Technical Drafting for Congressional Committees

Establish technical drafting services for congressional committees and
subcommittees. (1)

Agency heads should require their agencies to provide technical drafting
services to chairs and ranking members of congressional committees and
subcommittees and to the House or Senate Office of Legislative Counsel
as a method of avoiding unintended consequences of legislation. It is
important that such service be provided regardless of the
administration's substantive policy position.  If responses have to wait
for determination of administration policy, such a service would not be
effective because it will not provide timely input into the legislative
process. Because an agency may have to implement legislation with which
it disagrees, it should strive to fix technical glitches that may cause
implementation problems. Furthermore, if the agency provides the service
to all comers, responses cannot be interpreted as an early indication of
administration support (which could happen if agencies only provided
assistance in response to select requests).

To ensure that it is the agency, rather than the individual staff
members, assisting Congress, the service should have the following
safeguards built in:

--An agency will designate an office or senior agency official (perhaps
the congressional liaison office or the general counsel's office) as the
clearinghouse for all technical drafting services.

--Although legislative language normally would be drafted or revised by
the agency's technical experts, it should then be cleared by an
appropriate senior agency official (or officials). Given the time-
sensitive nature of the legislative process and the fact that policy
clearance is not needed, the number of levels of clearance should be
very limited.

--Requests for statutory language and responses containing such language
will be in writing.

--Upon providing the response, the agency shall instruct the
congressional committee to disclaim that technical drafting services
indicate administration support.