IB 
Union Calendar No. 358 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3548 
[Report No. 110–580] 
To enhance citizen access to Government information and services by estab-
lishing plain language as the standard style for Government documents 
issued to the public, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 
Mr. BRALEY of Iowa (for himself, Mr. AKIN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, and Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Re-
form 
APRIL 10, 2008 
Additional sponsors: Mr. REYES, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HARE, Mr. GORDON of 
Tennessee, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. WELCH of Vermont, Mr. 
ALTMIRE, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. HILL, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. MAHONEY of 
Florida, Mr. KAGEN, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. SPACE, 
Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BARROW, Mr. UDALL 
of Colorado, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. BEAN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. HODES, and 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia 
APRIL 10, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of the introduced bill, see bill as introduced on September 17, 2007] 
A BILL 
To enhance citizen access to Government information and 
services by establishing plain language as the standard 
style for Government documents issued to the public, 
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 ‘‘Plain Language in Gov-
ernment Communications Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to improve the Federal Gov-
ernment’s effectiveness and accountability to the public by 
promoting clear communication that the public can under-
stand and use. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means an Ex-
ecutive agency, as that term is defined in section 105 
of title 5, United States Code. 
(2) PLAIN
LANGUAGE.—The term ‘‘plain lan-
guage’’ means language that the intended audience 
can readily understand and use because it is clear, 
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concise, well-organized, and follows other best prac-
tices of plain language writing. 
SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES. 
(a) REQUIREMENT TO USE PLAIN LANGUAGE IN NEW 
DOCUMENTS.—Within one year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, each agency— 
(1) shall use plain language in any covered doc-
ument of the agency issued or substantially revised 
after the date of the enactment of this Act; 
(2) may use plain language in any revision of 
a covered document issued on or before such date; and 
(3) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 
preserve and enhance the role of English by using the 
English language in all covered documents. 
(b) GUIDANCE.—In implementing subsection (a), an 
agency may follow either the guidance of the Plain English 
Handbook, published by the Securities and Exchange Com-
mission, or the Federal Plain Language Guidelines. If any 
agency has its own plain language guidance, the agency 
may use that guidance, as long as it is consistent with the 
Federal Plain Language Guidelines, the Plain English 
Handbook, published by the Securities and Exchange Com-
mission, and the recommendations made by the Comptroller 
General under section 5(c). 
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