[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 172 (Tuesday, December 21, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8860-H8861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               GPRA MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2010--Continued

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas is recognized.
  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Speaker, again, I want to thank the ranking 
member. The letter was written by Robert Shea who worked with President 
Bush. It was written in June of this year. Mr. Shea still supports the 
bill as it has been passed by the Senate.
  Again, when the bill first passed here, this was a bill that did get 
some changes. I believe the major change that the gentleman is 
referring to is a provision that he authored that would have required 
agencies to evaluate performance goals twice a year. Those provisions 
added significantly to the cost of the bill. And when this bill first 
passed the House, it had a $150 million cost. By taking those 
provisions, it was reduced down to $75 million, which is $15 million a 
year.
  This is a bipartisan bill that updates the 1993 legislation. The 
original cosponsors include myself, several other Members, including 
Congressman Platts and Congressman McCaul. And in the Senate, Senate 
supporters that we have are Voinovich; Collins; Warner, who took the 
lead on this, Akaka, Senator Lieberman, and basically Senator Coburn 
who had an amendment. So this is a bipartisan bill. It will not add a 
single penny to the deficit. In fact, it will save taxpayers' dollars. 
I urge support of it.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that we now suspend 
these and go to the bill that has been received from the Senate. 
Obviously, the American people are desperately waiting to see us fund a 
government that is going without money as of midnight tonight and 
respectfully say that it is appropriate to take up the business of the 
funding of this government at this time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would entertain such a request 
only if the gentleman from Texas yields for that purpose.
  Mr. ISSA. Will the gentleman from Texas yield for the important work 
of the American people?
  Mr. CUELLAR. I certainly yield.
  Mr. ISSA. I hereby make the motion that we do suspend the proceedings 
and go to----
  Mr. CUELLAR. But I do object.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend.
  The Chair did not hear the response of the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. CUELLAR. The gentleman objects.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Objection is heard.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California to reclaim his 
time.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his point his 
order.
  Mr. ISSA. I believe that the gentleman from Texas yielded time upon 
your request that you would only consider my request to move to the 
business of appropriating for this current fiscal year. That motion is 
still there. He yielded. I would like that motion to be heard that we 
suspend this and move to the business of appropriations for this fiscal 
year.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair heard objection to the unanimous 
consent request from the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ISSA. I hereby move--not unanimous consent--that we do so. I make 
a motion that we suspend and that we move to the business of the 
American people's funding for this fiscal year.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair advises the gentleman that such a 
motion is not admissible.
  The Chair continues to recognizes the gentleman from California for 
purposes of debate on the pending motion to concur.
  Mr. ISSA. I thank the Speaker.
  Madam Speaker, when Robert Johnson Shea recommended this bill before 
us, it wasn't this bill before us. This is a completely different bill, 
dramatically changed. So I believe that when people who will come and 
vote on this consider this, they should discount completely a 
recommendation from a Bush administration official that speaks to a 
bill that Mr. Cuellar authored which bears very little resemblance to 
this one.
  As I said earlier, this bill today simply puts into statute what the 
President is already on an elective basis doing, ties the hands of a 
future President without providing any new authority for the President 
to do a better job.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Speaker, Mr. Shea, a Bush appointee, supports this 
bill even as it has passed the Senate. Again, this is a bipartisan bill 
supported by both Democrats and Republicans. I ask support of this 
bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I think all was said that needed to be said 
in the 15 minutes a side last week. The only thing that can yet be said 
in my closing is we are better than this, Madam Speaker. We should not 
accept something on a closed rule without any possibility of amendment 
when in fact the Senate took what we had passed, completely amended it, 
and sent it back completely different.
  Madam Speaker, I know that process is not something that is often 
talked about on this floor as though it is important. But, Madam 
Speaker, in the next Congress it is clear that process is important, 
that debate and deliberation is important, that we not simply take what 
the Senate takes, allow them to change it completely, send it back to 
us bearing no resemblance, and not have a conference.
  If this bill is so important, as Mr. Cuellar says, that it be passed 
in a lame duck session, then Madam Speaker, isn't it so important that 
it should have gone through a conference process or at least that the 
Senate or House leaders would have come to the committee of 
jurisdiction and at least asked us what needed to be changed in order 
to get our support? They didn't have that support.
  Like any bill, you will pick off a few Texans for a Texan's bill, or 
you will pick off a few Members, that doesn't make it bipartisan. It 
certainly wasn't

