Federal Customer Service Enhancement Act of 2008
To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal agencies.
Also known as Federal Customer Service Enhancement Act
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX)Legislative Activity
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Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 1107.
October 1, 2008
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Introduced in House
January 11, 2007
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
January 11, 2007
Referred to the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement.
March 23, 2007
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
May 9, 2007
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee in the Nature of a Substitute by Voice Vote .
May 9, 2007
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
June 12, 2007
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Voice Vote.
June 12, 2007
Mr. Towns moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
July 23, 2007 • 3:59 PM
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H8234-8236)
July 23, 2007 • 4:00 PM
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 404.
July 23, 2007 • 4:00 PM
At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
July 23, 2007 • 4:11 PM
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H8253-8254)
July 23, 2007 • 6:51 PM
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 383 - 0 (Roll no. 687). (text as passed in House: CR H8234-8235)
July 23, 2007 • 7:15 PM
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
July 23, 2007 • 7:15 PM
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
July 24, 2007
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.
August 22, 2007
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
July 30, 2008
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Lieberman with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
October 1, 2008
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 1107.
October 1, 2008
Voting History
1 vote recorded • Roll call available
Floor Debate
17 membersWhat members said about H.R. 404 on the floor
+12
Floor Debate
17 membersWhat members said about H.R. 404 on the floor
Madam. Speaker, due to events in my district, I was unable to vote on rollcall No. 42: Passage of H. Res. 475. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.'' January 22, 2007 Madam Speaker, due to…
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First of all, I would like to commend Chairman Waxman and my colleague from New York, my longtime friend (Mr. Towns), with whom, as he noted,…
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 404) to require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal agencies, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent…
Madam Speaker, on Monday, July 23, and Tuesday, July 24, I was unavoidably detained due to family medical matters in California and was not present for a number of rollcall votes on those days. Had I…
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding the time on H.R. 404. First of all, I want to start off by thanking Chairman Towns and his staff. The outstanding work that the chairman has done on…
Show 8 more
Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor the memory of Margaret Lois Pryor Queen. Born 86 years ago in Henderson County, North Carolina, Lois Queen was a tireless advocate throughout…
Madam Speaker, I missed several rollcall votes on Monday, July 23, 2007 and Tuesday, July 24, 2007. I would like to enter into the record how I intended to vote on these rollcall votes: On Roll No.…
Madam Speaker, unfortunately yesterday, July 23, 2007, I was unable to cast my votes on H.R. 404, H. Res. 553, H. Res. 519, and the Previous Question on H. Res. 558 and wish the record to reflect my…
Madam Speaker, on July 23, 2007, I was unable to be present for all rollcall votes because I was returning from Iraq where I was able to meet with soldiers from Fort Hood. If present, I would have…
Madam Speaker, on July 23, 2007, I missed rollcall votes 687-690. Regrettably, my flight from California to Washington, DC was cancelled and I had to take a flight that got me here after votes. Had I…
Madam Speaker, unfortunately I was detained due to official Congressional business. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the following rollcall votes: ``yea'' on H.R. 404--Federal…
Madam Speaker, on Monday, July 23, 2007, I was absent from the House to attend the State of Northern Kentucky address. Had I been present I would have voted: On Rollcall No. 687--``yes''--H.R. 404,…
Madam Speaker, I was returning from an official delegation trip to Iraq yesterday, and was therefore absent from the Floor during the four rollcall votes that took place on Monday night. Had I been…
Show 4 more
I thank the gentleman for yielding. We will have another vote, and then it will be our intention to go to debate on the Transportation-HUD bill. We will go to debate after the votes until 10 o'clock.…
Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my friend, the majority leader, for any information about the schedule for the rest of the day today. I yield to the gentleman. I appreciate that. On our side, I…
Madam Speaker, on Monday, July 23, 2007, I was unavoidable detained due to transportation delays and thus I missed rollcall votes Nos. 687, 688, 689, and 690. Had I been present, I would have voted…
Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained on the vote on passage of H.R. 404. Had I been present on rollcall vote No. 687, I would have voted ``aye.''
Bill Text
4 versions available
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 404 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 1107
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 404
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 24, 2007
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
October 1 (legislative day, September 17), 2008
Reported by Mr. Lieberman, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal
agencies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Customer Service Enhancement
Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Contact information.--The term ``contact information''
means mailing addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses,
and website addresses.
(2) Customer.--The term ``customer'', with respect to a
Federal agency, means any individual or entity, including a
business, State or local government, other Federal agency, or
Congress, to which the agency provides services or information
directly.
(3) Customer service.--The term ``customer service'' refers
to customer satisfaction with the level of services or
information provided to a customer, but does not refer to the
level of satisfaction or agreement of a customer with Federal
agency policies or objectives.
(4) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the
meaning given the term ``Executive agency'' by section 105 of
title 5, United States Code, except that the term does not
include an agency if the President determines that this Act
should not apply to the agency for national security reasons.
SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND STANDARDS FOR CUSTOMER
SERVICE PROVIDED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) Establishment of Customer Service Best Practices and
Performance Measures.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall prescribe guidance that--
(1) establishes best practices for customer service to
ensure that Federal agencies are providing high quality
customer service; and
(2) establishes best practices for measuring customer
service performance to monitor customer service quality at
Federal agencies.
(b) Standards.--Customer service standards established under
subsection (a) shall take into account--
(1) any customer service standards of Federal agencies in
effect on the date of enactment of this Act;
(2) information collected from Federal agency customers
regarding the quality of customer services provided by Federal
agencies; and
(3) approaches for governmentwide citizen contact
activities described in the report entitled ``Citizens Service
Levels Interagency Committee Report'' by the General Services
Administration (dated October 2006), or any similar subsequent
report.
(c) Guidance on Implementation of Customer Service Standards.--Not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe
guidance governing the implementation or updating of customer service
standards and performance measures of Federal agencies using best
practices developed under subsection (a) and any specific customer
service related principles applicable to individual agencies.
(d) Annual Report.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall issue an annual report on the success of Federal agencies
in meeting the customer service standards developed under subsection
(a) for each of the 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS AT FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) Implementation.--Each Federal agency shall implement customer
service standards and customer service performance measures as required
under section 3(c).
(b) Reporting Standards to the Office of Management and Budget.--
For purposes of preparing each report under section 3(d), each Federal
agency shall submit such information as the Office of Management and
Budget may require on the customer service of the agency in relation to
the standards and measures used by that agency.
(c) Continuous Improvement of Standards.--The head of each Federal
agency shall ensure that customer service standards are continuously
improved as warranted based on performance measures established under
section 3(a)(2).
(d) Contact Information Availability.--Each Federal agency shall
ensure the availability of appropriate contact information regarding
customer service inquiries from the public.
(e) Customer Service Standards Availability to the Public.--
Standards referred to under subsection (a) shall be publicly available
on the website of each Federal agency.
SEC. 5. REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report
analyzing the information collected under section 3(b) to--
(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the
House of Representatives.
(b) Matters Covered.--The report shall include--
(1) whether Federal agencies are implementing the customer
service standards;
(2) whether there is an increase in overall quality in
customer service in the Federal Government; and
(3) any recommendations the Comptroller General may have to
improve performance measures and standards for customer service
in the Federal Government.
(c) Use of Report.--The report may be used by Congress and the
Director of Office of Management and Budget to update best practices
referred to in section 3.
SEC. 6. INCENTIVES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.
The head of a Federal agency may establish an awards program to pay
a cash award under chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, to
employees for demonstrated excellence in customer service.
Calendar No. 1107
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 404
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal
agencies.
_______________________________________________________________________
October 1 (legislative day, September 17), 2008
Reported with an amendment