I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1436 

To provide for the evaluation of Government programs for efficiency, 

effectiveness, and accountability. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2009 

Mr. CUELLAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To provide for the evaluation of Government programs for 

efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. 

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 Effi5 ciency, Effectiveness, and Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and 

9 unaccountability in Federal programs undermines 

10 the confidence of the American people in the GovVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:56 Mar 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1436.IH H1436

jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1436 IH

1 ernment and reduces the Federal Government’s abil2 ity to adequately address vital public needs; 

3 (2) insufficient information on program per4 formance seriously disadvantages Federal managers 

5 in their efforts to improve program efficiency, effec6 tiveness, and accountability; 

7 (3) congressional policy making, spending deci8 sions, and program oversight are handicapped by in9 sufficient attention to program performance and re10 sults; 

11 (4) programs performing similar or duplicative 

12 functions that exist within a single agency or across 

13 multiple agencies should be identified and their per14 formance and results shared among all such pro15 grams to improve their performance and results; 

16 (5) advocates of good government continue to 

17 seek ways to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and 

18 accountability; focus on results; and integrate the 

19 performance of programs with decisions about budg20 ets; 

21 (6) with the passage of the Government Per22 formance and Results Act of 1993, the Congress di23 rected the executive branch to seek improvements in 

24 the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1436 IH

1 Federal programs by having agencies focus on pro2 gram results; and 

3 (7) the Government Performance and Results 

4 Act of 1993 provided a strong framework for the ex5 ecutive branch to monitor the long-term goals and 

6 annual performance of its departments and agencies. 

7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING STRATEGIC AND 

8 PERFORMANCE PLANS OF THE GOVERN9 MENT. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that— 

11 (1) the President should establish a govern12 ment-wide strategic plan and a government-wide 

13 performance plan; and 

14 (2) the head of each Federal agency should con15 sult with the committees with jurisdiction over the 

16 agency and other interested members of Congress at 

17 the beginning of each Congress regarding the per18 formance plan of the agency (required by section 

19 1115 of title 31, United States Code). 

20 SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 

21 The purposes of this Act are— 

22 (1) to improve the Government Performance 

23 and Results Act of 1993 by implementing a program 

24 assessment and evaluation process that attempts to 

25 determine the strengths and weaknesses of Federal 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1436 IH

1 programs with a particular focus on the efficiency, 

2 effectiveness, and accountability of Federal pro3 grams and to identify programs that have missions 

4 or outcomes that are duplicative; 

5 (2) to use the information gathered in the as6 sessment and evaluation process to build on the 

7 groundwork laid in the Government Performance 

8 and Results Act of 1993 to help the executive 

9 branch make informed management decisions and 

10 results-based funding requests aimed at achieving 

11 positive results; 

12 (3) to provide congressional policy makers the 

13 information needed to conduct more effective over14 sight, to make better-informed authorization deci15 sions, and to make more results-based spending de16 cisions that achieve positive results for the American 

17 people; 

18 (4) to encourage the wise expenditure of funds 

19 on the most effective Federal programs in an effort 

20 to save money; 

21 (5) to eliminate Federal programs subject to 

22 waste, fraud, and abuse; 

23 (6) to identify best practices in Federal pro24 grams for allocating resources in an efficient and ef25 fective manner; 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
5 

•HR 1436 IH

1 (7) to provide agencies with the information 

2 needed to track low-performing programs; and 

3 (8) to provide agencies with the information 

4 needed to quickly respond to poor performance of 

5 agency programs. 

6 SEC. 5. PROGRAM ASSESSMENT. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PROGRAM ASSESSMENTS.— 

8 Chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, as amended 

9 by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

11 ‘‘§ 1120. Program assessment 

12 ‘‘(a) ASSESSMENT.—The head of each Federal agen13 cy, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Man14 agement and Budget, shall, to the maximum extent prac15 ticable, conduct an assessment of each program of the 

16 agency at least once every 5 fiscal years. 

