I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4355 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to require reporting by the Depart-
ment of Transportation on requests for funding projects or programs, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 9, 2017 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to require reporting 
by the Department of Transportation on requests for 
funding projects or programs, 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 ‘‘Missed Opportunities 
in Transportation Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) the United States relies on an integrated, 
multimodal system of transportation to facilitate the 
movement of people and goods across the Nation; 
(2) the United States has a history of investing 
in forward-thinking ideas to improve transportation; 
(3) Congress has a duty to do all it can to im-
prove transportation in the United States; 
(4) both Congress and the States have failed to 
meet the needs of the American people in recent 
years; 
(5) inflation-adjusted public spending on trans-
portation infrastructure has declined over the past 
decade; 
(6) Americans are suffering from the con-
sequences of that inaction; 
(7) investment in transportation and infrastruc-
ture is vital to national security and prosperity; 
(8) failure to invest adequately in United States 
infrastructure will continue to impede economic 
growth and harm the health and competitiveness of 
the United States economy; 
(9) proposals to improve transportation in the 
United States exceed available funds; 
(10) the American people deserve to be in-
formed about and consider possible solutions for the 
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gridlock and disrepair they experience every day; 
and 
(11) Congress must have good information 
about potential projects for transportation mod-
ernization in order to make reasonable judgments 
about funding levels for transportation projects and 
research. 
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORTING ON MISSED OPPORTUNITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 312. Annual reporting on missed opportunities 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31 of 
each year, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit 
to Congress a report on missed opportunities for each 
competitive or discretionary grant program administered 
by the Department of Transportation in the preceding fis-
cal year. 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—For each grant program described 
in subsection (a), the report shall detail the 10 individual 
applications, proposals, or requests for funding that— 
‘‘(1) were not funded or awarded, completely or 
partially; but 
‘‘(2) showed the greatest potential to improve 
transportation in the United States, according to the 
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selection criteria and established goals of that grant 
program. 
‘‘(c) REPORTING DATE FLEXIBILITY.—If a law re-
quires an annual report to Congress with respect to a 
grant program described in subsection (a), the report on 
missed opportunities required under this section for that 
program may— 
‘‘(1) be included in that annual report; and 
‘‘(2) be submitted on or before the date that 
annual report is due. 
‘‘(d) PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY.—Upon submission of 
a report on missed opportunities to Congress under this 
section, the Secretary shall make the report available to 
the public on an internet website of the Department of 
Transportation in a manner that is user friendly and able 
to be searched and downloaded by users of the website. 
‘‘(e) TRADE SECRETS AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA-
TION.—Nothing in this section authorizes the Secretary 
to disclose any information that is a trade secret or con-
fidential information subject to section 552(b)(4) of title 
5 or section 1905 of title 18.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap-
ter 3 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by insert-
ing after the item relating to section 311 the following: 
‘‘312. Annual reporting on missed opportunities.’’. 
Æ 
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