I 

★

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2340 

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 

JUNE 23, 2011 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself and Ms. SPEIER) 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, and Ethics, 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, 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency in Gov3 ernment Act of 2011’’. 

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 

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. 

TITLE II—ENHANCING PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE WORK OF 

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES, LEGISLATION, AND VOTES 

Sec. 201. Increase transparency of committee work. 

Sec. 202. Increase 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. Enhance access to CRS. 

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 additional information by lobbyists. 

Sec. 406. Disclosure of political contributions. 

Sec. 407. Effective date. 

TITLE V—TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING 

Sec. 501. Improving application programming interface and Web site 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. Unique identifying number. 

TITLE VI—EXECUTIVE BRANCH TRANSPARENCY 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

TITLE VII—STRENGTHENING THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

ACT 

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

Act. 

TITLE VIII—ENFORCEMENT 

Sec. 801. Audits by the Government Accountability Office. 

1 TITLE I—IMPROVING ACCESS TO 

2 INFORMATION ABOUT MEM3 BERS OF CONGRESS 

4 SEC. 101. GREATER DISCLOSURE AND ELECTRONIC FILING 

5 OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION. 

6 (a) ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIRE7 MENTS.—(1) Section 102(a)(1)(B) of the Ethics in Gov8 ernment Act of 1978 is amended in clause (iv) by striking 

9 ‘‘$15,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’ and by striking 

10 clauses (v) through (ix) and inserting the following new 

11 clauses: 

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

13 more than $100,000, round to the nearest 

14 $10,000, 

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

16 more than $1,000,000, round to the near17 est $100,000, or 

18 ‘‘(vii) greater than $1,000,000, round 

19 to the nearest $1,000,000.’’. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 (2) Section 102(d)(1) of the Ethics in Government 

2 Act of 1978 is amended by striking ‘‘(3), (4), (5), and 

3 (8)’’ an inserting ‘‘(5) and (8)’’. 

4 (3) Section 102(d) of the Ethics in Government Act 

5 of 1978 is amended by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

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

7 following new paragraph: 

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

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

10 (a) are as follows: 

11 ‘‘(A) not more than $15,000; 

12 ‘‘(B) greater than $15,000 but not more than 

13 $25,000; 

14 ‘‘(C) greater than $25,000 but not more than 

15 $100,000, round to the nearest $10,000; 

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

17 $1,000,000, round to the nearest $100,000; and 

18 ‘‘(E) greater than $1,000,000, round to the 

19 nearest $1,000,000.’’. 

20 (b) MORE FREQUENT DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL

21 TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY.— 

22 (1) Section 101 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub24 section: 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 ‘‘(i) In addition to any other report required to be 

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

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

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

5 January 30 of each year covering the preceding calendar 

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

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

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

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

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

11 contain all of the information required under subsection 

12 (a)(5).’’. 

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

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

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

16 paragraphs: 

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

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

19 Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Clerk shall 

20 compile all such reports sent to the Clerk by Mem21 bers and have them printed as a House document, 

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

23 as practicable. 

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

25 with the Clerk under title I under the Ethics in GovVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Nov 03, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 ernment Act of 1978 shall file and maintain such re2 port in electronic form.’’. 

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

4 (c) AVAILABILITY ON THE INTERNET OF REPORTS

5 FILED UNDER THIS TITLE WITH THE CLERK OF THE

6 HOUSE OR THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—Section 

7 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(l) The Clerk of the House of Representatives and 

10 the Secretary of the Senate shall each make available any 

11 report filed with them under this title within 48 hours of 

12 the applicable submission deadline on the website of the 

13 Clerk or the Secretary, as applicable, in a searchable, sort14 able, downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 

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

16 this section shall apply to reports filed for calendar years 

17 or calendar quarters beginning after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act. 

19 SEC. 102. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF TRAVEL REPORTS. 

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

21 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

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

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

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


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 site of the committee in a searchable, sortable, 

2 downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 

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

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

5 date of enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 103. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF GIFT REPORTS. 

