CASES Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 435 To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance on electronic consent forms, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 11, 2019 Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance on electronic consent forms, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Advanced 4 Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 5 2019’’ or the ‘‘CASES Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 7 It is the sense of Congress that— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 435 IS (1) congressional offices provide crucial services 1 to constituents by acting as a liaison between the 2 constituents and the respective agencies; 3 (2) this includes assisting constituents by mak- 4 ing inquiries and working toward resolutions on be- 5 half of the constituent with the respective agencies; 6 and 7 (3) this process should be simplified through 8 the creation of electronic forms that may be sub- 9 mitted under section 552a of title 5, United States 10 Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Privacy Act’’), 11 thus modernizing the process for constituents and 12 improving access and efficiency of Government serv- 13 ices and agencies in order to expedite the resolution 14 of the problem for which constituents sought help. 15 SEC. 3. OMB GUIDANCE ON ELECTRONIC CONSENT AND AC- 16 CESS FORMS. 17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18 (1) AGENCY; INDIVIDUAL; RECORD.—The terms 19 ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘individual’’, and ‘‘record’’ have the 20 meanings given those terms in section 552a(a) of 21 title 5, United States Code. 22 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 23 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg- 24 et. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 435 IS (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the date 1 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guidance 2 that— 3 (1) requires each agency to accept electronic 4 identity proofing and authentication processes for 5 the purpose of allowing an individual to provide 6 prior written consent for the disclosure of the 7 records of the individual under section 552a(b) of 8 title 5, United States Code, or for individual access 9 to records under section 552a(d) of such title; 10 (2) creates a template for electronic consent 11 and access forms and requires each agency to accept 12 the forms from any individual properly identity 13 proofed and authenticated in accordance with para- 14 graph (1) for the purpose of authorizing disclosure 15 of the records of the individual under section 16 552a(b) of title 5, United States Code, or for indi- 17 vidual access to records under section 552a(d) of 18 such title; and 19 (3) requires each agency to accept the electronic 20 consent and access forms described in paragraph (2) 21 from any individual properly identity proofed and 22 authenticated in accordance with paragraph (1) for 23 the purpose of authorizing disclosure of the records 24 of the individual to another entity, including a con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 435 IS gressional office, in accordance with section 552a(b) 1 of title 5, United States Code, or for individual ac- 2 cess to records under section 552a(d) of such title. 3 (c) AGENCY COMPLIANCE.—Each agency shall com- 4 ply with the guidance issued under subsection (b) not later 5 than 1 year after the date on which the guidance is issued. 6 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 7 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 8 requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be car- 9 ried out using amounts otherwise authorized. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S435.IS S435 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS