I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 283 

To require the approval by the head of an agency for any conference costing 

more than $25,000, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2013 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN (for himself, Mr. BARLETTA, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. GRIMM, and Mr. 

DESJARLAIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To require the approval by the head of an agency for any 

conference costing more than $25,000, 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 ‘‘Agency Conferences 

5 and Conventions Operating Under Necessary Trans6 parency Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘ACCOUNT Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AGENCY CONFERENCE REQUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) AGENCY HEAD APPROVAL REQUIRED.—Any con9 ference costing more than $25,000 must be approved in 

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1 writing by the head of the relevant agency before the date 

2 on which such conference occurs. The head of an agency 

3 may only approve such conference if the head determines 

4 that the conference is necessary to the core mission of the 

5 agency. 

6 (b) PUBLICATION OF STATEMENT REQUIRED.—Not 

7 later than 30 days after the date of a conference described 

8 in subsection (a), the head of the agency shall publish on 

9 the website of such agency a summary of the conference 

10 that includes the purpose and total cost of the conference 

11 and the cost per employee that attended the conference. 

12 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem13 ber 31 of each year, the head of each agency shall submit 

14 a report, for the previous fiscal year, to the relevant com15 mittees of the Congress that includes a list of each con16 ference approved pursuant to subsection (a) and with re17 gard to each such conference, the following: 

18 (1) A summary of the purposes and goals. 

19 (2) A description of the conference activities 

20 that accomplish such purposes and goals. 

21 (3) The total cost. 

22 (4) The cost per government employee. 

23 (d) EXCLUSION.—The requirements of this section 

24 shall not apply— 

25 (1) to the armed forces; 

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1 (2) with respect to law enforcement activity; 

2 and 

3 (3) with respect to any conference that the head 

4 of the agency determines is classified or related to 

5 national security. 

6 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

8 meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, 

9 United States Code. 

10 (2) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘armed forces’’ 

11 has the meaning given that term in section 2101 of 

12 title 5, United States Code. 

13 (3) CONFERENCE.—The term ‘‘conference’’ 

14 means a meeting, retreat, seminar, symposium, or 

15 event to which 20 or more employees travel at least 

16 25 miles to attend, that— 

17 (A) is held for consultation, education, dis18 cussion, or training; and 

19 (B) is not held entirely at a Government 

20 facility. 

21 (4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

22 meaning given that term in section 2105 of title 5, 

23 United States Code. 

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