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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4081

To establish a Congressional Office for Public Opinion Research and

Assessment.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 17, 1994

Mr. KLINK (for himself and Ms. MCKINNEY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

A BILL

To establish a Congressional Office for Public Opinion

Research and Assessment.

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

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT.

4 There is established in the Congress an office to be

5 known as the ‘‘Congressional Office for Public Opinion

6 Research and Assessment’’, hereinafter in this Act re7 ferred to as the ‘‘Office’’.

8 SEC. 2. OFFICE AND GOVERNING BOARD.

9 The Office will consist of a nonvoting Director and

10 a Board comprised of—
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1 (1) 3 Members of the House of Representatives

2 designated by the majority leader of the House of

3 Representatives;

4 (2) 3 Members of the House of Representatives

5 designated by the minority leader of the House of

6 Representatives;

7 (3) 3 Senators designated by the majority

8 leader of the Senate; and

9 (4) 3 Senators designated by the minority

10 leader of the Senate.

11 Terms of Board members, methods of appointment, rota12 tion, filling vacancies, selection of a chairman or vice13 chairman, and authorizing meetings, documents, and ex14 penditures shall be similar to that of the Office of Tech15 nology Assessment. The Board is required to set out re16 search priorities and methods for choosing research topics.

17 Members may request the Office to perform research and

18 evaluations subject to rules set by the Board.

19 SEC. 3. DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR.

20 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Director of the Office shall be

21 appointed by the Board and shall serve for a term of 6

22 years unless sooner removed by the Board. The Director

23 shall receive basic pay at the rate provided for level III

24 of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5,

25 United States Code. In addition to the powers and duties
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1 vested in the Director by this Act, the Director shall exer2 cise such powers and duties as may be delegated by the

3 Board.

4 (b) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The Director may appoint

5 with the approval of the Board, a Deputy Director who

6 shall perform such functions as the Director may prescribe

7 and who shall be Acting Director during the absence or

8 incapacity of the Director or in the event of a vacancy

9 in the office of Director. The Deputy Director shall receive

10 basic pay at the rate provided for level IV of the Executive

11 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States

12 Code.

13 (c) LIMITATION.—Neither the Director nor the Dep14 uty Director shall engage in any other business, vocation,

15 or employment than that of serving as such Director or

16 Deputy Director, as the case may be; nor shall the Direc17 tor or Deputy Director, except with the approval of the

18 Board, hold any office in, or act in any capacity for, any

19 organization, agency, or institution with which the Office

20 makes any contract or other arrangement under this Act.

21 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall have the author23 ity, within the limits of available appropriations, to do all

24 things necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act,

25 including but without being limited to the authority to—
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1 (1) make full use of competent personnel and

2 organizations outside the Office, public or private,

3 and form special ad hoc task forces or make other

4 arrangements when appropriate; and

5 (2) enter into contracts or other arrangements

6 as may be necessary for the conduct of the work of

7 the Office with any agency or instrumentality of the

8 United States, with any State, territory, or posses9 sion or any political subdivision thereof, or with any

10 person, firm or association, corporation, or edu11 cational institution, accept and utilize the services of

12 voluntary and uncompensated personnel, acquire

13 property of all kinds necessary for or resulting from

14 the exercise of authority of this Act, and provide

15 such rules and regulations as it deems necessary

16 governing its operation and organization.

17 (b) PERSONNEL.—The Director shall, in accordance

18 with such policies as the Board shall prescribe, appoint

19 and fix the compensation of such personnel as may be nec20 essary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

21 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COUNCIL.

22 An Advisory Council will be established by the Board

23 consisting of individuals who are most knowledgeable of

24 the state-of-the-art of processes, methods, and needs for

25 informing Congress of the opinions and values of the pub-
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1 lic. Membership, duties, provisions for chairman and vice2 chairman, terms, expense allowances and compensation

3 shall be similar to that of the Technology Assessment Ad4 visory Council of the Office of Technology Assessment.

5 The Council will advise the Board on research priorities

6 and methods which are the most promising and cost effec7 tive to pursue and keep itself informed on the state-of8 the-art of opinion research, including such developments

9 as interactive TV, electronic fora and town meetings, com10 puter network conferencing, and all methods for enhanc11 ing democracy in this and other countries.

