SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2008’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Ensuring independent advice and expertise. 
Sec. 3. Preventing efforts to circumvent the Federal Advisory Committee Act and 
public disclosure. 
Sec. 4. Increasing transparency of advisory committees. 
Sec. 5. Comptroller General review and reports. 
Sec. 6. Definitions. 
Sec. 7. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND EXPERTISE. 
(a) BAR ON POLITICAL LITMUS TESTS.—Section 9 of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended— 
(1) in the section heading by inserting ‘‘MEM-
BERSHIP;’’ after ‘‘ADVISORY COMMITTEES;’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 
subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(b) APPOINTMENTS MADE WITHOUT REGARD TO PO-
LITICAL AFFILIATION OR ACTIVITY.—All appointments to 
advisory committees shall be made without regard to polit-
ical affiliation or political activity, unless required by Fed-
eral statute.’’. 
(b) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE.—Section 9 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
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further amended by inserting after subsection (b) (as added 
by subsection (a)) the following: 
‘‘(c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE.— 
‘‘(1) The head of each agency shall ensure that 
no individual appointed to serve on an advisory com-
mittee that reports to the agency has a conflict of in-
terest that is relevant to the functions to be performed 
by the advisory committee, unless the head of the 
agency determines that the conflict is unavoidable 
and that the need for the individual’s services out-
weighs the potential impacts of the conflict of interest. 
The head of each agency shall require that each indi-
vidual the agency appoints or intends to appoint to 
serve on an advisory committee inform the agency of-
ficial responsible for appointing the individual of any 
actual or potential conflict of interest the individual 
has that is relevant to the functions to be performed 
and that, for an individual appointed to serve on an 
advisory committee, the conflict is publicly disclosed 
as described in section 11. 
‘‘(2) The head of each agency shall ensure that 
each report of an advisory committee that reports to 
the agency is the result of the advisory committee’s 
judgment, independent from the agency. Each advi-
sory committee shall include in each report of the 
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committee a statement describing the process used by 
the advisory committee in formulating the rec-
ommendations or conclusions contained in the re-
port.’’. 
(c) REGULATIONS.— 
(1) REGULATIONS RELATING TO CONFLICTS OF 
INTEREST.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 
of Government Ethics, in consultation with the Ad-
ministrator of General Services, shall promulgate reg-
ulations defining conflict of interest and such other 
regulations as the Director finds necessary to carry 
out and ensure the enforcement of subsection (c) of 
section 9 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 
added by this section. 
(2) REGULATIONS
IMPLEMENTING
FACA.—Sec-
tion 7(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting after ‘‘(c)’’ the 
following: ‘‘The Administrator shall promulgate regu-
lations as necessary to implement this Act.’’. 
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SEC. 3. PREVENTING EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE FED-
ERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AND PUB-
LIC DISCLOSURE. 
(a) DE FACTO MEMBERS.—Section 4 of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AS MEMBER.—An 
individual who is not a full-time or permanent part-time 
officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be re-
garded as a member of a committee if the individual regu-
larly attends and participates in committee meetings as if 
the individual were a member, even if the individual does 
not have the right to vote or veto the advice or recommenda-
tions of the advisory committee.’’. 
(b) INTERAGENCY ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—Section 
11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—(1) Any 
communication between— 
‘‘(A) an interagency advisory committee estab-
lished by the President or the Vice President or any 
member or staff acting on behalf of such an inter-
agency advisory committee, and 
‘‘(B) any person who is not an officer or em-
ployee of the Federal Government, 
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shall be made available for public inspection and 
copying. Any portion of a communication that in-
volves a matter described in section 552(b) of title 5, 
United States Code, or that is subject to a valid con-
stitutionally based privilege against such disclosure, 
may be withheld from public disclosure. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘interagency advisory 
committee’ means any committee, board, commission, coun-
cil, conference, panel, task force, or other similar group, or 
any subcommittee or other subgroup thereof, established in 
the interest of obtaining advice or recommendations for the 
President or the Vice President, that is composed wholly 
of full-time, or permanent part-time, officers or employees 
of the Federal Government and includes officers or employ-
ees of at least two separate Federal agencies but does not 
include an advisory committee as defined in section 3(2) 
of this Act. 