7 (a) REQUIRING CLERK OF THE HOUSE TO POST RE8 PORTS ON INTERNET NOT LATER THAN 48 HOURS

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

10 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended— 

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

12 inserting ‘‘shall post on the public Internet site 

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

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

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

16 than 48 hours,’’. 

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

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

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

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

21 SEC. 104. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF EARMARKS. 

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

23 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

24 is amended by redesignating clause 18 as clause 19 and 

25 by inserting after clause 17 the following: 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

2 who requests a congressional earmark, a limited tax ben3 efit, or a limited tariff benefit shall, within 24 hours after 

4 making such request— 

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

6 remainder of the Congress the following— 

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

8 recipient; 

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

10 for-profit or not-for-profit entity; 

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

12 case of congressional earmarks); and 

13 ‘‘(D) an explanation of the request, includ14 ing the purpose, and why it is a valuable use 

15 of taxpayer funds; 

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

17 subject-matter jurisdiction the webpage address 

18 where such information is posted; 

19 ‘‘(3) identify each request as having been sub20 mitted to the committee of subject-matter jurisdic21 tion; and 

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

23 hypertext link that contains the words ‘Earmarks’, 

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

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


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 webpage address, and maintain that link for at least 

2 30 calendar days after the last such request is made 

3 during the Congress.’’. 

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

5 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

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

7 clause 18’’. 

8 (b) ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE BY COMMITTEES.— 

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

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

11 ‘‘ Earmark disclosure websites 

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

13 a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner for a con14 gressional earmark, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tar15 iff benefit shall maintain a public website with an earmark 

16 disclosure webpage that contains the following for each 

17 such request— 

18 ‘‘(A) the bill name; 

19 ‘‘(B) the name, State, and district of that indi20 vidual; 

21 ‘‘(C) the name and address of the intended re22 cipient; 

23 ‘‘(D) whether the intended recipient is a for24 profit or not-for-profit entity; 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

2 congressional earmarks); 

3 ‘‘(F) a brief description; and 

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

5 Government, and the account or program (if pro6 vided to the committee in the request); 

7 and is in a downloadable format that is searchable and 

8 sortable by such characteristics. 

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

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

11 earmark disclosure webpage of the committee. 

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

13 shall list the names of any Member, Delegate, and Resi14 dent Commissioner who requests a congressional earmark, 

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

16 directly to their webpage addresses referred to in clause 

17 18(2) of rule XXIII. 

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

19 shall post the information required under subparagraphs 

20 (1) through (3) within one week of receipt, and shall main21 tain that information on that webpage for the remainder 

22 of the Congress. 

23 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this paragraph, the terms ‘con24 gressional earmark’, ‘limited tax benefit’, and ‘limited tarVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Nov 03, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 iff benefit’ shall have the meaning given them in clause 

2 9 of rule XXI.’’. 

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

4 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by re5 designating paragraphs (e), (f), and (g) as paragraphs (f), 

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

7 (d) the following: 

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

9 joint resolution, or an amendment thereto or conference 

10 report thereon, that carries a congressional earmark, lim11 ited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit for which a Mem12 ber, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner failed to comply 

13 with any applicable requirement of clause 18 of rule 

14 XXIII.’’. 

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

16 this section shall apply to requests for congressional ear17 marks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits 

18 made after the date this resolution is agreed to. 

19 (e) CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR EARMARKS, LIM20 ITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF BENEFITS.— 

21 (1) The Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Sec22 retary of the Senate, and the chairs of the Committee on 

23 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Senate shall collaborate to create one centralized database 

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


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 limited tariff benefits are available on the Internet in a 

2 searchable, sortable, downloadable format to the public. 

