II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1297 

To establish the Government Transformation Commission to review and make 

recommendations regarding cost control in the Federal Government, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16 (legislative day, JULY 15), 2013 

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

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Government Transformation Commission to 

review and make recommendations regarding cost control 

in the Federal Government, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Government Trans5 formation Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Government Transformation Commission 


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1 established by section 3 to undertake and assist the 

2 President and Congress in the transformation of the 

3 Federal Government. 

4 (2) DUPLICATIVE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘dupli5 cative program’’ means a program performed by an 

6 agency that performs the same function with a dif7 ferent management and implementation structure as 

8 another program performed by another agency. 

9 (3) IMPLEMENTATION BILL.—The term ‘‘imple10 mentation bill’’ means only a bill that is introduced 

11 as provided under section 8(a), and contains the 

12 proposed legislation described in section 4(b)(2)(B), 

13 without modification. 

14 (4) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member’’ means a 

15 member of the Commission appointed under section 

16 5(a)(1). 

17 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means— 

18 (A) any activity or function of an agency; 

19 (B) any activity or function that is imple20 mented by 2 or more agencies; and 

21 (C) any infrastructure activity or function 

22 that supports more than 1 agency. 

23 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

24 There is established an independent commission to be 

25 known as the ‘‘Government Transformation Commission’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Commission 

3 shall be to— 

4 (1) make specific and actionable recommenda5 tions to appropriate committees of Congress for spe6 cific legislative changes, including— 

7 (A) opportunities to increase efficiency and 

8 reduce costs in the Federal Government 

9 through actions by the executive branch or by 

10 Congress; 

11 (B) areas where managerial accountability 

12 can be enhanced and administrative control can 

13 be improved in both the short and long term; 

14 (C) specific areas where further study can 

15 be justified by potential savings; 

16 (D) proposals to reduce governmental ex17 penditures and indebtedness and improve per18 sonnel management; and 

19 (E) proposals to make the Federal Govern20 ment more economical, efficient, and effective; 

21 (2) make specific and actionable recommenda22 tions to the President for— 

23 (A) the elimination, consolidation, or im24 provement of Federal Government programs if, 

25 based on the judgment of the Commission, such 


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1 actions would enhance the efficiency of the pro2 gram; and 

3 (B) reinvestment and opportunities for in4 novation in Federal agencies; 

5 (3) provide advice and recommendations to— 

6 (A) Federal agencies to make programs 

7 more economical, efficient, and effective, and 

8 reassess the effectiveness of any changes made 

9 by a Federal agency in response to the advice 

10 and recommendations; 

11 (B) the Office of Management and Budget 

12 to improve and report on Federal Government 

13 and agency performance plans, as required 

14 under section 1115 of title 31, United States 

15 Code; and 

16 (C) Congress, the Office of Management 

17 and Budget, and Federal agencies regarding, 

18 the design and implementation of significant 

19 new Federal programs to ensure the efficient, 

20 effective, and economical development and exe21 cution of the program; 

22 (4) provide a mechanism by which Federal Gov23 ernment employees, citizens of the United States, 

24 and other interested parties can offer ideas and 


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1 make recommendations for reviewing and improving 

2 Federal Government programs; 

3 (5) conduct research into best organizational 

4 practices and Federal Government reform efforts, 

5 and provide a repository for such information that 

6 supports Federal agencies in further and continual 

7 improvements; 

8 (6) develop and maintain a criteria and sched9 ule for assessing Federal Government agencies and 

10 programs; 

11 (7) assess program evaluations performed by 

12 Federal agencies or program activities; 

13 (8) maintain the privacy and security of any 

14 data used by the Commission, as required by law; 

15 and 

16 (9) support requests for information under sec17 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 

18 known as the Freedom of Information Act) by Fed19 eral agencies, including the General Accountability 

20 Office and the Congressional Budget Office, and by 

21 citizens of the United States. 

22 (b) REPORTS.— 

23 (1) INTERIM ACTIVITY REPORT.—Not later 

24 than 6 months after the date on which all initial 

25 members of the Commission are appointed, and 


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1 every year thereafter, the Commission shall submit 

2 to the President and to Congress a report to de3 scribe the activities of the Commission. 

4 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date on which all initial members of 

7 the Commission are appointed, and not less fre8 quently than each year thereafter, the Commis9 sion shall submit a report to the President and 

10 to Congress, which shall include— 

11 (i) the findings and conclusions of the 

12 Commission; 

13 (ii) suggestions for implementing the 

14 best practices of Federal agencies; 

15 (iii) proposals for administrative ac16 tion or executive action that include rec17 ommendations for— 

18 (I) improvement or investment in 

19 Federal programs; or 

20 (II) elimination, reduction, or 

21 consolidation of Federal programs; 

22 and 

23 (iv) justification for the recommenda24 tions described in clause (iii). 

25 (B) PROPOSED LEGISLATION.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

2 year after the date on which all initial 

3 members of the Commission are appointed, 

4 and annually thereafter, the Commission 

5 shall, using any report submitted to Con6 gress under subparagraph (A), submit to 

7 Congress proposed legislation to carry out 

8 recommendations developed under sub9 section (a)(1). 

10 (ii) LIMITATION.—Proposed legisla11 tion submitted under this subparagraph 

12 shall be agreed to by not less than 5 mem13 bers of the Commission. 

14 (3) REPORT ON HISTORICAL DATA.—Not later 

15 than 4 years after the date on which all initial mem16 bers of the Commission are appointed, and every 2 

17 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit a re18 port to the President and to Congress on historical 

19 data and trends relevant to the information studied 

20 by the Commission, including any available data on 

21 reducing costs in the Federal Government. 

22 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 

23 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

25 composed of 7 members, of whom— 


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1 (A) 1 shall be appointed by the majority 

2 leader of the Senate; 

3 (B) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

4 leader of the Senate; 

5 (C) 1 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

6 the House of Representatives; 

7 (D) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

8 leader of the House of Representatives; and 

9 (E) 3 shall be appointed by the President, 

10 of whom— 

11 (i) not less than 1 member shall be 

12 from each of the 2 major political parties; 

13 and 

14 (ii) 1 member shall not be from either 

15 of the 2 major political parties. 

16 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the 

17 Commission appointed under paragraph (1) shall— 

18 (A) include individuals from various pro19 fessions who are recognized for their expertise 

20 in agencies, government efficiency, waste reduc21 tion, finance and economics, or actuarial 

22 sciences; and 

23 (B) reflect a broad geographic representa24 tion. 

25 (3) PROHIBITED APPOINTMENTS.— 


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1 (A) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—A mem2 ber of the Commission appointed under para3 graph (1) may not be an officer or employee of 

4 the Federal Government or any State or local 

5 government. 

6 (B) POLITICAL PARTY.—Not more than 3 

7 members of the Commission may be members 

8 of the same political party. 

9 (4) COMPLETION OF APPOINTMENTS.—Not 

10 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

11 this Act, the appointing authorities under paragraph 

12 (1) shall each make their respective appointments. 

13 (5) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission 

14 shall be appointed for a term of 3 years, and may 

15 be reappointed for 1 additional term. 

16 (6) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 

17 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

18 appointment was made. 

19 (b) CO-CHAIRMEN.—The President shall designate 2 

20 Co-Chairmen of the Commission, who may not be mem21 bers of the same political party, at the time of nomination 

22 of members of the Commission. 

23 (c) RATES OF PAY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member, other than 

25 the Co-Chairmen, shall be paid at a rate equal to the 


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1 daily equivalent of the minimum annual rate of basic 

2 pay for level V of the Executive Schedule under sec3 tion 5316 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

4 day (including travel time) during which the member 

5 is engaged in the actual performance of duties vest6 ed in the Commission. 

7 (2) CHAIRMAN.—The Co-Chairmen shall be 

8 paid for each day referred to in paragraph (1) at a 

9 rate equal to the daily equivalent of the minimum 

10 annual rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the 

11 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (3) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member shall 

14 receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 

15 subsistence, in accordance with applicable provisions 

16 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 

17 States Code. 

18 (d) QUORUM.—5 members of the Commission shall 

19 constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may 

20 hold hearings. 

21 (e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the 

22 call of the Co-Chairmen. 

23 SEC. 6. DIRECTOR; STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS. 

24 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a Direc25 tor who shall be appointed by the Co-Chairmen. The DiVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:33 Jul 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1297.IS S1297

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1 rector shall be paid at the rate of basic pay for level IV 

2 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (b) STAFF.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—With the approval of the 

6 Commission, the Director may appoint and fix the 

7 pay of personnel as the Director considers appro8 priate. 

9 (2) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

10 LAWS.—The Director may appoint the personnel of 

11 the Commission without regard to the provisions of 

12 title 5, United States Code, governing appointments 

13 in the competitive service, and any personnel so ap14 pointed may be paid without regard to the provisions 

15 of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 

16 that title relating to classification and General 

17 Schedule pay rates, except that an individual so ap18 pointed may not receive pay in excess of the annual 

19 rate of basic pay for level V of the Executive Sched20 ule under section 5316 of such title. 

21 (3) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon re22 quest of the Director, the head of any Federal de23 partment or agency may detail, on a reimbursable 

24 basis, any of the personnel of that department or 


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1 agency to the Commission to assist it in carrying out 

2 its duties under this Act. 

