[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,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Customer Service
Enhancement Act''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND STANDARDS FOR
CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVIDED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Requirement.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Performance measures and standards.--The
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall develop--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) performance measures to determine
whether Federal agencies are providing high-quality
customer service; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) standards to be met by Federal
agencies in order to provide high-quality customer
service.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Requirement to take into account certain
information.--The standards under paragraph (1) shall be
developed after taking into account the information collected
by Federal agencies under subsection (b).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Customer Service Input.--The head of each Federal
agency shall collect information from its customers regarding the
quality of customer services provided by the agency. The information
shall be collected through a survey, focus groups, or other appropriate
methods. Each Federal agency shall include this information in its
performance report submitted under section 1116 of title 31, United
States Code.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) 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 performance measures
and standards developed under subsection (a).</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
STANDARDS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Customer Relations Representative.--The head of each
Federal agency shall designate an employee to be the customer relations
representative of the agency. Such representative shall be responsible
for implementing the customer service standards developed under section
2 and the agency requirements under subsection (b).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Agency Requirements.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Guidelines and contact information.--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) In general.--The head of each Federal
agency, acting through its customer relations
representative, shall--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) issue guidelines to implement
the customer service standards developed under
section 2 within the agency, including specific
principles of customer service applicable to
that agency; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) publish customer service
contact information, including a mailing
address, telephone number, and e-mail
address.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) Availability.--The guidelines and the
customer service contact information required under
this paragraph shall be available on the agency's
public website.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Stationery requirements.--Each Federal agency
shall include its address and phone number on any agency
stationery. In the case of correspondence originating from a
regional or local office of a Federal agency, the agency shall
include the address and phone number of the regional or local
office on the stationery.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Report Required.--Not later than two years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit
to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate a report analyzing the information reported by
agencies under section 2(b).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Matters Covered.--The report shall include--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) whether agencies are implementing the customer
service standards;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) whether there is an increase in overall
quality in customer service in the Federal Government;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) any recommendations the Comptroller General
may have to improve performance measures and standards for
customer service in the Federal Government.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Use of Report.--The report may be used by Congress as
well as the Director of Office of Management and Budget to update
performance measures for customer service.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 5. INCENTIVES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Award Program.--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.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Performance Appraisal.--Compliance with customer
service standards developed under this Act shall, to the extent
practicable, be an element of a performance appraisal system referred
to in section 5307(d) of title 5, United States Code.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> In this Act:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) 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.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) 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.</DELETED>
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