I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2055 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the Legislative 

Reorganization Act of 1946, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986, the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, the Financial Stability Act of 2010, and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to improve access to information in the legislative 

and executive branches of the Government, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in 

addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, Ethics, Financial Services, the Budget, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Rules 

of the House of Representatives, the Lobbying Disclosure 

Act of 1995, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, 

the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act 

for Fiscal Year 2009, the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986, the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, the 

Financial Stability Act of 2010, and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to 

improve access to information in the legislative and execVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055

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utive branches of the Government, 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 ‘‘Transparency in Gov5 ernment Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT 

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES 

Sec. 101. Greater disclosure and electronic filing of personal financial information. 

Sec. 102. Greater disclosure of travel reports. 

Sec. 103. Greater disclosure of gift reports. 

Sec. 104. Greater disclosure of earmarks. 

Sec. 105. GAO study and report on effects of written requests by Members of 

Congress for funding of projects. 

TITLE II—ENHANCING PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE WORK OF 

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES, LEGISLATION, AND VOTES 

Subtitle A—Access to Legislation, Votes, and Related Information 

Sec. 201. Increased transparency of committee work. 

Sec. 202. Increased transparency of recorded votes. 

Sec. 203. Electronic format. 

Sec. 204. Congressional Data Task Force. 

Sec. 205. Use of data standards by congressional support offices. 

Sec. 206. Inclusion of digital version of funding tables in reports accompanying 

appropriations bills. 

Sec. 207. Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. 

Sec. 208. Expanded information in House staff directory. 

Sec. 209. Publication of United States Capitol Police arrest information. 

Subtitle B—Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports 

Sec. 211. Short title. 

Sec. 212. Definitions. 

Sec. 213. Establishment of online portal for congressionally mandated reports. 

Sec. 214. Federal agency responsibilities. 

Sec. 215. Changing or removing reports. 


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Sec. 216. Relationship to the Freedom of Information Act. 

Sec. 217. Implementation. 

Sec. 218. Determination of budgetary effects. 

TITLE III—EXPANDING ACCESS TO CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH 

SERVICE REPORTS ON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WEBSITE 

Sec. 301. Inclusion of reports from archive. 

Sec. 302. Availability of reports in structured format. 

Sec. 303. Report on making other materials available. 

Sec. 304. Effective date. 

TITLE IV—LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 

Sec. 401. Short title. 

Sec. 402. Modifications to enforcement. 

Sec. 403. Definition of lobbyist. 

Sec. 404. Expedited online registration of lobbyists; expansion of registrants. 

Sec. 405. Disclosure of political contributions. 

Sec. 406. Identification numbers for lobbyists. 

Sec. 407. Ethics training for lobbyists. 

Sec. 408. Estimates based on tax reporting system. 

Sec. 409. Effective date. 

TITLE V—TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING 

Sec. 501. Improving application programming interface and website data elements. 

Sec. 502. Improving data quality. 

Sec. 503. Requirements relating to reporting of award data. 

Sec. 504. Recipient performance transparency. 

Sec. 505. Improvement of Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System Database. 

Sec. 506. Federal contractor compliance. 

Sec. 507. Improving access to information disclosed on lobbying activities. 

Sec. 508. Inclusion of narratives on USAspending.gov. 

TITLE VI—EXECUTIVE BRANCH TRANSPARENCY 

Subtitle A—Public Availability of Information 

Sec. 601. Requirement for disclosure of Federal sponsorship of all Federal advertising or other communications. 

Sec. 602. Improving access to influential executive branch official’s visitor access records. 

Sec. 603. Public availability of budget justifications and appropriation requests. 

Sec. 604. Improving rulemaking disclosure for the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

Sec. 605. Improving registration information from agents of foreign principals. 

Sec. 606. Agency defined. 

Sec. 607. Government-wide entity identifier. 

Sec. 608. Grants transparency requirements. 

Subtitle B—Publication of Opinions of Office of Legal Counsel 

Sec. 611. Short title. 

Sec. 612. Schedule of publication for final OLC opinions. 

Sec. 613. Exceptions and limitation on public availability of final OLC opinions. 


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Sec. 614. Method of publication. 

Sec. 615. Index of opinions. 

Sec. 616. Private right of action. 

Sec. 617. Severability. 

Sec. 618. Definitions. 

Subtitle C—Contempt of Congress Procedures and Enforcement 

Sec. 621. Availability of civil action to enforce House of Representatives subpoenas. 

Sec. 622. Alternate procedures for enforcement of criminal contempt of Congress. 

Sec. 623. Increase in penalty for contempt of Congress. 

Sec. 624. Authority of United States Capitol Police to enforce citations. 

Sec. 625. Collection of penalties imposed by the House of Representatives on 

persons cited for contempt of House. 

Sec. 626. No effect of expiration of Congress on pending actions. 

TITLE VII—STRENGTHENING THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

ACT 

Sec. 701. Agency defined. 

Sec. 702. Digital access to completed responses to the Freedom of Information 

Act. 

Sec. 703. FOIAonline for agencies. 

Sec. 704. Freedom of Information Act amendments. 

TITLE VIII—IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY WITHIN THE JUDICIAL 

SYSTEM 

Sec. 801. Televising Supreme Court proceedings. 

Sec. 802. Audio recording of Supreme Court proceedings. 

Sec. 803. Availability on the Internet of financial disclosure reports of judicial 

officers. 

Sec. 804. GAO audit of PACER. 

Sec. 805. Electronic court records reform. 

TITLE IX—ENFORCEMENT 

Sec. 901. Audits by the Government Accountability Office. 

TITLE X—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 1001. Transfer of certain records to Archivist of United States. 

Sec. 1002. Data standards. 


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1 TITLE I—IMPROVING ACCESS TO 

2 INFORMATION ABOUT MEM3 BERS OF CONGRESS AND 

4 CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES 

5 SEC. 101. GREATER DISCLOSURE AND ELECTRONIC FILING 

6 OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION. 

7 (a) ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIRE8 MENTS.—(1) Section 102(a)(1)(B) of the Ethics in Gov9 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 102(a)(1)(B)) is 

10 amended in clause (iv) by striking ‘‘$15,000’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘$25,000’’ and by striking clauses (v) through (ix) and 

12 inserting the following new clauses: 

13 ‘‘(v) greater than $25,000 but not more 

14 than $100,000, rounded to the nearest 

15 $10,000, 

16 ‘‘(vi) greater than $100,000 but not more 

17 than $1,000,000, rounded to the nearest 

18 $100,000, or 

19 ‘‘(vii) greater than $1,000,000, rounded to 

20 the nearest $1,000,000.’’. 

21 (2) Section 102(d)(1) of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

22 102(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(3), (4), (5), and (8)’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘(5) and (8)’’. 

24 (3) Section 102(d) of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

25 102(d)) is amended by redesignating paragraph (2) as 


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1 paragraph (3) and by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

2 following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(2) The categories for reporting the amount or value 

4 of the items covered in paragraphs (3) or (4) of subsection 

5 (a) are as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) Not more than $15,000. 

7 ‘‘(B) Greater than $15,000 but not more than 

8 $25,000. 

9 ‘‘(C) Greater than $25,000 but not more than 

10 $100,000, rounded to the nearest $10,000. 

11 ‘‘(D) Greater than $100,000 but not more than 

12 $1,000,000, rounded to the nearest $100,000. 

13 ‘‘(E) Greater than $1,000,000, rounded to the 

14 nearest $1,000,000.’’. 

15 (b) MORE FREQUENT DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL

16 TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY.— 

17 (1) Section 101 of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 101) is amend18 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(j) In addition to any other report required to be 

20 filed by a Member of Congress or officer or employee of 

21 the Congress, each such individual is required to file a 

22 quarterly report on April 30, July 30, October 30, and 

23 January 30 of each year covering the preceding calendar 

24 quarter if that individual (or the spouse or any dependent 

25 child of that individual) purchased, sold, or exchanged any 


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1 property described in subsection (a)(5) valued at not less 

2 than $250,000 during that calendar quarter. For any such 

3 transaction of not less than $250,000, such report shall 

4 contain all of the information required under subsection 

5 (a)(5).’’. 

6 (2)(A) Clause 1 of rule XXVI of the Rules of the 

7 House of Representatives is amended by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ 

8 after ‘‘1.’’ and by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(b) If any report is filed with the Clerk for a 

11 calendar quarter pursuant to section 101(i) of the 

12 Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Clerk shall 

13 compile all such reports sent to the Clerk by Mem14 bers and have them printed as a House document, 

15 which shall be made available to the public, as soon 

16 as practicable. 

17 ‘‘(c) Each individual required to file a report 

18 with the Clerk under title I under the Ethics in Gov19 ernment Act of 1978 shall file and maintain such re20 port in electronic form.’’. 

21 ø(B) Comparable language to be added by the Sen22 ate.¿ 

23 (c) AVAILABILITY ON THE INTERNET OF REPORTS

24 FILED UNDER THIS TITLE WITH THE CLERK OF THE

25 HOUSE OR THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—Section 


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1 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

2 App. 103) is amended by adding at the end the following 

3 new subsection: 

4 ‘‘(m) The Clerk of the House of Representatives and 

5 the Secretary of the Senate shall each make available any 

6 report filed with them under this title (whether the report 

7 is filed in paper or electronic form) within 48 hours of 

8 the applicable submission deadline on the website of the 

9 Clerk or the Secretary, as applicable, in a searchable, sort10 able, downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 

11 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to reports filed for calendar years 

13 or calendar quarters beginning after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act. 

15 SEC. 102. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF TRAVEL REPORTS. 

16 (a) FOREIGN TRAVEL.—Clause 8(b)(3) of rule X of 

17 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Within 48 

19 hours after any such report is filed with the chair of a 

20 committee, the chair shall post the report on the Internet 

21 site of the committee in a searchable, sortable, 

22 downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

24 subsection (a) shall apply to travel commencing after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 103. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF GIFT REPORTS. 

2 (a) REQUIRING CLERK OF THE HOUSE TO POST RE3 PORTS ON INTERNET NOT LATER THAN 48 HOURS

4 AFTER RECEIPT.—(1) Clause 5(b)(5) of rule XXV of the 

5 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘shall make available’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘shall post on the public Internet site 

8 of the Clerk and otherwise make available’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘as possible’’ and inserting 

10 the following: ‘‘as possible, but in no event later 

11 than 48 hours,’’. 

12 ø(2) Comparable language to be added by the Sen13 ate.¿ 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

15 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to reports filed on 

16 or after the date of the adoption of this resolution. 

17 SEC. 104. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF EARMARKS. 

18 (a) ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE BY MEMBERS.—(1) 

19 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

20 is amended by redesignating clause 22 as clause 23 and 

21 by inserting after clause 21 the following: 

22 ‘‘22. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

23 who requests a congressional earmark, a limited tax ben24 efit, or a limited tariff benefit shall, within 24 hours after 

25 making such request— 


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1 ‘‘(1) post on his or her public website for the 

2 remainder of the Congress the following— 

3 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the intended 

4 recipient; 

5 ‘‘(B) whether the intended recipient is a 

6 for-profit or not-for-profit entity; 

7 ‘‘(C) the requested amount (only in the 

8 case of congressional earmarks); and 

9 ‘‘(D) an explanation of the request, includ10 ing the purpose, and why it is a valuable use 

11 of taxpayer funds; 

12 ‘‘(2) electronically submit to the committee of 

13 subject-matter jurisdiction the webpage address 

14 where such information is posted; 

15 ‘‘(3) identify each request as having been sub16 mitted to the committee of subject-matter jurisdic17 tion; and 

18 ‘‘(4) display on the homepage of such website a 

19 hypertext link that contains the words ‘Earmarks’, 

20 ‘Appropriations Requests’, ‘Limited Tax Benefits’, 

21 or ‘Limited Tariff Benefits’ and that directs to such 

22 webpage address, and maintain that link for at least 

23 30 calendar days after the last such request is made 

24 during the Congress.’’. 


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1 (2) The last sentence of clause 16 of rule XXIII of 

2 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘and clause 17’’ and inserting ‘‘, clause 17, and 

4 clause 22’’. 

5 (b) ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE BY COMMITTEES.— 

6 Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new clause: 

8 ‘‘Earmark disclosure websites 

9 ‘‘7.(a) Any committee that accepts any request of a 

10 Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner for a con11 gressional earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tar12 iff benefit shall maintain a public website with an earmark 

13 disclosure webpage that contains the following for each 

14 such request— 

15 ‘‘(1) the bill name; 

16 ‘‘(2) the name, State, and district of that indi17 vidual; 

18 ‘‘(3) the name and address of the intended re19 cipient; 

20 ‘‘(4) whether the intended recipient is a for21 profit or not-for-profit entity; 

22 ‘‘(5) the requested amount (only in the case of 

23 congressional earmarks); 

24 ‘‘(6) a brief description; and 


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1 ‘‘(7) the applicable department or agency of the 

2 Government, and the account or program (if pro3 vided to the committee in the request); 

4 and is in a downloadable format that is searchable and 

5 sortable by such characteristics. 

6 ‘‘(b) Any written statement received by a committee 

7 under clause 17(a) of rule XXIII shall be posted on the 

8 earmark disclosure webpage of the committee. 

9 ‘‘(c) The earmark disclosure webpage of a committee 

10 shall list the names of any Member, Delegate, and Resi11 dent Commissioner who requests a congressional earmark, 

12 a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit and link 

13 directly to their webpage addresses referred to in clause 

14 18(2) of rule XXIII. 

15 ‘‘(d) The earmark disclosure webpage of a committee 

16 shall post the information required under paragraphs (a) 

17 through (c) within one week of receipt, and shall maintain 

18 that information on that webpage for the remainder of the 

19 Congress. 

20 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this clause, the terms ‘congres21 sional earmark’, ‘limited tax benefit’, and ‘limited tariff 

22 benefit’ shall have the meaning given them in clause 9 of 

23 rule XXI.’’. 

24 (c) POINT OF ORDER.—Clause 9 of rule XXI of the 

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1 designating paragraphs (e), (f), and (g) as paragraphs (f), 

2 (g), and (h), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph 

3 (d) the following: 

4 ‘‘(e) It shall not be in order to consider any bill or 

5 joint resolution, or an amendment thereto or conference 

6 report thereon, that carries a congressional earmark, lim7 ited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit for which a Mem8 ber, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner failed to comply 

9 with any applicable requirement of clause 18 of rule 

10 XXIII.’’. 

11 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to requests for congressional ear13 marks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits 

14 made after the date this resolution is agreed to. 

15 (e) CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR EARMARKS, LIM16 ITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF BENEFITS.— 

17 (1) The Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Sec18 retary of the Senate, and the chairs of the Committee on 

19 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 

20 Senate shall collaborate to create one centralized database 

21 where all requests for earmark, limited tax benefits, and 

22 limited tariff benefits are available on the Internet in a 

23 searchable, sortable, downloadable format to the public. 