3 The data available to the public for each earmark should 

4 include— 

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

6 earmark is to be inserted; 

7 (B) the name, State, and district of the Mem8 ber of Congress requesting the earmark; 

9 (C) the name and address of the intended re10 cipient; 

11 (D) whether the intended recipient is a for-prof12 it or not-for-profit entity; 

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

14 congressional earmarks); 

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

16 (G) the applicable department or agency of the 

17 Government, and the account or program (if pro18 vided to the committee in the request). 

19 (2) The centralized database for earmarks referred 

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

21 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 TITLE II—ENHANCING PUBLIC 

2 ACCESS TO THE WORK OF 

3 CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES, LEGISLATION, AND 

5 VOTES 

6 SEC. 201. INCREASE TRANSPARENCY OF COMMITTEE 

7 WORK. 

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

9 1 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new para11 graph: 

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

13 website the public hearings and markup schedules of the 

14 committee and each of its subcommittees at the same time 

15 that information is made available to members of the com16 mittee. 

17 ‘‘(2) For each hearing and markup for which infor18 mation is posted under subparagraph (1), the committee 

19 shall post on its Internet website within 45 days the fol20 lowing: the topic, related legislation, testimony of wit21 nesses, opening statements of the chair and ranking mi22 nority member, transcripts, and audio and video record23 ings. 

24 ‘‘(3) Within 24 hours after a committee or sub25 committee orders any bill or resolution to be reported, the 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 committee or subcommittee, as applicable, shall post on 

2 its Internet website all amendments that were agreed to, 

3 except for technical and conforming changes authorized by 

4 the committee or subcommittee.’’. 

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

6 added by the Senate. 

7 SEC. 202. INCREASE TRANSPARENCY OF COMMITTEE 

8 SCHEDULES THROUGH THE CLERK. 

9 Clause 2 of rule II of the Rules of the House of Rep10 resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 

11 new paragraph: 

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

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

14 of all public hearing and markup schedules of com15 mittees and subcommittees as soon as publically 

16 available; and the Clerk shall post this information 

17 on its website, including links to committee 

18 websites.’’. 

19 SEC. 203. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY OF RECORDED 

20 VOTES. 

21 (a) ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE CLERK OF THE

22 HOUSE AND THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—The 

23 Clerk of the House of Representative and the Secretary 

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

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


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

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

3 Member or Senator, including the roll, date, issue, ques4 tion, result, and title or description of the vote, and any 

5 cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office related 

6 to the vote. 

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

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

9 recorded votes from that Member’s Web site, and each 

10 Senator shall provide a link to the Secretary of the Senate 

11 of a list of recorded votes from that Senator’s Web site. 

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

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

14 to Congress, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto 

15 Rico. 

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

17 recorded votes occurring after the date of enactment of 

18 this Act. 

19 TITLE III—ENHANCING PUBLIC 

20 ACCESS TO CONGRESSIONAL 

21 RESEARCH SERVICE 

22 SEC. 301. ENHANCE ACCESS TO CRS. 

23 (a) AVAILABILITY OF CRS INFORMATION ON THE

24 INTERNET.—Except as provided by subsection (b) and (c), 

25 the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in consultation 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
16 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 with the Director of Congressional Research Service (here2 after in this section referred to as ‘‘CRS’’), shall make 

3 publically available on the Internet the following CRS in4 formation: 

5 (1) CRS Issue Briefs; 

6 (2) CRS Reports that are available to Members 

7 of Congress through the CRS Web site; and 

8 (3) CRS Authorization of Appropriations and 

9 Appropriations Products. 

10 (b) EXEMPTION FOR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA11 TION.—Information deemed confidential by the Director 

12 of CRS and any document that is a confidential research 

13 request made by an individual, office, or committee shall 

14 be exempt from disclosure under subsection (a). 

15 (c) ADDITIONAL EXEMPTIONS.—The Clerk of the 

16 House of Representatives, in consultation with the Direc17 tor of CRS, shall— 

18 (1) remove the personal information of CRS 

19 employees, including names and phone numbers; 

20 (2) remove material that may infringe the copy21 right of a work protected under title 17, United 

22 States Code; and 

23 (3) make any changes to information that s/he 

24 deems necessary to ensure its accuracy and cur25 rency. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
17 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 (d) CONFORMING PROVISION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed to require the Director of CRS to 

3 respond to any inquiry made by a member of the public 

4 respecting the information covered by this section. 

