I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4245 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, and the Federal 

Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to improve access 

to information in the legislative and executive branches of the Government, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2014 

Mr. QUIGLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committees on Rules, House Administration, the Judiciary, Ethics, and 

Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Rules 

of the House of Representatives, the Lobbying Disclosure 

Act of 1995, and the Federal Funding Accountability 

and Transparency Act of 2006 to improve access to 

information in the legislative and executive branches of 

the Government, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency in Gov3 ernment Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT 

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES 

Sec. 101. Greater disclosure and electronic filing of personal financial information. 

Sec. 102. Greater disclosure of travel reports. 

Sec. 103. Greater disclosure of gift reports. 

Sec. 104. Greater disclosure of earmarks. 

Sec. 105. Online posting of disbursements from Members’ Representational Allowance. 

Sec. 106. GAO study and report on effects of written requests by Members of 

Congress for funding of projects. 

TITLE II—ENHANCING PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE WORK OF 

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES, LEGISLATION, AND VOTES 

Sec. 201. Increased transparency of committee work. 

Sec. 202. Increased transparency of committee schedules through the Clerk. 

Sec. 203. Increased transparency of recorded votes. 

TITLE III—ENHANCING PUBLIC ACCESS TO CONGRESSIONAL 

RESEARCH SERVICE 

Sec. 301. Short title; findings. 

Sec. 302. Availability of certain Congressional Research Service information. 

Sec. 303. Other methods of public access. 

Sec. 304. Definitions. 

Sec. 305. Effective date. 

TITLE IV—LOBBYING DISCLOSURE 

Sec. 401. Short title. 

Sec. 402. Modifications to enforcement. 

Sec. 403. Definition of lobbyist. 

Sec. 404. Expedited online registration of lobbyists; expansion of registrants. 

Sec. 405. Disclosure of political contributions. 

Sec. 406. Identification numbers for lobbyists. 

Sec. 407. Ethics training for lobbyists. 

Sec. 408. Estimates based on tax reporting system. 

Sec. 409. Effective date. 

TITLE V—TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING 


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Sec. 501. Improving application programming interface and website data elements. 

Sec. 502. Improving data quality. 

Sec. 503. Requirements relating to reporting of award data. 

Sec. 504. Recipient performance transparency. 

Sec. 505. Improvement of Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System Database. 

Sec. 506. Federal contractor compliance. 

Sec. 507. Improving access to information disclosed on lobbying activities. 

TITLE VI—EXECUTIVE BRANCH TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 601. Requirement for disclosure of Federal sponsorship of all Federal advertising or other communications. 

Sec. 602. Improving access to influential executive branch official’s visitor access records. 

Sec. 603. Improving access to budget justifications by the Office of Management and Budget. 

Sec. 604. Improving rulemaking disclosure for the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

Sec. 605. Improving E-filing data collection and distribution for non-profits. 

Sec. 606. Improving ease of online access to registration information from 

agents of foreign principals. 

Sec. 607. Agency defined. 

TITLE VII—STRENGTHENING THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

ACT 

Sec. 701. Digital access to completed responses to the Freedom of Information 

Act. 

Sec. 702. Explanation required for creation of exemption in the Freedom of Information Act. 

Sec. 703. FOIAonline for agencies. 

Sec. 704. Agency defined. 

TITLE VIII—IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY WITHIN THE JUDICIAL 

SYSTEM 

Sec. 801. GAO study on video recording of Supreme Court proceedings. 

Sec. 802. Audio recording of Supreme Court proceedings. 

Sec. 803. Availability on the Internet of financial disclosure reports of judicial 

officers. 

Sec. 804. GAO audit of PACER. 

TITLE IX—ENFORCEMENT 

Sec. 901. Audits by the Government Accountability Office. 


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1 TITLE I—IMPROVING ACCESS TO 

2 INFORMATION ABOUT MEM3 BERS OF CONGRESS AND 

4 CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES 

5 SEC. 101. GREATER DISCLOSURE AND ELECTRONIC FILING 

6 OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION. 

7 (a) ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIRE8 MENTS.—(1) Section 102(a)(1)(B) of the Ethics in Gov9 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 102(a)(1)(B)) is 

10 amended in clause (iv) by striking ‘‘$15,000’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘$25,000’’ and by striking clauses (v) through (ix) and 

12 inserting the following new clauses: 

13 ‘‘(v) greater than $25,000 but not 

14 more than $100,000, rounded to the near15 est $10,000, 

16 ‘‘(vi) greater than $100,000 but not 

17 more than $1,000,000, rounded to the 

18 nearest $100,000, or 

19 ‘‘(vii) greater than $1,000,000, round20 ed to the nearest $1,000,000.’’. 

21 (2) Section 102(d)(1) of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

22 102(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(3), (4), (5), and (8)’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘(5) and (8)’’. 

24 (3) Section 102(d) of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

25 102(d)) is amended by redesignating paragraph (2) as 


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1 paragraph (3) and by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

2 following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) The categories for reporting the amount or value 

4 of the items covered in paragraphs (3) or (4) of subsection 

5 (a) are as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) Not more than $15,000. 

7 ‘‘(B) Greater than $15,000 but not more than 

8 $25,000. 

9 ‘‘(C) Greater than $25,000 but not more than 

10 $100,000, rounded to the nearest $10,000. 

11 ‘‘(D) Greater than $100,000 but not more than 

12 $1,000,000, rounded to the nearest $100,000. 

13 ‘‘(E) Greater than $1,000,000, rounded to the 

14 nearest $1,000,000.’’. 

15 (b) MORE FREQUENT DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL

16 TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY.— 

17 (1) Section 101 of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 101) is amend18 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(j) In addition to any other report required to be 

20 filed by a Member of Congress or officer or employee of 

21 the Congress, each such individual is required to file a 

22 quarterly report on April 30, July 30, October 30, and 

23 January 30 of each year covering the preceding calendar 

24 quarter if that individual (or the spouse or any dependent 

25 child of that individual) purchased, sold, or exchanged any 


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1 property described in subsection (a)(5) valued at not less 

2 than $250,000 during that calendar quarter. For any such 

3 transaction of not less than $250,000, such report shall 

4 contain all of the information required under subsection 

5 (a)(5).’’. 

6 (2)(A) Clause 1 of rule XXVI of the Rules of the 

7 House of Representatives is amended by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ 

8 after ‘‘1.’’ and by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(b) If any report is filed with the Clerk for a 

11 calendar quarter pursuant to section 101(i) of the 

12 Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Clerk shall 

13 compile all such reports sent to the Clerk by Mem14 bers and have them printed as a House document, 

15 which shall be made available to the public, as soon 

16 as practicable. 

17 ‘‘(c) Each individual required to file a report 

18 with the Clerk under title I under the Ethics in Gov19 ernment Act of 1978 shall file and maintain such re20 port in electronic form.’’. 

21 (B) Comparable language to be added by the Senate. 

