II 

Calendar No. 66 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 717 

[Report No. 118–26] 

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 

MAY 11, 2023 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, without amendment 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 executive agency and a military department, as such 

5 terms are defined in sections 105 and 102 of title 

6 5, United States Code, respectively. 

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

8 content’’— 

9 (A) means any content that— 

10 (i) is necessary for obtaining any ben11 efit or service from the Federal Govern12 ment or for filing taxes; or 

13 (ii) provides information about— 

14 (I) any benefit or service from 

15 the Federal Government; 

16 (II) any operations, policies, or 

17 guidance of an agency that are of ma18 terial importance to the agency and 

19 are posted publicly by the agency, in20 cluding any explanation of how to 

21 comply with a requirement the Fed22 eral Government administers or en23 forces; 

24 (III) how to interact with or pro25 vide feedback to an agency regarding 


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1 the operations, policies, or guidance of 

2 the agency; or 

3 (IV) how to navigate or interact 

4 with any agency website, digital serv5 ice, or office; 

6 (B) includes— 

7 (i) (whether in paper or electronic 

8 form) a letter, publication, form, notice, 

9 guidance, policy, instruction, or official 

10 correspondence of an agency; 

11 (ii) all content necessary for public 

12 understanding, interaction, and use of an 

13 agency digital service or website; and 

14 (iii) instructions on how to submit 

15 comments, feedback, or information in re16 sponse to a regulation during any portion 

17 of the rulemaking or implementation proc18 ess for a regulation; and 

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

20 not include a regulation. 

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

22 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg23 et. 

24 (4) OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA ASSET.—The 

25 term ‘‘open Government data asset’’ has the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S717.RS S717

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1 ing given that term in section 3502 of title 44, 

2 United States Code. 

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

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

5 and follows other best practices appropriate to the 

6 subject or field and intended audience, including an 

7 audience who may be disabled, may not be proficient 

8 in English, or may otherwise be disadvantaged or 

9 traditionally underserved. 

10 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR. 

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

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

13 outdated guidance and issue new guidance for the cre14 ation, maintenance, and use of covered content at agen15 cies. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidance required under 

17 subsection (a) shall— 

18 (1) establish procedures under which an agency 

19 shall review any content in use on the date of enact20 ment of this Act to determine if it is covered con21 tent; 

22 (2) establish policies for an agency to ensure 

23 that any content of the agency that is covered con24 tent, including any content created or updated after 


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1 the date of enactment of this Act that is determined 

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

3 (3) establish qualitative and quantitative 

4 metrics by which an agency shall be measured for 

5 compliance with the requirements to identify covered 

6 content, draft covered content in plain writing, and 

7 solicit and incorporate public feedback and data to 

8 improve public engagement and interaction with the 

9 agency; 

10 (4) prescribe processes by which agencies shall 

11 submit agency reports required by the Director, in 

12 an appropriate manner and form, to support the 

13 governmentwide reports required under subsection 

14 (c); and 

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

16 collect data, and routinely test the creation or modi17 fication of covered content of the agency. 

18 (c) REPORTS.— 

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

20 the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre21 quently than every 2 years thereafter, the Director 

22 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu23 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

24 Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 


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1 House of Representatives a report on implementa2 tion of this Act by agencies, including— 

3 (A) the progress of agencies towards 

4 achieving the metrics established under sub5 section (b)(3); 

6 (B) information regarding Government7 wide trends or activities related to the imple8 mentation of this Act with respect to covered 

9 content across 1 or more agencies; and 

10 (C) any other information or data deter11 mined by the Director to inform Congress and 

12 the public regarding plain writing in covered 

13 content by agencies. 

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

15 (A) make the reports submitted under 

16 paragraph (1) available on a public website de17 termined by the Director; and 

18 (B) maintain the reports as open Govern19 ment data assets. 

20 (3) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PER21 FORMANCE PLANS.— 

22 (A) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The Direc23 tor shall ensure that the information regarding 

24 the Federal Government performance plan and 

25 agency performance plans required to be made 


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

2 1115 of title 31, United States Code, is treated 

3 as covered content and published (whether in 

4 paper or electronic form) using plain writing. 

5 (B) AGENCY PERFORMANCE PLANS.—Sec6 tion 1115(b) of title 31, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

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

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

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

12 and 

13 (iii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(11) incorporate the metrics established under 

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

17 of 2023.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall en20 sure compliance with this Act, including through the des21 ignation of a senior officer at the agency (not lower than 

22 an Assistant Secretary or equivalent) to oversee implemen23 tation by the agency, including all bureaus, offices, or 

24 other subordinate components of the agency. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENT TO USE PLAIN LANGUAGE IN

2 COVERED CONTENT.—Except as provided in the amend3 ments made by section 5(1), on and after the date that 

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

5 agency shall use plain writing in all covered content made 

6 available by the agency, consistent with the guidance 

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

8 (c) REQUIREMENT FOR FEEDBACK FROM CUS9 TOMERS.—The head of each agency shall ensure that 

10 there are opportunities and mechanisms in place (whether 

11 in paper or electronic form) that incorporate plain writing 

12 instructions for feedback from individuals or entities ob13 taining services from or engaging in transactions with the 

14 agency. 

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

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

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

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

19 to collect the feedback and data required under section 

20 3(b)(5). 

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

22 Section 3 of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Ex23 perience Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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

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

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

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

5 the end; 

6 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe7 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

10 in section 2 of the Clear and Concise Content Act 

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

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

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

14 enactment of such Act.’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (b)— 

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

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

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

19 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert20 ing the following: 

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

22 enactment of the Clear and Concise Content Act of 

23 2023, comply with the requirements under sub24 section (a).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL ENFORCEABILITY. 

2 (a) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall have jurisdic3 tion over any claim related to any act or omission arising 

4 out of any provision of this Act. 

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

6 be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive 

7 or procedural, enforceable by any administrative or judi8 cial action. 

9 SEC. 7. REPEAL. 

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

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

12 (5 U.S.C. 301 note) is repealed. 


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Calendar No. 66 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 717 

[Report No. 118–26] 

A BILL 

To improve plain writing and public experience, and 

for other purposes. 

MAY 11, 2023 

Reported without amendment 


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