II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1073

To establish a National Commission to Eliminate Waste in Government.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 20, 2001

Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To establish a National Commission to Eliminate Waste in

Government.

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 ‘‘National Commission

5 to Eliminate Waste in Government Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.

7 There is established the National Commission to

8 Eliminate Waste in Government (in this Act referred to

9 as the ‘‘Commission’’).
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1 SEC. 3. DUTIES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the Com3 mission to—

4 (1) conduct a private sector survey on manage5 ment and cost control in the Federal Government;

6 (2) conduct in-depth reviews of the operations

7 of the executive agencies;

8 (3)(A) review existing reports from the Govern9 ment Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget

10 Office, and the various Inspector General offices

11 within executive agencies, reports and other existing

12 governmental and nongovernmental recommenda13 tions for reducing waste, including recommendations

14 from the President’s Private Sector Survey on Cost

15 Control; and

16 (B) based on the review under subparagraph

17 (A), periodically submit reports to the President and

18 Congress including—

19 (i) a list of such recommendations that the

20 Commission determines are most significant;

21 (ii) the estimated savings of the rec22 ommendations; and

23 (iii) determinations of whether the rec24 ommendations can be implemented by Execu25 tive order or require legislative action; and
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1 (4) submit to the President and the Congress

2 recommendations for improving the budget process

3 and management and for reducing waste and costs

4 in the Federal Government.

5 (b) PARTICULAR AREAS TO BE EXAMINED.—In ful6 filling the duties described under subsection (a), the Com7 mission shall identify and address—

8 (1) opportunities for increased efficiency and

9 reduced costs in the Federal Government that can

10 be realized by Executive action or legislation;

11 (2) areas in the Federal Government where

12 managerial accountability can be enhanced and ad13 ministrative control can be improved;

14 (3) specific Federal programs that have accom15 plished their objectives and should be terminated;

16 (4) specific Federal program services that could

17 be provided at a lower cost by the private sector;

18 (5) specific reforms of the budget process that

19 would yield savings, increase accountability and effi20 ciency, and enhance public confidence in the budget

21 process; and

22 (6) specific areas in the Federal Government

23 where further study can be justified by potential sav24 ings.
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1 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.

2 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—

3 (1) NUMBER.—The Commission shall be com4 posed of 12 members who are not officers or employ5 ees of any government and who are especially quali6 fied to serve on the Commission by virtue of their

7 education, training, or experience.

8 (2) POLITICAL PARTY REPRESENTATION.—Not

9 more than 6 members of the Commission shall be of

10 the same political party.

11 (3) APPOINTMENT.—The members of the Com12 mission shall be appointed as follows:

13 (A) 4 individuals shall be appointed by the

14 President, not more than 2 of whom shall be

15 from the same political party.

16 (B) 3 individuals shall be appointed by the

17 Speaker of the House of Representatives, not

18 more than 2 of whom shall be from the same

19 political party.

20 (C) 1 individual shall be appointed by the

21 minority leader of the House of Representa22 tives.

23 (D) 3 individuals shall be appointed by the

24 majority leader of the Senate, not more than 2

25 of whom shall be from the same political party.
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1 (E) 1 individual shall be appointed by the

2 minority leader of the Senate.

3 (b) CONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—If an indi4 vidual is appointed to the Commission, and later becomes

5 an officer or employee of a government, such individual

6 may continue as a member of the Commission for not

7 longer than the 30-day period beginning on the date such

8 individual becomes such an officer or employee.

9 (c) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—Appointments

10 shall be made not later than 30 days after the date of

11 enactment of this Act.

12 (d) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed for the

13 life of the Commission.

14 (e) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall

15 be filled within 30 days in the manner in which the origi16 nal appointment was made.

17 (f) COMPENSATION.—Federal funds may not be used

18 to pay any member of the Commission for services per19 formed as a member.

20 (g) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commission

21 shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold

22 hearings.

23 (h) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Com24 mission shall be elected by the members from among the

25 members.
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1 (i) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at least

2 once each month at the call of the Chairperson of the

3 Commission.

4 SEC. 5. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

5 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a Direc6 tor appointed by the Chairperson of the Commission and

7 paid a rate determined by the Commission.

8 (b) STAFF.—With the approval of the Commission,

9 the Director of the Commission may appoint personnel as

10 the Director considers appropriate.

11 SEC. 6. POWERS.

12 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission

13 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hear14 ings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and

15 receive evidence as the Commission considers appropriate.

16 (b) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Any Member or

17 agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the Com18 mission, take any action which the Commission is author19 ized to take by this section.

20 (c) INFORMATION.—The Commission may secure di21 rectly from any Federal agency information necessary to

22 enable it to carry out this Act. Upon request of the Chair23 person of the Commission, the head of the Federal agency

24 shall furnish the information to the Commission.
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1 (d) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Commission may

2 contract with and compensate government and private

3 agencies or persons for supplies or services without regard

4 to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5).

5 SEC. 7. REPORTS.

6 (a) PERIODIC REPORTS.—In accordance with section

7 3(a)(3), the Commission shall issue periodic reports to the

8 President and the Congress.

9 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the expiration

10 of the 24-month period beginning on the date of enact11 ment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the

12 President and the Congress a final report setting forth

13 the findings and conclusions of the Commission and spe14 cific recommendations for legislative and administrative

15 actions that the Commission determines to be appropriate.

16 SEC. 8. TERMINATION.

17 The Commission shall terminate not later than the

18 expiration of the 30-day period beginning on the date on

19 which the Commission submits its final report under sec20 tion 7(b).

21 SEC. 9 FUNDING AND SUPPORT.

22 The Commission shall be funded, staffed, and

23 equipped by the private sector without cost to the Federal

24 Government.

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