I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4625 

To establish a commission to conduct a study and make recommendations 

concerning ways to improve the civil service and organization of the 

Federal Government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2010 

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

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a commission to conduct a study and make 

recommendations concerning ways to improve the civil 

service and organization of the Federal 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 ‘‘Civil Service Reform 

5 and Government Reorganization Commission Act of 

6 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMISSION. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com3 mission to be known as the ‘‘Civil Service Reform and 

4 Government Reorganization Commission’’ (in this Act re5 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

6 (b) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.— 

7 (1) STUDY.—The Commission shall study the 

8 following aspects of the civil service system and the 

9 organization of the Government: 

10 (A) The Federal compensation system, in11 cluding pay and benefit structures, with an em12 phasis on performance-based pay and benefits. 

13 (B) Recruiting individuals for the Federal 

14 workforce, with an emphasis on identifying and 

15 filling critical skill gaps in the Federal work16 force, including experience in scientific fields, 

17 engineering, foreign language fluency, cultural 

18 understanding, and information technology. 

19 (C) Expediting and improving hiring proc20 esses. 

21 (D) Retaining a high-quality Federal work22 force and providing continuing professional edu23 cation to maintain the quality of such workforce 

24 and to ensure the efficient conduct of the Gov25 ernment. 


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1 (E) Policies and barriers related to the ter2 mination of under-performing workers. 

3 (F) The role and oversight of Federal con4 tractors and issues related to contractor as5 sumption of Federal duties to ensure delinea6 tion between functions that are inherently Gov7 ernmental functions and those that are not. 

8 (G) The extent to which greater effi9 ciencies can be achieved by the process of attri10 tion. 

11 (2) REPORT AND PROPOSED LEGISLATION.— 

12 Not later than 2 years after the initial meeting of 

13 the Commission under subsection (c)(8)(A), the 

14 Commission shall submit to the President and each 

15 House of Congress (on the same day and while each 

16 House is in session)— 

17 (A) a report containing a detailed state18 ment of the findings and conclusion of the 

19 Commission with respect to the civil service sys20 tem and the organization of the Government, 

21 together with the recommendations of the Com22 mission for improvements based on such find23 ings; and 


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1 (B) proposed legislative language to carry 

2 out the recommendations described in subpara3 graph (A). 

4 (3) LIMITATION.—In no event may the Com5 mission’s recommendations include any provisions 

6 which would have the effect of creating any new tax 

7 or providing for any increase in a rate of tax. 

8 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

9 (1) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

10 shall be composed of 11 members who shall be ap11 pointed by the President by and with the advice and 

12 consent of the Senate. 

13 (2) ELIGIBILITY.— 

14 (A) NO SERVING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

15 OR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member ap16 pointed under paragraph (1) may not be an of17 ficer or employee of the Federal Government or 

18 a Member of Congress serving at the time of 

19 such appointment. 

20 (B) BACKGROUND OF MEMBERS.— 

21 (i) FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

22 Four members appointed under paragraph 

23 (1) shall be former officers or employees of 

24 the Federal Government under the Federal 

25 civil service system. Any former officer or 


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1 employee appointed as a member under 

2 this clause may not be appointed as a 

3 member under clause (ii). 

4 (ii) PRIVATE SECTOR EXPERTS.— 

5 Seven members appointed under paragraph 

6 (1) shall be individuals in the private sec7 tor who are recognized experts in matters 

8 relating to personnel management or Gov9 ernment organization. Any individual ap10 pointed as a member under this clause 

11 may not be appointed as a member under 

12 clause (i). 

13 (3) POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—Not more than 6 

14 members appointed under paragraph (1) may be of 

15 the same political party. 

16 (4) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed to fill 

17 a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the 

18 term for which the predecessor of such member was 

19 appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder 

20 of such term. Any appointment to fill a vacancy 

21 shall be subject to the requirements of paragraphs 

22 (1) through (3). 

23 (5) BASIC PAY.— 

24 (A) RATES OF PAY.—To the extent or in 

25 the amounts provided in advance in appropriaVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:09 Feb 09, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4625.IH H4625

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1 tion Acts, each member shall be paid at a rate 

2 equal to level I of the Executive Schedule under 

3 section 5312 of title 5, United States Code. 

4 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member 

5 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 

6 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with appli7 cable provisions of subchapter I of chapter 57 

8 of title 5, United States Code. 

9 (6) CHAIRPERSON.—Not later than 30 days 

10 after all members have been appointed under para11 graph (1), the President shall designate a Chair12 person of the Commission. 

13 (7) QUORUM.—Six members of the Commission 

14 shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may 

15 hold hearings. 

16 (8) MEETINGS.— 

17 (A) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 

18 days after all members have been appointed 

19 under paragraph (1), the Commission shall hold 

20 its initial meeting. 

21 (B) FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS.—The 

22 Commission shall meet at least monthly at the 

23 call of the Chairperson. 

24 (d) STAFF OF COMMISSION; EXPERTS AND CONSULT25 ANTS.— 


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1 (1) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall appoint 

2 a Director. To the extent or in the amounts provided 

3 in advance in appropriation Acts, the Director shall 

4 be paid at a rate not to exceed the minimum rate 

5 of basic pay for GS–15 of the General Schedule. 

6 (2) STAFF.—Subject to rules prescribed by the 

7 Commission, the Director may appoint and fix the 

8 pay of staff members as the Director determines ap9 propriate, except that not more than 14 staff mem10 bers may be appointed under this paragraph. 

11 (3) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to 

12 the approval of the Commission, the Director may 

13 procure temporary and intermittent services under 

14 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (e) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

16 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commis17 sion may hold hearings, sit and act at times and 

18 places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the 

19 Commission determines appropriate. 

20 (2) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any 

21 member or agent of the Commission may, if author22 ized by the Commission, take any action which the 

23 Commission is authorized to take by this subsection. 

24 (3) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commis25 sion may obtain, from any department or agency of 


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1 the United States, information necessary to enable it 

2 to carry out its duties. At the request of the Chair3 person, the head of such department or agency shall 

4 furnish such information to the Commission. 

5 (4) VISITS.—The Commission may visit the fa6 cilities and installations of any department or agency 

7 of the United States. 

8 (5) MAILS.—The Commission may use the 

9 United States mails in the same manner and under 

10 the same conditions as any department or agency of 

11 the United States. 

12 (6) SUBPOENA POWER.— 

13 (A) ISSUANCE.—The Commission may 

14 issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and 

15 testimony of witnesses, the production of any 

16 evidence, or both, relating to any matter which 

17 the Commission is directed to study under sub18 section (b). The attendance of witnesses, pro19 duction of evidence, or both, may be required 

20 from any place in the United States at any des21 ignated place of hearing in the United States. 

22 (B) FAILURE TO OBEY.—If a person fails 

23 to obey a subpoena issued under subparagraph 

24 (A), the Commission may apply to a United 

25 States district court for an order requiring that 


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1 person to appear before the Commission to give 

2 testimony, produce evidence, or both, relating to 

3 the matter under examination. The application 

4 may be made in the judicial district where the 

5 hearing is conducted or where that person is 

6 found, resides, or transacts business. Any fail7 ure to obey the order of the court may be pun8 ished by the court as civil contempt. 

9 (C) SERVICE OF SUBPOENAS.—A subpoena 

10 of the Commission shall be served in the man11 ner provided for subpoenas issued by a United 

12 States district court under the Federal Rules of 

13 Civil Procedure for United States district 

14 courts. 

15 (D) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—All process of 

16 any court to which application is made under 

17 subparagraph (B) may be served in the judicial 

18 district in which the person required to be 

19 served resides or may be found. 

20 (7) IMMUNITY.—The Commission is an agency 

21 of the United States for the purpose of part V of 

22 title 18, United States Code (relating to immunity 

23 of witnesses). 

24 (8) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To the extent or 

25 in the amounts provided in advance in appropriation 


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1 Acts, the Commission may contract with and com2 pensate private agencies or persons for services. 

3 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

4 10 days after submitting the report and proposed legisla5 tion required by subsection (b)(2). 

6 SEC. 3. LEGISLATION TO IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 

7 OF THE COMMISSION. 

8 (a) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

9 term ‘‘implementing bill’’ means a bill the text of which 

10 consists of the legislative language submitted by the Com11 mission to Congress in accordance with section 2(b)(2) 

12 and the title of which is ‘‘A bill to implement the rec13 ommendations of the Civil Service Reform and Govern14 ment Reorganization Commission.’’. 

