Transparency in Government Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2055 To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Au- thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, the Financial Sta- bility Act of 2010, and the Federal Funding Accountability and Trans- parency Act of 2006 to improve access to information in the legislative and executive branches of the Government, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 18, 2021 Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, Eth- ics, Financial Services, the Budget, and Rules, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, the Financial Stability Act of 2010, and the Federal Fund- ing Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to improve access to information in the legislative and exec- VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2055 IH utive branches of the Government, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency in Gov- 4 ernment Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES Sec. 101. Greater disclosure and electronic filing of personal financial informa- tion. Sec. 102. Greater disclosure of travel reports. Sec. 103. Greater disclosure of gift reports. Sec. 104. Greater disclosure of earmarks. Sec. 105. GAO study and report on effects of written requests by Members of Congress for funding of projects. TITLE II—ENHANCING PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE WORK OF CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES, LEGISLATION, AND VOTES Subtitle A—Access to Legislation, Votes, and Related Information Sec. 201. Increased transparency of committee work. Sec. 202. Increased transparency of recorded votes. Sec. 203. Electronic format. Sec. 204. Congressional Data Task Force. Sec. 205. Use of data standards by congressional support offices. Sec. 206. Inclusion of digital version of funding tables in reports accompanying appropriations bills. Sec. 207. Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Sec. 208. Expanded information in House staff directory. Sec. 209. Publication of United States Capitol Police arrest information. Subtitle B—Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Sec. 211. Short title. Sec. 212. Definitions. Sec. 213. Establishment of online portal for congressionally mandated reports. Sec. 214. Federal agency responsibilities. Sec. 215. Changing or removing reports. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2055 IH Sec. 216. Relationship to the Freedom of Information Act. Sec. 217. Implementation. Sec. 218. Determination of budgetary effects. TITLE III—EXPANDING ACCESS TO CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE REPORTS ON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WEBSITE Sec. 301. Inclusion of reports from archive. Sec. 302. Availability of reports in structured format. Sec. 303. Report on making other materials available. Sec. 304. Effective date. TITLE IV—LOBBYING DISCLOSURE Sec. 401. Short title. Sec. 402. Modifications to enforcement. Sec. 403. Definition of lobbyist. Sec. 404. Expedited online registration of lobbyists; expansion of registrants. Sec. 405. Disclosure of political contributions. Sec. 406. Identification numbers for lobbyists. Sec. 407. Ethics training for lobbyists. Sec. 408. Estimates based on tax reporting system. Sec. 409. Effective date. TITLE V—TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING Sec. 501. Improving application programming interface and website data ele- ments. Sec. 502. Improving data quality. Sec. 503. Requirements relating to reporting of award data. Sec. 504. Recipient performance transparency. Sec. 505. Improvement of Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Infor- mation System Database. Sec. 506. Federal contractor compliance. Sec. 507. Improving access to information disclosed on lobbying activities. Sec. 508. Inclusion of narratives on USAspending.gov. TITLE VI—EXECUTIVE BRANCH TRANSPARENCY Subtitle A—Public Availability of Information Sec. 601. Requirement for disclosure of Federal sponsorship of all Federal ad- vertising or other communications. Sec. 602. Improving access to influential executive branch official’s visitor ac- cess records. Sec. 603. Public availability of budget justifications and appropriation requests. Sec. 604. Improving rulemaking disclosure for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Sec. 605. Improving registration information from agents of foreign principals. Sec. 606. Agency defined. Sec. 607. Government-wide entity identifier. Sec. 608. Grants transparency requirements. Subtitle B—Publication of Opinions of Office of Legal Counsel Sec. 611. Short title. Sec. 612. Schedule of publication for final OLC opinions. Sec. 613. Exceptions and limitation on public availability of final OLC opinions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2055 IH Sec. 614. Method of publication. Sec. 615. Index of opinions. Sec. 616. Private right of action. Sec. 617. Severability. Sec. 618. Definitions. Subtitle C—Contempt of Congress Procedures and Enforcement Sec. 621. Availability of civil action to enforce House of Representatives sub- poenas. Sec. 622. Alternate procedures for enforcement of criminal contempt of Con- gress. Sec. 623. Increase in penalty for contempt of Congress. Sec. 624. Authority of United States Capitol Police to enforce citations. Sec. 625. Collection of penalties imposed by the House of Representatives on persons cited for contempt of House. Sec. 626. No effect of expiration of Congress on pending actions. TITLE VII—STRENGTHENING THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT Sec. 701. Agency defined. Sec. 702. Digital access to completed responses to the Freedom of Information Act. Sec. 703. FOIAonline for agencies. Sec. 704. Freedom of Information Act amendments. TITLE VIII—IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY WITHIN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM Sec. 801. Televising Supreme Court proceedings. Sec. 802. Audio recording of Supreme Court proceedings. Sec. 803. Availability on the Internet of financial disclosure reports of judicial officers. Sec. 804. GAO audit of PACER. Sec. 805. Electronic court records reform. TITLE IX—ENFORCEMENT Sec. 901. Audits by the Government Accountability Office. TITLE X—MISCELLANEOUS Sec. 1001. Transfer of certain records to Archivist of United States. Sec. 1002. Data standards. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2055 IH TITLE I—IMPROVING ACCESS TO 1 INFORMATION ABOUT MEM- 2 BERS OF CONGRESS AND 3 CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES 4 SEC. 101. GREATER DISCLOSURE AND ELECTRONIC FILING 5 OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION. 6 (a) ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIRE- 7 MENTS.—(1) Section 102(a)(1)(B) of the Ethics in Gov- 8 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 102(a)(1)(B)) is 9 amended in clause (iv) by striking ‘‘$15,000’’ and insert- 10 ing ‘‘$25,000’’ and by striking clauses (v) through (ix) and 11 inserting the following new clauses: 12 ‘‘(v) greater than $25,000 but not more 13 than $100,000, rounded to the nearest 14 $10,000, 15 ‘‘(vi) greater than $100,000 but not more 16 than $1,000,000, rounded to the nearest 17 $100,000, or 18 ‘‘(vii) greater than $1,000,000, rounded to 19 the nearest $1,000,000.’’. 20 (2) Section 102(d)(1) of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 21 102(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(3), (4), (5), and (8)’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘(5) and (8)’’. 23 (3) Section 102(d) of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 24 102(d)) is amended by redesignating paragraph (2) as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2055 IH paragraph (3) and by inserting after paragraph (1) the 1 following new paragraph: 2 ‘‘(2) The categories for reporting the amount or value 3 of the items covered in paragraphs (3) or (4) of subsection 4 (a) are as follows: 5 ‘‘(A) Not more than $15,000. 6 ‘‘(B) Greater than $15,000 but not more than 7 $25,000. 8 ‘‘(C) Greater than $25,000 but not more than 9 $100,000, rounded to the nearest $10,000. 10 ‘‘(D) Greater than $100,000 but not more than 11 $1,000,000, rounded to the nearest $100,000. 12 ‘‘(E) Greater than $1,000,000, rounded to the 13 nearest $1,000,000.’’. 14 (b) MORE FREQUENT DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL 15 TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY.— 16 (1) Section 101 of such Act (5 U.S.C. App. 101) is amend- 17 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 18 ‘‘(j) In addition to any other report required to be 19 filed by a Member of Congress or officer or employee of 20 the Congress, each such individual is required to file a 21 quarterly report on April 30, July 30, October 30, and 22 January 30 of each year covering the preceding calendar 23 quarter if that individual (or the spouse or any dependent 24 child of that individual) purchased, sold, or exchanged any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2055 IH property described in subsection (a)(5) valued at not less 1 than $250,000 during that calendar quarter. For any such 2 transaction of not less than $250,000, such report shall 3 contain all of the information required under subsection 4 (a)(5).’’. 5 (2)(A) Clause 1 of rule XXVI of the Rules of the 6 House of Representatives is amended by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ 7 after ‘‘1.’’ and by adding at the end the following new 8 paragraphs: 9 ‘‘(b) If any report is filed with the Clerk for a 10 calendar quarter pursuant to section 101(i) of the 11 Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the Clerk shall 12 compile all such reports sent to the Clerk by Mem- 13 bers and have them printed as a House document, 14 which shall be made available to the public, as soon 15 as practicable. 16 ‘‘(c) Each individual required to file a report 17 with the Clerk under title I under the Ethics in Gov- 18 ernment Act of 1978 shall file and maintain such re- 19 port in electronic form.’’. 20 ø(B) Comparable language to be added by the Sen- 21 ate.¿ 22 (c) AVAILABILITY ON THE INTERNET OF REPORTS 23 FILED UNDER THIS TITLE WITH THE CLERK OF THE 24 HOUSE OR THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—Section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2055 IH 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 1 App. 103) is amended by adding at the end the following 2 new subsection: 3 ‘‘(m) The Clerk of the House of Representatives and 4 the Secretary of the Senate shall each make available any 5 report filed with them under this title (whether the report 6 is filed in paper or electronic form) within 48 hours of 7 the applicable submission deadline on the website of the 8 Clerk or the Secretary, as applicable, in a searchable, sort- 9 able, downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 11 this section shall apply to reports filed for calendar years 12 or calendar quarters beginning after the date of enactment 13 of this Act. 14 SEC. 102. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF TRAVEL REPORTS. 15 (a) FOREIGN TRAVEL.—Clause 8(b)(3) of rule X of 16 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 17 adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Within 48 18 hours after any such report is filed with the chair of a 19 committee, the chair shall post the report on the Internet 20 site of the committee in a searchable, sortable, 21 downloadable, machine-readable format.’’. 22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 23 subsection (a) shall apply to travel commencing after the 24 date of enactment of this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2055 IH SEC. 103. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF GIFT REPORTS. 1 (a) REQUIRING CLERK OF THE HOUSE TO POST RE- 2 PORTS ON INTERNET NOT LATER THAN 48 HOURS 3 AFTER RECEIPT.—(1) Clause 5(b)(5) of rule XXV of the 4 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘shall make available’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘shall post on the public Internet site 7 of the Clerk and otherwise make available’’; and 8 (B) by striking ‘‘as possible’’ and inserting 9 the following: ‘‘as possible, but in no event later 10 than 48 hours,’’. 11 ø(2) Comparable language to be added by the Sen- 12 ate.¿ 13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 14 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to reports filed on 15 or after the date of the adoption of this resolution. 16 SEC. 104. GREATER DISCLOSURE OF EARMARKS. 17 (a) ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE BY MEMBERS.—(1) 18 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 19 is amended by redesignating clause 22 as clause 23 and 20 by inserting after clause 21 the following: 21 ‘‘22. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 22 who requests a congressional earmark, a limited tax ben- 23 efit, or a limited tariff benefit shall, within 24 hours after 24 making such request— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2055 IH ‘‘(1) post on his or her public website for the 1 remainder of the Congress the following— 2 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the intended 3 recipient; 4 ‘‘(B) whether the intended recipient is a 5 for-profit or not-for-profit entity; [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]