[[Page H8861]]

bicameral when, in fact, Mr. Cuellar's bill was rewritten in the 
Senate; written by the White House, as far as I can tell, to look more 
like his budget process procedures that he printed back in February; 
sent back to us so that we could make in statute what the President 
chooses to do.
  Madam Speaker, we are better than that. In the next Congress, I 
certainly believe that if the House and the Senate have differences of 
opinions, it is appropriate that it be worked out through a process of 
conference and not simply take what the Senate sends in a closed rule 
without anything but meaningless debate. And, Madam Speaker, debate 
without the opportunity to change one line is simply talking about a 
foregone conclusion that last Friday the votes were counted.
  With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time 
hopefully for this lame duck session.
  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for being brief. I 
appreciate his consideration.
  I wrote my dissertation on performance-based budgets in a comparative 
study of 50 States. I added about 99 percent of all the performance-
based budgeting in Texas right before President Bush was the Governor 
there.
  I know this legislation, and this legislation is probably the largest 
change we have had since 1993. Members, this is a bipartisan bill 
supported by both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the 
Senate. So, Madam Speaker, again, I urge all Members to support H.R. 
2142.
  Mr. PLATTS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this Senate-House 
compromise legislation, which takes important steps to eliminate 
Federal Government waste. For 4 years I served as the Chairman of the 
Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Management, 
Finance, and Accountability, where I focused my efforts on making the 
Federal Government more accountable. My Subcommittee held numerous 
hearings in which, all too often, accounting errors such as overpayment 
for services or redundant payments were discovered or where programs 
were not effectively fulfilling their intended mission.
  At a time when the national debt is nearly $14 trillion, it has never 
been more apparent that the Federal Government must spend taxpayer 
dollars wisely. Federal programs must be monitored to ensure that our 
investments are presenting clear results and those programs that are 
not performing effectively must be reformed or eliminated. One of the 
reasons that we find ourselves in such substantial debt today is that 
Federal programs never end. Both high-performing and low-performing 
programs continue on, year after year, often with increasing funds. The 
Federal Government needs a clear evaluation process for each program, 
the results of which would be used to provide legislators with the 
information they need to determine which programs should continue on 
and which should not.
  The legislation we are considering today, similar to legislation that 
I introduced in the 108th Congress, H.R. 3826, and the 109th Congress, 
H.R. 185, would require that all Federal agencies work with the Office 
of Management and Budget, OMB, to clearly identify outcome-based goals 
and then submit an action plan to achieve these goals. Agencies would 
be required to conduct quarterly performance assessments outlining how 
effectively they are working to meet the stated goals, and all 
information would be made available to Congress and the American 
people.
  In addition, the Government Accountability Office, GAO, would be 
tasked with performing frequent and detailed evaluations outlining how 
effective the agency has been in achieving their stated goals. This 
impartial review of Federal programs will assure that agencies are 
being good stewards of our Federal taxpayer dollars.
  I commend Representative Cuellar for introducing this bill to ensure 
that Federal resources are spent efficiently and waste is minimized. 
Now more than ever, while American families are cutting extraneous 
expenses from their budgets, the Federal Government must do the same. I 
hope that all of my colleagues will join with me in supporting this 
important effort.
  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2142, the 
Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance Improvement Act. 
I applaud Representative Cuellar for his Herculean efforts in getting 
this bill through the process.
  This is a common sense bill that will improve the performance of the 
Federal Government. This bill was approved by the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform by voice vote on May 20, 2010. The 
House passed the bill by voice vote on June 16, 2010. The Senate 
amended the bill and passed it by unanimous consent on December 16, 
2010.
  H.R. 2142 modernizes and strengthens the Government Performance and 
Results Act of 1993. This bill requires the Office of Management and 
Budget to develop governmentwide priority goals that cut across agency 
programs. This will help agencies work together to reduce duplication 
and improve efficiencies.
  This bill requires each agency to identify performance goals and to 
perform frequent performance reviews. This will provide agencies and 
Congress with the information needed to make responsible decisions 
regarding priorities and resources. The Senate amendments to the bill 
will improve the transparency of the performance management process by 
establishing a single website that will allow Congress and members of 
the public to access the results of performance assessments.
  This legislation provides greater accountability by requiring 
agencies to consider input from Congress and members of the public when 
developing priorities and by requiring the Government Accountability 
Office to report to Congress on agency implementation of this 
legislation.
  The Senate amendments retain important provisions from the House-
passed bill establishing performance improvement officers at each 
agency and establishing a performance improvement council. These are 
not new ideas as they were required by an Executive Order issued by 
President George W. Bush. Putting these provisions, as well as the rest 
of this bill in statute will provide a certain framework for both the 
current and future administrations.
  A vote in favor of this bill is a vote in favor of an efficient, 
effective government. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

                              {time}  1520

  Mr. CUELLAR. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 1781, the previous question is ordered.
  The question is on the motion by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Cuellar).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of today, 
further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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