5 (e) ACCESS TO CRS WEB SITE.—Members and 

6 standing committees of the House of Representatives shall 

7 provide a link to the CRS database on their Web sites. 

8 (f) ESTABLISHING, MAINTAINING, AND UPDATING

9 THE DATABASE.—Within 6 months after the date of en10 actment of this Act, the Clerk of the House of Representa11 tives shall establish the database necessary to carry out 

12 this section. The Clerk shall be responsible for maintain13 ing and updating the information on that database. 

14 TITLE IV—LOBBYING 

15 DISCLOSURE 

16 SECTION 401. SHORT TITLE. 

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

18 Enhancement Act’’. 

19 SEC. 402. MODIFICATIONS TO ENFORCEMENT. 

20 (a) LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT TASK FORCE.— 

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General 

22 shall establish the Lobbying Disclosure Act Enforce23 ment Task Force (in this subsection referred to as 

24 the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

25 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The Task Force— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
18 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 (A) shall have primary responsibility for 

2 investigating and prosecuting each case referred 

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

4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 

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

6 (B) shall collect and disseminate informa7 tion with respect to the enforcement of the Lob8 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 

9 seq.); 

10 (C) shall audit, at a minimum on an an11 nual basis, and as frequently as deemed nec12 essary by the Task Force, the extent of compli13 ance or noncompliance with the requirements of 

14 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by lobby15 ists, lobbying firms, and registrants under that 

16 Act through a random sampling of lobbying 

17 registrations and reports filed under that Act 

18 during each calendar year; and 

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

20 toll-free telephone number to serve as a hotline 

21 for members of the public to report noncompli22 ance with lobbyist disclosure requirements 

23 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, 

24 and shall develop a mechanism to allow memVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Nov 03, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
19 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 bers of the public to report such noncompliance 

2 online. 

3 (b) REFERRAL OF CASES TO THE ATTORNEY GEN4 ERAL.—Section 6(a) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

5 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended— 

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

7 States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’; and 

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

10 States Attorney for the District of Columbia’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘Attorney General’’. 

12 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVED ENFORCE13 MENT.—The Attorney General may make recommenda14 tions to Congress with respect to— 

15 (1) the enforcement of and compliance with the 

16 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; and 

17 (2) the need for resources available for the en18 hanced enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 

19 of 1995. 

20 (d) INFORMATION IN ENFORCEMENT REPORTS.— 

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

22 (2 U.S.C. 1605(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘by case’’ 

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

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

25 firms involved, any sentences imposed’’. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
20 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 SEC. 403. DEFINITION OF LOBBYIST. 

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

3 (2 U.S.C. 1602(10)) is amended by striking ‘‘, other than 

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

5 SEC. 404. EXPEDITED ONLINE REGISTRATION OF LOBBY6 ISTS; EXPANSION OF REGISTRANTS. 

7 Section 4(a)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

8 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(1)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘45 days’’ and inserting ‘‘5 

10 days’’; 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘, or on the first business day 

12 after such 45th day if such 45th day is not a busi13 ness day,’’ and inserting ‘‘, or on the first business 

14 day occurring after such 5th day if such 5th day 

15 does not occur on a business day,’’; and 

16 (3) by inserting ‘‘online’’ after ‘‘shall register’’. 

17 SEC. 405. DISCLOSURE OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BY 

18 LOBBYISTS. 

19 Section 5(b)(2)(A) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

20 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)(A)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A)(i)’’; 

22 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(ii) for each issue listed under clause (i), 

25 a list identifying— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
21 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 ‘‘(I) each covered executive branch of2 ficial with whom the lobbyist engaged in 

3 lobbying activities; 

4 ‘‘(II) each covered legislative branch 

5 official with whom the lobbyist engaged in 

6 lobbying activities and— 

7 ‘‘(aa) if the official is an em8 ployee of a Member of Congress, the 

9 name of that Member of Congress; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) if the official is an em11 ployee described in clause (ii), (iii), 

12 (iv), or (v) of section 3(4), the name 

13 of the Member or Members of Con14 gress who hired the official or for 

15 whom the official performs duties as 

16 such official; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the date of each lobbying con18 tact;’’. 

19 SEC. 406. DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. 

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

21 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)) is amended— 

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

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

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

25 after the end of the quarterly period beginning on 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
22 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

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

3 20th day if such 20th day is not’’; and 

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

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

6 SEC. 407. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

8 made by that section take effect upon the expiration of 

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

10 of this Act. 

11 (b) AMENDMENTS.—The amendments made by sec12 tions 403, 404, 405, and 406 take effect on the first day 

13 of the first quarterly period described in section 5(a) of 

14 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) 

15 that begins after the end of the 90-day period beginning 

16 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 TITLE V—TRANSPARENCY IN 

18 FEDERAL CONTRACTING 

19 SEC. 501. IMPROVING APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTER20 FACE AND WEB SITE DATA ELEMENTS. 

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

22 Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 

23 109–282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
23 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

2 ‘‘and delivery orders’’ and inserting ‘‘lease 

3 agreements and assignments, and delivery or4 ders’’; 

5 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

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

7 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

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

9 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(E) programmatically search and access 

13 all data in a serialized machine readable format 

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

15 programming interface.’’; and 

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

17 following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

19 ITEM.—The term ‘congressionally directed spending 

20 item’ means a provision or report language included 

21 primarily at the request of a Member of Congress 

22 providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific 

23 amount of discretionary budget authority, credit au24 thority, or other spending authority for a contract, 

25 loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
24 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

2 specific State, locality, or congressional district, 

3 other than through a statutory or administrative for4 mula-driven or competitive award process.’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

7 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

8 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

9 subparagraph (J); and 

10 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

11 the following new subparagraphs: 

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

13 agency, including the bureau, office, or subdivi14 sion, that authorized the Federal award; 

15 ‘‘(H) after January 1, 2012, for all con16 tracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, task or17 ders, lease agreements and assignments, and 

18 delivery orders— 

19 ‘‘(i) information about the extent of 

20 competition in making the award, includ21 ing the number of bids or proposals deter22 mined to be responsive during the competi23 tive process, and if the award was not com24 peted, the legal authority and specific raVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Nov 03, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
25 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 tionale for making the award without full 

2 and open competition; 

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

4 awarded under a contract or, in the case of 

5 lease agreements or assignments, the 

6 amount paid to the Government, and the 

7 full amount of any options to expand or 

8 extend under a contract; 

9 ‘‘(iii) the amount of the profit incen10 tive, such as award fees; 

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

12 fixed price, cost plus pricing, labor hour 

13 contracts, and time and materials con14 tracts; 

15 ‘‘(v) an indication if the contract is 

16 the result of legislative mandates, set17 asides, preference program requirements, 

18 or other criteria, and whether the contract 

19 is multi-year, consolidated, or performance 

20 based; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) an indication if the contract is a 

22 congressionally directed spending item; 

23 ‘‘(I) after January 1, 2012, for all grants, 

24 subgrants, loans, awards, cooperative agree25 ments, and other forms of financial assistance, 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
26 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 an indication if the funding is a congressionally 

2 directed spending item; and’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise pro4 vided, the amendments made by subsection (a) shall be 

5 implemented not later than 6 months after the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 502. IMPROVING DATA QUALITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Funding Account9 ability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109– 

10 282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note), as amended by section 501, 

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

12 ‘‘SEC. 5. IMPROVING DATA QUALITY. 

