[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3479 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3479

 To eliminate duplicative Government programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To eliminate duplicative Government programs, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Scrapping Unsustainable Redundant 
Programs Leaves Us Solvent Act of 2009'' or the ``SURPLUS Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) reduce America's debt, now more than 
        $11,000,000,000,000 dollars;
            (2) eliminate duplicative Government programs, streamlining 
        the way Government operates;
            (3) secure, for effective programs, the necessary 
        resources; and
            (4) reduce the overall size of the Federal Government.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of 
        Defense, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Energy, 
        the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
        Development, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 
        Labor, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, 
        the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Program.--The term ``program'' means any program or 
        initiative housed within a department or agency headed by a 
        Secretary (as defined in paragraph (1)).

SEC. 4. STUDY OF EXISTING FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAMS.

    (a) Study.--Each Secretary shall conduct a study to determine if 
any Federal program within the department or agency concerned is 
duplicative of one or more other Federal programs under the authority 
of the department or agency as of the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 12 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, each Secretary shall submit to Congress and make 
available to the public a report that contains the results of the study 
required under subsection (a).

SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF DUPLICATIVE PROGRAMS.

    (a) Requirement To Terminate Duplicative Programs.--Except as 
provided in subsection (b), if a Secretary determines under section 
4(a) that any program is duplicative of one or more other Federal 
programs within the department or agency concerned, the Secretary 
shall, to the maximum extent appropriate, terminate the duplicative 
Federal program, or consolidate the program with other programs 
performing similar functions, not later than 180 days after the date of 
the submission of the report under section 4(b).
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to any program that 
is required or authorized by statute.
    (c) Duplicative Program.--For purposes of this section, a program 
shall be considered duplicative of another program if--
            (1) in the case of a grant program, the Secretary concerned 
        determines that the purpose of the program is to benefit a 
        specific group of persons that is identical to or substantially 
        similar to a group of persons that is eligible for another 
        grant program; and
            (2) in the case of any other program, the Secretary 
        concerned determines that the program is performing the same 
        essential function as another program.
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