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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release November 5, 1997

                        VICE PRESIDENT RELEASES 
                FOURTH ANNUAL NATIONAL PERFORMANCE REPORT

Reinventing Government Saves Taxpayers $137 Billion; 310,000 Fewer Federal Employees
Report Focuses On Lessons Learned From America's Best Companies

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In his continuing effort to make the federal government work better and cost less, Vice President Gore today (11/5) released the fourth annual National Performance Review report, which shows that reinventing government initiatives have saved taxpayers $137 billion and reduced the federal workforce by nearly 310,000 -- the smallest federal workforce since the 1960s. This year's report focuses on lessons learned from America's best companies.

"President Clinton and I are committed to making the federal government work better and cost less for the American taxpayer," the Vice President Gore said. "Our models, teachers, and partners in this historic undertaking are America's best-run companies that led the quality revolution of the past two decades. We are taking their advice on how to improve customer service, streamline operations, and improve efficiency. The result is $137 billion in savings to taxpayers and the smallest federal workforce since the 1960s."

In 1993, President Clinton asked Vice President Gore to lead a comprehensive review of the entire federal government. The initiative, called the National Performance Review, produced a comprehensive set of recommendations on how to improve the federal government. Since then, the Vice President has presented yearly to President Clinton a status report on the progress of the reinventing government initiative. This year's report is titled "Businesslike Government: Lessons Learned From America's Best Companies." It is illustrated by Scott Adams, creator of the cartoon character Dilbert.

"President Clinton has set our performance goal to be every bit as good as the best in the business," the Vice President said. "With the help of the private sector, we're making real progress toward meeting that goal."

Some examples of success stories from this year's report include:

NASA's Mars explorer Sojourner used an adapted off-the-shelf Motorola modem;
Citicorp taught USDA how to run a large-volume mortgage operation;
FDA partnered with a small company to get faster approval of replacement skin that speeds recovery and alleviates pain and suffering for burn victims;
GSA trained its desk managers to use vendor-managed inventory systems similar to General Electric's.