Searchable Legislation Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3403 To require all bills, resolutions, and other documents of Congress to be created, transmitted, and published in searchable electronic formats, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 21, 2019 Mr. AMASH (for himself, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. DAVIDSON of Ohio, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. TONKO, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi- tion to the Committee on House Administration, 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 require all bills, resolutions, and other documents of Congress to be created, transmitted, and published in searchable electronic formats, 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; PURPOSES. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Searchable Legislation Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:20 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3403.IH H3403 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3403 IH (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol- 1 lows: 2 (1) To establish nonproprietary, machine-read- 3 able data standards for the creation, transmission, 4 and publication of Congressional information. 5 (2) To encourage the uniform use of nonpropri- 6 etary, machine-readable data standards, including 7 searchable electronic formats, for Congressional in- 8 formation by Congress and its support agencies and 9 offices. 10 (3) To ensure that Congressional information, 11 especially bills, resolutions, orders, and votes, can be 12 freely downloaded in bulk and electronically 13 searched. 14 SEC. 2. REQUIRING SEARCHABLE ELECTRONIC FORMATS 15 FOR CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS. 16 (a) SEARCHABLE ELECTRONIC FORMATS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title 1, United 18 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 19 107 the following new section: 20 ‘‘§ 107a. Searchable electronic formats 21 ‘‘To the greatest extent practicable, Congress shall 22 ensure that all bills, resolutions, orders, and other docu- 23 ments of Congress, and all records of votes cast in Con- 24 gress and committees of Congress, are created, trans- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:20 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3403.IH H3403 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3403 IH mitted, and published in searchable electronic formats, 1 consistent with data standards recommended by such advi- 2 sory bodies as Congress may establish.’’. 3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 4 tions for chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, 5 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 6 section 107 the following new item: 7 ‘‘107a. Searchable electronic formats.’’. (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 8 this section shall apply with respect to the One Hundred 9 Seventeenth Congress and each succeeding Congress. 10 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL DATA TASK FORCE. 11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Clerk of the 13 House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate, 14 acting jointly, shall establish an advisory body to be known 15 as the ‘‘Congressional Data Task Force’’ (hereafter re- 16 ferred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 17 (b) DUTIES.— 18 (1) RECOMMENDATION OF DATA STANDARDS.— 19 The Task Force shall recommend data standards for 20 the creation, transmission, and publication of infor- 21 mation and documents of Congress, including bills, 22 resolutions, amendments, reports, laws, and records, 23 in searchable electronic formats for purposes of sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:20 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3403.IH H3403 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3403 IH tion 107a of title 1, United States Code (as added 1 by section 2(a)). 2 (2) SPECIFICATIONS FOR STANDARDS.—All 3 data standards recommended by the Task Force 4 shall be nonproprietary and machine-readable, and, 5 to the greatest extent possible, shall enable the bulk 6 downloading of information. 7 (3) CONSULTATION WITH EXPERTS.—In car- 8 rying out its duties, the Task Force shall consult 9 with private entities with expertise in data trans- 10 parency standards. 11 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall be 13 composed of employee representatives of the Office 14 of the Clerk of the House, the Office of the Sec- 15 retary of the Senate, the Library of Congress, the 16 Congressional Research Service, the Government 17 Publishing Office, the Center for Legislative Ar- 18 chives, and such other offices of Congress and the 19 legislative branch as the Clerk and Secretary con- 20 sider appropriate. 21 (2) NO ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION FOR SERV- 22 ICE.—Members of the Task Force may not receive 23 additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of 24 their service on the Task Force. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:20 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3403.IH H3403 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3403 IH (d) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—No additional funds 1 may be appropriated to carry out this section during a 2 fiscal year. 3 (e) TERMINATION.—The Task Force shall terminate 4 on the last day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:20 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3403.IH H3403 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS