[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4081 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4081

  To establish a Congressional Office for Public Opinion Research and 
                              Assessment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 1994

Mr. Klink (for himself and Ms. McKinney) introduced the following bill; 
      which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish a Congressional Office for Public Opinion Research and 
                              Assessment.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT.

    There is established in the Congress an office to be known as the 
``Congressional Office for Public Opinion Research and Assessment'', 
hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``Office''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE AND GOVERNING BOARD.

    The Office will consist of a nonvoting Director and a Board 
comprised of--
            (1) 3 Members of the House of Representatives designated by 
        the majority leader of the House of Representatives;
            (2) 3 Members of the House of Representatives designated by 
        the minority leader of the House of Representatives;
            (3) 3 Senators designated by the majority leader of the 
        Senate; and
            (4) 3 Senators designated by the minority leader of the 
        Senate.
Terms of Board members, methods of appointment, rotation, filling 
vacancies, selection of a chairman or vice-chairman, and authorizing 
meetings, documents, and expenditures shall be similar to that of the 
Office of Technology Assessment. The Board is required to set out 
research priorities and methods for choosing research topics. Members 
may request the Office to perform research and evaluations subject to 
rules set by the Board.

SEC. 3. DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR.

    (a) Director.--The Director of the Office shall be appointed by the 
Board and shall serve for a term of 6 years unless sooner removed by 
the Board. The Director shall receive basic pay at the rate provided 
for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, 
United States Code. In addition to the powers and duties vested in the 
Director by this Act, the Director shall exercise such powers and 
duties as may be delegated by the Board.
    (b) Deputy Director.--The Director may appoint with the approval of 
the Board, a Deputy Director who shall perform such functions as the 
Director may prescribe and who shall be Acting Director during the 
absence or incapacity of the Director or in the event of a vacancy in 
the office of Director. The Deputy Director shall receive basic pay at 
the rate provided for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 
5315 of title 5, United States Code.
    (c) Limitation.--Neither the Director nor the Deputy Director shall 
engage in any other business, vocation, or employment than that of 
serving as such Director or Deputy Director, as the case may be; nor 
shall the Director or Deputy Director, except with the approval of the 
Board, hold any office in, or act in any capacity for, any 
organization, agency, or institution with which the Office makes any 
contract or other arrangement under this Act.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--The Office shall have the authority, within the 
limits of available appropriations, to do all things necessary to carry 
out the provisions of this Act, including but without being limited to 
the authority to--
            (1) make full use of competent personnel and organizations 
        outside the Office, public or private, and form special ad hoc 
        task forces or make other arrangements when appropriate; and
            (2) enter into contracts or other arrangements as may be 
        necessary for the conduct of the work of the Office with any 
        agency or instrumentality of the United States, with any State, 
        territory, or possession or any political subdivision thereof, 
        or with any person, firm or association, corporation, or 
        educational institution, accept and utilize the services of 
        voluntary and uncompensated personnel, acquire property of all 
        kinds necessary for or resulting from the exercise of authority 
        of this Act, and provide such rules and regulations as it deems 
        necessary governing its operation and organization.
    (b) Personnel.--The Director shall, in accordance with such 
policies as the Board shall prescribe, appoint and fix the compensation 
of such personnel as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 
this Act.

SEC. 5. ADVISORY COUNCIL.

    An Advisory Council will be established by the Board consisting of 
individuals who are most knowledgeable of the state-of-the-art of 
processes, methods, and needs for informing Congress of the opinions 
and values of the public. Membership, duties, provisions for chairman 
and vice-chairman, terms, expense allowances and compensation shall be 
similar to that of the Technology Assessment Advisory Council of the 
Office of Technology Assessment. The Council will advise the Board on 
research priorities and methods which are the most promising and cost 
effective to pursue and keep itself informed on the state-of-the-art of 
opinion research, including such developments as interactive TV, 
electronic fora and town meetings, computer network conferencing, and 
all methods for enhancing democracy in this and other countries.

SEC. 6. EXPERT PANELS.

    An expert, ad hoc panel will be set up by the Director for each 
survey to assist in the design and analysis. Members of these panels 
will be experts in the issues of the survey and represent a full range 
of scientific expertise, approaches, and viewpoints on alternative 
courses for dealing with the issue in its various aspects and including 
all major policy alternatives. A report will be prepared in a timely 
fashion at the conclusion of each survey including a master 
questionnaire, containing the questions as asked with frequencies or 
percentage responses, and an analysis prepared by the advisory panel 
with the assistance of in-house or contractor personnel.

SEC. 7. PUBLIC RELEASE.

    The survey report and all other survey data (including the 
methodology used and an analysis of the probable accuracy and estimates 
of the probable errors both because of sampling error and all other 
causes) will be made public in a timely manner to the news media and to 
organizations and individuals specializing in public policy or public 
opinion. The other survey data will be available in written form as a 
data book and in electronic form as complete data discs readable by 
personal computers suitable for statistical analysis in standard 
fashion and will be provided on request to anyone at a reasonable cost 
adequate to cover the full marginal cost of production and 
distribution.

SEC. 8. METHODOLOGY.

    The surveys will test the degree of public support for alternative 
policy proposals when the survey respondents are informed in a fair, 
balanced, and accurate manner with relevant facts. The surveys will not 
only test support for various policy proposals, but also seek to 
determine how important various pieces of information, including 
balanced sets of arguments for and against the proposal, turn out to be 
in determining that support. Depending on available funds to pay for 
the interviewing and analyzing of statistically adequate oversamples, 
some surveys will also endeavor to determine statistically significant 
differences between the national sample and State or district samples, 
particularly in those issue areas where particular regions, States, or 
districts are expected to have different opinions because of the nature 
of the issue.

SEC. 9. METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

    (a) In General.--The surveys will experiment with innovative 
technology, hardware, and software, including electronic media, digital 
and fiber optics networks, both with independent telephone interviewing 
and supplemented by and in conjunction with face-to-face interviewing 
and television programming that attempts to create the group 
interactivity, issue-defining, agenda-setting and consensus-building of 
what has come to be called the electronic town meeting, as any of these 
techniques and methodologies show promise of improving the ability of 
the Office to accomplish its purposes. The surveys will be designed not 
only to obtain the policy views of the public but also--
            (1) to test various concepts about how best to design, 
        formulate, word, and include in the survey as it is spoken, 
        shown, or read by interviewers, whether from CATI (Computer 
        Assisted Telephone Interviewing) screens or by other means, the 
        required factual information and pro and con arguments; and
            (2) to determine the direction and degree to which doing 
        this in different ways affects the results of the surveys.
    (b) Sensitivity Analysis Research.--Sensitivity analysis research 
will also be performed which will determine the degree to which 
imbalance in the amount and quality of factual information and in the 
bias created by cuing and permission language affects survey data. Such 
research shall be designed to lead to a better understanding of the 
affects of question design, menu choices, and implicit or unstated 
assumptions or survey researchers.
    (c) Interaction Testing.--Surveys will also test the degree of 
interaction that works best--i.e., is most informative of the public 
position--at different stages in the designers' understanding of the 
public view in the issue.

SEC. 10. APPROPRIATION FOR THE OFFICE AND PARTIAL RESCISSION OF 
              APPROPRIATIONS FOR SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
              MAIL COSTS.

    (a) Appropriation.--There is appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000 for the Congressional 
Office for Public Opinion Research and Assessment for fiscal year 1994.
    (b) Rescissions.--Of the funds appropriated in the Legislative 
Branch Appropriations Act, 1994, for the Senate under the heading 
``official mail costs'', there is rescinded the sum of $5,000,000. Of 
the funds appropriated in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 
1994, for the House of Representatives under the headings ``Salaries 
and Expenses'' and ``official mail costs'', there is rescinded the sum 
of $5,000,000.

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