[United States Government Manual]
[June 01, 2008]
[Pages 61-65]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

Second and D Streets SW., Washington, DC 20515

Phone, 202-226-2600. Internet, www.cbo.gov.
Director                                          Peter R. Orszag
Deputy Director                                   Robert A. Sunshine
Special Assistant to the Director                 Edward Davis
General Counsel                                   Robert P. Murphy
Assistant Director for Management, Business, and  Stephen A. Weigler
        Information Services
Associate Director for Communications             Melissa Merson
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis            Pete Fontaine
Assistant Director for Health and Human           Bruce Vavrichek
        Resources
Assistant Director for Macroeconomic Analysis     Robert A. Dennis
Assistant Director for Microeconomic Studies      Joseph Kile
Assistant Director for National Security          J. Michael Gilmore
Assistant Director for Tax Analysis               G. Thomas Woodward

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The Congressional Budget Office provides the Congress with economic 
analyses of alternative fiscal, budgetary, and programmatic policy 
issues, and with information and estimates required for the 
congressional budget process.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was established by the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 601), which also created a 
procedure by which the United States Congress considers and acts upon 
the annual Federal budget. This process enables the Congress to have an 
overview of the Federal budget and to make overall decisions regarding 
spending and taxing levels and the deficit or surplus these levels 
incur.

Activities

Economic Forecasting and Fiscal Policy Analysis  The Federal budget 
affects and is affected by the national economy. The Congressional 
Budget Office provides the Congress with biannual forecasts of the 
economy and analyses of economic trends and alternative fiscal policies.
Scorekeeping  Under the budget process, the Congress establishes (by 
concurrent resolution), targets for overall expenditures, budget 
authority and budget outlays, and broad functional categories. The 
Congress also establishes targets for the levels of revenues, the 
deficit or surplus, and the public debt. The Office ``keeps score'' for 
the Congress by monitoring the results of congressional action on 
individual authorization, appropriation, and revenue bills against the 
targets specified in the concurrent resolution.
Cost Projections  The Office prepares multiyear cost estimates for 
carrying out any public bill or resolution reported by congressional 
committees. As soon as practicable after the beginning of each fiscal 
year, CBO also provides multiyear projections on the costs of continuing 
current Federal spending and taxation policies.
Annual Report on the Budget  The Office is responsible for submitting to 
the House and Senate Budget Committees each year a report on fiscal 
policy that includes alternative spending and revenue levels and 
baseline projections of the Federal budget.
Federal Mandates  To better assess the impact of laws on State, local, 
and tribal governments and the private sector, the Congress passed the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. The act amends the Congressional 
Budget Act to require CBO to give authorizing committees a statement 
about whether reported bills contain Federal mandates. If the 5-year 
direct costs of an intergovernmental or private-sector mandate exceed 
specified
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thresholds, CBO must provide an estimate of those costs (if feasible) 
and the basis of the estimate.
Budget-Related Studies  The Office undertakes studies requested by the 
Congress on budget-related areas. This service is provided to the House 
and Senate Budget Committees, House and Senate Appropriations 
Committees, Senate Finance Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, 
and all other congressional committees.

For further information, contact the Management, Business, and 
Information Services Division, Congressional Budget Office, Second and D 
Streets SW., Washington, DC 20515. Phone, 202-226-2600. Fax, 202-226-
2714. Internet, www.cbo.gov.

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