I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2107

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 21, 1998

Referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

AN ACT

To enhance electronic commerce by promoting the reliability

and integrity of commercial transactions through establishing authentication standards for electronic communication, 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 ‘‘Government Paper5 work Elimination Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF OMB TO PROVIDE FOR ACQUISITION

2 AND USE OF ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION

3 TECHNOLOGIES BY EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.

4 Section 3504(a)(1)(B)(vi) of title 44, United States

5 Code, is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(vi) the acquisition and use of infor7 mation technology, including alternative in8 formation technologies that provide for

9 electronic submission, maintenance, or dis10 closure of information as a substitute for

11 paper and for the use and acceptance of

12 electronic signatures.’’.

13 SEC. 3. PROCEDURES FOR USE AND ACCEPTANCE OF ELEC14 TRONIC SIGNATURES BY EXECUTIVE AGEN15 CIES.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to fulfill the responsibil17 ity to administer the functions assigned under chapter 35

18 of title 44, United States Code, the provisions of the

19 Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (divisions D and E of Public

20 Law 104–106) and the amendments made by that Act,

21 and the provisions of this Act, the Director of the Office

22 of Management and Budget shall, in consultation with the

23 National Telecommunications and Information Adminis24 tration and not later than 18 months after the date of

25 enactment of this Act, develop procedures for the use and

26 acceptance of electronic signatures by Executive agencies.
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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR PROCEDURES.—(1) The

2 procedures developed under subsection (a)—

3 (A) shall be compatible with standards and

4 technology for electronic signatures that are gen5 erally used in commerce and industry and by State

6 governments;

7 (B) may not inappropriately favor one industry

8 or technology;

9 (C) shall ensure that electronic signatures are

10 as reliable as is appropriate for the purpose in ques11 tion and keep intact the information submitted;

12 (D) shall provide for the electronic acknowledg13 ment of electronic forms that are successfully sub14 mitted; and

15 (E) shall, to the extent feasible and appro16 priate, require an Executive agency that anticipates

17 receipt by electronic means of 50,000 or more sub18 mittals of a particular form to take all steps nec19 essary to ensure that multiple methods of electronic

20 signatures are available for the submittal of such

21 form.

22 (2) The Director shall ensure the compatibility of the

23 procedures under paragraph (1)(A) in consultation with

24 appropriate private bodies and State government entities
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1 that set standards for the use and acceptance of electronic

2 signatures.

3 SEC. 4. DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY EXECUTIVE

4 AGENCIES OF PROCEDURES FOR USE AND

5 ACCEPTANCE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES.

6 In order to fulfill the responsibility to administer the

7 functions assigned under chapter 35 of title 44, United

8 States Code, the provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of

9 1996 (divisions D and E of Public Law 104–106) and the

10 amendments made by that Act, and the provisions of this

11 Act, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

12 shall ensure that, commencing not later than five years

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, Executive agencies

14 provide—

15 (1) for the option of the electronic maintenance,

16 submission, or disclosure of information, when prac17 ticable as a substitute for paper; and

18 (2) for the use and acceptance of electronic sig19 natures, when practicable.

20 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC STORAGE AND FILING OF EMPLOY21 MENT FORMS.

22 In order to fulfill the responsibility to administer the

23 functions assigned under chapter 35 of title 44, United

24 States Code, the provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of

25 1996 (divisions D and E of Public Law 104–106) and the
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1 amendments made by that Act, and the provisions of this

2 Act, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

3 shall, not later than 18 months after the date of enact4 ment of this Act, develop procedures to permit private em5 ployers to store and file electronically with Executive agen6 cies forms containing information pertaining to the em7 ployees of such employers.

8 SEC. 6. STUDY ON USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES.

9 (a) ONGOING STUDY REQUIRED.—In order to fulfill

10 the responsibility to administer the functions assigned

11 under chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, the pro12 visions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (divisions D and

13 E of Public Law 104–106) and the amendments made by

14 that Act, and the provisions of this Act, the Director of

15 the Office of Management and Budget shall, in coopera16 tion with the National Telecommunications and Informa17 tion Administration, conduct an ongoing study of the use

18 of electronic signatures under this title on—

19 (1) paperwork reduction and electronic com20 merce;

21 (2) individual privacy; and

22 (3) the security and authenticity of trans23 actions.
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1 (b) REPORTS.—The Director shall submit to Con2 gress on a periodic basis a report describing the results

3 of the study carried out under subsection (a).

4 SEC. 7. ENFORCEABILITY AND LEGAL EFFECT OF ELEC5 TRONIC RECORDS.

6 Electronic records submitted or maintained in ac7 cordance with procedures developed under this Act, or

8 electronic signatures or other forms of electronic authen9 tication used in accordance with such procedures, shall not

10 be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability because

11 such records are in electronic form.

12 SEC. 8. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.

13 Except as provided by law, information collected in

14 the provision of electronic signature services for commu15 nications with an executive agency, as provided by this

16 Act, shall only be used or disclosed by persons who obtain,

17 collect, or maintain such information as a business or gov18 ernment practice, for the purpose of facilitating such com19 munications, or with the prior affirmative consent of the

20 person about whom the information pertains.

21 SEC. 9. APPLICATION WITH INTERNAL REVENUE LAWS.

22 No provision of this Act shall apply to the Depart23 ment of the Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service to

24 the extent that such provision—
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1 (1) involves the administration of the internal

2 revenue laws; or

3 (2) conflicts with any provision of the Internal

4 Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of

5 1998 or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

6 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act:

8 (1) ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE.—The term ‘‘elec9 tronic signature’’ means a method of signing an

10 electronic message that—

11 (A) identifies and authenticates a particu12 lar person as the source of the electronic mes13 sage; and

14 (B) indicates such person’s approval of the

15 information contained in the electronic message.

16 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive

17 agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section

18 105 of title 5, United States Code.

Passed the Senate October 15 (legislative day, October 2), 1998.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.