[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 26 (Monday, June 30, 1997)]
[Pages 957-958]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report on Federal Advisory 
Committees

June 23, 1997

To the Congress of the United States:

    As provided by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended 
(Public Law 92-463; 5 U.S.C., App. 2, 6(c)), I am submitting my third 
Annual Report on Federal Advisory Committees, covering fiscal year 1995.
    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, my 
Administration held the number of discretionary advisory committees 
(established under general congressional authorizations) to 512, or 36 
percent fewer than the 801 committees in existence at the time I took 
office.
    During fiscal year 1995, executive departments and agencies expanded 
their efforts to coordinate the implementation of Federal programs with 
State, local, and tribal governments. To facilitate these important 
efforts, my Administration worked with the Congress to pass the 
``Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995'' (Public Law 104-4), which I 
signed into law on March 22, 1995. The Act provides for an exclusion 
from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) for interactions between 
Federal officials and their intergovernmental partners while acting in 
their official capacities. This action will directly support our joint 
efforts to strengthen accountability for program results at the local 
level.
    Through the advisory committee planning process required by 
Executive Order 12838, departments and agencies have worked to minimize 
the number of advisory committees specifically mandated by statute. 
There were 407 such groups in existence at the end of fiscal year 1995, 
representing a 7 percent decrease over the 439 at the beginning of my 
Administration. However, we can do more to assure that the total costs 
to fund these groups, $46 million, are dedicated to support high-
priority public involvement efforts.
    My Administration 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 
remaining groups are instrumental in achieving national interests. The 
results that can be realized by working together to achieve our mutual 
objective of a better, more accessible government will increase the 
public's confidence in the effectiveness of our democratic system.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
June 23, 1997.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
June 24.

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