24 The data available to the public for each earmark should 

25 include— 


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1 (A) an identification of the bill into which the 

2 earmark is to be inserted; 

3 (B) the name, State, and district of the Mem4 ber of Congress requesting the earmark; 

5 (C) the name and address of the intended re6 cipient; 

7 (D) whether the intended recipient is a for-prof8 it or not-for-profit entity; 

9 (E) the requested amount (only in the case of 

10 congressional earmarks); 

11 (F) a brief description of the earmark; and 

12 (G) the applicable department or agency of the 

13 Government, and the account or program (if pro14 vided to the committee in the request). 

15 (2) The centralized database for earmarks referred 

16 to in paragraph (1) shall be implemented within six 

17 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 105. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF WRIT19 TEN REQUESTS BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

20 FOR FUNDING OF PROJECTS. 

21 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

22 States shall conduct a study of the effect of written re23 quests to carry out and provide funding for projects and 

24 activities which are submitted to offices of the executive 

25 branch by Members of Congress on the decisions made 


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1 by such offices regarding the funding of those projects and 

2 activities. 

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

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

5 submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under 

6 subsection (a). 

7 TITLE II—ENHANCING PUBLIC 

8 ACCESS TO THE WORK OF 

9 CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES, LEGISLATION, AND 

11 VOTES 

12 Subtitle A—Access to Legislation, 

13 Votes, and Related Information 

14 SEC. 201. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF COMMITTEE 

15 WORK. 

16 (a) IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Clause 

17 1 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following new para19 graph: 

20 ‘‘(e)(1) Each committee shall post on its Internet 

21 website the public hearings and markup schedules of the 

22 committee and each of its subcommittees at the same time 

23 that information is made available to members of the com24 mittee. 


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1 ‘‘(2) For each hearing and markup for which infor2 mation is posted under subparagraph (1), the committee 

3 shall post on its Internet website within 45 days the fol4 lowing: the topic, related legislation, testimony of wit5 nesses, opening statements of the chair and ranking mi6 nority member, transcripts, and audio and video record7 ings. 

8 ‘‘(3) Within 24 hours after a committee or sub9 committee orders any bill or resolution to be reported, the 

10 committee or subcommittee, as applicable, shall post on 

11 its Internet website all amendments that were agreed to, 

12 except for technical and conforming changes authorized by 

13 the committee or subcommittee, as well as all votes taken 

14 on the bill or resolution and on any amendment offered 

15 to the bill or resolution.’’. 

16 (b) IN THE SENATE.—Comparable language to be 

17 added by the Senate. 

18 SEC. 202. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF RECORDED 

19 VOTES. 

20 (a) ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE CLERK OF THE

21 HOUSE AND THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—The 

22 Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary 

23 of the Senate shall post on the public Internet site of the 

24 Office of the Clerk or of the Secretary, respectively, a 

25 record, organized by the name of each Member or Senator, 


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1 in a structured data format, of the recorded votes of that 

2 Member or Senator, including the roll, date, issue, ques3 tion, result, and title or description of the vote, and any 

4 cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office related 

5 to the vote. 

6 (b) WEB LINK.—Each Member shall provide a link 

7 to the Clerk of the House of Representatives of a list of 

8 recorded votes from that Member’s website, and each Sen9 ator shall provide a link to the Secretary of the Senate 

10 of a list of recorded votes from that Senator’s website. 

11 (c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

12 ‘‘Member’’ means a Representative in Congress, a delegate 

13 to Congress, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto 

14 Rico. 

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply to 

16 recorded votes occurring after the date of enactment of 

17 this Act. 

18 SEC. 203. ELECTRONIC FORMAT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title 1 of the United 

20 States Code is amended by inserting after section 107 the 

21 following new section: 

22 ‘‘§ 107a. Electronic format 

23 ‘‘To the extent practicable, all bills, resolutions, or24 ders, and votes shall be created, exchanged, and published 

25 in searchable electronic formats, consistent with data 


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1 standards recommended by such advisory bodies as Con2 gress may establish.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions at the beginning of chapter 2 of title 1 of the United 

5 States Code is amended by adding after the item relating 

6 to section 107 the following new item: 

‘‘107a. Electronic format.’’. 

7 SEC. 204. CONGRESSIONAL DATA TASK FORCE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Clerk of the House and 

9 the Secretary of the Senate shall establish an advisory 

10 Congressional Data Task Force to recommend data stand11 ards for the creation, exchange, and publication of con12 gressional information. 

13 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Congressional Data Task 

14 Force shall be composed of staff representatives of the 

15 Clerk of the House, the Secretary of the Senate, the Li16 brary of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, 

17 the Government Publishing Office, the Center for Legisla18 tive Archives, such other congressional offices and agen19 cies may be necessary, and representatives of the public. 

20 (c) DATA STANDARDS.—All data standards rec21 ommended by the Congressional Data Task Force shall 

22 be nonproprietary and machine-readable. 

23 (d) SCOPE.—The Congressional Data Task Force 

24 shall recommend data standards for congressional infor25 mation, including all bills, amendments, Acts, reports, 


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1 committee hearing/meeting notices, the United States 

2 Code, and other legislative documents and records. 

3 SEC. 205. USE OF DATA STANDARDS BY CONGRESSIONAL 

4 SUPPORT OFFICES. 

5 All congressional support offices shall, to the extent 

6 practicable, use the data standards recommended by the 

7 Congressional Data Task Force for the congressional in8 formation that they create, exchange, and/or publish. 

9 SEC. 206. INCLUSION OF DIGITAL VERSION OF FUNDING 

10 TABLES IN REPORTS ACCOMPANYING APPRO11 PRIATIONS BILLS. 

12 (a) INCLUSION.—The Clerk of the House of Rep13 resentatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall ensure 

14 that each report accompanying any appropriations bill re15 ported by the Committees on Appropriations of the House 

16 or Senate (as the case may be) includes a formatted 

17 spreadsheet showing the amounts made available by the 

18 bill, in a tabular, digital format that shows separate en19 tries for each fiscal year covered by the bill. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

21 with respect to any appropriations bill making funds avail22 able for fiscal year 2023 or any succeeding fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 207. SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE MODERNIZATION OF 

2 CONGRESS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established in 

4 the House of Representatives a Select Committee on the 

5 Modernization of Congress (hereinafter in this section re6 ferred to as the ‘‘Select Committee’’). 

7 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

8 (1) The Select Committee shall be composed of 

9 12 Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commis10 sioner appointed by the Speaker. 

11 (2) The Speaker shall appoint members of the 

12 Select Committee as follows: 

13 (A) At least 2 members from among Mem14 bers, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner 

15 serving in their first term. 

16 (B) At least 2 members from the Com17 mittee on Rules. 

18 (C) At least 2 members from the Com19 mittee on House Administration. 

20 (3) Of the members of the Select Committee 

21 appointed pursuant to paragraph (1), 6 shall be ap22 pointed on the recommendation of the Minority 

23 Leader, including 1 member each as described in 

24 subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (2). 

25 (4) The Speaker shall designate one member of 

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1 ommendation of the Minority Leader, shall designate 

2 one member of the Select Committee as vice chair. 

3 (5) A vacancy in the membership of the Select 

4 Committee shall be filled in the same manner as the 

5 original appointment. 

6 (c) JURISDICTION; FUNCTIONS.— 

7 (1) LEGISLATIVE JURISDICTION.—The Select 

8 Committee shall not have legislative jurisdiction and 

9 shall have no authority to take legislative action on 

10 any bill or resolution. 

11 (2) INVESTIGATIVE JURISDICTION.—The sole 

12 authority of the Select Committee shall be to inves13 tigate, study, make findings, hold public hearings, 

14 and develop recommendations on modernizing Con15 gress, including recommendations on— 

16 (A) rules to promote a more modern and 

17 efficient Congress; 

18 (B) procedures, including the schedule and 

19 calendar; 

20 (C) policies to develop the next generation 

21 of leaders; 

22 (D) staff recruitment, diversity, retention, 

23 and compensation and benefits; 


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1 (E) administrative efficiencies, including 

2 purchasing, travel, outside services, and shared 

3 administrative staff; 

4 (F) technology and innovation; and 

5 (G) the work of the House Commission on 

6 Congressional Mailing Standards. 

7 (d) PROCEDURES.— 

8 (1) Except as specified in paragraph (2), the 

9 Select Committee shall have the authorities and re10 sponsibilities of, and shall be subject to the same 

11 limitations and restrictions as, a standing committee 

12 of the House, and shall be deemed a committee of 

13 the House for all purposes of law or rule. 

14 (2)(A) Rules X and XI of the Rules of the 

15 House of Representatives shall apply to the Select 

16 Committee where not inconsistent with this section. 

17 (B) Service on the Select Committee shall not 

18 count against the limitations in clause 5(b)(2) of 

19 rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

20 (C) Clause 2(m)(1)(B) of rule XI and clause 

21 2(m)(3) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 

22 Representatives shall not apply to the Select Com23 mittee, but the Select Committee may recommend 

24 subpoenas and depositions and submit such rec25 ommendations to the relevant standing committee. 


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1 (D) Clause 2(d) of rule X of the Rules of the 

2 House of Representatives shall not apply to the Se3 lect Committee. 

4 (e) FUNDING.—To enable the Select Committee to 

5 carry out the purposes of this section— 

6 (1) the Select Committee may use the services 

7 of staff of the House; and 

8 (2) the Select Committee shall be eligible for in9 terim funding pursuant to clause 7 of rule X of the 

10 Rules of the House of Representatives. 

11 (f) REPORTS.— 

12 (1) REPORTS ON FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDA13 TIONS.—The Select Committee may report to the 

14 House or any committee from time to time the re15 sults of its investigations and studies, together with 

16 such detailed findings and policy recommendations 

17 as it may deem advisable. The Select Committee 

18 may only submit any such report if the report re19 ceives the votes of not fewer than 2/3 of its mem20 bers. 

21 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Select Committee shall 

22 ensure that each report prepared in accordance with 

23 paragraph (1) shall, upon completion, be made avail24 able to the general public in widely accessible for25 mats not later than 30 calendar days following the 


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1 date the report is made available to the House or a 

2 committee, as applicable. 

3 SEC. 208. EXPANDED INFORMATION IN HOUSE STAFF DI4 RECTORY. 

5 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Clerk of the House of Representa7 tives shall submit a report to the Committees on Appro8 priations and House Administration of the House of Rep9 resentatives on the feasibility of expanding the information 

10 included in the directory of employees of the House to in11 clude information on the position held and the areas of 

12 responsibility assigned to each employee. 

13 SEC. 209. PUBLICATION OF UNITED STATES CAPITOL PO14 LICE ARREST INFORMATION. 

15 (a) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Chief of 

16 the United States Capitol Police shall publish on the offi17 cial public website of the Capitol Police information on ar18 rests made by the Capitol Police, and shall ensure that 

19 such information is published in a structured data format. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

21 respect to arrests made by the United States Capitol Po22 lice on or after January 1, 2021. 


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1 Subtitle B—Access to 

2 Congressionally Mandated Reports 

3 SEC. 211. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Congres5 sionally Mandated Reports Act’’. 

6 SEC. 212. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this subtitle: 

8 (1) CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORT.— 

9 The term ‘‘congressionally mandated report’’— 

10 (A) means a report that is required by 

11 statute to be submitted to either House of Con12 gress or any committee of Congress or sub13 committee thereof; and 

14 (B) does not include a report required 

15 under part B of subtitle II of title 36, United 

16 States Code. 

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

18 the Director of the Government Publishing Office. 

19 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

20 agency’’ has the meaning given that term under sec21 tion 102 of title 40, United States Code, but does 

22 not include the Government Accountability Office. 

23 (4) OPEN FORMAT.—The term ‘‘open format’’ 

24 means a file format for storing digital data based on 

25 an underlying open standard that— 


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1 (A) is not encumbered by any restrictions 

2 that would impede reuse; and 

3 (B) is based on an underlying open data 

4 standard that is maintained by a standards or5 ganization. 

6 (5) REPORTS ONLINE PORTAL.—The term ‘‘re7 ports online portal’’ means the online portal estab8 lished under section 213(a). 

9 SEC. 213. ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE PORTAL FOR CON10 GRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORTS. 

11 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH ONLINE POR12 TAL.— 

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

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

15 establish and maintain an online portal accessible by 

16 the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 

17 copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one 

18 place. The Director may publish other reports on the 

19 online portal. 

20 (2) EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY.—To the extent 

21 possible, the Director shall meet the requirements 

22 under paragraph (1) by using existing online portals 

23 and functionality under the authority of the Direc24 tor. 


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1 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub2 title, the Director shall consult with the Clerk of the 

3 House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Sen4 ate, and the Librarian of Congress regarding the re5 quirements for and maintenance of congressionally 

6 mandated reports on the reports online portal. 

7 (b) CONTENT AND FUNCTION.—The Director shall 

8 ensure that the reports online portal includes the fol9 lowing: 

10 (1) Subject to subsection (c), with respect to 

11 each congressionally mandated report, each of the 

12 following: 

13 (A) A citation to the statute requiring the 

14 report. 

15 (B) An electronic copy of the report, in16 cluding any transmittal letter associated with 

17 the report, in an open format that is platform 

18 independent and that is available to the public 

19 without restrictions, including restrictions that 

20 would impede the re-use of the information in 

21 the report. 

22 (C) The ability to retrieve a report, to the 

23 extent practicable, through searches based on 

24 each, and any combination, of the following: 

25 (i) The title of the report. 


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1 (ii) The reporting Federal agency. 

2 (iii) The date of publication. 

3 (iv) Each congressional committee or 

4 subcommittee receiving the report, if appli5 cable. 

6 (v) The statute requiring the report. 

7 (vi) Subject tags. 

8 (vii) A unique alphanumeric identifier 

9 for the report that is consistent across re10 port editions. 

11 (viii) The serial number, Super12 intendent of Documents number, or other 

13 identification number for the report, if ap14 plicable. 

15 (ix) Key words. 

16 (x) Full text search. 

17 (xi) Any other relevant information 

18 specified by the Director. 

19 (D) The date on which the report was re20 quired to be submitted, and on which the report 

21 was submitted, to the reports online portal. 

22 (E) To the extent practicable, a permanent 

23 means of accessing the report electronically. 

24 (2) A means for bulk download of all congres25 sionally mandated reports. 


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1 (3) A means for downloading individual reports 

2 as the result of a search. 

3 (4) An electronic means for the head of each 

4 Federal agency to submit to the reports online por5 tal each congressionally mandated report of the 

6 agency, as required by section 214. 

7 (5) In tabular form, a list of all congressionally 

8 mandated reports that can be searched, sorted, and 

9 downloaded by— 

10 (A) reports submitted within the required 

11 time; 

12 (B) reports submitted after the date on 

13 which such reports were required to be sub14 mitted; and 

15 (C) reports not submitted. 

16 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

17 (1) REPORTS NOT SUBMITTED.—If a Federal 

18 agency does not submit a congressionally mandated 

19 report to the Director, the Director shall to the ex20 tent practicable— 

21 (A) include on the reports online portal— 

22 (i) the information required under 

23 clauses (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of subsection 

24 (b)(1)(C); and 


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1 (ii) the date on which the report was 

2 required to be submitted; and 

3 (B) include the congressionally mandated 

4 report on the list described in subsection 

5 (b)(5)(C). 

