[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 315 Introduced in House (IH)]







111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 315

To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal 
                               agencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 8, 2009

 Mr. Cuellar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal 
                               agencies.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Customer Service Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND STANDARDS FOR CUSTOMER 
              SERVICE PROVIDED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    (a) Requirement.--
            (1) Performance measures and standards.--The Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget shall develop--
                    (A) performance measures to determine whether 
                Federal agencies are providing high-quality customer 
                service; and
                    (B) standards to be met by Federal agencies in 
                order to provide high-quality customer service.
            (2) Requirement to take into account certain information.--
        The standards under paragraph (1) shall be developed after 
        taking into account the information collected by Federal 
        agencies under subsection (b).
    (b) Customer Service Input.--The head of each Federal agency shall 
collect information from its customers regarding the quality of 
customer services provided by the agency. The information shall be 
collected through a survey, focus groups, or other appropriate methods. 
Each Federal agency shall include this information in its performance 
report submitted under section 1116 of title 31, United States Code.
    (c) Annual Report.--The Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall issue an annual report on the success of Federal agencies 
in meeting the customer service performance measures and standards 
developed under subsection (a).

SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS.

    (a) Customer Relations Representative.--The head of each Federal 
agency shall designate an employee to be the customer relations 
representative of the agency. Such representative shall be responsible 
for implementing the customer service standards developed under section 
2 and the agency requirements under subsection (b).
    (b) Agency Requirements.--
            (1) Guidelines and contact information.--
                    (A) In general.--The head of each Federal agency, 
                acting through its customer relations representative, 
                shall--
                            (i) issue guidelines to implement the 
                        customer service standards developed under 
                        section 2 within the agency, including specific 
                        principles of customer service applicable to 
                        that agency; and
                            (ii) publish customer service contact 
                        information, including a mailing address, 
                        telephone number, and e-mail address.
                    (B) Availability.--The guidelines and the customer 
                service contact information required under this 
                paragraph shall be available on the agency's public 
                website.
            (2) Stationery requirements.--Each Federal agency shall 
        include its address and phone number on any agency stationery. 
        In the case of correspondence originating from a regional or 
        local office of a Federal agency, the agency shall include the 
        address and phone number of the regional or local office on the 
        stationery.

SEC. 4. REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than two years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate a report analyzing the information reported by 
agencies under section 2(b).
    (b) Matters Covered.--The report shall include--
            (1) whether agencies are implementing the customer service 
        standards;
            (2) whether there is an increase in overall quality in 
        customer service in the Federal Government; and
            (3) any recommendations the Comptroller General may have to 
        improve performance measures and standards for customer service 
        in the Federal Government.
    (c) Use of Report.--The report may be used by Congress as well as 
the Director of Office of Management and Budget to update performance 
measures for customer service.

SEC. 5. INCENTIVES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.

    (a) Award Program.--The head of a Federal agency may establish an 
awards program to pay a cash award under chapter 45 of title 5, United 
States Code, to employees for demonstrated excellence in customer 
service.
    (b) Performance Appraisal.--Compliance with customer service 
standards developed under this Act shall, to the extent practicable, be 
an element of a performance appraisal system referred to in section 
5307(d) of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``customer'', with respect to a Federal 
        agency, means any individual or entity, including a business, 
        State or local government, other Federal agency, or Congress, 
        to which the agency provides services or information.
            (2) The term ``Federal agency'' has the meaning given the 
        term ``Executive agency'' by section 105 of title 5, United 
        States Code, except that the term does not include an agency if 
        the President determines that this Act should not apply to the 
        agency for national security reasons.
                                 <all>