Date: 1982-06-14
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 4476 provides for the authorization of the Administrative Conference of the United States for the years 1982 through 1986. The Administrative Conference of the United States was established in 1964. Its purpose is to study the effectiveness. efficiency. and fairness of procedures used by the Federal. Government. When the Conference determines that Government procedures need improvement. it submits a recommendation to the President. the Congress. the relevant agencies. and. when appropriate. the Judicial Conference. During the past 18 years. many of its recommendations have been adopted either through legislation or through changes in agency procedures. The Conference works with agencies on a continuing basis to improve and simplify their regulatory enforcement. and adjudicatory functions. It also renders technical assistance and advice to agencies charged with the implementation of new legislation. such as the Equal Access to Justice Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. In addition. the Conference has statutory mandates. such as those in the Sunshine Act and the MagnusonMoss Act. to monitor agency implementation of statutory programs. The Conference serves the public by working to attain fairness and balance in the procedures followed by agencies. Finally. the Conference. in its published recommendations. assists the Congress by suggesting legislative changes necessary to increase efficiency and fairness in agency procedures. H.R. 4476 provides for a 4year authorization of the Conferencethrough 1986. The authorization which the bill contains for 1982 is simply carried forward from the present authorization. so only four new years are authorized. The bill. as amended by the committee. provides an authorization ceiling of $2.3 million for each year through 1986. This amount allows the Conference to obtain the appropriations needed to carry out its present statutory mandates. This ceiling also provides the necessary flexibility for the Conference to seek additional appropriations to carry out new responsibilities if they are imposed by Congress. Examples of new statutory responsibilities imposed in recent years include advisory and evaluation duties under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. the Equal Access to Justice Act. and the Government in the Sunshine Act. In the past. such new responsibilities have often been imposed without the grant of new budget authority. Therefore. flexibility in the authorization amount is necessary so that the Conference will not be required to divert resources. both money and staff. from its ongoing program in order to meet such new statutory responsibilities. The Administrative Conference of the United States performs a valuable service in helping improve Government procedures. In many instances it has been tremendously helpful to Congress on such matters as regulatory reform. the Equal Access to Justice Act and the Sunshine Act. I urge the House to act favorably on this authorization so that the Conference may continue in its much needed work. Mr. Speaker. I have no further requests for time. and I yield back the balance of my time.