Washington, D.C. - A senior executive from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management testified late Wednesday before a congressional panel on the progress of the Bush Administration's key e-Government initiative to recruit top college graduates into federal public service.

Norm Enger, OPM's Director for e-Gov Initiatives, told members of the House Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, that the human resources agency successfully launched the Recruitment One-Stop initiative in short order, and added that use of OPM's USAJOBS website (www.usajobs.gov) by college graduates and other federal job seekers has increased significantly following a major redesign.

"One business day after the redesigned site went live August 4, 2003, more than 200,000 people visited USAJOBS," Enger told the subcommittee chaired by Florida Congressman Adam Putnam. He said this was a 10-fold increase over the 20,000 visitors to the site the previous business day. During a recent five-day work week, the site averaged more than 290,000 visitors.

Enger told the subcommittee that OPM Director Kay Coles James' vision for Recruitment One-Stop and four other e-Gov initiatives owned by the agency has allowed the HR agency to become "a leader in e-Government." He highlighted OPM's ascension to "green status" in President Bush's quarterly e-Gov scorecard, adding that only one other federal agency has reached this milestone.

Enger noted that USAJOBS continues to receive high customer-satisfaction marks. "We've transformed the federal business process, and we've done this in a very short period," he said. "And we have a matrix to prove our success."

The most recent American Customer Satisfaction E-Government Website Index tracking system gives USAJOBS a score of slightly more than 75, which is four points higher than the governmentwide average and one point better than the combined government and industry average.

"USAJOBS helps the individual get through a simplified process, so we don't lose talented and qualified people," said Enger. "By reducing this frustration, we'll attract greater numbers of qualified people into the federal sector."

Enger also confirmed for the subcommittee that OPM's e-Payroll initiative, another of the Administration's 24 e-Government initiatives, will save taxpayers $1.1 billion through standardizing payroll processing systems and closing redundant payroll centers.

In summing up OPM's experience with the Administration's e-Government initiative, Enger said his skepticism about government making fast progress has ended.

"Change can take place rapidly with intelligent planning and leadership."