January 15, 1979
Page 167
By Mr. MUSKIE (for himself, Mr. ROTH, Mr. GLENN, Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD, Mr. CRANSTON, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. PERCY, Mr. PELL, Mr. HATFIELD, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BELLMON, Mr. BAYH, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. BOSCHWITZ, Mr. BURDICK, Mr. HARRY F. BYRD, Jr., Mr. CANNON, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. CHILES, Mr. CHURCH, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CULVER, Mr. DANFORTH, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. DURENBERGER, Mr. DURKIN, Mr. EAGLETON, Mr. EXON, Mr. FORD, Mr. GARN, Mr. HART, Mr. HATCH, Mr. HAYAKAWA, Mr. HEINZ, Mr. HELMS, Mr. HUDDLESTON, Mr. HUMPHREY, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. JAVITS, Mr. LAXALT, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MCCLURE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MATHIAS, Mr. MATSUNAGA, Mr. METZENBAUM, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mr. MORGAN, Mr. NUNN, Mr. PACKWOOD, Mr. PRESSLER, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. STAFFORD, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. STEWART, Mr. STONE, Mr. THURMOND, Mr. TOWER, Mr. WILLIAMS, and Mr. ZORINSKY) :
S. 2. A bill to require authorizations of new budget authority for Government programs at least every 10 years, to provide for review of Government programs every 10 years, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
SUNSET ACT OF 1979
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, it is with a sense of great expectation that I am reintroducing the Sunset Act of 1979, along with many cosponsors.
I do so with a sense of optimism because at the end of the 95th Congress, the Senate passed the Sunset bill by a margin of 87 to 1, and I hope that we will witness a similar endorsement early in this Congress of this extremely important legislation.
We have just come through an election year in which one of the overriding concerns of the American public was that Government is not working as well as it should. People expect more from their tax dollars than they are getting. Sunset can provide a way for Government to discipline its appetite for tax dollars, and do a better job with the resources at its command.
In the simplest sense, sunset proposes nothing more than a process through which Congress can begin to exercise greater control over the product of its legislative efforts — the hundreds of individual programs we have created over the years and which affect the daily livesof all Americans in so many ways.
In its most far-reaching sense, sunset proposes nothing less than to make Government more effective, by improving the quality of services which Government programs are intended to provide.
Sunset attacks the notion that Government programs, once enacted, should remain forever on the books. Instead it proposes that a program should continue only if Congress decides that it is needed and is still working well. If a program cannot meet these conditions, it goes out of business.
Under sunset, virtually all Federal programs would come up for a systematic review and reauthorization on a rotating 10-year basis. The bill also proposes that similar programs be considered at the same time. That way we can see whether dozens, and sometimes hundreds of programs in a particular area are still needed.
I believe sunset should be enacted for a number of reasons:
First, it would complement the budget process as an important weapon in bringing Government spending under control, and thus provide an important tool in the fight against inflation.
Second, it would strengthen the congressional authorization process, the most important policy process the Congress has.
Third, it would enhance the ability of the Congress to respond to changing national problems and priorities.
And, fourth, it would respond rationally and responsibly to the public mood which demands that Government programs be brought under control and that tax dollars be spent more effectively.
In 1978, we made little, if any, progress in streamlining and simplifying the many programs on the books. Committee reform has helped. But we still have a number of Federal programs which are conflicting or overlapping.
State and local governments continue to cite excessive program fragmentation and red tape as a major obstacle to effective policy. And the GAO continues to churn out evidence of wasted dollars because of a program structure which has grown needlessly complex.
Mr. President, perhaps the most compelling reason for enacting sunset legislation is the need to bring Government spending under control in the battle against rising inflation.
What does sunset have to do with inflation? Clearly the public understands the nexus between the two. According to the latest Harris survey 76 percent of the American people view Federal spending as the principal cause of inflation. And a look at the projection for future budgets bolsters the case for the public's concern.
As part of its 5-year projection for the first budget resolution for this year, the Budget Committee calculated the potential cost of 31 new program initiatives likely to come before Congress between now and 1983. The list was by no means exhaustive. But it did include such major items as national health insurance and additional defense expenditures.
The committee found that between 1980 and 1983, these 31 initiatives could cost as much as $416 billion in new spending. The committee also found, as did CBO, that with a moderate rate of growth between now and then, we could expect only about $120 billion in additional revenues to pay for these new demands.
Many of the initiatives the committee studied are programs we need — and the public wants to have, and there will undoubtedly be others before the next decade is out.
Yet with the economy approaching full capacity — and with inflation on the rise — spending increases of the magnitude projected by the committee are clearly out of the question.
It is obvious from these numbers that we can only afford new programs by making selective cuts in programs we now have but which we may not need. It would require a commitment from every one of us to put our favorite programs to the test — to see if they are still needed, or if they are working well. And whether we like it or not, the burden rests with us.
It is the Congress which sets national policy, through the programs we enact. If those programs have grown unresponsive and ineffective, it is we who must bear the blame. For it is our job not just to initiate new programs — but also to insure that old programs are working as well as they should.
Sunset offers us a unique opportunity to provide the extra spending discipline we need.
The sunset bill I have proposed is geared very specifically to the way Congress works. It seeks to remedy a congressional problem by building upon existing congressional processes — and to use those processes more fully to help us do a better job.
In spite of the mystique of sunset, the approach taken in the bill now before us is very simple indeed.
Title 1 sets out a 10-year five-Congress schedule for the review and reauthorization of all Federal programs, with only a few exceptions. Within this schedule, programs are grouped by budget function and subfunction, in order to encourage review of programs with related purposes during the same period of time.
The bill requires that programs, including those now permanent — save the few exceptions — be specifically reauthorized in accordance with the schedule. To enforce this requirement, title 1 also provides that a point of order would lie against consideration of an appropriation for any program not so reauthorized.
These two provisions — the reauthorization requirement and the schedule for review — taken together, are the essence ofthe sunset bill. Either provision without the other would leave the process incomplete.
In formulating this legislation, Mr. President, we had two very simple goals in mind. We wanted to force a regular congressional decision on Federal programs, and we wanted those decisions to be made in a broader context than that in which they are made today.
To promote these goals, we sought a process as flexible as possible. We wanted a framework in which Congress could continue to do what it does best — to make political judgments and decisions about public policy.
We worked from the assumption that no reform, no matter how well-intentioned or conceived, will work unless Congress wants it to. We realized that better decision making cannot be legislated, it can only be encouraged and made easier to accomplish.
The bill before us meets these tests. It establishes a limited, precise process. But beyond a minimal threshold it does not dictate how that process should be carried out. I stress this point,
Mr. President, because of concerns I have heard that sunset is too heavyhanded an approach.
The legislation now before us has come a long way in the past 3 years. Those of us who have worked on it have learned a great deal about the nature of the Federal program structure. Through this learning process, many who were once skeptical have been convinced that the need for sunset is real.
In an important way, having at our disposal the knowledge to make informed decisions concerning legislation we enact, is what sunset is all about.
The extent of support for the Sunset idea is evidenced by the fact that legislation was cosponsored by more than one-half of the Senate and well over 100 Members cosponsored it in the House in both the 94th Congress and 95th Congress. The bill has been approved by both the Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Rules Committee only after the most careful scrutiny, and then, in the final days of the last Congress, it was endorsed in this Chamber by an overwhelming vote.
More than anything else, Mr. President, sunset has opened up a much-needed dialog in the Congress on the important task of making Government more effective and efficient. We welcome all who would like to join us in this undertaking because we believe it is one in which liberals and conservatives alike have a vital stake.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of S. 2 be included in the RECORD at this point.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
S. 2
Be it enacted by. the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Sunset Act of 1979".
SEC. 2. The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to require that most Government programs be reauthorized according to a schedule at least once every ten years;
(2) to limit the length of time for which Government programs can be authorized to ten years;
(3) to bar the expenditure of funds for Government programs which have not been provided for by a law enacted during the ten-year sunset reauthorization cycle; and
(4) to encourage the reeaxamination of selected Government programs each Congress.
SEC. 3. (a) For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term "budget authority" has the meaning given to it by section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
(2) The term "permanent budget authority" means budget authority provided for an indefinite period of time or an unspecified number of fiscal years which does not require recurring action by the Congress, but does not include budget authority provided for a specified fiscal year which is available for obligation or expenditure in one or more succeeding fiscal years.
(3) The term "Comptroller General" means the Comptroller General of the United States.
(4) The term "agency" means an executive agency as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that such term includes the United States Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission but does not include the General Accounting Office.
(5) The term "sunset reauthorization cycle" means the period of five Congresses beginning with the Ninety-seventh Congress and with each sixth Congress following the Ninety-seventh Congress.
(b) For purposes of this Act, each program (including any program exempted by provision of law from inclusion in the Budget of the United States) shall be assigned to the functional and subfunctional categories to which it is assigned in the Budget of the United States Government, fiscal year 1979. Each committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives which reports any bill or resolution which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program not included in the fiscal year 1979 budget shall include in the committee report accompanying such bill or resolution (and, where appropriate, the conferees shall include in their joint statement on such bill or resolution), a statement as to the functional and subfunctional category to which such program is to be assigned.
(c) For purposes of titles I, II, III, and V of this Act, the reauthorization date applicable to a program is the date specified for such program under section 101(b).
TITLE I — REAUTHORIZATIONS OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
SEC. 101. (a) Each Government program (except those listed in section 103) shall be reauthorized at least once during each sunset reauthorization cycle during the Congress in which the reauthorization date applicable to such program (pursuant to subsection (b) ) occurs.
(b) The first reauthorization date applicable to a Government program is the date specified in the following table, and each subsequent reauthorization date applicable to a program is the date ten years following the preceding reauthorization date:
Programs included within subfunctional category and first reauthorization date:
254 Space, Science, Applications and Technology.
272 Energy Conservation.
301 Water Resources.
352 Agriculture and Research Services.
371 Mortgage Credit and Thrift Insurance.
376 Other Advancement and Regulation of Commerce.
501 Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education.
601 General Retirement and Disability Insurance.
602 Federal Employment Retirement and Disability.
703 Hospital and Medical Care for Veterans.
806 Other General Government.
851 General Revenue Sharing,
September 30, 1982.
051 Department of Defense — Military.
053 Atomic Energy Defense Activities.
154 Foreign Information and Exchange Act.
251 General Science and Basic Research.
306 Other Natural Resources.
351 Farm Income Stabilization.
401 Ground Transportation.
502 Higher Education.
553 Education and Training of Health Care Work Force.
701 Income Security for Veterans.
752 Federal Litigative and Judicial Activities.
802 Executive Director and Management.
803 Central Fiscal Operations,
September 30,1984.
054 Defense Related Activities.
152 Military Assistance.
155 International Financial Programs.
253 Space Flight.
255 Supporting Space Activities.
274 Emergency Energy Preparedness.
302 Conservation and Land Management.
304 Pollution Control and Abatement.
407 Other Transportation Programs included within subfunctional category, and first reauthorization date:
504 Training and Employment.
506 Social Services.
554 Consumer and Occupational Health andSafety.
704 Veterans Housing.
751 Federal Law Enforcement Activities.
801 Legislative Function.
852 Other General Purpose Fiscal Assistance,
September 30, 1986.
153 Conduct of Foreign Affairs.
271 Energy Supply.
303 Recreational Resources.
402 Air Transportation.
505 Other Labor Services.
551 Health Care Services.
604 Public Assistance and Other Income Supplements.
702 Veterans Education, Training, and Rehabilitation.
753 Federal Correctional Activities.
805 Central Personnel Management.
902 Other Interest,
September 30, 1988.
151 Foreign Economic and Financial Assistance.
276 Energy Information, Policy and Regulation.
372 Postal Service.
403 Water Transportation.
451 Community Development.
452 Area and Regional Development.
453 Disaster Relief and Insurance.
503 Research and General Education Aids.
552 Health Research.
603 Unemployment Compensation.
705 Other Veterans Benefits and Services.
754 Criminal Justice Assistance.
804 General Property and Record Management.
901 Interest on the Public Debt,
September 30, 1990.
(c) (1) It shall not be in order in either the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill or resolution, or amendment thereto, which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a period of more than ten fiscal years, for an indefinite period, or (except during the Congress in which such next reauthorization date occurs) for any fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, it shall be in order to consider a bill or resolution for the purpose of considering an amendment to the bill or resolution which would make the authorization period conform to the requirement of such sentence.
(2) (A) It shall not be in order in either the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill or resolution, or amendment thereto, which provides new budget authority for a program for any fiscal year beginning after the first (or any subsequent) reauthorization date applicable to such program under paragraph (b), unless the provision of such new budget authority is specifically authorized by a law which constitutes a required authorization for such program.
(B) For the purposes of this subsection, the term "required authorization" means a law authorizing the enactment of new budget authority for a program, which complies with the provisions of paragraph (1) and is enacted during the Congress in which the reauthorization date for such program occurs, or during a Congress after such date and prior to the Congress in which the next authorization date for such program occurs.
(3) No new budget authority may be obligated or expended for a program for a fiscal year beginning after the last fiscal year in a sunset reauthorization cycle unless a provision of law providing for the continuation of such program has been enacted during such sunset reauthorization cycle.
(4) Any provision of law providing permanent budget authority for a program shall cease to be effective (for the purpose of providing such budget authority) on the first reauthorization date applicable to such program.
(5) It shall not be in order in either the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill or resolution, or amendment thereto, which provides new budget authority for a program unless the bill or resolution, or amendment thereto, (or the report which accompanies such bill or resolution) includes a specific reference to the provision of law which constitutes a required authorization for such program. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, it shall be in order to consider a bill or resolution for the purpose of considering an amendment which provides such reference to the appropriate provision of law.
