1

4

“(B) information regarding the sources of funding

which support the transition activities of each transi

2

3

tion team member.

4

"(2) Disclosures under paragraph (1) shall be made 5 public before the initial transition team contact with a Feder6 al department or agency and shall be updated as necessary.". 7 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES OF CERTAIN FUNDS.

8

(a) USE OF AIRCRAFT.-Section 3(a)(4) of the Presi

9 dential Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is

10 amended

11

(1) by inserting "(A)" after "(4)";

(2) by adding at the end thereof the following new

subparagraph:

"(B) When requested by the President-elect or Vice President-elect or their designee, and approved by the President, Government aircraft may be provided for transition purposes on a reimbursable basis; when requested by the President-elect, the Vice Presidentelect, or the designee of the President-elect or Vice President-elect, aircraft may be chartered for transition purposes; and any collections from the Secret Service,

press, or others occupying space on chartered aircraft

shall be deposited to the credit of the appropriations made under section 6 of this Act;".

HR 3932 IH.

5

1 (b) DURATION OF EXPENDITURES.-Section 3(b) of the

2 Presidential Transition Act of 1963 is amended to read as

3 follows:

4 "(b) The Administrator may not expend funds for the 5 provision of services and facilities under section 3 of this Act 6 in connection with any obligations incurred by the President7 elect or Vice President-elect

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

"(1) before the day following the date of the gen

eral elections held to determine the electors of President and Vice President under section 1 or 2 of title 3, United States Code; or

"(2) after 30 days after the date of the inauguration of the President-elect as President and the inaugu

ration of the Vice President-elect as Vice President.". (c) COMMENCEMENT OF EXPENDITURES.-Section 4 16 of the Presidential Transition Act is amended by striking out 17 "from the date of the expiration" and inserting "from 30

18 days before the date of the expiration".

19 SEC. 5. TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES.

20

Section 5723 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 21 by adding at the end thereof: "The provisions of paragraph 22 (2) shall apply to any individual performing transition activi23 ties under section 3 of the Presidential Transition Act of 24 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) from the place of residence of such 25 individual at the time following the most recent general elec

HR 3932 IH

6

1 tions held to elect the President, to the assigned duty station 2 of such individual.".

HR 3932 IH

Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Horton.

Mr. HORTON. Mr. Chairman, before I give my statement, I want to say that I've got a heavy heart this morning. I read your announcement yesterday and then I read the paper this morning, and I'm really sorry to see you leave as the chairman of the Government Operations Committee. You and I worked closely together for a number of years. I know that the Judiciary Committee is important, but I think your leadership in this committee has been outstanding.

And I just want to tell you personally that I'm going to miss you next year in this committee and miss your leadership. And I know all the people that look to you for leadership in the work that we do in the oversight function here are going to miss you.

I'll say some more later on when we meet with the full committee, and before the year is out, but I just wanted to tell you personally here, publicly and on the record, that I'm going to miss you. Mr. BROOKS. Well, I appreciate your very kind comments, and would say that these things have a way of changing and it may work out that way. It's still dependent on the committee acting and on the steering committee approving it and the caucus approving it and the Congress approving it. And you know, I'm a believer in no notes and no stock. I want CIF, cash in fist.

So, we'll announce it when it's actually done. Until then, I'm going to be right with you. And I might add, that I could not have been as successful a chairman as I have been without your solid support and that of the staff.

Mr. HORTON. Well, I think we made a good team. I'm not a Democrat so I can't exercise any votes in that caucus, but I'll do what I can to make sure you don't get it.

Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Kleczka.

Mr. KLECZKA. Before Mr. Horton starts his remarks for the markup, let me also join in his sentiment, although it's anticipated at this point. Since coming to Congress, I've served on this committee, and it's been most enjoyable and challenging. I suspect, though, Mr. Chairman, there might be a change of heart if GSA can't wipe that smile off their face. So, we'll be watching the GSA officials between now and January.

Mr. BROOKS. Thank you very much. Mr. Horton.

Mr. HORTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for calling this hearing today on H.R. 3932, the Presidential Transitions Effectiveness Act. I am pleased to cosponsor this important legislation with you, and I hope we'll be able to move it quickly to the floor.

A smooth and efficient Presidential transition is important to all of us. Adequate resources are certainly a necessity. We determined some 25 years ago that, in order to promote the orderly transfer of executive power when a Presidential administration changes, public funds should be made available.

The amount of $900,000 authorized in 1963 was intended to cover the transition expenses of both incoming and outgoing administrations. Recognizing that the authorization was inadequate, we increased the amount in 1976 to provide $2 million for the Presidentelect and Vice-President-elect, as well as $1 million for the outgoing President and Vice President.

Now, 12 years later, it's time again to review the issue. We know we're going to have a new administration come January and we must ensure that adequate resources are available for the transition. In H.R. 3932, I believe we have proposed a reasonable increase to cover the legitimate and necessary expenses of the Presidential transition.

This measure authorizes appropriations of $3.5 million for providing transition services to the incoming administration, and $1 million for the outgoing administration. The $3.5 million figure represents an increase from the current authorization of $2 million.

We've also included requirements for disclosure of private transition contributions, as well as transition personnel. In this connection, Mr. Chairman, I believe it's important to point out that any process that would require very detailed and intrusive invasions into personal and family finances would unquestionably inhibit the participation of many talented potential transition personnel.

But we have made every effort in this bill to protect volunteer participants' rights to privacy, while also preserving the public's right to know the individuals who are involved in the transition process.

I look forward to hearing the testimony this morning, and I join you in welcoming our witnesses, especially Mr. Golden, who, as I understand, will be leaving his post as the Administrator of the General Services Administration in the next day or two. We want to wish him well as he goes into private life, and commend him and compliment him on the leadership he's given to the GSA in the period of time that he's been there.

Mr. BROOKS. Thank you very much Mr. Horton. Our first witness this morning is the Administrator of the General Services Administration, the Honorable Terence C. Golden. Mr. Golden is accompanied by Ray Fontaine. Is he going to be with you? Come on sit up there if you want to. We'll be nice to you. The Comptroller from the GSA. And I see Susan Brita, one of his aids, sitting back there. I guess you're going to sit there. We'll keep an eye on you right there.

I want to note at this time, this will probably be Mr. Golden's first and last opportunity as a witness before the Legislation and National Security Subcommittee, because he's resigning from his post as head of the GSA effective Friday. You've seen people who were happy when they come to Washington, get a job, and they've got stars in their eyes. They're all eager and ready to hit the desk, get the people, hire the secretaries, and do all this, do that. Well, that's how happy he is right now. Look at him. He can hardly wait. It's not that he hasn't enjoyed it. And I've enjoyed working with him on numerous issues over the past few years. And even though we didn't always see eye to eye, he was eternally pleasant and effective, and he's always run the GSA with tremendous dedication and the utmost personal integrity. And I would say that, Terry Golden, we're all in your debt for your hard work and your fine service to this country.

I understand you have a general statement, Mr. Fontaine. Both of you be prepared to discuss the provisions of H.R. 3932 more specifically. And welcome to the committee.