4. Communications and utilities, $30,000. This item takes into account the size of the Conference membership, the geographical distribution of its members and consultants, and their need for frequent communication with some 40 departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The cost of duplicating copies of lengthy documents for distribution to members and other interested persons represents a major part of this expense. Telephone service and postage are also included. The amount is based on expenditures in prior years, adjusted upward by reason of growth and higher costs. 5. Printing, $25,000. The Conference has no coercive powers to compel implementation of its recommendations, but must rely entirely upon voluntary acceptance of the soundness of its views and widespread support for them. More than for most agencies, therefore, it is vitally important for the Conference that there be broad and prompt circulation of its recommendations and of the studies that underlie them. Wide dissemination of information concerning pending projects is also important, in order to enable timely contribution of views by the practicing bar, key agency personnel, academicians throughout the country and the public at large. The Conference has been forced to skimp in this area in the past. One bound volume of the agency reports and recommendations (the "ACUS Reports") has been printed; the second volume, now at the Government printer, contains recommendations and reports going back as far as December 1970. While this publication is useful and indeed essential for scholarly reference, it does not provide the kind of prompt distribution necessary for effective implementation of the agency's program. It is envisoned under the new budget that the Government Printing Office would reproduce Conference recommendations and supporting reports, in a single printed pamphlet, immediately after their adoption. It is also envisioned that a quarterly newsletter would be reproduced by an inexpensive printing process, as are similar reports now circulated by other Government agencies, bar associations and private groups. In addition to these new printing expenses, there will of course be continued the printing of the Conference's Annual Report, required by the governing statute 6. Other services, $210,000. The major portion of the requested increase in appropriations is contained in funds for research to be performed under contract. Actual allocation of these funds to specific projects will, of course, depend on a number of factors, including the relative urgency for research in various fields at the time the decision is made, and the availability of qualified consultants. Moreover, initial allocations will be redirected if for any reason it subsequently appears that the project is unnecessary, unfeasible, or better undertaken by some other body. (a) General studies, $50,000. The Conference will continue to contract for approximately 10 studies each year at an average cost of about $5,000 each. These studies, together with the studies undertaken by per diem consultants and the staff of the Chairman's Office, provide the basis for the 10-12 recommendations which emanate from the Plenary Sessions each year. The budget proposal contemplates a continuation of this program at about the same level as in prior years. (b) Statistical evaluation of administrative performance, $50,000. One of the stated statutory purposes of the Administrative Conference is to "collect information and statistics from administrative agencies and publish such reports as it considers useful for evaluating and improving administrative procedure." The temporary 1962 Conference undertook a statistical study which was updated as an early Conference project in 1968. Information on over half a million administrative cases was collected from 34 Federal agencies, covering the sixyear period 1961-1966. The project suffered, however, from a number of deficiencies-lack of uniformity in reporting, omissions, and a resulting insusceptibility of the data to comparative analysis and evaluation. With insufficient funds to accord priority to a more ambitious effort in this field, the Conference set aside the attempt to collect statistics itself, but urged agencies to maintain statistics for their own internal use. (See Recommendation 69-6). Today more than ever there is need for a reliable reporting system to collect, analyze and compare basic statistical information on agency proceedings. The social concern with administrative delay cannot fully be met until this is done. A better knowledge of the workload of the agencies will surely facilitate an evaluation of agency efficiency, and may well enable the development of government-wide standards that achieve substantial savings in time and money. The Conference does not now propose anything as elaborate as the statistical operation performed for the Federal Courts by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which requires annual funding of about $1.5 million. But the information gathered should at least enable a thoughtful evaluation of agency performance, including the normal time for disposing of a case, and an estimation of the costs to public and private participants. It should be sufficiently detailed to permit a judgment concerning the wisdom of the procedures used and the desirability of alternative techniques. A worthwhile pilot project, using modern computer techniques and employing three or four persons including a highly qualified statistician, is estimated to cost a minimum of $100,000 a year. Such an effort should of course be started on a small scale and expanded only as its utility is demonstrated. The $50,000 sought for FY 1974 would permit the Conference to obtain the services of persons qualified to determine the kind of statistics needed and the best manner of collecting and recording them. The dimensions and costs of the total project could then be determined. (c) Expanded study of the informal administrative process, $50,000 In recent years, the Administrative Conference has been devoting an increasing portion of its resources to illumination of the less visible parts of the administrative process-discretionary programs of the most far-reaching kind that are not covered by formal administrative procedures. It is estimated that at least 90% of all agency action is of this discretionary, informal type; yet it has in the past received scant attention. Some examples of recent Conference efforts in this field are the study and recommendation with respect to the exercise of discretion by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Recommendation 71-5), the study and recommendation with respect to U.S. Parole Board Procedures (Recommendation 72-3), the completed study of the availability of advice from Federal agencies, and pending studies of prosecutorial discretion, HEW affirmative action programs, and disposition of prisoner grievances. All of these efforts, while valuable, have been separate and uncoordinated inquiries, not designed to develop principles of general applicability. It is felt by many that the time has come to treat the problems of informal action in a more generic fashion. The Conference recently published a document entitled "Guidelines for the Study of Informal Actions by Federal Agencies," 24 Admin. L. Rev. (Spring 1972). Building on this work, the Conference currently plans to undertake a systematic, coordinated study of a substantial number of discretionary functions in various agencies, in an effort to determine the feasibility of general statutory criteria for the exercise of discretion. Imposition of even rudimentary procedural requirements might well improve the quality of thousands of informal agency decisions affecting private citizens made each day. And even where it does not in fact improve quality it may develop something just as important-public confidence that in all our administrative determinations substantial justice is sought to be done. The Conference currently plans to make a beginning of this study in Fiscal Year 1974, with an anticipated expenditure of $50,000. The program would consist of a series of coordinated studies of the informal administrative process in approximately 10-12 agencies, each study costing approximately $5,000. (d) Handling of citizen grievances and complaints, $35,000. The greatly increased role of the Government has multiplied the relationships between Federal agencies and private individuals while at the same time the increased size and remoteness of Government have made the agency process much more impersonal. Growing demands for "citizen participation" in agency proceedings are the manifestation of an apparently widespread sentiment on the part of our citizens that their complaints about Government are not heard and acted upon. While it has been suggested that the Administrative Conference undertake an ombudsman function by handling citizens' complaints either directly or by reference from Members of Congress, the Conference has neither the staff nor the resources to embark on such an enormous task. The Conference has, however, made a modest beginning towards understanding the dimensions of the overall problem and developing mechanisms for solving it. There is currently in progress a study of existing agency complaint-handling procedures. The Conference plans to continue and accelerate its development of an information-base which will provide a clear picture of the problem in all agencies. It will then proceed to an evaluation of the relative effectiveness of existing complaint-handling institutions, an assessment of the desirability of new approaches such as a centralized Federal ombudsman, and, if feasible, the use of systematic study of complaint patterns as a method of identifying trouble spots in the administrative process that need further attention. To pursue this project the Conference plans to expend $35,000 in Fiscal Year 1974. The estimate includes the cost of data collection, measurement and analysis, and the part-time services of a legal consultant and several experienced social scientists. (e) Related contractual services, $25,000. The Conference receives administrative support services under contract with the General Services Administration. The estimate for these services is $15,000. Funds are also needed for stenographic services to transcribe the plenary sessions of the Conference, for equipment maintenance, and for the lease of office space for consultants in the District of Columbia. 7. Supplies and materials, $12,000. This item includes the cost of library books, legal periodicals, technical materials, office supplies, and related items. 8. Equipment, $5,000. It is estimated that purchases of operating equipment and replacement of office furnishings and machines will be approximately $5,000 in Fiscal 1974. ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES SALARIES AND EXPENSES For necessary expenses of the Administrative Conference of the United States, established by the Administrative Conference Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 571 et seq.), [$450,000 $700,000. (Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriation Act, 1973.) ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES-SALARIES AND EXPENSES 1 Includes capital outlay as follows: 1972, $1,000; 1973, $2,000; 1974, $5,000. Executive level 11, $42,500.. GS-17, $34,335 to $36,000. 1972 actual 216 40 256 19 33 22 12 50 1 400 1972 actual WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1973. COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OF THE BLIND AND OTHER SEVERELY HANDICAPPED WITNESSES VICE ADM. KENNETH R. WHEELER, CHAIRMAN CHARLES WILLIAM FLETCHER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mr. STEED. The committee will be in order. The committee is in session this afternoon to consider the 1974 budget request for the Committee for Purchase of Products and Services of the Blind and Other Severely Handicapped. The appropriation for 1973 was $200,000. The budget request for 1974 is $240,000, an increase of $40,000. We are pleased to have the Chairman of the Committee for Purchase of Products and Services of the Blind and Other Severely Handicapped, Admiral Wheeler, and the Executive Director, Mr. Fletcher. Gentlemen, we would like to have Mr. Fletcher's biographical sketch for our record at this point. [The information follows:] BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHARLES WILLIAM FLETCHER Charles W. Fletcher graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in June 1941 and was commissioned in the U.S. Army. During World War II he served in Europe, participating in the campaigns of Normandy, northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and central Europe. Following the war he held a variety of troop and staff assignments in the United States and overseas, including 21⁄2 years in the office of the Army Chief of Staff. From 1968 to 1971 he served in the office of the Assistant Secretary of DefenseInstallations and Logistics-where he directed the ground munitions production program. Later his duties were expanded to include the defense industrial preparedness program, with responsibility for industrial preparedness plans and policies, Government-owned industrial plant equipment, and industrial facilities programs. He has a master of arts degree in international affairs from the George Washington University and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. He completed his military service in 1971 as a brigadier general. On June 29, 1972, he was designated Executive Director of the Committee for Purchase of Products and Services of the Blind and Other Severely Handicapped. Mr. STEED. Then I want to extend to you a warm and cordial welcome on behalf of the subcommittee. We are pleased to have you here. Now we will be happy to hear whatever statement you would like to make. Admiral WHEELER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With your permission, we have a statement to submit for the record and, if I may, I will highlight that statement rather than read it in its entirety. It is not too long, but bears the message we want to give to you and presents our modest budget for your consideration. Mr. STEED. Without objection, the statement will be inserted in the record at this point. [The statement follows:] |