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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 140 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 140

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2023

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
  To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit Federal employees 
    from advocating for censorship of viewpoints in their official 
                   capacity, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Speech from Government 
Interference Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CENSORSHIP.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 73 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``SUBCHAPTER VIII--PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CENSORSHIP

``Sec. 7381. Policy regarding Federal employee censorship
    ``It is the policy of the Congress that employees acting in their 
official capacity should neither take action within their authority or 
influence to promote the censorship of any lawful speech, nor advocate 
that a third party, including a private entity, censor such speech.
``Sec. 7382. Prohibition on Federal employee censorship
    ``(a) In General.--An employee may not--
            ``(1) use the employee's official authority to censor any 
        private entity, including outside of normal duty hours and 
        while such employee is away from the employee's normal duty 
        post; or
            ``(2) engage in censorship of a private entity--
                    ``(A) while the employee is on duty;
                    ``(B) in any room or building occupied in the 
                discharge of official duties by an individual employed 
                or holding office in the Government of the United 
                States or any agency or instrumentality thereof;
                    ``(C) while wearing a uniform or official insignia 
                identifying the office or position of the employee;
                    ``(D) while using any vehicle owned or leased by 
                the Government of the United States or any agency or 
                instrumentality thereof; or
                    ``(E) while using any information system or 
                information technology (as defined under section 11101 
                of title 40).
    ``(b) Exceptions for Law Enforcement Functions and Reporting 
Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section shall be 
        construed to prohibit an employee from engaging in lawful 
        actions against unlawful speech within the official authority 
        of such employee for the purpose of exercising legitimate law 
        enforcement functions.
            ``(2) Reporting.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 72 hours before 
                an employee exercises a legitimate law enforcement 
                function under paragraph (1) to take any action to 
                censor any unlawful speech (in this paragraph referred 
                to as a `censorship action'), and consistent with 
                subparagraph (D), the head of the agency that employs 
                the employee shall submit, to the Office of Special 
                Counsel and the chair and ranking member of the 
                committees of Congress described under subparagraph 
                (B), a report that includes--
                            ``(i) an overview of the action, or 
                        actions, to be taken, including a summary of 
                        the action being taken and the rationale for 
                        why a censorship action is necessary;
                            ``(ii) the name of the entity which the 
                        action is being requested of;
                            ``(iii) the person and entity targeted by 
                        the censorship action, including the associated 
                        name or number of any account used or 
                        maintained by the entity and a description of 
                        the specific speech content targeted;
                            ``(iv) the agency's legal authority for 
                        exercising the law enforcement function;
                            ``(v) the agency employee or employees 
                        involved in the censorship action, including 
                        their position and any direct supervisor;
                            ``(vi) a list of other agencies that have 
                        been involved, consulted, or communicated with 
                        in coordination with the censorship action; and
                            ``(vii) a classified annex, if the agency 
                        head deems it appropriate.
                    ``(B) Committees.--The committees of Congress 
                described under this subparagraph are the following:
                            ``(i) The Committee on Oversight and 
                        Accountability, the Committee on the Judiciary, 
                        the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 
                        and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
                        House of Representatives.
                            ``(ii) The Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on the 
                        Judiciary, Select Committee on Intelligence, 
                        and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                        Transportation of the Senate.
                    ``(C) Clarification of office of special counsel 
                reporting requirements.--The reporting requirements in 
                this paragraph do not apply to the Office of Special 
                Counsel's advisory and enforcement functions under 
                subchapter II of chapter 12.
                    ``(D) Reporting requirements for certain actions.--
                            ``(i) Any censorship action relating to 
                        combating child pornography and exploitation, 
                        human trafficking, or the illegal transporting 
                        of or transacting in controlled substances 
                        shall be exempt from the reporting requirement 
                        under this paragraph.
                            ``(ii) With respect to any censorship 
                        action related to safeguarding, or preventing 
                        the unlawful dissemination of, properly 
                        classified national security information, 
                        subparagraph (A) shall be applied by 
                        substituting `Not later than 72 hours after' 
                        for `Not later than 72 hours before'.
    ``(c) Penalties.--
            ``(1) In general.--An employee who violates this section 
        shall be subject to--
                    ``(A) disciplinary action consisting of removal, 
                reduction in grade, debarment from Federal employment 
                for a period not to exceed 10 years, suspension, or 
                reprimand;
                    ``(B) an assessment of a civil penalty not to 
                exceed $1,000; or
                    ``(C) any combination of the penalties described in 
                subparagraph (A) or (B).
            ``(2) Application to senior government officials.--
        Paragraph (1)(B) shall be applied by substituting `$50,000' for 
        `$1,000' for any employee who is--
                    ``(A) paid from an appropriation for the White 
                House Office; or
                    ``(B) appointed by the President, by and with the 
                advice and consent of the Senate.
    ``(d) Enforcement.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2) and 
        subsection (c)(2), this section shall be enforced in the same 
        manner as subchapter III of this chapter.
            ``(2) Application.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, including section 1215(b), the Special Counsel may, in 
        lieu of sending a report to the President under section 
        1215(b), seek civil monetary penalties under subsection (c)(2) 
        pursuant to section 1215(a). This paragraph shall not be 
        construed to limit or otherwise affect the President's 
        authority to enforce any disciplinary action against an 
        employee described under subsection (c)(2).
    ``(e) Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 240 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 
        Attorney General, in consultation with the Assistant Attorney 
        General for Civil Rights and the Office of Special Counsel, 
        shall submit to the committees of Congress described in 
        subsection (b)(2)(B) a report evaluating the compliance by the 
        Federal Government with this section, including a description 
        of any action by the head of an agency or department in the 
        executive branch to--
                    ``(A) consult with any third parties about 
                censorship by employees in the executive branch; or
                    ``(B) engage in any activity prohibited under this 
                section.
            ``(2) Sunset.--This subsection shall terminate on the date 
        that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 
        subsection.
    ``(f) Annual Training.--Not less than annually, the head of each 
employing agency shall provide mandatory training on this section and 
the requirements of this section to each agency employee.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this subchapter--
            ``(1) the term `censor' or `censorship' means influencing 
        or coercing, or directing another to influence or coerce, for--
                    ``(A) the removal or suppression of lawful speech, 
                in whole or in part, from or on any interactive 
                computer service;
                    ``(B) the addition of any disclaimer, information, 
                or other alert to lawful speech being expressed on an 
                interactive computer service; or
                    ``(C) the removal or restriction of access of any 
                person or entity on an interactive computer service 
                generally available to the public, unless such person 
                or entity is engaged in unlawful speech or criminal 
                activities on such service;
            ``(2) the term `employee' has the meaning given that term 
        in section 7322;
            ``(3) the term `interactive computer service' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 230(f) of the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f));
            ``(4) the term `lawful speech' means speech protected by 
        the First Amendment of the Constitution; and
            ``(5) the term `unlawful speech' means speech not protected 
        by the First Amendment of the Constitution.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 73 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