15 (b) INTRODUCTION.—Not later than 60 days after 

16 the date on which the Commission submits its report and 

17 proposed legislation to Congress in accordance with sec18 tion 2(b)(2), an implementing bill— 

19 (1) shall be introduced (by request) in the 

20 House of Representatives by the majority leader of 

21 the House of Representatives, for himself or herself 

22 and the minority leader of the House of Representa23 tives, or by Members of the House of Representa24 tives designated by the majority leader and minority 

25 leader of the House; and 


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1 (2) shall be introduced (by request) in the Sen2 ate by the majority leader of the Senate, for himself 

3 or herself and the minority leader of the Senate, or 

4 by Members of the Senate designated by the major5 ity leader and minority leader of the Senate. 

6 If an implementing bill is not introduced in accordance 

7 with the preceding sentence in either House of Congress, 

8 any Member of that House may introduce an imple9 menting bill on any day thereafter. 

10 (c) REFERRAL.—An implementing bill shall be re11 ferred to the committees of the House of Representatives 

12 and of the Senate with jurisdiction. Each committee shall 

13 make its recommendations to the House of Representa14 tives or the Senate, as the case may be, within 10 calendar 

15 days after the date of introduction in that House. If a 

16 committee to which an implementing bill has been referred 

17 has not reported by the close of the 10th calendar day 

18 after its introduction, such committee shall be automati19 cally discharged from further consideration of the bill, and 

20 the bill shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

21 (d) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 

22 (1) IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 days 

24 of session after the date on which an imple25 menting bill is reported or discharged from all 


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1 committees to which it was referred, the major2 ity leader of the House of Representatives or 

3 the majority leader’s designee shall move to 

4 proceed to the consideration of the imple5 menting bill. It shall also be in order for any 

6 Member of the House of Representatives to 

7 move to proceed to the consideration of the im8 plementing bill at any time after the conclusion 

9 of such 5-day period. 

10 (B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion to 

11 proceed to the consideration of the imple12 menting bill is highly privileged in the House of 

13 Representatives and is not debatable. The mo14 tion is not subject to amendment or to a motion 

15 to postpone consideration of the implementing 

16 bill. A motion to proceed to the consideration of 

17 other business shall not be in order. A motion 

18 to reconsider the vote by which the motion to 

19 proceed is agreed to or not agreed to shall not 

20 be in order. If the motion to proceed is agreed 

21 to, the House of Representatives shall imme22 diately proceed to consideration of the imple23 menting bill without intervening motion, order, 

24 or other business, and the implementing bill 


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1 shall remain the unfinished business of the 

2 House of Representatives until disposed of. 

3 (C) LIMITS ON DEBATE.—Debate in the 

4 House of Representatives on an implementing 

5 bill under this paragraph shall not exceed a 

6 total of 100 hours, which shall be divided equal7 ly between those favoring and those opposing 

8 the bill. A motion further to limit debate is in 

9 order and shall not be debatable. It shall not be 

10 in order to move to recommit an implementing 

11 bill under this paragraph or to move to recon12 sider the vote by which the bill is agreed to or 

13 disagreed to. 

14 (D) APPEALS.—Appeals from decisions of 

15 the chair relating to the application of the 

16 Rules of the House of Representatives to the 

17 procedures relating to an implementing bill 

18 shall be decided without debate. 

19 (E) APPLICATION OF HOUSE RULES.—Ex20 cept to the extent specifically provided in this 

21 paragraph, consideration of an implementing 

22 bill shall be governed by the Rules of the House 

23 of Representatives. It shall not be in order in 

24 the House of Representatives to consider any 

25 implementing bill introduced pursuant to the 


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1 provisions of this section under a suspension of 

2 the rules or under a special rule. 

3 (F) NO AMENDMENTS.—No amendment to 

4 the implementing bill shall be in order in the 

5 House of Representatives. 

6 (G) VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE.—In the 

7 House of Representatives, immediately fol8 lowing the conclusion of consideration of the 

9 implementing bill, the vote on final passage of 

10 the implementing bill shall occur without any 

11 intervening action or motion, requiring an affirmative vote of 3 12 ⁄5 of the Members, duly cho13 sen and sworn. If the implementing bill is 

14 passed, the Clerk of the House of Representa15 tives shall cause the bill to be transmitted to 

16 the Senate before the close of the next day of 

17 session of the House. 