22 (c) AVAILABILITY ON THE INTERNET OF REPORTS

23 FILED UNDER THIS TITLE WITH THE CLERK OF THE

24 HOUSE OR THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—Section 

25 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 


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1 App. 103) is amended by adding at the end the following 

2 new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(m) The Clerk of the House of Representatives and 

4 the Secretary of the Senate shall each make available any 

5 report filed with them under this title (whether the report 

6 is filed in paper or electronic form) within 48 hours of 

7 the applicable submission deadline on the website of the 

8 Clerk or the Secretary, as applicable, in a searchable, sort9 able, downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to reports filed for calendar years 

12 or calendar quarters beginning after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 SEC. 102. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF TRAVEL REPORTS. 

15 (a) FOREIGN TRAVEL.—Clause 8(b)(3) of rule X of 

16 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Within 48 

18 hours after any such report is filed with the chair of a 

19 committee, the chair shall post the report on the Internet 

20 site of the committee in a searchable, sortable, 

21 downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 subsection (a) shall apply to travel commencing after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 103. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF GIFT REPORTS. 

2 (a) REQUIRING CLERK OF THE HOUSE TO POST RE3 PORTS ON INTERNET NOT LATER THAN 48 HOURS

4 AFTER RECEIPT.—(1) Clause 5(b)(5) of rule XXV of the 

5 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘shall make available’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘shall post on the public Internet site 

8 of the Clerk and otherwise make available’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘as possible’’ and inserting 

10 the following: ‘‘as possible, but in no event later 

11 than 48 hours,’’. 

12 (2) Comparable language to be added by the Senate. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to reports filed on 

15 or after the date of the adoption of this resolution. 

16 SEC. 104. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF EARMARKS. 

17 (a) ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE BY MEMBERS.—(1) 

18 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

19 is amended by redesignating clause 18 as clause 19 and 

20 by inserting after clause 17 the following: 

21 ‘‘18. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

22 who requests a congressional earmark, a limited tax ben23 efit, or a limited tariff benefit shall, within 24 hours after 

24 making such request— 

25 ‘‘(1) post on his or her public website for the 

26 remainder of the Congress the following— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the intended 

2 recipient; 

3 ‘‘(B) whether the intended recipient is a 

4 for-profit or not-for-profit entity; 

5 ‘‘(C) the requested amount (only in the 

6 case of congressional earmarks); and 

7 ‘‘(D) an explanation of the request, includ8 ing the purpose, and why it is a valuable use 

9 of taxpayer funds; 

10 ‘‘(2) electronically submit to the committee of 

11 subject-matter jurisdiction the webpage address 

12 where such information is posted; 

13 ‘‘(3) identify each request as having been sub14 mitted to the committee of subject-matter jurisdic15 tion; and 

16 ‘‘(4) display on the homepage of such website a 

17 hypertext link that contains the words ‘Earmarks’, 

18 ‘Appropriations Requests’, ‘Limited Tax Benefits’, 

19 or ‘Limited Tariff Benefits’ and that directs to such 

20 webpage address, and maintain that link for at least 

21 30 calendar days after the last such request is made 

22 during the Congress.’’. 

23 (2) The last sentence of clause 16 of rule XXIII of 

24 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 


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1 striking ‘‘and clause 17’’ and inserting ‘‘, clause 17, and 

2 clause 18’’. 

3 (b) ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE BY COMMITTEES.— 

4 Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following new clause: 

6 ‘‘Earmark disclosure websites 

7 ‘‘(s)(1) Any committee that accepts any request of 

8 a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner for a con9 gressional earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tar10 iff benefit shall maintain a public website with an earmark 

11 disclosure webpage that contains the following for each 

12 such request— 

13 ‘‘(A) the bill name; 

14 ‘‘(B) the name, State, and district of that indi15 vidual; 

16 ‘‘(C) the name and address of the intended re17 cipient; 

18 ‘‘(D) whether the intended recipient is a for19 profit or not-for-profit entity; 

20 ‘‘(E) the requested amount (only in the case of 

21 congressional earmarks); 

22 ‘‘(F) a brief description; and 

23 ‘‘(G) the applicable department or agency of the 

24 Government, and the account or program (if pro25 vided to the committee in the request); 


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1 and is in a downloadable format that is searchable and 

2 sortable by such characteristics. 

3 ‘‘(2) Any written statement received by a committee 

4 under clause 17(a) of rule XXIII shall be posted on the 

5 earmark disclosure webpage of the committee. 

6 ‘‘(3) The earmark disclosure webpage of a committee 

7 shall list the names of any Member, Delegate, and Resi8 dent Commissioner who requests a congressional earmark, 

9 a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit and link 

10 directly to their webpage addresses referred to in clause 

11 18(2) of rule XXIII. 

12 ‘‘(4) The earmark disclosure webpage of a committee 

13 shall post the information required under subparagraphs 

14 (1) through (3) within one week of receipt, and shall main15 tain that information on that webpage for the remainder 

16 of the Congress. 

17 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this paragraph, the terms ‘con18 gressional earmark’, ‘limited tax benefit’, and ‘limited tar19 iff benefit’ shall have the meaning given them in clause 

20 9 of rule XXI.’’. 

21 (c) POINT OF ORDER.—Clause 9 of rule XXI of the 

22 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by re23 designating paragraphs (e), (f), and (g) as paragraphs (f), 

24 (g), and (h), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph 

25 (d) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) It shall not be in order to consider any bill or 

2 joint resolution, or an amendment thereto or conference 

3 report thereon, that carries a congressional earmark, lim4 ited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit for which a Mem5 ber, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner failed to comply 

6 with any applicable requirement of clause 18 of rule 

7 XXIII.’’. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply to requests for congressional ear10 marks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits 

11 made after the date this resolution is agreed to. 

12 (e) CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR EARMARKS, LIM13 ITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF BENEFITS.— 

14 (1) The Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Sec15 retary of the Senate, and the chairs of the Committee on 

16 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Senate shall collaborate to create one centralized database 

18 where all requests for earmark, limited tax benefits, and 

19 limited tariff benefits are available on the Internet in a 

20 searchable, sortable, downloadable format to the public. 

21 The data available to the public for each earmark should 

22 include— 

23 (A) an identification of the bill into which the 

24 earmark is to be inserted; 


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1 (B) the name, State, and district of the Mem2 ber of Congress requesting the earmark; 

3 (C) the name and address of the intended re4 cipient; 

5 (D) whether the intended recipient is a for-prof6 it or not-for-profit entity; 

7 (E) the requested amount (only in the case of 

8 congressional earmarks); 

9 (F) a brief description of the earmark; and 

10 (G) the applicable department or agency of the 

11 Government, and the account or program (if pro12 vided to the committee in the request). 

13 (2) The centralized database for earmarks referred 

14 to in paragraph (1) shall be implemented within six 

15 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 105. ONLINE POSTING OF DISBURSEMENTS FROM 

17 MEMBERS’ REPRESENTATIONAL ALLOW18 ANCE. 

19 (a) REQUIRING POSTING.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each session 

21 of a Congress (beginning with the second session of 

22 the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress)— 

23 (A) the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

24 House of Representatives shall post on the offi25 cial public Internet site of the House of RepVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:17 Mar 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245

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1 resentatives a machine-readable statement 

2 showing each disbursement made from the 

3 Members’ Representational Allowance during 

4 that session, and include as part of the state5 ment hyperlinks to information on the amount 

6 of such disbursements which are attributable to 

7 each specific Member of the House of Rep8 resentatives; and 

9 (B) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

10 each Member of the House of Representatives 

11 shall include on the Member’s official public 

12 Internet site a hyperlink to the information pro13 vided on the House of Representatives site 

14 under subparagraph (A) with respect to the dis15 bursements made by the Member. 