‘‘(3) This subsection is not intended to apply to cabinet 
meetings, the National Security Council, the Council of 
Economic Advisors, or any other permanent advisory body 
established by statute.’’. 
(c) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Advi-
sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking 
subsection (a) and inserting the following: 
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‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—The provisions of this Act or of 
any rule, order, or regulation promulgated under this Act 
shall apply to each advisory committee, including any sub-
committee or subgroup thereof, except to the extent that any 
Act of Congress establishing any such advisory committee 
specifically provides otherwise. Any subcommittee or sub-
group that reports to a parent committee established under 
section 9(a) is not required to comply with section 9(e). In 
this subsection, the term ‘subgroup’ includes any working 
group, task force, or other entity formed for the purpose of 
assisting the committee or any subcommittee of the com-
mittee in its work.’’. 
(d) COMMITTEES CREATED UNDER CONTRACT.—Sec-
tion 3(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
App.) is amended in the matter following subparagraph (C) 
by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An advisory committee 
is considered to be established by an agency, agencies, or 
the President, if it is formed, created, or organized under 
contract, other transactional authority, cooperative agree-
ment, grant, or otherwise at the request or direction of, an 
agency, agencies, or the President.’’. 
(e) ADVISORY
COMMITTEES
CONTAINING
SPECIAL 
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Advi-
sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection: 
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electronically on the official public internet site of the 
agency at least 15 calendar days before each meeting 
of an advisory committee. If the head of the agency 
determines that such timing is not practicable for any 
required information, he shall make the information 
available as soon as practicable but no later than 48 
hours before the next meeting of the committee. 
‘‘(2) The head of an agency shall make available 
electronically, on the official public internet site of the 
agency, a transcript or audio or video recording of 
each advisory committee meeting not later than 7 cal-
endar days after the meeting. 
‘‘(c) PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY ADMINISTRATOR 
OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of General 
Services shall provide, on the official public internet site 
of the General Services Administration, electronic access to 
the information made available by each agency under this 
section.’’. 
(b) CHARTER FILING.—Section 9(e) of the Federal Ad-
visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as redesignated by 
section 2, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘with (1) the Administrator,’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘, or’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 
with the Administrator and’’; 
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(2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (I); 
(3) by striking the period and inserting a semi-
colon at the end of subparagraph (J); and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs: 
‘‘(K) the authority under which the committee is 
established; 
‘‘(L) the estimated number of members and a de-
scription of the expertise needed to carry out the ob-
jectives of the committee; 
‘‘(M) a description of whether the committee will 
be composed of special government employees, rep-
resentatives, or members from both categories; and 
‘‘(N) whether the committee has the authority to 
create subcommittees and if so, the individual author-
ized to exercise such authority.’’. 
SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND REPORTS. 
(a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall review compliance by agencies with the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act, as amended by this Act, including 
whether agencies are appropriately appointing advisory 
committee members as either special government employees 
or representatives. 
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(b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 
to the committees described in subsection (c) two reports 
on the results of the review, as follows: 
(1) The first report shall be submitted not later 
than one year after the date of promulgation of regu-
lations under section 2. 
(2) The second report shall be submitted not later 
than five years after such date of promulgation of reg-
ulations. 
(c) COMMITTEES.—The committees described in this 
subsection are the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 3 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraphs: 
‘‘(5) The term ‘representative’ means an indi-
vidual who is not a full-time or part-time employee 
of the Federal Government and who is appointed to 
an advisory committee to represent the views of an 
entity or entities outside the Federal Government. 
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‘‘(6) The term ‘special Government employee’ has 
the same meaning as in section 202(a) of title 18, 
United States Code.’’. 
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, except as otherwise provided in sec-
tion 2(c)(1). 
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Union Calendar No. 411 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5687 
[Report No. 110–650] 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to 
increase the transparency and accountability of 
Federal advisory committees, and for other pur-
poses. 
MAY 15, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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