[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 27885-27887]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT AMENDMENTS

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3137) to amend the Presidential Transaction Act of 1963 to 
provide for training of individuals a President-elect intends to 
nominate as department heads or appoint to key positions in the 
Executive Office of the President.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3137

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963.

       Section 3(a) of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (3 
     U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking 
     ``including--'' and inserting ``including the following:'';
       (2) in each of paragraphs (1) through (6) by striking the 
     semicolon at the end and inserting a period; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(8)(A) Payment of expenses during the transition for 
     briefings, workshops, or other activities to acquaint key 
     prospective Presidential appointees with the types of 
     problems and challenges that most typically confront new 
     political appointees when they make the transition from 
     campaign and other prior activities to assuming the 
     responsibility for governance after inauguration, including 
     interchange with individuals who held similar leadership 
     roles in prior administrations, agency or department experts 
     from the Office of Management and Budget or an Office of 
     Inspector General of an agency or department, and relevant 
     staff from the General Accounting Office.
       ``(B) Activities funded under this paragraph shall be 
     conducted primarily for individuals the President-elect 
     intends to nominate as department heads or appoint to key 
     positions in the Executive Office of the President.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Horn) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn).

[[Page 27886]]




                             General Leave

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H.R. 3137.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, over the years, there have been many examples of 
missteps and outright mistakes, regardless of party, that have been 
made by newly appointed officials in the executive branch of the 
Government and the White House. Sometimes the errors tumble out in 
misstatements of ill-advised recommendations; at other times they have 
resulted in ethical lapses by appointees who were unaware of the 
requirements of Federal law in their specific Cabinet position or 
independent office.
  Many of these mistakes are made by well-meaning individuals and might 
have been avoided if the appointees had received a timely orientation 
on the scope of their new responsibilities and the environment in which 
they were entering. The Presidential Transition Act Amendment of 1999, 
which is being considered today, would help ensure that these 
orientations take place early in a new administration.
  The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 was designed to assist both 
incoming and outgoing administrations bridge the transition period from 
the election, to holding the office and from leaving the office. The 
act provides Federal funding to help incoming Presidents and Vice 
Presidents establish their new administrations, and it assists 
departing Presidents and Vice Presidents in their return to private 
life.
  In 1976 Congress amended the Presidential Transition Act to increase 
transition funding. In 1988 Congress passed the Presidential 
Transitions Effectiveness Act, which again increased funding and 
included a provision allowing for annual adjustments for inflation.
  H.R. 3137 would amend the Presidential Transition Act to authorize 
the use of these transition funds to set up a formal orientation 
process for incoming senior appointees of the newly elected President 
and Vice President. Incoming administrations may only use transition 
funds from the day after the elections until 30 days after the 
inauguration. By establishing a formal orientation process for senior 
appointees within that time frame, it is anticipated that a greater 
number of lower level appointees might also receive orientations early 
in the new administration.
  On October 13, 1999, the Subcommittee on Government Management, 
Information, and Technology, which I chair, held a legislative hearing 
on H.R. 3137, the Presidential Transition Act Amendment of 1999. The 
subcommittee heard from a number of distinguished witnesses, each of 
whom supported this legislation. For example, the Honorable Elliott 
Richardson, former Attorney General to President Nixon, holder of at 
least five cabinet positions; and the Honorable Lee White, former 
Assistant Counsel to President Kennedy and counsel to President 
Johnson, both testified that a formal orientation process would have 
been beneficial to them and their executive branch colleagues.
  Their position was supported by three other witnesses who have spent 
years observing presidential transitions. Mr. Dwight Ink, former acting 
director of the Office of Management and Budget; Mr. Paul Light, 
director of the Center for Public Service at The Brookings Institution; 
Mr. Norman J. Ornstein, the resident scholar at the American Enterprise 
Institute for Public Policy Research.
  Additional written testimony was provided by General Andrew 
Goodpastor, when, as a young officer in the Army, he was appointed by 
President Eisenhower as Staff Secretary in the Executive Office of the 
President; the Honorable Pendleton James, former director of 
Presidential Personnel to President Reagan; and one of America's most 
distinguished gentleman; the Honorable John Gardner, who had been 
Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare during the Johnson 
administration.
  Each of these former White House appointees, presidential appointees, 
stated that establishing a timely orientation process would ensure a 
smooth executive branch transition.
  On October 26, 1999, the subcommittee held a business meeting to mark 
up H.R. 3137, the Presidential Transition Act Amendment of 1999. The 
subcommittee unanimously approved by voice vote H.R. 3137, as amended, 
and reported the bill to the full Committee on Government Reform.
  On October 28, 1999, the full committee held a business meeting to 
mark up H.R. 3137. The committee unanimously approved H.R. 3137 by 
voice vote and reported the bill to the full House of Representatives.
  This bill is an important step toward providing well-informed 
advisers for a President and Vice President-elect. I urge my colleagues 
to support this bipartisan measure, which will permit these appointees 
to be briefed by members of the Executive Office of the President, by 
inspectors general, by long-serving experts in the General Accounting 
Office, and by members of the outgoing administration and other 
administrations. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan 
measure.
  The letter from Dr. John W. Gardner is attached.