SEC. 102. (a) It shall not be in order in either the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill or resolution, or amendment thereto, which has been reported by a committee and which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program, unless a reauthorization review (to the extent the committee or committees having jurisdiction deem appropriate) of such program has been completed during the Congress in which the reauthorization date for such program occurs (or during a subsequent Congress when such required authorization is considered), and the report accompanying such bill or resolution includes a separate section entitled 'Reauthorization Review' recommending, based on such review, whether the program or the laws affecting such program should be continued without change, continued with modifications, or terminated, and also includes, to the extent the committee or committees having jurisdiction deem appropriate, each of the following matters:
(1) Information and analysis on the organization, operation, costs, results, accomplishments, and effectiveness of the program.
(2) An identification of any other programs having similar objectives, and a justification of the need for the proposed program in comparison with those other programs which may be potentially conflicting or duplicative.
(3) An identification of the objectives intended for the program, and the problems or needs which the program is intended to address, including an analysis of the performance expected to be achieved, based on the bill or resolution as reported.
(4) A comparison of the amount of new budget authority which was authorized for the program in each of the previous four fiscal years and the amount of new budget authority provided in each such year.
(b) It shall not be in order in either the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider a bill or resolution, or amendment thereto, which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for which there previously has been no such authorization unless the report accompanying such bill or resolution sets forth, to the extent that the committee or committees having jurisdiction deem appropriate, the information specified in subsection (a) (2) and (3).
(c) Each committee having legislative jurisdiction over a program included in section 103 shall conduct a review of such program of the type described in subsection (a) at least once during each sunset reauthorization cycle, during the Congress in which the reauthorization date applicable to such program occurs, and shall submit to the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, a report containing its recommendations and other information of the type described in subsection (a) to the extent that the committee deems appropriate. It shall not be in order to consider a bill or resolution reported by the committee having legislative jurisdiction which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for such program unless such report accompanies such bill or resolution, or has been submitted during the Congress in which the reauthorization date for such program occurred as provided in section 101(b), whichever first occurs.
Sec. 103. (a) Section 101(c) shall not apply to the following:
(1) Programs included within functional category 900 (Interest).
(2) Any Federal programs or activities to enforce civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States or to enforce anti-discrimination laws of the United States,including but not limited to the investigation of violations of civil rights, civil or criminal litigation or the implementation or enforcement of judgments resulting from such litigation, and administrative activities in support of the foregoing.
(3) Programs which are related to the administration of the Federal judiciary and which are classified in the fiscal year 1979 budget under subfunctional category 752 (Federal litigative and judicial activities).
(4) Payments of refunds of Internal revenue collections as provided in title I of the Supplemental Treasury and Post Office Departments Appropriation Act of 1949 (62 Stat. 561), but not to include refunds to persons in excess of their tax payments.
(5) Programs included in the fiscal year 1979 budget in subfunctional categories 701 (Income security for veterans), 702 (Veterans education, training, and rehabilitation) , 704 (Veterans housing), and programs for providing health care which are included in such budget in subfunctional category 703 (Hospital and Medical care for veterans).
(6) Social Security and Federal employee retirement programs including the following:
(A) Programs funded through trust funds which are included with subfunctional categories 551 (Health care services), 601 (General retirement and disability insurance), or 602 (Federal employee retirement and disability).
(B) Retirement pay and retired pay of military personnel on the retired lists of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Air Force, including the Reserve components thereof, retainer pay for personnel of the Inactive Fleet Reserve; and payments under section 4 of Public Law 92-425 and chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code (survivor's benefits), classified in the fiscal year 1979 budget in subfunctional category 051 (Department of Defense — military).
(C) Retirement pay and medical benefits for retired commissioned officers of the Coast Guard, the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Commissioned Corps and their survivors and dependents, classified in the fiscal year 1979 budget in subfunctional category 551 (health care services) or in subfunctional category 306 (other natural resources).
(D) Retired pay of military personnel of the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve, members of the former Lighthouse Service, and for annuities payable to beneficiaries of retired military personnel under the retired serviceman's family protection plan (10 U.S.C. 1431-1446) and survivor benefit plan (10 U.S.C. 1447-1455) , classified in the fiscalyear 1979 budget in subfunctional category 403 (Water transportation).
(E) Payments to the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability Fund, classified in the fiscal year 1979 budget in subfunctional category 054 (Defense-related activities).
(F) Payments to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund for financing unfunded liabilities, classified in the fiscal year 1979 budget in subfunctional category 805 (Central personnel management).
(G) Payments to the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund, classified in the fiscal year 1979 budget in subfunctional category 153 (Conduct of foreign affairs).
(H) Payments to the Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, classified in the fiscal year 1979 budget in various subfunctional categories.
(I) Administration of the retirement and disability programs set forth in this section.
(b) If a question is raised in the Senate with respect to the application of any paragraph of subsection (a) to any bill, resolution, or amendment, or to any provision of law, the Presiding Officer shall submit the question to the Senate for decision.
SEC. 104. (a) It is the sense of the Congress that all programs should be considered and reauthorized in program categories which constitute major areas of legislative policy. Such authorizations should be for sufficient periods of time to enhance oversight and the review and evaluation of Government programs.
(b) The reauthorization schedule contained in section 101(b) may be changed by concurrent resolution of the two Houses of the Congress (except that changes in the schedule affecting permanent appropriations may be made only by law).
(c) All messages, petitions, memorials, concurrent resolutions, and bills proposing changes in section 101(b) and all bills proposing changes in section 103(a), shall be referred first to the committee with legislative jurisdiction over any program affected by the proposal and sequentially to the Committee on Rules in the House of Representatives or to the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate as provided for in subsection (d).
(d) Except as provided in subsection (f), the Committee on Rules in the House of Representatives or the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate shall report any concurrent resolution or bill referred to it under the provisions of subsection (c) and which previously has been reported favorably by a committee of legislative jurisdiction within thirty days (not counting any day on which the Senate or the House of Representatives is not in session), beginning with the day following the day on which such resolution or bill is so referred, with its recommendations.
(e) The recommendations of the Committee on Rules or the Committee on Rules and Administration pursuant to subsection (d) or (f) shall include a statement on each of the following matters:
(1) The effort the proposed change would have on the sunset reauthorization schedule.
(2) The effect the proposed change would have on the jurisdictional and reauthorization responsibilities and workloads of the authorizing committees of Congress.
(3) Any suggested grouping of similar programs which would further the goals of this Act to make more effective comparisons between programs having like objective.
(f) Any concurrent resolution or bill proposing a change in section 101(b) or 103(a) which has been reported by a committee before July 1, 1980, shall be referred in the House to the Committee on Rules and in the Senate to the Committee on Rules and Administration. Such committee shall report an omnibus concurrent resolution or bill containing its recommendations regarding the proposed changes by August 1, 1980, and consideration of such bill or resolution shall be highly privileged in the House of Representatives and privileged in the Senate. The provisions of subsections (c) and (d) of section 1017 of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, insofar as they relate to consideration of rescission bills, shall apply to the consideration of concurrent resolutions and bills proposing changes reported pursuant to this subsection, amendments thereto, motions and appeals with respect thereto, and conference reports thereon.
(g) It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider a bill or resolution reported pursuant to subsection (b), (c), (d), or (f) which proposes a reauthorization date for a program beyond the final reauthorization date of the sunset reauthorization cycle then in progress. Notwithstanding, the preceding sentence, it shall be in order to consider a bill or resolution for the purpose of considering an amendment which meets the requirements of this subsection.
TITLE II — PROGRAM INVENTORY
SEC. 201. (a) The Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, shall prepare an inventory of Federal programs (hereafter in this title referred to as the 'program inventory').
(b) The purpose of the program inventory is to advise and assist the Congress in carrying out the requirements of titles I and III. Such inventory shall not in any way bind the committees of the Senate or the House of Representatives with respect to their responsibilities under such titles and shall not infringe on the legislative and oversight responsibilities of such committees. The Comptroller General shall compile and maintain the inventory, and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall provide budgetary information for inclusion in the inventory.
(c) Not later than January 1, 1980, the Comptroller General, after consultation with the Director of the Congressional Budget Office and the Director of the Congressional Research Service, shall submit the program inventory to the Senate and House of Representatives.
(d) In the report submitted under this section, the Comptroller General, after consultation and in cooperation with and consideration of the views and recommendations of the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, shall group programs into program areas appropriate for the exercise of the review and reexamination requirements of this Act. Such groupings shall identify program areas in a manner which classifies each program in only one functional and only one subfunctional category and which is consistent with the structure of national needs, agency missions, and basic programs developed pursuant to section 201(i) of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921.
(e) The program inventory shall set forth for each program each of the following matters:
(1) The specific provision(s) of law authorizing the program.
(2) The committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives which have legislative or oversight jurisdiction over the program.
(3) A brief statement of the purpose or purposes to be achieved by the program.
(4) The committees which have jurisdiction over legislation providing new budget authority for the program, including the appropriate subcommittees of the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
(5) The agency and, if applicable, the subdivision thereof responsible for administering the program.
(6) The grants-in-aid, if any, provided by such program to State and local governments.
(7) The next reauthorization date for the program.
(8) A unique identification number which links the program and functional category structure.
(9) The year in which the program was originally established and, where applicable, the year in which the program expires.
(10) Where applicable, the year in which new budget authority for the program was last authorized and the year in which current authorizations of new budget authority expire.
(f) The inventory shall contain a separate tabular listing of programs which are not required to be reauthorized pursuant to section 101(c).
(g) The report also shall set forth for each program whether the new budget authority provided for such programs is—
(1) authorized for a definite period of time;
(2) authorized in a specific dollar amount but without limit of time;
(3) authorize without limit of time or dollar amounts;
(4) not specifically authorized; or
(5) permanently provided,
as determined by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
(h) For each program or group of programs, the program inventory also shall include information prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office indicating each of the following matters:
(1) The amounts of new budget authority authorized and provided for the program for each of the preceding four fiscal years and, where applicable, the four succeeding fiscal years.
(2) The functional and subfunctional category in which the program is presently classified and was classified under the fiscal year 1979 budget.
(3) The identification code and title of the appropriation account in which budget authority is provided for the program.
SEC. 202. The General Accounting Office, the Congressional Research Service, and the Congressional Budget Office shall permit the mutual exchange of available information in their possession which would aid in the compilation of the program inventory.
SEC. 203. The Office of Management and Budget, and the Executive agencies and the subdivisions thereof shall, to the extent necessary and possible, provide the General Accounting Office with assistance requested by the Comptroller General in the compilation of the program inventory.
SEC. 204. Each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service shall review the program inventory as submitted under section 201 and not later than March 1, 1980, each shall advise the Comptroller General of any revisions in the composition or identification of programs and groups of programs which it recommends. After full consideration of the reports of all such committees and officials, the Comptroller General in consultation with the committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives shall report, not later than May 1, 1980, a revised program inventory to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
SEC. 205. (a) The Comptroller General, after the close of each session of the Congress, shall revise the program inventory and report the revisions to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
(b) After the close of each session of the Congress, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall prepare a report, for inclusion in the revised inventory, with respect to each program included in the program inventory and each program established by law during such session, which includes the amount of the new budget authority authorized and the amount of new budget authority provided for the current fiscal year and each of the five succeeding fiscal years. If new budget authority is not authorized or provided or is authorized or provided for an indefinite amount for any of such five succeeding fiscal years with respect to any program, the Director shall make projections of the amounts of such new budget authority necessary to be authorized or provided for any such fiscal year to maintain a current level of services.
(c) Not later than one year after the first or any subsequent reauthorization date, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in consultation with the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Research Service, shall compile a list of the provisions of law related to all programs subject to such reauthorization date for which new budget authority was not authorized. The Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall include such a list in the report required by subsection (b). The committees with legislative jurisdiction over the affected programs shall study the affected provisions and make any recommendations they deem to be appropriate with regard to such provisions to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
SEC. 206. The Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall include in their respective reports to the Congress pursuant to sections 202(f) and 702(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 an assessment of the adequacy of the functional and subfunctional categories contained in section 101(b) for grouping programs of like missions or objectives.
SEC. 207. (a) The Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall tabulate and issue an annual report on the progress of congressional action on bills and resolutions reported by a committee of either House or passed by either House which authorize the enactment of new budget authority for programs.
(b) The report shall include an up-to-date tabulation for the fiscal year beginning October 1 and the succeeding four fiscal years of the amounts of budget authority (1) authorized by law or proposed to be authorized in any bill or resolution reported by any committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives, or (2) if budget authority is not authorized or proposed to be authorized for any of the five fiscal years, the amounts necessary to maintain a current level of services for programs in the inventory.
(c) The Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall issue periodic reports on the programs and the provisions of laws which are scheduled for reauthorization in each Congress pursuant to the reauthorization schedule in section 101(b). In these reports, the Director shall identify each provision of law which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for programs scheduled for reauthorization and the title of the appropriation bill, or part thereof, which would provide new budget authority pursuant to each authorization.
TITLE III — PROGRAM REEXAMINATION
SEC. 301. (a) Each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives periodically shall provide through the procedure established in section 302, for the conduct of a comprehensive reexamination of selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction.
(b) In selecting programs and groups of programs for reexamination, each committee shall consider each of the following matters:
(1) The extent to which substantial time has passed since the program or group of programs has been in effect.
(2) The extent to which a program or group of programs appears to require significant change.
(3) The resources of the committee with a view toward undertaking reexaminations across a broad range of programs.
(4) The desirability of examining related programs concurrently.
SEC. 302. (a) (1) The funding resolution first reported by each committee of the Senate in 1981, and thereafter for the first session of each Congress, shall include a section setting forth the committee's plan for reexamination of programs under this title. Such plan shall include each of the following matters:
(A) The programs to be reexamined and the reasons for their selection.
(B) The scheduled completion date for each program reexamination: Provided, That such date shall not be later than the end of the Congress preceding the Congress in which the reauthorization date applicable to a program occurs as provided in section 101 (b), unless the committee explains in a statement in the report accompanying its proposed funding resolution the reasons for a later completion date, except that reports on programs scheduled for reauthorization during the 97th Congress and selected for reexamination in a committee's plan adopted in 1981 may be submitted at any time until February 15, 1982.
(C) The estimated cost for each reexamination.
(2) The report accompanying the funding resolution reported by each committee in 1981 and thereafter for the first session of each Congress, shall with respect to each reexamination include in its plan both the following matters:
(A) A description of the components of the reexamination.
(B) A statement of whether the reexamination is to be conducted (i) by the committee, or (ii) at the request and under the direction of or under contract with, the committee, as the case may be, by one or more instrumentalities of the legislative branch, one or more instrumentalities of the executive branch, or one or more nongovernmental organizations, or (iii) by a combination of the foregoing.
(3) It shall not be in order to consider a funding resolution reported by a committee of the Senate in 1981, and thereafter for the first session of a Congress unless—
(A) such resolution includes a section containing the information described in paragraph (1) and the report accompanying such resolution contains the information described in paragraph (2); and
(B) the report required by subsection (c) with respect to each program reexamination scheduled for completion during the preceding Congress by such committee has been submitted for printing.
(4) It shall not be in order to consider an amendment to the section of a funding resolution described in paragraph (1) reported by a committee for a year—
(A) if such amendment would require reexamination of a program which has been reexamined by such committee under this section during any of the five preceding years;
(B) if such amendment would cause such section not to contain the information described in paragraph (1) with respect to each program to be reexamined by such committee; or
(C) if notice in writing of intention to propose such amendment has not been given to such committee and the committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate not later than January 20 of the calendar year in which such year begins or the first day of the session of the Congress in which such year begins, whichever is later. The notice required by this subparagraph shall include the substance of the amendment intended to be proposed and, if such amendment would add one or more programs to be reexamined, shall include the information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) with respect to each such program. This subparagraph shall not apply to amendments proposed by such committee or by the Committee on Rules and Administration, as the case may be.
(b) In order to achieve coordination of program reexamination each committee shall, in preparing each reexamination plan required by subsection (a), consult with appropriate committees of the Senate or appropriate committees of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, and shall inform itself of related activities of and support or assistance that may be provided by (1) the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, and the Office of Technology Assessment, and (2) appropriate instrumentalities in the executive and judicial branches.
(c) Each committee shall prepare and have printed a report with respect to each reexamination completed under this title. Each such report shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Senate not later than the date specified in the resolution and printed as a Senate document. To the extent permitted by law or regulation, such number of additional copies as the committee may order shall be printed for the use of the committee. If two or more committees have legislative jurisdiction over the same program or portions of the same program, such committees may reexamine such program jointly and submit a joint report with respect to such reexamination.
(d) The report pursuant to subsection (c) shall set forth the findings, recommendations, and justifications with respect to the program, and shall include to the extent the committee deems appropriate, each of the following matters:
(1) An identification of the objectives intended for the program and the problem it was intended to address.
(2) An identification of any trends, developments, and emerging conditions which are likely to affect the future nature and extent of the problems or needs which the program is intended to address and an assessment of the potential primary and secondary effects of the proposed program.
(3) An identification of any other program having potentially conflicting or duplicative objectives.
(4) A statement of the number and types of beneficiaries or persons served by the program.
(5) An assessment of the effectiveness of the program and the degrees to which the original objectives of the program or group of programs have been achieved.
(6) An assessment of the cost effectiveness of the program, including where appropriate, a cost-benefit analysis of the operation of the program.
(7) An assessment of the relative merits of alternative methods which could be considered to achieve the purposes of the program.
(8) Information on the regulatory, privacy, and paperwork impacts of the program.
(e) A report submitted pursuant to this section shall be deemed to satisfy the reauthorization review requirements of title I.
SEC. 303. (a) Each department or agency of the executive branch which is responsible for the administration of a program selected for reexamination pursuant to this title, shall, not later than six months before the completion date specified for reexamination reports pursuant to section 302(a) (1) (B) , submit to the Office of Management and Budget and to the appropriate committee(s) of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report of its findings, recommendations, and justifications with respect to each of the matters set forth in section 302(d), and the Office of Management and Budget shall submit to such committee(s) such comments as it deems appropriate.
(b) With respect to programs selected for review pursuant to a plan adopted by a committee in 1981, the respective committees and department or agency may provide for a more appropriate time for submission of the report required by this section.
SEC. 304. For the purposes of this title:
(1) The term "funding resolution" means, with respect to each committee of the Senate, the first authorization resolution reported by such committee for a year under section 133(g) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, or any action taken in lieu of such funding resolution, which in any event shall occur not later than May 15.
(2) An amendment to a funding resolution includes a resolution of the Senate which amends such funding resolution.
TITLE IV — CITIZENS' COMMISSION ON THE ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF GOVERNMENT
SEC. 401. There is authorized to be established, as an independent instrumentality of the United States, the Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government (hereinafter in this title referred to as. the "Commission").
SEC. 402. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to promote economy, efficiency, and improved service in the transaction of the public business in the departments, agencies, independent instrumentalities, and other authorities of the executive branch of the Government.
SEC. 403. (a) The Commission shall conduct a nonpartisan study and investigation of the organization and methods of operation of all departments, agencies, independent instrumentalities, and authorities of the executive branch of the Government in the following major policy areas:
(1) International affairs and defense.
Functions:
050—National defense.
150—International affairs.
(2) Resources and technology.
Functions:
250— General science, space, and technology.
270—Energy.
300—Natural resources and environment.
(3) Economic development.
Functions:
350—Agriculture.
370—Commerce and housing credit.
400—Transportation.
450—Community and regional development.
(4) Human resources.
Functions:
500—Education, training, employment, and social services.
550—Health.
600—Income security.
700—Veterans benefits and services.
(5) General Government.
Functions:
750—Administration of justice.
800—General Government.
850—General purpose fiscal assistance.
900—Interest.
The Commission shall make such recommendation as it determines necessary to—
(1) increase the effectiveness of Government services, programs, and activities by changing the structure and execution of administrative responsibilities;
(2) improve delivery of services through elimination of needless duplication or overlap, consolidation of similar services, programs, activities, and functions, and termination of such services, programs, and activities which have outlived their intended purpose;
(3) maintain expenditures at levels consistent with the efficient performance of essential services, programs, activities, and functions;
(4) simplify and eliminate overlaps in agency regulatory functions by review of the laws, regulations, and administrative reports and procedures; and
(5) determine the appropriate responsibilities of each level of government, the manner and alternative means for each level of government to finance such responsibilities, the forms and extent of intergovernmental aid and assistance, and the organization required for proper balance and division of respective Federal, State, and local government roles, responsibilities, and authorities.
(b) The Commission shall submit to the President, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Government operations of the House of Representatives such interim reports as it deems advisable, and, not later than four years after the appointment and qualification of a majority of the Commission Members, a final report setting forth the Commission's findings and recommendations. The final report of the Commission shall include the comments of the appropriate congressional committees.
(c) At least once every year for two years after the submission of the final report, the Comptroller General shall report to the Congress on the status of actions taken on the Commission's final report.
SEC. 404. (a) The Commission shall be composed of fifteen members appointed from among individuals with extensive experience in or knowledge of United States Government as follows:
(1) Five members appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(2) Five members appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, three upon recommendation of the majority leader and two upon recommendation of the minority leader of the Senate.
(3) Five members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, three upon recommendation of the majority leader and two upon recommendation of the minority leader of the House.
(b) (1) Two members appointed under subsection (a) (1) shall be appointed to serve as Chairman and Vice Chairman (as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection) and shall not engage in any other business, vocation, or employment. Such two members shall not be of the same political affiliation.
(2) The member described in paragraph (1) who is, when appointed, not of the same political affiliation as the President shall serve as Chairman of the Commission and the other such member shall serve as vice Chairman of the Commission.
(c) Of the members appointed and qualified under subsection (a) (1) other than the members to whom subsection (b) applies, not more than two shall be of the same political affiliation.
(d) Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.
(e) Eight members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but the Commission may establish a lesser number to constitute a quorum for the purpose of holding hearings.
SEC. 405. (a) The Commission or, on the authorization of the Commission, any subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this title, hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and places, administer such oaths, and require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents as the Commission or such subcommittee or member may deem advisable.
(b) (1) Subpoenas shall be issued under the signature of the Chairman or any member of the Commission designated by him and shall be served by any person designated by the Chairman or such member. Any member of the Commission may administer oaths or affirmation to witnesses appearing before the Commission.
(2) The provisions of section 1821 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to witnesses summoned to appear at any such hearing. The per diem and mileage allowances to witnesses summoned under authority conferred by this section shall be paid from funds appropriated to the Commission.
(3) Any person who willfully neglects or refuses to appear, or refuses to qualify as a witness, or to testify, or to produce any evidence in obedience to any subpoena duly issued under the authority of this section shall be fined not more than $500, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both. Upon the certification by the Chairman of the Commission of the facts concerning any such willful disobedience by any person to the United States attorney for any judicial district in which such person resides or is found, such attorney may proceed by information for the prosecution of such person for such offense.
(c) The Commission is authorized to secure directly from the head of any department, agency, independent instrumentality, or other authority of the executive branch of the Government, available information which the Commission deems useful in the discharge of its duties. All departments, agencies, independent instrumentalities, and other authorities of the executive branch of the Government shall cooperate with the Commission and furnish all information requested by the Commission in accordance with existing law.
SEC. 406. (a) Subject to such rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Commission, the Commission shall have the power—
(1) to appoint and fix the compensation of an Executive Director and such additional staff personnel as it deems necessary in accordance with the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and chapter 51 and sub-chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, and
(A) in the case of the Executive Director, at a rate equal to that of level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code; and
(B) in the case of not more than three additional staff members, at rates not in excess of the maximum rate for GS-18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of such title; and
(2) to procure temporary and intermittent services to the same extent as is authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) The Commission is authorized to enter into agreements with the General Services Administration for procurement of necessary financial and administrative services, for which payment shall be made by reimbursement from funds of the Commission in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the Chairman and the Administrator of the General Services Administration.
SEC. 407. (a) The Chairman of the Commission shall receive compensation at a rate equal to the rate prescribed for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, and the Vice Chairman shall receive compensation at a rate equal to the rate prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) All other members of the Commission who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government shall receive compensation at the rate of $200 for each day such member is engaged in the performance of the duties vested in the Commission.
(c) Members of the Commission shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred in connection with their activities as members of the Commission.
SEC. 408. The Commission shall cease to exist ninety days after the submission of its final report.
SEC. 409. There is authorized to be appropriated until September 30, 1984, without fiscal year limitations, the sum of $4,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this title.
SEC. 410. The Commission shall be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
TITLE V — REGULATORY IMPACT
SEC. 501. (a) The Congress finds that the Government regulation can at times be more of a burden than a benefit to American consumers, American businesses, and to the American economy as a whole.
(1) Regulatory policies often have contributed to inflation through approval of regulations not commensurate with the public interest, frequently without due consideration of the relative costs and benefits involved in such decisions, without due consideration of the competitive impact of such decisions, or without adequate provision for public participation in such decisions.
(2) Some regulatory policies harm both industry and consumers by denying businesses the chance to compete and by depriving consumers of the lower prices and diversity of services that greater competition can present.
(3) Too often, regulatory agencies have neglected critical economic issues, and failed to set clear priorities, articulate cogent policies, or to integrate planning into operational functions. As a result, certain agencies have fostered a pattern of red tape, stagnation, and waste, which has led to public frustration and confusion.
(4) Frequent use of inefficient after-the-fact case-by-case adjudication, rather than general rule making, by most regulatory agencies has burdened business with excessive paperwork and unreasonable delays, impaired the ability of many industries to adopt to changing market conditions and beneficial new technology, and contributed to price rises, inefficiencies, and misallocation of resources.
(5) By consistently failing to take consumer and business interests adequately into account and by arbitrarily limiting the operation of the free enterprise system, regulatory agencies too often have poorly served the public interest in disregard of their congressional mandates.
(b) (1) It is the purpose of this title to require over a period of ten years the President to submit once in each Congress and to encourage the Congress to act upon, a plan designed to prevent unnecessary or harmful regulation which has led to inflationary consumer prices, a reduction of competition in the providing of important goods and services, and other economic inefficiencies that disrupt the operation of a free enterprise system without correspondingly benefiting the health, safety, or economic welfare of the Nation.
(2) It is the further purpose of this title to require that regulation by the Federal Government be systematically and comprehensively reviewed and modified so as to assure that such regulation, where it is necessary, is aimed at and structured to achieve substantial benefits to the Nation exceeding the costs thereof, and toward this end, that each regulatory agency perform its mandated responsibilities in the most effective and least dilatory and costly manner so as to maximize the intended benefits to the Nation.
AGENCY REFORM PLANS
SEC. 502. (a) Not later than the first day of February in the first session of the Ninety-seventh Congress, the Ninety-eighth Congress, the Ninety-ninth Congress, the One-hundredth Congress, and the One-hundred and first Congress, the President shall submit an analysis containing the information required to be included under subsection (b) and the President shall submit a legislative plan containing the information called for in subsection (c) as follows:
(1) By April 1, 1981, a plan with respect to regulation of securities, trade practices, banking and finance, and communications matters by the following agencies:
(A) Securities and Exchange Commission.
(B) Federal Trade Commission.
(C) Office of Comptroller of the Currency.
(D) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
(E) Federal Communications Commission.
(2) By April 1, 1983, a plan with respect to regulation of surface transportation and safety matters by the following agencies:
(A) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
(B) Interstate Commerce Commission.
(3) By April 1, 1985, a plan with respect to regulation or environmental, occupational, and food and health safety matters by the following agencies:
(A) Food and Drug Administration.
(B) Consumer Product Safety Commission.
(C) Environmental Protection Agency.
(D) Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
(4) By April 1, 1987, a plan with respect to regulation of air transportation matters by the following agencies:
(A) Civil Aeronautics Board.
(B) Federal Aviation Administration.
(5) By April 1, 1989, a plan with respect to regulation of energy and maritime transportation by the following agencies:
(A) Federal Maritime Commission.
(B) Federal Energy Regulatory Administration.
(C) Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
(b) An analysis submitted by the President pursuant to subsection (a) shall contain the following information with respect to agencies or designated units thereof which are referenced in paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a)—
(1) the purposes for which each agency was established;
(2) significant changes which have occurred in the areas regulated by each agency, the impact of such changes on the effectiveness of the agency, and the continued appropriateness of those original purposes:
(3) the net impact of the agency and the degree to which it has accomplished its purposes;
(4) the timeliness of agency decision making;
(5) the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the operations of each agency;
(6) the extent to which agency actions may contribute to inflation; and
(7) consideration of practical alternative approaches to achieving presently demonstrated regulatory needs.
(c) A legislative plan submitted by the President pursuant to subsection (a) shall include specific legislation following up on the analysis earlier submitted by the President with respect to agencies or designated units thereof which are referenced in paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a), and may include—
(1) recommendations for the transfer, consolidation, modification, or elimination of agency functions;
(2) recommendations for organizational, structural, and procedural reforms;
(3) recommendations for the merger, modification, establishment, or abolition of agencies or their enabling legislation;
(4) recommendations for eliminating or phasing out outdated, overlapping, or conflicting agency rules and mandates;
(5) recommendations for alleviating agency delays;
(6) recommendations for increasing public participating in agency proceedings;
(7) recommendations for making agency regulation more cost-effective; and
(8) recommendations for increasing economic competition.
(d) The plans submitted by the President pursuant to subsections (a) and (c) shall be referred to the committee(s) of the House of Representatives and the Senate with legislative jurisdiction over the agencies affected by the plan(s).
(e) The "Reauthorization Review"required by section 102 (a) shall include a new section (5) as follows:
(5) a comparison between the recommendation of the committee and the regulatory reform plan submitted pursuant to this title, and the basis for the committee recommendation, for the program or agency which would be reauthorized by the legislation which this report accompanies.
(f) Along with each plan submitted by the President pursuant to subsections (a) and (c), the President shall report on the cumulative impact on specific industry groupings of all Government regulatory activity reviewed to that date. The report shall include recommendations to ensure that the cumulative impact of Government regulation is in the Nation's best interests. Wherever practicable, in the formulation of each plan, the President shall give explicit consideration to the particular impact of Government regulatory activity on the following relevant industry groupings:
(1) transportation and agriculture industries;
(2) mining, heavy manufacturing, and public utilities industries;
(3) construction and light manufacturing industries; and
(4) communications, finance, insurance, real estate, trade, and service industries.
LEGISLATIVE AGENCY REVIEW
SEC. 503. (a) The Comptroller General of the United States and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall submit, contemporaneously with the submission of the analysis required under subsection 502 (b), a report assessing each of the agencies to be included in the plan submitted by the President with respect to the same criteria set forth in that subsection.
(b) The Comptroller General of the United States and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall submit to the Congress not later than June 1 of each year in which a plan is submitted by the President as provided in subsections 502 (a) and (c) of this title, a complete and thorough analysis of such plan.
TITLE VI — GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
SEC. 601. (a) At the beginning of the ninety-seventh Congress and every two years thereafter the President shall submit to the Congress a report on the management of the executive branch (hereinafter called the Management Report). The Management Report shall be submitted as part of the budget on the same day as the budget is transmitted to the Congress under section 201 of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921.
(b) It is the intent of Congress that the President shall be granted full discretion in the design of the Management Report provided that—
(1) Programs shall be—
(i) designated within each executive department and within each independent establishment, according to their relative effectiveness, as "excellent", "adequate", or "unsatisfactory", and
(ii) ranked as to their effectiveness relative to all other programs within each category in that executive department or within that independent establishment.
(2) The designation and ranking of programs as to relative effectiveness shall be determined by the degree to which each program's statutory objective is being met, which shall be based on
(i) the clarity of the statutory design and objective upon which the program is based,
(ii) the overall design of the program as effectuated by the responsible executive department or independent establishment, and
(iii) the overall quality of the management of the program by the responsible executive department or independent establishment.
(c) The Management Report shall include the President's reasons for the program designations and rankings he has made.
(d) The Management Report shall include a list of those programs or areas the President recommends for administrative or congressional improvement during that Congress.
(e) The Management Report shall include the report of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget required under section 602 of this Act, including the President's recommendations and proposed actions pursuant to it.
SEC. 602, (a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (hereinafter called the Director) shall provide an evaluative report on Federal programs to the President which shall be forwarded to the Congress by the President with his Management Report.
(b) In his report the Director shall identify any programs that are contradictory to other Federal programs and recommend corrective legislation. The Director shall also recommend the termination or modification of any programs whose relative ineffectiveness no longer justifies continued Federal expenditures or only justifies a lower level of Federal expenditures.
SEC. 603. The President may from time to time submit to the Congress reports supplementary to the Management Report, each of which shall include such supplementary or revised recommendations as he may deem necessary or desirable to achieve the purposes of this Act. The Director may, from time to time, submit to the President reports supplementary to the report required by section 602.
SEC. 604. (a) For the purposes of this title:
(1) The term "program" means an organized set of activities carried out pursuant to separate statutory authorization or for which Federal expenditures are specifically allocated by the Federal Government, and which can be evaluated in terms of relative effectiveness in pursuing a governmental goal, but shall not include national foreign intelligence activities.
(2) The term "executive department" shall have the meaning given it in section 101 of title 5, United States Code.
(3) The term "independent establishment" shall have the meaning given it In section 104 of title 5, United States Code, except that it includes the United States Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission but does not include the General Accounting Office or the Independent Regulatory Agencies.
TITLE VII — MISCELLANEOUS
SEC. 701. Section 206 of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 (31 U.S.C. 15), is amended by inserting immediately before the period a comma and "or at the request of a committee of either House of Congress presented after the day on which the President transmits the budget to the Congress under section 201 of this Act for the fiscal year".
SEC. 702. Nothing in this Act shall require the public disclosure of matters that are specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order, or which are otherwise specifically protected by law. In addition nothing in this Act shall require any committee of the Senate to disclose publicly information the disclosure of which is governed by Senate Resolution 400, Ninety-fourth Congress, or any other rule of the Senate.
SEC. 703. (a) The provisions of this section and sections 101(a), 101(b), 101(c)(1), 101(c) (2), 101(c) (5), 102, 103(b), 104(a), 104(c), 104(d), 104(e), 104(f), 104(g), title III (except section 303) section 705, and section 706 of this Act are enacted by the Congress—
(1) as an exercise of the rule making power of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such they shall be considered as part of the rules of each House, respectively, or of that House to which they specifically apply, and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change such rules (so far as relating to such House) is any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of such House.
(b) In the Senate, paragraphs (2) and (5) of section 101(c) shall also be treated as amendments to rule XVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.
(c) Any provision of this Act which is enacted as an exercise of the rule making power of the Senate may be waived or suspended in the Senate by a majority vote of the Members voting.
SEC. 704. (a) (1) To assist in the review or reexamination of a program, the head of an agency which administers such program and the head of any other agency, when requested, shall provide to each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives which has legislative jurisdiction over such program such studies, information, analyses, reports, and assistance as the committee may request.