6 (2) REPORTS NOT IN OPEN FORMAT.—If a Fed7 eral agency submits a congressionally mandated re8 port that is not in an open format, the Director shall 

9 include the congressionally mandated report in an10 other format on the reports online portal. 

11 (d) DEADLINE.—The Director shall ensure that in12 formation required to be published on the online portal 

13 under this subtitle with respect to a congressionally man14 dated report or information required under subsection (c) 

15 is published— 

16 (1) not later than 30 calendar days after the in17 formation is received from the Federal agency in18 volved; or 

19 (2) in the case of information required under 

20 subsection (c), not later than 30 calendar days after 

21 the deadline under this subtitle for the Federal 

22 agency involved to submit information with respect 

23 to the congressionally mandated report involved. 

24 (e) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) EXCEPTION DESCRIBED.—A congressionally 

2 mandated report which is required by statute to be 

3 submitted to a committee of Congress or a sub4 committee thereof, including any transmittal letter 

5 associated with the report, shall not be submitted to 

6 or published on the reports online portal if the chair 

7 of a committee or subcommittee to which the report 

8 is submitted notifies the Director in writing that the 

9 report is to be withheld from submission and publi10 cation under this subtitle. 

11 (2) NOTICE ON PORTAL.—If a report is with12 held from submission to or publication on the re13 ports online portal under paragraph (1), the Direc14 tor shall post on the portal— 

15 (A) a statement that the report is withheld 

16 at the request of a committee or subcommittee 

17 involved; and 

18 (B) the written notification specified in 

19 paragraph (1). 

20 (f) FREE ACCESS.—The Director may not charge a 

21 fee, require registration, or impose any other limitation 

22 in exchange for access to the reports online portal. 

23 (g) UPGRADE CAPABILITY.—The reports online por24 tal shall be enhanced and updated as necessary to carry 

25 out the purposes of this subtitle. 


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1 SEC. 214. FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

2 (a) SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC COPIES OF RE3 PORTS.—Not earlier than 30 calendar days or later than 

4 45 calendar days after the date on which a congressionally 

5 mandated report is submitted to either House of Congress 

6 or to any committee of Congress or subcommittee thereof, 

7 the head of the Federal agency submitting the congres8 sionally mandated report shall submit to the Director the 

9 information required under subparagraphs (A) through 

10 (D) of section 213(b)(1) with respect to the congression11 ally mandated report. Nothing in this subtitle shall relieve 

12 a Federal agency of any other requirement to publish the 

13 congressionally mandated report on the online portal of 

14 the Federal agency or otherwise submit the congression15 ally mandated report to Congress or specific committees 

16 of Congress, or subcommittees thereof. 

17 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 240 calendar days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 

19 the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation 

20 with the Director, shall issue guidance to agencies on the 

21 implementation of this subtitle. 

22 (c) STRUCTURE OF SUBMITTED REPORT DATA.— 

23 The head of each Federal agency shall ensure that each 

24 congressionally mandated report submitted to the Director 

25 complies with the open format criteria established by the 

26 Director in the guidance issued under subsection (b). 


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1 (d) POINT OF CONTACT.—The head of each Federal 

2 agency shall designate a point of contact for congression3 ally mandated reports. 

4 SEC. 215. CHANGING OR REMOVING REPORTS. 

5 (a) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO CHANGE OR RE6 MOVE REPORTS.—Except as provided in subsection (b), 

7 the head of the Federal agency concerned may change or 

8 remove a congressionally mandated report submitted to be 

9 published on the reports online portal only if— 

10 (1) the head of the Federal agency consults 

11 with each committee of Congress or subcommittee 

12 thereof to which the report is required to be sub13 mitted (or, in the case of a report which is not re14 quired to be submitted to a particular committee of 

15 Congress or subcommittee thereof, to each com16 mittee with jurisdiction over the agency, as deter17 mined by the head of the agency in consultation with 

18 the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

19 President pro tempore of the Senate) prior to chang20 ing or removing the report; and 

21 (2) a joint resolution is enacted to authorize the 

22 change in or removal of the report. 

23 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

24 the head of the Federal agency concerned— 


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1 (1) may make technical changes to a report 

2 submitted to or published on the online portal; and 

3 (2) may remove a report from the online portal 

4 if the report was submitted to or published on the 

5 online portal in error. 

6 SEC. 216. RELATIONSHIP TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA7 TION ACT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this subtitle shall be 

9 construed to— 

10 (1) require the disclosure of information, 

11 records, or reports that are exempt from public dis12 closure under section 552 of title 5, United States 

13 Code; or 

14 (2) impose any affirmative duty on the Director 

15 to review congressionally mandated reports sub16 mitted for publication to the reports online portal 

17 for the purpose of identifying and redacting such in18 formation or records. 

19 (b) REDACTION OF INFORMATION.—The head of a 

20 Federal agency may redact information required to be dis21 closed under this subtitle if the information would be prop22 erly withheld from disclosure under section 552 of title 

23 5, United States Code, and shall— 


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1 (1) redact information required to be disclosed 

2 under this subtitle if disclosure of such information 

3 is prohibited by law; 

4 (2) redact information being withheld under 

5 this subsection prior to submitting the information 

6 to the Director; 

7 (3) redact only such information properly with8 held under this subsection from the submission of 

9 information or from any congressionally mandated 

10 report submitted under this Act; 

11 (4) identify where any such redaction is made 

12 in the submission or report; and 

13 (5) identify the exemption under which each 

14 such redaction is made. 

15 SEC. 217. IMPLEMENTATION. 

16 (a) REPORTS SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—This subtitle shall apply 

18 with respect to any congressionally mandated report 

19 which— 

20 (A) is required by statute to be submitted 

21 to the House of Representatives or Senate at 

22 any time before, on, or after the date of the en23 actment of this Act; or 

24 (B) is included by the Clerk of the House 

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1 ate (as the case may be) on the list of reports 

2 received by the House of Representatives or 

3 Senate (as the case may be) at any time before 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 (2) TRANSITION RULE FOR PREVIOUSLY SUB6 MITTED REPORTS.—The Director shall ensure that 

7 any congressionally mandated report described in 

8 paragraph (1) which was required to be submitted to 

9 Congress by a statute enacted before the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act is published on the online por11 tal under this subtitle not later than 1 year after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (b) REPORTS SUBMITTED TO COMMITTEES.—In the 

14 case of congressionally mandated reports which are re15 quired by statute to be submitted to a committee of Con16 gress or a subcommittee thereof, this subtitle shall apply 

17 with respect to— 

18 (1) any such report which is first required to be 

19 submitted by a statute which is enacted on or after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

21 (2) to the maximum extent practical, any con22 gressionally mandated report which was required to 

23 be submitted by a statute enacted before the date of 

24 enactment of this Act unless— 


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1 (A) the chair of the committee, or sub2 committee thereof, to which the report was re3 quired to be submitted notifies the Director in 

4 writing that the report is to be withheld from 

5 publication; and 

6 (B) the Director publishes the notification 

7 on the online portal. 

8 SEC. 218. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

9 The budgetary effects of this subtitle, for the purpose 

10 of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 

11 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest state12 ment titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ 

13 for this subtitle, submitted for printing in the Congres14 sional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Com15 mittee, provided that such statement has been submitted 

16 prior to the vote on passage. 

17 TITLE III—EXPANDING ACCESS 

18 TO CONGRESSIONAL RE19 SEARCH SERVICE REPORTS 

20 ON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

21 WEBSITE 

22 SEC. 301. INCLUSION OF REPORTS FROM ARCHIVE. 

23 Section 154(a)(2) of Legislative Branch Appropria24 tions Act, 2018 (2 U.S.C. 166a(a)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub2 paragraph (C); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol4 lowing new subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF ARCHIVED MATE6 RIAL.—The term ‘CRS Report’ includes any re7 port or product described in subparagraph (A) 

8 which is produced prior to the effective date of 

9 this section, including any report or product 

10 maintained in a CRS archive.’’. 

11 SEC. 302. AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS IN STRUCTURED FOR12 MAT. 

13 Section 154(b)(1)(B) of the Legislative Branch Ap14 propriations Act, 2018 (2 U.S.C. 166a(b)(1)(B)) is 

15 amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

16 the following: ‘‘, and shall be available in a structured data 

17 format.’’ 

18 SEC. 303. REPORT ON MAKING OTHER MATERIALS AVAIL19 ABLE. 

20 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act, the Director of the Congressional Research 

22 Service shall submit a report to Congress describing the 

23 steps the Director would be required to take in order to 

24 make materials and publications of the Service which are 

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1 islative Branch Appropriations Act, 2018 (2 U.S.C. 166a) 

2 available through the website established and maintained 

3 by the Librarian of Congress under such section. 

4 SEC. 304. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 The amendments made by sections 301 and 302 shall 

6 take effect as if included in the enactment of section 154 

7 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2018 (2 

8 U.S.C. 166a). 

9 TITLE IV—LOBBYING 

10 DISCLOSURE 

11 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Lobbyist Disclosure 

13 Enhancement Act’’. 

14 SEC. 402. MODIFICATIONS TO ENFORCEMENT. 

15 (a) LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT TASK FORCE.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General 

17 shall establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforce18 ment Task Force (in this subsection referred to as 

19 the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

20 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The Task Force— 

21 (A) shall have primary responsibility for 

22 investigating and prosecuting each case referred 

23 to the Attorney General under section 6(a)(8) 

24 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

25 U.S.C. 1605(a)(8)); 


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1 (B) shall collect and disseminate informa2 tion with respect to the enforcement of the Lob3 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 

4 seq.); 

5 (C) shall audit, at a minimum on an an6 nual basis, and as frequently as deemed nec7 essary by the Task Force, the extent of compli8 ance or noncompliance with the requirements of 

9 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by lobby10 ists, lobbying firms, and registrants under that 

11 Act through a random sampling of lobbying 

12 registrations and reports filed under that Act 

13 during each calendar year; and 

14 (D) shall establish, publicize, and operate a 

15 toll-free telephone number to serve as a hotline 

16 for members of the public to report noncompli17 ance with lobbyist disclosure requirements 

18 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, 

19 and shall develop a mechanism to allow mem20 bers of the public to report such noncompliance 

21 online. 

22 (b) REFERRAL OF CASES TO THE ATTORNEY GEN23 ERAL.—Section 6(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

24 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘United 

2 States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 

4 (2) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘United 

5 States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’. 

7 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVED ENFORCE8 MENT.—The Attorney General may make recommenda9 tions to Congress with respect to— 

10 (1) the enforcement of and compliance with the 

11 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; and 

12 (2) the need for resources available for the en13 hanced enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 

14 of 1995. 

15 (d) INFORMATION IN ENFORCEMENT REPORTS.— 

16 Section 6(b)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

17 (2 U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘by case’’ 

18 and all that follows through ‘‘public record’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘by case and name of the individual lobbyists or lobbying 

20 firms involved, any sentences imposed’’. 

21 SEC. 403. DEFINITION OF LOBBYIST. 

22 Section 3(10) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

23 (2 U.S.C. 1602(10)) is amended by striking ‘‘, other than 

24 an individual’’ and all that follows through ‘‘period’’. 


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1 SEC. 404. EXPEDITED ONLINE REGISTRATION OF LOBBY2 ISTS; EXPANSION OF REGISTRANTS. 

3 Section 4(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

4 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘45 days’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘10 days’’; 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘, or on the first business 

9 day after such 45th day if the 45th day is not 

10 a business day,’’ and inserting ‘‘, or on the first 

11 business day occurring after such 10th day if 

12 such 10th day does not occur on a business 

13 day,’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting ‘‘online’’ after ‘‘shall reg15 ister’’; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘Any organization’’ and in18 serting the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), any organization’’; and 

21 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(B) THRESHOLD FOR CERTAIN ORGANI23 ZATIONS.—In the case of an organization whose 

24 employees who are lobbyists engage in lobbying 

25 activities only on behalf of the organization, the 

26 organization is required to register under this 


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1 subsection only if the lobbying activities of each 

2 such employee includes or is expected to include 

3 more than one lobbying contact.’’. 

4 SEC. 405. DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. 

5 Section 5(d)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

6 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)) is amended— 

7 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

8 by striking ‘‘30 days after’’ and all that follows 

9 through ‘‘30th day is not’’ and inserting ‘‘20 days 

10 after the end of the quarterly period beginning on 

11 the first day of January, April, July, and October of 

12 each year, or on the first business day after such 

13 20th day if such 20th day is not’’; and 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘semiannual period’’ each place 

15 it appears and inserting ‘‘quarterly period’’. 

16 SEC. 406. IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS FOR LOBBYISTS. 

17 (a) REQUIRING ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTI18 FICATION NUMBER.—Section 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying 

19 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara22 graph (A); 

23 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon the 

24 end of subparagraph (B); and 


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1 (3) by adding after subparagraph (B) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(C) a system that assigns a unique identi4 fication number for each lobbyist for whom a 

5 registration or report is filed under this Act;’’. 

6 (b) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 

7 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary 

9 of the Senate shall submit a report to Congress on the 

10 progress made by the Clerk and the Secretary in imple11 menting the amendment made by subsection (a), and shall 

12 include in the report an analysis of the progress made in 

13 including the unique identification number assigned to a 

14 lobbyist in the statements and reports filed under the Lob15 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 in a structured data format. 

16 SEC. 407. ETHICS TRAINING FOR LOBBYISTS. 

17 (a) REQUIRED ETHICS TRAINING.—Any individual 

18 who is a lobbyist registered or required to register under 

19 section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

20 U.S.C. 1603) shall— 

21 (1) complete ethics training described in sub22 section (b)— 

23 (A) not later than 6 months after the indi24 vidual is first employed or retained for services 

25 that include one or more lobbying contacts; and 


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1 (B) at least once in each 5-year period 

2 during which the individual is registered or re3 quired to register under section 4; and 

4 (2) submit to the Clerk of the House of Rep5 resentatives and the Secretary of the Senate certifi6 cation of the training completed under paragraph 

7 (1). 

8 (b) QUALIFIED TRAINING.—The Ethics Committee 

9 of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee 

10 on Ethics of the Senate shall jointly— 

11 (1) determine the curriculum and certification 

12 requirements for the ethics training for individuals 

13 described in subsection (a); 

14 (2) approve those educational institutions, pro15 fessional associations, or other persons who are 

16 qualified to provide such ethics training; 

17 (3) determine the maximum fee that may be 

18 charged for the ethics training; and 

19 (4) provide oversight of the ethics training pro20 gram established under this section in order to de21 termine the quality of instruction in, and the admin22 istration of, the training program. 

23 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF CLERK AND SEC24 RETARY.—The Clerk of the House of Representatives and 

25 the Secretary of the Senate shall— 


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1 (1) collect and review for completion and accu2 racy the certifications of ethics training submitted 

3 under subsection (a)(2); and 

4 (2) post on the websites of the Clerk and the 

5 Secretary, with respect to each individual required to 

6 complete ethics training under this section— 

7 (A) whether the individual has complied 

8 with such requirement; and 

9 (B) the certifications submitted by the in10 dividual under subsection (a)(2). 