                                              Stanford University,


                                          School of Education,

                                   Stanford, CA, October 18, 1999.
     Hon. Steven Horn,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information 
         and Technology, Washington, DC.
       Dear Steve: I'm extremely sorry that I could not accept 
     your invitation to testify on the Presidential Transition 
     bill. I am very heavily burdened at this time.
       But I want you to know that I strongly support the 
     legislation. I have closely observed nine presidential 
     transitions, and five of them involved a really major influx 
     of new people.
       I supported the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, but it 
     clearly needs the improvement that the new legislation would 
     provide.
       Sorry I couldn't be with you in person.
           Sincerely,
                                                  John W. Gardner.

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3137 and urge its 
passage today. I want to commend the gentleman from California 
(Chairman Horn) and the ranking member, the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Waxman), for their efforts and their focus on this particular 
issue.
  The time between election day of a new President and the inauguration 
of that President is a very short period of time, and the transition 
from campaigning for the office and preparing then to govern in office 
is oftentimes a difficult one, and it certainly is a short one.
  This bill is designed to strengthen the Presidential Transition Act 
to amend that law which was originally passed in 1963 by authorizing 
the use of transition funds for the purpose of providing orientations 
for individuals that the President-elect plans to nominate to top White 
House positions, including Cabinet posts.
  The bill would likely affect the top 20, 30, or 40 appointments by 
the White House; and the bill would give greater assurance that the 
orientation process, which would take place before or shortly after the 
incoming administration assumes office, actually does occur.
  This orientation process provides an opportunity for a smoother 
transition for the new administration and would eliminate many of the 
mistakes that we often observe that occur because of the transition 
that many people who serve in an administration have to make into 
public life.
  Crafting an explicit provision on the propriety of spending funds for 
an appointee orientation is important for two reasons. First, the 
proposed language will reassure the transition team members that such 
spending is legal; second, the inclusion of such language into law will 
encourage transition teams to explore further orientation for political 
appointees. I believe it is important to provide these new appointees 
with a sense of the new job they will be undertaking.

[[Page 27887]]

  Other branches of our government currently undergo a similar process. 
I remember as an incoming freshman Member of this House in 1997, along 
with other Members of that freshman class, attending an orientation 
program for new Members of Congress at the Kennedy School of Government 
at Harvard University. I personally found the program very helpful as I 
transitioned in to serving as a Member of this body. Even though I had 
been a Member of the Texas legislature for 10 years, I recognized very 
quickly that Congress is a different place, has a unique set of 
characteristics, and a range of issues that almost all new Members will 
be experiencing for the first time.
  Members of Congress are not alone. In the judicial branch, Federal 
judges attend an orientation program put on by the Federal Judicial 
Conference. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Horn) mentioned, at 
our hearing on October 13, our subcommittee heard from a long list of 
distinguished witnesses who spoke in favor of this legislation. This 
bill passed out of our committee on October 28 with bipartisan support. 
It is noncontroversial; and I have full confidence that if we can pass 
this bill, it will help the new incoming administration be better 
prepared to govern.
  I urge the House to pass this law, and I commend again the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Horn) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Waxman) for their leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this measure, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Horn) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3137.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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