I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6466 

To establish a website for Federal Government apps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2016 

Mr. EMMER of Minnesota (for himself and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To establish a website for Federal Government apps, 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 ‘‘Advancing and Pro5 moting Programming’’ or the ‘‘APP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) 84 percent of leading app makers are out9 side Silicon Valley, and 83 percent are small busi10 nesses. 


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1 (2) Millions have participated in the Hour of 

2 Code, which teaches the fundamental components of 

3 computer programming. 

4 (3) The Congressional App Challenge is an offi5 cially sanctioned competition to promote computer 

6 science education and demonstrate the value of cod7 ing to the next generation. 

8 (4) Computer Science majors earn 40 percent 

9 more than the average college graduates. 

10 (5) In 2016, China surpassed the United States 

11 in app store revenue. 

12 (6) The current extent of a Federal mobile app 

13 directory exists as a text list on a General Services 

14 Administration website. 

15 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that— 

17 (1) computer science skills are critical to a bur18 geoning technology industry, and will provide high19 quality jobs for America’s future workforce; 

20 (2) the Federal Government has an obligation 

21 to provide information and services through a means 

22 that meets the technology demands of our changing 

23 society; and 


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1 (3) among other fields, computer programming 

2 jobs are a way to ensure America keeps the highest3 quality jobs and remains a world economic leader. 

4 SEC. 3. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITE FOR APPS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—Not later than 

6 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Administrator of General Services shall establish a pub8 licly available website that includes a database of Federal 

9 funding opportunities for the creation of apps, allows the 

10 public to download a Federal Government app that has 

11 been made available to the public, and includes the fol12 lowing: 

13 (1) A list of each funding source (including 

14 grants and prizes) for the creation and maintenance 

15 of Federal Government apps and how an applicant 

16 may apply for such funding, including resources 

17 such as grants.gov, challenge.gov, and the Small 

18 Business Innovation Research program. 

19 (2) The ability for the public to rate and review 

20 any such Federal Government app. 

21 (3) A page that prominently displays apps that 

22 have been recently updated or that receive a high 

23 user review average under paragraph (2). 

24 (4) A page that features Government projects 

25 that provide application developers with tools to imVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Dec 10, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6466.IH H6466

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1 prove private apps, such as data.gov and devel2 oper.epa.gov. 

3 (5) Resources for education and training re4 lated to the creation of apps. 

5 (6) A page that features outstanding, edu6 cational, computer science programs, determined by 

7 the Administrator of General Services and the Direc8 tor of the National Science Foundation, and re9 sources to replicate such programs. 

10 (b) REVIEW AND REMOVAL OF OUTDATED APPS.— 

11 The Administrator of General Services shall review any 

12 app for which an update has not been released in more 

13 than 2 years and shall remove any app from the website 

14 described in subsection (a) that is no longer functional or 

15 compatible. 

16 (c) APP DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘app’’ 

17 means a software application that enables the performance 

18 of a specific task that may be run on a computer, a mobile 

19 device, the Internet, or any other electronic device. 

20 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

21 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

22 requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be car23 ried out using amounts otherwise authorized. 

Æ 


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