I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 315 

To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal 

agencies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2009 

Mr. CUELLAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To require the establishment of customer service standards 

for Federal agencies. 

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 ‘‘Federal Customer 

5 Service Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND 

7 STANDARDS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE PRO8 VIDED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 (1) PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND STAND2 ARDS.—The Director of the Office of Management 

3 and Budget shall develop— 

4 (A) performance measures to determine 

5 whether Federal agencies are providing high6 quality customer service; and 

7 (B) standards to be met by Federal agen8 cies in order to provide high-quality customer 

9 service. 

10 (2) REQUIREMENT TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT

11 CERTAIN INFORMATION.—The standards under 

12 paragraph (1) shall be developed after taking into 

13 account the information collected by Federal agen14 cies under subsection (b). 

15 (b) CUSTOMER SERVICE INPUT.—The head of each 

16 Federal agency shall collect information from its cus17 tomers regarding the quality of customer services provided 

18 by the agency. The information shall be collected through 

19 a survey, focus groups, or other appropriate methods. 

20 Each Federal agency shall include this information in its 

21 performance report submitted under section 1116 of title 

22 31, United States Code. 

23 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director of the Office of 

24 Management and Budget shall issue an annual report on 

25 the success of Federal agencies in meeting the customer 


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1 service performance measures and standards developed 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE STAND4 ARDS. 

5 (a) CUSTOMER RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE.—The 

6 head of each Federal agency shall designate an employee 

7 to be the customer relations representative of the agency. 

8 Such representative shall be responsible for implementing 

9 the customer service standards developed under section 2 

10 and the agency requirements under subsection (b). 

11 (b) AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (1) GUIDELINES AND CONTACT INFORMA13 TION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Fed15 eral agency, acting through its customer rela16 tions representative, shall— 

17 (i) issue guidelines to implement the 

18 customer service standards developed 

19 under section 2 within the agency, includ20 ing specific principles of customer service 

21 applicable to that agency; and 

22 (ii) publish customer service contact 

23 information, including a mailing address, 

24 telephone number, and e-mail address. 


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1 (B) AVAILABILITY.—The guidelines and 

2 the customer service contact information re3 quired under this paragraph shall be available 

4 on the agency’s public website. 

5 (2) STATIONERY REQUIREMENTS.—Each Fed6 eral agency shall include its address and phone num7 ber on any agency stationery. In the case of cor8 respondence originating from a regional or local of9 fice of a Federal agency, the agency shall include the 

10 address and phone number of the regional or local 

11 office on the stationery. 

12 SEC. 4. REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF13 FICE. 

14 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than two years 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp16 troller General shall submit to the Committee on Over17 sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent18 atives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov19 ernmental Affairs of the Senate a report analyzing the in20 formation reported by agencies under section 2(b). 

21 (b) MATTERS COVERED.—The report shall include— 

22 (1) whether agencies are implementing the cus23 tomer service standards; 


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1 (2) whether there is an increase in overall qual2 ity in customer service in the Federal Government; 

3 and 

4 (3) any recommendations the Comptroller Gen5 eral may have to improve performance measures and 

6 standards for customer service in the Federal Gov7 ernment. 

8 (c) USE OF REPORT.—The report may be used by 

9 Congress as well as the Director of Office of Management 

10 and Budget to update performance measures for customer 

11 service. 

12 SEC. 5. INCENTIVES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. 

13 (a) AWARD PROGRAM.—The head of a Federal agen14 cy may establish an awards program to pay a cash award 

15 under chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, to em16 ployees for demonstrated excellence in customer service. 

17 (b) PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.—Compliance with 

18 customer service standards developed under this Act shall, 

19 to the extent practicable, be an element of a performance 

20 appraisal system referred to in section 5307(d) of title 5, 

21 United States Code. 

22 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) The term ‘‘customer’’, with respect to a 

25 Federal agency, means any individual or entity, inVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:56 Jan 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H315.IH H315

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1 cluding a business, State or local government, other 

2 Federal agency, or Congress, to which the agency 

3 provides services or information. 

4 (2) The term ‘‘Federal agency’’ has the mean5 ing given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ by section 

6 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that the 

7 term does not include an agency if the President de8 termines that this Act should not apply to the agen9 cy for national security reasons. 

Æ 


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