Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2485 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 27, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To require the Director of the Government Publishing Office to establish and maintain a single online portal accessible to the public that allows the public to obtain electronic copies of all congressionally mandated reports, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 2485 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Congression- 2 ally Mandated Reports Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORT.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘congression- 7 ally mandated report’’ means a report of a Fed- 8 eral agency that is required by statute to be 9 submitted to either House of Congress or any 10 committee of Congress or subcommittee thereof. 11 (B) EXCLUSIONS.— 12 (i) PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL ORGA- 13 NIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘congressionally 14 mandated report’’ does not include a re- 15 port required under part B of subtitle II of 16 title 36, United States Code. 17 (ii) INSPECTORS GENERAL.—The 18 term ‘‘congressionally mandated report’’ 19 does not include a report by an office of an 20 inspector general. 21 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 22 the Director of the Government Publishing Office. 23 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 24 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘federal 25 agency’’ under section 102 of title 40, United States 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 2485 RFS Code, but does not include the Government Account- 1 ability Office or an element of the intelligence com- 2 munity. 3 (4) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 4 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 5 that term in section 3 of the National Security Act 6 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 7 (5) OPEN FORMAT.—The term ‘‘open format’’ 8 means a file format for storing digital data based on 9 an underlying open standard that— 10 (A) is not encumbered by any restrictions 11 that would impede reuse; and 12 (B) is based on an underlying open data 13 standard that is maintained by a standards or- 14 ganization. 15 (6) REPORTS ONLINE PORTAL.—The term ‘‘re- 16 ports online portal’’ means the online portal estab- 17 lished under section 3(a). 18 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE PORTAL FOR CON- 19 GRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORTS. 20 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH ONLINE POR- 21 TAL.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 24 establish and maintain an online portal accessible by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 2485 RFS the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 1 copies of congressionally mandated reports in one 2 place. 3 (2) EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY.—To the extent 4 possible, the Director shall meet the requirements 5 under paragraph (1) by using existing online portals 6 and functionality under the authority of the Direc- 7 tor. 8 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this Act, 9 the Director shall consult with the Clerk of the 10 House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Sen- 11 ate, and the Librarian of Congress regarding the re- 12 quirements for and maintenance of congressionally 13 mandated reports on the reports online portal. 14 (b) CONTENT AND FUNCTION.—The Director shall 15 ensure that the reports online portal includes the fol- 16 lowing: 17 (1) Subject to subsection (c), with respect to 18 each congressionally mandated report, each of the 19 following: 20 (A) A citation to the statute requiring the 21 report. 22 (B) An electronic copy of the report, in- 23 cluding any transmittal letter associated with 24 the report, in an open format that is platform 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 2485 RFS independent and that is available to the public 1 without restrictions, including restrictions that 2 would impede the re-use of the information in 3 the report. 4 (C) The ability to retrieve a report, to the 5 extent practicable, through searches based on 6 each, and any combination, of the following: 7 (i) The title of the report. 8 (ii) The reporting Federal agency. 9 (iii) The date of publication. 10 (iv) Each congressional committee or 11 subcommittee receiving the report, if appli- 12 cable. 13 (v) The statute requiring the report. 14 (vi) Subject tags. 15 (vii) A unique alphanumeric identifier 16 for the report that is consistent across re- 17 port editions. 18 (viii) The serial number, Super- 19 intendent of Documents number, or other 20 identification number for the report, if ap- 21 plicable. 22 (ix) Key words. 23 (x) Full text search. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 2485 RFS (xi) Any other relevant information 1 specified by the Director. 2 (D) The date on which the report was re- 3 quired to be submitted, and on which the report 4 was submitted, to the reports online portal. 5 (E) To the extent practicable, a permanent 6 means of accessing the report electronically. 7 (2) A means for bulk download of all congres- 8 sionally mandated reports. 9 (3) A means for downloading individual reports 10 as the result of a search. 11 (4) An electronic means for the head of each 12 Federal agency to submit to the reports online por- 13 tal each congressionally mandated report of the 14 agency, as required by section 4. 15 (5) In tabular form, a list of all congressionally 16 mandated reports that can be searched, sorted, and 17 downloaded by— 18 (A) reports submitted within the required 19 time; 20 (B) reports submitted after the date on 21 which such reports were required to be sub- 22 mitted; and 23 (C) to the extent practicable, reports not 24 submitted. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 2485 RFS (c) NONCOMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 1 (1) REPORTS NOT SUBMITTED.—If a Federal 2 agency does not submit a congressionally mandated 3 report to the Director, the Director shall to the ex- 4 tent practicable— 5 (A) include on the reports online portal— 6 (i) the information required under 7 clauses (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of subsection 8 (b)(1)(C); and 9 (ii) the date on which the report was 10 required to be submitted; and 11 (B) include the congressionally mandated 12 report on the list described in subsection 13 (b)(5)(C). 14 (2) REPORTS NOT IN OPEN FORMAT.—If a Fed- 15 eral agency submits a congressionally mandated re- 16 port that is not in an open format, the Director shall 17 include the congressionally mandated report in an- 18 other format on the reports online portal. 19 (d) DEADLINE.—The Director shall ensure that in- 20 formation required to be published on the online portal 21 under this Act with respect to a congressionally mandated 22 report or information required under subsection (c) of this 23 section is published— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 2485 RFS (1) not later than 30 days after the information 1 is received from the Federal agency involved; or 2 (2) in the case of information required under 3 subsection (c), not later than 30 days after the 4 deadline under this Act for the Federal agency in- 5 volved to submit information with respect to the con- 6 gressionally mandated report involved. 7 (e) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN REPORTS.— 8 (1) EXCEPTION DESCRIBED.—A congressionally 9 mandated report which is required by statute to be 10 submitted to a committee of Congress or a sub- 11 committee thereof, including any transmittal letter 12 associated with the report, shall not be submitted to 13 or published on the reports online portal if the chair 14 of a committee or subcommittee to which the report 15 is submitted notifies the Director in writing that the 16 report is to be withheld from submission and publi- 17 cation under this Act. 18 (2) NOTICE ON PORTAL.—If a report is with- 19 held from submission to or publication on the re- 20 ports online portal under paragraph (1), the Direc- 21 tor shall post on the portal— 22 (A) a statement that the report is withheld 23 at the request of a committee or subcommittee 24 involved; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 2485 RFS (B) the written notification provided by the 1 chair of the committee or subcommittee speci- 2 fied in paragraph (1). 3 (f) FREE ACCESS.—The Director may not charge a 4 fee, require registration, or impose any other limitation 5 in exchange for access to the reports online portal. 6 (g) UPGRADE CAPABILITY.—The reports online por- 7 tal shall be enhanced and updated as necessary to carry 8 out the purposes of this Act. 9 SEC. 4. FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 10 (a) SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC COPIES OF RE- 11 PORTS.—Not earlier than 30 days or later than 45 days 12 after the date on which a congressionally mandated report 13 is submitted to either House of Congress or to any com- 14 mittee of Congress or subcommittee thereof, the head of 15 the Federal agency submitting the congressionally man- 16 dated report shall submit to the Director the information 17 required under subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 18 3(b)(1) with respect to the congressionally mandated re- 19 port. Notwithstanding section 6, nothing in this Act shall 20 relieve a Federal agency of any other requirement to pub- 21 lish the congressionally mandated report on the online por- 22 tal of the Federal agency or otherwise submit the congres- 23 sionally mandated report to Congress or specific commit- 24 tees of Congress, or subcommittees thereof. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 2485 RFS (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the 1 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 2 of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Di- 3 rector, shall issue guidance to agencies on the implementa- 4 tion of this Act. 5 (c) STRUCTURE OF SUBMITTED REPORT DATA.— 6 The head of each Federal agency shall ensure that each 7 congressionally mandated report submitted to the Director 8 complies with the open format criteria established by the 9 Director in the guidance issued under subsection (b). 10 (d) POINT OF CONTACT.—The head of each Federal 11 agency shall designate a point of contact for congression- 12 ally mandated reports. 13 (e) REQUIREMENT FOR SUBMISSION.—The Director 14 shall not publish any report through the online portal that 15 is received from anyone other than the head of the applica- 16 ble Federal agency, or an officer or employee of the Fed- 17 eral agency specifically designated by the head of the Fed- 18 eral agency. 19 SEC. 5. CHANGING OR REMOVING REPORTS. 20 (a) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO CHANGE OR RE- 21 MOVE REPORTS.—Except as provided in subsection (b), 22 the head of the Federal agency concerned may change or 23 remove a congressionally mandated report submitted to be 24 published on the reports online portal only if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 2485 RFS (1) the head of the Federal agency consults 1 with each committee of Congress or subcommittee 2 thereof to which the report is required to be sub- 3 mitted (or, in the case of a report which is not re- 4 quired to be submitted to a particular committee of 5 Congress or subcommittee thereof, to each com- 6 mittee with jurisdiction over the agency, as deter- 7 mined by the head of the agency in consultation with 8 the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 9 President pro tempore of the Senate) prior to chang- 10 ing or removing the report; and 11 (2) a joint resolution is enacted to authorize the 12 change in or removal of the report. 13 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 14 the head of the Federal agency concerned— 15 (1) may make technical changes to a report 16 submitted to or published on the online portal; 17 (2) may remove a report from the online portal 18 if the report was submitted to or published on the 19 online portal in error; and 20 (3) may withhold information, records, or re- 21 ports from publication on the online portal in ac- 22 cordance with section 6. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 2485 RFS SEC. 6. WITHHOLDING OF INFORMATION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con- 2 strued to— 3 (1) require the disclosure of information, 4 records, or reports that are exempt from public dis- 5 closure under section 552 of title 5, United States 6 Code, or that may be withheld under section 552a 7 of title 5, United States Code; or 8 (2) impose any affirmative duty on the Director 9 to review congressionally mandated reports sub- 10 mitted for publication to the reports online portal 11 for the purpose of identifying and redacting such in- 12 formation or records. 13 (b) WITHHOLDING OF INFORMATION.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with subsection 15 (a)(1), the head of a Federal agency may withhold 16 from the Director, and from publication on the on- 17 line portal, any information, records, or reports that 18 are exempt from public disclosure under section 552 19 of title 5, United States Code, or that may be with- 20 held under section 552a of title 5, United States 21 Code. 22 (2) NATIONAL SECURITY.—Nothing in this Act 23 shall be construed to require the publication, on the 24 online portal or otherwise, of any report containing 25 information that is classified, or the public release of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2485.RFS H2485 kjohnson on [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]