II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2306

To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal Government, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 28, 2000

Mr. THOMPSON (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr.

BROWNBACK, and Mr. ROTH) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal

Government, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Government for the 21st Century Act’’.

6 (b) PURPOSE.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The purpose of this Act is to

8 reduce the cost and increase the effectiveness of the

9 Federal Government by reorganizing departments

10 and agencies, consolidating redundant activities,
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1 streamlining operations, and decentralizing service

2 delivery in a manner that promotes economy, effi3 ciency, and accountability in Government programs.

4 This Act is intended to result in a Federal Govern5 ment that—

6 (A) utilizes a smaller and more effective

7 workforce;

8 (B) motivates its workforce by providing a

9 better organizational environment; and

10 (C) ensures greater access and account11 ability to the public in policy formulation and

12 service delivery.

13 (2) SPECIFIC GOALS.—This Act is intended to

14 achieve the following goals for improvements in the

15 performance of the Federal Government by October

16 1, 2004:

17 (A) A restructuring of the cabinet and sub18 cabinet level agencies.

19 (B) A substantial reduction in the costs of

20 administering Government programs.

21 (C) A dramatic and noticeable improve22 ment in the timely and courteous delivery of

23 services to the public.
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1 (D) Responsiveness and customer-service

2 levels comparable to those achieved in the pri3 vate sector.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 For purposes of this Act, the term—

6 (1) ‘‘agency’’ includes all Federal departments,

7 independent agencies, Government-sponsored enter8 prises, and Government corporations; and

9 (2) ‘‘private sector’’ means any business, part10 nership, association, corporation, educational institu11 tion, nonprofit organization, or individuals.

12 SEC. 3. THE COMMISSION.

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde14 pendent commission to be known as the Commission on

15 Government Restructuring and Reform (hereafter in this

16 Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

17 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall examine and

18 make recommendations to reform and restructure the or19 ganization and operations of the executive branch of the

20 Federal Government to improve economy, efficiency, effec21 tiveness, consistency, and accountability in Government

22 programs and services, and shall include and be limited

23 to proposals to—

24 (1) consolidate or reorganize programs, depart25 ments, and agencies in order to—
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1 (A) improve the effective implementation

2 of their statutory missions;

3 (B) eliminate activities not essential to the

4 effective implementation of statutory missions;

5 (C) reduce the duplication of activities

6 among agencies; or

7 (D) reduce layers of organizational hier8 archy and personnel where appropriate to im9 prove the effective implementation of statutory

10 missions and increase accountability for per11 formance;

12 (2) improve and strengthen management capac13 ity in departments and agencies (including central

14 management agencies) to maximize productivity, ef15 fectiveness, and accountability;

16 (3) propose criteria for use by the President

17 and Congress in evaluating proposals to establish, or

18 to assign a function to, an executive entity, including

19 a Government corporation or Government-sponsored

20 enterprise;

21 (4) define the missions, roles, and responsibil22 ities of any new, reorganized, or consolidated depart23 ment or agency proposed by the Commission;
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1 (5) eliminate the departments or agencies

2 whose missions and functions have been determined

3 to be—

4 (A) obsolete, redundant, or complete; or

5 (B) more effectively performed by other

6 units of government (including other Federal

7 departments and agencies and State and local

8 governments) or by the private sector; and

9 (6) establish criteria for use by the President

10 and Congress in evaluating proposals to privatize, or

11 to contract with the private sector for the perform12 ance of, functions currently administered by the

13 Federal Government.

14 (c) LIMITATIONS ON COMMISSION RECOMMENDA15 TIONS.—The Commission’s recommendations or proposals

16 under this Act may not provide for or have the effect of—

17 (1) continuing an agency beyond the period au18 thorized by law for its existence;

19 (2) continuing a function beyond the period au20 thorized by law for its existence;

21 (3) authorizing an agency to exercise a function

22 which is not already being performed by any agency;

23 (4) eliminating the enforcement functions of an

24 agency, except such functions may be transferred to
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1 another executive department or independent agen2 cy; or

3 (5) adding, deleting, or changing any rule of ei4 ther House of Congress.

5 (d) APPOINTMENT.—

6 (1) MEMBERS.—The Commissioners shall be

7 appointed for the life of the Commission and shall

8 be composed of nine members of whom—

9 (A) three shall be appointed by the Presi10 dent of the United States;

11 (B) two shall be appointed by the Speaker

12 of the House of Representatives;

13 (C) one shall be appointed by the minority

14 Leader of the House of Representatives;

15 (D) two shall be appointed by the majority

16 Leader of the Senate; and

17 (E) one shall be appointed by the minority

18 Leader of the Senate.

19 (2) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The President,

20 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the mi21 nority leader of the House of Representatives, the

22 majority leader of the Senate, and the minority lead23 er of the Senate shall consult among themselves

24 prior to the appointment of the members of the

25 Commission in order to achieve, to the maximum ex-
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1 tent possible, fair and equitable representation of

2 various points of view with respect to the matters to

3 be studied by the Commission under subsection (b).

4 (3) CHAIRMAN.—At the time the President

5 nominates individuals for appointment to the Com6 mission the President shall designate one such indi7 vidual who shall serve as Chairman of the Commis8 sion.

9 (4) MEMBERSHIP.—A member of the Commis10 sion may be any citizen of the United States who is

11 not an elected or appointed Federal public official,

12 a Federal career civil servant, or a congressional em13 ployee.

14 (5) CONFLICT OF INTERESTS.—For purposes of

15 the provisions of chapter 11 of part I of title 18,

16 United States Code, a member of the Commission

17 (to whom such provisions would not otherwise apply

18 except for this paragraph) shall be a special Govern19 ment employee.

20 (6) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—All members of

21 the Commission shall be appointed within 90 days

22 after the date of enactment of this Act.

23 (e) TERMS.—Each member shall serve until the ter24 mination of the Commission.
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1 (f) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission shall

2 be filled in the same manner as was the original appoint3 ment.

4 (g) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet as nec5 essary to carry out its responsibilities. The Commission

6 may conduct meetings outside the District of Columbia

7 when necessary.

8 (h) PAY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.—

9 (1) PAY.—

10 (A) CHAIRMAN.—Except for an individual

11 who is chairman of the Commission and is oth12 erwise a Federal officer or employee, the chair13 man shall be paid at a rate equal to the daily

14 equivalent of the minimum annual rate of basic

15 pay payable for level III of the Executive

16 Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, United

17 States Code, for each day (including traveltime)

18 during which the chairman is engaged in the

19 performance of duties vested in the Commis20 sion.

21 (B) MEMBERS.—Except for the chairman

22 who shall be paid as provided under subpara23 graph (A), each member of the Commission

24 who is not a Federal officer or employee shall

25 be paid at a rate equal to the daily equivalent
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1 of the minimum annual rate of basic pay pay2 able for level IV of the Executive Schedule

3 under section 5315 of title 5, United States

4 Code, for each day (including traveltime) during

5 which the member is engaged in the perform6 ance of duties vested in the Commission.

7 (2) TRAVEL.—Members of the Commission

8 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in

9 lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702

10 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

11 (i) DIRECTOR.—

12 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Chairman of the

13 Commission shall appoint a Director of the Commis14 sion without regard to section 5311(b) of title 5,

15 United States Code.

16 (2) PAY.—The Director shall be paid at the

17 rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Execu18 tive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United

19 States Code.

20 (j) STAFF.—

21 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Director may, with

22 the approval of the Commission, appoint and fix the

23 pay of employees of the Commission without regard

24 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, gov25 erning appointment in the competitive service, and
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1 any Commission employee may be paid without re2 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

3 III of chapter 53 of that title relating to classifica4 tion and General Schedule pay rates, except that a

5 Commission employee may not receive pay in excess

6 of the annual rate of basic pay payable for level V

7 of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title

8 5, United States Code.

9 (2) DETAIL.—

10 (A) DETAILS FROM AGENCIES.—Upon re11 quest of the Director, the head of any Federal

12 department or agency may detail any of the

13 personnel of the department or agency to the

14 Commission to assist the Commission in car15 rying out its duties under this Act.

16 (B) DETAILS FROM CONGRESS.—Upon re17 quest of the Director, a Member of Congress or

18 an officer who is the head of an office of the

19 Senate or House of Representatives may detail

20 an employee of the office or committee of which

21 such Member or officer is the head to the Com22 mission to assist the Commission in carrying

23 out its duties under this Act.

