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Union Calendar No. 266 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3308 

[Report No. 113–358] 

To require a Federal agency to include language in certain educational and 

advertising materials indicating that such materials are produced and 

disseminated at taxpayer expense. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2013 

Mr. LONG (for himself and Mr. WESTMORELAND) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform 

FEBRUARY 25, 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. BARLETTA, Mrs. BLACK, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. 

CHABOT, Mr. COBLE, Mr. COLE, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. COOK, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

DENHAM, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, 

Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. FORBES, Mr. 

GARRETT, Mr. GERLACH, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas, Mr. 

HALL, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. HOLDING, Mr. 

HULTGREN, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. 

LUCAS, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. MILLER of 

Florida, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. PAULSEN, 

Mr. PERRY, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PITTS, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. RIBBLE, 

Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. ROTHFUS, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. 

STOCKMAN, Mr. STUTZMAN, Mr. TERRY, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. TURNER, Mr. UPTON, Mr. WALBERG, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. 

WEBER of Texas, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. 

WOODALL, Mr. YOHO, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. DUFFY, Mr. GRAVES

of Missouri, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. DIAZBALART, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. LAMALFA, 

Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. POE of Texas, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, 


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Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BARTON, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. 

CALVERT, Mr. DENT, Mr. FINCHER, Mr. FLORES, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. 

GOWDY, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. LANCE, Mr. MCKEON, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. MICA, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. RADEL, Mr. 

ROKITA, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. KLINE, 

Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. LATTA, Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. BENTIVOLIO, and Mr. 

GOSAR

FEBRUARY 25, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 22, 2013] 

A BILL 

To require a Federal agency to include language in certain 

educational and advertising materials indicating that 

such materials are produced and disseminated at taxpayer expense. 


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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 ‘‘Taxpayer Transparency 

5 Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRINTED MATERIALS AND AD7 VERTISEMENTS BY FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT TO IDENTIFY FUNDING SOURCE

9 FOR COMMUNICATION FUNDED BY FEDERAL AGENCY.— 

10 Each communication funded by a Federal agency that is 

11 an advertisement, or that provides information about any 

12 Federal Government program, benefit, or service, shall 

13 clearly state— 

14 (1) in the case of a printed communication, in15 cluding mass mailings, signs, and billboards, that the 

16 communication is printed or published at taxpayer 

17 expense; and 

18 (2) in the case of a communication transmitted 

19 through radio, television, the Internet, or any means 

20 other than the means referred to in paragraph (1), 

21 that the communication is produced or disseminated 

22 at taxpayer expense. 

23 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 (1) PRINTED COMMUNICATION.—Any printed 

25 communication described in subsection (a)(1) shall— 


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1 (A) be of sufficient type size to be clearly 

2 readable by the recipient of the communication; 

3 (B) to the extent feasible, be contained in a 

4 printed box set apart from the other contents of 

5 the communication; and 

6 (C) to the extent feasible, be printed with a 

7 reasonable degree of color contrast between the 

8 background and the printed statement. 

9 (2) RADIO, TELEVISION, AND INTERNET COMMU10 NICATION.— 

11 (A) AUDIO COMMUNICATION.—Any audio 

12 communication described in subsection (a)(2) 

13 shall include an audio statement that commu14 nicates the information required under that sub15 section in a clearly spoken manner. 

16 (B) VIDEO COMMUNICATION.—Any video 

17 communication described in subsection (a)(2) 

18 shall include a statement with the information 

19 referred to under that subsection— 

20 (i) that is conveyed in a clearly spoken 

21 manner; 

22 (ii) that is conveyed by a voice-over or 

23 screen view of the person making the state24 ment; and 


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1 (iii) to the extent feasible, that also ap2 pears in writing at the end of the commu3 nication in a clearly readable manner with 

4 a reasonable degree of color contrast between 

5 the background and the printed statement, 

6 for a period of at least 4 seconds. 

7 (C) E-MAIL COMMUNICATION.—Any e-mail 

8 communication described in subsection (a)(2) 

9 shall include the information required under that 

10 subsection, displayed in a manner that— 

11 (i) is of sufficient type size to be clear12 ly readable by the recipient of the commu13 nication; 

14 (ii) is set apart from the other contents 

15 of the communication; and 

16 (iii) includes a reasonable degree of 

17 color contrast between the background and 

18 the printed statement. 

19 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF OTHER FUNDING SOURCE FOR

20 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—In the case of a communica21 tion funded entirely by user fees, by any other source that 

22 does not include Federal funds, or by a combination of such 

23 fees or other source, a Federal agency may apply the re24 quirements of subsections (a) and (b) by substituting ‘‘by 

25 the United States Government’’ for ‘‘at taxpayer expense’’. 


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1 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

2 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal agen3 cy’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agen4 cy’’ in section 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

5 (2) MASS MAILING.—The term ‘‘mass mailing’’ 

6 means any mailing or distribution of 499 or more 

7 newsletters, pamphlets, or other printed matter with 

8 substantially identical content, whether such matter is 

9 deposited singly or in bulk, or at the same time or 

10 different times, except that such term does not include 

11 any mailing— 

12 (A) in direct response to a communication 

13 from a person to whom the matter is mailed; or 

14 (B) of a news release to the communications 

15 media. 

16 (e) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—The funds used by a Federal 

17 agency to carry out this Act shall be derived from amounts 

18 made available to the agency for advertising, or for pro19 viding information about any Federal Government pro20 gram, benefit, or service. 

21 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply only 

22 to communications printed or otherwise produced after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 

4 Budget shall develop and issue guidance on implementing 

5 the requirements of this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW AND ENFORCEABILITY. 

7 (a) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—There shall be no judicial re8 view of compliance or noncompliance with any provision 

9 of this Act. 

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

11 be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive or 

12 procedural, enforceable by any administrative or judicial 

13 action. 


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Union Calendar No. 266 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3308 

[Report No. 113–358] 

A BILL 

To require a Federal agency to include language in 

disseminated at taxpayer expense. dicating that such materials are produced and certain educational and advertising materials inFEBRUARY 25, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS