Restoring Oversight for Members of Congress Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2019 To ensure Members of Congress have access to Federal facilities in order to exercise their Constitutional oversight responsibilities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 27, 2019 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To ensure Members of Congress have access to Federal facili- ties in order to exercise their Constitutional oversight responsibilities. 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 ‘‘Restoring Oversight 4 for Members of Congress Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. RESTORING OVERSIGHT THROUGH ACCESS TO FED- 6 ERAL FACILITIES FOR MEMBERS. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2019.IS S2019 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2019 IS (1) the term ‘‘committee of jurisdiction’’, with 1 respect to a Federal facility, means the committee of 2 the Senate or the House of Representatives with ju- 3 risdiction of the activities carried out at the Federal 4 facility; 5 (2) the term ‘‘Federal facility’’— 6 (A) means a facility, or portion of a facil- 7 ity, that is owned or controlled by the Federal 8 Government; and 9 (B) includes— 10 (i) a facility, or portion of a facility, 11 used by the Federal Government under a 12 contract or lease; and 13 (ii) a facility, or portion of a facility, 14 at which operations are carried out under 15 the authority of the Federal Government 16 granted under a contract or other agree- 17 ment with the Federal Government; and 18 (3) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’— 19 (A) has the meaning given that term under 20 section 2106 of title 5, United States Code; and 21 (B) does not include the Vice President. 22 (b) ACCESS TO FACILITIES.—Subject to subsection 23 (c)(4), the head of the agency that controls access to a 24 Federal facility, or the manager of the Federal facility, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2019.IS S2019 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2019 IS shall provide a Member of Congress seeking access to the 1 Federal facility with immediate access to the Federal facil- 2 ity. 3 (c) RESTRICTIONS OF ACCESS FOR NATIONAL SECU- 4 RITY REASONS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the head of an agency 6 wishes to restrict the access of Members of Congress 7 to a Federal facility for national security reasons, 8 the head of the agency shall submit to the committee 9 of jurisdiction of each House of Congress a report 10 explaining the articulable national security damage 11 that would result from providing access to the Fed- 12 eral facility to a Member of Congress. 13 (2) NEGOTIATED PROTOCOLS.—If the head of 14 an agency submits a report under paragraph (1) 15 with respect to a Federal facility, the committees of 16 jurisdiction shall seek to negotiate with the head of 17 the agency protocols under which all Members of 18 Congress may access the Federal facility. 19 (3) REPORT SEEKING TO LIMIT ACCESS.—If the 20 head of an agency determines that the agency does 21 not believe protocols can be established under which 22 all Members of Congress may access the Federal fa- 23 cility, the head of the agency shall submit to the 24 committee of jurisdiction of each House of Congress 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2019.IS S2019 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2019 IS a report explaining the national security reasons 1 that such protocols cannot be established. 2 (4) LIMIT ON ACCESS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4 subparagraph (B), for a Federal facility with 5 respect to which the head of an agency submits 6 a report under paragraph (3), with the approval 7 of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the 8 committee of jurisdiction of each House of Con- 9 gress, access to the Federal facility may be lim- 10 ited for national security reasons to Members of 11 Congress who are members of a committee of 12 jurisdiction. 13 (B) CERTAIN OVERSEAS FACILITIES.—For 14 a Federal facility that is located outside the 15 United States and presents exceptional physical 16 security concerns with respect to which the 17 head of an agency submits a report under para- 18 graph (3), with the approval of the Chairman 19 and Ranking Member of the committee of juris- 20 diction of each House of Congress, the Federal 21 facility may be restricted for national security 22 reasons from all access by Members of Con- 23 gress. 24 (5) ACCESS TO FACILITIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2019.IS S2019 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2019 IS (A) PROTOCOLS.—If the head of an agency 1 and the committees of jurisdiction negotiate 2 protocols under paragraph (2) with respect to a 3 Federal facility, the head of the agency that 4 controls access to a Federal facility, or the 5 manager of the Federal facility, shall provide a 6 Member of Congress seeking access to the Fed- 7 eral facility with immediate access to the Fed- 8 eral facility in accordance with such protocols. 9 (B) DISAPPROVAL.—If the Chairman and 10 Ranking Member of the committee of jurisdic- 11 tion of each House of Congress do not approve 12 restricting access to a Federal facility under 13 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (4), the 14 head of the agency that controls access to a 15 Federal facility, or the manager of the Federal 16 facility, shall provide a Member of Congress 17 seeking access to the Federal facility with im- 18 mediate access to the Federal facility in accord- 19 ance with subsection (b). 20 (6) NONDELEGATION.—The duties and authori- 21 ties of the head of an agency under paragraphs (1) 22 through (4) may not be delegated. 23 (d) CONTRACTS.—The head of each agency shall en- 24 sure that any contract, lease, or other agreement with a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2019.IS S2019 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2019 IS non-Federal individual or entity relating to a Federal facil- 1 ity that is entered into or modified after the date of enact- 2 ment of this Act includes a requirement to provide access 3 to Members of Congress in accordance with this Act. 4 (e) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates this Act, 5 including the head of an agency, any officer or employee 6 to whom duties under this Act are delegated, and any indi- 7 vidual or entity entering a contract or lease with the Fed- 8 eral Government relating to a Federal facility, shall be 9 fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for 10 not more than 1 year, or both. 11 (f) FINDINGS.—A Member of Congress may enter a 12 statement into the Congressional Record detailing the 13 findings of the Member of Congress based on accessing 14 a Federal facility. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2019.IS S2019 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS