[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13607-13608]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  REPORTING EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 6189) to eliminate unnecessary reporting requirements 
for unfunded programs under the Office of Justice Programs, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6189

         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 ``Reporting Efficiency 
     Improvement Act''.

     SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF REPORTS FOR UNFUNDED PROGRAMS UNDER 
                   THE OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS.

         (a) DNA Identification Grants.--Section 2406 of title I 
     of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3796kk-5) is amended--
         (1) by striking ``(a) Reports to Attorney General.--''; 
     and
         (2) by striking subsection (b).
         (b) Police Corps Program.--
         (1) Repeal of report requirement.--Section 200113 of the 
     Police Corps Act (42 U.S.C. 14102) is repealed.
         (2) Conforming amendment.--The Violent Crime Control and 
     Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended by striking the item 
     relating to section 200113 in the table of contents contained 
     in section 2 of such Act.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. 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 H.R. 6189, as 
amended, currently under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I join the ranking member, Congressman Conyers, in 
cosponsoring this commonsense, bipartisan bill, the Reporting 
Efficiency Improvement Act, and I thank him for introducing this 
legislation.
  The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 
requires Federal agencies to identify reports that may be outdated or 
duplicative. Then the executive branch must consult with Congress to 
determine if these reports can be eliminated. Here, the administration 
suggests that Congress repeal the two reports eliminated by this bill. 
Both of these reports are prepared by the Office of Justice Programs 
and the Department of Justice, but the underlying grant programs have 
not been funded by Congress for many years. Adopting this commonsense 
bill is a simple step that Congress can take to help Federal agencies 
work more efficiently. I hope this bill sets a precedent for many 
similar bills in the future.
  I again thank Mr. Conyers for his initiative on this issue. I would 
urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 6189, the Reporting Efficiency Improvement Act, eliminates two 
reporting requirements that the Department of Justice deems no longer 
needy or useful to the Congress.

[[Page 13608]]

  Under the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act, the 
Department of Justice conducts an annual review of statutory reporting 
requirements that are outdated, duplicative, or otherwise no longer 
useful. In this review, the Department identified two reports that are 
the subject of the bill before us now. The first of the two stems from 
the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act, under which the Attorney 
General is required to report to Congress on various grants made to 
States to perform DNA analysis. Because Congress has not appropriated 
any funding for these specific grants since fiscal year 2003, this 
statutory reporting requirement has been obsolete for almost a decade.
  The second report is based on the Police Corps Act, originally a part 
of the Violent Crime Control Act of 1994. The Director of the Office of 
the Police Corps is required to make an annual report to Congress on 
the program's status. However, Congress hasn't appropriated any funds 
for the office since fiscal year 2005.
  So, H.R. 6189 is a simple cleanup of the Federal code. There is no 
need to have these reporting requirements on the books if there's no 
activity for the Department of Justice or the Office of Justice 
Programs to report, and none planned at any time in the near future.
  It's important to note that this legislation doesn't make changes to 
the relevant programs; it merely eliminates discrete reporting 
requirements that are no longer useful.
  I want to thank Lamar Smith, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
for his support and eagerness in moving this legislation through the 
committee.
  I urge my colleagues to support the measure. And having no other 
requests for additional speakers on this side, I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank the ranking 
member, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), for his nice 
comments, and I'll yield back the balance of my time as well.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 6189, 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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