[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3095-S3096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FEDERAL AGENCY CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ACT OF 2021
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 103, S.
671.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 671) to require the collection of voluntary
feedback on services provided by agencies, and for other
purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I further ask unanimous consent that the Hassan
substitute amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as
amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no
intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 5119) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to,
as follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Agency Customer
Experience Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the Federal Government serves the people of the United
States and should seek to continually improve public services
provided by the Federal Government based on customer
feedback;
(2) the people of the United States deserve a Federal
Government that provides efficient, effective, equitable, and
high-quality services and customer experiences across
multiple channels;
(3) many agencies, offices, programs, and Federal employees
provide excellent customer experiences to individuals, but
many parts of the Federal Government still fall short on
delivering the customer experience that individuals have come
to expect from the private sector;
(4) according to the 2020 American Customer Satisfaction
Index, the Federal Government ranks among the bottom of all
industries in the United States in customer satisfaction;
(5) providing an equitable, reliable, transparent, and
responsive customer experience to individuals improves the
confidence of the people of the United States in their
Government and helps agencies achieve greater impact and
fulfill their missions; and
(6) improving service to individuals requires agencies to
work across organizational boundaries, leverage technology,
collect and share standardized data, and develop customer-
centered mindsets and experience strategies.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) all agencies should strive to provide a high-quality,
courteous, effective, and efficient customer experience to
the people of the United States and seek to measure, collect,
report, and use metrics relating to the experience of
individuals interacting with agencies to continually improve
the customer experience of the people of the United States;
and
(2) adequate Federal funding is needed to ensure agency
staffing levels that can provide the public with an improved
customer experience.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of General Services.
(2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the
term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
(3) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means an
agency or component of an agency that is required by the
Director to collect voluntary customer experience feedback
for purposes of section 5, based on an assessment of the
components and programs of the agency with the highest impact
on or number of interactions with individuals or entities.
(4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
(5) Voluntary customer experience feedback.--The term
``voluntary customer experience feedback'' means the
submission of information, an opinion, or a concern to an
agency by an individual or entity that--
(A) is voluntarily made by the individual or entity; and
(B) relates to--
(i) a particular service provided to the individual or
entity by the agency; or
(ii) an interaction of the individual or entity with the
agency.
SEC. 4. GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
FEEDBACK.
Each agency that solicits voluntary customer experience
feedback shall ensure that--
(1) individuals and entities providing responses to the
solicitation of voluntary customer experience feedback have
the option to remain anonymous;
(2) individuals and entities that decline to participate in
the solicitation of voluntary customer experience feedback
are not treated differently by the agency for purposes of
providing services or information;
(3) the solicitation includes--
(A) the fewest number of questions as is practicable; and
(B) not more than 10 questions;
(4) the voluntary nature of the solicitation is clear;
(5) the proposed solicitation of voluntary customer
experience feedback will contribute to improved customer
experience;
(6) solicitations of voluntary customer experience feedback
are limited to 1 solicitation per interaction with an
individual or entity;
(7) to the extent practicable, the solicitation of
voluntary customer experience feedback is made at the point
of service with an individual or entity;
(8) instruments for collecting voluntary customer
experience feedback are accessible to individuals with
disabilities in accordance with section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and
(9) internal agency data governance policies remain in
effect with respect to the collection of voluntary customer
experience feedback from individuals and entities.
SEC. 5. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DATA COLLECTION.
(a) Collection of Responses.--The head of each covered
agency, assisted by and in coordination with the senior
accountable official for customer experience of the covered
agency, shall collect voluntary customer experience feedback
with respect to services of or interactions with the covered
agency.
(b) Content of Questions.--
(1) Standardized questions.--The Director, in coordination
with the Administrator, shall develop a set of standardized
questions for use by covered agencies in collecting voluntary
customer experience feedback under this section that
address--
(A) overall satisfaction of individuals or entities with
the specific interaction or service received;
(B) the extent to which individuals or entities were able
to accomplish the intended task or purpose of those
individuals or entities;
(C) whether an individual or entity was treated with
respect and professionalism;
(D) whether an individual or entity believes that the
individual or entity was served in a timely manner; and
(E) any additional metrics determined by the Director, in
coordination with the Administrator.
(2) Additional questions.--In addition to the questions
developed under paragraph (1), the senior accountable
official for customer experience of a covered agency may
develop questions relevant to the specific operations or
programs of the covered agency.
(c) Additional Requirements.--To the extent practicable--
(1) each covered agency shall collect voluntary customer
experience feedback across every platform or channel through
which the covered agency interacts with individuals or other
entities to deliver information or services; and
(2) voluntary customer experience feedback collected under
this section shall be tied to specific transactions or
interactions with customers of the covered agency.
(d) Exemption From Public Notice and Comment.--The
requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) and subparagraphs (B)
and (D) of subsection (a)(1) and subsection (b) of section
3507 of title 44, United States Code, shall not apply to the
collection of voluntary customer experience feedback by an
agency that meets the requirements of this Act.
(e) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act and not less frequently than quarterly
thereafter,
[[Page S3096]]
each covered agency shall submit to the Director, in a manner
determined by the Director, an aggregated report on each
solicitation of voluntary customer experience feedback from
individuals and entities conducted by the covered agency,
which shall include--
(A) the intended purpose of the solicitation;
(B) the appropriate point of contact within the covered
agency for the solicitation;
(C) the questions or survey instrument submitted to members
of the public as part of the solicitation;
(D) a description of how the covered agency uses the
voluntary customer experience feedback from the solicitation
to improve the customer experience of the covered agency; and
(E) the results of the solicitation, including--
(i) the responses collected;
(ii) the total number of survey responses; and
(iii) the rate of response for the solicitation.
(2) Centralized website.--The Director shall--
(A) include and maintain on a publicly available website
the information provided by covered agencies under paragraph
(1); and
(B) for the purpose of subparagraph (A), establish a
website or make use of an existing website, such as the
website required under section 1122 of title 31, United
States Code.
SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 450 days after the date on
which all covered agencies have submitted the first reports
to the Director required under section 5(e)(1), and every 2
years thereafter until the date that is 10 years after such
date, the Comptroller General of the United States shall make
publicly available and submit to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the
Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of
Representatives a report assessing the data collected and
reported by the covered agencies.
(b) Contents.--The report required under subsection (a)
shall include--
(1) a summary of the information required to be submitted
by covered agencies under section 5(e)(1);
(2) a description of how each covered agency used the
voluntary customer experience feedback received by the
covered agency to improve the customer experience of the
covered agency; and
(3) an assessment of the quality of the data collected
under this Act and, if applicable, recommendations to improve
that quality.
SEC. 7. RESTRICTION ON USE OF INFORMATION.
No information collected pursuant to this Act may be used
in any appraisal of the job performance of a Federal employee
under chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code, or any other
provision of law.
The bill (S. 671), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
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