II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 180

To establish a National Economic Council within the Executive Office of

the President.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 26 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

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

the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To establish a National Economic Council within the

Executive Office of the President.

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 AND PURPOSE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘National Economic Council Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) domestic and international economic policy

9 are essential elements of our national security.

10 America’s leadership in the world can be attributed
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1 in large measure to the success of our Nation’s eco2 nomic vitality. That success, and our Nation’s secu3 rity, is being challenged by the growth in the inter4 national economic competition;

5 (2) one of the fundamental lessons of the cold

6 war period is that a strong military nation cannot

7 achieve national security without economic vitality;

8 (3) the ability of the United States to compete

9 internationally is central to the Nation’s economic

10 prosperity and security. Exports now account for

11 more than 10 per centum of our country’s gross do12 mestic product and are a growing percentage of our

13 Nation’s output. Increased exports are fundamental

14 to facilitating job creation and economic growth;

15 (4) as we enter the post-cold war period with an

16 increased focus on policies to compete in world mar17 kets, America’s ability to produce exports and be

18 competitive is in need of constant and high level at19 tention by our Nation’s policy makers;

20 (5) the President’s National Security Council

21 has played a vital and constant role in the successful

22 development and coordination of America’s national

23 security policy since the creation of the Council in

24 1947;
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1 (6) to be successful, policies to meet the chal2 lenges of international competitiveness must be given

3 the same coordinated high level attention as our suc4 cessful national security policy. In order to remain

5 a strong economic force in the increasingly competi6 tive global economy, America needs a coordinated

7 economic strategy which will allow our country to be

8 on a competitive basis with other nations, taking

9 into account the free market system which has been

10 the hallmark of our economic system;

11 (7) the President must have available a perma12 nent council of experts and advisors which have di13 rect access to the President and can coordinate the

14 complex components of the President’s economic pol15 icy to facilitate exports, job creation, and national

16 prosperity; and

17 (8) an organization equivalent to the National

18 Security Council should be established within the

19 Executive Office of the President to develop and co20 ordinate economic policy as trade and global com21 petition emerge as essential elements of our national

22 security. The National Economic Council should

23 bring focus and coordination to domestic and inter24 national economic policies at the highest level of gov25 ernment and should be recognized as the President’s
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1 organization for developing and coordinating these

2 policies.

3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC

4 COUNCIL.

5 (a) There is established a council to be known as the

6 National Economic Council (hereinafter in this Act re7 ferred to as the ‘‘Council’’).

8 (b) The President of the United States shall preside

9 over meetings of the Council: Provided, That in his

10 absence he may designate a member of the Council to

11 preside.

12 (c) The Council shall be composed of—

13 (1) the President;

14 (2) the Vice President;

15 (3) the United States Trade Representative;

16 (4) the Secretary of Treasury;

17 (5) the Secretary of Commerce;

18 (6) the Secretary of Labor;

19 (7) the Secretary of Agriculture;

20 (8) the Administrator of the Environmental

21 Protection Agency;

22 (9) the Director of the Office of Management

23 and Budget;

24 (10) the Director of the Office of Science and

25 Technology Policy;
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1 (11) the Chairman of the Council of Economic

2 Advisors; and

3 (12) any other individual as the President may

4 direct.

5 (d) The Council shall have a staff to be headed by

6 the National Economic Advisor who shall be appointed by

7 the President. The National Economic Advisor is author8 ized, subject to the civil-service laws and chapter 51 and

9 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, to appoint and

10 fix the compensation of such personnel as may be nec11 essary to perform such duties as may be prescribed by the

12 Council in connection with the performance of its

13 functions.

14 SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUN15 CIL.

16 (a) The function of the Council shall be to advise the

17 President with respect to the integration of domestic and

18 international policies relating to the economy and inter19 national competitiveness so as to enable the Federal Gov20 ernment to operate more effectively in matters involving

21 our Nation’s ability to compete in the global economy.

22 (b) In addition to performing such other functions

23 as the President may direct, the Council shall—

24 (1) formulate and coordinate an economic strat25 egy which will provide the economic environment
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1 necessary for our country to be on a competitive

2 basis with other nations;

3 (2) consider matters of common interest of the

4 departments and agencies of the Government con5 cerned with the economy and international competi6 tiveness, and to coordinate recommendations con7 cerning these policies to the President in connection

8 therewith;

9 (3) assess the ability of the United States to

10 compete internationally, and the risk of a failure to

11 meet this challenge, for the purpose of making rec12 ommendations to the President in connection there13 with; and

14 (4) define a set of guidelines for Government

15 interaction with the market, taking into account the

16 free market system which has been the hallmark of

17 our national economy.

18 (c) The functions of the Council under this Act shall

19 be performed—

20 (1) subject to the direction of the President;

21 and

22 (2) for the purpose of effectively coordinating

23 the policies and functions of the Federal depart24 ments and agencies relating to the economy and

25 international competitiveness.
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1 (d) The Council shall, from time to time, make such

2 recommendations and such other reports to the President

3 as it deems appropriate or as the President may require.

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