Union Calendar No. 23

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1328

[Report No. 103–51]

A BILL

To establish in the Government Printing Office a

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

APRIL 1, 1993

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed
IB

Union Calendar No. 23

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1328

[Report No. 103–51]

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

APRIL 1, 1993

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Government Printing

3 Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of

4 1993’’.

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

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

7 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 41—ACCESS TO FEDERAL

9 ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

‘‘Sec.

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

facility.

‘‘4102. Fees.

‘‘4103. Biennial report.

‘‘4104. Definition.

10 ‘‘§ 4101. Electronic directory; online access to publi11 cations; electronic storage facility

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Superintendent of Docu13 ments, under the direction of the Public Printer, shall—

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

15 electronic information;

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

17 Congressional Record, the Federal Register, and, as

18 determined by the Superintendent of Documents,

19 other appropriate publications distributed by the Su20 perintendent of Documents; and
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1 ‘‘(3) operate an electronic storage facility for

2 Federal electronic information to which online access

3 is made available under paragraph (2).

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

5 practicable, the Superintendent of Documents shall ac6 commodate any request by the head of a department or

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

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

9 the department or agency involved.

10 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section,

11 the Superintendent of Documents shall consult—

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

13 access provided for under subsection (a); and

14 ‘‘(2) other providers of similar information serv15 ices.

16 The purpose of such consultation shall be to assess the

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

18 of user needs.

19 ‘‘§ 4102. Fees

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Superintendent of Docu21 ments, under the direction of the Public Printer, may

22 charge reasonable fees for use of the directory and the

23 system of access provided for under section 4101, except

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

25 available to depository libraries without charge. The fees
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1 received shall be treated in the same manner as moneys

2 received from sale of documents under section 1702 of this

3 title.

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

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

6 of dissemination of the information involved, with the cost

7 to be computed without regard to section 1708 of this

8 title.

9 ‘‘§ 4103. Biennial report

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

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

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

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

14 facility referred to in section 4101(a). The report shall in15 clude a description of the functions involved, including a

16 statement of cost savings in comparison with traditional

17 forms of information distribution.

18 ‘‘§ 4104. Definition

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

20 information’ means Federal public information stored

21 electronically.’’.

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

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

24 at the end the following new item:

‘‘41. Access to Federal Electronic Information ...................... 4101’’.
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1 SEC. 3. STATUS REPORT.

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

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

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

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

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

7 SEC. 4. SPECIAL RULES.

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

9 system of access, and the electronic storage facility re10 ferred to in section 4101 of title 44, United States Code,

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

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

13 (b) FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT.—The first report re14 ferred to in section 4103 of title 44, United States Code,

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

16 December 31, 1995.