16 (2) EXCEPTION FOR FORMER MEMBERS.— 

17 Paragraph (1)(B) does not apply to any individual 

18 who is not a Member of the House of Representa19 tives at the time the Chief Administrative Officer 

20 posts the statement described in paragraph (1)(A). 

21 (b) SOURCE OF INFORMATION.—The information 

22 provided on the House of Representatives site under sub23 section (a)(1) shall be based on the reports of disburse24 ments for the operations of the House of Representatives 

25 which are submitted by the Chief Administrative Officer 


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1 under section 106 of the House of Representatives Admin2 istrative Reform Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 

3 104b). 

4 (c) DEADLINES.— 

5 (1) CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER.—The 

6 Chief Administrative Officer shall post the informa7 tion required under subsection (a)(1) with respect to 

8 a session of Congress not later than 30 days after 

9 the publication of the final report of disbursements 

10 for the operations of the House of Representatives 

11 (as described in subsection (b)) for that session. 

12 (2) MEMBERS.—Each Member of the House of 

13 Representatives shall meet the requirements of sub14 section (a)(2) not later than 5 days after the Chief 

15 Administrative Officer posts the information re16 quired under subsection (a)(1) with respect to a ses17 sion of Congress. 

18 (d) MEMBER DEFINED.—In this section, a ‘‘Member 

19 of the House of Representatives’’ includes a Delegate or 

20 Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 

21 SEC. 106. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF WRIT22 TEN REQUESTS BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

23 FOR FUNDING OF PROJECTS. 

24 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

25 a study of the effect of written requests to carry out and 


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1 provide funding for projects and activities which are sub2 mitted to offices of the executive branch by Members of 

3 Congress on the decisions made by such offices regarding 

4 the funding of those projects and activities. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

7 submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under 

8 subsection (a). 

9 TITLE II—ENHANCING PUBLIC 

10 ACCESS TO THE WORK OF 

11 CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES, LEGISLATION, AND 

13 VOTES 

14 SEC. 201. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF COMMITTEE 

15 WORK. 

16 (a) IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Clause 

17 1 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following new para19 graph: 

20 ‘‘(e)(1) Each committee shall post on its Internet 

21 website the public hearings and markup schedules of the 

22 committee and each of its subcommittees at the same time 

23 that information is made available to members of the com24 mittee. 


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1 ‘‘(2) For each hearing and markup for which infor2 mation is posted under subparagraph (1), the committee 

3 shall post on its Internet website within 45 days the fol4 lowing: the topic, related legislation, testimony of wit5 nesses, opening statements of the chair and ranking mi6 nority member, transcripts, and audio and video record7 ings. 

8 ‘‘(3) Within 24 hours after a committee or sub9 committee orders any bill or resolution to be reported, the 

10 committee or subcommittee, as applicable, shall post on 

11 its Internet website all amendments that were agreed to, 

12 except for technical and conforming changes authorized by 

13 the committee or subcommittee.’’. 

14 (b) IN THE SENATE.—Comparable language to be 

15 added by the Senate. 

16 SEC. 202. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF COMMITTEE 

17 SCHEDULES THROUGH THE CLERK. 

18 Clause 2 of rule II of the Rules of the House of Rep19 resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 

20 new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(l) The House Committees shall provide to the 

22 Clerk, in a structured data format, a complete list 

23 of all public hearing and markup schedules of com24 mittees and subcommittees as soon as publically 

25 available; and the Clerk shall post this information 


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1 on its Web site, including links to committee 

2 websites.’’. 

3 SEC. 203. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF RECORDED 

4 VOTES. 

5 (a) ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE CLERK OF THE

6 HOUSE AND THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—The 

7 Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary 

8 of the Senate shall post on the public Internet site of the 

9 Office of the Clerk or of the Secretary, respectively, a 

10 record, organized by the name of each Member or Senator, 

11 in a structured data format, of the recorded votes of that 

12 Member or Senator, including the roll, date, issue, ques13 tion, result, and title or description of the vote, and any 

14 cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office related 

15 to the vote. 

16 (b) WEB LINK.—Each Member shall provide a link 

17 to the Clerk of the House of Representatives of a list of 

18 recorded votes from that Member’s website, and each Sen19 ator shall provide a link to the Secretary of the Senate 

20 of a list of recorded votes from that Senator’s website. 

21 (c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

22 ‘‘Member’’ means a Representative in Congress, a delegate 

23 to Congress, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto 

24 Rico. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply to 

2 recorded votes occurring after the date of enactment of 

3 this Act. 

4 TITLE III—ENHANCING PUBLIC 

5 ACCESS TO CONGRESSIONAL 

6 RESEARCH SERVICE 

7 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

8 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 

9 ‘‘Public Access to Congressional Research Service Reports 

10 Resolution of 2014’’ or the ‘‘Congressional Research Serv11 ice Electronic Accessibility Resolution of 2014’’. 

12 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

13 (1) The Congressional Research Service, a spe14 cial reference unit within the Library of Congress, 

15 offers invaluable research and analysis to Members 

16 of Congress on all current and emerging issues of 

17 national policy. 

18 (2) The Congressional Research Service staff of 

19 approximately 700 employees, including lawyers, 

20 economists, reference librarians, and social, natural, 

21 and physical scientists, are governed by require22 ments for accuracy, objectivity, balance, and non23 partisanship. 

24 (3) The Congressional Research Service has a 

25 responsibility to ensure that Members of Congress 


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1 have available the best possible information and 

2 analysis on which to base the policy decisions the 

3 American people have elected them to make. 

4 (4) It is often burdensome, difficult, and time5 consuming for citizens to obtain access to objective 

6 and nonpartisan policy analysis on issues affecting 

7 their interests. 

8 (5) It will enhance our democracy to provide 

9 citizens with access to unbiased and accurate CRS 

10 documents on legislation and other critical issues be11 fore Congress. 

12 (6) Allowing public access to CRS will empower 

13 citizens and enable Members of Congress to become 

14 even more effective ‘‘representatives’’ of the public’s 

15 concerns and goals. 

16 SEC. 302. AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN CONGRESSIONAL RE17 SEARCH SERVICE INFORMATION. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF DATA19 BASE OF INFORMATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Clerk of the House of 

21 Representatives, in consultation with the Director of 

22 the Congressional Research Service, shall establish 

23 and maintain a centralized, searchable, bulk 

24 downloadable, electronic database consisting of— 


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1 (A) all of the information described in 

2 paragraph (2) that is available to Members, of3 ficers, employees, and offices of the House of 

4 Representatives through the Congressional Re5 search Service website; and 

6 (B) in accordance with subsection (b), an 

7 index of the information described in subpara8 graph (A). 

