RESS H.R. 3137, A BILL TO AMEND THE PRESIDENTIAL HEARING BEFORE THE COT 1.0000 TRANSFER SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 3137 TO AMEND THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963 TO PROVIDE OCTOBER 13, 1999 Serial No. 106-119 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house 64-650 CC U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2000 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York MARSHALL "MARK" SANFORD, South BOB BARR, Georgia DAN MILLER, Florida ASA HUTCHINSON, Arkansas LEE TERRY, Nebraska JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois GREG WALDEN, Oregon HELEN CHENOWETH, Idaho DAVID VITTER, Louisiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California ROBERT E. WISE, JR., West Virginia PATSY T. MINK, Hawaii CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, Washington, DC CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine HAROLD E. FORD, JR., Tennessee JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Independent) J. RUSSELL GEORGE, Staff Director and Chief Counsel TREY HENDERSON, Minority Counsel KF27 CONTENTS Ink, Dwight, former Assistant Director, Office of Management and Budg- et; Paul Light, director, Center for Public Service, Brookings Institu- tion; and Norman J. Ornstein, resident scholar, American Enterprise Richardson, Elliot, attorney general to President Nixon; and Lee White, former assistant counsel to President Kennedy and counsel to President Letters, statements, et cetera, submitted for the record by: Horn, Hon. Stephen, a Representative in Congress from the State of Task Force Reports to the National Commision on the Public Service Ink, Dwight, former Assistant Director, Office of Management and Budg- Light, Paul, director, Center for Public Service, Brookings Institution, Ornstein, Norman J., resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research, prepared statement of Turner, Hon. Jim, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas, H.R. 3137, A BILL TO AMEND THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1999 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, INFORMATION, AND TECHNOLOGY, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Stephen Horn (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Horn, Öse, and Turner. Staff present: Russell George, staff director/ chief counsel; Matthew Ebert, policy advisor; Bonnie Heald, director of communications/professional staff member; Chip Ahlswede, clerk; P.J. Caceres and Deborah Oppenheim, interns; Trey Henderson, minority counsel; and Jean Gosa, minority staff assistant. Mr. HORN. A quorum being present, this hearing of the Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology will come to order. Until 1963, the primary source of funding for Presidential transitions was the incoming President's political party and the contributions of volunteer staff. The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 was enacted to authorize Federal funding and assistance for incoming Presidents. It also provided the authority for the outgoing President and Vice President to use the funds for their transition into private life for up to 6 months. The act authorized the appropriation of $900,000 to be divided equally between the incoming and outgoing administrations. In 1976, Congress amended the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to increase the funding provided in the 1963 act. In 1988, Congress passed the Presidential Transition Effectiveness Act, which again raised the funding for Presidential transitions, and included a provision that calls for annual adjustments for inflation. In addition, the 1988 act required that all preelection transition funds must be acquired privately, and the names of all transition personnel and private contributors are publicly disclosed. [The information referred to follows:] |