Mike Thompson: “S. 314, originally sponsored by Senators Thomas, among others, and Congressman Duncan in the House, was ordered reported…”

“S. 314, originally sponsored by Senators Thomas, among others, and Congressman Duncan in the House, was ordered reported by the Governmental Affairs Committee on July 15, 1998. The original S. 314 has had long and contentious past. The bill reported by our Committee represents months of drafting and redrafting to create language which truly represents a consensus. I commend the original sponsors of this bill for their dedication to this issue and their willingness to accommodate the Governmental Affairs Committee's changes in order to develop legislation which could be supported by all sides. Interested industry groups have expressed their support of this legislation. And the Administration and the Federal employee unions, although opposed to the original S. 314, all have indicated they will not object to this legislation. S. 314 would require Federal agencies prepare a list of activities that are not inherently governmental functions that are being performed by Federal employees, submit that list to OMB for review, and make the list publicly available. It also would establish an ``appeals'' process within each agency to challenge what is on the list or what is not included on the list. S. 314 also would create a statutory definition-- identical to current regulation--for what is an ``inherently governmental function'' that must be performed by the government and not the private sector.”