9 (2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa10 tion described in this paragraph is as follows: 

11 (A) Congressional Research Service Issue 

12 Briefs. 

13 (B) Congressional Research Service Re14 ports. 

15 (C) Congressional Research Service Au16 thorization of Appropriations Products and Ap17 propriations Products. 

18 (D) Materials intended or available for 

19 general congressional distribution that are the 

20 same or substantially similar in content to CRS 

21 Reports, Issue Briefs, and Appropriations Prod22 ucts. 

23 (3) SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR MATERIALS IN24 CLUDED.—With respect to each issue brief, product, 


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1 or report included in the database under this sub2 section, the Clerk shall include— 

3 (A) the name and identification number; 

4 (B) the dates of initial release and updates 

5 (if any); and 

6 (C) the Congressional Research Service di7 vision or divisions that were responsible for its 

8 production. 

9 (4) UPDATES.—The Clerk, in consultation with 

10 the Director, shall ensure that the information in 

11 the database under this subsection is updated auto12 matically and electronically to reflect the availability 

13 of new information and updates to existing informa14 tion described in paragraph (2). 

15 (5) INITIAL INFORMATION.—The initial estab16 lishment of the database under this subsection shall 

17 include all of the contents described in paragraph 

18 (1) as of the date on which this resolution is agreed 

19 to. 

20 (b) INDEX OF DATABASE INFORMATION.—In addi21 tion to the database under subsection (a), the Clerk, in 

22 consultation with the Director, shall establish and main23 tain contemporaneously a website containing a searchable, 

24 sortable index of all of the information in the database 

25 in both human-readable and machine-readable formats 


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1 (such as XML) that includes for each issue brief, product, 

2 or report in the database— 

3 (1) the name and identification number; 

4 (2) the dates of initial release and updates (if 

5 any); and 

6 (3) the Congressional Research Service division 

7 or divisions that were responsible for its production. 

8 (c) LIMITATIONS.— 

9 (1) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.—Subsections 

10 (a) and (b) do not apply to— 

11 (A) any information that is confidential, as 

12 determined by— 

13 (i) the Director, or 

14 (ii) the head of a Federal department 

15 or agency that provided the information to 

16 the Congressional Research Service; or 

17 (B) any document that— 

18 (i) is the product of a confidential re19 search request made by a Member, officer, 

20 employee, or office of the House of Rep21 resentatives; 

22 (ii) has not been distributed to any in23 dividual or office other than the individual 

24 or office making the request; and 


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1 (iii) is not intended for distribution to 

2 any person other than the individual or of3 fice making the request. 

4 (2) REDACTION AND REVISION.—In carrying 

5 out this section, the Clerk, on the basis of informa6 tion provided by the Director, may— 

7 (A) remove from the information included 

8 in the database (including from the issue brief, 

9 product, or report itself) the name and contact 

10 information regarding an employee of the Con11 gressional Research Service; 

12 (B) remove from the information included 

13 in the database (including from the issue brief, 

14 product, or report itself) any material for which 

15 the Director determines that including the in16 formation on the database may infringe the 

17 copyright of a work protected under title 17, 

18 United States Code; and 

19 (C) make any changes in the information 

20 included in the database (including from the 

21 issue brief, product, or report itself) that the 

22 Director determines necessary to ensure that 

23 the information is accurate and current, except 

24 that if the Clerk makes any such change with 

25 respect to any material in the database, the 


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1 Clerk shall indicate in the database (with such 

2 notation as the Clerk considers appropriate) 

3 that more current information is available with 

4 respect to the material than the information 

5 provided in the database. 

6 (3) METHOD OF REDACTION.—The Clerk shall 

7 carry out any redaction under paragraph (2)(C) in 

8 a manner which removes the least amount of mate9 rial necessary to carry out the purposes of the redac10 tion. 

11 (4) ASSISTANCE FROM DIRECTOR FOR AUTO12 MATIC REDACTION.—The Clerk shall consult with 

13 the Director to ensure the availability and implemen14 tation of such technology as may be necessary to fa15 cilitate the automatic redaction of information under 

16 this subsection. 

17 (d) FURNISHING OF NECESSARY INFORMATION.— 

18 The Clerk shall consult with the Director to ensure that 

19 the Clerk is provided with all of the information necessary 

20 to carry out this section in such format as the Clerk con21 siders appropriate. 

22 SEC. 303. OTHER METHODS OF PUBLIC ACCESS. 

23 (a) ACCESS THROUGH WEBSITES OF MEMBERS AND

24 COMMITTEES.—Each official public website of a Member 

25 of the House of Representatives, a committee of the House 


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1 of Representatives, or a joint committee of the Congress 

2 shall permit members of the public to use the website to 

3 obtain the information contained in the database estab4 lished under section 302, in the same manner and to the 

5 same extent as Members, officers, employees, and offices 

6 of the House of Representatives may obtain such informa7 tion through the Congressional Research Service website. 

8 (b) REGULATIONS.—Subsection (a) shall be carried 

9 out in accordance with regulations promulgated by the 

10 Committee on House Administration of the House of Rep11 resentatives. 

12 SEC. 304. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this title— 

14 (1) the term ‘‘Clerk’’ means the Clerk of the 

15 House of Representatives; 

16 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

17 the Congressional Research Service; and 

18 (3) the term ‘‘Member of the House of Rep19 resentatives’’ includes a Delegate or Resident Com20 missioner to the Congress. 

21 SEC. 305. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 This title shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

23 6-month period which begins on the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act, without regard to whether the regulations deVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:17 Mar 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245

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1 scribed in section 303(b) or any other regulations have 

2 been promulgated prior to the expiration of such period. 

3 TITLE IV—LOBBYING 

4 DISCLOSURE 

5 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Lobbyist Disclosure 

7 Enhancement Act’’. 

8 SEC. 402. MODIFICATIONS TO ENFORCEMENT. 

9 (a) LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT TASK FORCE.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General 

11 shall establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforce12 ment Task Force (in this subsection referred to as 

13 the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

14 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The Task Force— 

15 (A) shall have primary responsibility for 

16 investigating and prosecuting each case referred 

17 to the Attorney General under section 6(a)(8) 

18 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

19 U.S.C. 1605(a)(8)); 

20 (B) shall collect and disseminate informa21 tion with respect to the enforcement of the Lob22 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 

23 seq.); 

24 (C) shall audit, at a minimum on an an25 nual basis, and as frequently as deemed necVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:17 Mar 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245

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1 essary by the Task Force, the extent of compli2 ance or noncompliance with the requirements of 

3 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by lobby4 ists, lobbying firms, and registrants under that 

5 Act through a random sampling of lobbying 

6 registrations and reports filed under that Act 

7 during each calendar year; and 

8 (D) shall establish, publicize, and operate a 

9 toll-free telephone number to serve as a hotline 

10 for members of the public to report noncompli11 ance with lobbyist disclosure requirements 

12 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, 

13 and shall develop a mechanism to allow mem14 bers of the public to report such noncompliance 

15 online. 