13 ‘‘(a) INSPECTOR GENERAL DATA AUDIT.—Each In14 spector General shall annually audit for the previous fiscal 

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

16 the relevant Federal agency of the Inspector General, in 

17 compliance with generally accepted Government auditing 

18 standards, and submit a report on such audit to the Direc19 tor of the Office of Management and Budget that includes 

20 at least the following: 

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

22 verify accuracy of the data and assess the process 

23 used for improving data quality. 

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

25 sample of Federal awards to determine whether FedVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Nov 03, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
27 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 eral agencies have appropriate measures in place to 

2 review data submissions under this Act for accuracy 

3 and completeness. 

4 ‘‘(3) An identification and report on new stand5 ards that Inspector General recommends for imple6 mentation by agencies to improve data quality. 

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

8 year, the Director of the Office of Management and Budg9 et shall make each report submitted under subsection (a) 

10 for the previous fiscal year available to the public, includ11 ing a review of the findings of the audit and recommenda12 tions to improve data quality, through the website created 

13 by this Act.’’. 

14 SEC. 503. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO REPORTING OF 

15 AWARD DATA. 

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

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

18 guidance to Federal agencies on reporting Federal awards 

19 to clarify— 

20 (1) the requirement that award titles describe 

21 the award’s purpose; and 

22 (2) requirements for validating and docu23 menting agency award data submitted by Federal 

24 agencies. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
28 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 (b) INCLUSION OF CITY INFORMATION.—The Direc2 tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall include 

3 information on the city where work is performed in the 

4 Office’s public reporting of the completeness of agency 

5 data submissions. 

6 SEC. 504. RECIPIENT PERFORMANCE TRANSPARENCY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Funding Account8 ability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109– 

9 282; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note), as amended by sections 501 

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

11 following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 6. RECIPIENT PERFORMANCE TRANSPARENCY AND 

13 PAST PERFORMANCE. 

14 ‘‘The Director of the Office of Management and 

15 Budget shall ensure that the unique identifier required in 

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

17 the entity receiving the award on the searchable website 

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

19 Federal Awardee Performance Integrity Information Sys20 tem.’’. 

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

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

23 30, 2012. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
29 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 SEC. 505. IMPROVEMENT OF FEDERAL AWARDEE PER2 FORMANCE AND INTEGRITY INFORMATION 

3 SYSTEM DATABASE. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE IN DATABASE 10 

5 YEARS OF INFORMATION ON CERTAIN PERSONS AWARD6 ED FEDERAL CONTRACTS OR GRANTS.—Section 872 of 

7 the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act 

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

9 4555) is amended in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘5-year’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘10-year’’. 

11 (b) REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE INFORMATION IN

12 DATABASE REGARDING CERTAIN JUDGMENTS AND SET13 TLEMENTS.—Section 872 of such Act is further amended 

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

15 new subparagraphs: 

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

17 administrative judgment that does not contain 

18 an explicit finding or acknowledgment of fault. 

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

20 that does not contain an explicit finding or ac21 knowledgment of fault.’’. 

22 SEC. 506. FEDERAL CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE. 

23 (a) SELF-REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Subsection 

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

25 amended to read as follows: 

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


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
30 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS IN EXCESS OF SIMPLIFIED AC2 QUISITION THRESHOLD.—No funds appropriated or 

3 otherwise made available by any Act may be used for 

4 any Federal contract for the procurement of prop5 erty or services in excess of the simplified acquisition 

6 threshold unless the contractor has first made the 

7 certifications set forth in section 52.209–5 of the 

8 Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

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

10 funds appropriated or otherwise made available by 

11 any Act may be used for any Federal contract for 

12 the procurement of property or services in excess of 

13 $500,000 unless the contractor— 

14 ‘‘(A) certifies that the contractor has sub15 mitted to the Administrator the information re16 quired under subsection (c) and that such infor17 mation is current as of the date of such certifi18 cation; or 

19 ‘‘(B) certifies that the contractor has cu20 mulative active Federal contracts and grants 

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

22 (b) PERIODIC INSPECTION OR REVIEW OF CONTRACT

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

24 adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
31 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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

2 The Inspector General of each Federal agency 

3 shall periodically— 

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

5 the contract files required under subpara6 graph (B) to determine if the agency is 

7 providing appropriate consideration of the 

8 information included in the database cre9 ated pursuant to subsection (c); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) submit a report containing the 

11 results of the inspection or review con12 ducted under clause (i) to the Committee 

13 on Homeland Security and Governmental 

14 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

15 on Oversight and Government Reform of 

16 the House of Representatives.’’. 

