NITED STATES. CONGRESS. HOUSE. COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT NATURAL REINVENTING PAPERWORK?: THE CLINTON-GORE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH, OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION APRIL 12, 2000 Serial No. 106-193 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 70-435 DTP WASHINGTON: 2001 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 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 DOUG OSE, California PAUL RYAN, Wisconsin HELEN CHENOWETH-HAGE, 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 DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio 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) KEVIN BINGER, Staff Director DANIEL R. MOLL, Deputy Staff Director DAVID A. KASS, Deputy Counsel and Parliamentarian PHIL SCHILIRO, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS X827 2000a کے CONTENTS Kingsbury, Nancy, Acting Assistant Comptroller General for the General Government Division, General Accounting Office Noe, Cindy, owner, IHM Facility Services, Fishers, IN Rosenberg, Morton, specialist in American law, Congressional Research Kingsbury, Nancy, Acting Assistant Comptroller General for the General Government Division, General Accounting Office, prepared statement Kucinich, Hon. Dennis J., a Representative in Congress from the State Chenoweth-Hage, Hon. Helen, a Representative in Congress from the 117 Rossotti, Charles O., Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service, Depart- Runnebohm, Nick, owner, Runnebohm Construction Co., Inc., Shelbyville, Spotila, John T., Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, prepared statement of 37 REINVENTING PAPERWORK?: THE CLINTONGORE ADMINISTRATION'S RECORD ON PAPERWORK REDUCTION WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2000 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. David M. McIntosh (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives McIntosh, Ryan, Terry, ChenowethHage, and Kucinich. Staff present: Marlo Lewis, Jr., staff director; Barbara F. Kahlow, professional staff member; William C. Waller, counsel; Gabriel Neil Ruben, clerk; Michelle Ash and Elizabeth Mundinger, minority counsels; and Ellen Rayner, minority chief clerk. Mr. MCINTOSH. Welcome. The Subcommittee on National Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs is in order, a quorum being present. Today the subcommittee is conducting a followup to its April 15th, 1999 hearing on the Clinton-Gore administration's record on paperwork reduction. Once again the record shows a minimal number of actual paperwork reduction accomplishments and a minimal number of specific paperwork reduction initiatives in the administration's last 2 years. Last year's hearing revealed basically no involvement by the Vice President in paperwork reduction even though he heads the administration's Reinventing Government effort. That hearing also reveals the Office of Management and Budget's mismanagement of the paperwork burden imposed on Americans. Today we will examine if the Vice President and OMB's track records have indeed improved. The Paperwork Reduction Act requires OMB to be the Federal Government's watchdog for paperwork, making OMB responsible for guarding the public's interest in minimizing costly, time consuming and intrusive paperwork burden. Yet OMB failed to push the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies to cut existing paperwork burdens on taxpayers. In fact, last year the IRS, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of the governmentwide paperwork burden on Americans, identified no specific expected paperwork reductions for the year 2000. None. Worse, the General Accounting Office confirmed at last year's hearing that OMB misled the American people, providing a falsely |