11 SEC. 408. ESTIMATES BASED ON TAX REPORTING SYSTEM. 

12 Section 15 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

13 (2 U.S.C. 1610) is repealed. 

14 SEC. 409. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 (a) SECTION 402.—Section 402 and the amendments 

16 made by that section take effect upon the expiration of 

17 the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act. 

19 (b) SECTIONS 403, 404, AND 405.—The amendments 

20 made by sections 403, 404, and 405 shall take effect on 

21 the first day of the first quarterly period described in sec22 tion 5(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

23 U.S.C. 1604(a)) that begins after the end of the 90-day 

24 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (c) SECTION 406.—The amendments made by section 

2 406 shall apply to any registration or report that is filed 

3 under section 4 or 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

4 1995— 

5 (1) on or after the 90th day after the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act; or 

7 (2) before such 90th day, if such registration or 

8 report is, as of such 90th day, being retained under 

9 section 6(a)(5) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

10 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(5)). 

11 (d) SECTION 407.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 407 shall take effect 

13 upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning 

14 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (2) CURRENT LOBBYISTS.—In the case of indi16 viduals who are registered under section 4 of the 

17 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) as 

18 of the effective date under paragraph (1), the ethics 

19 training required under section 407(a)(1) shall be 

20 completed not later than the end of the 6-month pe21 riod beginning on the effective date under paragraph 

22 (1) of this subsection, in lieu of the date specified 

23 in section 407(a)(1). 


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1 TITLE V—TRANSPARENCY IN 

2 FEDERAL CONTRACTING 

3 SEC. 501. IMPROVING APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTER4 FACE AND WEBSITE DATA ELEMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Federal Funding 

6 Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 

7 109–282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (4)(A)(ii), by striking 

10 ‘‘and delivery orders’’ and inserting ‘‘lease 

11 agreements and assignments, and delivery or12 ders’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (7)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

15 ‘‘paragraph (2)(A)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘para16 graph (5)(A)(i)’’; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

18 (I) by striking ‘‘paragraph 

19 (2)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

20 (5)(A)(ii)’’; and 

21 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

22 semicolon; 

23 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

24 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

25 and’’; and 


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1 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

2 new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(E) programmatically search and access 

4 all data in a serialized machine-readable format 

5 (such as XML) via a web-services application 

6 programming interface.’’; 

7 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

8 through (8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), re9 spectively; and 

10 (D) by inserting before paragraph (2) the 

11 following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(1) CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

13 ITEM.—The term ‘congressionally directed spending 

14 item’ means a provision or report language included 

15 primarily at the request of a Member of Congress 

16 providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific 

17 amount of discretionary budget authority, credit au18 thority, or other spending authority for a contract, 

19 loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other 

20 expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a 

21 specific State, locality, or congressional district, 

22 other than through a statutory or administrative for23 mula-driven or competitive award process.’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking the 

2 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as 

4 subparagraph (J); and 

5 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (F) 

6 the following new subparagraphs: 

7 ‘‘(G) to the extent possible, the Federal 

8 agency, including the bureau, office, or subdivi9 sion, that authorized the Federal award; 

10 ‘‘(H) after January 1, 2022, for each con11 tract, subcontract, purchase order, task order, 

12 lease agreement and assignment, and delivery 

13 order— 

14 ‘‘(i) information about the extent of 

15 competition in awarding the contract, in16 cluding the number of bids or proposals 

17 determined to be responsive during the 

18 competitive process, and if the award was 

19 not competitive, the legal authority and 

20 specific rationale for awarding the contract 

21 without full and open competition; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the full amount awarded under 

23 the contract or, in the case of lease agree24 ments or assignments, the amount paid to 

25 the Government, and the full amount of 


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1 any options to expand or extend under the 

2 contract; 

3 ‘‘(iii) the amount of the profit incen4 tive, such as award fees; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the type of contract, such as 

6 fixed price, cost plus pricing, labor hour 

7 contracts, and time and materials con8 tracts; 

9 ‘‘(v) a permanent link to the original 

10 solicitation or notice and the solicitation 

11 ID; 

12 ‘‘(vi) an indication if the contract is 

13 the result of legislative mandates, set14 asides, preference program requirements, 

15 or other criteria, and whether the contract 

16 is multi-year, consolidated, or performance17 based; and 

18 ‘‘(vii) an indication if the contract is 

19 a congressionally directed spending item; 

20 ‘‘(I) after January 1, 2022, for all grants, 

21 subgrants, loans, awards, cooperative agree22 ments, and other forms of financial assistance, 

23 an indication if the funding is a congressionally 

24 directed spending item; and’’; and 

25 (3) in subsection (c)(5)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(2)(A)(i)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)(i)’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii)’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)(ii)’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise pro6 vided, the amendments made by subsection (a) shall be 

7 implemented not later than 6 months after the date of 

8 the enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 502. IMPROVING DATA QUALITY. 

10 The Federal Funding Accountability and Trans11 parency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–282; 31 U.S.C. 

12 6101 note) is amended by adding at the end the following 

13 new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 9. IMPROVING DATA QUALITY. 

15 ‘‘(a) INSPECTOR GENERAL DATA AUDIT.—Each In16 spector General shall annually audit for the previous fiscal 

17 year the data used on the website established under sec18 tion 2 for the relevant Federal agency of the Inspector 

19 General, in compliance with generally accepted Govern20 ment auditing standards, and submit a report on such 

21 audit to the Director of the Office of Management and 

22 Budget that includes at least the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) A review of data used for the website to 

24 verify accuracy of the data and assess the process 

25 used for improving data quality. 


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1 ‘‘(2) A review of a statistically representative 

2 sample of Federal awards to determine whether the 

3 Federal agency of the Inspector General has appro4 priate measures in place to review data submissions 

5 under this Act for accuracy and completeness. 

6 ‘‘(3) An identification of and report on new 

7 standards that the Inspector General recommends 

8 for implementation by the Federal agency of the In9 spector General to improve data quality. 

10 ‘‘(b) OMB REPORT.—Not later than April 1 of each 

11 year, the Director of the Office of Management and Budg12 et shall make each report submitted under subsection (a) 

13 for the previous fiscal year available to the public, includ14 ing a review of the findings of the audit and recommenda15 tions to improve data quality, through the website estab16 lished under section 2.’’. 

17 SEC. 503. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REPORTING OF 

18 AWARD DATA. 

19 (a) REVISION OF GUIDANCE.—The Director of the 

20 Office of Management and Budget shall revise the Office’s 

21 guidance to Federal agencies on reporting Federal awards 

22 to clarify— 

23 (1) the requirement for award titles to describe 

24 the award’s purpose; and 


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1 (2) requirements for validating and docu2 menting agency award data submitted by Federal 

3 agencies. 

4 (b) INCLUSION OF CITY INFORMATION.—The Direc5 tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall include 

6 information on the city in which work is performed in the 

7 Office’s public reporting of the completeness of agency 

8 data submissions. 

9 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘Fed10 eral agency’’ and ‘‘Federal award’’ have the meanings 

11 given those terms in section 2(a) of the Federal Funding 

12 Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 

13 109–282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 

14 SEC. 504. RECIPIENT PERFORMANCE TRANSPARENCY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Funding Account16 ability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109– 

17 282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note), as amended by the preceding 

18 provisions of this Act, is further amended by adding at 

19 the end the following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 10. RECIPIENT PERFORMANCE TRANSPARENCY AND 

21 PAST PERFORMANCE. 

22 ‘‘The Director of the Office of Management and 

23 Budget shall ensure that the unique identifier required in 

24 section 2(b)(1)(E), which is used to link information about 

25 an entity receiving an award on the website established 


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1 under such section, is also used to link information about 

2 such entity on the Federal Awardee Performance Integrity 

3 Information System.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

5 subsection (a) shall be implemented not later than June 

6 30, 2022. 

7 SEC. 505. IMPROVEMENT OF FEDERAL AWARDEE PER8 FORMANCE AND INTEGRITY INFORMATION 

9 SYSTEM DATABASE. 

10 Section 872(c) of the Duncan Hunter National De11 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 

12 110–417; 122 Stat. 4556) is amended— 

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

14 striking ‘‘5-year period’’ and inserting ‘‘10-year pe15 riod’’; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 

17 following new subparagraphs: 

18 ‘‘(E) In an administrative proceeding, any 

19 administrative judgment that does not contain 

20 an explicit finding or acknowledgment of fault. 

21 ‘‘(F) In a civil proceeding, any settlement 

22 that does not contain an explicit finding or ac23 knowledgment of fault.’’. 


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1 SEC. 506. FEDERAL CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE. 

2 (a) PERIODIC INSPECTION OR REVIEW OF CONTRACT

3 FILES.—Section 2313(e)(2) of title 41, United States 

4 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(C) PERIODIC INSPECTION OR REVIEW.— 

7 The Inspector General of each Federal agency 

8 shall periodically— 

9 ‘‘(i) conduct an inspection or review of 

10 each contract file described in subpara11 graph (B) to determine if the agency is 

12 providing appropriate consideration of the 

13 information included in the database estab14 lished under subsection (a); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) submit a report containing the 

16 results of the inspection or review con17 ducted under clause (i) to the Committee 

18 on Homeland Security and Governmental 

19 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

20 on Oversight and Government Reform of 

21 the House of Representatives.’’. 

22 (b) SELF-REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Subsection 

23 (f) of section 2313 of such title is amended to read as 

24 follows: 

25 ‘‘(f) SELF-REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS IN EXCESS OF SIMPLIFIED AC2 QUISITION THRESHOLD.—No funds appropriated or 

3 otherwise made available by any Act may be used for 

4 any Federal contract for the procurement of prop5 erty or services in excess of the simplified acquisition 

6 threshold unless the contractor has first made the 

7 certifications set forth in section 52.209–5 of the 

8 Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTS IN EXCESS OF $500,000.—No 

10 funds appropriated or otherwise made available by 

11 any Act may be used for any Federal contract for 

12 the procurement of property or services in excess of 

13 $500,000 unless the contractor— 

14 ‘‘(A) certifies that the contractor has sub15 mitted to the Administrator of General Services 

16 the information required under subsection (c) 

17 and that such information is current as of the 

18 date of such certification; or 

19 ‘‘(B) certifies that the contractor has cu20 mulative active Federal contracts and grants 

21 with a total value of less than $10,000,000.’’. 

22 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Comptroller General of 

23 the United States shall annually submit a report to the 

24 appropriate congressional committees describing the exVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055

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1 tent to which suspended or debarred contractors on the 

2 Excluded Parties List System— 

3 (1) are identified as having received Federal 

4 contracts on USAspending.gov; or 

5 (2) were granted waivers from Federal agencies 

6 from suspension or debarment for purposes of enter7 ing into Federal contracts. 

8 SEC. 507. IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION DIS9 CLOSED ON LOBBYING ACTIVITIES. 

10 (a) INFORMATION FILED WITH THE ADMINISTRATOR

11 OF GENERAL SERVICES.—Section 1352(b) of title 31, 

12 United States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘file with that 

14 agency’’ and inserting ‘‘file electronically with the 

15 Administrator of General Services’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(7) The Administrator of General Services shall es19 tablish and maintain an online database that— 

20 ‘‘(A) is available to each agency and the public; 

21 ‘‘(B) contains information disclosed pursuant to 

22 this subsection; and 

23 ‘‘(C) is searchable, sortable, machine-readable, 

24 and downloadable.’’. 


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1 (b) DEADLINE FOR DATABASE.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad3 ministrator of General Services shall establish the data4 base required by paragraph (7) of section 1352(b) of title 

5 31, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 508. INCLUSION OF NARRATIVES ON 

7 USASPENDING.GOV. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget shall allow any agency, 

11 in reporting an award to USAspending.gov (or a successor 

12 website), to upload a narrative for such award. 

13 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘agen14 cy’’ and ‘‘award’’ have the meanings given those terms on 

15 USAspending.gov (or a successor website). 

16 TITLE VI—EXECUTIVE BRANCH 

17 TRANSPARENCY 

18 Subtitle A—Public Availability of 

19 Information 

20 SEC. 601. REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL 

21 SPONSORSHIP OF ALL FEDERAL ADVER22 TISING OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided for in sub24 section (b), each advertisement or other communication 

25 paid for by an agency, either directly or through a contract 


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1 awarded by the agency, shall include a prominent notice 

2 informing the target audience that the advertisement or 

3 other communication is paid for by that agency. 

4 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement in subsection (a) 

5 shall not apply to an advertisement or other communica6 tion— 

7 (1) that is 200 characters or less; or 

8 (2) that is distributed through a short message 

9 service. 

10 (c) ADVERTISEMENT OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

11 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘advertisement or 

12 other communication’’ includes— 

13 (1) an advertisement disseminated in any form, 

14 including print or by any electronic means; and 

15 (2) a communication by an individual in any 

16 form, including speech, print, or by any electronic 

17 means. 

18 SEC. 602. IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFLUENTIAL EXECUTIVE 

19 BRANCH OFFICIAL’S VISITOR ACCESS 

20 RECORDS. 

21 (a) DISCLOSURE OF WHITE HOUSE VISITOR ACCESS

22 RECORDS.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter, the Presi24 dent shall disclose to the public all White House visitor 


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1 access records for the previous month that are redacted 

2 in accordance with subsection (c). 

3 (b) DISCLOSURE OF AGENCY VISITOR ACCESS

4 RECORDS.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

5 enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter, the head 

6 of each agency shall disclose to the public all visitor access 

7 records for the previous month for such agency head that 

8 are redacted in accordance with subsection (c). 

9 (c) INFORMATION NOT DISCLOSED.—The President 

10 under subsection (a), and the head of the relevant agency 

11 under subsection (b), as the case may be, may determine 

12 to not disclose the following information pursuant to this 

13 section: 

14 (1) Any information— 

15 (A) that implicates personal privacy or law 

16 enforcement concerns (such as date of birth, so17 cial security number, and contact phone num18 ber); 

19 (B) that implicates the personal safety of 

20 White House staff (including daily arrival and 

21 departure); or 

22 (C) whose release would so threaten na23 tional security interests that it outweighs a 

24 strong presumption in favor of the public’s in25 terest in disclosure. 


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1 (2) For a non-renewable period of up to a year, 

2 any information related to purely personal guests of 

3 the first and second families, but only if the execu4 tive branch’s interest in protecting an unfettered 

5 consultation conducted in secret strongly outweighs 

6 the public’s interest in an accountable Government 

7 free of corruption and political influence. 

8 (3) Any information related to a small group of 

9 particularly sensitive meetings (such as visits of po10 tential Supreme Court nominees). 

11 SEC. 603. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF BUDGET JUSTIFICA12 TIONS AND APPROPRIATION REQUESTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Federal Funding 

14 Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 

15 6101 note) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 3. FULL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than monthly 

18 when practicable, and in any event not less frequently than 

19 quarterly, the Secretary (in consultation with the Director 

20 and, with respect to information described in subsection 

21 (b)(2), the head of the applicable Federal agency) shall 

22 ensure that updated information with respect to the infor23 mation described in subsection (b) is posted on the website 

24 established under section 2. 

