II 
Calendar No. 154 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 736 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 18, 2019 
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 
AN ACT 
To require the Director of the Government Publishing Office 
to establish and maintain an online portal accessible 
to the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 
copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one 
place, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Congression-
ally Mandated Reports Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORT.— 
The term ‘‘congressionally mandated report’’— 
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(A) means a report that is required by 
statute to be submitted to either House of Con-
gress or any committee of Congress or sub-
committee thereof; and 
(B) does not include a report required 
under part B of subtitle II of title 36, United 
States Code. 
(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Government Publishing Office. 
(3) FEDERAL
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 
agency’’ has the meaning given that term under sec-
tion 102 of title 40, United States Code, but does 
not include the Government Accountability Office. 
(4) OPEN FORMAT.—The term ‘‘open format’’ 
means a file format for storing digital data based on 
an underlying open standard that— 
(A) is not encumbered by any restrictions 
that would impede reuse; and 
(B) is based on an underlying open data 
standard that is maintained by a standards or-
ganization. 
(5) REPORTS ONLINE PORTAL.—The term ‘‘re-
ports online portal’’ means the online portal estab-
lished under section (3)(a). 
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SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE PORTAL FOR CON-
GRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORTS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH ONLINE POR-
TAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 
establish and maintain an online portal accessible by 
the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 
copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one 
place. The Director may publish other reports on the 
online portal. 
(2) EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY.—To the extent 
possible, the Director shall meet the requirements 
under paragraph (1) by using existing online portals 
and functionality under the authority of the Direc-
tor. 
(3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this Act, 
the Director shall consult with the Clerk of the 
House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Sen-
ate, and the Librarian of Congress regarding the re-
quirements for and maintenance of congressionally 
mandated reports on the reports online portal. 
(b) CONTENT AND FUNCTION.—The Director shall 
ensure that the reports online portal includes the fol-
lowing: 
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(1) Subject to subsection (c), with respect to 
each congressionally mandated report, each of the 
following: 
(A) A citation to the statute requiring the 
report. 
(B) An electronic copy of the report, in-
cluding any transmittal letter associated with 
the report, in an open format that is platform 
independent and that is available to the public 
without restrictions, including restrictions that 
would impede the re-use of the information in 
the report. 
(C) The ability to retrieve a report, to the 
extent practicable, through searches based on 
each, and any combination, of the following: 
(i) The title of the report. 
(ii) The reporting Federal agency. 
(iii) The date of publication. 
(iv) Each congressional committee or 
subcommittee receiving the report, if appli-
cable. 
(v) The statute requiring the report. 
(vi) Subject tags. 
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(vii) A unique alphanumeric identifier 
for the report that is consistent across re-
port editions. 
(viii) The serial number, Super-
intendent of Documents number, or other 
identification number for the report, if ap-
plicable. 
(ix) Key words. 
(x) Full text search. 
(xi) Any other relevant information 
specified by the Director. 
(D) The date on which the report was re-
quired to be submitted, and on which the report 
was submitted, to the reports online portal. 
(E) To the extent practicable, a permanent 
means of accessing the report electronically. 
(2) A means for bulk download of all congres-
sionally mandated reports. 
(3) A means for downloading individual reports 
as the result of a search. 
(4) An electronic means for the head of each 
Federal agency to submit to the reports online por-
tal each congressionally mandated report of the 
agency, as required by section 4. 
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(5) In tabular form, a list of all congressionally 
mandated reports that can be searched, sorted, and 
downloaded by— 
(A) reports submitted within the required 
time; 
(B) reports submitted after the date on 
which such reports were required to be sub-
mitted; and 
(C) reports not submitted. 
(c) NONCOMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 
(1) REPORTS NOT SUBMITTED.—If a Federal 
agency does not submit a congressionally mandated 
report to the Director, the Director shall to the ex-
tent practicable— 
(A) include on the reports online portal— 
(i) the information required under 
clauses (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of subsection 
(b)(1)(C); and 
(ii) the date on which the report was 
required to be submitted; and 
(B) include the congressionally mandated 
report on the list described in subsection 
(b)(5)(C). 
(2) REPORTS NOT IN OPEN FORMAT.—If a Fed-
eral agency submits a congressionally mandated re-
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port that is not in an open format, the Director shall 
include the congressionally mandated report in an-
other format on the reports online portal. 
(d) DEADLINE.—The Director shall ensure that in-
formation required to be published on the online portal 
under this Act with respect to a congressionally mandated 
report or information required under subsection (c) is pub-
lished— 
(1) not later than 30 calendar days after the in-
formation is received from the Federal agency in-
volved; or 
(2) in the case of information required under 
subsection (c), not later than 30 calendar days after 
the deadline under this Act for the Federal agency 
involved to submit information with respect to the 
congressionally mandated report involved. 
(e) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN REPORTS.— 
(1) EXCEPTION DESCRIBED.—A congressionally 
mandated report which is required by statute to be 
submitted to a committee of Congress or a sub-
committee thereof, including any transmittal letter 
associated with the report, shall not be submitted to 
or published on the reports online portal if the chair 
of a committee or subcommittee to which the report 
is submitted notifies the Director in writing that the 
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