, transportation, communication,

9 and other logistical support activities of the White

10 House travel office must carefully accommodate ex11 tensive and intensive Presidential security require12 ments.

13 (7) The employees of the White House travel

14 office are political appointees who serve at the pleas15 ure of the President and therefore do not have the

16 protections afforded Federal civil service employees.

17 SEC. 3. ABOLISHMENT OF WHITE HOUSE TRAVEL OFFICE.

18 (a) ABOLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—The White House

19 travel office, located within the White House Office, is

20 abolished.

21 (b) REASSIGNMENT OF FUNCTIONS.—Subject to sub22 section (c), the President shall assign to the Director of

23 the Office of Administration the functions that imme24 diately before this section took effect were performed by
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1 the White House travel office within the White House Of2 fice.

3 (c) ENSURING PROCUREMENT FROM PRIVATE SEC4 TOR SOURCES.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to policies and di6 rectives of the President, the Director of the Office

7 of Administration shall ensure that travel manage8 ment and related services for the Executive Office of

9 the President are, to the extent feasible, procured

10 from private-sector sources.

11 (2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out

12 this subsection, the Director shall—

13 (A) take steps to improve economy, effi14 ciency, management, and accountability of trav15 el-related functions of the Executive Office of

16 the President;

17 (B) expand the range of travel-related

18 services obtained by the Executive Office of the

19 President from private-sector and Federal agen20 cy sources;

21 (C) encourage full use of innovative sys22 tems and technology in the performance of trav23 el-related functions; and

24 (D) obtain advice from the Administrator

25 of General Services, representatives of the trav-
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1 el management industry, representatives of the

2 communications industry, and other appropriate

3 persons.

4 (d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date

5 of the enactment of this Act, the President shall report

6 to the Congress the results of actions taken under this

7 section.

8 (e) OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION DEFINED.—In this

9 section, the term ‘‘Office of Administration’’ means such

10 office in the Executive Office of the President, established

11 by Reorganization Plan Number 1 of 1977 (3 U.S.C.

12 chapter 2 note).

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