[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4409 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4409

  To provide for reforming and consolidating agencies of the Federal 
    Government to improve efficiency and save money, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 19, 2012

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for reforming and consolidating agencies of the Federal 
    Government to improve efficiency and save money, 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 ``Government Agency Reform Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Partially as a result of unnecessary Federal spending, 
        the United States national debt is over $15 trillion.
            (2) Bureaucratic complexity and redundancy waste time and 
        money for consumers, businesses, and taxpayers.
            (3) In March 2011, the Government Accountability Office 
        released a report entitled ``Opportunities to Reduce Potential 
        Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and 
        Enhance Revenue'' that identifies areas where greater 
        efficiencies could be found in Government operations. Some of 
        the findings include:
                    (A) Seven different Federal agencies have programs 
                dedicated to meeting the water needs in the United 
                States-Mexico border region.
                    (B) There are 82 Federal programs dedicated to 
                improving teacher quality.
                    (C) There are 56 programs in 20 different Federal 
                agencies designed to target financial literacy.
                    (D) There are 80 Federal programs to boost 
                transportation opportunities for disadvantaged 
                individuals.
                    (E) There are over 20 programs in seven different 
                Federal agencies working to combat homelessness.
            (4) The Department of Commerce's core business and trade 
        functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the 
        United States Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the 
        Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the United States 
        Trade and Development Agency all serve important, but sometimes 
        overlapping functions for consumers and businesses in the 
        United States. Consolidating these agencies could save $3 
        billion and eliminate over 1,000 duplicative Federal jobs while 
        improving the service provided to taxpayers and consumers.
            (5) The Federal Government provides important services that 
        can be improved while saving money by consolidating and 
        reforming Federal agencies.

SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATION AUTHORITY.

    (a) Efficiency-Enhancing Plan Defined.--Section 902 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) `efficiency-enhancing plan' means a reorganization 
        plan that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
        determines will result in, or is likely to result in--
                    ``(A) a decrease in the number of agencies; and
                    ``(B) cost savings in performing the functions that 
                are the subject of that plan.''.
    (b) Modernizing Reorganization Authority.--Section 905(a)(1) of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking the following: ``or 
renaming an existing executive department, abolishing or transferring 
an executive department or independent regulatory agency, or all the 
functions thereof, or consolidating two or more executive departments 
or two or more independent regulatory agencies, or all the functions 
thereof''.

SEC. 4. DURATION AND SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Section 905(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ``if the plan'' and all that follows and inserting 
the following: ``if the plan is--
            ``(1) transmitted to Congress (in accordance with section 
        903(b)) on or before the date that is 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of the Government Agency Reform Act of 2012; and
            ``(2) an efficiency-enhancing plan.''.
    (b) Exercise of Rulemaking Power.--Section 908(1) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ``December 31, 1984'' and 
inserting ``the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of the 
Government Agency Reform Act of 2012''.
                                 <all>