I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1079 

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

guidance on electronic consent forms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget to issue guidance on electronic consent forms, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘CASES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) congressional offices provide crucial services 

2 to constituents by acting as a liaison between the 

3 constituents and the respective agencies; 

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

7 and 

8 (3) this process should be simplified through 

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

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

12 thus modernizing the process for constituents and 

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

15 of the problem for which constituents sought help. 

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

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

19 of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guid20 ance that does the following: 

21 (1) Requires each agency to accept electronic 

22 identity proofing and authentication processes for 

23 the purposes of allowing an individual to provide 

24 prior written consent for the disclosure of the indi25 vidual’s records under section 552a(b) of title 5, 


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1 United States Code, or for individual access to 

2 records under section 552a(d) of such title. 

3 (2) Creates a template for electronic consent 

4 and access forms and requires each agency to post 

5 the template on the agency website and to accept the 

6 forms from any individual properly identity proofed 

7 and authenticated in accordance with paragraph (1) 

8 for the purpose of authorizing disclosure of the indi9 vidual’s records under section 552a(b) of title 5, 

10 United States Code, or for individual access to 

11 records under section 552a(d) of such title. 

12 (3) Requires each agency to accept the elec13 tronic consent and access forms described in para14 graph (2) from any individual properly identity 

15 proofed and authenticated in accordance with para16 graph (1) for the purpose of authorizing disclosure 

17 of the individual’s records to another entity, includ18 ing a congressional office, in accordance with section 

19 552a(b) of title 5, United States Code, or for indi20 vidual access to records under section 552a(d). 

21 (b) AGENCY COMPLIANCE.—Each agency shall com22 ply with the guidance issued pursuant to subsection (a) 

23 not later than 1 year after the date on which such guid24 ance is issued. 

25 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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

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

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

4 title 5, United States Code. 

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

6 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg7 et. 

8 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

9 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

10 requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be car11 ried out using amounts otherwise authorized. 

Æ 


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