18 (2) IN THE SENATE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 days 

20 of session after the date on which an imple21 menting bill is reported or discharged from all 

22 committees to which it was referred, the major23 ity leader of the Senate or the majority leader’s 

24 designee shall move to proceed to the consider25 ation of the implementing bill. It shall also be 


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1 in order for any Member of the Senate to move 

2 to proceed to the consideration of the imple3 menting bill at any time after the conclusion of 

4 such 5-day period. 

5 (B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion to 

6 proceed to the consideration of the imple7 menting bill is privileged in the Senate and is 

8 not debatable. The motion is not subject to 

9 amendment or to a motion to postpone consid10 eration of the implementing bill. A motion to 

11 proceed to consideration of the implementing 

12 bill may be made even though a previous mo13 tion to the same effect has been disagreed to. 

14 A motion to proceed to the consideration of 

15 other business shall not be in order. A motion 

16 to reconsider the vote by which the motion to 

17 proceed is agreed to or not agreed to shall not 

18 be in order. If the motion to proceed is agreed 

19 to, the Senate shall immediately proceed to con20 sideration of the implementing bill without in21 tervening motion, order, or other business, and 

22 the implementing bill shall remain the unfin23 ished business of the Senate until disposed of. 

24 (C) LIMITS ON DEBATE.—In the Senate, 

25 consideration of the implementing bill and on 


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1 all debatable motions and appeals in connection 

2 therewith shall not exceed a total of 100 hours, 

3 which shall be divided equally between those fa4 voring and those opposing the implementing 

5 bill. A motion further to limit debate on the im6 plementing bill is in order and is not debatable. 

7 Any debatable motion or appeal is debatable for 

8 not to exceed 1 hour, to be divided equally be9 tween those favoring and those opposing the 

10 motion or appeal. All time used for consider11 ation of the implementing bill, including time 

12 used for quorum calls and voting, shall be 

13 counted against the total 100 hours of consider14 ation. 

15 (D) NO AMENDMENTS.—No amendment to 

16 the implementing bill shall be in order in the 

17 Senate. 

18 (E) MOTION TO RECOMMIT.—A motion to 

19 recommit an implementing bill shall not be in 

20 order under this paragraph. 

21 (F) VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE.—In the 

22 Senate, immediately following the conclusion of 

23 consideration of the implementing bill and a re24 quest to establish the presence of a quorum, the 

25 vote on final passage of the implementing bill 


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1 shall occur and shall require an affirmative vote 

of 3 2 ⁄5 of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. 

3 (G) OTHER MOTIONS NOT IN ORDER.—A 

4 motion to postpone or a motion to proceed to 

5 the consideration of other business is not in 

6 order in the Senate. A motion to reconsider the 

7 vote by which the implementing bill is agreed to 

8 or not agreed to is not in order in the Senate. 

9 (H) CONSIDERATION OF THE HOUSE

10 BILL.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Senate has 

12 received the House companion bill to the 

13 implementing bill introduced in the Senate 

14 prior to the vote required under subpara15 graph (F) and the House companion bill is 

16 identical to the implementing bill intro17 duced in the Senate, then the Senate shall 

18 consider, and the vote under subparagraph 

19 (F) shall occur on, the House companion 

20 bill. 

21 (ii) PROCEDURE AFTER VOTE ON SEN22 ATE BILL.—If the Senate votes, pursuant 

23 to subparagraph (F), on the bill introduced 

24 in the Senate, the Senate bill shall be held 

25 pending receipt of the House message on 


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1 the bill. Upon receipt of the House com2 panion bill, if the House bill is identical to 

3 the Senate bill, the House bill shall be 

4 deemed to be considered, read for the third 

5 time, and the vote on passage of the Sen6 ate bill shall be considered to be the vote 

7 on the bill received from the House. 

8 (3) NO SUSPENSION.—No motion to suspend 

9 the application of this subsection shall be in order 

10 in the Senate or in the House of Representatives. 

11 (e) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

12 SENATE.—This section is enacted by the Congress— 

13 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

14 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re15 spectively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules 

16 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

17 respect to the procedures to be followed in that 

18 House in the case of an implementing bill; and it su19 persedes other rules only to the extent that it is in20 consistent with such other rules; and 

21 (2) with the full recognition of the constitu22 tional right of either House to change the rules (so 

23 far as relating to the procedures of that House) at 


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1 any time, in the same manner, and to the same ex2 tent as any other rule of that House. 

Æ 


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