[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 31, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5207-H5209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GOVERNMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2013
Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1660) to require the establishment of Federal customer
service standards and to improve the service provided by Federal
agencies, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1660
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 Customer Service
Improvement Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency''--
(A) means an Executive agency (as defined under section 105
of title 5, United States Code) that provides significant
services directly to the public or other entity; and
(B) does not include an Executive agency if the President
determines that this Act should not apply to the Executive
agency for national security reasons.
(2) Customer.--The term ``customer'', with respect to an
agency, means any individual or entity that is directly
served by an agency.
SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS.
(a) Government-Wide Standards.--
(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall develop Government-wide standards for
customer service delivery, which shall be included in the
Federal Government Performance Plan required under section
1115 of title 31, United States Code.
(2) Requirements.--The standards developed under paragraph
(1) shall include--
(A) Government-wide goals for continuous service
improvements and efforts to modernize service delivery; and
(B) where appropriate, Government-wide target response
times for telephone calls, electronic mail, mail, benefit
processing, and payments.
(b) Agency Standards.--
(1) In general.--The Performance Improvement Officer for
each agency shall establish customer service standards in
accordance with the Government-wide standards developed under
subsection (a), which shall be included in the Agency
Performance Plans required under section 1115 of title 31,
United States Code.
(2) Requirements.--Agency standards established under
paragraph (1) shall include, if appropriate--
(A) target call wait times during peak and non-peak hours;
(B) target response times for correspondence, both by mail
and electronic mail;
(C) procedures for ensuring all applicable metrics are
incorporated into service agreements with nongovernmental
individuals and entities;
(D) target response times for processing benefits and
making payments; and
(E) recommendations for effective publication of customer
service contact information, including a mailing address,
telephone number, and email address.
(c) Customer Service Input.--
(1) Establishment.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall establish a Customer Service
Feedback Pilot Program. The pilot program shall include
participation by the Internal Revenue Service and a minimum
of two additional agencies selected by the Director and shall
continue for a period of at least three years. The Director
shall require participating agencies to implement a customer
service feedback system to collect information from customers
of the agency regarding the quality of customer service
provided by the agency, including--
(A) information on the extent to which agency performance
complies with the Government-wide standards developed under
subsection (a); and
(B) feedback on the quality of customer service provided by
the agency employee or employees with whom the customer
interacted.
(2) Limitation.--An agency may not publish or make
publically available information collected under the feedback
system that is specific to a named employee.
(3) Additional information in performance report.--In
developing the performance report made available by the
agency under section 1116 of title 31, United States Code,
each agency--
(A) shall include the information collected under this
subsection; and
(B) may include aggregate data collected under paragraph
(1)(B) without including names of specific agency employees.
(4) Report to congress on customer service feedback pilot
program.--Not later than two years after the implementation
of the Customer Service Feedback Pilot Program established
under this subsection, the Comptroller General shall submit
to Congress a report assessing the pilot program and a
recommendation on whether such program should be expanded
Government-wide.
(d) Annual Performance Update.--The Director of the Office
of Management and Budget shall include achievements by
agencies in meeting the customer service performance
standards developed under subsection (a) in each update on
agency performance required under section 1116 of title 31,
United States Code.
SEC. 4. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.
Compliance with customer service standards developed under
this Act shall be included in employee appraisal systems
establish by agencies, including the performance appraisal
systems referred to in chapter 43 of title 5, United States
Code.
SEC. 5. SERVICE IMPROVEMENT UNIT PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) Established.--The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall establish a pilot program, to be known as
the Service Improvement Unit Pilot Program (in this section
referred to as the ``pilot program''), to provide assistance
to agencies that do not meet the Government-wide standards
developed under section 3.
[[Page H5208]]
(b) Personnel.--The heads of agencies with expertise in
change management, process improvement, and information
technology innovation shall detail employees to the Office of
Management and Budget to work on the pilot program, based on
the expertise and skills required to address service
improvement goals.
(c) Responsibilities.--Under the pilot program, the Office
of Management and Budget shall work with agencies that are
not meeting the customer service standards developed under
section 3 to improve and modernize service delivery to
develop solutions, including--
(1) evaluating the efforts of the agency to improve service
delivery;
(2) developing a plan to improve within existing resources
and by drawing on expertise and assistance from other
agencies (including the Office of Management and Budget)
where necessary;
(3) monitoring implementation by the agency of the plan
developed under paragraph (2) until the customer service
standards are met; and
(4) submitting to the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget monthly reports on the progress being made to
improve service at the agency until the customer service
standards are met.
(d) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall submit to Congress a report on
the accomplishments and outcomes of the pilot program and any
recommendations relating to achieving the customer service
standards developed under section 3.
(e) Support.--The Administrator of General Services shall
provide administrative and other support in order to
implement the pilot program under this section. The heads of
agencies shall, as appropriate and to the extent permitted by
law, provide at the request of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget up to 2 personnel authorizations who
have expertise in change management, process improvement, and
information technology innovation to support the pilot
program.
(f) Termination.--The authority to carry out the pilot
program shall terminate 2 years after the date of enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 6. RETIREMENT REPORTING.
(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``agency'' has
the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United
States Code.
(b) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2) and
not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, and every month thereafter, the Director of the Office
of Personnel Management shall submit to Congress and the
Comptroller General of the United States, and issue publicly
(including on the website of the Office of Personnel
Management), a report that--
(A) for each agency, evaluates the timeliness,
completeness, and accuracy of information submitted by the
agency relating to employees of the agency who are retiring;
and
(B) indicates--
(i) the total number of applications for retirement
benefits, lump sum death benefits, court ordered benefits,
phased retirement, and disability retirement that are pending
action by the Office of Personnel Management; and
(ii) the number of months each such application has been
pending.
(2) Suspension of reporting requirement.--Paragraph (1)
shall not apply to the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management for any month immediately following an 18-month
period in which the average processing time of applications
described in paragraph (1)(B) reaches 90 days or less.
(c) Modernization Timeline.--The Director of the Office of
Personnel Management shall establish--
(1) a timetable for the completion of each component of the
customer-focused retirement processing system of the Office
of Personnel Management, including all data elements required
for accurate completion of adjudication; and
(2) the date by which all Federal payroll processing
entities will electronically transmit all personnel data to
the Office of Personnel Management.
(d) Budget Request.--The Office of Personnel Management
shall include a detailed statement regarding the progress of
the Office of Personnel Management in completing the
customer-focused retirement processing system of the Office
of Personnel Management in each budget request of the Office
of Personnel Management submitted as part of the preparation
of the budget of the President submitted to Congress under
section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 7. NO INCREASE IN EXPENDITURES.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out this Act.
This Act shall be carried out using amounts otherwise
authorized or appropriated.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Lynch) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.
General Leave
Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Americans depend on Federal agencies for certain vital services.
Failure by Federal agencies and employees to process in a timely manner
requests for help or information can result in frustration and
financial hardship.
Poor customer service should not be tolerated at the IRS any more
than it is at the private sector companies that must continually earn
the right to serve its clients.
H.R. 1660 helps ensure our government is more responsive to the
public by establishing customer service standards and performance
expectations for each agency. It will enable citizens to provide direct
feedback concerning specific agency employees--including at the IRS--
and have that feedback considered in employee evaluations that impact
the awarding of bonuses.
H.R. 1660 puts taxpayers first by holding Federal workers accountable
for their interactions with the public.
I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1660, the
Government Customer Service Improvement Act, and I yield myself such
time as I may consume. I thank Representative Cuellar, my friend from
Texas, for his leadership and his persistence in advocating for this
bill.
The Federal Government provides services that significantly impact
the American people. There are many dedicated Federal employees who
perform their jobs with professionalism and distinction.
But there are areas in need of improvement. For instance, the
Department of Veterans Affairs takes an average of 243 days to process
a disability claim, and that is unacceptable.
This legislation would require the Office of Management and Budget to
establish government-wide standards for customer service delivery,
including target response times for phone calls, emails, letters,
benefits processing, and payments.
I thank the chairman of the full committee for working with me during
the committee's consideration of this bill. The bill we are considering
today includes a pilot project to evaluate customer feedback systems.
This was a compromise that will provide a more limited application than
requiring every agency to institute their own individual feedback
system. I hope the chairman will continue to work with us and all
Members on both sides in moving this bill as we go through this
legislative process. It is important that we ensure that the bill can
achieve its intended purposes without negatively impacting the ability
of Federal employees to do their jobs.
H.R. 1660 is a good government bill in the truest sense.
At this point, I would like to yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar), the principal sponsor of this
bill.
Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the gentleman from
Massachusetts for his time, the gentleman from North Carolina also, and
I certainly want to thank Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Cummings, and
the staff, both the Democratic and Republican staff, for helping pass
this bill out of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and all
the work and the compromises we worked out to make sure that we got a
bipartisan bill.
The primary goal of the Federal Government is to serve taxpayers.
Currently, U.S. law does not require Federal agencies customer service
standards, which is long overdue.
Every day taxpayers interact with the Federal Government on a regular
basis, whether it is through the passport services to travel, student
loans through the Direct Loan Program to pay for higher education,
health insurance under Medicare to get benefits, or Social Security for
retirement planning. All these services are vital to operate a good
government, especially in times when Americans are relying more on
these types of services.
Too often we hear veterans are waiting months to get critical medical
[[Page H5209]]
services or Federal employees experience long waits for their
retirement benefits. These are just two examples, but millions of
Americans rely on Federal agencies for vital services, which is why we
must usher in a new chapter to accelerate response time and overall
performance for better customer experience.
With only one-third of Americans holding a favorable opinion of the
Federal Government, according to a 2012 report from the Pew Research
Center, this is a necessity that we must change. The bill is simple and
necessary.
First of all, H.R. 1660 improves customer service standards across
the board. It does this by requiring the Office of Management and
Budget, the OMB, to develop performance standards to determine whether
Federal agencies are providing high-quality customer service and
improving service delivery to agency customers.
Second, the bill raises the bar for enhancing quality and access for
customer service. This is accomplished by requiring agencies to collect
information from their customers regarding the quality of service and
ensures that there is customer feedback, which will be used to develop
the standards.
This bill also requires the development of a customer service
feedback system, the results of which must be included in annual
performance reports. Just like the private sector strives to provide
excellent customer service in business, the Federal Government should
also embed better service to bring efficiency.
H.R. 1660 has no cost.
This bill also has precedent. We passed this last session, and now we
are hoping that with enough time that we are passing this, we'll get it
over to the Senate so we can get it passed.
This effort to examine agency customer service is also bicameral.
Senator Warner and Senator Johnson dropped a companion bipartisan bill,
as well.
H.R. 1660 seeks to operate a better Federal Government to provide the
taxpayers--who fund them--better quality service, which they deserve.
I thank you for the time, and I encourage my colleagues to support
and pass this bill.
Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas
for his foresight in bringing forth this bill. I certainly appreciate
the fact that we need to be providing better customer service to those
who call in and talk to employees on a regular basis. I commend the
gentleman from Texas for that.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LYNCH. At this point, I have no further speakers, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, we have had some vigorous debate. Really
what this is about is the American people back home. It is about doing
the responsible thing for them to see that government actually works
and that we are willing to stand up with the people back home to do
what is best and right and return government back to ``we the people.''
It has been great to hear some of the arguments from my colleagues
opposite. I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts, the passion with
which he has argued these points; and I look forward to working with
him in a bipartisan way on some of these issues that he has
highlighted.
I urge all the Members to join me in support of this bill, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1660, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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