[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3258-3260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TAXPAYERS RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT

  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1423) to provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing 
the cost and performance of Government programs and areas of 
duplication among them, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1423

       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 ``Taxpayers Right-To-Know 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. COST AND PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.

       (a) Amendment.--Section 1122(a) of title 31, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Additional information.--
       ``(A) In general.--Information for each program described 
     under paragraph (1) shall include the following to be updated 
     not less than annually:
       ``(i) The total administrative cost of the program for the 
     previous fiscal year.
       ``(ii) The expenditures for services for the program for 
     the previous fiscal year.
       ``(iii) An estimate of the number of clients served by the 
     program and beneficiaries who received assistance under the 
     program (if applicable) for the previous fiscal year.
       ``(iv) An estimate of, for the previous fiscal year--

       ``(I) the number of full-time Federal employees who 
     administer the program; and
       ``(II) the number of full-time employees whose salary is 
     paid in part or full by the Federal Government through a 
     grant or contract, a subaward of a grant or contract, a 
     cooperative agreement, or another form of financial award or 
     assistance who administer or assist in administering the 
     program.

       ``(v) An identification of the specific statute that 
     authorizes the program, including whether such authorization 
     is expired.
       ``(vi) Any finding of duplication or overlap identified by 
     internal review, an Inspector General, the Government 
     Accountability Office, or other report to the agency about 
     the program.
       ``(vii) Any program performance reviews (including program 
     performance reports required under section 1116).
       ``(B) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
       ``(i) Administrative cost.--The term `administrative cost' 
     has the meaning as determined by the Director of the Office 
     of Management and Budget under section 504(b)(2) of Public 
     Law 111-85 (31 U.S.C. 1105 note), except the term shall also 
     include, for purposes of that section and this paragraph, 
     with respect to an agency--

       ``(I) costs incurred by the agency as well as costs 
     incurred by grantees, subgrantees, and other recipients of 
     funds from a grant program or other program administered by 
     the agency; and
       ``(II) expenses related to personnel salaries and benefits, 
     property management, travel, program management, promotion, 
     reviews and audits, case management, and communication about, 
     promotion of, and outreach for programs and program 
     activities administered by the agency.

       ``(ii) Services.--The term `services' has the meaning 
     provided by the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget and shall be limited to only activities, assistance, 
     and aid that provide a direct benefit to a recipient, such as 
     the provision of medical care, assistance for housing or 
     tuition, or financial support (including grants and 
     loans).''.
       (b) Expired Grant Funding.--Not later than February 1 of 
     each fiscal year, the Director of the Office of Management 
     and Budget shall publish on the public website of the Office 
     of Management and Budget the total amount of undisbursed 
     grant funding remaining in grant accounts for which the 
     period of availability to the grantee has expired.

     SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REQUIREMENTS 
                   RELATING TO IDENTIFICATION, CONSOLIDATION, AND 
                   ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATIVE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.

       Section 21 of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (31 
     U.S.C. 712 note) is amended by inserting ``(a)'' before the 
     first sentence and by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) The Comptroller General shall maintain and provide 
     regular updates, on not less than an annual basis to a 
     publicly available website that tracks the status of 
     responses by Departments and the Congress to suggested 
     actions that the Comptroller General has previously 
     identified in annual reports under subsection (a). The status 
     of these suggested actions shall be tracked for an 
     appropriate period to be determined by the Comptroller 
     General. The requirements of this subsection shall apply 
     during the effective period of subsection (a).''.

     SEC. 4. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.

       Nothing in this Act shall, or the amendments made by this 
     Act, be construed to require the disclosure of classified 
     information.

     SEC. 5. REGULATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION.

       (a) Regulations.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget shall prescribe regulations to 
     implement this Act, and the amendments made by this Act.
       (b) Implementation.--This Act, and the amendments made by 
     this Act, shall be implemented not later than one year after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (c) No Additional Funds Authorized.--No additional funds 
     are authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act, or 
     the amendments made by this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I believe that the American people 
should know what their government spends and what their government 
does. It is a reasonable request to be able to make of a government 
that is designed to serve the people. The people should be able to look 
back and be able to evaluate, Is this government serving the people, 
and are they doing it in such away that is actually efficient and 
making a difference?
  Every company in America can tell you what their staff is spending 
their time on and what the cost of their activities are, how many 
customers they have, and whether they are successful at reaching their 
basic goals. But we do not have that within the Federal Government.
  H.R. 1423 asks just a few specific things of our government to be 
able to delineate, again, what every business in America does. It is 
just six specific things, such as the name of the program, the basic 
description of that program, the administrative costs of that program, 
the number of staff for that program, the number of beneficiaries of 
that program, the statutory authority for that program, and, very 
importantly, how that program is actually evaluated and what are the 
metrics to determine if this program is getting the job done that it 
needs to get done.

[[Page 3259]]

  We have started in the right direction. OMB is working to comply with 
the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 by 
publicly listing all of the programs that the government administers 
and their performance goals, but that information is incomplete.
  H.R. 1423 fills the gaps in the information provided to the public by 
requiring OMB to include such vital information as the administrative 
costs and expenditures of each Federal program, the number of people 
the program serves, the number of employees working on the program, and 
where in the statute the program is authorized.

                              {time}  1545

  This bill offers a simple list that Congress can use to evaluate 
Federal programs and to make informed decisions about how to make 
government work smarter and better. Agencies could cut billions of 
dollars in costs, without compromising services. In many cases, they 
could improve their services while we are still saving money to the 
taxpayer.
  If we just cut duplicative administrative costs and eliminate the 
programs that do not work, we can protect taxpayer dollars. We have an 
enormous Federal deficit. We should do everything we can to be able to 
evaluate what we are doing as a government and be able to determine 
where are we wasting taxpayer dollars. There are not taxpayer dollars 
left to waste.
  Under the bill, any person anywhere in the country can, at any time, 
access information about the cost, scope, and performance of every 
Federal program.
  H.R. 1423 requires OMB to report publicly any finding of duplication 
by GAO, an inspector general or any other report. It also requires GAO 
to maintain a database that tracks how quickly and how well Congress 
and the administration respond to these findings of duplication.
  It may come as a surprise: Congress occasionally finds duplication 
and does nothing about it. This would provide the opportunity for the 
American people to be able to look back and to be able to track, are we 
doing something about inefficiencies that have already been isolated in 
government?
  The Vice President was asked during the State of the Union, in this 
very Chamber, by the President of the United States, to begin a study 
of job training programs. We know there are more than 57 job training 
programs that already exist across the Federal Government in multiple 
agencies. The Vice President was asked to be able to locate those 
programs, evaluate those programs, and to help determine what is the 
right process forward for those programs.
  Now, that is something that we in the House did earlier last year, 
the SKILLS Act, but it is something that we would welcome participation 
from the administration on.
  I ask the question: Why can't we already do that in every area, not 
just duplicative job training programs?
  We have multiple programs in multiple agencies that are duplicative. 
Why do we just do it in job training programs?
  Let's do it in all of them. This is the beginning of a process to get 
after that duplication and that waste. No one here, on either side of 
the aisle, wants to see a program that is unnecessary or ineffective.
  Waste in government is not a Democrat or Republican issue; it is a 
Big Government issue. With a government the size that we have, we have 
duplication and we have waste. Let's identify it.
  The Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act will ensure we do that. I urge my 
colleagues to support this bill, and I remind my colleagues that 
multiple groups have already leaned into this bill to say, please pass 
this, including the Citizens Against Government Waste, the Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship Council, and the National Taxpayers 
Union.
  America is watching us. Let's deal with our inefficiency.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I wanted to thank Chairman Issa and the sponsor of this bill, 
Chairman Lankford, for working with me to improve this legislation.
  I respect the sponsor's goal with his bill, which is to provide 
taxpayers more information about how their money is being spent by the 
Federal Government. I think most people don't mind paying taxes, but 
they want to know that they are spending them and that they are being 
used in an effective and efficient manner and for the purpose intended.
  However, the Congressional Research Service identified multiple areas 
of potential overlap and duplication between the bill as it was 
introduced and the current statutory requirements.
  For example, the bill, as introduced, would have required each agency 
to report information on improper payments, but the Improper Payments 
Information Act already requires agencies to report information on 
improper payments.
  The current bill, as amended, eliminates much of that duplication. 
This is a much better bill, and I applaud the majority for their work 
on it.
  There is one provision in the Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act that I want 
to note because I think it will be a real improvement with regard to 
transparency. The bill would require agencies to report the number of 
full-time positions that are paid, in full or in part, through a grant 
or a contract.
  We do not currently know how many employees are working for the 
Federal Government through contracts. This bill would require agencies 
to disclose this information on an annual basis.
  This bill also includes an amendment that was offered by 
Representative Speier during our committee markup to require agencies 
to report for their programs any findings of duplication or overlap 
identified by internal review, an inspector general, the Government 
Accountability Office, or other report to the agency.
  This requirement will help agencies keep track of areas of 
duplication. It also will increase accountability by making this 
information easier to find for government watchdogs, including 
Congress.
  I appreciate the improvements that have been made to the bill. I 
appreciate the bipartisan spirit by which we were able to come to the 
floor today. I intend to support the legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LANKFORD. 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 material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oklahoma?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, let me make one quick comment, then I 
would like to yield a minute to my colleague.
  This does allow us to be able to gather that information. It is a 
good thing to have the information.
  Over the past several years there has been a push to provide greater 
transparency in the Federal Government, but the difficulty of bits of 
information scattered in different parts in different reports has 
forced the need for this; to say, let's put all that data together.
  Not only the number of staff and the number of programs and 
duplication reports, but let's gather that into one readable report so 
that every American doesn't have to know where to chase down to get 
bits of information. They can actually go to one spot and be able to 
look at it, whether it is a watchdog group, Members of Congress, or any 
citizen at any computer in America, they can be able to do that kind of 
research.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Issa).
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I will be brief.
  When our committee works together in the way they have, particularly 
under the leadership of Chairman Lankford, we can do some amazing 
reforms. This is, in fact, more amazing than people might at first 
gather.
  For example, this requires something as simple as to have the Office 
of Management and Budget report what is

