I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3826

To require the review of Government programs at least once every 5 years 

for purposes of evaluating their performance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2004

Mr. PLATTS (for himself and Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 

A BILL

To require the review of Government programs at least once 

every 5 years for purposes of evaluating their performance.

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 ‘‘Program Assessment 

5 and Results Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) inefficiency and ineffectiveness in Federal 

9 programs undermines the confidence of the Amer10 ican people in the Government and reduces the Fed-
2

•HR 3826 IH 

1 eral Government’s ability to adequately address vital 

2 public needs; 

3 (2) insufficient information on program per4 formance seriously disadvantages Federal managers 

5 in their efforts to improve program efficiency and ef6 fectiveness; 

7 (3) congressional policy making, spending deci8 sions, and program oversight are handicapped by in9 sufficient attention to program performance and re10 sults; 

11 (4) programs performing similar or duplicative 

12 functions that exist within a single agency or across 

13 multiple agencies should be identified and their per14 formance and results shared among all such pro15 grams to improve their performance and results; 

16 (5) advocates of good government continue to 

17 seek ways to improve accountability, focus on re18 sults, and integrate the performance of programs 

19 with decisions about budgets; 

20 (6) with the passage of the Government Per21 formance and Results Act of 1993, the Congress di22 rected the executive branch to seek improvements in 

23 the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of 

24 Federal programs by having agencies focus on pro25 gram results; and 
3

•HR 3826 IH 

1 (7) the Government Performance and Results 

2 Act of 1993 provided a strong framework for the ex3 ecutive branch to monitor the long-term goals and 

4 annual performance of its departments and agencies. 

5 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

6 The purposes of this Act are—

7 (1) to improve the Government Performance 

8 and Results Act of 1993 by implementing a program 

9 review and evaluation process that attempts to de10 termine the strengths and weaknesses of Federal 

11 programs with a particular focus on the results pro12 duced by individual programs; 

13 (2) to use the information gathered in the re14 view and evaluation process to build on the ground15 work laid in the Government Performance and Re16 sults Act of 1993 to help the executive branch make 

17 informed management decisions and evidence-based 

18 funding requests aimed at achieving positive results; 

19 and 

20 (3) to provide congressional policy makers the 

21 information needed to conduct more effective over22 sight, to make better-informed authorization deci23 sions, and to make more evidence-based spending 

24 decisions that achieve positive results for the Amer25 ican people. 
4

•HR 3826 IH 

1 SEC. 4. PROGRAM REVIEW AND EVALUATION. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PROGRAM REVIEWS.—Chap3 ter 11 of title 31, United States Code, as amended by the 

4 Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 1120. Program review and evaluation 

7 ‘‘(a) REVIEW.—The Director of the Office of Man8 agement and Budget shall conduct a review of each pro9 gram activity at least once every 5 fiscal years. 

10 ‘‘(b) REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting a re11 view of a program activity under subsection (a), the Direc12 tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall—

13 ‘‘(1) consult with the relevant agency; and 

14 ‘‘(2) evaluate the purpose, design, strategic 

15 plan, management, and results of the program, and 

16 such other matters as the Director considers appro17 priate. 

18 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING PROGRAMS TO RE19 VIEW.—The Director of the Office of Management and 

20 Budget shall develop criteria for identifying program ac21 tivities to be reviewed each fiscal year. In developing the 

22 criteria, the Director shall take into account the advan23 tages of reviewing during the same fiscal year any pro24 gram activities that are performing similar functions or 

25 have similar purposes. 
5

•HR 3826 IH 

1 ‘‘(d) CRITERIA FOR MORE FREQUENT REVIEWS.—

2 The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

3 shall make every effort to review program activities more 

4 frequently than required under subsection (a) in cases in 

5 which program activities are determined to be of higher 

6 priority, special circumstances exist, improvements have 

7 been made, or the head of the relevant agency and the 

8 Director determine that more frequent review is war9 ranted. 

10 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The results of the reviews conducted 

11 during a fiscal year shall be submitted in a report to Con12 gress at the same time that the President submits the next 

13 budget under section 1105 of this title after the end of 

14 that fiscal year.’’. 

15 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 6 months after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of17 fice of Management and Budget shall prescribe guidance 

18 to implement the requirements of section 1120 of title 31, 

19 United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1115(g) of 

21 title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘1119’’ and inserting ‘‘1120’’. 

23 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLANNING AMENDMENTS. 

24 (a) CHANGE IN DEADLINE FOR STRATEGIC PLAN.—

25 Subsection (a) of section 306 of title 5, United States 
6

•HR 3826 IH 

1 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Not later than September 

2 30, 1997,’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later than September 30 

3 of each year following a year in which an election for 

4 President occurs, beginning with September 30, 2005, ’’. 

5 (b) CHANGE IN PERIOD OF COVERAGE OF STRA6 TEGIC PLAN.—Subsection (b) of section 306 of title 5, 

7 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(b) Each strategic plan shall cover the 4-year period 

9 beginning on October 1 of the year following a year in 

10 which an election for President occurs.’’.

Æ