25 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION TO BE POSTED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) FUNDS.—For any funds made available to 

2 or expended by a Federal agency or component of a 

3 Federal agency, the information to be posted shall 

4 include— 

5 ‘‘(A) for each appropriations account, in6 cluding an expired or unexpired appropriations 

7 account, the amount— 

8 ‘‘(i) of budget authority appropriated; 

9 ‘‘(ii) that is obligated; 

10 ‘‘(iii) of unobligated balances; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) of any other budgetary re12 sources; 

13 ‘‘(B) from which accounts and in what 

14 amount— 

15 ‘‘(i) appropriations are obligated for 

16 each program activity; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) outlays are made for each pro18 gram activity; 

19 ‘‘(C) from which accounts and in what 

20 amount— 

21 ‘‘(i) appropriations are obligated for 

22 each object class; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) outlays are made for each object 

24 class; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) for each program activity, the 

2 amount— 

3 ‘‘(i) obligated for each object class; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) of outlays made for each object 

6 class. 

7 ‘‘(2) BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

9 ‘‘(i) the term ‘agency’ has the mean10 ing given that term in section 101 of title 

11 31, United States Code; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘budget justification 

13 materials’ means the annual budget jus14 tification materials of an agency that are 

15 submitted to Congress in support of the 

16 budget of the agency, in conjunction with 

17 the budget of the United States Govern18 ment submitted under section 1105(a) of 

19 title 31, United States Code, but does not 

20 include budget justification materials that 

21 are classified. 

22 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION.—The information to 

23 be posted shall include the budget justification 

24 materials of each agency— 


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1 ‘‘(i) for the second fiscal year begin2 ning after the date of enactment of this 

3 paragraph, and each fiscal year thereafter; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, that 

6 were released for any fiscal year before the 

7 date of enactment of this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(C) FORMAT.—Budget justification mate9 rials shall be posted under subparagraph (B)— 

10 ‘‘(i) in an open format machine read11 able and text searchable; 

12 ‘‘(ii) in a manner that enables users 

13 to download individual reports, download 

14 all reports in bulk, and download in bulk 

15 the results of a search, to the extent prac16 ticable; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) in a structured data format, to 

18 the extent practicable. 

19 ‘‘(D) DEADLINE.—The budget justification 

20 materials required to be posted under subpara21 graph (B)(i) shall be posted not later than 2 

22 weeks after the date on which the budget jus23 tification materials are first submitted to Con24 gress. 


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1 ‘‘(E) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

2 in this paragraph shall be construed to author3 ize an agency to destroy any budget justifica4 tion materials relating to a fiscal year before 

5 the fiscal year described in subparagraph 

6 (B)(i).’’. 

7 (b) INFORMATION REGARDING AGENCY BUDGET

8 JUSTIFICATIONS.—Section 1105 of title 31, United States 

9 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(i)(1) The Director of the Office of Management 

11 and Budget shall make publicly available on an internet 

12 website, and continuously update, a tabular list for each 

13 fiscal year of each agency that submits to Congress budget 

14 justification materials in support of the budget of the 

15 agency, which shall include— 

16 ‘‘(A) the name of the agency; 

17 ‘‘(B) a unique identifier that identifies the 

18 agency; 

19 ‘‘(C) to the extent practicable, the date on 

20 which the budget justification materials of the agen21 cy are first submitted to Congress; 

22 ‘‘(D) the date on which the budget justification 

23 materials of the agency are posted online under sec24 tion 3 of the Federal Funding Accountability and 

25 Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note); 


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1 ‘‘(E) the uniform resource locator where the 

2 budget justification materials submitted to Congress 

3 are published on the website of the agency; and 

4 ‘‘(F) a single data set that contains the infor5 mation described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) 

6 with respect to the agency for all fiscal years for 

7 which budget justifications of the agency are made 

8 available under section 3 of the Federal Funding Ac9 countability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 

10 U.S.C. 6101 note) in a structured data format. 

11 ‘‘(2)(A) Each agency that submits to Congress budg12 et justification materials in support of the budget of the 

13 agency shall make the materials available on the website 

14 of the agency. 

15 ‘‘(B) The Director of Office of Management and 

16 Budget shall establish best practices for agencies relating 

17 to making available materials under subparagraph (A)(i), 

18 which shall include guidelines for using a uniform resource 

19 locator that is in a consistent format across agencies and 

20 is descriptive, memorable, and pronounceable, such as the 

21 format of ‘agencyname.gov/budget’. 

22 ‘‘(C) If the Director of Office of Management and 

23 Budget maintains a public website that contains the budg24 et of the United States Government submitted under sub25 section (a) and any related materials, such website shall 


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1 also contain a link to the tabular list required under para2 graph (1). 

3 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘budget justification 

4 materials’ has the meaning given that term in section 3 

5 of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 

6 Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).’’. 

7 SEC. 604. IMPROVING RULEMAKING DISCLOSURE FOR THE 

8 OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY 

9 AFFAIRS. 

10 (a) INCLUSION IN THE RULEMAKING DOCKET OF

11 DOCUMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO THE

12 IMPLEMENTATION OF CENTRALIZED REGULATORY RE13 VIEW.—As soon as practicable, and not later than 15 days 

14 after the conclusion of centralized regulatory review for 

15 a draft proposed or draft final rule, the Administrator of 

16 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs shall in17 clude in the rulemaking docket the following: 

18 (1) A copy of the draft proposed or draft final 

19 rule and supporting analyses submitted to the Office 

20 of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. 

21 (2) A copy of the draft proposed or draft final 

22 rule that incorporates substantive changes, if any, 

23 made to the rule as part of implementing centralized 

24 regulatory review. 


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1 (3) A document describing in a complete, clear, 

2 and simple manner all substantive changes made by 

3 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to 

4 the draft proposed or draft final rule submitted by 

5 the agency to Office for review. 

6 (4) A copy of all documents and written com7 munications (including all electronic mail and elec8 tronic mail file attachments), and a summary of all 

9 oral communications (including phone calls, phone 

10 conferences, and meetings), exchanged as part of the 

11 implementation of the centralized regulatory review 

12 between or among any of the following: 

13 (A) The agency responsible for the rule. 

14 (B) The Office of Information and Regu15 latory Affairs. 

16 (C) Any other office or entity within the 

17 Executive Office of the President. 

18 (D) An agency that is not the agency re19 sponsible for the rule. 

20 (E) An individual who is not employed 

21 by— 

22 (i) the executive branch of the Federal 

23 Government; or 

24 (ii) an agency that is not the agency 

25 responsible for the rule. 


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1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) CENTRALIZED REGULATORY REVIEW.—The 

3 term ‘‘centralized regulatory review’’ means the in4 stitutional process of Presidential oversight of indi5 vidual agency rules governed by Executive Order 

6 12866 (58 Fed. Reg. 51735; relating to regulatory 

7 planning and review), or any successor to such Exec8 utive order. 

9 (2) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 

10 given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 

11 States Code. 

12 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion shall be construed to preempt or displace the disclo14 sure requirements under any other provision of law affect15 ing administrative procedure, if such requirements are not 

16 inconsistent with the requirements of this section. 

17 SEC. 605. IMPROVING REGISTRATION INFORMATION FROM 

18 AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS. 

19 (a) IMPROVING ONLINE ACCESS TO REGISTRATION

20 INFORMATION.—Section 6(d)(1) of the Foreign Agents 

21 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 616(d)(1)) is amend22 ed by striking ‘‘in a searchable, sortable, and 

23 downloadable manner’’ and inserting ‘‘in a format which 

24 is directly searchable, sortable, downloadable, and ma25 chine-readable’’. 


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1 (b) REPEALING EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION

2 UNDER FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938 

3 FOR PERSONS FILING DISCLOSURE REPORTS UNDER

4 LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995.— 

5 (1) REPEAL OF EXEMPTION.—Section 3 of the 

6 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 

7 613) is amended by striking subsection (h). 

8 (2) TIMING OF FILING OF REGISTRATION

9 STATEMENTS.—Section 2 of the Foreign Agents 

10 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 612) is amend11 ed— 

12 (A) in subsection (a), in the matter pre13 ceding paragraph (1), in the fourth sentence, by 

14 striking ‘‘The registration statement shall in15 clude’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

16 subsection (h), the registration statement shall 

17 include’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(h) TIMING FOR FILING OF STATEMENTS BY PER20 SONS REGISTERED UNDER LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT

21 OF 1995.—In the case of an agent of a person described 

22 in section 1(b)(2) or an entity described in section 1(b)(3) 

23 who has registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

24 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), after the agent files the 

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1 tion with the agent’s representation of such person or enti2 ty, the agent shall file all subsequent statements required 

3 under this section at the same time, and in the same fre4 quency, as the reports filed with the Clerk of the House 

5 of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate (as the 

6 case may be) under section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure 

7 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604) in connection with the 

8 agent’s representation of such person or entity.’’. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

11 30-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

12 of this Act. 

13 SEC. 606. AGENCY DEFINED. 

14 In this subtitle (except for section 608), the term 

15 ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given that term under section 

16 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

17 SEC. 607. GOVERNMENT-WIDE ENTITY IDENTIFIER. 

18 (a) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

19 ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive 

20 agency’’ under section 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR ALL AGENCIES TO USE A

22 GOVERNMENT-WIDE ENTITY IDENTIFIER.—(1) Each 

23 agency shall, to the extent practicable, require all private 

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1 ings, forms, disclosures or other regularized information 

2 to obtain a unique entity identifier. 

3 (2) The unique entity identifier required under this 

4 section shall allow private sector entities to be identified 

5 uniquely across all Federal regulatory, procurement, as6 sistance, and other reporting regimes. 

7 (c) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION CATEGORIZED

8 USING GOVERNMENT-WIDE ENTITY IDENTIFIER.—Each 

9 agency shall, to the extent practicable, publish all public 

10 regulatory, procurement, assistance, and other reported 

11 information categorized using the unique entity identifier 

12 required under this section. 

13 (d) GOVERNANCE.—The unique entity identifier re14 quired under this section shall be based on the global enti15 ty identifier issued by— 

16 (1) utilities endorsed by the Regulatory Over17 sight Committee, whose charter was set forth by the 

18 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of 

19 the Group of Twenty and the Financial Stability 

20 Board; or 

21 (2) utilities endorsed or otherwise governed by 

22 the Global LEI Foundation so long as that Founda23 tion remains recognized by the Regulatory Oversight 

24 Committee or any successor global public oversight 

25 body. 


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1 SEC. 608. GRANTS TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle V of title 31, United 

3 States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 73 the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘CHAPTER 74—GRANTS TRANSPARENCY 

6 REQUIREMENTS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘7401. Definitions. 

‘‘7402. Pre-award evaluation requirements. 

‘‘7403. Website relating to Federal grants. 

‘‘7404. Postdecision explanation for failed applicants. 

‘‘7405. Inspector General review of peer review process. 

7 ‘‘§ 7401. Definitions 

8 ‘‘In this chapter: 

9 ‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 

10 an entity that submits a proposal or application for 

11 a grant. 

12 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE GRANT.—The term ‘com13 petitive grant’ means a discretionary grant entered 

14 into through the use of merit-based selection proce15 dures for the purpose of allocating funds authorized 

16 under a grant program of an Executive agency. 

17 ‘‘(3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘Execu18 tive agency’ has the meaning given the term in sec19 tion 105 of title 5, except the term does not include 

20 the Government Accountability Office. 

21 ‘‘(4) GRANT.—The term ‘grant’ means an 

22 award of Federal financial assistance through a 


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1 grant agreement or cooperative agreement making 

2 payment in cash or in kind to a recipient to carry 

3 out a public purpose authorized by law. 

4 ‘‘(5) GRANT REVIEWER.—The term ‘grant re5 viewer’, with respect to a grant— 

6 ‘‘(A) means any individual who reviews, 

7 evaluates, or participates in the decision to se8 lect an applicant for award of the grant; and 

9 ‘‘(B) includes— 

10 ‘‘(i) a peer reviewer; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a merit reviewer; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) a member of a technical evalua13 tion panel or board or a special emphasis 

14 panel. 

15 ‘‘§ 7402. Pre-award evaluation requirements 

16 ‘‘(a) EVALUATION REQUIRED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before awarding a competi18 tive grant and after determining eligibility and con19 ducting a merit-based review, an Executive agency 

20 shall conduct an evaluation of the risk posed by an 

21 applicant to successfully carry out the grant in ac22 cordance with section 200.205 of title 2, Code of 

23 Federal regulations (or any successor thereto). 

24 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF INTERAGENCY DUPLICA25 TION.—To the extent practicable, each evaluation 


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1 conducted under paragraph (1) shall include a re2 view of any interagency duplication of efforts for re3 search grants, which may be completed through a 

4 text-similarity detection process. 

5 ‘‘(b) SIMPLIFIED EVALUATION PROCEDURE FOR

6 CERTAIN APPLICANTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

8 ‘covered applicant’ means an applicant that, based 

9 on a risk assessment conducted by the Executive 

10 agency, is determined to pose a relatively low risk of 

11 failing to execute the grant successfully and prop12 erly. 

13 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.—In conducting the evalua14 tion required under subsection (a) with respect to a 

15 covered applicant, an Executive agency shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) minimize the burden on the covered 

17 applicant; and 

18 ‘‘(B) consider any existing findings with 

19 respect to the covered applicant under the sin20 gle audit process under chapter 75 of this title 

21 related to the matters described in subsection 

22 (b). 

23 ‘‘§ 7403. Website relating to Federal grants 

24 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Director of the Office of 

25 Management and Budget shall consult with Executive 


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1 agencies to upgrade grants.gov or any proposed successor 

2 public website for finding Federal grant opportunities and 

3 applying for those grants so that the website— 

4 ‘‘(1) may serve as a central point of informa5 tion and provide full access for applicants for com6 petitive grants; and 

7 ‘‘(2) shall capture in 1 site, or provide elec8 tronic links to, other relevant databases. 

9 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF COMPETITIVE GRANT FUNDS

10 AVAILABILITY.—At the time an Executive agency issues 

11 a solicitation or otherwise announces the availability of 

12 funds for a competitive grant, the Executive agency shall 

13 post on the grants website maintained under this section, 

14 in a searchable electronic format, relevant information 

15 about the grant opportunity, including— 

16 ‘‘(1) the grant announcement and purpose of 

17 the grant; 

18 ‘‘(2) the anticipated period of performance for 

19 new awards and whether the Executive agency an20 ticipates that the grant will be continued; 

21 ‘‘(3) in the case of an announcement with re22 spect to which a specific sum is reserved, the 

23 amount of funds available for the grant; 

24 ‘‘(4) a statement of eligibility requirements for 

25 the grant; 


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1 ‘‘(5) contact information for the Executive 

2 agency, including the name, telephone number, and 

3 electronic mail address of a specific person or per4 sons responsible for answering questions about the 

5 grant and the application process for the grant; 

6 ‘‘(6) a clear statement of the evaluation factors 

7 or criteria that the Executive agency intends to use 

8 to evaluate and rank grant applications or proposals 

9 submitted, including the weight to be applied to each 

10 factor or criterion; 

11 ‘‘(7) a description of the process and standards 

12 to be used by the Executive agency to determine 

13 that each grant reviewer does not have a prohibited 

14 conflict of interest, as defined by applicable statute 

15 or regulation, with respect to the evaluation or re16 view of a grant application or proposal, or the deci17 sion to award a grant; 

18 ‘‘(8) the anticipated deadline for submission of 

19 grant applications or proposals; and 

20 ‘‘(9) a set of sample winning grant proposals 

21 awarded under the same or similar program within 

22 the last 3 years. 

