[House Report 109-164]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-164

======================================================================



 
 TEN-YEAR EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF COMMERCE TO CONDUCT 
                 THE QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT PROGRAM

                                _______
                                

 July 12, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, from the Committee on Government Reform, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2385]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Government Reform, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 2385) to make permanent the authority of the 
Secretary of Commerce to conduct the quarterly financial report 
program, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Committee Statement and Views....................................     2
Section-by-Section...............................................     3
Explanation of Amendments........................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Roll Call Votes..................................................     3
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch.....................     3
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the 
  Committee......................................................     3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     3
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     3
Federal Advisory Committee Act...................................     4
Unfunded Mandate Statement.......................................     4
Committee Estimate...............................................     4
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate...     4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported.............     5
  The amendments are as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. TEN-YEAR EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF COMMERCE TO 
                    CONDUCT THE QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT PROGRAM.

  Section 4(b) of the Act entitled ``An Act to amend title 13, United 
States Code, to transfer responsibility for the quarterly financial 
report from the Federal Trade Commission to the Secretary of Commerce, 
and for other purposes'', approved January 12, 1983 (Public Law 97-454; 
13 U.S.C. 91 note), is amended by striking ``2005'' and inserting 
``2015''.
  Amend the title so as to read:

      A bill to extend by 10 years the authority of the Secretary of 
Commerce to conduct the quarterly financial report program.

                     Committee Statement and Views


                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    H.R. 2385 reauthorizes through 2015 the Quarterly Financial 
Report Program administered by the U.S. Census Bureau for the 
Secretary of Commerce. The purpose is to ensure uninterrupted 
continuation of this program.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Section 91 of Title 13, United States Code, requires the 
Secretary of Commerce to collect and publish quarterly 
statistics on manufacturing, mining and trade corporations. The 
Quarterly Financial Report is a closely watched principal 
economic indicator used to estimate Gross Domestic Product, the 
Federal Reserve's Flow of Funds account, and other official 
estimates. The program has been in place and uninterrupted 
since 1947 and was transferred from the Federal Trade 
Commission to the Department of Commerce in 1983.
    The Secretary of Commerce's authorization to conduct the 
Quarterly Financial Report Program expires September 30, 2005. 
H.R. 2385 would extend the authority to conduct this program an 
additional 10 years by changing the termination date specified 
in Section 91 of Title 13, United States Code, to September 30, 
2015.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Section 91 of Title 13, United States Code, was amended to 
transfer responsibility for the quarterly financial report from 
the Federal Trade Commission to the Secretary of Commerce in 
1983 (Public Law No: 97-454). The Secretary of Commerce was 
reauthorized by Congress to conduct the program in 1989 (Public 
Law No: 101-227), 1993 (Public Law No: 103-105), and 1998 
(Public Law No: 105-252).
    Representative Turner introduced H.R. 2385 on May 17, 2005. 
Original cosponsors are Representative Davis of Virginia, 
Representative Shays, and Representative Dent.
    The House Committee on Government Reform referred the bill 
to the Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census on May 17, 
2005. The Subcommittee considered the bill on June 14, 2005. 
The Subcommittee amended the bill to grant the Secretary of 
Commerce a ten-year reauthorization rather than permanent 
reauthorization. On June 14, 2005, the Subcommittee forwarded 
the bill to the Full Committee (as amended) by unanimous 
consent.
    The Committee considered the bill on June 16, 2005. The 
Committee adopted the bill as amended by the Subcommittee. The 
Committee did not consider any further amendments and the bill 
was ordered to be reported by voice vote.

                           Section-by-Section

    Section 1. Reauthorizes the Secretary of Commerce to 
conduct the quarterly financial report program for a period of 
ten (10) years.

                       Explanation of Amendments

    The provisions of the substitute are explained in 
descriptive portions of this report.

                        Committee Consideration

    On June 16, 2005, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 2385, as amended, by 
voice vote, a quorum being present.

                            Roll Call Votes

    No roll call votes were held.

              Application of Law to the Legislative Branch

    Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a 
description of the application of this bill to the legislative 
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of 
employment or access to public services and accommodations. 
This bill reauthorizes through 2015 the Quarterly Financial 
Report Program administered by the U.S. Census Bureau for the 
Secretary of Commerce. As such this bill does not relate to 
employment or access to public services and accommodations.
    Legislative branch employees and their families, to the 
extent that they are otherwise eligible for the benefits 
provided by this legislation, have equal access to its 
benefits.

  Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of 
this report.

         Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives

    In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance 
goals and objectives are reflected in the descriptive portions 
of this report.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Under clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee must include a statement 
citing the specific powers granted to Congress to enact the law 
proposed by H.R. 2385. Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the 
Constitution of the United States grants the Congress the power 
to enact this law.

                     Federal Advisory Committee Act

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish 
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within 
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).

                       Unfunded Mandate Statement

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded 
Mandate Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement whether 
the provisions of the reported include unfunded mandates. In 
compliance with this requirement the Committee has received a 
letter from the Congressional Budget Office included herein.

                           Committee Estimate

    Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out 
H.R. 2385. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has 
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the 
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.

     Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received 
the following cost estimate for H.R. 2385 from the Director of 
Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, June 24, 2005.
Hon. Tom Davis,
Chairman, Committee on Government Reform,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2385, a bill to 
extend by 10 years the authority of the Secretary of Commerce 
to conduct the quarterly financial report program.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Melissa E. 
Zimmerman.
    Sincerely,
                                     Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2385--A bill to extend by 10 years the authority of the Secretary 
        of Commerce to conduct the quarterly financial report program

    H.R. 2385 would continue authority for the Department of 
Commerce to conduct the quarterly financial report program 
through 2015. Under the program, the department collects and 
publishes economic indicators of the performance of U.S. 
businesses. Based on information provided by the Department of 
Commerce, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost 
$5 million in 2006 and $26 million over the 2006-2010 period, 
subject to appropriation of the necessary funds. Enacting the 
bill would not affect direct spending or revenues.
    H.R. 2385 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined 
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect 
the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
    H.R. 2385 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined 
in UMRA. The bill would extend by 10 years the authority of the 
Secretary of Commerce to conduct the quarterly financial report 
program that is set to expire on September 30, 2005. The 
program requires certain companies to provide survey 
information on their business and financial data to the Census 
Bureau. Extending this requirement would be a private-sector 
mandate on those companies. Based on information from the 
Census Bureau, CBO estimates that the direct cost to comply 
with the mandate would fall well below the annual threshold 
established by UMRA for private-sector mandates ($123 million 
in 2005, adjusted annually for inflation).
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Melissa E. 
Zimmerman (for federal costs) and Paige Piper/Bach (for the 
private-sector impact). The estimate was approved by Peter H. 
Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

          Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                SECTION 4 OF THE ACT OF JANUARY 12, 1983


                          (Public Law 97-454)

       AN ACT To amend title 13, United States Code, to transfer 
  responsibility for the quarterly financial report from the Federal 
 Trade Commission to the Secretary of Commerce, and for other purposes.

  Sec. 4. (a) * * *
  (b) This Act, including the amendments made by this Act, 
shall cease to have effect after September 30, [2005] 2015.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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