12 SEC. 6. EXPERT PANELS.

13 An expert, ad hoc panel will be set up by the Director

14 for each survey to assist in the design and analysis. Mem15 bers of these panels will be experts in the issues of the

16 survey and represent a full range of scientific expertise,

17 approaches, and viewpoints on alternative courses for deal18 ing with the issue in its various aspects and including all

19 major policy alternatives. A report will be prepared in a

20 timely fashion at the conclusion of each survey including

21 a master questionnaire, containing the questions as asked

22 with frequencies or percentage responses, and an analysis

23 prepared by the advisory panel with the assistance of in24 house or contractor personnel.
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1 SEC. 7. PUBLIC RELEASE.

2 The survey report and all other survey data (includ3 ing the methodology used and an analysis of the probable

4 accuracy and estimates of the probable errors both be5 cause of sampling error and all other causes) will be made

6 public in a timely manner to the news media and to orga7 nizations and individuals specializing in public policy or

8 public opinion. The other survey data will be available in

9 written form as a data book and in electronic form as com10 plete data discs readable by personal computers suitable

11 for statistical analysis in standard fashion and will be pro12 vided on request to anyone at a reasonable cost adequate

13 to cover the full marginal cost of production and distribu14 tion.

15 SEC. 8. METHODOLOGY.

16 The surveys will test the degree of public support for

17 alternative policy proposals when the survey respondents

18 are informed in a fair, balanced, and accurate manner

19 with relevant facts. The surveys will not only test support

20 for various policy proposals, but also seek to determine

21 how important various pieces of information, including

22 balanced sets of arguments for and against the proposal,

23 turn out to be in determining that support. Depending on

24 available funds to pay for the interviewing and analyzing

25 of statistically adequate oversamples, some surveys will

26 also endeavor to determine statistically significant dif-
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1 ferences between the national sample and State or district

2 samples, particularly in those issue areas where particular

3 regions, States, or districts are expected to have different

4 opinions because of the nature of the issue.

5 SEC. 9. METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The surveys will experiment with

7 innovative technology, hardware, and software, including

8 electronic media, digital and fiber optics networks, both

9 with independent telephone interviewing and supple10 mented by and in conjunction with face-to-face interview11 ing and television programming that attempts to create

12 the group interactivity, issue-defining, agenda-setting and

13 consensus-building of what has come to be called the elec14 tronic town meeting, as any of these techniques and meth15 odologies show promise of improving the ability of the Of16 fice to accomplish its purposes. The surveys will be de17 signed not only to obtain the policy views of the public

18 but also—

19 (1) to test various concepts about how best to

20 design, formulate, word, and include in the survey as

21 it is spoken, shown, or read by interviewers, whether

22 from CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Inter23 viewing) screens or by other means, the required fac24 tual information and pro and con arguments; and
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1 (2) to determine the direction and degree to

2 which doing this in different ways affects the results

3 of the surveys.

4 (b) SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS RESEARCH.—Sensitivity

5 analysis research will also be performed which will deter6 mine the degree to which imbalance in the amount and

7 quality of factual information and in the bias created by

8 cuing and permission language affects survey data. Such

9 research shall be designed to lead to a better understand10 ing of the affects of question design, menu choices, and

11 implicit or unstated assumptions or survey researchers.

12 (c) INTERACTION TESTING.—Surveys will also test

13 the degree of interaction that works best—i.e., is most in14 formative of the public position—at different stages in the

15 designers’ understanding of the public view in the issue.

16 SEC. 10. APPROPRIATION FOR THE OFFICE AND PARTIAL

17 RESCISSION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR SEN18 ATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAIL

19 COSTS.

20 (a) APPROPRIATION.—There is appropriated, out of

21 any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,

22 $10,000,000 for the Congressional Office for Public Opin23 ion Research and Assessment for fiscal year 1994.

24 (b) RESCISSIONS.—Of the funds appropriated in the

25 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1994, for the Sen-
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1 ate under the heading ‘‘OFFICIAL MAIL COSTS’’, there is

2 rescinded the sum of $5,000,000. Of the funds appro3 priated in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act,

4 1994, for the House of Representatives under the head5 ings ‘‘SALARIES AND EXPENSES’’ and ‘‘OFFICIAL MAIL

6 COSTS’’, there is rescinded the sum of $5,000,000.

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