23 ‘‘(c) USE BY APPLICANTS.—The grants website 

24 maintained under this section shall, to the greatest extent 

25 practicable, allow applicants to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) use the website with any widely-used com2 puter platform; 

3 ‘‘(2) search the website for all competitive 

4 grants by purpose, funding agency, program source, 

5 and other relevant criteria; and 

6 ‘‘(3) apply for a competitive grant using the 

7 website. 

8 ‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR GRANTEES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Executive agency 

10 shall make available on the grants website main11 tained under this section detailed grant guidance 

12 and written technical assistance for applicants. 

13 ‘‘(2) GRANT AWARD PROCESS INFORMATION

14 POSTED.—With respect to each grant awarded by an 

15 Executive agency, the Executive agency shall, not 

16 later than 30 days after the date on which the grant 

17 is awarded, post on the grants website maintained 

18 under this section— 

19 ‘‘(A) documentation explaining the basis 

20 for the selection decision for the grant, the 

21 number of proposals received for the grant, 

22 and, with respect to the proposal that resulted 

23 in the grant award, whether the grant was 

24 awarded consistent with a numerical ranking or 

25 other recommendations by grant reviewers; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in any case in which the award of the 

2 grant is not consistent with the numerical 

3 rankings or any other recommendations made 

4 by grant reviewers, a written justification ex5 plaining the rationale for the decision not to fol6 low the rankings or recommendations. 

7 ‘‘(3) SENSITIVE INFORMATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR9 MATION.—Each Executive agency may redact 

10 any personally identifiable information from a 

11 post on the grants website maintained under 

12 this section. 

13 ‘‘(B) ADVERSE INFORMATION.—An Execu14 tive agency may not post on the grants website 

15 maintained under this section any sensitive in16 formation that the Executive agency determines 

17 would adversely affect an applicant. 

18 ‘‘(e) SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF GRANT SO19 LICITATION FORECAST ON THE GRANTS WEBSITE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than November 

21 30 of each fiscal year or not later than 60 days after 

22 the date on which amounts are appropriated to an 

23 Executive agency for a fiscal year, whichever is later, 

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1 emergency grant solicitations that the Executive 

2 agency expects to issue for the following calendar 

3 year, which— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall be based on the best informa5 tion available; and 

6 ‘‘(B) shall not be binding on the Executive 

7 agency. 

8 ‘‘(2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The forecast re9 quired under paragraph (1) shall include, to the ex10 tent practicable, for each expected grant solicitation 

11 in a machine-readable format— 

12 ‘‘(A) a brief description of the subject and 

13 purpose of the grant, organized by the organi14 zational unit of the Executive agency; 

15 ‘‘(B) contact information for the organiza16 tional unit or individual responsible for the 

17 grant, if known, including name, telephone 

18 number, and electronic mail address; 

19 ‘‘(C) the expected or actual dates for the 

20 issuance of the grant solicitation and applica21 tion and the grant application submission dead22 line; 

23 ‘‘(D) the estimated amount of the average 

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1 ble, and the estimated total number of grant 

2 awards to be made; and 

3 ‘‘(E) a description of the total amount 

4 available to be awarded. 

5 ‘‘(f) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), nothing in this section shall be construed 

8 to require the publication of information otherwise 

9 exempt from disclosure under section 552 of title 5 

10 (commonly referred to as the ‘Freedom of Informa11 tion Act’). 

12 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The exemption under sec13 tion 552(b)(5) of title 5 shall not exempt from publi14 cation predecisional documents required to be posted 

15 pursuant to the requirements under subsection 

16 (d)(2). 

17 ‘‘(g) TRANSPARENCY OF INFORMATION.—To the ex18 tent practicable, the grants website maintained under this 

19 section shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) make the information described in this sec21 tion available in its original format; 

22 ‘‘(2) make the information described in this sec23 tion available without charge, license, or registration 

24 requirement; 


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1 ‘‘(3) permit the information described in this 

2 section to be searched; 

3 ‘‘(4) permit the information described in this 

4 section to be downloaded in bulk; 

5 ‘‘(5) permit the information described in this 

6 section to be disseminated via automatic electronic 

7 means; 

8 ‘‘(6) permit the information described in this 

9 section to be freely shared by the public, such as by 

10 social media; 

11 ‘‘(7) use permanent uniform resource locators 

12 for the information described in this section; and 

13 ‘‘(8) provide an opportunity for the public to 

14 provide input about the usefulness of the site and 

15 recommendations for improvements. 

16 ‘‘§ 7404. Postdecision explanation for failed appli17 cants 

18 ‘‘If requested by an applicant for a competitive grant, 

19 for each grant award made in an amount in excess of 

20 $100,000 pursuant to a merit-based selection procedure, 

21 an Executive agency shall provide the applicant with a 

22 timely direct interaction describing the basis for the award 

23 decision of the Executive agency, including, if applicable, 

24 the decision not to award a grant to the applicant. 


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1 ‘‘§ 7405. Inspector General review of peer review 

2 process 

3 ‘‘Not later than 18 months after the date of enact4 ment of the Transparency in Government Act of 2021, 

5 the Inspector General of each Executive agency that 

6 awards competitive grants shall conduct a review of the 

7 effectiveness of the conflicts of interest policy of the Exec8 utive agency, including a review of a random selection of 

9 peer review processes, with respect to the peer review proc10 ess for competitive grants in order to detect favoritism.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

12 at the beginning of subtitle V of title 31, United States 

13 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

14 chapter 73 the following: 

‘‘74. Grant transparency requirements .................................... 7401’’. 

15 (c) GRANTS WORKFORCE REPORT.— 

16 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

17 (A) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Ex18 ecutive agency’’ has the meaning given the term 

19 in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, 

20 except the term does not include the Govern21 ment Accountability Office. 

22 (B) FEDERAL GRANTS WORKFORCE.—The 

23 term ‘‘Federal grants workforce’’, with respect 

24 to an Executive agency, means all employees of 


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1 the Executive agency who spend some or all of 

2 their time engaged in— 

3 (i) grant planning, including pro4 grammatic activities; 

5 (ii) preparing grant solicitations, No6 tices of Funding Opportunity, Notices In7 viting Applications, or other requests for 

8 grant proposals; 

9 (iii) evaluating or reviewing grant ap10 plications, including serving on a peer re11 view board; 

12 (iv) monitoring or administering grant 

13 performance by grantees; 

14 (v) preparing the Notice of Award and 

15 negotiating terms and conditions; or 

16 (vi) post-award closeout activities, in17 cluding final technical and financial re18 ports. 

19 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

21 General of the United States shall submit to the 

22 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

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1 resentatives a report on the Federal grants work2 force, which shall address— 

3 (A) the size of the Federal grants work4 force and expected trends in Federal employ5 ment for the Federal grants workforce; 

6 (B) the adequacy of training opportunities 

7 for the Federal grants workforce; 

8 (C) whether the Federal Acquisition Insti9 tute or any other existing entity engaged in ac10 quisition workforce training should be made 

11 available for grant training; 

12 (D) whether a warrant system similar to 

13 that used in the Federal acquisition system 

14 should be established for Federal officials au15 thorized to award grants; 

16 (E) the use by Executive agencies of sus17 pension and debarment actions taken against 

18 grantees during the 3-year period preceding the 

19 date on which the report is submitted, and the 

20 level of agency resources assigned to the sus21 pension and debarment functions; and 

22 (F) any recommendations for improving 

23 the Federal grants workforce. 


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1 Subtitle B—Publication of 

2 Opinions of Office of Legal Counsel 

3 SEC. 611. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘See UNdisclosed 

5 Legal Interpretations and Get Honest Transparency Act 

6 of 2021’’ or as the ‘‘SUNLIGHT Act of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 612. SCHEDULE OF PUBLICATION FOR FINAL OLC 

8 OPINIONS. 

9 Each final opinion issued by the Office of Legal 

10 Counsel must be made publicly available in its entirety as 

11 soon as is practicable, but— 

12 (1) not later than 30 days after the opinion is 

13 issued or updated if such action takes place on or 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act; 

15 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en16 actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 

17 January 20, 1993; 

18 (3) not later than 2 years after the date of en19 actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 

20 January 20, 1981 and before or on January 19, 

21 1993; 

22 (4) not later than 3 years after the date of en23 actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 

24 January 20, 1969 and before or on January 19, 

25 1981; and 


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1 (5) not later than 4 years after the date of en2 actment of this Act for all other opinions. 

3 SEC. 613. EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITATION ON PUBLIC AVAIL4 ABILITY OF FINAL OLC OPINIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—A final OLC opinion or part 

6 thereof may be withheld only to the extent— 

7 (1) information contained in the opinion was— 

8 (A) specifically authorized to be kept se9 cret, under criteria established by an Executive 

10 order, in the interest of national defense or for11 eign policy; 

12 (B) in fact properly classified, including all 

13 procedural and marking requirements, pursuant 

14 to such Executive order; 

15 (C) the Attorney General determines that 

16 the national defense or foreign policy interests 

17 protected outweigh the public’s interest in ac18 cess to the information; and 

19 (D) has been put through declassification 

20 review within the past two years; 

21 (2) information contained in the opinion relates 

22 to the appointment of a specific individual not con23 firmed to Federal office; 

24 (3) information contained in the opinion is spe25 cifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other 


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1 than sections 552 and 552b of title 5, United States 

2 Code), provided that such statute— 

3 (A) requires that the material be withheld 

4 in such a manner as to leave no discretion on 

5 the issue; or 

6 (B) establishes particular criteria for with7 holding or refers to particular types of material 

8 to be withheld; 

9 (4) information in the opinion includes trade se10 crets and commercial or financial information ob11 tained from a person and privileged or confidential 

12 whose disclosure would likely cause substantial harm 

13 to the competitive position of the person from whom 

14 the information was obtained; 

15 (5) the President, in his or her sole and non16 delegable determination, formally and personally 

17 claims in writing that executive privilege prevents 

18 the release of the information and disclosure would 

19 cause specific identifiable harm to an interest pro20 tected by an exception or the disclosure is prohibited 

21 by law; or 

22 (6) information in the opinion includes per23 sonnel and medical files and similar files the disclo24 sure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

25 invasion of personal privacy. 


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1 (b) DETERMINATION TO WITHHOLD.—Any deter2 mination under this section to withhold information con3 tained in a final OLC opinion must be made by the Attor4 ney General or a designee of the Attorney General. The 

5 determination shall be— 

6 (1) in writing; 

7 (2) made available to the public within the 

8 same timeframe as is required of a formal OLC 

9 opinion; 

10 (3) sufficiently detailed as to inform the public 

11 of what kind of information is being withheld and 

12 the reason therefore; and 

13 (4) effective only for a period of 3 years, sub14 ject to review and reissuance, with each reissuance 

15 made available to the public. 

16 (c) FINAL OPINIONS.—For final OLC opinions for 

17 which the text is withheld in full or in substantial part, 

18 a detailed unclassified summary of the opinion must be 

19 made available to the public, in the same timeframe as 

20 required of the final OLC opinion, that conveys the es21 sence of the opinion, including any interpretations of a 

22 statute, the Constitution, or other legal authority. A nota23 tion must be included in any published list of OLC opin24 ions regarding the extent of the withholdings. 


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1 (d) NO LIMITATION ON RELIEF.—A decision by the 

2 Attorney General to release or withhold information pur3 suant to this Act shall not preclude any action or relief 

4 conferred by statutory or regulatory regime that empowers 

5 any person to request or demand the release of informa6 tion. 

7 (e) REASONABLY SEGREGABLE PORTIONS OF OPIN8 IONS TO BE PUBLISHED.—Any reasonably segregable 

9 portion of an opinion shall be provided after withholding 

10 of the portions which are exempt under this subsection. 

11 The amount of information withheld, and the exemption 

12 under which the withholding is made, shall be indicated 

13 on the released portion of the opinion, unless including 

14 that indication would harm an interest protected by the 

15 exemption in this subsection under which the withholding 

16 is made. If technically feasible, the amount of the informa17 tion withheld, and the exemption under which the with18 holding is made, shall be indicated at the place in the opin19 ion where such withholding is made. 

20 SEC. 614. METHOD OF PUBLICATION. 

21 The Attorney General shall publish each final OLC 

22 opinion to the extent the law permits, including by pub23 lishing the opinions on a publically accessible website 

24 that— 

25 (1) with respect to each opinion— 


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1 (A) contains an electronic copy of the opin2 ion, including any transmittal letter associated 

3 with the opinion, in an open format that is plat4 form independent and that is available to the 

5 public without restrictions; 

6 (B) provides the public the ability to re7 trieve an opinion, to the extent practicable, 

8 through searches based on— 

9 (i) the title of the opinion; 

10 (ii) the date of publication or revision; 

11 or 

12 (iii) the full text of the opinion; and 

13 (C) identifies the time and date when the 

14 opinion was required to be published, and when 

15 the opinion was transmitted for publication; 

16 and 

17 (D) provides a permanent means of access18 ing the opinion electronically; 

19 (2) includes a means for bulk download of all 

20 OLC opinions or a selection of opinions retrieved 

21 using a text-based search; 

22 (3) provides free access to the opinions, and 

23 does not charge a fee, require registration, or impose 

24 any other limitation in exchange for access to the 

25 website; and 


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1 (4) is capable of being upgraded as necessary to 

2 carry out the purposes of this Act. 

3 SEC. 615. INDEX OF OPINIONS. 

4 (a) PUBLICATION OF INDEX.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Legal Counsel 

6 shall publish a complete list of final OLC opinions, 

7 arranged chronologically, within 90 days of the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (2) UPDATES AND REVISIONS.—The list of 

10 opinions shall be updated immediately every time an 

11 OLC opinion becomes final, and a revision to an 

12 opinion shall be listed as if it were a new opinion. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR LIST.—Each list under sub14 section (a) shall comply with the following: 

15 (1) The list must be made available to the pub16 lic by publication on the website under section 614. 

17 (2) The list shall— 

18 (A) include, for each opinion— 

19 (i) the full name of the opinion; 

20 (ii) the date it was finalized or re21 vised; 

22 (iii) each author’s name; 

23 (iv) each recipient’s name; 

24 (v) a summary of the opinion; 


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1 (vi) a unique identifier assigned to 

2 each final or revised opinion; and 

3 (vii) whether an opinion has been 

4 withdrawn; and 

5 (B) be published in both human-readable 

6 and machine-readable formats. 

7 SEC. 616. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

8 On complaint, the district court of the United States 

9 in the district in which the complainant resides, or has 

10 his principal place of business, or in the District of Colum11 bia, has jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from withholding 

12 information contained in a final OLC opinion and to order 

13 the production of information improperly withheld from 

14 the complainant. In such a case the court shall determine 

15 the matter de novo, and may examine the contents of such 

16 OLC opinion in camera to determine whether such infor17 mation or any part thereof shall be withheld under any 

18 of the exemptions set forth in section 613, and the burden 

19 is on the agency to sustain its action. 

