On the recordJuly 31, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for his time, the gentleman from North Carolina also, and I certainly want to thank Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Cummings, and the staff, both the Democratic and Republican staff, for helping pass this bill out of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and all the work and the compromises we worked out to make sure that we got a bipartisan bill. The primary goal of the Federal Government is to serve taxpayers. Currently, U.S. law does not require Federal agencies customer service standards, which is long overdue. Every day taxpayers interact with the Federal Government on a regular basis, whether it is through the passport services to travel, student loans through the Direct Loan Program to pay for higher education, health insurance under Medicare to get benefits, or Social Security for retirement planning. All these services are vital to operate a good government, especially in times when Americans are relying more on these types of services. Too often we hear veterans are waiting months to get critical medical services or Federal employees experience long waits for their retirement benefits. These are just two examples, but millions of Americans rely on Federal agencies for vital services, which is why we must usher in a new chapter to accelerate response time and overall performance for better customer experience.…





