[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[July 14, 1998]
[Pages 1232-1233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report on Federal Advisory 
Committees
July 14, 1998

To the Congress of the United States:
    As provided by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended 
(Public Law 92-463; 5 U.S.C. App. 2, 6(c)), I am submitting the Twenty-
sixth Annual Report on Federal Advisory Committees, covering fiscal year 
1997.
    Consistent with my commitment to create a more responsive 
government, the executive branch continues to implement my policy of 
maintaining the number of advisory committees within the ceiling of 534 
required by Executive Order 12838 of February 10, 1993. As a result, the 
number of discretionary advisory committees (established under general 
congressional authorizations) was held to 467, or 42 percent fewer than 
those 801 committees in existence at the beginning of my Administration.
    Through the advisory committee planning process required by 
Executive Order 12838, the total number of advisory committees 
specifically mandated by statute has declined. The 391 such groups 
supported at the end of fiscal year 1997 represents a 4 percent decrease 
over the 407 in existence at the end of fiscal year 1996. Compared to 
the 439 advisory committees mandated by statute at the beginning of my 
Administration, the net total for fiscal year 1997 reflects an 11 
percent decrease since 1993.
    Furthermore, my Administration will assure that the total estimated 
costs to fund these groups in fiscal year 1998, or $43.8 million, are 
dedicated to support the highest priority public involvement efforts. We 
will continue to work with the Congress to assure that all advisory 
committees that are required by statute are regularly reviewed through 
the congressional reauthorization process and that any such new 
committees proposed through legislation are closely linked to national 
interests.
    Combined savings achieved through actions taken by the executive 
branch to eliminate unneeded advisory committees during fiscal year 1997 
were $2.7 million, including $545,000 saved through the termination of 
five advisory committees established under Presidential authority.
    During fiscal year 1997, my Administration successfully worked with 
the Congress to clarify further the applicability of FACA to committees 
sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National 
Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). This initiative resulted in the 
enactment of the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 1997 
(Public Law 105-153), which I signed into law on December 17, 1997. The 
Act provides for new and important means for the public and other 
interested stakeholders to participate in activities undertaken by 
committees established by the Academies in support of executive branch 
decisionmaking processes.
    As FACA enters its second quarter-century during fiscal year 1998, 
it is appropriate for both the Congress and my Administration to 
continue examining opportunities for strengthening the Act's role in 
encouraging and promoting public participation. Accordingly, I am asking 
the Administrator of General Services to prepare a legislative proposal 
for my consideration that addresses an overall policy framework for 
leveraging the public's role in Federal decisionmaking through a wide 
variety of mechanisms, including advisory committees.
    By jointly pursuing this goal, we can fortify what has been a 
uniquely American approach toward collaboration. As so aptly noted by 
Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America (1835), ``In democratic 
countries knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms 
of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others.'' This 
observation strongly resonates at this moment in our history as we seek 
to combine policy opportunities with advances in

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collaboration made possible by new technologies, and an increased desire 
of the Nation's citizens to make meaningful contributions to their 
individual communities and their country.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

July 14, 1998.