I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5439 

To establish the Civil Service Reform Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2008 

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 the Civil Service Reform Commission. 

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 Commission Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CIVIL SERVICE REFORM COMMISSION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com8 mission to be known as the ‘‘Civil Service Reform Com9 mission’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

10 (b) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.— 


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

2 following aspects of the Federal civil service system: 

3 (A) The Federal compensation system, in4 cluding pay and benefit structures, with an em5 phasis on performance-based pay and benefits. 

6 (B) Recruiting individuals for the Federal 

7 workforce, with an emphasis on identifying and 

8 filling skill gaps in the Federal workforce, in9 cluding experience in scientific fields, engineer10 ing, foreign language fluency, cultural under11 standing, and information technology. 

12 (C) Expediting and improving hiring proc13 esses. 

14 (D) Retaining a high-quality Federal work15 force and providing continuing professional edu16 cation to maintain the quality of such work17 force. 

18 (E) Policies and barriers related to the ter19 mination of under-performing workers. 

20 (F) The role and oversight of Federal con21 tractors and issues related to contractor as22 sumption of traditionally Federal duties. 

23 (2) REPORT AND PROPOSED LEGISLATION.— 

24 Not later than 2 years after the initial meeting of 

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


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1 Commission shall submit to the President and each 

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

3 House is in session)— 

4 (A) a report containing a detailed state5 ment of the findings and conclusion of the 

6 Commission with respect to the Federal civil 

7 service system, together with the recommenda8 tions of the Commission for improvements to 

9 such system based on such findings; and 

10 (B) proposed legislative language to carry 

11 out the recommendations described in subpara12 graph (A). 

13 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

14 (1) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

15 shall be composed of 11 members who shall be ap16 pointed by the President by and with the advice and 

17 consent of the Senate. 

18 (2) ELIGIBILITY.— 

19 (A) NO SERVING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

20 OR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member ap21 pointed under paragraph (1) may not be an of22 ficer or employee of the Federal Government or 

23 a Member of Congress serving at the time of 

24 such appointment. 

25 (B) BACKGROUND OF MEMBERS.— 


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1 (i) FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

2 Four members appointed under paragraph 

3 (1) shall be former officers or employees of 

4 the Federal Government under the Federal 

5 civil service system. Any former officer or 

6 employee appointed as a member under 

7 this clause may not be appointed as a 

8 member under clause (ii). 

9 (ii) PRIVATE SECTOR EXPERTS.— 

10 Seven members appointed under paragraph 

11 (1) shall be individuals in the private sec12 tor who are recognized experts in matters 

13 relating to management or personnel man14 agement. Any individual appointed as a 

15 member under this clause may not be ap16 pointed as a member under clause (i). 

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

18 members appointed under paragraph (1) may be of 

19 the same political party. 

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

21 a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the 

22 term for which the predecessor of such member was 

23 appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder 

24 of such term. Any appointment to fill a vacancy 


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1 shall be subject to the requirements of paragraphs 

2 (1) through (3). 

3 (5) BASIC PAY.— 

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

5 the amounts provided in advance in appropria6 tion Acts, each member shall be paid at a rate 

7 equal to level I of the Executive Schedule under 

8 section 5312 of title 5, United States Code. 

9 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member 

10 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 

11 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with appli12 cable provisions of subchapter I of chapter 57 

13 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

15 after all members have been appointed under para16 graph (1), the President shall designate a Chair17 person of the Commission. 

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

19 shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may 

20 hold hearings. 

21 (8) MEETINGS.— 

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

23 days after all members have been appointed 

24 under paragraph (1), the Commission shall hold 

25 its initial meeting. 


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1 (B) FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS.—The 

2 Commission shall meet at least monthly at the 

3 call of the Chairperson. 

4 (d) STAFF OF COMMISSION; EXPERTS AND CONSULT5 ANTS.— 

6 (1) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall appoint 

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

8 in advance in appropriation Acts, the Director shall 

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

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

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

12 Commission, the Director may appoint and fix the 

13 pay of staff members as the Director determines ap14 propriate, except that not more than 14 staff mem15 bers may be appointed under this paragraph. 

16 (3) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to 

17 the approval of the Commission, the Director may 

18 procure temporary and intermittent services under 

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

20 (e) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

21 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commis22 sion may hold hearings, sit and act at times and 

23 places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the 

24 Commission determines appropriate. 


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

2 member or agent of the Commission may, if author3 ized by the Commission, take any action which the 

4 Commission is authorized to take by this subsection. 

5 (3) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commis6 sion may obtain, from any department or agency of 

7 the United States, information necessary to enable it 

8 to carry out its duties. At the request of the Chair9 person, the head of such department or agency shall 

10 furnish such information to the Commission. 

11 (4) VISITS.—The Commission may visit the fa12 cilities and installations of any department or agency 

13 of the United States. 

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

15 United States mails in the same manner and under 

16 the same conditions as any department or agency of 

17 the United States. 

18 (6) SUBPOENA POWER.— 

19 (A) ISSUANCE.—The Commission may 

20 issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and 

21 testimony of witnesses, the production of any 

22 evidence, or both, relating to any matter which 

23 the Commission is directed to study under sub24 section (b). The attendance of witnesses, pro25 duction of evidence, or both, may be required 


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1 from any place in the United States at any des2 ignated place of hearing in the United States. 

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

4 to obey a subpoena issued under subparagraph 

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

6 States district court for an order requiring that 

7 person to appear before the Commission to give 

8 testimony, produce evidence, or both, relating to 

9 the matter under examination. The application 

10 may be made in the judicial district where the 

11 hearing is conducted or where that person is 

12 found, resides, or transacts business. Any fail13 ure to obey the order of the court may be pun14 ished by the court as civil contempt. 

15 (C) SERVICE OF SUBPOENAS.—A subpoena 

16 of the Commission shall be served in the man17 ner provided for subpoenas issued by a United 

18 States district court under the Federal Rules of 

19 Civil Procedure for United States district 

20 courts. 

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

22 any court to which application is made under 

23 subparagraph (B) may be served in the judicial 

24 district in which the person required to be 

25 served resides or may be found. 


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

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

3 title 18, United States Code (relating to immunity 

4 of witnesses). 

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

6 in the amounts provided in advance in appropriation 

7 Acts, the Commission may contract with and com8 pensate private agencies or persons for services. 

9 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

10 10 days after submitting the report and proposed legisla11 tion required by subsection (b)(2). 

12 SEC. 3. LEGISLATION TO IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 

13 OF THE COMMISSION. 

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

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

16 consists of the legislative language submitted by the Com17 mission to Congress in accordance with section 2(b)(2) 

18 and the title of which is ‘‘A bill to implement the rec19 ommendations of the Civil Service Reform Commission.’’. 

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

21 the date on which the Commission submits its report and 

22 proposed legislation to Congress in accordance with sec23 tion 2(b)(2), an implementing bill— 

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

25 House of Representatives by the majority leader of 


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1 the House of Representatives, for himself or herself 

2 and the minority leader of the House of Representa3 tives, or by Members of the House of Representa4 tives designated by the majority leader and minority 

5 leader of the House; and 

6 (2) shall be introduced (by request) in the Sen7 ate by the majority leader of the Senate, for himself 

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

9 by Members of the Senate designated by the major10 ity leader and minority leader of the Senate. 

11 If an implementing bill is not introduced in accordance 

12 with the preceding sentence in either House of Congress, 

13 any Member of that House may introduce an imple14 menting bill on any day thereafter. 

15 (c) REFERRAL.—An implementing bill shall be re16 ferred to the committees of the House of Representatives 

17 and of the Senate with jurisdiction. Each committee shall 

18 make its recommendations to the House of Representa19 tives or the Senate, as the case may be, within 10 calendar 

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

21 committee to which an implementing bill has been referred 

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

23 after its introduction, such committee shall be automati24 cally discharged from further consideration of the bill, and 

25 the bill shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 


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1 (d) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 

2 (1) IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

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

4 of session after the date on which an imple5 menting bill is reported or discharged from all 

6 committees to which it was referred, the major7 ity leader of the House of Representatives or 

8 the majority leader’s designee shall move to 

9 proceed to the consideration of the imple10 menting bill. It shall also be in order for any 

11 Member of the House of Representatives to 

12 move to proceed to the consideration of the im13 plementing bill at any time after the conclusion 

14 of such 5-day period. 

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

16 proceed to the consideration of the imple17 menting bill is highly privileged in the House of 

18 Representatives and is not debatable. The mo19 tion is not subject to amendment or to a motion 

20 to postpone consideration of the implementing 

21 bill. A motion to proceed to the consideration of 

22 other business shall not be in order. A motion 

23 to reconsider the vote by which the motion to 

24 proceed is agreed to or not agreed to shall not 

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


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1 to, the House of Representatives shall imme2 diately proceed to consideration of the imple3 menting bill without intervening motion, order, 

4 or other business, and the implementing bill 

5 shall remain the unfinished business of the 

6 House of Representatives until disposed of. 

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

8 House of Representatives on an implementing 

9 bill under this paragraph shall not exceed a 

10 total of 100 hours, which shall be divided equal11 ly between those favoring and those opposing 

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

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

14 in order to move to recommit an implementing 

15 bill under this paragraph or to move to recon16 sider the vote by which the bill is agreed to or 

17 disagreed to. 

18 (D) APPEALS.—Appeals from decisions of 

19 the chair relating to the application of the 

20 Rules of the House of Representatives to the 

21 procedures relating to an implementing bill 

22 shall be decided without debate. 

23 (E) APPLICATION OF HOUSE RULES.—Ex24 cept to the extent specifically provided in this 

25 paragraph, consideration of an implementing 


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1 bill shall be governed by the Rules of the House 

2 of Representatives. It shall not be in order in 

3 the House of Representatives to consider any 

4 implementing bill introduced pursuant to the 

5 provisions of this section under a suspension of 

6 the rules or under a special rule. 

7 (F) NO AMENDMENTS.—No amendment to 

8 the implementing bill shall be in order in the 

9 House of Representatives. 

10 (G) VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE.—In the 

11 House of Representatives, immediately fol12 lowing the conclusion of consideration of the 

13 implementing bill, the vote on final passage of 

14 the implementing bill shall occur without any 

15 intervening action or motion, requiring an affirmative vote of 3 16 ⁄5 of the Members, duly cho17 sen and sworn. If the implementing bill is 

18 passed, the Clerk of the House of Representa19 tives shall cause the bill to be transmitted to 

20 the Senate before the close of the next day of 

21 session of the House. 

22 (2) IN THE SENATE.— 

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 Senate or the majority leader’s 

3 designee shall move to proceed to the consider4 ation of the implementing bill. It shall also be 

5 in order for any Member of the Senate to move 

6 to proceed to the consideration of the imple7 menting bill at any time after the conclusion of 

8 such 5-day period. 

9 (B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion to 

10 proceed to the consideration of the imple11 menting bill is privileged in the Senate and is 

12 not debatable. The motion is not subject to 

13 amendment or to a motion to postpone consid14 eration of the implementing bill. A motion to 

15 proceed to consideration of the implementing 

16 bill may be made even though a previous mo17 tion to the same effect has been disagreed to. 

18 A motion to proceed to the consideration of 

19 other business shall not be in order. A motion 

20 to reconsider the vote by which the motion to 

21 proceed is agreed to or not agreed to shall not 

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

23 to, the Senate shall immediately proceed to con24 sideration of the implementing bill without in25 tervening motion, order, or other business, and 


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1 the implementing bill shall remain the unfin2 ished business of the Senate until disposed of. 

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

4 consideration of the implementing bill and on 

5 all debatable motions and appeals in connection 

6 therewith shall not exceed a total of 100 hours, 

7 which shall be divided equally between those fa8 voring and those opposing the implementing 

9 bill. A motion further to limit debate on the im10 plementing bill is in order and is not debatable. 

11 Any debatable motion or appeal is debatable for 

12 not to exceed 1 hour, to be divided equally be13 tween those favoring and those opposing the 

14 motion or appeal. All time used for consider15 ation of the implementing bill, including time 

16 used for quorum calls and voting, shall be 

17 counted against the total 100 hours of consider18 ation. 

19 (D) NO AMENDMENTS.—No amendment to 

20 the implementing bill shall be in order in the 

21 Senate. 

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

23 recommit an implementing bill shall not be in 

24 order under this paragraph. 


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1 (F) VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE.—In the 

2 Senate, immediately following the conclusion of 

3 consideration of the implementing bill and a re4 quest to establish the presence of a quorum, the 

5 vote on final passage of the implementing bill 

6 shall occur and shall require an affirmative vote 

of 3 7 ⁄5 of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. 

8 (G) OTHER MOTIONS NOT IN ORDER.—A 

9 motion to postpone or a motion to proceed to 

10 the consideration of other business is not in 

11 order in the Senate. A motion to reconsider the 

12 vote by which the implementing bill is agreed to 

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

14 (H) CONSIDERATION OF THE HOUSE

15 BILL.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Senate has 

17 received the House companion bill to the 

18 implementing bill introduced in the Senate 

19 prior to the vote required under subpara20 graph (F) and the House companion bill is 

21 identical to the implementing bill intro22 duced in the Senate, then the Senate shall 

23 consider, and the vote under subparagraph 

24 (F) shall occur on, the House companion 

25 bill. 


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1 (ii) PROCEDURE AFTER VOTE ON SEN2 ATE BILL.—If the Senate votes, pursuant 

3 to subparagraph (F), on the bill introduced 

4 in the Senate, the Senate bill shall be held 

5 pending receipt of the House message on 

6 the bill. Upon receipt of the House com7 panion bill, if the House bill is identical to 

8 the Senate bill, the House bill shall be 

9 deemed to be considered, read for the third 

10 time, and the vote on passage of the Sen11 ate bill shall be considered to be the vote 

12 on the bill received from the House. 

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

14 the application of this subsection shall be in order 

15 in the Senate or in the House of Representatives. 

16 (e) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

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

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

19 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re20 spectively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules 

21 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

22 respect to the procedures to be followed in that 

23 House in the case of an implementing bill; and it su24 persedes other rules only to the extent that it is in25 consistent with such other rules; and 


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1 (2) with the full recognition of the constitu2 tional right of either House to change the rules (so 

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

4 any time, in the same manner, and to the same ex5 tent as any other rule of that House. 

Æ 


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