[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16836-16837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PAPERWORK ASSISTANCE ACT

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 6113) to amend title 44, United States Code, to 
require each agency to include a contact telephone number in its 
collection of information, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6113

       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 ``Paperwork Assistance Act''.

     SEC. 2. AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION REQUIREMENT.

       Section 3506(c)(1)(B)(iii) of title 44, United States Code, 
     is amended--
       (1) in subclause (IV) by striking ``and'' at the end; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:

       ``(VI) contact information for the agency, including a 
     website and a telephone number, by which a person may obtain 
     a specific contact person responsible for answering questions 
     about the information collection and other information to 
     assist in responding to the information collection; and''.

     SEC. 3. REPORT BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.

       The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
     include in the report required by section 3514(a)(1)(B) of 
     title 44, United States Code, covering fiscal year 2010 the 
     following:
       (1) The status of implementation by agencies of the 
     requirement in section 3506(c)(1)(B)(iii)(VI) of such title 
     44, as added by section 2 of this Act.
       (2) A description of how each agency has responded to 
     complaints made to the agency related to the agency's 
     compliance with such requirement.

     SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendment made by section 2 shall apply to new or 
     revised collections of information approved by the Director 
     of the Office of Management and Budget beginning 1 year after 
     the date of enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis) and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such 
time as she might consume to the author of this legislation, 
Representative Boyda.
  Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Thank you so much, Mr. Davis.
  Mr. Speaker, it shouldn't be difficult for Americans to interact with 
their government. But most citizen interaction with their government is 
through filling out forms, both paper and online, that are required to 
be filled out in order to receive grants, tax refunds, passports, and 
so many other things.
  With so many forms, questions about what information is actually 
needed are bound to arise, but finding the right office to call is 
difficult. And to get the answers that people need in an orderly manner 
is, quite frankly, very, very difficult, and it shouldn't be that way. 
That's why I've introduced bill. And it's very simple. Any form that 
the government uses to collect information from Americans also has to 
include contact information--a phone number or a Web site--in which a 
person can obtain specific information on who to talk to about that 
form. Hopefully, when they call, a real live person will be at the 
other end of that line.
  This bill also requires the Office of Management and Budget to report 
to Congress on implementation and a description of how the agencies are 
responding to complaints about it.
  This bill is especially important to small businesses and owners, and 
the National Federation of Independent Businesses is a strong supporter 
of my bill. In fact, the idea for this bill came from some of the small 
businesses right there in Kansas, the good constituents that I get to 
represent. They were responding to a survey that was distributed to 
NFIB members in which they overwhelmingly supported legislation to help 
them get answers to questions about all the government paperwork that 
they have to fill out. And yes, getting that government paperwork 
reduced is certainly our first priority, but in the meantime, let's 
just get an access number so people can call and find out how to fill 
these forms out efficiently.
  I've said time and time again that democracy is a team sport, and 
this is a perfect example of everyone working together to make our 
government more responsive. I would like to thank Mr. Towns and Ms. 
Watson for their assistance in getting this important legislation to 
the floor. And I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this very, 
very commonsense bill.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as we all know, every year the government asks Americans 
to provide many kinds information. These forms can often be confusing 
and complicated. It would be better if we could find a way to reduce 
the total number of information requests the government makes to the 
public, but failing that, we ought at least to make sure someone is 
available to answer questions from people who are trying to comply with 
these requirements.
  H.R. 6113 amends the Paperwork Reduction Act to require agencies to 
provide contact information for the agency on information collection. I 
am happy to support this legislation, and I look forward to the day 
when we actually cut the number and size of information requests 
generated by this government.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page 16837]]


