II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 717 

To improve plain writing and public experience, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To improve plain writing and public experience, 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 ‘‘Clear and Concise Con5 tent Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means an 

9 executive agency and a military department, as such 


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1 terms are defined in sections 105 and 102 of title 

2 5, United States Code, respectively. 

3 (2) COVERED CONTENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 content’’— 

5 (A) means any content that— 

6 (i) is necessary for obtaining any ben7 efit or service from the Federal Govern8 ment or for filing taxes; or 

9 (ii) provides information about— 

10 (I) any benefit or service from 

11 the Federal Government; 

12 (II) any operations, policies, or 

13 guidance of an agency that are of ma14 terial importance to the agency and 

15 are posted publicly by the agency, in16 cluding any explanation of how to 

17 comply with a requirement the Fed18 eral Government administers or en19 forces; 

20 (III) how to interact with or pro21 vide feedback to an agency regarding 

22 the operations, policies, or guidance of 

23 the agency; or 


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1 (IV) how to navigate or interact 

2 with any agency website, digital serv3 ice, or office; 

4 (B) includes— 

5 (i) (whether in paper or electronic 

6 form) a letter, publication, form, notice, 

7 guidance, policy, instruction, or official 

8 correspondence of an agency; 

9 (ii) all content necessary for public 

10 understanding, interaction, and use of an 

11 agency digital service or website; and 

12 (iii) instructions on how to submit 

13 comments, feedback, or information in re14 sponse to a regulation during any portion 

15 of the rulemaking or implementation proc16 ess for a regulation; and 

17 (C) subject to subparagraph (B)(iii), does 

18 not include a regulation. 

19 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

20 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg21 et. 

22 (4) OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA ASSET.—The 

23 term ‘‘open Government data asset’’ has the mean24 ing given that term in section 3502 of title 44, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (5) PLAIN WRITING.—The term ‘‘plain writing’’ 

2 means writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, 

3 and follows other best practices appropriate to the 

4 subject or field and intended audience, including an 

5 audience who may be disabled, may not be proficient 

6 in English, or may otherwise be disadvantaged or 

7 traditionally underserved. 

8 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall rescind 

11 outdated guidance and issue new guidance for the cre12 ation, maintenance, and use of covered content at agen13 cies. 

14 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidance required under 

15 subsection (a) shall— 

16 (1) establish procedures under which an agency 

17 shall review any content in use on the date of enact18 ment of this Act to determine if it is covered con19 tent; 

20 (2) establish policies for an agency to ensure 

21 that any content of the agency that is covered con22 tent, including any content created or updated after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act that is determined 

24 to be covered content, is drafted in plain writing; 


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1 (3) establish qualitative and quantitative 

2 metrics by which an agency shall be measured for 

3 compliance with the requirements to identify covered 

4 content, draft covered content in plain writing, and 

5 solicit and incorporate public feedback and data to 

6 improve public engagement and interaction with the 

7 agency; 

8 (4) prescribe processes by which agencies shall 

9 submit agency reports required by the Director, in 

10 an appropriate manner and form, to support the 

11 governmentwide reports required under subsection 

12 (c); and 

13 (5) require an agency to solicit public feedback, 

14 collect data, and routinely test the creation or modi15 fication of covered content of the agency. 

16 (c) REPORTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre19 quently than every 2 years thereafter, the Director 

20 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu21 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

22 Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 

23 House of Representatives a report on implementa24 tion of this Act by agencies, including— 


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1 (A) the progress of agencies towards 

2 achieving the metrics established under sub3 section (b)(3); 

4 (B) information regarding Government5 wide trends or activities related to the imple6 mentation of this Act with respect to covered 

7 content across 1 or more agencies; and 

8 (C) any other information or data deter9 mined by the Director to inform Congress and 

10 the public regarding plain writing in covered 

11 content by agencies. 

12 (2) PUBLIC WEBSITE.—The Director shall— 

13 (A) make the reports submitted under 

14 paragraph (1) available on a public website de15 termined by the Director; and 

16 (B) maintain the reports as open Govern17 ment data assets. 

18 (3) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PER19 FORMANCE PLANS.— 

20 (A) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The Direc21 tor shall ensure that the information regarding 

22 the Federal Government performance plan and 

23 agency performance plans required to be made 

24 available under subsection (a) or (b) of section 

25 1115 of title 31, United States Code, is treated 


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1 as covered content and published (whether in 

2 paper or electronic form) using plain writing. 

3 (B) AGENCY PERFORMANCE PLANS.—Sec4 tion 1115(b) of title 31, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (i) in paragraph (9)(C), by striking 

7 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (ii) in paragraph (10), by striking the 

9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

10 and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(11) incorporate the metrics established under 

14 section 3(b)(3) of the Clear and Concise Content Act 

15 of 2023.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall en18 sure compliance with this Act, including through the des19 ignation of a senior officer at the agency (not lower than 

20 an Assistant Secretary or equivalent) to oversee implemen21 tation by the agency, including all bureaus, offices, or 

22 other subordinate components of the agency. 

23 (b) REQUIREMENT TO USE PLAIN LANGUAGE IN

24 COVERED CONTENT.—Except as provided in the amend25 ments made by section 5(1), on and after the date that 


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1 is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, each 

2 agency shall use plain writing in all covered content made 

3 available by the agency, consistent with the guidance 

4 issued by the Director under section 3(a). 

5 (c) REQUIREMENT FOR FEEDBACK FROM CUS6 TOMERS.—The head of each agency shall ensure that 

7 there are opportunities and mechanisms in place (whether 

8 in paper or electronic form) that incorporate plain writing 

9 instructions for feedback from individuals or entities ob10 taining services from or engaging in transactions with the 

11 agency. 

12 (d) PUBLIC FEEDBACK.—The head of each agency 

13 shall maintain an accessible form, survey tool, or other 

14 portion of a website of the agency to solicit feedback from 

15 the public on compliance with this Act by the agency and 

16 to collect the feedback and data required under section 

17 3(b)(5). 

18 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE 21ST CENTURY IDEA ACT. 

19 Section 3 of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Ex20 perience Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

23 by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 

24 as provided in paragraph (9), not later’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(9) is drafted using plain writing (as defined 

7 in section 2 of the Clear and Concise Content Act 

8 of 2023), as is required under section 4 of such Act 

9 for covered content (as defined in section 2 of such 

10 Act), by not later than 180 days after the date of 

11 enactment of such Act.’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

14 by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 

15 as provided in paragraph (2), not later’’; and 

16 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert17 ing the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) by not later than 1 year after the date of 

19 enactment of the Clear and Concise Content Act of 

20 2023, comply with the requirements under sub21 section (a).’’. 

22 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL ENFORCEABILITY. 

23 (a) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall have jurisdic24 tion over any claim related to any act or omission arising 

25 out of any provision of this Act. 


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1 (b) ENFORCEABILITY.—No provision of this Act shall 

2 be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive 

3 or procedural, enforceable by any administrative or judi4 cial action. 

5 SEC. 7. REPEAL. 

6 Effective on the date that is 1 year after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Plain Writing Act of 2010 

8 (5 U.S.C. 301 note) is repealed. 

Æ 


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