3 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 

4 may procure by contract temporary and intermittent serv5 ices under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (d) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—A member of the 

7 Commission, the Director, or any other employee of the 

8 Commission may not, indirectly or directly, participate in 

9 any action that would be a conflict of interest with any 

10 action of the Commission. 

11 SEC. 7. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

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 The Commission may administer oaths or affirmations to 

17 witnesses appearing before it. 

18 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem19 ber or agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the 

20 Commission, take any action which the Commission is au21 thorized to take by this section. 

22 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

23 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 

24 United States information necessary to enable it to carry 

25 out this Act. Upon request of the Chairman, the head of 


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1 that department or agency shall furnish that information 

2 to the Commission. 

3 (d) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 

4 States mails in the same manner and under the same con5 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

6 States. 

7 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

8 the request of the Commission, the Administrator of the 

9 General Services Administration shall provide to the Com10 mission, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative sup11 port services necessary for the Commission to carry out 

12 its responsibilities under this Act. 

13 (f) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Commission may 

14 contract with and compensate Government and private 

15 agencies or persons for products and services necessary 

16 for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities under 

17 this Act. 

18 SEC. 8. EXPEDITED CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF 

19 PROPOSED LEGISLATION. 

20 (a) INTRODUCTION.—Proposed legislation submitted 

21 under section 4(b)(2)(B) shall be introduced in the Senate 

22 (by request) on the next day on which the Senate is in 

23 session after the date on which the proposed legislation 

24 is submitted by the majority leader of the Senate or by 

25 a Member of the Senate designated by the majority leader 


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1 of the Senate and shall be introduced in the House of Rep2 resentatives (by request) on the next legislative day by the 

3 majority leader of the House or by a Member of the House 

4 designated by the majority leader of the House. 

5 (b) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT6 ATIVES.— 

7 (1) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any com8 mittee of the House of Representatives to which an 

9 implementation bill is referred shall report it to the 

10 House without amendment not later than 15 days 

11 after the date on which the bill is referred to the 

12 committee. If a committee fails to report the imple13 mentation bill within that period, it shall be in order 

14 to move that the House discharge the committee 

15 from further consideration of the bill. Such a motion 

16 shall not be in order after the last committee author17 ized to consider the bill reports it to the House or 

18 after the House has disposed of a motion to dis19 charge the bill. The previous question shall be con20 sidered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 

21 without intervening motion except 20 minutes of de22 bate equally divided and controlled by the proponent 

23 and an opponent. If such a motion is adopted, the 

24 House shall proceed immediately to consider the im25 plementation bill in accordance with paragraphs (2) 


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1 and (3). A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

2 the motion is disposed of shall not be in order. 

3 (2) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 

4 the last committee authorized to consider an imple5 mentation bill reports it to the House or has been 

6 discharged (other than by motion) from its consider7 ation, it shall be in order to move to proceed to con8 sider the implementation bill in the House. Such a 

9 motion shall not be in order after the House has dis10 posed of a motion to proceed with respect to the im11 plementation bill. The previous question shall be 

12 considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 

13 without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider 

14 the vote by which the motion is disposed of shall not 

15 be in order. 

16 (3) CONSIDERATION.—An implementation bill 

17 shall be considered as read. All points of order 

18 against the implementation bill and against its con19 sideration are waived. The previous question shall be 

20 considered as ordered on an implementation bill to 

21 its passage without intervening motion except 2 

22 hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the 

23 proponent and an opponent and one motion to limit 

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1 consider the vote on passage of an implementation 

2 bill shall not be in order. 

3 (4) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The vote on passage 

4 of an implementation bill shall occur not later than 

5 90 days after the date on which the implementation 

6 bill is submitted to Congress. 

7 (c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE SENATE.— 

8 (1) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—An imple9 mentation bill introduced in the Senate under sub10 section (a) shall be jointly referred to the committee 

11 or committees of jurisdiction, which committees shall 

12 report the bill without any revision and with a favor13 able recommendation, an unfavorable recommenda14 tion, or without recommendation, not later than 15 

15 days after the date on which the implementation bill 

16 is referred to the committee. If any committee fails 

17 to report the bill within that period, that committee 

18 shall be automatically discharged from consideration 

19 of the bill, and the bill shall be placed on the appro20 priate calendar. 

21 (2) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Notwithstanding 

22 Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it 

23 is in order, not later than 2 days of session after the 

24 date on which an implementation bill is reported or 

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1 ferred, for the majority leader of the Senate or the 

2 majority leader’s designee to move to proceed to the 

3 consideration of the implementation bill. It shall also 

4 be in order for any Member of the Senate to move 

5 to proceed to the consideration of the implementa6 tion bill at any time after the conclusion of such 2- 

7 day period. A motion to proceed is in order even 

8 though a previous motion to the same effect has 

9 been disagreed to. All points of order against the 

10 motion to proceed to the implementation bill are 

11 waived. The motion to proceed is not debatable. The 

12 motion is not subject to a motion to postpone. A mo13 tion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is 

14 agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. If 

15 a motion to proceed to the consideration of the im16 plementation bill is agreed to, the implementation 

17 bill shall remain the unfinished business until dis18 posed of. 

19 (3) CONSIDERATION.—All points of order 

20 against an implementation bill and against consider21 ation of an implementation bill are waived. Consider22 ation of an implementation bill and of all debatable 

23 motions and appeals in connection therewith shall 

24 not exceed a total of 30 hours which shall be divided 

25 equally between the majority and minority leaders or 


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1 their designees. A motion further to limit debate on 

2 an implementation bill is in order, shall require an 

3 affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members duly 

4 chosen and sworn, and is not debatable. Any debat5 able motion or appeal is debatable for not to exceed 

6 1 hour, to be divided equally between those favoring 

7 and those opposing the motion or appeal. All time 

8 used for consideration of an implementation bill, in9 cluding time used for quorum calls and voting, shall 

10 be counted against the total 30 hours of consider11 ation. 

12 (4) NO AMENDMENTS.—An amendment to an 

13 implementation bill, or a motion to postpone, or a 

14 motion to proceed to the consideration of other busi15 ness, or a motion to recommit an implementation 

16 bill, is not in order. 

17 (5) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—If the Senate has 

18 voted to proceed to an implementation bill, the vote 

19 on passage of an implementation bill shall occur im20 mediately following the conclusion of the debate on 

21 an implementation bill, and a single quorum call at 

22 the conclusion of the debate if requested. The vote 

23 on passage of an implementation bill shall occur not 

24 later than 90 days after the date on which the im25 plementation bill is submitted to Congress. 


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1 (6) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCEDURE.— 

2 Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to 

3 the application of the rules of the Senate, as the 

4 case may be, to the procedure relating to an imple5 mentation bill shall be decided without debate. 

6 (d) AMENDMENT.—An implementation bill shall not 

7 be subject to amendment in either the House of Rep8 resentatives or the Senate. 

9 (e) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing an imple11 mentation bill, one House receives from the other an 

12 implementation bill— 

13 (A) the implementation bill of the other 

14 House shall not be referred to a committee; and 

15 (B) the procedure in the receiving House 

16 shall be the same as if no implementation bill 

17 had been received from the other House until 

18 the vote on passage, when the implementation 

19 bill received from the other House shall sup20 plant the implementation bill of the receiving 

21 House. 

22 (2) REVENUE MEASURE.—This subsection shall 

23 not apply to the House of Representatives if the im24 plementation bill received from the Senate is a rev25 enue measure. 


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1 (f) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION WITH OTHER

2 HOUSE.— 

3 (1) TREATMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION BILL OF

4 OTHER HOUSE.—If the Senate fails to introduce or 

5 consider an implementation bill under this section, 

6 the implementation bill of the House shall be enti7 tled to expedited floor procedures under this section. 

8 (2) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES IN

9 THE SENATE.—If following passage of an implemen10 tation bill in the Senate, the Senate then receives 

11 the implementation bill from the House of Rep12 resentatives, the House-passed implementation bill 

13 shall not be debatable. The vote on passage of the 

14 implementation bill in the Senate shall be considered 

15 to be the vote on passage of the implementation bill 

16 received from the House of Representatives. 

17 (3) VETOES.—If the President vetoes an imple18 mentation bill, debate on a veto message in the Sen19 ate under this section shall be 1 hour equally divided 

20 between the majority and minority leaders or their 

21 designees. 

22 (g) LOSS OF PRIVILEGE.—The provisions of this sec23 tion shall cease to apply to an implementation bill if the 

24 implementation bill does not pass both Houses not later 


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1 than 180 days after the implementation bill is submitted 

2 to Congress. 

3 SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 

4 The Commission shall terminate on the date that is 

5 7 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 10. FUNDING. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal 

9 years 2014 through 2019 such sums as may be necessary 

10 to carry out this Act. 

11 (b) OFFSET BY SAVINGS REALIZED THROUGH COM12 MISSION.—For each fiscal year after 2014, and to the ex13 tent possible, the costs of carrying out the provisions of 

14 this Act shall be offset by the reductions in appropriated 

15 amounts carried out as a result of recommendations pro16 posed by the Commission. 

Æ 


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