16 (b) REFERRAL OF CASES TO THE ATTORNEY GEN17 ERAL.—Section 6(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

18 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘United 

20 States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘United 

23 States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’. 


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1 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVED ENFORCE2 MENT.—The Attorney General may make recommenda3 tions to Congress with respect to— 

4 (1) the enforcement of and compliance with the 

5 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; and 

6 (2) the need for resources available for the en7 hanced enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 

8 of 1995. 

9 (d) INFORMATION IN ENFORCEMENT REPORTS.— 

10 Section 6(b)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

11 (2 U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘by case’’ 

12 and all that follows through ‘‘public record’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘by case and name of the individual lobbyists or lobbying 

14 firms involved, any sentences imposed’’. 

15 SEC. 403. DEFINITION OF LOBBYIST. 

16 Section 3(10) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

17 (2 U.S.C. 1602(10)) is amended by striking ‘‘, other than 

18 an individual’’ and all that follows through ‘‘period’’. 

19 SEC. 404. EXPEDITED ONLINE REGISTRATION OF LOBBY20 ISTS; EXPANSION OF REGISTRANTS. 

21 Section 4(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

22 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘45 days’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘10 days’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘, or on the first business 

2 day after such 45th day if such 45th day is not 

3 a business day,’’ and inserting ‘‘, or on the first 

4 business day occurring after such 10th day if 

5 such 10th day does not occur on a business 

6 day,’’; and 

7 (C) by inserting ‘‘online’’ after ‘‘shall reg8 ister’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘Any organization’’ and in11 serting the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B), any organization’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) THRESHOLD FOR CERTAIN ORGANI16 ZATIONS.—In the case of an organization whose 

17 employees who are lobbyists engage in lobbying 

18 activities only on behalf of the organization, the 

19 organization is required to register under this 

20 subsection only if the lobbying activities of each 

21 such employee includes or is expected to include 

22 more than one lobbying contact.’’. 

23 SEC. 405. DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. 

24 Section 5(d)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

25 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

2 by striking ‘‘30 days after’’ and all that follows 

3 through ‘‘30th day is not’’ and inserting ‘‘20 days 

4 after the end of the quarterly period beginning on 

5 the first day of January, April, July, and October of 

6 each year, or on the first business day after such 

7 20th day if such 20th day is not’’; and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘semiannual period’’ each place 

9 it appears and inserting ‘‘quarterly period’’. 

10 SEC. 406. IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS FOR LOBBYISTS. 

11 Section 6(a)(3) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

12 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara14 graph (A); 

15 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon the 

16 end of subparagraph (B); and 

17 (3) by adding after subparagraph (B) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(C) a system that assigns an identifica20 tion number for each lobbyist for whom a reg21 istration or report is filed under this Act;’’. 

22 SEC. 407. ETHICS TRAINING FOR LOBBYISTS. 

23 (a) REQUIRED ETHICS TRAINING.—Any individual 

24 who is a lobbyist registered or required to register under 


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1 section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

2 U.S.C. 1603) shall— 

3 (1) complete ethics training described in sub4 section (b)— 

5 (A) not later than 6 months after the indi6 vidual is first employed or retained for services 

7 that include one or more lobbying contacts; and 

8 (B) at least once in each 5-year period 

9 during which the individual is registered or re10 quired to register under section 4; and 

11 (2) submit to the Clerk of the House of Rep12 resentatives and the Secretary of the Senate certifi13 cation of the training completed under paragraph 

14 (1). 

15 (b) QUALIFIED TRAINING.—The Ethics Committee 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee 

17 on Ethics of the Senate shall jointly— 

18 (1) determine the curriculum and certification 

19 requirements for the ethics training for individuals 

20 described in subsection (a); 

21 (2) approve those educational institutions, pro22 fessional associations, or other persons who are 

23 qualified to provide such ethics training; 

24 (3) determine the maximum fee that may be 

25 charged for the ethics training; and 


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1 (4) provide oversight of the ethics training pro2 gram established under this section in order to de3 termine the quality of instruction in, and the admin4 istration of, the training program. 

5 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF CLERK AND SEC6 RETARY.—The Clerk of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Secretary of the Senate shall— 

8 (1) collect and review for completion and accu9 racy the certifications of ethics training submitted 

10 under subsection (a)(2); and 

11 (2) post on the websites of the Clerk and the 

12 Secretary, with respect to each individual required to 

13 complete ethics training under this section— 

14 (A) whether the individual has complied 

15 with such requirement; and 

16 (B) the certifications submitted by the in17 dividual under subsection (a)(2). 

18 SEC. 408. ESTIMATES BASED ON TAX REPORTING SYSTEM. 

19 Section 15 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

20 (2 U.S.C. 1610) is repealed. 

21 SEC. 409. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 (a) SECTION 402.—Section 402 and the amendments 

23 made by that section take effect upon the expiration of 

24 the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

25 of this Act. 


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1 (b) SECTIONS 403, 404, AND 405.—The amendments 

2 made by sections 403, 404, and 405 shall take effect on 

3 the first day of the first quarterly period described in sec4 tion 5(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

5 U.S.C. 1604(a)) that begins after the end of the 90-day 

6 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (c) SECTION 406.—The amendments made by section 

8 406 shall apply to any registration or report that is filed 

9 under section 4 or 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

10 1995— 

11 (1) on or after the 90th day after the date of 

12 the enactment of this Act; or 

13 (2) before such 90th day, if such registration or 

14 report is, as of such 90th day, being retained under 

15 section 6(a)(5) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

16 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(5)). 

17 (d) SECTION 407.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 407 shall take effect 

19 upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning 

20 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (2) CURRENT LOBBYISTS.—In the case of indi22 viduals who are registered under section 4 of the 

23 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603) as 

24 of the effective date under paragraph (1), the ethics 

25 training required under section 407(a)(1) shall be 


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1 completed not later than the end of the 6-month pe2 riod beginning on the effective date under paragraph 

3 (1) of this subsection, in lieu of the date specified 

4 in section 407(a)(1). 

5 TITLE V—TRANSPARENCY IN 

6 FEDERAL CONTRACTING 

7 SEC. 501. IMPROVING APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTER8 FACE AND WEBSITE DATA ELEMENTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Federal Funding 

10 Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 

11 109–282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), by striking 

14 ‘‘and delivery orders’’ and inserting ‘‘lease 

15 agreements and assignments, and delivery or16 ders’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

18 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

21 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (iii) by adding at the end the fol23 lowing new subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(E) programmatically search and access 

25 all data in a serialized machine readable format 


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1 (such as XML) via a web-services application 

2 programming interface.’’; and 

3 (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

4 following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

6 ITEM.—The term ‘congressionally directed spending 

7 item’ means a provision or report language included 

8 primarily at the request of a Member of Congress 

9 providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific 

10 amount of discretionary budget authority, credit au11 thority, or other spending authority for a contract, 

12 loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other 

13 expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a 

14 specific State, locality, or congressional district, 

15 other than through a statutory or administrative for16 mula-driven or competitive award process.’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking the 

19 period at the end and inserting semicolon; 

20 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as 

21 subparagraph (J); and 

22 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (F) 

23 the following new subparagraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(G) to the extent possible, the Federal 

