I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 538 
To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal 
agencies. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 8, 2011 
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. 
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 ‘‘Federal Customer 
Service Enhancement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND 
STANDARDS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE PRO-
VIDED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.— 
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(1) PERFORMANCE
MEASURES
AND
STAND-
ARDS.—The Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget shall develop— 
(A) performance measures to determine 
whether Federal agencies are providing high- 
quality customer service; and 
(B) standards to be met by Federal agen-
cies in order to provide high-quality customer 
service. 
(2) REQUIREMENT
TO
TAKE
INTO
ACCOUNT 
CERTAIN
INFORMATION.—The 
standards 
under 
paragraph (1) shall be developed after taking into 
account the information collected by Federal agen-
cies under subsection (b). 
(b) CUSTOMER SERVICE INPUT.—The head of each 
Federal agency shall collect information from its cus-
tomers regarding the quality of customer services provided 
by the agency. The information shall be collected through 
a survey, focus groups, or other appropriate methods. 
Each Federal agency shall include this information in its 
performance report submitted under section 1116 of title 
31, United States Code. 
(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall issue an annual report on 
the success of Federal agencies in meeting the customer 
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service performance measures and standards developed 
under subsection (a). 
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE STAND-
ARDS. 
(a) CUSTOMER RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE.—The 
head of each Federal agency shall designate an employee 
to be the customer relations representative of the agency. 
Such representative shall be responsible for implementing 
the customer service standards developed under section 2 
and the agency requirements under subsection (b). 
(b) AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) GUIDELINES
AND
CONTACT
INFORMA-
TION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Fed-
eral agency, acting through its customer rela-
tions representative, shall— 
(i) issue guidelines to implement the 
customer 
service 
standards 
developed 
under section 2 within the agency, includ-
ing specific principles of customer service 
applicable to that agency; and 
(ii) publish customer service contact 
information, including a mailing address, 
telephone number, and e-mail address. 
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(B) AVAILABILITY.—The guidelines and 
the customer service contact information re-
quired under this paragraph shall be available 
on the agency’s public Web site. 
(2) STATIONERY REQUIREMENTS.—Each Fed-
eral agency shall include its address and phone num-
ber on any agency stationery. In the case of cor-
respondence originating from a regional or local of-
fice of a Federal agency, the agency shall include the 
address and phone number of the regional or local 
office on the stationery. 
SEC. 4. REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF-
FICE. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than two years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General shall submit to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent-
atives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs of the Senate a report analyzing the in-
formation reported by agencies under section 2(b). 
(b) MATTERS COVERED.—The report shall include— 
(1) whether agencies are implementing the cus-
tomer service standards; 
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(2) whether there is an increase in overall qual-
ity in customer service in the Federal Government; 
and 
(3) any recommendations the Comptroller Gen-
eral may have to improve performance measures and 
standards for customer service in the Federal Gov-
ernment. 
(c) USE OF REPORT.—The report may be used by 
Congress as well as the Director of Office of Management 
and Budget to update performance measures for customer 
service. 
SEC. 5. INCENTIVES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. 
(a) AWARD PROGRAM.—The head of a Federal agen-
cy may establish an awards program to pay a cash award 
under chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, to em-
ployees for demonstrated excellence in customer service. 
(b) PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.—Compliance with 
customer service standards developed under this Act shall, 
to the extent practicable, be an element of a performance 
appraisal system referred to in section 5307(d) of title 5, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘customer’’, with respect to a 
Federal agency, means any individual or entity, in-
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cluding a business, State or local government, other 
Federal agency, or Congress, to which the agency 
provides services or information. 
(2) The term ‘‘Federal agency’’ has the mean-
ing given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ by section 
105 of title 5, United States Code, except that the 
term does not include an agency if the President de-
termines that this Act should not apply to the agen-
cy for national security reasons. 
Æ 
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