,i #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #dijg ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,august #e1 #bjbe ,mr4 ,whitesides 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,garcia of ,california1 ,mr4 ,horsford1 ,ms4 ,stevens1 and ,mr4 ,landsman7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,education and ,workforce1 and in addition to the ,committees on ,oversight and ,government ,reform1 and the ,judiciary1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to protect the integrity1 impartiality1 and independence of ,federal statistical agencies by establishing fixed terms and for-cause removal protections for the heads of such agencies4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,statistical ,agency ,integrity and ,independence ,act of #bjbe4 #b4 ,findings and purpose 7a7 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,the people of the ,united ,states1 its financial markets1 its businesses1 and its policymakers rely on the timely1 credible1 and impartial data produced by ,federal statistical agencies to make informed decisions4 7#b7 ,the credibility of ,federal statistics depends on public confidence that the data are produced by agencies that are free from political influence1 manipulation1 or censorship4 7#c7 ,the heads of the principal ,federal statistical agencies serve as the chief stewards of this public trust1 and their professional independence is paramount4 7#d7 ,structures that grant operational and decisional independence1 such as those established for the ,board of ,governors of the ,federal ,reserve ,system1 provide a proven model for insulating critical government functions from short-term political pressures4 7b7 ,purpose ,the purpose of this ,act is to strengthen public trust in ,federal statistics by insulating the leadership of principal statistical agencies from political interference through the establishment of fixed terms of office1 staggered appointments1 and clear1 for-cause protections against arbitrary removal4 #c4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,covered ,statistical ,agency ,the term ,covered ,statistical ,agency means each of the following3 7,a7 ,the ,bureau of the ,census1 ,department of ,commerce4 7,b7 ,the ,bureau of ,labor ,statistics1 ,department of ,labor4 7,c7 ,the ,national ,center for ,education ,statistics1 ,department of ,education4 7,d7 ,the ,bureau of ,justice ,statistics1 ,department of ,justice4 7#b7 ,head of a covered statistical agency ,the term ,head of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency means the ,director1 ,commissioner1 or ,administrator who is the highest-ranking official of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency4 #d4 ,appointment and term of office of heads of covered statistical agencies 7a7 ,appointment ,the ,head of each ,covered ,statistical ,agency shall be appointed by the ,president1 by and with the advice and consent of the ,senate4 7b7 ,term ,the term of office for the ,head of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency shall be six years4 ,the terms shall be staggered to ensure that no more than two such terms expire in any given calendar year4 7c7 ,service after expiration of term ,the ,head of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency may continue to serve after the expiration of their term until a successor has been appointed and confirmed4 7d7 ,vacancy ,any individual appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of the ,head of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency occurring before the expiration of the term for which their predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for a full term of six years4 #e4 ,removal from office 7a7 ,standard for removal ,the ,president may remove the ,head of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency only for cause4 7b7 ,definition of cause ,for the purposes of this section1 the term for cause shall mean proven inefficiency1 neglect of duty1 or malfeasance in office4 ,a determination of cause may not be based on the substance1 conclusions1 or timing of any statistical data1 report1 or release prepared by the agency4 #f4 ,guarantees of professional independence 7a7 ,final authority ,the ,head of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency shall have final and unencumbered authority over the professional and technical decisions of the agency1 including3 7#a7 ,the methodologies1 procedures1 and scientific processes used to collect and analyze data4 7#b7 ,the content of all statistical reports1 press releases1 and other official publications4 7#c7 ,the timing and scheduling of the release of statistical data1 which shall be made public in advance and may only be altered for technical1 non-political reasons1 with any such alteration being accompanied by a public1 written explanation4 7b7 ,personnel ,no political test or qualification shall be used in the appointment1 evaluation1 or promotion of any professionally qualified employee of a ,covered ,statistical ,agency4 #g4 ,transition provisions 7a7 ,initial staggered terms ,to establish the staggered terms required by section #d7;b71 the initial appointments made under this ,act shall be for terms of varying lengths as determined by the ,president1 provided that3 7#a7 ,the first three appointments shall be for a term of six years4 7#b7 ,the next four appointments shall be for a term of four years4 7#c7 ,the remaining three appointments shall be for a term of two years4 7#d7 ,all subsequent appointments shall be for a full term of six years as prescribed in section #d7;b74 #h4 ,severability ,if any provision of this ,act1 or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance1 is held to be unconstitutional1 the remainder of this ,act and the application of the remaining provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected4