I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2188 
To require government-wide application of continuous process improvement 
methods to reduce waste and improve the effectiveness of the Federal 
Government, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 15, 2011 
Mr. LATHAM (for himself and Mr. BURGESS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To require government-wide application of continuous process 
improvement methods to reduce waste and improve the 
effectiveness of the Federal Government, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘LESS Government 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; POLICY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Nearly 100 major United States corpora-
tions, and many government entities around the 
world, have reduced waste in their operations and 
improved the quality of the goods and services they 
provide by implementing a continuous process im-
provement methodology known as lean six sigma. 
(2) Use of this methodology has resulted in av-
erage cost reductions greater than 25 percent while 
also improving the quality of goods and services. 
(3) The piloted use of lean six sigma within the 
Department of Defense and several other depart-
ments and agencies has demonstrated that it can 
successfully be applied across the Federal Govern-
ment. 
(4) Continuous process improvement is essential 
for Federal agencies to be successful in setting and 
meeting performance goals and is a key component 
that is missing from current statutory requirements 
for performance improvement efforts. 
(5) Clear direction and authority from Congress 
is needed to ensure this innovative management 
process from the private sector is applied across the 
Federal Government to achieve waste reduction and 
optimal efficiency. 
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(b) CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT
OF POLICY.—It 
shall be the policy of the United States— 
(1) to reduce waste and improve the effective-
ness of the Federal Government through the use of 
continuous process improvement methods; 
(2) to require each Federal agency to imple-
ment the necessary capabilities to fully institu-
tionalize such methods within such agency to reduce 
waste while maintaining or improving the level of 
services provided by the Federal Government; and 
(3) to return savings from such methods to the 
United States Treasury to reduce the deficit. 
SEC. 3. CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 
(a) CONTINUOUS
PROCESS
IMPROVEMENT
DE-
FINED.—Section 1101 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(3) ‘continuous process improvement’ means a 
management methodology (commonly referred to as 
lean six sigma) that combines tools to improve proc-
ess speed, reduce waste, and incorporate require-
ments with data driven project analysis to provide 
products and services with improved quality at lower 
cost.’’. 
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tion of continuous process improvement across agen-
cies.’’. 
SEC. 4. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR CONTINUOUS PROC-
ESS IMPROVEMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘§ 1126. Center of Excellence for continuous process 
improvement 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall designate a center of excel-
lence for continuous process improvement training, from 
within the Department of Defense. 
‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Director shall ensure that 
the center designated under subsection (a) provides agen-
cies with a common set of approaches to training and de-
ployment of continuous process improvement.’’. 
(b) DESIGNATION.—The Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall designate the center of ex-
cellence required under section 1126(a) of title 31, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than 
90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of contents for chapter 11 of title 31, United 
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States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 1125 the following new item: 
‘‘1126. Center of excellence for continuous process improvement.’’. 
SEC. 5. PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS REQUESTS TO THE PRESIDENT. 
Paragraph (1) of section 1108(b) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘The head of each agency shall include informa-
tion on the results of cost-reduction projects using contin-
uous process improvement in each relevant appropriation 
request for the agency, and an explanation of how any 
savings from such implementation have impacted the 
agency’s request.’’. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided under this 
Act, this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 
take effect 6 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
Æ 
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