116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 736 

AN ACT 

To require the Director of the Government Publishing Office 

to establish and maintain an online portal accessible 

to the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 

copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one 

place, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Congression3 ally Mandated Reports Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORT.— 

7 The term ‘‘congressionally mandated report’’— 

8 (A) means a report that is required by 

9 statute to be submitted to either House of Con10 gress or any committee of Congress or sub11 committee thereof; and 

12 (B) does not include a report required 

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

14 States Code. 

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

16 the Director of the Government Publishing Office. 

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

18 agency’’ has the meaning given that term under sec19 tion 102 of title 40, United States Code, but does 

20 not include the Government Accountability Office. 

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

22 means a file format for storing digital data based on 

23 an underlying open standard that— 

24 (A) is not encumbered by any restrictions 

25 that would impede reuse; and 
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1 (B) is based on an underlying open data 

2 standard that is maintained by a standards or3 ganization. 

4 (5) REPORTS ONLINE PORTAL.—The term ‘‘re5 ports online portal’’ means the online portal estab6 lished under section (3)(a). 

7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE PORTAL FOR CON8 GRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORTS. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH ONLINE POR10 TAL.— 

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

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

13 establish and maintain an online portal accessible by 

14 the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 

15 copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one 

16 place. The Director may publish other reports on the 

17 online portal. 

18 (2) EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY.—To the extent 

19 possible, the Director shall meet the requirements 

20 under paragraph (1) by using existing online portals 

21 and functionality under the authority of the Direc22 tor. 

23 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this Act, 

24 the Director shall consult with the Clerk of the 

25 House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Sen-
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1 ate, and the Librarian of Congress regarding the re2 quirements for and maintenance of congressionally 

3 mandated reports on the reports online portal. 

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

5 ensure that the reports online portal includes the fol6 lowing: 

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

8 each congressionally mandated report, each of the 

9 following: 

10 (A) A citation to the statute requiring the 

11 report. 

12 (B) An electronic copy of the report, in13 cluding any transmittal letter associated with 

14 the report, in an open format that is platform 

15 independent and that is available to the public 

16 without restrictions, including restrictions that 

17 would impede the re-use of the information in 

18 the report. 

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

20 extent practicable, through searches based on 

21 each, and any combination, of the following: 

22 (i) The title of the report. 

23 (ii) The reporting Federal agency. 

24 (iii) The date of publication. 
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1 (iv) Each congressional committee or 

2 subcommittee receiving the report, if appli3 cable. 

4 (v) The statute requiring the report. 

5 (vi) Subject tags. 

6 (vii) A unique alphanumeric identifier 

7 for the report that is consistent across re8 port editions. 

9 (viii) The serial number, Super10 intendent of Documents number, or other 

11 identification number for the report, if ap12 plicable. 

13 (ix) Key words. 

14 (x) Full text search. 

15 (xi) Any other relevant information 

16 specified by the Director. 

17 (D) The date on which the report was re18 quired to be submitted, and on which the report 

19 was submitted, to the reports online portal. 

20 (E) To the extent practicable, a permanent 

21 means of accessing the report electronically. 

22 (2) A means for bulk download of all congres23 sionally mandated reports. 

24 (3) A means for downloading individual reports 

25 as the result of a search. 
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1 (4) An electronic means for the head of each 

2 Federal agency to submit to the reports online por3 tal each congressionally mandated report of the 

4 agency, as required by section 4. 

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

6 mandated reports that can be searched, sorted, and 

7 downloaded by— 

8 (A) reports submitted within the required 

9 time; 

10 (B) reports submitted after the date on 

11 which such reports were required to be sub12 mitted; and 

13 (C) reports not submitted. 

14 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

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

16 agency does not submit a congressionally mandated 

17 report to the Director, the Director shall to the ex18 tent practicable— 

19 (A) include on the reports online portal— 

20 (i) the information required under 

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

22 (b)(1)(C); and 

23 (ii) the date on which the report was 

24 required to be submitted; and 
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1 (B) include the congressionally mandated 

2 report on the list described in subsection 

3 (b)(5)(C). 

4 (2) REPORTS NOT IN OPEN FORMAT.—If a Fed5 eral agency submits a congressionally mandated re6 port that is not in an open format, the Director shall 

7 include the congressionally mandated report in an8 other format on the reports online portal. 

9 (d) DEADLINE.—The Director shall ensure that in10 formation required to be published on the online portal 

11 under this Act with respect to a congressionally mandated 

12 report or information required under subsection (c) is pub13 lished— 

14 (1) not later than 30 calendar days after the in15 formation is received from the Federal agency in16 volved; or 

17 (2) in the case of information required under 

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

19 the deadline under this Act for the Federal agency 

20 involved to submit information with respect to the 

21 congressionally mandated report involved. 

22 (e) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN REPORTS.— 

23 (1) EXCEPTION DESCRIBED.—A congressionally 

24 mandated report which is required by statute to be 

25 submitted to a committee of Congress or a sub-
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1 committee thereof, including any transmittal letter 

2 associated with the report, shall not be submitted to 

3 or published on the reports online portal if the chair 

4 of a committee or subcommittee to which the report 

5 is submitted notifies the Director in writing that the 

6 report is to be withheld from submission and publi7 cation under this Act. 

8 (2) NOTICE ON PORTAL.—If a report is with9 held from submission to or publication on the re10 ports online portal under paragraph (1), the Direc11 tor shall post on the portal— 

12 (A) a statement that the report is withheld 

13 at the request of a committee or subcommittee 

14 involved; and 

15 (B) the written notification specified in 

16 paragraph (1). 

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

18 fee, require registration, or impose any other limitation 

19 in exchange for access to the reports online portal. 

20 (g) UPGRADE CAPABILITY.—The reports online por21 tal shall be enhanced and updated as necessary to carry 

22 out the purposes of this Act. 

23 SEC. 4. FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

24 (a) SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC COPIES OF RE25 PORTS.—Not earlier than 30 calendar days or later than 
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1 45 calendar days after the date on which a congressionally 

2 mandated report is submitted to either House of Congress 

3 or to any committee of Congress or subcommittee thereof, 

4 the head of the Federal agency submitting the congres5 sionally mandated report shall submit to the Director the 

6 information required under subparagraphs (A) through 

7 (D) of section 3(b)(1) with respect to the congressionally 

8 mandated report. Nothing in this Act shall relieve a Fed9 eral agency of any other requirement to publish the con10 gressionally mandated report on the online portal of the 

11 Federal agency or otherwise submit the congressionally 

12 mandated report to Congress or specific committees of 

13 Congress, or subcommittees thereof. 

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

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

16 the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation 

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

18 implementation of this Act. 

19 (c) STRUCTURE OF SUBMITTED REPORT DATA.— 

20 The head of each Federal agency shall ensure that each 

21 congressionally mandated report submitted to the Director 

22 complies with the open format criteria established by the 

23 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. 5. 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. 6. RELATIONSHIP TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA7 TION ACT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con9 strued 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 Act if the information would be properly 

22 withheld from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, 

23 United States Code, and shall— 
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1 (1) redact information required to be disclosed 

2 under this Act if disclosure of such information is 

3 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. 7. IMPLEMENTATION. 

16 (a) REPORTS SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall apply with re18 spect 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 

25 of Representatives or the Secretary of the Sen-
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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 statue enacted before the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act is published on the online por11 tal under this Act 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 Act shall apply with 

17 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. 8. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

9 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

10 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

11 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

12 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

13 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

14 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro15 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

16 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 17, 2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 736 

AN ACT 

To require the Director of the Government Pubother purposes. sionally mandated reports in one place, and for public to obtain electronic copies of all congres- portal accessible to the public that allows the lishing Office to establish and maintain an online