2 agency, including the bureau, office, or subdivi3 sion, that authorized the Federal award; 

4 ‘‘(H) after January 1, 2015, for all con5 tracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, task or6 ders, lease agreements and assignments, and 

7 delivery orders— 

8 ‘‘(i) information about the extent of 

9 competition in making the award, includ10 ing the number of bids or proposals deter11 mined to be responsive during the competi12 tive process, and if the award was not com13 peted, the legal authority and specific ra14 tionale for making the award without full 

15 and open competition; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the full amount of money that is 

17 awarded under a contract or, in the case of 

18 lease agreements or assignments, the 

19 amount paid to the Government, and the 

20 full amount of any options to expand or 

21 extend under a contract; 

22 ‘‘(iii) the amount of the profit incen23 tive, such as award fees; 

24 ‘‘(iv) the type of contract, such as 

25 fixed price, cost plus pricing, labor hour 


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1 contracts, and time and materials con2 tracts; 

3 ‘‘(v) a permanent link to the original 

4 solicitation or notice and the solicitation 

5 ID; 

6 ‘‘(vi) an indication if the contract is 

7 the result of legislative mandates, set8 asides, preference program requirements, 

9 or other criteria, and whether the contract 

10 is multi-year, consolidated, or performance 

11 based; and 

12 ‘‘(vii) an indication if the contract is 

13 a congressionally directed spending item; 

14 ‘‘(I) after January 1, 2015, for all grants, 

15 subgrants, loans, awards, cooperative agree16 ments, and other forms of financial assistance, 

17 an indication if the funding is a congressionally 

18 directed spending item; and’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise pro20 vided, the amendments made by subsection (a) shall be 

21 implemented not later than 6 months after the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act. 

23 SEC. 502. IMPROVING DATA QUALITY. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Funding Account25 ability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109– 


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1 282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note), as amended by section 501, 

2 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 5. IMPROVING DATA QUALITY. 

4 ‘‘(a) INSPECTOR GENERAL DATA AUDIT.—Each In5 spector General shall annually audit for the previous fiscal 

6 year the data used on the website created by this Act for 

7 the relevant Federal agency of the Inspector General, in 

8 compliance with generally accepted Government auditing 

9 standards, and submit a report on such audit to the Direc10 tor of the Office of Management and Budget that includes 

11 at least the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) A review of data used for the website to 

13 verify accuracy of the data and assess the process 

14 used for improving data quality. 

15 ‘‘(2) A review of a statistically representative 

16 sample of Federal awards to determine whether Fed17 eral agencies have appropriate measures in place to 

18 review data submissions under this Act for accuracy 

19 and completeness. 

20 ‘‘(3) An identification and report on new stand21 ards that Inspector General recommends for imple22 mentation by agencies to improve data quality. 

23 ‘‘(b) OMB REPORT.—Not later than April 1 of each 

24 year, the Director of the Office of Management and Budg25 et shall make each report submitted under subsection (a) 


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1 for the previous fiscal year available to the public, includ2 ing a review of the findings of the audit and recommenda3 tions to improve data quality, through the website created 

4 by this Act.’’. 

5 SEC. 503. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REPORTING OF 

6 AWARD DATA. 

7 (a) REVISION OF GUIDANCE.—The Director of the 

8 Office of Management and Budget shall revise the Office’s 

9 guidance to Federal agencies on reporting Federal awards 

10 to clarify— 

11 (1) the requirement that award titles describe 

12 the award’s purpose; and 

13 (2) requirements for validating and docu14 menting agency award data submitted by Federal 

15 agencies. 

16 (b) INCLUSION OF CITY INFORMATION.—The Direc17 tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall include 

18 information on the city where work is performed in the 

19 Office’s public reporting of the completeness of agency 

20 data submissions. 

21 SEC. 504. RECIPIENT PERFORMANCE TRANSPARENCY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Funding Account23 ability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109– 

24 282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note), as amended by sections 501 


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1 and 502, is further amended by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 6. RECIPIENT PERFORMANCE TRANSPARENCY AND 

4 PAST PERFORMANCE. 

5 ‘‘The Director of the Office of Management and 

6 Budget shall ensure that the unique identifier required in 

7 section 2(b)(1)(E) that is used to link information about 

8 the entity receiving the award on the searchable website 

9 is also used to link information about that entity on the 

10 Federal Awardee Performance Integrity Information Sys11 tem.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 subsection (a) shall be implemented not later than June 

14 30, 2014. 

15 SEC. 505. IMPROVEMENT OF FEDERAL AWARDEE PER16 FORMANCE AND INTEGRITY INFORMATION 

17 SYSTEM DATABASE. 

18 (a) REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE IN DATABASE 10 

19 YEARS OF INFORMATION ON CERTAIN PERSONS AWARD20 ED FEDERAL CONTRACTS OR GRANTS.—Section 872 of 

21 the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act 

22 for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110–417; 122 Stat. 

23 4555) is amended in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘5-year’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘10-year’’. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE INFORMATION IN

2 DATABASE REGARDING CERTAIN JUDGMENTS AND SET3 TLEMENTS.—Section 872 of such Act is further amended 

4 in subsection (c)(1) by adding at the end the following 

5 new subparagraphs: 

6 ‘‘(E) In an administrative proceeding, any 

7 administrative judgment that does not contain 

8 an explicit finding or acknowledgment of fault. 

9 ‘‘(F) In a civil proceeding, any settlement 

10 that does not contain an explicit finding or ac11 knowledgment of fault.’’. 

12 SEC. 506. FEDERAL CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE. 

13 (a) SELF-REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Subsection 

14 (f) of section 2313 of title 41, United States Code, is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(f) SELF-REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS IN EXCESS OF SIMPLIFIED AC18 QUISITION THRESHOLD.—No funds appropriated or 

19 otherwise made available by any Act may be used for 

20 any Federal contract for the procurement of prop21 erty or services in excess of the simplified acquisition 

22 threshold unless the contractor has first made the 

23 certifications set forth in section 52.209–5 of the 

24 Federal Acquisition Regulation. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTS IN EXCESS OF $500,000.—No 

2 funds appropriated or otherwise made available by 

3 any Act may be used for any Federal contract for 

4 the procurement of property or services in excess of 

5 $500,000 unless the contractor— 

6 ‘‘(A) certifies that the contractor has sub7 mitted to the Administrator the information re8 quired under subsection (c) and that such infor9 mation is current as of the date of such certifi10 cation; or 

11 ‘‘(B) certifies that the contractor has cu12 mulative active Federal contracts and grants 

13 with a total value of less than $10,000,000.’’. 

14 (b) PERIODIC INSPECTION OR REVIEW OF CONTRACT

15 FILES.—Section 2313(e)(2) of such title is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(C) PERIODIC INSPECTION OR REVIEW.— 

18 The Inspector General of each Federal agency 

19 shall periodically— 

20 ‘‘(i) conduct an inspection or review of 

21 the contract files required under subpara22 graph (B) to determine if the agency is 

23 providing appropriate consideration of the 

24 information included in the database cre25 ated pursuant to subsection (c); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) submit a report containing the 

2 results of the inspection or review con3 ducted under clause (i) to the Committee 

4 on Homeland Security and Governmental 

5 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

6 on Oversight and Government Reform of 

7 the House of Representatives.’’. 

8 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Comptroller General of 

9 the United States shall annually submit a report to the 

10 appropriate congressional committees describing the ex11 tent to which suspended or debarred contractors on the 

12 Excluded Parties List System— 

13 (1) are identified as having received Federal 

14 contracts on USAspending.gov; or 

15 (2) were granted waivers from Federal agencies 

16 from suspension or debarment for purposes of enter17 ing into Federal contracts. 

18 SEC. 507. IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION DIS19 CLOSED ON LOBBYING ACTIVITIES. 

20 (a) INFORMATION FILED WITH THE ADMINISTRATOR

21 OF GENERAL SERVICES.—Section 1352(b) of title 31, 

22 United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘file with that 

24 agency’’ and inserting ‘‘file electronically with the 

25 Administrator of General Services’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(7) DATABASE REQUIRED.—The Adminis4 trator of General Services shall establish and main5 tain an online database that is made available to the 

6 relevant agency and accessible by the public that 

7 contains information disclosed pursuant to this sub8 section that is searchable, sortable, machine read9 able, and downloadable.’’. 

10 (b) DEADLINE FOR DATABASE.—Not later than 180 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad12 ministrator of General Services shall establish the data13 base required by paragraph (7) of section 1352(b) of title 

14 31, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

15 TITLE VI—EXECUTIVE BRANCH 

16 TRANSPARENCY 

17 SEC. 601. REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL 

18 SPONSORSHIP OF ALL FEDERAL ADVER19 TISING OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS. 

20 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided for in sub21 section (b), each advertisement or other communication 

22 paid for by an agency, either directly or through a contract 

23 awarded by the agency, shall include a prominent notice 

24 informing the target audience that the advertisement or 

25 other communication is paid for by that agency. 


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1 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement in subsection (a) 

2 shall not apply to an advertisement or other communica3 tion— 

4 (1) that is 200 characters or less; or 

5 (2) that is distributed through a short message 

6 service. 

7 (c) ADVERTISEMENT OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

8 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘advertisement or 

9 other communication’’ includes— 

10 (1) an advertisement disseminated in any form, 

11 including print or by any electronic means; and 

12 (2) a communication by an individual in any 

13 form, including speech, print, or by any electronic 

14 means. 

15 SEC. 602. IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFLUENTIAL EXECUTIVE 

16 BRANCH OFFICIAL’S VISITOR ACCESS 

17 RECORDS. 

18 (a) DISCLOSURE OF WHITE HOUSE VISITOR ACCESS

19 RECORDS.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter, the Presi21 dent shall disclose to the public all White House visitor 

22 access records for the previous month that are redacted 

23 in accordance with subsection (c). 

24 (b) DISCLOSURE OF AGENCY VISITOR ACCESS

25 RECORDS.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 


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1 enactment of this Act, and monthly thereafter, the head 

2 of each agency shall disclose to the public all visitor access 

3 records for the previous month for such agency head that 

4 are redacted in accordance with subsection (c). 

5 (c) INFORMATION NOT DISCLOSED.—The President 

6 under subsection (a), and the head of the relevant agency 

7 under subsection (b), as the case may be, may determine 

8 to not disclose the following information pursuant to this 

9 section: 

10 (1) Any information— 

11 (A) that implicates personal privacy or law 

12 enforcement concerns (such as date of birth, so13 cial security number, and contact phone num14 ber); 

15 (B) that implicates the personal safety of 

16 White House staff (including daily arrival and 

17 departure); or 

18 (C) whose release would so threaten na19 tional security interests that it outweighs a 

20 strong presumption in favor of the public’s in21 terest in disclosure. 

22 (2) For a non-renewable period of up to a year, 

23 any information related to purely personal guests of 

24 the first and second families), but only if the execu25 tive branch’s interest in protecting an unfettered 


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1 consultation conducted in secret strongly outweighs 

2 the public’s interest in an accountable Government 

3 free of corruption and political influence. 

4 (3) Any information related to a small group of 

5 particularly sensitive meetings (such as visits of po6 tential Supreme Court nominees). 

7 SEC. 603. IMPROVING ACCESS TO BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS 

8 BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDG9 ET. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with the budget for fis11 cal year 2016, not later than 24 hours after the date on 

12 which the President submits the budget under section 

13 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Director of the 

14 Office of Management and Budget shall make all budget 

15 justifications available online in a searchable, sortable, 

16 machine readable, and downloadable format and any elec17 tronic version of the budget shall provide a link to each 

18 budget justification by the Office of Management and 

19 Budget. 

20 (b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

21 ‘‘budget justifications’’ refers to the documents an agency 

22 submits to the Committees on Appropriations of the 

23 House of Representatives and Senate in support of its 

24 budget request. The Office of Management and Budget 

25 prescribes justification materials, which typically explain 


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1 changes between the current appropriations and the 

2 amounts requested for the next fiscal year and may be 

3 referred to in the budget submission of the President 

4 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code. 

5 SEC. 604. IMPROVING RULEMAKING DISCLOSURE FOR THE 

6 OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY 

7 AFFAIRS. 

8 (a) INCLUSION IN THE RULEMAKING DOCKET OF

9 DOCUMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO THE

10 IMPLEMENTATION OF CENTRALIZED REGULATORY RE11 VIEW.—As soon as practicable, and not later than 15 days 

12 after the conclusion of centralized regulatory review for 

13 a draft proposed or draft final rule, the Administrator of 

14 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs shall in15 clude in the rulemaking docket the following: 

16 (1) A copy of the draft proposed or draft final 

17 rule and supporting analyses submitted to the Office 

18 of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. 

19 (2) A copy of the draft proposed or draft final 

20 rule that incorporates substantive changes, if any, 

21 made to the rule as part of implementing centralized 

22 regulatory review. 

23 (3) A document describing in a complete, clear, 

24 and simple manner all substantive changes made by 

25 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to 


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1 the draft proposed or draft final rule submitted by 

2 the agency to Office for review. 

3 (4) A copy of all documents and written com4 munications (including all electronic mail and elec5 tronic mail file attachments), and a summary of all 

6 oral communications (including phone calls, phone 

7 conferences, and meetings), exchanged as part of the 

8 implementation of the centralized regulatory review 

9 between or among any of the following: 

10 (A) The agency responsible for the rule. 

11 (B) The Office of Information and Regu12 latory Affairs. 

13 (C) Any other office or entity within the 

14 Executive Office of the President. 

15 (D) An agency that is not the agency re16 sponsible for the rule. 

17 (E) An individual who is not employed 

18 by— 

19 (i) the executive branch of the Federal 

20 Government; or 

21 (ii) an agency that is not the agency 

22 responsible for the rule. 

23 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) CENTRALIZED REGULATORY REVIEW.—The 

25 term ‘‘centralized regulatory review’’ means the inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:17 Mar 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245

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1 stitutional process of Presidential oversight of indi2 vidual agency rules governed by Executive Order 

3 12866 (58 Fed. Reg. 51735; relating to regulatory 

4 planning and review), or any successor to such Exec5 utive order. 

6 (2) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 

7 given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 

8 States Code. 

9 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec10 tion shall be construed to preempt or displace the disclo11 sure requirements under any other provision of law affect12 ing administrative procedure, if such requirements are not 

13 inconsistent with the requirements of this section. 

14 SEC. 605. IMPROVING E-FILING DATA COLLECTION AND 

15 DISTRIBUTION FOR NON-PROFITS. 

16 (a) MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING.—Section 

17 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

18 by redesignating subsection (n) as subsection (o) and by 

19 inserting after subsection (m) the following new sub20 section: 

21 ‘‘(n) MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING.—Any orga22 nization required to file a return under this section shall 

23 file such return in electronic form.’’. 

24 (b) INSPECTION OF ELECTRONICALLY FILED AN25 NUAL RETURNS.—Subsection (b) of section 6104 of such 


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1 Code is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any 

2 annual return required to be filed electronically under sec3 tion 6033(n) shall be made available by the Secretary to 

4 the public in a database that is searchable, sortable, ma5 chine readable, and downloadable.’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 606. IMPROVING EASE OF ONLINE ACCESS TO REG10 ISTRATION INFORMATION FROM AGENTS OF 

11 FOREIGN PRINCIPALS. 

12 (a) IMPROVING ONLINE ACCESS.—Section 6(d)(1) of 

13 the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 

14 616(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘in a searchable, sort15 able, and downloadable manner’’ and inserting ‘‘in a for16 mat which is directly searchable, sortable, downloadable, 

17 and machine-readable’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

20 30-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. 

22 SEC. 607. AGENCY DEFINED. 

23 In this title, the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning 

24 given that term under section 551 of title 5, United States 

25 Code. 


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1 TITLE VII—STRENGTHENING 

2 THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA3 TION ACT 

4 SEC. 701. DIGITAL ACCESS TO COMPLETED RESPONSES TO 

5 THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

7 (1) DATABASE OF COMPLETED FOIA RE8 QUESTS.—Each agency shall make available all ma9 terials contained in the agency’s completed response 

10 to a request under section 552 of title 5, United 

11 States Code (in this section referred to as a ‘‘FOIA 

12 request’’) in a structured database or in a search13 able, sortable, downloadable, machine-readable data14 base within 2 months after the date the FOIA re15 quest was completed. 

16 (2) ELECTRONIC FORMAT.—All information is 

17 presumed to be available in an electronic format as 

18 described in paragraph (1) unless the agency dem19 onstrates that excessive cost would place an undue 

20 burden on the agency. 

21 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—All information included 

22 in the agency’s completed response to a FOIA request 

23 shall be made available to the public electronically and 

24 without cost through each agency’s website. 


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1 SEC. 702. EXPLANATION REQUIRED FOR CREATION OF EX2 EMPTION IN THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA3 TION ACT. 

4 Section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5, United States Code, 

5 is amended by inserting ‘‘with an explanation for the ex6 emption’’ after ‘‘specifically cites to this paragraph’’. 

7 SEC. 703. FOIAONLINE FOR AGENCIES. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the head of each agency shall use 

10 FOIAonline to log, track, and publish all requests received 

11 under section 552 of title 5, United States Code. 

12 SEC. 704. AGENCY DEFINED. 

13 In this title, the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning 

14 given that term under section 551 of title 5, United States 

15 Code. 

16 TITLE VIII—IMPROVING TRANS17 PARENCY WITHIN THE JUDI18 CIAL SYSTEM 

19 SEC. 801. GAO STUDY ON VIDEO RECORDING OF SUPREME 

20 COURT PROCEEDINGS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

22 United States, in consultation with the Judicial Con23 ference of the United States, shall conduct a study on the 

24 effect on the Supreme Court of the United States of video 

25 recording oral arguments before the Supreme Court, and 

26 making those video recordings publicly available on the 


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1 Internet website of the Supreme Court at the same time 

2 that they are recorded, including the effect on costs, and 

3 on the atmosphere of such arguments. 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

6 the United States shall submit to Congress the findings 

7 of the study conducted pursuant to subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 802. AUDIO RECORDING OF SUPREME COURT PRO9 CEEDINGS. 

10 The Chief Justice of the United States shall ensure 

11 that the audio of an oral argument before the Supreme 

12 Court of the United States is recorded and is made pub13 licly available on the Internet website of the Supreme 

14 Court at the same time that it is recorded. 

15 SEC. 803. AVAILABILITY ON THE INTERNET OF FINANCIAL 

16 DISCLOSURE REPORTS OF JUDICIAL OFFI17 CERS. 

18 Section 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

19 (5 U.S.C. App. 103), as amended by this Act, is further 

20 amended by inserting at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(n) The Judicial Conference shall make available 

22 any report filed with it under this title by a judicial officer 

23 within 48 hours of the applicable submission deadline on 

24 the website of the Judicial Conference in a searchable, 

25 sortable, downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 


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1 SEC. 804. GAO AUDIT OF PACER. 

2 Not later than one year after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States shall conduct an audit of the public access to court 

5 electronic records system maintained by the Administra6 tive Office of the United States Courts, and shall submit 

7 to Congress, the Administrative Office of the United 

8 States Courts, and any other appropriate Federal agency 

9 or office, a report that contains the results of the audit, 

10 along with any recommendations for improving the public 

11 access to court electronic records system. 

12 TITLE IX—ENFORCEMENT 

13 SEC. 901. AUDITS BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

14 OFFICE. 

15 (a) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—The Comptroller Gen16 eral shall conduct annual audits of the implementation of 

17 the provisions in this Act, and shall submit annually to 

18 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 

19 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

20 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen21 ate a report on the results of the audits. 

22 (b) MATTERS COVERED BY AUDITS.—Audits con23 ducted under this section shall address whether the con24 gressional and executive branch data that is required to 

25 be provided to the public through the Internet is each of 

26 the following: 


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1 (1) COMPLETE.—Made available, except for 

2 data that is subject to privacy, security, or privilege 

3 exemptions. 

4 (2) PRIMARY.—Collected at the source, with the 

5 highest possible level of granularity, not in aggregate 

6 or modified forms. 

7 (3) TIMELY.—Made available as quickly as nec8 essary to preserve the value of the data. 

9 (4) ACCESSIBLE.—Available to the widest range 

10 of users for the widest range of purposes. 

11 (5) MACHINE PROCESSABLE.—Reasonably 

12 structured to allow automated processing. 

13 (6) NON-DISCRIMINATORY.—Available to any14 one, with no registration requirement. 

15 (7) NON-PROPRIETARY.—Available in a format 

16 over which no entity has exclusive control. 

17 (8) LICENSE-FREE.—Not subject to any copy18 right, patent, trademark, or trade secret regulation 

19 (with reasonable privacy, security, and privilege re20 strictions). 

21 (c) CURRENT STANDARDS.—Audits conducted under 

22 this section shall also address whether the data provided 

23 to the public under this Act is produced and maintained 

24 using current standards for data publication. 

Æ 


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