TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending September 30, 2005

H.R.2385 To make permanent the authority of the Secretary of Commerce to conduct the quarterly financial report program.

BRIEF

  The report from the Committee on Government reform explained the bill:

“Section 91 of Title 13, United States Code, requires the Secretary of Commerce to collect and publish quarterly statistics on manufacturing, mining and trade corporations. The Quarterly Financial Report is a closely watched principal economic indicator used to estimate Gross Domestic Product, the Federal Reserve's Flow of Funds account, and other official estimates. The program has been in place and uninterrupted since 1947 and was transferred from the Federal Trade Commission to the Department of Commerce in 1983.

The Secretary of Commerce's authorization to conduct the Quarterly Financial Report Program expires September 30, 2005. H.R. 2385 would extend the authority to conduct this program an additional 10 years by changing the termination date specified in Section 91 of Title 13, United States Code, to September 30, 2015.”

Sponsor: Representative Michael R. Turner (R-OH-3^rd)

Vote: Passed House July13 2005. Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent September 27, 2005. Signed by President Bush as Public Law 109-78 September 30, 2005.

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.

## All Rights Reserved. © 2005 TheWeekInCongress.com No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.