  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6113, the Paperwork Assistance Act, is aimed at 
making it easier for people to fill out government paperwork. I commend 
Representative Boyda for her leadership in introducing this bill, and 
Representative Towns for his work on this bill during committee 
consideration.
  The bill would require each agency to include contact information for 
the agency on its forms. Under this bill, a person filling out a 
government form would be able to go to the agency and get in touch with 
the person who is responsible for answering questions about the form.
  Based on a suggestion by Representative Diane Watson, language was 
added to the bill during committee consideration to require the Office 
of Management and Budget to report to Congress on how well agencies are 
implementing this legislation. This is what one would have to call a 
good, commonsense piece of government work. It is a good government 
bill. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, this bill is aimed at making the Federal 
Government more friendly and responsive to citizens who interact with 
the government. How sad that we are not responding to what Americans 
are asking for right now and what is most on their mind. And I'm 
quoting a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll released last week revealed 
that 75 percent of Americans and 66 percent of Democrats support 
immediate oil and gas exploration here at home. According to a CNN 
poll, 73 percent of Americans favor more exploration of deep ocean 
energy resources far off American shores. A Reuters/Zogby poll 
conducted in June shows that 75 percent of Americans support drilling 
for oil offshore, and 59 percent support drilling in ANWR.
  A Rasmussen survey from June showed 67 percent of Americans support 
deepwater energy exploration, with 64 percent expecting it will lower 
gas prices. And a recent IBD/TIPP poll shows 64 percent of Americans 
surveyed support offshore drilling, 65 percent support oil shale 
development.
  We could bring down the price of gas by voting to create more oil 
supply, but the Speaker, Senator Reid, and Senator Obama are blocking 
such votes. It's a shame that very wealthy people who are out of touch 
with average Americans are blocking the ability to bring down the price 
of gas.
  I'm in favor of doing everything we can to make the Federal 
Government more responsive to our citizens, including this bill, and I 
certainly do support it, but I think we need to do more. We need to 
vote to drill and to create more energy and help the American public.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she might 
consume to the author of this legislation, Mrs. Boyda of Kansas.
  Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Thank you again, Mr. Davis.
  When I went home to Kansas this weekend, I went to a couple of county 
fairs. And everybody was in a very, very festive mood, it's county fair 
time. Clearly, there are many things that are challenging the American 
people and the Kansas people right now, but we have to rejoice that 
finally we started to see the price of this oil come down. And I think 
oil has come down by $25 now. Hopefully, today it's continuing to fall 
more.
  I personally believe that that's for a couple of reasons: One, the 
Agriculture Committee last week--and I serve with Representative Foxx 
on that committee--we passed through the committee and will bring to 
the floor legislation that's going to really bring the light down on 
this speculation and manipulation. And I think we've basically called 
the bluff of the speculators and the people who are manipulating here, 
and that's having a real impact for which I'm very, very grateful.
  But secondly, I think the thing that's having an impact--and the 
people of Kansas are grateful to see it come down, and yes, it needs to 
come down much more--is, quite honestly, we've called the oil 
companies' bluff and we've said ``drill.'' You have millions and 
millions of acres to drill. And we're not only asking you to drill, 
we're going to tell you if you don't drill, we're going to tell you to 
give those leases up and to give them to companies who will go out 
there and do it.
  Unfortunately, as Ms. Foxx and I heard about a month ago in the 
Agriculture Committee, the oil companies do not have the drilling 
equipment. And I'm sure she was as surprised as I was a month ago to 
hear the American Petroleum Institute say with a totally straight face 
that they don't have any more equipment to drill onshore or offshore. 
They can barely keep up with the leases that they have now. And we're 
not expected to have any more for at least one, and probably two more 
years.
  So we have seen the price of oil come down. We have to increase the 
supply of energy in this country, and I think we all agree on that. And 
I would reach across the aisle to my good friend and colleague on the 
House Agriculture Committee and say, let's work together to bring this 
price down. And yes, drilling will absolutely be a part of that, I 
think the American people and the Democrats understand that. I look 
forward to working together with the gentlewoman from North Carolina 
(Ms. Foxx) on that as we've been working on the Agriculture Committee. 
And I think some of the things that we've been doing have really made a 
difference.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, to get us back to H.R. 6113, to 
amend title 44, United States Code, to require each agency to include a 
contact telephone number in its collection of information in order to 
assist people with filling out government forms, I urge passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6113, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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