Union Calendar No. 477 104TH CONGRESS REPORT 2d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 104±874 "! ACTIVITIES OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST AND SECOND SESSIONS 1995±1996 (Pursuant to House Rule XI, 1(d)) JANUARY 2, 1997.ÐCommitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 1 Union Calendar No. 477 104TH CONGRESS REPORT 2d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 104±874 "! ACTIVITIES OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST AND SECOND SESSIONS 1995±1996 (Pursuant to House Rule XI, 1(d)) JANUARY 2, 1997.ÐCommitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 35±446 WASHINGTON : 1997 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT WILLIAM F. CLINGER, JR., Pennsylvania, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois DAN BURTON, Indiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois 1 TOM LANTOS, California CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland ROBERT E. WISE, JR., West Virginia CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut MAJOR R. OWENS, New York STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida JOHN M. SPRATT, JR., South Carolina WILLIAM H. ZELIFF, JR., New Hampshire LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York York STEPHEN HORN, California PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania JOHN L. MICA, Florida GARY A. CONDIT, California PETER BLUTE, Massachusetts COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida DAVID M. MCINTOSH, Indiana CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York JON D. FOX, Pennsylvania 7 THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin RANDY TATE, Washington GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi 5 DICK CHRYSLER, Michigan BARBARA-ROSE COLLINS, Michigan GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana Columbia WILLIAM J. MARTINI, New Jersey JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida GENE GREEN, Texas JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona CARRIE P. MEEK, Florida MICHAEL PATRICK FLANAGAN, Illinois FRANK MASCARA, Pennsylvania 3 CHARLES F. BASS, New Hampshire CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio BILL K. BREWSTER, Oklahoma 2 MARSHALL ``MARK'' SANFORD, South TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania 4 Carolina ELIJAH CUMMINGS, Maryland 6 ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Maryland ÐÐÐ SCOTT L. KLUG, Wisconsin 8 BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Independent) JAMES L. CLARKE, Staff Director KEVIN M. SABO, General Counsel JUDITH MCCOY, Chief Clerk BUD MYERS, Minority Staff Director 1 Elected to Committee May 25, 1995 (H. Res. 157). 2 Elected to Committee June 13, 1995 (H. Res. 166). 3 Resigned from Committee July 11, 1995 (Communication to the Speaker). 4 Elected to Committee July 18, 1995 (H. Res. 186). 5 Resigned from Committee February 28, 1996 (Communication to the Speaker). 6 Elected to Committee April 25, 1996 (H. Res. 414). 7 Resigned from Committee June 25, 1996 (H. Res. 462). 8 Elected to Committee July 22, 1996 (H. Res. 485). (II) (II) LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, DC, January 2, 1997. Hon. ROBIN H. CARLE, Clerk of the House of Representatives Washington, DC. DEAR MS. CARLE: I am pleased to submit the enclosed report en- titled ``Activities of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, 104th Congress, First and Second Sessions.'' This report follows the committee's past practice of publishing its activities report annually as an interim report at the end of each first session of a Congress and as a separate final report at the end of a full Congress. The present report includes matters required by Rule XI, 1(d) to be reported to the House not later than January 2, 1997, on the activities of the committee and in carrying out its duty under Rule X to ``review and study, on a continuing basis, the application, ad- ministration, execution, and effectiveness'' of laws whose subject matter is within the jurisdiction of the committee. The present report describes fully the committee's jurisdiction and organization, and details its activities. Of particular note, in an extraordinarily productive Congress are committee efforts in Pro- curement Reform, the Line-Item Veto, the Federal Government Management: Examining Government Performance as We Near the Next Century investigative report, and the committee investiga- tions of the White House Travel Office and FBI Background files matter. Sincerely yours, WILLIAM F. CLINGER, Jr., Chairman. (III) (3) C O N T E N T S Page Part One. General statement of organization and activities ............................... 1 I. Jurisdiction, authority, powers, duties ........................................................ 1 II. Historical background ................................................................................... 9 III. Organization ................................................................................................... 13 A. Subcommittees ..................................................................................... 13 B. Rules of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight ..... 14 IV. Activities, 104th Congress ............................................................................. 21 A. Investigative Reports ........................................................................... 21 B. Legislation ............................................................................................ 23 C. Reorganization plans ........................................................................... 30 D. Committee Prints ................................................................................ 30 E. Committee Action on Reports of the Comptroller General .............. 31 Part Two. Report of Committee Activities ............................................................. 33 I. MATTERS OF INTEREST, FULL COMMITTEE A. General ................................................................................................. 33 1. Oversight plans of the committees of the U.S. House of Representatives ........................................................................... 33 2. Views and Estimates for Fiscal Year 1997 .............................. 35 3. Investigations ............................................................................. 36 a. The Financial Holdings and Activities of Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown ........................................... 36 b. The White House Travel Office Investigation .................. 37 c. The Security of FBI Background Investigation Files ...... 49 d. Questions Concerning Campaign Contributions Made to or Solicited by Lippo Group, John Huang and Others .. 52 e. Misuse of Political Influence within the Disciplinary Enforcement System at the Department of Defense ..... 53 f. Health Care Task Force ..................................................... 54 g. Labor Department Taxpayer Funded ``Toll-Free'' Hot- line ..................................................................................... 54 h. National Reconnaissance Office ........................................ 54 i. Abuse of the American Express Government Travel Pay- ment Program ................................................................... 54 j. Taxpayer Funded Trip to Disney World ............................ 55 4. Legislation .................................................................................. 56 a. H.R. 5, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104±4) ........................................................... 56 b. H.R. 2, Line Item Veto Act of 1995 ................................... 57 c. H.R. 1038, a bill to Revise and Streamline the Acquisi- tion Laws of the Federal Government ............................ 58 d. H.R. 1670, the Federal Acquisition Reform Act of 1995 . 59 e. H.R. 830, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 ............. 60 f. S. 790, the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 ........................................................................ 63 g. H.R. 3864, General Accounting Office Management Re- form Act of 1996 ............................................................... 65 h. H.R. 3136, title III, subtitle E, the ``Congressional Re- view of Agency Rulemaking,'' (Public Law No. 104± 121, title II, subtitle E) .................................................... 66 i. S. 1577, to Amend Title 44, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission ........................... 68 (V) VI Page A. GeneralÐContinued 4. LegislationÐContinued j. H.R. 2326, Health Care Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 1995 ........................................................................ 68 k. H.R. 3078, Federal Agency Anti-Lobbying Act ................ 69 l. ``Proceedings Against John M. Quinn, David Watkins, and Matthew Moore (Pursuant to Title 2, United States Code, Sections 192 and 194,'' House Report 104±598, May 29, 1996 .................................................... 70 B. Budget Process ..................................................................................... 72 C. Federal Procurement PolicyÐAn Era of Reform .............................. 74 1. Oversight of the Implementation of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA) (Public Law 103±355) ......... 75 2. Review of the Federal Government's Acquisition Strategy Regarding the Post Federal Telecommunications System 2000 Program (Post-FTS2000) ................................................... 76 3. Review of the Department of