      ``subchapter viii--prohibition on federal employee censorship

``7381. Policy regarding Federal employee censorship.
``7382. Prohibition on Federal employee censorship.''.
    (c) Including Censorship Activities Under Jurisdiction of Office of 
Special Counsel.--Strike paragraph (1) of section 1216(a) of title 5, 
United States Code, and insert the following:
            ``(1) political activity and censorship prohibited under 
        subchapter III and subchapter VIII of chapter 73, relating to 
        political and censorship activities, respectively, by Federal 
        employees;''.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or any amendment 
made by this Act should be interpreted as prohibiting a lawful action 
by a Federal agency to enforce a Federal law or regulation (including 
any action to enforce a Federal law or regulation addressing obscene 
matters), to establish or enforce the terms and conditions of Federal 
financial assistance, or to prohibit a Federal employee from using an 
official Federal account on an interactive computer service to 
communicate an official policy position, and relevant information, to 
the public, or provide information through normal press and public 
affairs relations.
    (e) Severability.--If any provision of this Act or any amendment 
made by this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act or an 
amendment made by this Act to any person or circumstance, is held to be 
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of the 
provisions to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 
holding.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that inspectors general should not less than 
annually for the next seven years publicly report the number of 
complaints and tips received, the number of investigations opened, and 
statistics on how investigations were managed and their disposition by 
that inspector general related to compliance with this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 9, 2023.

            Attest:

                                             CHERYL L. JOHNSON,

                                                                 Clerk.
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