[[Page 3260]]

called the all-in cost of Federal programs. For too long, the American 
people have heard about what a program costs, only to find out that if 
you go through all the various budgets that a particular action is 
spread about, it might cost five or six times as much.
  That kind of single point accountability is just one of the many 
reasons that this well-thought-out, bipartisan legislation, led by Mr. 
Lankford, really needs to be passed today as part of this package of 
reforms to get a government accountability to the American people.
  I thank the chairman. I thank the ranking member.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as I close, I urge all Members to vote in favor of the 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the conversation and the 
debate today. This is something that Republicans and Democrats can 
agree on. We should have transparency. Again, this is not a Republican 
issue or a Democrat issue. This is a size and scope of our government 
issue.
  We have grown extremely large in the Federal Government. We have 
duplication that none of us can even find, large budget categories with 
no specific items underneath them to be able to identify how much 
things cost, what their effectiveness includes.
  This is a moment for us to begin to get the details of all these 
programs that Congress has authorized back to the Congress for us to be 
able to evaluate their effectiveness.
  This is the right move to be able to make in the days ahead, for us 
to be able to get our arms around an extremely large, extremely 
complicated budget with a tremendous amount of duplication and waste 
that we can't find until we shine some light on it through this bill. I 
urge all Members to be able to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the 
``Taxpayer Right-to-Know-Act.''
  The Taxpayer Right-to-Know Act would require all federal agencies to 
describe, in detail, all programs under their agency, their costs, the 
number of employees running each program, and possible duplication. 
Reports would be due each year.
  Agencies would also have to publish performance reviews and improper 
payment rates. OMB would then analyze the reports for overlapping 
programs and provide concrete recommendations on how to reduce 
duplication and waste.
  This bill would ensure greater transparency, enhance scrutiny of 
taxpayer dollars, and help deliver better value to the American people.
  The Taxpayer Right-to-Know Act is about transparency, fiscal 
responsibility, and finding solutions to right-size the government for 
the American people.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1423, 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.

                          ____________________