IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 526 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to implement the first 

set of recommendations adopted by the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. POCAN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. TIMMONS, and 

Mr. NEWHOUSE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committees on House 

Administration, and the Judiciary, 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 

RESOLUTION 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 

implement the first set of recommendations adopted by 

the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Improving 

4 Transparency for the American People Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADOPTION OF STANDARDIZED FORMAT FOR LEGIS2 LATIVE DOCUMENTS. 

3 The Clerk is authorized and directed to provide peri4 odic updates to the Committee on House Administration 

5 and the Committee on Rules regarding the implementation 

6 of the U.S. Legislative Markup and a plan for its comple7 tion including a timeline. 

8 SEC. 3. LEGISLATION COMPARISON PROJECT. 

9 The Clerk shall report to the Committee on House 

10 Administration and the Committee on Appropriations an 

11 assessment of the funding and other resources needed to 

12 expedite and complete the legislation comparison project, 

13 including the training of staff. 

14 SEC. 4. ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS FOR RE15 PORTS FILED BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS. 

16 (a) ASSIGNMENT OF IDENTIFIERS.—The Clerk, in 

17 consultation with the Secretary of the Senate, shall estab18 lish and implement a process under which the Clerk shall 

19 assign a unique identification number with respect to each 

20 person who files a registration statement or other report 

21 required to be filed with the Clerk under the Lobbying 

22 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and shall 

23 ensure that such unique identification number will be used 

24 for all purposes under such Act (including the public avail25 ability of such statements and reports) with respect to 


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1 each statement or report filed by that person with the 

2 Clerk under such Act. 

3 (b) DEADLINE.—The Clerk shall establish and imple4 ment the process required under subsection (a) not later 

5 than 180 days after the date of the adoption of this resolu6 tion. 

7 SEC. 5. DATABASE OF INFORMATION ON EXPIRATION OF 

8 AUTHORIZATIONS OF PROGRAMS. 

9 (a) DUTIES OF THE CLERK.—Clause 2 of rule II of 

10 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(l) The Clerk shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) establish and maintain on its public 

14 website an up-to-date database of the expiration 

15 dates of all Federal programs and the committee of 

16 subject matter jurisdiction over each such program; 

17 ‘‘(2) provide that such database is searchable, 

18 sortable, and downloadable; and 

19 ‘‘(3) post all such information within 30 days 

20 after receipt of such information.’’. 

21 (b) DUTIES OF COMMITTEES.—Rule X of the Rules 

22 of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following new clause: 


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1 ‘‘Duty to provide certain information to the Clerk 

2 ‘‘12.(a) Except as provided by paragraph (b), each 

3 standing committee shall provide to the Clerk on an ongo4 ing basis an up-to-date list of the expiration dates of all 

5 programs within its subject matter jurisdiction so the 

6 Clerk can post the information required by clause 2(l) of 

7 rule II. 

8 ‘‘(b) The requirements described in paragraph (a) do 

9 not apply to the following committees: the Committee on 

10 Appropriations, the Committee on Ethics, and the Com11 mittee on Rules, and the Permanent Select Committee on 

12 Intelligence.’’. 

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The committees referred to 

14 in the amendment made by subsection (b) to clause 12(a) 

15 of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

16 shall provide to the Clerk the information so required not 

17 later than 90 days after the date of adoption of this sub18 section. 

19 SEC. 6. DATABASE OF VOTES TAKEN IN COMMITTEES. 

20 (a) DUTIES OF THE CLERK.—Clause 2 of rule II of 

21 the Rules of the House of Representatives (as amended 

22 by section 5) is further amended by adding at the end 

23 the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(m) The Clerk shall— 

25 ‘‘(1) establish and maintain on its public 

26 website a separate database for the 116th and each 


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1 subsequent Congress of all recorded votes in commit2 tees except for the Committee on Ethics or for any 

3 votes taken in executive session, and ensure that the 

4 database is up-to-date, sortable, and downloadable 

5 on a committee-by-committee basis; and 

6 ‘‘(2) incorporate information on such votes on 

7 the database with respect to a committee imme8 diately upon receipt of the relevant information from 

9 the committee under clause 13 of rule X.’’. 

10 (b) DUTIES OF COMMITTEES.—Rule X of the Rules 

11 of the House of Representatives (as amended by section 

12 5) is further amended by adding at the end the following 

13 new clause: 

14 ‘‘Duty to provide certain information to the Clerk 

15 ‘‘13.(a) Each standing and select committee shall 

16 provide to the Clerk the information respecting recorded 

17 votes in that committee so the Clerk can post on a timely 

18 basis on its website the information required by clause 2(l) 

19 of rule II. For any recorded vote, such information shall 

20 be transmitted to the Clerk not later than the 72 hours 

21 after the vote is recorded. 

22 ‘‘(b) In providing information to the Clerk under 

23 paragraph (a), the committee shall include a brief descrip24 tion of the matter on which the recorded vote was taken, 

25 including the name of each member of the committee votVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR526.IH HR526

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1 ing on that matter and whether the vote was in the affirm2 ative or the negative and the total tally of the votes. 

3 ‘‘(c) The requirements described in this clause do not 

4 apply to the Committee on Ethics or to any vote taken 

5 in executive session.’’. 

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

7 subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to votes taken 72 or 

8 more hours after the Clerk notifies all committees that the 

9 database established under clause 2 of rule II of the Rules 

10 of the House of Representatives has been established. 

Æ 


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