[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 10 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
[Pages 277-278]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13037--Commission To Study Capital Budgeting

March 3, 1997

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), it is hereby ordered as 
follows:
    Section 1. Establishment. There is established the Commission to 
Study Capital Budgeting (``Commission''). The Commission shall be 
bipartisan and shall be composed of 11 members appointed by the 
President. The members of the Commission shall be chosen from among 
individuals with expertise in public and private finance, government 
officials, and leaders in the labor and business communities. The 
President shall designate two co-chairs from among the members of the 
Commission.
    Sec. 2. Functions. The Commission shall report on the following:
(a)          Capital budgeting practices in other countries, in State 
            and local governments in this country, and in the private 
            sector; the differences and similarities in their capital 
            budgeting concepts and processes; and the pertinence of 
            their capital budgeting practices for budget decisionmaking 
            and accounting for actual budget outcomes by the Federal 
            Government;
(b)          The appropriate definition of capital for Federal 
            budgeting, including: use of capital for the Federal 
            Government itself or the economy at large; owner

[[Page 278]]

            ship by the Federal Government or some other entity; defense 
            and nondefense capital; physical capital and intangible or 
            human capital; distinctions among investments in and for 
            current, future, and retired workers; distinctions between 
            capital to increase productivity and capital to enhance the 
            quality of life; and existing definitions of capital for 
            budgeting;
(c)         The role of depreciation in capital budgeting, and the 
            concept and measurement of depreciation for purposes of a 
            Federal capital budget; and
(d)         The effect of a Federal capital budget on budgetary choices 
            between capital and noncapital means of achieving public 
            objectives; implications for macroeconomic stability; and 
            potential mechanisms for budgetary discipline.
    Sec. 3. Report. The Commission shall adopt its report through 
majority vote of its full membership. The Commission shall report to the 
National Economic Council by March 15, 1998, or within 1 year from its 
first meeting.
    Sec 4. Administration. (a) Members of the Commission shall serve 
without compensation for their work on the Commission. While engaged in 
the work of the Commission, members appointed from among private 
citizens of the United States may be allowed travel expenses, including 
per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons 
serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707).
    (b) The Department of the Treasury shall provide the Commission with 
funding and administrative support. The Commission may have a paid 
staff, including detailees from Federal agencies. The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall perform the functions of the President under the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), except that of 
reporting to the Congress, in accordance with the guidelines and 
procedures established by the Administrator of General Services.
    Sec. 5. General Provisions. The Commission shall terminate 30 days 
after submitting its report.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
March 3, 1997.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., March 5, 
1997]

Note: This Executive order was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on March 4, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
March 6.