20 SEC. 617. SEVERABILITY. 

21 If any provision of this subtitle, any amendment 

22 made by this subtitle, or the application thereof to any 

23 person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the 

24 remainder of this subtitle, of any such amendments, and 


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1 of the application of such provisions to other persons and 

2 circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 

3 SEC. 618. DEFINITIONS. 

4 (a) OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘OLC opinion’’ means 

5 views on a matter of legal interpretation communicated 

6 by the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Jus7 tice to any other office or agency, or person in an office 

8 or agency, in the Executive Branch, including any office 

9 in the Department of Justice, the White House, or the 

10 Executive Office of the President, and rendered in accord11 ance with sections 511–513 of title 28, United States 

12 Code. Where the communication of the legal interpretation 

13 takes place verbally, a memorialization of that communica14 tion qualifies as an ‘‘OLC opinion’’. 

15 (b) FINAL OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘final OLC 

16 opinion’’ means an OLC opinion that— 

17 (1) the Attorney General, Assistant Attorney 

18 General for OLC, or a Deputy Assistant General for 

19 OLC, has determined is final; 

20 (2) government officials or government contrac21 tors are relying on; 

22 (3) is relied upon to formulate legal guidance; 

23 or 

24 (4) is directly or indirectly cited in another Of25 fice of Legal Counsel opinion. 


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1 (c) REVISED OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘revised 

2 OLC opinion’’ means an OLC opinion that is withdrawn, 

3 information is added to, or information is removed from. 

4 Subtitle C—Contempt of Congress 

5 Procedures and Enforcement 

6 SEC. 621. AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL ACTION TO ENFORCE 

7 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SUBPOENAS. 

8 (a) CIVIL ACTION.—The House of Representatives 

9 may in a civil action obtain any appropriate relief to en10 force compliance with a subpoena or order of the House, 

11 or to enforce compliance with a subpoena or order issued 

12 by a committee or subcommittee of the House authorized 

13 to issue a subpoena or order, if the House by resolution 

14 authorizes the commencement of that civil action. 

15 (b) REPRESENTATION BY GENERAL COUNSEL.—Un16 less the House otherwise provides, the Office of the Gen17 eral Counsel of the House of Representatives shall rep18 resent the House in the civil action. 

19 (c) PERSONAL JURISDICTION.—Personal jurisdiction 

20 of the court over a defendant in a civil action under this 

21 section extends outside the territorial jurisdiction of the 

22 court if the claim— 

23 (1) arose out of conduct by the defendant— 

24 (A) within that territorial jurisdiction, or 


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1 (B) causing any injury, including informa2 tional injury to the right of the House to make 

3 an investigation, within that territorial jurisdic4 tion; or 

5 (2) otherwise has a reasonable relationship to 

6 contacts of the defendant with the territorial juris7 diction. 

8 (d) ASSESSMENT OF COMPETING INTERESTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action brought 

10 under this section, if the court has determined that 

11 the information or material which is the subject of 

12 the subpoena or order involved is presumptively priv13 ileged based upon the President’s generalized inter14 est in confidentiality, the House may overcome this 

15 presumption by showing that— 

16 (A) the House, or a committee or sub17 committee thereof, has a specific need for the 

18 information or material in order to carry out its 

19 constitutional obligations; and 

20 (B) the information is not otherwise avail21 able. 

22 (2) ENFORCEMENT.— If the court determines 

23 that the House, or a committee or subcommittee 

24 thereof, has made the showing described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055

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1 graph (1), it shall enforce the subpoena or order in2 volved. 

3 (e) EXPEDITION OF TRIAL AND APPELLATE PRO4 CEEDINGS.—The court shall hear and determine a civil ac5 tion under this section as expeditiously as possible, and 

6 to the maximum extent practicable during the Congress 

7 in which the action is commenced. Any appellate pro8 ceedings relating to such a civil action shall similarly be 

9 expedited to assure to the extent possible that the matter 

10 is fully resolved during the Congress in which the action 

11 was commenced. 

12 SEC. 622. ALTERNATE PROCEDURES FOR ENFORCEMENT 

13 OF CRIMINAL CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS. 

14 (a) ALTERNATE PROCEDURE.— 

15 (1) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—If the House of 

16 Representatives finds a current or former officer or 

17 employee of the Executive branch has violated sec18 tion 102 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

19 States (2 U.S.C. 192) or that any person has vio20 lated such section at the direction of the President 

21 or another officer of the executive branch, the proce22 dures of this section apply. 

23 (2) CERTIFICATION BY SPEAKER.—In accord24 ance with section 104 of the Revised Statutes of the 

25 United States (2 U.S.C. 194), upon the finding by 


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1 the House of Representatives of a violation to which 

2 this section applies, the Speaker shall certify that 

3 finding to the appropriate United States attorney, 

4 whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the 

5 grand jury for its action. 

6 (3) CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO APPOINT7 MENT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.—If— 

8 (A) the Attorney General or the United 

9 States attorney to whom the finding was cer10 tified informs the court or the House that the 

11 Department of Justice will not prosecute the 

12 case; or 

13 (B) by the end of the 30th day after the 

14 date of receipt of a certification made under 

15 paragraph (2) a grand jury has not returned an 

16 indictment based on the violation alleged in the 

17 certification; 

18 the Special Division established under subsection (b) 

19 (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Special 

20 Division’’) shall appoint a special counsel under sub21 section (c). It shall be the duty of the Attorney Gen22 eral to inform that court and the House if a grand 

23 jury does not return an indictment by the end of the 

24 30-day period. The Speaker of the House, or any in25 terested congressional party, may file with the SpeVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055

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1 cial Division a suggestion that circumstances giving 

2 rise to a duty to appoint a special counsel have oc3 curred after the 30-day period ends without the re4 turn of an indictment. 

5 (b) SPECIAL DIVISION.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby estab7 lished within the United States Court of Appeals for 

8 the District of Columbia a Special Division to carry 

9 out the appointment of special counsels under this 

10 section. 

11 (2) DESIGNATION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Justice of 

13 the United States shall designate three judges 

14 or justices of the United States, one of whom 

15 shall be an active judge of the United States 

16 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 

17 to serve on the Special Division, except that 

18 none of the judges or justices serving on the 

19 Special Division may serve or have served on 

20 the same court. 

21 (B) PRIORITY.—In designating judges and 

22 justices to serve on the Special Division, the 

23 Chief Justice shall give priority to senior circuit 

24 judges and retired justices of the United States 

25 Supreme Court. 


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1 (C) DEADLINE.— The Chief Justice shall 

2 make the first such designation not later than 

3 45 days after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act. 

5 (3) TERM OF SERVICE.—Each designation to 

6 the Special Division shall be for a term of 2 years, 

7 but the Chief Justice may fill any vacancy arising 

8 before the end of a term for the remainder of that 

9 term. 

10 (c) APPOINTMENT, QUALIFICATIONS, AND PROSECU11 TORIAL JURISDICTION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL, AND AD12 MINISTRATIVE MATTERS RELATING TO THE SPECIAL

13 COUNSEL.— 

14 (1) APPOINTMENT, QUALIFICATIONS, AND

15 PROSECUTORIAL JURISDICTION OF SPECIAL COUN16 SEL.— 

17 (A) APPOINTMENT AND QUALIFICA18 TIONS.—The Special Division shall appoint the 

19 special counsel, who must be an attorney in 

20 good standing with substantial prosecutorial ex21 perience— 

22 (i) who has not served in any capacity 

23 in the administration of the President who 

24 is or who was in office at the time the 


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1 Speaker of the House certified the finding 

2 of a violation; and 

3 (ii) who is or who was not a Member, 

4 officer, or employee of Congress at the 

5 time the Speaker of the House certified the 

6 finding of a violation. 

7 (B) PROSECUTORIAL JURISDICTION.—The 

8 Special Division shall define the special coun9 sel’s prosecutorial jurisdiction as comprising the 

10 investigation and prosecution of the alleged vio11 lation, any conspiracy to commit the alleged 

12 violation, and any perjury, false statement, or 

13 obstruction of justice occurring in relation to 

14 such investigation and prosecution. 

15 (2) AUTHORITY OF SPECIAL COUNSEL WITH

16 RESPECT TO MATTERS WITHIN PROSECUTORIAL JU17 RISDICTION.—With respect to all matters in that 

18 special counsel’s prosecutorial jurisdiction, a special 

19 counsel appointed under this section shall have full 

20 power and independent authority to exercise all pros21 ecutorial functions and powers, and any other func22 tions and powers normally ancillary thereto, of the 

23 Department of Justice, the Attorney General, and 

24 any other officer or employee of the Department of 

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1 cise direction or control as to those matters that spe2 cifically require the Attorney General’s personal ac3 tion under section 2516 of title 18, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (3) COMPLIANCE WITH POLICIES OF THE DE6 PARTMENT OF JUSTICE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—A special counsel shall, 

8 except to the extent that to do so would be in9 consistent with the purposes of this section, 

10 comply with the written or other established 

11 policies of the Department of Justice respecting 

12 enforcement of the criminal laws. 

13 (B) NATIONAL SECURITY.—A special coun14 sel shall comply with guidelines and procedures 

15 used by the Department in the handling and 

16 use of classified material. 

17 (4) SALARY.—The special counsel shall receive 

18 a salary equivalent to the salary of the United 

19 States Attorney for the District of Columbia. 

20 (5) STAFF.—The special counsel may appoint 

21 and fix the salaries of such staff, not to exceed 12 

22 in number, as the special counsel deems necessary to 

23 carry out the functions of the special counsel under 

24 this section. However, no salary of a member of such 

25 staff may exceed the salary of the special counsel. 


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1 (6) EXPENSES.—The Department of Justice 

2 shall pay all costs relating to the establishment and 

3 operation of any office of special counsel. The Attor4 ney General shall submit to the Congress, not later 

5 than 30 days after the end of each fiscal year, a re6 port on amounts paid during that fiscal year for ex7 penses of investigations and prosecutions the special 

8 counsel. 

9 (7) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Each special coun10 sel shall report to Congress annually on the special 

11 counsel’s activities under this section. The report 

12 shall include a description of the progress of any in13 vestigation or prosecution conducted by the special 

14 counsel and provide information justifying the costs 

15 of the activities reported on. 

16 (d) REMOVAL OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A special counsel may be re18 moved from office, other than by impeachment and 

19 conviction, only by the personal action of the Attor20 ney General, and only for good cause, physical or 

21 mental disability, or any other condition that sub22 stantially impairs the performance of that special 

23 counsel’s duties. 

24 (2) REPORT UPON REMOVAL.—If a special 

25 counsel is removed from office, the Attorney General 


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1 shall promptly submit to the Special Division and to 

2 Congress a report specifying the facts found and the 

3 ultimate grounds for the removal. 

4 (3) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF REMOVAL.—A special 

5 counsel removed from office may obtain judicial re6 view of the removal in a civil action. The Special Di7 vision may not hear or determine any appeal of a de8 cision in any such civil action. The special counsel 

9 may be reinstated or granted other appropriate relief 

10 by order of the court. 

11 (4) APPOINTMENT OF REPLACEMENT.—Upon 

12 removal of a special counsel, the Special Division 

13 shall appoint a similarly qualified individual to con14 tinue the functions of the special counsel. 

15 (e) TERMINATION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL’S AUTHOR16 ITY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the special 

18 counsel shall cease 2 years after the date of the spe19 cial counsel’s appointment, but the Special Division 

20 may extend that authority for an additional period 

21 not to exceed one year, if the Special Division finds 

22 good cause to do so. Good cause to do so includes 

23 that the investigation or prosecution undertaken by 

24 the special counsel has been delayed by dilatory tac25 tics by persons who could provide evidence that 


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1 would significantly assist the investigation or pros2 ecution, and also includes the need to allow the spe3 cial counsel to participate in any appellate pro4 ceedings related to prosecutions engaged in by the 

5 special counsel. 

6 (2) TERMINATION BY COURT.—The Special Di7 vision, either on the Special Division’s own motion 

8 or upon the request of the Attorney General, may 

9 terminate an office of special counsel at any time, on 

10 the ground that the investigation of all matters with11 in the prosecutorial jurisdiction of such special coun12 sel, and any resulting prosecutions, have been com13 pleted or so substantially completed that it would be 

14 appropriate for the Department of Justice to com15 plete such investigations and prosecutions. 

16 SEC. 623. INCREASE IN PENALTY FOR CONTEMPT OF CON17 GRESS. 

18 Section 102 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

19 States (2 U.S.C. 192) is amended by striking ‘‘deemed’’ 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘twelve months’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not 

22 more than 2 years, or both’’. 


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1 SEC. 624. AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE 

2 TO ENFORCE CITATIONS. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY.—Section 9B(a) of the Act entitled 

4 ‘‘An Act to define the area of the United States Capitol 

5 Grounds, to regulate the use thereof, and for other pur6 poses’’, approved July 31, 1946 (2 U.S.C. 1967(a)), is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

9 (4); 

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of para11 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(6) within any area, to enforce a citation 

15 issued with respect to a violation of section 102 of 

16 the Revised Statutes of the United States which re17 lates to the House of Representatives, or any cita18 tion issued with respect to a resolution adopted by 

19 the House citing a person for contempt of the 

20 House.’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

22 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to citations issued 

23 on or after the expiration of the 90-day period which be24 gins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 625. COLLECTION OF PENALTIES IMPOSED BY THE 

2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON PERSONS 

3 CITED FOR CONTEMPT OF HOUSE. 

4 (a) CIVIL ACTION.—If the House of Representatives 

5 adopts a resolution citing a person for contempt of the 

6 House, the House may commence a civil action to collect 

7 a monetary penalty from the person if the House by subse8 quent resolution authorizes the commencement of that 

9 civil action. 

10 (b) REPRESENTATION BY GENERAL COUNSEL.—Un11 less the House otherwise provides, the Office of the Gen12 eral Counsel of the House of Representatives shall rep13 resent the House in the civil action. 

14 (c) PERSONAL JURISDICTION.—Personal jurisdiction 

15 of the court over a defendant in a civil action under this 

16 section extends outside the territorial jurisdiction of the 

17 court if the claim— 

18 (1) arose out of conduct by the defendant— 

19 (A) within that territorial jurisdiction; or 

20 (B) causing any injury, including informa21 tional injury to the right of the House to make 

22 an investigation, within that territorial jurisdic23 tion; or 

24 (2) otherwise has a reasonable relationship to 

25 contacts of the defendant with the territorial juris26 diction. 


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1 (d) EXPEDITION OF TRIAL AND APPELLATE PRO2 CEEDINGS.—The court shall hear and determine a civil ac3 tion under this section as expeditiously as possible, and 

4 to the maximum extent practicable during the Congress 

5 in which the action is commenced. Any appellate pro6 ceedings relating to such a civil action shall similarly be 

7 expedited to assure to the extent possible that the matter 

8 is fully resolved during the Congress in which the action 

9 was commenced. 

