[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 124 (Tuesday, October 5, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10443-S10445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FITZGERALD:
  S. 2898. A bill to require the review of Government programs at least 
once every 5 years for purposes of evaluating their performance; to the 
Committee on Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Program 
Assessment and Results Act, or ``PAR Act.'' This bill is a companion 
bill to H.R. 3826 that Congressman Todd Platts, Chairman of the House 
Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial 
Management, introduced on February 25, 2004.
  The PAR Act builds upon the reforms adopted by Congress in the early 
1990s, such as the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 
(GPRA). This bill would increase the effectiveness, and accountability 
of the Federal Government by requiring the review of Federal programs 
at least once every five years to evaluate their performance. 
Information obtained from these reviews would be incorporated in the 
President's budget requests and would assist Congress in its oversight 
and funding of Federal programs.
  The PAR Act would strengthen the program evaluation requirements 
under the strategic planning requirements of GPRA, the one area that 
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recognized as a government-
wide deficiency under GPRA. GAO found that most agencies were 
implementing the requirement for program evaluation merely by making 
lists of observations rather than presenting and analyzing performance 
data.
  To build upon the framework of reforms established by GPRA, the PAR 
Act would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to work 
with Federral agencies to carefully and periodically assess the 
strengths and

[[Page S10444]]

weaknesses of all Federal programs. This legislation would enable 
policy makers to compare data from different agents to determine how 
different programs with similar goals are achieving their results.
  The PAR Act would improve the accountability of Federal programs in a 
number of areas. Congress would be able to use this information to make 
more informed budget decisions and conduct more effective oversight. 
Federal managers would use the information to improve the way they 
manage programs. Moreover, taxpayers will be able to track the progress 
of these programs with more precision.
  The ultimate result of the PAR Act will be a more effective and 
efficient government. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to support 
passage of this legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in the Record 
following my remarks.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2898

       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 ``Program Assessment and 
     Results Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) inefficiency and ineffectiveness in Federal programs 
     undermines the confidence of the American people in the 
     Government and reduces the Federal Government's ability to 
     adequately address vital public needs;
       (2) insufficient information on program performance 
     seriously disadvantages Federal managers in their efforts to 
     improve program efficiency and effectiveness;
       (3) congressional policy making, spending decisions, and 
     program oversight are handicapped by insufficient attention 
     to program performance and results;
       (4) programs performing similar or duplicative functions 
     that exist within a single agency or across multiple agencies 
     should be identified and their performance and results shared 
     among all such programs to improve their performance and 
     results;
       (5) advocates of good government continue to seek ways to 
     improve accountability, focus on results, and integrate the 
     performance of programs with decisions about budgets;
       (6) with the passage of the Government Performance and 
     Results Act of 1993, the Congress directed the executive 
     branch to seek improvements in the effectiveness, efficiency, 
     and accountability of Federal programs by having agencies 
     focus on program results; and
       (7) the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 
     provided a strong framework for the executive branch to 
     monitor the long-term goals and annual performance of its 
     departments and agencies.

     SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

       The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to improve the Government Performance and Results Act 
     of 1993 by implementing a program assessment and evaluation 
     process that attempts to determine the strengths and 
     weaknesses of Federal programs with a particular focus on the 
     results produced by individual programs;
       (2) to use the information gathered in the assessment and 
     evaluation process to build on the groundwork laid in the 
     Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to help the 
     executive branch make informed management decisions and 
     evidence-based funding requests aimed at achieving positive 
     results; and
       (3) to provide congressional policy makers the information 
     needed to conduct more effective oversight, to make better-
     informed authorization decisions, and to make more evidence-
     based spending decisions that achieve positive results for 
     the American people.

     SEC. 4. PROGRAM ASSESSMENT.

       (a) Requirement for Program Assessments.--Chapter 11 of 
     title 31, United States Code, as amended by the Government 
     Performance and Results Act of 1993, is amended by adding at 
     the end the following new section:

     ``Sec. 1120. Program assessment

       ``(a) Assessment.--The Director of the Office of Management 
     and Budget to the maximum extent practicable shall conduct, 
     jointly with agencies of the Federal Government, an 
     assessment of each program at least once every 5 fiscal 
     years.
       ``(b) Assessment Requirements.--In conducting an assessment 
     of a program under subsection (a), the Director of the Office 
     of Management and Budget and the head of the relevant agency 
     shall--
       ``(1) coordinate to determine the programs to be assessed; 
     and
       ``(2) evaluate the purpose, design, strategic plan, 
     management, and results of the program, and such other 
     matters as the Director considers appropriate.
       ``(c) Criteria for Identifying Programs to Assess.--The 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall develop 
     criteria for identifying programs to be assessed each fiscal 
     year. In developing the criteria, the Director shall take 
     into account the advantages of assessing during the same 
     fiscal year any programs that are performing similar 
     functions, have similar purposes, or share common goals, such 
     as those contained in strategic plans under section 306 of 
     title 5. To the maximum extent possible, the Director shall 
     assess a representative sample of Federal spending each 
     fiscal year.
       ``(d) Criteria for More Frequent Assessments.--The Director 
     of the Office of Management and Budget shall make every 
     effort to assess programs more frequently than required under 
     subsection (a) in cases in which programs are determined to 
     be of higher priority, special circumstances exist, 
     improvements have been made, or the head of the relevant 
     agency and the Director determine that more frequent 
     assessment is warranted.
       ``(e) Publication.--At least 90 days before completing the 
     assessments under this section to be conducted during a 
     fiscal year, the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget shall--
       ``(1) make available in electronic form through the Office 
     of Management and Budget website or any successor website, 
     and provide to the Committee on Government Reform of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental 
     Affairs of the Senate--
       ``(A) a list of the programs to be assessed during that 
     fiscal year; and
       ``(B) the criteria that will be used to assess the 
     programs; and
       ``(2) provide a mechanism for interested persons to comment 
     on the programs being assessed and the criteria that will be 
     used to assess the programs.
       ``(f) Report.--(1) The results of the assessments conducted 
     during a fiscal year shall be submitted in a report to 
     Congress at the same time that the President submits the next 
     budget under section 1105 of this title after the end of that 
     fiscal year.
       ``(2) The report shall--
       ``(A) include the performance goals for each program 
     assessment;
       ``(B) specify the criteria used for each assessment;
       ``(C) describe the results of each assessment, including 
     any significant limitation in the assessments;
       ``(D) describe significant modifications to the Federal 
     Government performance plan required under section 
     1105(a)(28) of this title made as a result of the 
     assessments; and
       ``(E) be available in electronic form through the Office of 
     Management and Budget website or any successor website.
       ``(g) Classified Information.--(1) With respect to program 
     assessments conducted during a fiscal year that contain 
     classified information, the President shall submit on the 
     same date as the report is submitted under subsection (f)--
       ``(A) a copy of each such assessment (including the 
     classified information), to the appropriate committees of 
     jurisdiction of the House of Representatives and the Senate; 
     and
       ``(B) consistent with statutory law governing the 
     disclosure of classified information, an appendix containing 
     a list of each such assessment and the committees to which a 
     copy of the assessment was submitted under subparagraph (A), 
     to the Committee on Government Reform of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of 
     the Senate.
       ``(2) Upon request from the Committee on Government Reform 
     of the House of Representatives or the Committee on 
     Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Director of the 
     Office of Management and Budget shall, consistent with 
     statutory law governing the disclosure of classified 
     information, provide to the Committee a copy of--
       ``(A) any assessment described in subparagraph (A) of 
     paragraph (1) (including any assessment not listed in any 
     appendix submitted under subparagraph (B) of such paragraph); 
     and
       ``(B) any appendix described in subparagraph (B) of 
     paragraph (1).
       ``(3) In this subsection, the term `classified information' 
     refers to matters described in section 552(b)(1)(A) of title 
     5.
       ``(h) Inherently Governmental Functions.--The functions and 
     activities authorized or required by this section shall be 
     considered inherently Governmental functions and shall be 
     performed only by Federal employees.
       ``(i) Termination.--This section shall not be in effect 
     after September 30, 2013.''.
       (b) Guidance.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget shall prescribe guidance to implement 
     the requirements of section 1120 of title 31, United States 
     Code, as added by subsection (a), including guidance on a 
     definition of the term ``program''.
       (c) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--
       (1) Section 1115(g) of title 31, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``1119'' and inserting ``1120''.
       (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 11 of 
     title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:

``1120. Program assessment.''.

     SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLANNING AMENDMENTS.

       (a) Change in Deadline for Strategic Plan.--Subsection (a) 
     of section 306 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
     striking ``No later than September 30, 1997,'' and inserting 
     ``Not later than September 30 of each year following a year 
     in which an election for President occurs, beginning with 
     September 30, 2005, ''.

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       (b) Change in Period of Coverage of Strategic Plan.--
     Subsection (b) of section 306 of title 5, United States Code, 
     is amended to read as follows:
       ``(b) Each strategic plan shall cover the 4-year period 
     beginning on October 1 of the year following a year in which 
     an election for President occurs.''.

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