I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5559 
To establish a website for Federal Government apps, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 12, 2021 
Mr. EMMER (for himself, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, and Mr. OBERNOLTE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 
A BILL 
To establish a website for Federal Government apps, 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 ‘‘Advancing and Pro-
moting Programming Act’’ or the ‘‘APP Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Eighty-four percent of leading app makers 
are outside Silicon Valley, and 83 percent are small 
businesses. 
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(2) Millions have participated in the Hour of 
Code, which teaches the fundamental components of 
computer programming. 
(3) The Congressional App Challenge is an offi-
cially sanctioned competition to promote computer 
science education and demonstrate the value of cod-
ing to the next generation. 
(4) Computer Science majors earn 40 percent 
more than the average college graduates. 
(5) In 2016, China surpassed the United States 
in app store revenue. 
(6) The current extent of a Federal mobile app 
directory exists as a text list on a General Services 
Administration website. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) computer science skills are critical to a bur-
geoning technology industry, and will provide high- 
quality jobs for America’s future workforce; 
(2) the Federal Government has an obligation 
to provide information and services through a means 
that meets the technology demands of our changing 
society; and 
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(3) among other fields, computer programming 
jobs are a way to ensure America keeps the highest- 
quality jobs and remains a world economic leader. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITE FOR APPS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator of General Services shall establish a pub-
licly available website that includes a database of Federal 
funding opportunities for the creation of apps, allows the 
public to download a Federal Government app that has 
been made available to the public, and includes the fol-
lowing: 
(1) A list of each funding source (including 
grants and prizes) for the creation and maintenance 
of Federal Government apps and how an applicant 
may apply for such funding, including resources 
such as grants.gov, challenge.gov, and the Small 
Business Innovation Research program. 
(2) The ability for the public to rate and review 
any such Federal Government app. 
(3) A page that prominently displays apps that 
have been recently updated or that receive a high 
user review average under paragraph (2). 
(4) A page that features Government projects 
that provide application developers with tools to im-
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prove private apps, such as data.gov and devel-
oper.epa.gov. 
(5) Resources for education and training re-
lated to the creation of apps. 
(6) A page that features outstanding, edu-
cational, computer science programs, determined by 
the Administrator of General Services and the Direc-
tor of the National Science Foundation, and re-
sources to replicate such programs. 
(b) REVIEW AND REMOVAL OF OUTDATED APPS.— 
The Administrator of General Services shall review any 
app for which an update has not been released in more 
than 2 years and shall remove any app from the website 
described in subsection (a) that is no longer functional or 
compatible. 
(c) APP DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘app’’ 
means a software application that enables the performance 
of a specific task that may be run on a computer, a mobile 
device, the internet, or any other electronic device. 
Æ 
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