(2) Not later than six months prior to the first reauthorization date specified for a program in section 101(b) the head of the agency which administers such program or the head of any other agency, when requested by a committee of the Senate or House of Representatives, shall conduct a review of those regulations currently promulgated and in use by that agency which the committee specifically has requested be reviewed and submit a report to the Senate or the House of Representatives as the case may be, setting forth the regulations that agency intends to retain, eliminate, or modify if the program is reauthorized and stating the basis for its decision.
(3) On or before October 1 of the year preceding the Congress in which occurs the reauthorization date for a program, the Comptroller General shall furnish to each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives which has legislative jurisdiction over such program a listing of the prior audits and reviews of such program completed during the preceding six years.
(4) Consistent with the discharge of the duties and functions imposed by law on them or their respective Offices or Service, the Comptroller General, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment, and the Director of the Congressional Research Service shall furnish to each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives such information, analyses, and reports as the committee may request to assist it In conducting reviews or evaluations of programs.
(b) (1) On or before October 1 of the year preceding the Congress in which occurs the reauthorization date for a program, the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, shall submit to the Congress a "Regulatory Duplication and Conflicts Report" for all such programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress.
(2) Each such regulatory duplication and conflicts report shall—
(A) identify regulatory policies, including data collection requirements, of such programs or the agencies which administer them, which duplicate or conflict with each other or with rules or regulations or regulatory policies of other programs or agencies, and identify the provisions of law which authorize or require such duplicative or conflicting regulatory policies or the promulgation of such duplicative or conflicting rules or regulations;
(B) identify the regulatory policies, including data collection requirements, of such programs which are, or which tend to be, duplicative of or in conflict with rules or regulations or regulatory policies of State or local governments;
(C) contain recommendations which address the conflicts or duplications identified in subsections (A) and (B) .
(3) The regulatory duplication and conflicts report submitted by the President pursuant to this subsection shall be referred to the committee(s) of the House of Representatives and the Senate with legislative jurisdiction over the programs affected by the reports.
SEC. 705. (a) For purposes of this section and title I, the term "required authorization waiver resolution" means only a resolution of the Senate or the House of Representatives—
(1) which is introduced by the chairman of a committee pursuant to subsection (b);
(2) which waives the provisions of subsection 101(c) (2) of this Act for the purpose of allowing consideration of a bill or resolution providing a new budget authority for a program for not more than one fiscal year in an amount which does not exceed the amount of new budget authority required to maintain the current level of services being provided during the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which new budget authority would be provided; and for purposes of this section, such current level of services shall be determined initially from the report submitted to the Congress pursuant to section 605 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and shall be certified by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office; and
(3) the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: "That it is in order in the Senate (House of Representatives) to consider a bill (resolution) providing new budget authority for ____ for the fiscal year ____ in an amount not to exceed $___ ." (with the first blank space being filled with identification of the program; the second blank space being filled with the fiscal year for which the new budget authority would be provided; and the third blank space being filled with the amount of new budget authority necessary to maintain the current level of services for such program for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which such new budget authority would be provided).
(b) The chairman of the committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives having legislative jurisdiction over a program or programs shall introduce a required authorization waiver resolution for such program or programs not later than the fifth day (not counting any day on which the Senate or the House, as the case may be, is not in session) following the occurrence of either of the following:
(1) A bill authorizing the enactment of new budget authority for the same program or programs has been under consideration for not less than fifteen hours, including debate on the motion to consider the authorization bill, and no limitation of debate has been agreed to; or
(2) A bill authorizing the enactment of new budget authority for the same program or programs has been vetoed by the President and such veto has been sustained by either the Senate or the House of Representatives.
(c) A required authorization waiver resolution relating to a program introduced in, or received by; the Senate or the House of Representatives shall be referred to the appropriate committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be; except that any resolution introduced, received after September 1 of the second session of a Congress shall immediately be placed on the appropriate calendar. With respect to any resolution still pending before a committee on September 1 of the second session of a Congress, the committee shall be automatically discharged and the resolution placed on the appropriate calendar.
(d) The provisions of section 912 of title 5, United States Code, relating to the consideration of resolutions of disapproval of reorganization plans shall apply in the House of Representatives and the Senate to the consideration of required authorization waiver resolutions.
Sec. 706. The Committees on Governmental Affairs and on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on Government Operations and on Rules of the House of Representatives shall review the operation of the procedures established by this Act, and shall submit a report not later than December 31, 1986, and each five years thereafter, setting forth their findings and recommendations. Such reviews and reports may be conducted jointly.
SEC. 707. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated through fiscal year 1990 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the review requirements of titles I and III and the requirements for the compilation of the inventory of Federal programs as set forth in title II.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join today with Senator MUSKIE and others in reintroducing Sunset legislation and urging its prompt adoption by the Senate.
When adopted, it will provide Congress with an essential tool for reviewing the need for Federal programs; controlling the growth of Federal spending; alleviating the overkill of regulatory activity; and restraining the sprawling Federal bureaucracy. I know that is a lot to claim for one proposal. But I have been working on this idea for years — as has my friend and colleague from Maine — and I am convinced it can lead to more effective and responsible congressional control over our Government, without sacrificing a single essential Government service. In fact, it should enhance the provision of truly necessary Government services.
Simply stated, the bill would terminate most Federal spending programs automatically on a regular schedule. Then, after a careful review by the appropriate Senate committee, the Senate and the Congress would decide whether to continue the program — or modify it — or terminate it. The two parts go together — the possibility of termination forces a review — and the review assures that the decision to continue or not continue the program will be a rational one. It is really a very simple mechanism — like all good mechanisms. It is also good because it builds on the existing practice of reauthorization.
We need legislation of this kind because the American people know we are not doing our job of stemming the tide of Government growth in this country. They know we are not doing our best to provide effective programs to meet their needs, but are choosing the easy way of trying to overwhelm problems with a multitude of duplicative programs. This is clear from my constituent mail. I think the perennially low performance ratings that Congress gets shows this. So I have felt for a long time that Congress should act to control government before the electorate forces action upon us.
In considering this legislation it is important that the Senate dispense with further lengthy review and discussion. Sunset passed the Senate overwhelmingly last fall and it must do so again early this year. The ideas behind sunset are not new or difficult to understand. Both Senator MUSKIE and I introduced our original versions of sunset legislation in the 94th Congress. These proposals were studied by two Senate committees and a staff study group representing all committees. The Senate debated them at length before passing the legislation in 1978.
The history of sunset in the Senate is a long one. It is a history filled with careful study and lengthy hearings, but also, unfortunately, with delays which prevented its final passage in 1976 and again in 1978. I do not see how there can be further profitable study of this legislation. Rather, it is time for the Senate to pass it promptly so that the House of Representatives will have adequate time to consider and adopt it.
The sunset process is of particular importance right now because of the bleak outlook for Federal finances over the next few years. Congress is about to embark on the difficult course of bringing Federal spending under control; balancing the budget; and reducing the tax burden. It will not be easy. If we are to put our Government's financial affairs in order, it is essential that we use every available means to restrain Federal spending and eliminate waste and duplication. Four years of work on the sunset concept has convinced me that it is an essential tool. With the present rate of Federal spending we cannot get it too soon.