II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 435 

To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue 

guidance on electronic consent forms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget to issue guidance on electronic consent forms, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Advanced 

5 Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘CASES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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•S 435 IS

1 (1) congressional offices provide crucial services 

2 to constituents by acting as a liaison between the 

3 constituents and the respective agencies; 

4 (2) this includes assisting constituents by mak5 ing inquiries and working toward resolutions on be6 half of the constituent with the respective agencies; 

7 and 

8 (3) this process should be simplified through 

9 the creation of electronic forms that may be sub10 mitted under section 552a of title 5, United States 

11 Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Privacy Act’’), 

12 thus modernizing the process for constituents and 

13 improving access and efficiency of Government serv14 ices and agencies in order to expedite the resolution 

15 of the problem for which constituents sought help. 

16 SEC. 3. OMB GUIDANCE ON ELECTRONIC CONSENT AND AC17 CESS FORMS. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) AGENCY; INDIVIDUAL; RECORD.—The terms 

20 ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘individual’’, and ‘‘record’’ have the 

21 meanings given those terms in section 552a(a) of 

22 title 5, United States Code. 

23 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

24 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg25 et. 


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1 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guidance 

3 that— 

4 (1) requires each agency to accept electronic 

5 identity proofing and authentication processes for 

6 the purpose of allowing an individual to provide 

7 prior written consent for the disclosure of the 

8 records of the individual under section 552a(b) of 

9 title 5, United States Code, or for individual access 

10 to records under section 552a(d) of such title; 

11 (2) creates a template for electronic consent 

12 and access forms and requires each agency to accept 

13 the forms from any individual properly identity 

14 proofed and authenticated in accordance with para15 graph (1) for the purpose of authorizing disclosure 

16 of the records of the individual under section 

17 552a(b) of title 5, United States Code, or for indi18 vidual access to records under section 552a(d) of 

19 such title; and 

20 (3) requires each agency to accept the electronic 

21 consent and access forms described in paragraph (2) 

22 from any individual properly identity proofed and 

23 authenticated in accordance with paragraph (1) for 

24 the purpose of authorizing disclosure of the records 

25 of the individual to another entity, including a conVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435

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1 gressional office, in accordance with section 552a(b) 

2 of title 5, United States Code, or for individual ac3 cess to records under section 552a(d) of such title. 

4 (c) AGENCY COMPLIANCE.—Each agency shall com5 ply with the guidance issued under subsection (b) not later 

6 than 1 year after the date on which the guidance is issued. 

7 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

8 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

9 requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be car10 ried out using amounts otherwise authorized. 

Æ 


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