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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1328

To establish in the Government Printing Office a means of enhancing

electronic public access to a wide range of Federal electronic information.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 11, 1993

Mr. ROSE (for himself, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. THOMAS of California, Mr. ROBERTS, and Mr. GINGRICH) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

A BILL

To establish in the Government Printing Office a means

of enhancing electronic public access to a wide range

of Federal electronic information.

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 ‘‘Government Printing

5 Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of

6 1993’’.

7 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 44, United States Code, is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 41—ACCESS TO FEDERAL

2 ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

‘‘Sec.

‘‘4101. Electronic directory; online access to publications; electronic storage

facility.

‘‘4102. Fees.

‘‘4103. Biennial report.

‘‘4104. Definition.

3 ‘‘§ 4101. Electronic directory; online access to publi4 cations; electronic storage facility

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Superintendent of Docu6 ments, under the direction of the Public Printer, shall—

7 ‘‘(1) maintain an electronic directory of Federal

8 electronic information;

9 ‘‘(2) provide a system of online access to the

10 Congressional Record, the Federal Register, and, as

11 determined by the Superintendent of Documents,

12 other appropriate publications distributed by the Su13 perintendent of Documents; and

14 ‘‘(3) operate an electronic storage facility for

15 Federal electronic information to which online access

16 is made available under paragraph (2).

17 ‘‘(b) DEPARTMENTAL REQUESTS.—To the extent

18 practicable, the Superintendent of Documents shall ac19 commodate any request by the head of a department or

20 agency to include in the system of access referred to in

21 subsection (a)(2) information that is under the control of

22 the department or agency involved.
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1 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section,

2 the Superintendent of Documents shall consult—

3 ‘‘(1) users of the directory and the system of

4 access provided for under subsection (a); and

5 ‘‘(2) other providers of similar information serv6 ices.

7 The purpose of such consultation shall be to assess the

8 quality and value of the directory and the system, in light

9 of user needs.

10 ‘‘§ 4102. Fees

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Superintendent of Docu12 ments, under the direction of the Public Printer, may

13 charge reasonable fees for use of the directory and the

14 system of access provided for under section 4101, except

15 that use of the directory and the system shall be made

16 available to depository libraries without charge. The fees

17 received shall be treated in the same manner as moneys

18 received from sale of documents under section 1702 of this

19 title.

20 ‘‘(b) COST RECOVERY.—The fees charged under this

21 section shall be set so as to recover the incremental cost

22 of dissemination of the information involved, with the cost

23 to be computed without regard to section 1708 of this

24 title.
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1 ‘‘§ 4103. Biennial report

2 ‘‘Not later than December 31 of each odd-numbered

3 year, the Public Printer shall submit to the Congress, with

4 respect to the two preceding fiscal years, a report on the

5 directory, the system of access, and the electronic storage

6 facility referred to in section 4101(a). The report shall in7 clude a description of the functions involved, including a

8 statement of cost savings in comparison with traditional

9 forms of information distribution.

10 ‘‘§ 4104. Definition

11 ‘‘As used in this chapter, the term ‘Federal electronic

12 information’ means Federal public information stored

13 electronically.’’.

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

15 for title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding

16 at the end the following new item:

‘‘41. Access to Federal Electronic Information ...................... 4101’’.

17 SEC. 3. STATUS REPORT.

18 Not later than June 30, 1994, the Public Printer

19 shall submit to the Congress a report on the status of the

20 directory, the system of access, and the electronic storage

21 facility referred to in section 4101 of title 44, United

22 States Code, as added by section 2(a).

23 SEC. 4. SPECIAL RULES.

24 (a) OPERATIONAL DEADLINE.—The directory, the

25 system of access, and the electronic storage facility re-
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1 ferred to in section 4101 of title 44, United States Code,

2 as added by section 2(a), shall be operational not later

3 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

4 (b) FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT.—The first report re5 ferred to in section 4103 of title 44, United States Code,

6 as added by section 2(a), shall be submitted not later than

7 December 31, 1995.

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