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[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 121 (Tuesday, September 11, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5778-H5779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

              GOVERNMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. WALSH. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 538) to require the establishment of customer service 
standards for Federal agencies, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 538

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Government Customer Service 
     Improvement Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND STANDARDS FOR 
                   CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVIDED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.

       (a) Requirement.--
       (1) Performance measures and standards.--The Director of 
     the Office of Management and Budget shall develop--
       (A) performance measures to determine whether Federal 
     agencies are providing high-quality customer service and 
     improving service delivery to their customers; and
       (B) standards to be met by Federal agencies in order to 
     provide high-quality customer service and improve service 
     delivery to their customers.
       (2) Requirement to take into account certain information.--
     The standards under paragraph (1) shall be developed after 
     taking into account the information collected by Federal 
     agencies under subsection (b).
       (b) Customer Service Input.--The head of each Federal 
     agency shall collect information from its customers regarding 
     the quality of customer services provided by the agency. Each 
     Federal agency shall include this information in its 
     performance report submitted under section 1116 of title 31, 
     United States Code.
       (c) Annual Performance Update.--The Director of the Office 
     of Management and Budget shall include achievements by 
     Federal agencies in meeting customer service performance 
     measures and standards developed under subsection (a) in each 
     update on agency performance required under section 1116 of 
     title 31, United States Code.

     SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS.

       (a) Customer Relations Representative.--The head of each 
     Federal agency shall designate an employee to be the customer 
     relations representative of the agency. Such representative 
     shall be responsible for implementing the customer service 
     standards developed under section 2 and the agency 
     requirements under subsection (b).
       (b) Agency Requirements.--
       (1) Guidelines and contact information.--The head of each 
     Federal agency, acting through its customer relations 
     representative, shall--
       (A) issue guidelines to implement the customer service 
     standards developed under section 2 within the agency, 
     including specific principles of customer service applicable 
     to that agency; and
       (B) publish customer service contact information, including 
     a mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address.
       (2) Availability.--The guidelines and the customer service 
     contact information required under this subsection shall be 
     available on the agency's public website.

     SEC. 4. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.

       Compliance with customer service standards developed under 
     this Act shall be included in the performance appraisal 
     systems referred to in sections 4302(a) and 4312 of title 5, 
     United States Code.

     SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) The term ``customer'', with respect to a Federal 
     agency, means any individual or entity, including a business, 
     State or local government, other Federal agency, or Congress, 
     to which the agency provides services or information.
       (2) The term ``Federal agency'' has the meaning given the 
     term ``Executive agency'' by section 105 of title 5, United 
     States Code, except that the term does not include an agency 
     if the President determines that this Act should not apply to 
     the agency for national security reasons.

     SEC. 6. DEFICIT REDUCTION.

       Any savings or reductions in expenditures resulting from 
     this Act shall be used to offset the costs of implementation 
     of this Act, and any additional savings shall be used to 
     reduce the deficit.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Walsh) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.

                             General Leave

  Mr. WALSH. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALSH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H5779]]

  Madam Speaker, the private sector has raised the bar for customer 
service, and citizens expect the same from their government.
  The American people rely on Federal agencies to provide important 
services and information, but these agencies often fall short of 
providing the customer service taxpayers deserve. H.R. 538 ensures the 
Federal Government keeps pace with the public's expectations and 
delivers better value to the taxpayers.
  Agencies currently have discretionary authority to include ``courtesy 
demonstrated to the public'' in employee performance appraisals and to 
reward superior performance. While some agencies have incorporated 
customer service standards in employee performance expectations, they 
do not always require good customer service to the public.
  Under this bill, OMB and agencies will develop performance measures 
and standards for agency customer service, with employees at all levels 
held accountable for achieving results.
  Taxpayers should have high expectations of government. Agencies must 
deliver services efficiently and at low cost. Federal employees must 
provide effective service to customers. H.R. 538 will help ensure 
agencies streamline service delivery and improve the customer 
experience.
  CBO has said there are no costs associated with this bill and, in 
fact, any savings incurred are due to be put toward paying down the 
Federal deficit. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee worked 
on a bipartisan basis to advance this legislation. I supported it when 
it passed by voice vote in committee, and I urge its adoption today.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1250

  Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 538, the Government Customer Service 
Improvement Act. This is a good-government bill that will improve the 
way Federal agencies interact with the people they serve.
  I yield 5 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from Texas, the author 
of the bill, Mr. Cuellar.
  Mr. CUELLAR. Again, the gentleman from Missouri, I thank you so much 
for the leadership. And I certainly want to thank also Mr. Walsh from 
Illinois, who actually called me before this, which it is rare to have 
somebody from the other side call and say, How can I help you on this 
bill? So I find that refreshing and I want to say thank you for working 
with us and folks on this side of the aisle.
  This bill, the Customer Service Improvement Act, is a bipartisan bill 
that has folks like McCaul, Duncan, Goodlatte, and other folks 
supporting this particular bill. I certainly want to thank Chairman 
Issa and Ranking Member Cummings for their work, as well as the members 
of the committee, and for passing it from the Oversight and Government 
Reform Committee unanimously in April.
  The primary goal of the Federal Government is to serve the taxpayers. 
This commonsense, bipartisan bill seeks to establish, monitor, and 
improve customer service across Federal agencies. It ensures that 
taxpayers get the quality of service that they deserve when interacting 
with Federal agencies. Too often we hear that veterans are waiting for 
months to get critical medical services or that seniors are waiting for 
months to get their retirement benefits. These are just two examples 
where millions of Americans that rely on Federal agencies have to wait 
on vital services, which is why we must usher in a new chapter to 
accelerate response time and overall performance for a better customer 
experience. With a sweeping 79 percent of Americans dissatisfied with 
Federal Government service, according to the 2011 Federal Customer 
Service Experience Study, we must all work together to make sure that 
Uncle Sam and Americans work together.
  This bill is simple and necessary. First, H.R. 538 improves customer 
service standards across the board. It does this by requiring the 
Office of Management and Budget to develop performance standards to 
determine whether Federal agencies are providing high-quality customer 
service and improving service delivery to agency customers. According 
to a 2010 GAO report, Federal agency customer service standards were 
often not made easily available for customers to find and access or 
were not made available to the public at all. In other words, we 
provide customer service; and if somebody wants to know how that agency 
is providing the service and the standards, it must be made available.
  Second, the bill raises the bar for enhancing quality and access to 
customer service. This is accomplished by requiring agencies to collect 
information from the customers regarding the quality of the service. 
Again, this must be a way that we raise that standard.
  Third, it puts a face on accountability. The bill requires that each 
agency designate an employee to be its customer relations 
representative. So when somebody is dealing with a Federal agency, we 
must know who they can complain to, who they must talk to in order to 
provide that customer service. Just like in the private sector that 
strives to provide excellent customer service that they bring in order 
to get more business, the Federal Government must do the same thing.
  As the gentleman from Illinois said, there's no cost on this 
according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. And, again, I 
would ask that we all work together to provide better service.
  Mr. WALSH of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support 
me in support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, again, I urge the House to adopt H.R. 538, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Walsh) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 538, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________
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