I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6399 

To establish the United States Working Group on Inflation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2022 

Mr. EMMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To establish the United States Working Group on Inflation. 

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 ‘‘Inflation Working 

5 Group Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

8 legislative branch the United States Working Group on In9 flation (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Working Group shall be 

11 composed of 17 members. Members of the Working Group 

12 shall be appointed in accordance with the following: 


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1 (1) Four members shall be appointed by the 

2 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) Four members shall be appointed by the mi4 nority leader of the House of Representatives. 

5 (3) Four members shall be appointed by the 

6 majority leader of the Senate. 

7 (4) Four members shall be appointed by the mi8 nority leader of the Senate. 

9 (5) One member, who shall serve as the Chair10 person of the Working Group, shall be jointly ap11 pointed by the Speaker of the House of Representa12 tives, the minority leader of the House of Represent13 atives, the majority leader of the Senate, and the mi14 nority leader of the Senate. 

15 (c) QUALIFICATIONS; INITIAL MEETING.— 

16 (1) QUALIFICATION.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that individuals appointed to the Working 

18 Group should be prominent United States citizens 

19 with national recognition and significant depth of ex20 perience in macroeconomic policy. 

21 (2) INITIAL MEETING.—The Working Group 

22 shall meet and begin the initial operation of the 

23 Working Group as soon as practicable, but not ear24 lier than 15 days after the date of the enactment of 

25 this Act. 


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1 (d) TIMING FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of the 

2 Working Group shall be appointed not later than 10 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (e) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, 

5 the Working Group shall meet upon the call of the Chair6 person or a majority of its members. A majority of mem7 bers of the Working Group shall constitute a quorum. Any 

8 vacancy in the Working Group shall not affect its powers, 

9 but shall be promptly filled in the same manner in which 

10 the original appointment was made. 

11 (f) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the Working 

12 Group who is not an officer or employee of the Federal 

13 Government may be compensated at a rate not to exceed 

14 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in ef15 fect for a position at level III of the Executive Schedule 

16 under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

17 day during which the member is engaged in the actual 

18 performance of the duties of the Working Group. 

19 (g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Work20 ing Group shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 

21 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable provi22 sions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 

23 States Code. 


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1 SEC. 3. POWERS. 

2 (a) CONTRACTING.—The Working Group may, to 

3 such extent and in such amounts as are provided in appro4 priations Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Working 

5 Group to discharge its duties under this Act. 

6 (b) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group may se8 cure directly from any Federal department or agency 

9 information that is necessary to enable it to carry 

10 out its purposes and functions under this Act. Upon 

11 request of the Chairperson, the head of such depart12 ment or agency shall furnish such information to the 

13 Working Group. 

14 (2) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND DIS15 SEMINATION.—Information obtained by the Working 

16 Group shall only be received, handled, stored, and 

17 disseminated by members of the Working Group or 

18 its staff consistent with all applicable statutes, regu19 lations, and Executive orders. 

20 (c) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

21 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

22 Upon the request of the Working Group, the Archi23 tect of the Capitol shall provide to the Working 

24 Group, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative 

25 support services and office space necessary for the 


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1 Working Group to carry out its purposes and func2 tions under this Act. 

3 (2) OTHER FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND

4 AGENCIES.—In addition to the assistance prescribed 

5 in paragraph (1), Federal departments and agencies 

6 may provide to the Working Group such services, 

7 funds, facilities, staff, and other support services as 

8 determined advisable and authorized by law. 

9 (d) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Working Group may 

10 use the United States mail in the same manner and under 

11 the same conditions as Federal departments and agencies. 

12 SEC. 4. STAFF. 

13 (a) APPOINTMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson may ap15 point and fix the compensation of a Staff Director 

16 and such other personnel as may be necessary to en17 able the Working Group to carry out its purposes 

18 and functions, without regard to the provisions of 

19 title 5, United States Code, governing appointments 

20 in the competitive service, and without regard to the 

21 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap22 ter 53 of such title relating to classification and 

23 General Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of 

24 pay fixed under this subsection may exceed the 

25 equivalent of that payable for a position at level IV 


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1 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 

2 5, United States Code. 

3 (2) COVERAGE UNDER CONGRESSIONAL AC4 COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995.—For purposes of the 

5 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (18 U.S.C. 

6 1301 et seq.)— 

7 (A) the Working Group shall be considered 

8 an employing office; and 

9 (B) the personnel of the Working Group 

10 shall be considered covered employees. 

11 (b) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Working 

12 Group is authorized to procure temporary and intermit13 tent services under section 3109 of title 5, United States 

14 Code, but at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily 

15 equivalent of the maximum annual rate of basic pay under 

16 level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of 

17 title 5, United States Code. 

18 (c) DETAILEES.—The head of any Federal depart19 ment or agency may detail, on a nonreimbursable basis, 

20 any of the personnel of that department or agency to the 

21 Working Group to assist the Working Group in carrying 

22 out its purposes and functions. 

23 SEC. 5. SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR MEMBERS AND STAFF. 

24 The appropriate Federal departments or agencies 

25 shall cooperate with the Working Group in expeditiously 


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1 providing to the Working Group members and staff appro2 priate security clearances to the extent possible pursuant 

3 to existing procedures and requirements, except that no 

4 person may be provided with access to classified informa5 tion under this Act without the appropriate security clear6 ances. 

7 SEC. 6. DUTIES. 

8 (a) INVESTIGATION.—The Working Group shall in9 vestigate the recent causes of elevated inflation, as well 

10 as the relationships between inflation and the following: 

11 (1) Gross domestic product growth. 

12 (2) The labor market, workforce development, 

13 and hiring. 

14 (3) Poverty. 

15 (4) Crime. 

16 (5) Other factors of major societal concern. 

17 (b) REPORT.— 

18 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after 

19 the date on which a majority of the members of the 

20 Working Group have been appointed, the Working 

21 Group shall submit a report to Congress and the 

22 President setting forth the results of the investiga23 tion conducted under subsection (a), as well as rec24 ommendations for Congressional or other governVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jan 20, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6399.IH H6399

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1 ment action to mitigate the threat of sustained infla2 tion. 

3 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report under 

4 paragraph (1) shall be made publicly available and 

5 accessible. 

6 SEC. 7. TERMINATION. 

7 The Working Group shall terminate 4 months after 

8 the date on which it submits the report under section 6(b). 

9 SEC. 8. RECORDS. 

10 The records of the Working Group shall be trans11 ferred to the Center for Legislative Archives at the Na12 tional Archives and Records Administration upon termi13 nation of the Working Group pursuant to section 7. 

14 SEC. 9. FUNDING. 

15 Of the amounts used to carry out this Act— 

16 (1) 50 percent shall be derived from the exist17 ing balance of the applicable accounts of the House 

18 of Representatives as of the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act; and 

20 (2) 50 percent shall be derived from the exist21 ing balance of the contingent fund of the Senate as 

22 of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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