I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1711 

To require the disclosure of certain visitor access records. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2017 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. COHEN, Ms. CLARK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

SPEIER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. EVANS, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. HASTINGS, 

and Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To require the disclosure of certain visitor access records. 

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 ‘‘Making Access Records 

5 Available to Lead American Government Openness Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘MAR-A-LAGO Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Beginning in 2009, the Obama administra2 tion instituted a policy to release the visitor access 

3 records for the White House complex. 

4 (2) This policy was responsible for making pub5 lic the names of nearly 6,000,000 visitors to the 

6 White House in the 8 years of the Obama adminis7 tration. 

8 (3) This policy provided the people of the 

9 United States with insight into who influences the 

10 White House and transparency regarding efforts by 

11 lobbyists to effect policies, legislation, and Presi12 dential actions. 

13 (4) To date, the Trump administration has not 

14 indicated whether it will continue the policy of pub15 licly releasing White House visitor access records. 

16 (5) Since taking office on January 20, 2017, 

17 President Trump has conducted official business not 

18 only in the White House, but also at several of his 

19 privately owned clubs and resorts. 

20 (6) President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in 

21 Palm Beach, Florida, has been dubbed the ‘‘Winter 

22 White House’’ and the ‘‘Southern White House’’. 

23 (7) President Trump has spent 5 of his first 9 

24 weekends in office at Mar-a-Lago. 


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1 (8) Mar-a-Lago is a private membership facility 

2 open to members, their guests, and others who have 

3 been invited as guests for special events. 

4 (9) Visitors to Mar-a-Lago do not undergo the 

5 same background checks as White House visitors 

6 and visitor access records to the club have not been 

7 released to the public. 

8 (10) The President has conducted official busi9 ness and hosted international leaders at Mar-a-Lago. 

10 (11) Media reports have shown President 

11 Trump and members of his Cabinet at Mar-a-Lago 

12 and nearby Trump International Golf Club inter13 acting with members and guests, providing access 

14 unavailable to the general public. 

15 (12) President Trump owns many other prop16 erties that offer similar amenities and membership17 only access where he is likely to conduct official 

18 business during his term in office. 

19 (13) On March 11, 2017, President Trump 

20 hosted several members of his Cabinet at his Trump 

21 National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia, to 

22 discuss homeland security, health care, and the 

23 economy according to media reports. 


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1 (14) Media reports have indicated that the 

2 President may use his Bedminster, New Jersey, re3 sort as a ‘‘Summer White House’’. 

4 (15) The people of the United States expect 

5 and deserve transparency in government. The policy 

6 to release visitor access records instituted by the 

7 previous administration appropriately balanced 

8 transparency with the need for confidentiality in 

9 government actions. 

10 (16) To the extent Mar-a-Lago and any other 

11 private facilities become locations where the Presi12 dent conducts business and interacts with individ13 uals who are not government officials, the same dis14 closures should apply. 

15 SEC. 3. IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFLUENTIAL VISITOR AC16 CESS RECORDS. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) COVERED LOCATION.—The term ‘‘covered 

19 location’’ means— 

20 (A) the White House; 

21 (B) the residence of the Vice President; 

22 and 

23 (C) any other location at which the Presi24 dent or the Vice President regularly conducts 

25 official business. 


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1 (2) COVERED RECORDS.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 records’’ means information relating to a visit at a 

3 covered location, which shall include— 

4 (A) the name of each visitor at the covered 

5 location; 

6 (B) the name of each individual with whom 

7 each visitor described in subparagraph (A) met 

8 at the covered location; and 

9 (C) the purpose of the visit. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in sub11 section (c), not later than 30 days after the date of enact12 ment of this Act, the President shall establish and update, 

13 every 90 days, a publicly available database that contains 

14 covered records for the preceding 30-day period. 

15 (c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall not in17 clude in the database established under subsection 

18 (b) any covered record— 

19 (A) the posting of which would implicate 

20 personal privacy or law enforcement concerns or 

21 threaten national security; or 

22 (B) relating to a purely personal guest at 

23 a covered location. 


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1 (2) SENSITIVE MEETINGS.—With respect to a 

2 particularly sensitive meeting at a covered location, 

3 the President shall— 

4 (A) include the number of visitors at the 

5 covered location in the database established 

6 under subsection (b); and 

7 (B) post the applicable covered records in 

8 the database established under subsection (b) 

9 when the President determines that release of 

10 the covered records is no longer sensitive. 

Æ 


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