24 (C) REIMBURSEMENT.—Any Federal Gov25 ernment employee may be detailed to the Com-
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1 mission with or without reimbursement, and

2 such detail shall be without interruption or loss

3 of civil service status or privilege.

4 (k) SUPPORT.—

5 (1) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Office of Man6 agement and Budget shall provide support services

7 to the Commission.

8 (2) ASSISTANCE.—The Comptroller General of

9 the United States may provide assistance, including

10 the detailing of employees, to the Commission in ac11 cordance with an agreement entered into with the

12 Commission.

13 (l) OTHER AUTHORITY.—The Commission may pro14 cure by contract, to the extent funds are available, the

15 temporary or intermittent services of experts or consult16 ants pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States

17 Code. The Commission shall give public notice of any such

18 contract before entering into such contract.

19 (m) APPLICATION OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM20 MITTEE ACT.—The Commission shall be subject to the

21 provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

22 U.S.C. App.).

23 (n) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro24 priated to the Commission $2,500,000 for fiscal year

25 2000, and $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001
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1 through 2003 to enable the Commission to carry out its

2 duties under this Act.

3 (o) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

4 no later than September 30, 2003.

5 SEC. 4. PROCEDURES FOR MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS.

6 (a) PRESIDENTIAL RECOMMENDATIONS.—No later

7 than July 1, 2001, the President may submit to the Com8 mission a report making recommendations consistent with

9 the criteria under section 3 (b) and (c). Such a report

10 shall contain a single legislative proposal (including legis11 lation proposed to be enacted) to implement those rec12 ommendations for which legislation is necessary or appro13 priate.

14 (b) IN GENERAL.—No later than December 1, 2002,

15 the Commission shall prepare and submit a single prelimi16 nary report to the President and Congress, which shall

17 include—

18 (1) a description of the Commission’s findings

19 and recommendations, taking into account any rec20 ommendations submitted by the President to the

21 Commission under subsection (a); and

22 (2) reasons for such recommendations.

23 (c) COMMISSION VOTES.—No legislative proposal or

24 preliminary or final report (including a final report after

25 disapproval) may be submitted by the Commission to the
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1 President and Congress without the affirmative vote of at

2 least 6 members.

3 (d) DEPARTMENT AND AGENCY COOPERATION.—All

4 Federal departments, agencies, and divisions and employ5 ees of all departments, agencies, and divisions shall co6 operate fully with all requests for information from the

7 Commission and shall respond to any such requests for

8 information expeditiously, or no later than 15 calendar

9 days or such other time agreed upon by the requesting

10 and requested parties.

11 SEC. 5. PROCEDURE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF REPORTS.

12 (a) PRELIMINARY REPORT AND REVIEW PROCE13 DURE.—Any preliminary report submitted to the Presi14 dent and Congress under section 4(b) shall be made imme15 diately available to the public. During the 60-day period

16 beginning on the date on which the preliminary report is

17 submitted, the Commission shall announce and hold public

18 hearings for the purpose of receiving comments on the re19 ports.

20 (b) FINAL REPORT.—No later than 6 months after

21 the conclusion of the period for public hearing under sub22 section (a), the Commission shall prepare and submit a

23 final report to the President. Such report shall be made

24 available to the public on the date of submission to the

25 President. Such report shall include—
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1 (1) a description of the Commission’s findings

2 and recommendations, including a description of

3 changes made to the report as a result of public

4 comment on the preliminary report;

5 (2) reasons for such recommendations; and

6 (3) a single legislative proposal (including legis7 lation proposed to be enacted) to implement those

8 recommendations for which legislation is necessary

9 or appropriate.

10 (c) EXTENSION OF FINAL REPORT.—By affirmative

11 vote pursuant to section 4(c), the Commission may extend

12 the deadline under subsection (b) by a period not to exceed

13 90 days.

14 (d) REVIEW BY THE PRESIDENT.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—

16 (A) PRESIDENTIAL ACTION.—No later

17 than 30 calendar days after receipt of a final

18 report under subsection (b), the President shall

19 approve or disapprove the report.

20 (B) PRESIDENTIAL INACTION.—

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the President

22 does not approve or disapprove the final

23 report within 30 calendar days in accord24 ance with subparagraph (A), Congress
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1 shall consider the report in accordance

2 with clause (ii).

3 (ii) SUBMISSION.—Subject to clause

4 (i), the Commission shall submit the final

5 report, without further modification, to

6 Congress on the date occurring 31 cal7 endar days after the date on which the

8 Commission submitted the final report to

9 the President under subsection (b).

10 (2) APPROVAL.—If the report is approved, the

11 President shall submit the report to Congress for

12 legislative action under section 6.

13 (3) DISAPPROVAL.—If the President dis14 approves a final report, the President shall report

15 specific issues and objections, including the reasons

16 for any changes recommended in the report, to the

17 Commission and Congress.

18 (4) FINAL REPORT AFTER DISAPPROVAL.—The

19 Commission shall consider any issues or objections

20 raised by the President and may modify the report

21 based on such issues and objections. No later than

22 30 calendar days after receipt of the President’s dis23 approval under paragraph (3), the Commission shall

24 submit the final report (as modified if modified) to

25 the President and to Congress.
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1 SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF REFORM

2 PROPOSALS.

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

4 (1) the term ‘‘implementation bill’’ means only

5 a bill which is introduced as provided under sub6 section (b), and contains the proposed legislation in7 cluded in the final report submitted to the Congress

8 under section 5(d) (1)(B), (2), or (4), without modi9 fication; and

10 (2) the term ‘‘calendar day’’ means a calendar

11 day other than one on which either House is not in

12 session because of an adjournment of more than

13 three days to a date certain.

14 (b) INTRODUCTION, REFERRAL, AND REPORT OR

15 DISCHARGE.—

16 (1) INTRODUCTION.—On the first calendar day

17 on which both Houses are in session, on or imme18 diately following the date on which a final report is

19 submitted to the Congress under section 5(d)

20 (1)(B), (2), or (4), a single implementation bill shall

21 be introduced (by request)—

22 (A) in the Senate by the Majority Leader

23 of the Senate, for himself and the Minority

24 Leader of the Senate, or by Members of the

25 Senate designated by the Majority Leader and

26 Minority Leader of the Senate; and
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1 (B) in the House of Representatives by the

2 Majority Leader of the House of Representa3 tives, for himself and the Minority Leader of

4 the House of Representatives, or by Members of

5 the House of Representatives designated by the

6 Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the

7 House of Representatives.

8 (2) REFERRAL.—The implementation bills in9 troduced under paragraph (1) shall be referred to

10 the appropriate committee of jurisdiction in the Sen11 ate and the appropriate committee of jurisdiction in

12 the House of Representatives. A committee to which

13 an implementation bill is referred under this para14 graph may report such bill to the respective House

15 with amendments proposed to be adopted. No such

16 amendment may be proposed unless such proposed

17 amendment is relevant to such bill.

18 (3) REPORT OR DISCHARGE.—If a committee to

19 which an implementation bill is referred has not re20 ported such bill by the end of the 30th calendar day

21 after the date of the introduction of such bill, such

22 committee shall be immediately discharged from fur23 ther consideration of such bill, and upon being re24 ported or discharged from the committee, such bill

25 shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.
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1 (c) SENATE CONSIDERATION.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—On or after the fifth cal3 endar day after the date on which an implementa4 tion bill is placed on the Senate calendar under sub5 section (b)(3), it is in order (even if a previous mo6 tion to the same effect has been disagreed to) for

7 any Senator to make a motion to proceed to the con8 sideration of the implementation bill. The motion is

9 not debatable. All points of order against the imple10 mentation bill (and against consideration of the im11 plementation bill) other than points of order under

12 Senate Rule 15, 16, or for failure to comply with re13 quirements of this section are waived. The motion is

14 not subject to a motion to postpone. A motion to re15 consider the vote by which the motion to proceed is

16 agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. If

17 a motion to proceed to the consideration of the im18 plementation bill is agreed to, the Senate shall im19 mediately proceed to consideration of the implemen20 tation bill.

21 (2) DEBATE.—In the Senate, no amendment

22 which is not relevant to the bill shall be in order. A

23 motion to postpone is not in order. A motion to re24 commit the implementation bill is not in order. A

25 motion to reconsider the vote by which the imple-
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1 mentation bill is agreed to or disagreed to is not in

2 order.

3 (3) APPEALS FROM CHAIR.—Appeals from the

4 decisions of the Chair relating to the application of

5 the rules of the Senate to the procedure relating to

6 an implementation bill shall be decided without de7 bate.

8 (d) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT9 ATIVES.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—At any time on or after the

11 fifth calendar day after the date on which each com12 mittee of the House of Representatives to which an

13 implementation bill is referred has reported that bill,

14 or has been discharged under subsection (b)(3) from

15 further consideration of that bill, the Speaker may,

16 pursuant to clause 1(b) of rule XXIII, declare the

17 House resolved into the Committee of the Whole

18 House on the State of the Union for the consider19 ation of that bill. All points of order against the bill,

20 the consideration of the bill, and provisions of the

21 bill shall be waived, and the first reading of the bill

22 shall be dispensed with. After general debate, which

23 shall be confined to the bill and which shall not ex24 ceed 10 hours, to be equally divided and controlled

25 by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, the
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1 bill shall be considered for amendment by title under

2 the five-minute rule and each title shall be consid3 ered as having been read.

4 (2) AMENDMENTS.—Each amendment shall be

5 considered as having been read, shall not be subject

6 to a demand for a division of the question in the

7 House or in the Committee of the Whole, and shall

8 be debatable for not to exceed 30 minutes, equally

9 divided and controlled by the proponent and a Mem10 ber opposed thereto, except that the time for consid11 eration, including debate and disposition, of all

12 amendments to the bill shall not exceed 20 hours.

13 (3) FINAL PASSAGE.—At the conclusion of the

14 consideration of the bill, the Committee shall rise

15 and report the bill to the House with such amend16 ments as may have been agreed to, and the previous

17 question shall be considered as ordered on the bill

18 and amendments thereto to final passage without in19 tervening motion except one motion to recommit.

20 (e) CONFERENCE.—

21 (1) APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES.—In the

22 Senate, a motion to elect or to authorize the ap23 pointment of conferees by the presiding officer shall

24 not be debatable.
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1 (2) CONFERENCE REPORT.—No later than 20

2 calendar days after the appointment of conferees,

3 the conferees shall report to their respective Houses.

4 (f) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE.—This sec5 tion is enacted by Congress—

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

7 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec8 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules

9 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with

10 respect to the procedure to be followed in that

11 House in the case of an implementation bill de12 scribed in subsection (a), and it supersedes other

13 rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with

14 such rules; and

15 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

16 right of either House to change the rules (so far as

17 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time,

18 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in

19 the case of any other rule of that House.

20 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION.

21 (a) RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The

22 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall

23 have primary responsibility for implementation of the

24 Commission’s report and the Act enacted under section

25 6 (unless such Act provides otherwise). The Director of
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1 the Office of Management and Budget shall notify and

2 provide direction to heads of affected departments, agen3 cies, and programs. The head of an affected department,

4 agency, or program shall be responsible for implementa5 tion and shall proceed with the recommendations con6 tained in the report as provided under subsection (b).

7 (b) DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—After the enact8 ment of an Act under section 6, each affected Federal de9 partment and agency as a part of its annual budget re10 quest shall transmit to the appropriate committees of Con11 gress its schedule for implementation of the provisions of

12 the Act for each fiscal year. In addition, the report shall

13 contain an estimate of the total expenditures required and

14 the cost savings to be achieved by each action, along with

15 the Secretary’s assessment of the effect of the action. The

16 report shall also include a report of any activities that

17 have been eliminated, consolidated, or transferred to other

18 departments or agencies.

19 (c) GAO OVERSIGHT.—The Comptroller General

20 shall periodically report to Congress and the President re21 garding the accomplishment, the costs, the timetable, and

22 the effectiveness of the implementation of any Act enacted

23 under section 6.
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1 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS.

2 Any proceeds from the sale of assets of any depart3 ment or agency resulting from the enactment of an Act

4 under section 6 shall be—

5 (1) applied to reduce the Federal deficit; and

6 (2) deposited in the Treasury and treated as

7 general receipts.

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