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September 19, 1998
MEETING OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION TO STUDY CAPITAL BUDGETING
Meeting of Friday, July 24, 1998
Minutes
Transcript available
The meeting was transcribed. A copy of the transcription is available
upon request to Dick Emery, the Executive Director of the Commission.
Meeting of Friday, July 24
Introduction. Co-chair Kathleen Brown opened the meeting at 9:15
a.m. in the Lincoln Room of the White House Conference Center, 726 Jackson
Place, NW, Washington DC. Sitting at the table with the Commissioners were
William Dinkelacker, Designated Federal Official from the Department of
the Treasury; Dick Emery, Executive Director of the Commission; and Robert
Litan, Writer. As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the meeting
had been announced in the Federal Register, and the meeting was open to
the public.
Commissioners not present for the entire day were Mr. Lynn, Mr. Kramer,
and Mr. Rubin. Mr. Lynn participated for part of the morning and part of
the afternoon by a speaker phone placed in the middle of the room.
Several items were distributed to the public and the Commission or were
available at the meeting:
-- "Draft Propositions (July 17,
1998)," prepared by Robert Litan, for discussion
by the Commission;
-- staff draft of outline of the
Appendix volume;
-- "Disposition of Capital Assets
(July 21, 1998)," a staff paper;
-- Proposed Work Plan;
-- page from the Internet showing
the address of accountability reports, financial
statements,
and other Federal financial reports;
-- the fact sheet about the Commission;
-- a list of written testimony and
statements received by the Commission;
-- the Federal Register notice announcing
the meeting;
-- the press release announcing
the meeting; and
-- draft minutes of the June 26
and 27 meetings.
Purpose. The primary purpose of the meeting was to provide guidance
to Robert Litan, Writer, for his preparation of the first draft of the
Commission's report, which was to be prepared for the Commission at its
next meeting on September 19 in Washington.
Discussion. At the beginning of the meeting the Commission approved
the minutes for the June 26 and 27 meetings in New York City.
The focus of the discussion for most of the day was the staff draft,
"Draft Propositions (July 17, 1998)," prepared by Robert Litan, and distributed
to the Commission in advance. During the discussion, Kathleen Brown expressed
the view that the final report might have footnotes for views of individual
Commissioners and that it would be good to avoid a minority report. During
the morning there was extensive discussion of the paper, "Draft Propositions,"
and many different views were expressed.
At 12:05 the Commissioners broke for lunch and reconvened in the Truman
Room of the White House Conference Center at 12:50.
There was brief discussion of the draft outline of the Appendix volume.
Commissioners expressed the view that some of the material in the draft
outline would be in the main report, not in the Appendix volume, and much
of the material could be on the final website, not in the Appendix. It
was agreed that the one-page summaries of spoken and written testimony
would be sent to the witnesses or authors for their comment before putting
the summaries on the website.
The Commission then continued to discuss the "Draft Propositions" and
provide guidance to Mr. Litan. It was agreed that his draft would be sent
to the Commissioners the week of September 7.
The Commission agreed that the meeting originally scheduled for the
next day, Saturday, July 25, was not needed and the meeting was canceled.
The next meeting of the Commission was scheduled for all day Saturday,
September 19, in the Truman Room of the White House Conference Center,
Washington DC. The Commission confirmed its decision at the June 27 meeting
not to meet on Friday, September 18.
The meeting adjourned at 3:56 p.m.
President's Commission to Study Capital
Budgeting
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