17 ‘‘(b) ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting 

18 an assessment of a program under subsection (a), the 

19 head of a Federal agency, in consultation with the Direc20 tor of the Office of Management and Budget, shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) coordinate to determine the programs to 

22 be assessed; and 

23 ‘‘(2) evaluate the purpose, design, strategic 

24 plan, management, efficiency, effectiveness, account25 ability, performance measures, and results of the 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
6 

•HR 1436 IH

1 program, and such other matters as the head of the 

2 agency considers appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—After a fiscal 

4 year during which one or more programs of a Federal 

5 agency have been assessed under subsection (a), the head 

6 of the agency shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) determine how the information gathered 

8 from the assessments can help save taxpayers 

9 money; 

10 ‘‘(2) with respect to any assessed programs that 

11 have duplicative outcomes or missions, develop a 

12 plan for merging the programs to make them more 

13 effective and to save money; 

14 ‘‘(3) identify, within any program assessed, the 

15 best practices conducted in the program for allo16 cating resources in an efficient and effective manner 

17 that resulted in positive outcomes, and the key rea18 sons why such practices resulted in positive out19 comes; and 

20 ‘‘(4) determine the level of performance of any 

21 program assessed, determine the reasons for any 

22 substantial variation from the targeted level of per23 formance of the program, and develop a quick re24 sponse to improve any low-performing program. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
7 

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(d) CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING PROGRAMS TO AS2 SESS.—The head of each Federal agency, in consultation 

3 with the Director of the Office of Management and Budg4 et, shall develop criteria for identifying programs to be as5 sessed within the agency each fiscal year. In developing 

6 the criteria, the head of the agency shall take into account 

7 the advantages of assessing during the same fiscal year 

8 any programs that are performing similar functions, have 

9 similar purposes, share common goals, or have similar out10 comes. 

11 ‘‘(e) CRITERIA FOR MORE FREQUENT ASSESS12 MENTS.—The head of each Federal agency, in consulta13 tion with the Director of the Office of Management and 

14 Budget, shall make every effort to assess programs more 

15 frequently than required under subsection (a) in cases in 

16 which programs are determined to be of higher priority, 

17 special circumstances exist, improvements have been 

18 made, or the head of the agency and the Director deter19 mine that more frequent assessment is warranted. 

20 ‘‘(f) CROSS-REFERENCING SYSTEM.—The Direction 

21 of the Office of Management and Budget shall develop a 

22 government-wide system to cross reference programs with23 in each Federal agency for the following purposes: 

24 ‘‘(1) To enable the identification of programs 

25 with missions and outcomes that are duplicative. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
8 

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(2) To identify best practices within the pro2 grams for allocating resources in an efficient and ef3 fective manner. 

4 ‘‘(3) To make the programs more effective and 

5 efficient. 

6 ‘‘(4) To save money. 

7 ‘‘(g) NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIREMENT.—At the 

8 beginning of each fiscal year, the Director of the Office 

9 of Management and Budget shall, by publication in the 

10 Federal Register, provide notice and an opportunity for 

11 public comment on a detailed description in draft form 

12 of each program to be assessed in that fiscal year by Fed13 eral agencies, the performance goals in draft form for each 

14 such program, and the criteria in draft form that will be 

15 used to evaluate each such program. Upon conclusion of 

16 the comment period, which shall be at least 60 days, the 

17 Director shall publish in the Federal Register a final de18 tailed description of each program to be assessed in that 

19 fiscal year, the final performance goals for each such pro20 gram, and the final criteria that will be used to evaluate 

21 each such program, including a summary of all public 

22 comments and their disposition. 

23 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—(1) The results of the assessments 

24 conducted during a fiscal year shall be submitted in a re25 port to Congress at the same time that the President subVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:56 Mar 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1436.IH H1436

jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
9 

•HR 1436 IH

1 mits the next budget under section 1105 of this title after 

2 the end of that fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(2) The report shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) include the performance goals and per5 formance measures for each program assessment; 

6 ‘‘(B) specify the criteria used for each assess7 ment; 

8 ‘‘(C) describe the results of each assessment, 

9 including any significant limitation in the assess10 ments; 

11 ‘‘(D) describe significant modifications to the 

12 Federal Government performance plan required 

13 under section 1105(a)(28) of this title made as a re14 sult of the assessments; 

15 ‘‘(E) describe best practices identified during 

16 program assessments for allocating resources in an 

17 efficient and effective manner; 

18 ‘‘(F) include recommendations for the resources 

19 necessary to improve any low performing programs; 

20 ‘‘(G) include a summary of the actions taken by 

21 the head of the Federal agency under subsection (c) 

22 with respect to program assessments conducted by 

23 that agency, including a summary of any plan for 

24 merging programs and for quickly responding to im25 prove a low-performing program; and 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
10 

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(H) be available in electronic form through the 

2 Office of Management and Budget website or any 

3 successor website. 

4 ‘‘(i) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—(1) With respect to 

5 program assessments conducted during a fiscal year that 

6 contain classified information, the President shall submit 

7 on the same date as the report is submitted under sub8 section (f)— 

9 ‘‘(A) a copy of each such assessment (including 

10 the classified information), to the appropriate com11 mittees of jurisdiction of the House of Representa12 tives and the Senate; and 

13 ‘‘(B) consistent with statutory law governing 

14 the disclosure of classified information, an appendix 

15 containing a list of each such assessment and the 

16 committees to which a copy of the assessment was 

17 submitted under subparagraph (A), to the Com18 mittee on Government Reform of the House of Rep19 resentatives and the Committee on Governmental 

20 Affairs of the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(2) Upon request from the Committee on Govern22 ment Reform of the House of Representatives or the Com23 mittee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Direc24 tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall, conVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:56 Mar 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1436.IH H1436

jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
11 

•HR 1436 IH

1 sistent with statutory law governing the disclosure of clas2 sified information, provide to the Committee a copy of— 

3 ‘‘(A) any assessment described in subparagraph 

4 (A) of paragraph (1) (including any assessment not 

5 listed in any appendix submitted under subpara6 graph (B) of such paragraph); and 

7 ‘‘(B) any appendix described in subparagraph 

8 (B) of paragraph (1). 

9 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘classified informa10 tion’ refers to matters described in section 552(b)(1)(A) 

11 of title 5. 

12 ‘‘(j) INHERENTLY GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTIONS.— 

13 The functions and activities authorized or required by this 

14 section shall be considered inherently governmental func15 tions and shall be performed only by Federal employees. 

16 ‘‘(k) QUALITY CONTROL AND CERTIFICATION OF

17 DATA.—The Director of the Office of Managment and 

18 Budget, in consultation with the heads of Federal agen19 cies, shall develop a process for controlling the quality of 

20 data produced from the conduct of assessments under this 

21 section and shall certify the quality of such data. 

22 ‘‘(l) TERMINATION.—The requirements of this sec23 tion shall terminate on September 30, 2017.’’. 

24 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 6 months after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the OfVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:56 Mar 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1436.IH H1436

jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
12 

•HR 1436 IH

1 fice of Management and Budget shall prescribe guidance 

2 to implement the requirements of section 1120 of title 31, 

3 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), including 

4 guidance on a definition of the term ‘‘program’’. 

5 (c) CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) Section 1115(g) of title 31, United States 

7 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘1119’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘1120’’. 

9 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of 

10 chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘1120. Program assessment.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. STRATEGIC PLANNING AMENDMENTS. 

13 (a) CHANGE IN DEADLINE FOR STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

14 Subsection (a) of section 306 of title 5, United States 

15 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘No later than September 

16 30, 1997,’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later than September 30 

17 of each year following a year in which an election for 

18 President occurs, beginning with September 30, 2009,’’. 

19 (b) CHANGE IN PERIOD OF COVERAGE OF STRA20 TEGIC PLAN.—Subsection (b) of section 306 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(b) Each strategic plan shall cover the 4-year period 

23 beginning on October 1 of the year following a year in 

24 which an election for President occurs.’’. 

Æ 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS