I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4556 
To provide for the publication of OLC opinions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. RASKIN, 
Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. CLAY, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. JOHNSON of Geor-
gia, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. 
NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide for the publication of OLC opinions, 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 ‘‘See UNdisclosed Legal 
Interpretations and Get Honest Transparency Act of 
2019’’ or as the ‘‘SUNLIGHT Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. SCHEDULE OF PUBLICATION FOR FINAL OLC OPIN-
IONS. 
Each final opinion issued by the Office of Legal 
Counsel must be made publicly available in its entirety as 
soon as is practicable, but— 
(1) not later than 30 days after the opinion is 
issued or updated if such action takes place on or 
after the date of enactment of this Act; 
(2) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 
January 20, 1993; 
(3) not later than 2 years after the date of en-
actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 
January 20, 1981 and before or on January 19, 
1993; 
(4) not later than 3 years after the date of en-
actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 
January 20, 1969 and before or on January 19, 
1981; and 
(5) not later than 4 years after the date of en-
actment of this Act for all other opinions. 
SEC. 3. EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITATION ON PUBLIC AVAIL-
ABILITY OF FINAL OLC OPINIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A final OLC opinion or part 
thereof may be withheld only to the extent— 
(1) information contained in the opinion was— 
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(A) specifically authorized to be kept se-
cret, under criteria established by an Executive 
order, in the interest of national defense or for-
eign policy; 
(B) in fact properly classified, including all 
procedural and marking requirements, pursuant 
to such Executive order; 
(C) the Attorney General determines that 
the national defense or foreign policy interests 
protected outweigh the public’s interest in ac-
cess to the information; and 
(D) has been put through declassification 
review within the past two years; 
(2) information contained in the opinion relates 
to the appointment of a specific individual not con-
firmed to Federal office; 
(3) information contained in the opinion is spe-
cifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other 
than sections 552 and 552b of title 5, United States 
Code), provided that such statute— 
(A) requires that the material be withheld 
in such a manner as to leave no discretion on 
the issue; or 
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(B) establishes particular criteria for with-
holding or refers to particular types of material 
to be withheld; 
(4) information in the opinion includes trade se-
crets and commercial or financial information ob-
tained from a person and privileged or confidential 
whose disclosure would likely cause substantial harm 
to the competitive position of the person from whom 
the information was obtained; 
(5) the President, in his or her sole and non-
delegable determination, formally and personally 
claims in writing that executive privilege prevents 
the release of the information and disclosure would 
cause specific identifiable harm to an interest pro-
tected by an exception or the disclosure is prohibited 
by law; or 
(6) information in the opinion includes per-
sonnel and medical files and similar files the disclo-
sure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of personal privacy. 
(b) DETERMINATION TO WITHHOLD.—Any deter-
mination under this section to withhold information con-
tained in a final OLC opinion must be made by the Attor-
ney General or a designee of the Attorney General. The 
determination shall be— 
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(1) in writing; 
(2) made available to the public within the 
same timeframe as is required of a formal OLC 
opinion; 
(3) sufficiently detailed as to inform the public 
of what kind of information is being withheld and 
the reason therefore; and 
(4) effective only for a period of 3 years, sub-
ject to review and reissuance, with each reissuance 
made available to the public. 
(c) FINAL OPINIONS.—For final OLC opinions for 
which the text is withheld in full or in substantial part, 
a detailed unclassified summary of the opinion must be 
made available to the public, in the same timeframe as 
required of the final OLC opinion, that conveys the es-
sence of the opinion, including any interpretations of a 
statute, the Constitution, or other legal authority. A nota-
tion must be included in any published list of OLC opin-
ions regarding the extent of the withholdings. 
(d) NO LIMITATION ON RELIEF.—A decision by the 
Attorney General to release or withhold information pur-
suant to this Act shall not preclude any action or relief 
conferred by statutory or regulatory regime that empowers 
any person to request or demand the release of informa-
tion. 
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(e) REASONABLY SEGREGABLE PORTIONS OF OPIN-
IONS TO BE PUBLISHED.—Any reasonably segregable 
portion of an opinion shall be provided after withholding 
of the portions which are exempt under this subsection. 
The amount of information withheld, and the exemption 
under which the withholding is made, shall be indicated 
on the released portion of the opinion, unless including 
that indication would harm an interest protected by the 
exemption in this subsection under which the withholding 
is made. If technically feasible, the amount of the informa-
tion withheld, and the exemption under which the with-
holding is made, shall be indicated at the place in the opin-
ion where such withholding is made. 
SEC. 4. METHOD OF PUBLICATION. 
The Attorney General shall publish each final OLC 
opinion to the extent the law permits, including by pub-
lishing the opinions on a publicly accessible website that— 
(1) with respect to each opinion— 
(A) contains an electronic copy of the opin-
ion, including any transmittal letter associated 
with the opinion, in an open format that is plat-
form independent and that is available to the 
public without restrictions; 
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(B) provides the public the ability to re-
trieve an opinion, to the extent practicable, 
through searches based on— 
(i) the title of the opinion; 
(ii) the date of publication or revision; 
or 
(iii) the full text of the opinion; 
(C) identifies the time and date when the 
opinion was required to be published, and when 
the opinion was transmitted for publication; 
and 
(D) provides a permanent means of access-
ing the opinion electronically; 
(2) includes a means for bulk download of all 
OLC opinions or a selection of opinions retrieved 
using a text-based search; 
(3) provides free access to the opinions, and 
does not charge a fee, require registration, or impose 
any other limitation in exchange for access to the 
website; and 
(4) is capable of being upgraded as necessary to 
carry out the purposes of this Act. 
SEC. 5. INDEX OF OPINIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Legal Counsel shall 
publish –— 
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(1) a complete list of final OLC opinions, ar-
ranged chronologically, within 90 days of the enact-
ment of this legislation; 
(2) the list of opinions shall be updated imme-
diately every time an OLC opinion becomes final; 
and 
(3) a revision to an opinion shall be listed as if 
it were a new opinion. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS AS TO LIST.—Each list under 
subsection (a) shall comply with the following: 
(1) PUBLICATION.—The list must be made 
available to the public by publication on the website 
in section 4. 
(2) INFORMATION AND FORMAT REQUIRED.— 
The list shall — 
(A) include, for each opinion— 
(i) the full name of the opinion; 
(ii) the date it was finalized or re-
vised; 
(iii) each author’s name; 
(iv) each recipient’s name; 
(v) a summary of the opinion; 
(vi) a unique identifier assigned to 
each final or revised opinion; and 
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(vii) whether an opinion has been 
withdrawn; and 
(B) be published in both human-readable 
and machine-readable formats. 
SEC. 6. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 
On complaint, the district court of the United States 
in the district in which the complainant resides, or has 
his principal place of business, or in the District of Colum-
bia, has jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from withholding 
information contained in a final OLC opinion and to order 
the production of information improperly withheld from 
the complainant. In such a case the court shall determine 
the matter de novo, and may examine the contents of such 
OLC opinion in camera to determine whether such infor-
mation or any part thereof shall be withheld under any 
of the exemptions set forth in section 3, and the burden 
is on the agency to sustain its action. 
SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, any amendment made 
by this Act, or the application thereof to any person or 
circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder 
of the Act, of any such amendments, and of the applica-
tion of such provisions to other persons and circumstances 
shall not be affected thereby. 
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SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘OLC opinion’’ means 
views on a matter of legal interpretation communicated 
by the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Jus-
tice to any other office or agency, or person in an office 
or agency, in the Executive Branch, including any office 
in the Department of Justice, the White House, or the 
Executive Office of the President, and rendered in accord-
ance with sections 511–513 of title 28, United States 
Code. Where the communication of the legal interpretation 
takes place verbally, a memorialization of that communica-
tion qualifies as an ‘‘OLC opinion’’. 
(b) FINAL OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘final OLC 
opinion’’ means an OLC opinion that— 
(1) the Attorney General, Assistant Attorney 
General for OLC, or a Deputy Assistant General for 
OLC, has determined is final; 
(2) government officials or government contrac-
tors are relying on; 
(3) is relied upon to formulate legal guidance; 
or 
(4) is directly or indirectly cited in another Of-
fice of Legal Counsel opinion. 
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