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

18 the United States shall annually submit a report to the 

19 appropriate congressional committees describing the ex20 tent to which suspended or debarred contractors on the 

21 Excluded Parties List System— 

22 (1) are identified as having received Federal 

23 contracts on USAspending.gov; or 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
32 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 (2) were granted waivers from Federal agencies 

2 from suspension or debarment for purposes of enter3 ing into Federal contracts. 

4 SEC. 507. UNIQUE IDENTIFYING NUMBER. 

5 (a) STUDY.—The Inspector General of the General 

6 Services Administration shall conduct a study on the use 

7 of identifying numbers for Federal awardees to— 

8 (1) determine if the system of awardee identi9 fying numbers in use as of the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act is adequately tracking Federal awardees; 

11 (2) assess the feasibility of developing and 

12 adopting a new unique Federal awardee identifica13 tion system; and 

14 (3) determine whether such system would more 

15 effectively track Federal awardees. 

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall 

18 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re19 port on the study conducted under subsection (a). 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
33 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 TITLE VI—EXECUTIVE BRANCH 

2 TRANSPARENCY 

3 SEC. 601. REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL 

4 SPONSORSHIP OF ALL FEDERAL ADVER5 TISING OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Every advertisement or other 

7 communication paid for by an agency, either directly or 

8 through a contract awarded by the agency, shall include 

9 a prominent notice informing the target audience that the 

10 advertisement or other communication is paid for by that 

11 agency. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ADVERTISEMENT OR OTHER COMMUNICA14 TIONS.—In this section, the term ‘‘advertisement or 

15 other communication’’ includes— 

16 (A) an advertisement disseminated in any 

17 form, including print or by any electronic 

18 means; and 

19 (B) a communication by an individual in 

20 any form, including speech, print, or by any 

21 electronic means. 

22 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

23 meaning given that term under section 551 of title 

24 5, United States Code. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
34 

HR 2340 IH1S 

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 one month 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 Web site. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
35 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 (c) AGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

2 ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given that term under section 

3 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

4 TITLE VIII—ENFORCEMENT 

5 SEC. 801. AUDITS BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

6 OFFICE. 

7 (a) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—The Comptroller Gen8 eral shall conduct annual audits of the implementation of 

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

10 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 

11 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

12 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen13 ate a report on the results of the audits. 

14 (b) MATTERS COVERED BY AUDITS.—Audits con15 ducted under this section shall address whether the con16 gressional and executive branch data that is required to 

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

18 the following: 

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

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

21 exemptions. 

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

23 highest possible level of granularity, not in aggregate 

24 or modified forms. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
36 

HR 2340 IH1S 

1 (3) TIMELY.—Made available as quickly as nec2 essary to preserve the value of the data. 

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

4 of users for the widest range of purposes. 

5 (5) MACHINE PROCESSABLE.—Reasonably 

6 structured to allow automated processing. 

7 (6) NON-DISCRIMINATORY.—Available to any8 one, with no registration requirement. 

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

10 over which no entity has exclusive control. 

11 (8) LICENSE-FREE.—Not subject to any copy12 right, patent, trademark, or trade secret regulation 

13 (with reasonable privacy, security, and privilege re14 strictions). 

15 (c) CURRENT STANDARDS.—Audits conducted under 

16 this section shall also address whether the data provided 

17 to the public under this Act is produced and maintained 

18 using current standards for data publication. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS