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ESTIMATES OF COSTS TO EACH TAX-PAYING FAMILY OF

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

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SEC. 302. (a) (1) Any bill or joint resolution of a pub4 lic character introduced in the Senate or the House of Repre5 sentatives, and the report on any such bill or joint resolution 6 reported by any committee of either House shall contain an 7 estimate of the average cost for each tax-paying family, if 8 that bill or joint resolution were to be enacted into law. 9 Such estimate shall be determined by dividing the total 10 amount of funds of the United States Government expected 11 to be obligated in carrying out such bill or joint resolution 12 by the estimated number of Federal tax returns filed with 13 the United States Government for the year immediately pre14 ceding the year in which the bill or joint resolution is intro15 duced or reported, as the case may be.

16 (2) It shall not be in order to receive or consider any 17 bill or joint resolution referred to in paragraph (1) of this 18 subsection unless the provisions of such paragraph have 19 been satisfied.

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(3) For purposes of this subsection, the members of the 21 Joint Committee on Atomic Energy who are Members of 22 the Senate shall be deemed to be a committee of the Senate, 23 and the members of such Joint Committee who are Members 24 of the House of Representatives shall be deemed a commit25 tee of the House.

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1 (b) At the end of any week during which either House 2 of the Congress has been in session for at least one day, the 3 Congressional Research Service in the Library of Congress 4 shall tabulate the total amount of authorizations of appropri5 ations and appropriations passed by bill or joint resolution 6 by each House during that week, the average cost for each 7 tax-paying family for each bill or joint resolution passed by 8 either House during such week, and the total amounts of 9 authorizations of appropriations and of appropriations passed 10 by each House from the first day of that session of Congress 11 through the week for which the tabulation is made. Each 12 such tabulation shall be printed in that issue of the Congres13 sional Record which is first published after the tabulation for 14 that week is completed.

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FEDERAL PROGRAM EVALUATION DIGEST

SEC. 303. The Director of the Office of Management and 17 Budget shall be responsible for preparing and making avail18 able each year a digest of all Federal programs, except any 19 program that the President determines should not be included 20 on the grounds of national security. With respect to each 21 program, the digest shall

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(1) state the name of the program, the statute authorizing the program, specify the Federal officials administering the program, and give a brief description of the program;

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(2) state the original purposes, goals, and objec

tives of the program, and any changes thereto;

(3) include an evaluation by the head of the program on whether and how the purposes, goals, and objectives are being achieved;

(4) include references to any study, conducted partially or completely with Federal funds, evaluating the program, and, to the maximum extent practicable, references to any study conducted completely with nonFederal funds, evaluating the program;

(5) state the total administrative costs of the program paid out of Federal funds, the total costs of the program paid out of Federal funds, and the total of such administrative costs so paid as a percentage of such total costs so paid;

(6) include the average cost to the program for each recipient; and

(7) to the maximum extent practicable, include cross references to the program and matters related to the program which are included in the latest available

catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (including any supplements thereto).

TITLE IV-GENERAL

EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS

SEC. 401. The provisions of sections 202, 203, 301, and

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1 302 of this Act are enacted by the Congress

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(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking powers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, or of that House to which they specifically apply; and

such rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change such rules (so far as relating to the procedure in such House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case ofany other rule of such House, except that such House may change the provisions of such sections with respect to

that House only by a vote of two-thirds of the Members

of that House present and voting.

[From the Congressional Record, Feb. 5, 1973]

INTRODUCTION OF S. 758 BY SENATOR BEALL
OF MARYLAND

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET CONTROL AND OVERSIGHT IMPROVEMENT ACT

Mr. BEALL. Mr. President, I introduce today the Congressional Budget Control and Oversight Improvement Act. This bill is designed to strengthen and improve the role of Congress with respect to budget control and our legislative oversight responsibilities.

Specifically, the bill proposes the Congress do the following:
First. Move the Federal fiscal year to coincide with the calendar

year.

Second. Establish an appropriations ceiling and a workable mechanism to force Congress to live within that ceiling and to make those necessary hard choices in determining priorities.

Third. Strengthen the congressional oversight functions to make certain that all Federal programs are reviewed and evaluated at least every 5 years.

Fourth. Require that each bill introduced and each bill reported to the floor include an estimate of the average costs for each taxpaying family.

Five. Create a Federal program evaluation digest.

Mr. President, last year during consideration of the public debt limitation extension bill, the Congress engaged in an important, and for me, an encouraging, debate. The debate was triggered by the President's request for a $250 billion expenditure ceiling and for blanket authority to reduce programs in order to keep Federal spending beneath the ceiling level.

The Congress, in my judgment, wisely refused to grant the President such authority for this would have meant that the executive branch, and not the elected representatives, would determine Federal spending and program priorities. Notwithstanding my deep respect and admiration for the President and the fact that he is from my political party, I did not and could not support such a request.

The power of the purse is probably the most important power of Congress. This power includes not only the raising of revenue but also the determining of how such funds will be spent. I cannot, as one who believes in the Congress as a coequal branch of the Government, give the President a blank check to do the Congress business.

As a result of that debate, the Congress created a House-Senate committee to study the budget process. This Joint Committee on Budget Control is now examining ways to improve our budgetary process and is scheduled to make a preliminary report to the Congress on February 15. Last year's debate, and the work of the joint committee, may prove from the standpoint of the country and the Congress to be of historic significance. Of course, the true test will not be whether we recognize and debate the problem, but whether we find the ways and means and have the will to take the required action to control the budget and determine the Nation's priorities. It is with this in mind that we have prepared these proposals and I will now proceed to discuss them in greater detail.