10 SEC. 626. NO EFFECT OF EXPIRATION OF CONGRESS ON 

11 PENDING ACTIONS. 

12 Any civil action commenced by the House of Rep13 resentatives pursuant to this subtitle, and the authority 

14 of the Office of the General Counsel of the House of Rep15 resentatives with respect to the action, shall not be ren16 dered moot or otherwise affected as the result of the expi17 ration of the Congress in which the House commenced the 

18 action. 

19 TITLE VII—STRENGTHENING 

20 THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA21 TION ACT 

22 SEC. 701. AGENCY DEFINED. 

23 In this title, the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning 

24 given that term under section 551 of title 5, United States 

25 Code. 


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1 SEC. 702. DIGITAL ACCESS TO COMPLETED RESPONSES TO 

2 THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

4 (1) DATABASE OF COMPLETED FOIA RE5 QUESTS.—Each agency shall make available all ma6 terials contained in the agency’s completed response 

7 to a request under section 552 of title 5, United 

8 States Code (in this section referred to as a ‘‘FOIA 

9 request’’), in a structured database or in a search10 able, sortable, downloadable, machine-readable data11 base not later than two months after the date on 

12 which the FOIA request was completed. 

13 (2) ELECTRONIC FORMAT.—All information is 

14 presumed to be available in an electronic format as 

15 described in paragraph (1) unless the agency dem16 onstrates that excessive cost would place an undue 

17 burden on the agency. 

18 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—All information included 

19 in the agency’s completed response to a FOIA request 

20 shall be made available to the public electronically and 

21 without cost through each agency’s website. 

22 SEC. 703. FOIAONLINE FOR AGENCIES. 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the head of each agency shall use 

25 FOIAonline to log, track, and publish all requests received 

26 under section 552 of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 704. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF COMPLAINTS.—Section 

3 552(a)(4)(B) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

4 by inserting after ‘‘withheld from the complainant’’ the 

5 following: ‘‘or the public’’. 

6 (b) PRESUMPTION OF OPENNESS.— 

7 (1) AMENDMENTS.—Section 552(b) of title 5, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 

9 (A) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting 

10 ‘‘with an explanation for the exemption’’ after 

11 ‘‘specifically cites to this paragraph’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (5), by inserting before 

13 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘and ex14 cluding— 

15 ‘‘(A) opinions that are controlling interpre16 tations of law; 

17 ‘‘(B) final reports or memoranda created 

18 by an entity other than the agency, including 

19 other Governmental entities, at the request of 

20 the agency and used to make a final policy deci21 sion; and 

22 ‘‘(C) guidance documents used by the 

23 agency to respond to the public;’’; 

24 (C) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘similar 

25 files’’ and inserting ‘‘personal information such 


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1 as contact information or financial informa2 tion’’; and 

3 (D) in the matter following paragraph 

4 (9)— 

5 (i) by inserting before ‘‘Any reason6 ably segregable portion’’ the following: ‘‘An 

7 agency may not withhold information 

8 under this subsection unless such agency 

9 reasonably foresees that disclosure would 

10 cause specific identifiable harm to an inter11 est protected by an exemption, or if disclo12 sure is prohibited by law.’’; and 

13 (ii) by inserting before ‘‘If technically 

14 feasible,’’ the following: ‘‘For each record 

15 withheld in whole or in part under para16 graph (3), the agency shall identify the 

17 statute that exempts the record from dis18 closure.’’. 

19 (2) EXEMPTION DECISION TRANSPARENCY.— 

20 Section 552(a)(6)(C)(i) of title 5, United States 

21 Code, is amended by striking the fourth sentence 

22 and inserting at the end the following: ‘‘Any notifi23 cation of denial or partial denial of any request for 

24 records under this subsection shall set forth each 

25 name and title or position of each person responsible 


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1 for the denial or partial denial or any decision to 

2 withhold a responsive record under subsection (b).’’. 

3 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.—Sub4 section (i) of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 

5 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(i) The Government Accountability Office shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) conduct audits of administrative agencies 

8 on compliance with and implementation of the re9 quirements of this section and issue reports detailing 

10 the results of such audits; 

11 ‘‘(2) catalog the number of exemptions under 

12 subsection (b)(3) and agency use of such exemp13 tions; and 

14 ‘‘(3) review and prepare a report on the proc15 essing of requests by agencies for information per16 taining to an entity that has received assistance 

17 under title I of the Emergency Economic Stabiliza18 tion Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5211 et seq.) during 

19 any period in which the Government owns or owned 

20 more than 50 percent of the stock of such entity.’’. 

21 (d) ANNUAL REPORT BY CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH

22 SERVICE.—Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following new sub24 section: 


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1 ‘‘(n) The Congressional Research Service shall, on an 

2 annual basis, provide the Committee on Oversight and 

3 Government Reform of the House of Representatives and 

4 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

5 Affairs of the Senate with a list of statutes described in 

6 subsection (b)(3). Each such list shall be made publicly 

7 available.’’. 

8 TITLE VIII—IMPROVING TRANS9 PARENCY WITHIN THE JUDI10 CIAL SYSTEM 

11 SEC. 801. TELEVISING SUPREME COURT PROCEEDINGS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 45 of title 28, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘§ 678. Televising Supreme Court proceedings 

16 ‘‘The Supreme Court shall permit television coverage 

17 of all open sessions of the Court unless the Court decides, 

18 by a vote of the majority of justices, that allowing such 

19 coverage in a particular case would constitute a violation 

20 of the due process rights of one or more of the parties 

21 before the Court.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

23 for chapter 45 of title 28, United States Code, is amended 

24 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘678. Televising Supreme Court proceedings.’’. 


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1 SEC. 802. AUDIO RECORDING OF SUPREME COURT PRO2 CEEDINGS. 

3 The Chief Justice of the United States shall ensure 

4 that the audio of an oral argument before the Supreme 

5 Court of the United States is recorded and is made pub6 licly available on the Internet website of the Supreme 

7 Court at the same time that it is recorded. 

8 SEC. 803. AVAILABILITY ON THE INTERNET OF FINANCIAL 

9 DISCLOSURE REPORTS OF JUDICIAL OFFI10 CERS. 

11 Section 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

12 (5 U.S.C. App. 103), as amended by this Act, is further 

13 amended by inserting at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(n) The Judicial Conference shall make available 

15 any report filed with it under this title by a judicial officer 

16 within 48 hours of the applicable submission deadline on 

17 the website of the Judicial Conference in a searchable, 

18 sortable, downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 

19 SEC. 804. GAO AUDIT OF PACER. 

20 Not later than one year after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

22 States shall conduct an audit of the public access to court 

23 electronic records system maintained by the Administra24 tive Office of the United States Courts, and shall submit 

25 to Congress, the Administrative Office of the United 

26 States Courts, and any other appropriate Federal agency 


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1 or office, a report that contains the results of the audit, 

2 along with any recommendations for improving the public 

3 access to court electronic records system. 

4 SEC. 805. ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS REFORM. 

5 (a) CONSOLIDATION OF THE CASE MANAGEMENT/ 

6 ELECTRONIC CASE FILES SYSTEM.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

9 of the Administrative Office of the United States 

10 Courts, in coordination with the Administrator of 

11 General Services, shall consolidate the Case Manage12 ment/Electronic Case Files system, and shall develop 

13 one system for all filings with courts of the United 

14 States, which shall be administered by the Adminis15 trative Office of the United States Courts. 

16 (2) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In developing the 

17 system under paragraph (1), the Director shall use 

18 modern technology in order— 

19 (A) to improve security, data accessibility, 

20 affordability, and performance; and 

21 (B) to minimize the burden on pro se liti22 gants. 

23 (3) AVAILABILITY TO STATES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State may choose to 

2 participate in the system developed under this 

3 subsection. 

4 (B) FEE.—The Director shall charge a fee 

5 to a State that chooses to participate in the sys6 tem, which is set at a level to recover the cost 

7 of providing the services associated with the ad8 ministration and maintenance of the system to 

9 the State. 

10 (b) PUBLIC ACCESS TO COURT ELECTRONIC

11 RECORDS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

14 of the Administrative Office of the United States 

15 Courts, in coordination with the Administrator of 

16 General Services, shall update the Public Access to 

17 Court Electronic Records system, which shall be 

18 subject to the following requirements: 

19 (A) A document filed with a court shall be 

20 made publicly accessible upon filing, except as 

21 ordered by a court or by rule of the Judicial 

22 Conference. 

23 (B) All documents on the system shall be 

24 available to the public and to parties before the 

25 court free of charge. 


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1 (C) Any information that is prohibited 

2 from public disclosure by law or court order 

3 shall be redacted. 

4 (D) All documents shall be text-searchable 

5 and machine-readable. 

6 (E) To the extent practicable, external 

7 websites shall be able to link to documents on 

8 the system. 

9 (F) The system shall include digital audio 

10 and visual files of court recordings, when such 

11 files are available. 

12 (G) The system shall provide search func13 tions for public use. 

14 (2) MINIMIZING THE BURDEN ON PRO SE LITI15 GANTS.—In developing the system to comply with 

16 the requirements under paragraph (1), the Director 

17 shall, to the extent practicable, not impose a dis18 proportionate impact on pro se litigants. 

19 (3) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In developing the 

20 system under paragraph (1), the Director shall use 

21 modern technology in order— 

22 (A) to improve security, data accessibility, 

23 affordability, and performance; and 

24 (B) to minimize the burden on pro se liti25 gants. 


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1 (4) AUTHORITY TO EXEMPT CERTAIN DOCU2 MENTS.—The Director may identify categories of 

3 documents which are not made publicly accessible 

4 under subsection (a)(1), and categories of court pro5 ceedings, the recordings of which are not made avail6 able under paragraph (1)(F). 

7 (c) DEFINITION OF MACHINE-READABLE.—In this 

8 section, the term ‘‘machine-readable’’ means a format in 

9 which information or data can be easily processed by a 

10 computer without human intervention while ensuring no 

11 semantic meaning is lost. 

12 TITLE IX—ENFORCEMENT 

13 SEC. 901. AUDITS BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

14 OFFICE. 

15 (a) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—The Comptroller Gen16 eral shall conduct annual audits of the implementation of 

17 the provisions in this Act, and shall submit annually to 

18 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 

19 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

20 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen21 ate a report on the results of the audits. 

22 (b) MATTERS COVERED BY AUDITS.—Audits con23 ducted under this section shall address whether the con24 gressional and executive branch data that is required to 


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1 be provided to the public through the Internet is each of 

2 the following: 

3 (1) COMPLETE.—Made available, except for 

4 data that is subject to privacy, security, or privilege 

5 exemptions. 

6 (2) PRIMARY.—Collected at the source, with the 

7 highest possible level of granularity, not in aggregate 

8 or modified forms. 

9 (3) TIMELY.—Made available as quickly as nec10 essary to preserve the value of the data. 

11 (4) ACCESSIBLE.—Available to the widest range 

12 of users for the widest range of purposes. 

13 (5) MACHINE PROCESSABLE.—Reasonably 

14 structured to allow automated processing. 

15 (6) NON-DISCRIMINATORY.—Available to any16 one, with no registration requirement. 

17 (7) NON-PROPRIETARY.—Available in a format 

18 over which no entity has exclusive control. 

19 (8) LICENSE-FREE.—Not subject to any copy20 right, patent, trademark, or trade secret regulation 

21 (with reasonable privacy, security, and privilege re22 strictions). 

23 (c) CURRENT STANDARDS.—Audits conducted under 

24 this section shall also address whether the data provided 


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1 to the public under this Act is produced and maintained 

2 using current standards for data publication. 

3 TITLE X—MISCELLANEOUS 

4 SEC. 1001. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN RECORDS TO ARCHIVIST 

5 OF UNITED STATES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), not 

7 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act, the Attorney General of the United States shall trans9 fer to the Archivist of the United States each record— 

10 (1) created during the period beginning on Jan11 uary 1, 1981, and ending December 31, 1986; and 

12 (2) subject to Item 7 of Records Schedule N1– 

13 60–10–31 of the National Archives and Records Ad14 ministration. 

15 (b) RETENTION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

18 General of the United States may submit to the Ar19 chivist of the United States a written request to re20 tain any record described in subsection (a), in ac21 cordance with section 1235.14 of title 36, Code of 

22 Federal Regulations. The Archivist shall approve or 

23 deny each such request not later than 60 days after 

24 receiving the request. 


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1 (2) TRANSFER OF RECORDS AFTER DENIAL.— 

2 Not later than 30 days after the Archivist of the 

3 United States denies a request under paragraph (1), 

4 the Attorney General shall transfer to the Archivist 

5 each record for which the request for retention has 

6 been denied. 

7 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—If the Attorney General fails to 

8 comply with the requirements of this section, the Archivist 

9 of the United States may bring an action in the proper 

10 district court of the United States to enforce compliance 

11 with this section. 

12 SEC. 1002. DATA STANDARDS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title I of the Finan14 cial Stability Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5311 et seq.) is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 124. DATA STANDARDS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

18 shall, by rule, promulgate data standards for the informa19 tion reported to member agencies by financial entities 

20 under the jurisdiction of the member agency and the data 

21 collected from member agencies on behalf of the Council. 

22 ‘‘(b) STANDARDIZATION.—Member agencies, in con23 sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall imple24 ment regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury under subsection (a) to standardize the types 


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1 and formats of data reported to member agencies or col2 lected on behalf of the Council, as described under sub3 section (a). If a member agency fails to implement such 

4 regulations prior to the expiration of the 3-year period fol5 lowing the date of publication of final regulations, the Sec6 retary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Chair7 person, may implement such regulations with respect to 

8 the financial entities under the jurisdiction of the member 

9 agency. 

10 ‘‘(c) DATA STANDARDS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) COMMON IDENTIFIERS AND DATA FOR12 MATS.—The data standards promulgated under sub13 section (a) shall include— 

14 ‘‘(A) common identifiers for information 

15 reported to member agencies or collected on be16 half of the Council, including a common legal 

17 entity identifier for all entities required to re18 port to member agencies; and 

19 ‘‘(B) common data formats for information 

20 reported to member agencies or collected on be21 half of the Council. 

22 ‘‘(2) DATA STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.—The 

23 data standards promulgated under subsection (a) 

24 shall, to the extent practicable— 


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1 ‘‘(A) render information fully searchable 

2 and machine-readable; 

3 ‘‘(B) be nonproprietary; 

4 ‘‘(C) incorporate standards developed and 

5 maintained by voluntary consensus standards 

6 bodies; and 

7 ‘‘(D) be consistent with and implement ap8 plicable accounting and reporting principles. 

9 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In promulgating data 

10 standards under subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury shall consult with other Federal depart12 ments and agencies and multi-agency initiatives re13 sponsible for Federal data standards. 

14 ‘‘(4) INTEROPERABILITY OF DATA.—In promul15 gating data standards under subsection (a), the Sec16 retary of the Treasury shall seek to promote inter17 operability of financial regulatory data across mem18 bers of the Council.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 under section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 

21 and Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting 

22 after the item relating to section 123 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 124. Data standards.’’. 

Æ 


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