Union Calendar No. 506 ACTIVITIES
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Union Calendar No. 506 107TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! 2d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 107–805 ACTIVITIES OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST AND SECOND SESSIONS 2001–2002 (Pursuant to House Rule XI, 1(d)) Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house http://www.house.gov/reform JANUARY 2, 2003.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83–062 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Dec 13 2002 17:43 Jan 06, 2003 Jkt 083062 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5012 Sfmt 5012 E:\HR\OC\HR805.XXX HR805 congress.#13 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York HENRY A. WAXMAN, California CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut MAJOR R. OWENS, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania STEPHEN HORN, California CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York JOHN L. MICA, Florida ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, Washington, THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia DC MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio BOB BARR, Georgia ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois DAN MILLER, Florida DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois DOUG OSE, California JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts RON LEWIS, Kentucky JIM TURNER, Texas JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois DAVE WELDON, Florida WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri CHRIS CANNON, Utah DIANE E. WATSON, California ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts C.L. ‘‘BUTCH’’ OTTER, Idaho ——— ——— EDWARD L. SCHROCK, Virginia ——— JOHN J. DUNCAN, Tennessee BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma (Independent) KEVIN BINGER, Staff Director DANIEL R. MOLL, Deputy Staff Director JAMES C. WILSON, Chief Counsel ROBERT A. BRIGGS, Chief Clerk PHIL SCHILIRO, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate Dec 13 2002 17:43 Jan 06, 2003 Jkt 083062 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\HR805.XXX HR805 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, DC, January 2, 2003. Hon. J. DENNIS HASTERT, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Washington, DC. DEAR MR. SPEAKER: By direction of the Committee on Govern- ment Reform, I submit herewith the committee’s activities report to the 107th Congress. DAN BURTON, Chairman. (III) VerDate Dec 13 2002 17:43 Jan 06, 2003 Jkt 083062 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR805.XXX HR805 VerDate Dec 13 2002 17:43 Jan 06, 2003 Jkt 083062 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR805.XXX HR805 C O N T E N T S Page Part One. Committee Organization ........................................................................ 1 I. Historical Overview ....................................................................................... 1 II. Jurisdiction ..................................................................................................... 4 III. Rules of the Committee on Government Reform ........................................ 7 IV. Subcommittees ............................................................................................... 13 Part Two. Committee Activities ............................................................................. 15 I. Legislation ...................................................................................................... 15 A. Legislation Enacted into Law ............................................................. 15 B. Legislation Approved by the House ................................................... 43 C. Legislation Reported by the Committee or Subcommittee ............... 61 II. Oversight Activities ....................................................................................... 67 A. Committee Reports .............................................................................. 67 B. Oversight Hearings .............................................................................. 75 Full Committee ............................................................................... 75 Subcommittees ................................................................................ 110 Part Three. Publications ......................................................................................... 217 I. Committee Prints ........................................................................................... 217 II. Printed Hearings ........................................................................................... 218 VIEWSOFTHERANKING MINORITY MEMBER Views of Hon. Henry A. Waxman ........................................................................... 227 (V) VerDate Dec 13 2002 17:43 Jan 06, 2003 Jkt 083062 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\HR805.XXX HR805 VerDate Dec 13 2002 17:43 Jan 06, 2003 Jkt 083062 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\HR805.XXX HR805 Union Calendar No. 506 107TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! 2d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 107–805 ACTIVITIES OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM JANUARY 2, 2003.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. BURTON, from the Committee on Government Reform, submitted the following REPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, 107TH CONGRESS, 1ST AND 2D SESSIONS, 2001 AND 2002 PART ONE. COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION I. Historical Overview The Committee on Government Reform serves as the House of Representative’s chief investigative and oversight body, reviewing allegations of waste, fraud and abuse across the Federal Govern- ment. The committee’s unique oversight jurisdiction makes it one of the most influential committees in the House of Representatives. Congressman Dan Burton (R–IN) currently serves as the chair- man of the committee. The ranking minority member is Congress- man Henry Waxman (D–CA). The Committee on Government Reform first appeared in 1927 as the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments. It was created by consolidating the 11 Committees on Expenditures previously responsible for overseeing how taxpayer moneys were spent at each executive branch department. Under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the committee was renamed the Committee on Government Operations. The name change was intended to communicate the primary function of the committee—to study ‘‘the operations of Government activities at all levels with a view to determining their economy and efficiency.’’ The Government Operations Committee’s oversight jurisdiction VerDate Dec 13 2002 17:43 Jan 06, 2003 Jkt 083062 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR805.XXX HR805 2 over all Federal agencies and departments was unprecedented in the legislative branch. On January 4, 1995, Republicans assumed control of the House of Representatives for the first time in over 40 years. Republicans immediately implemented several internal reforms, including an initiative to reduce the number of standing committees in the House and cut committee staffs by one-third. The Committee on Government Reform exemplified the changes that took place in the House. Both the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and the Committee on the District of Columbia were consolidated into the newly named Government Reform and Oversight Committee. The name change highlighted the Republican view that the Federal Government needed reform to ensure accountability. This consoli- dation of three committees into one resulted in millions of dollars in savings and a nearly 50 percent reduction in staff. During the 104th Congress, under the leadership of Chairman Bill Clinger (R–PA), the committee produced three major pieces of the ‘‘Contract With America’’ that became law: 1) legislation to stop Congress from imposing mandates on State and local governments without funding; 2) line-item veto legislation granting the Presi- dent authority to strike individual items from tax and spending bills; and 3) an act to reduce the paperwork burden the Federal Government imposes on State and local governments, individuals, and private businesses. The committee also won passage of legisla- tion to create a financial control board to help bring the District of Columbia out of its financial crisis. In addition to his legislative accomplishments, Chairman Clinger led the committee’s investigation of the improper firings of White House Travel Office workers and the White House’s controversial handling of FBI files. In 1997, following Chairman Clinger’s retirement, Congressman Burton assumed the chairmanship. He became the first Republican from the Hoosier State to chair a full committee in the House since 1931. Taking seriously the committee’s mandate to uncover waste, fraud and abuse, Chairman Burton led a series of high-profile com- mittee oversight investigations. Some of the most noteworthy in- vestigations looked into: • Illegal foreign contributions that flowed into 1996 Presi- dential campaigns; • The Justice Department’s flawed handling of the Inde- pendent Counsel Act during the tenure of Attorney General Reno; • Controversial pardons and grants of clemency issued by President Clinton; • The misuse of mob informants by the FBI in organized crime investigations in Boston; • The plight