HR 1974 · 112th Congress 2011–2013, ended

Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act

Latest action · Oct 1, 2012 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 503.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedMay 24, 2011
  2. Passed HouseNot reached
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act - (Sec. 2) Requires the Public Printer (GPO) to establish and maintain a website accessible by the public for obtaining electronic copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one place. Prohibits GPO from charging a fee, requiring registration, or imposing any other limitation in exchange for access to the website.

Requires that such website provide, with respect to each congressionally mandated report: (1) a citation to the statute or conference report requiring the report; (2) an electronic copy of the report, including any transmittal letter; (3) the ability to retrieve a report through searches based on the title of the report, the reporting federal agency, the date of publication, each congressional committee receiving the report, and other search data; (4) the time and date when the report was required to be submitted and when it was submitted to the website; (5) access to the report not later than 30 calendar days after its submission to Congress; and (6) a permanent means of accessing the report electronically.

Requires such website to include: (1) a means for bulk download of all congressionally mandated reports or a selection of reports retrieved using a search; (2) a means for each agency head to publish on the website each congressionally mandated agency report; and (3) a list form for all reports that can be searched, sorted, and downloaded by reports submitted within the required time, reports submitted after their required date of submission, and reports not submitted.

(Sec. 3) Requires the head of each federal agency to publish the agency's congressionally mandated reports on the website in an open format that is platform independent, machine readable, and available to the public without restrictions, including restrictions that would impede the reuse of information in the reports. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance to agencies on the implementation of this Act.

(Sec. 4) Deems a federal agency to have complied with a statutory requirement to submit a report to Congress if the agency: (1) publishes a complete and unredacted copy on the website established by this Act; and (2) notifies the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Senate, and each congressional committee to which a report must be submitted of the report's availability on the website. Prohibits any report posted on the website from being changed or removed, with the exception of technical changes, without the express, written consent of each such congressional committee.

(Sec. 5) Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the disclosure of information or records that are exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Requires agencies to redact from reports information that may not be publicly released, to indicate where such redactions are made in the report, and to identify the exemption under which each redaction is made.

(Sec. 6) Defines "congressionally mandated report" as a report that is required to be submitted to either chamber of Congress or any committee of Congress by statute or by a conference report that accompanies legislation enacted into law.

(Sec. 7) Requires this Act to be implemented not later than one year after its enactment.

Cosponsors 17

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 24, 2011 to Oct 12, 2011; 6 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-NYEdolphus TownsOriginalMay 24, 2011
D-DCEleanor Holmes NortonOriginalMay 24, 2011
D-MDElijah E. CummingsOriginalMay 24, 2011
D-TNJim CooperOriginalMay 24, 2011
D-MAStephen F. LynchOriginalMay 24, 2011
D-MOWm. Lacy ClayOriginalMay 24, 2011
D-NYCarolyn B. MaloneyJun 2, 2011
D-ILDanny K. DavisJun 2, 2011
D-KYJohn A. YarmuthJun 13, 2011
D-WIRon KindJun 13, 2011
D-NYSteve IsraelJun 14, 2011
D-VTPeter WelchJun 21, 2011
D-CAJackie SpeierJun 23, 2011
R-ORGreg WaldenJul 15, 2011
R-ILAaron SchockJul 20, 2011
D-COJared PolisJul 20, 2011
I-MIJustin AmashOct 12, 2011

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
HouseOversight and Government Reform Committee
Referred May 24, 2011Hearings Jun 22, 2011Markup Jun 22, 2011Reported Sep 11, 2012
HouseCommittee on House Administration
Referred May 24, 2011Discharged Oct 1, 2012

Actions 9

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Oct 1, 2012Committee on House Administration discharged.
  2. Oct 1, 2012Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 503.
  3. Sep 10, 2012Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 112-663, Part I.
  4. Sep 10, 2012House Committee on House Administration Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Oct. 1, 2012.
  5. Jun 22, 2011Committee Hearings Held.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Committee report

Congressional Budget Office cost estimate

  1. Jul 7, 2011H.R. 1974, Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports ActCost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on June 24, 2011

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H3410.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

NumberHearingCommitteeHeld
—MARKUP OF H.R. 406, H.R. 6122, H. CON. RES. 132, AND H.R. 140226 pagesCommittee on House AdministrationJul 19, 2012

CRS reports 1

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 1

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
S 1411Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports ActRelated billJul 25, 2011

Titles 3

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced
To require the Public Printer to establish and maintain a website accessible to the public that allows the public to obtain electronic copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one place, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced
Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act
Short Titles as Reported to House
Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.

Text 2

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Oct 1, 2012Reported in House
  2. May 24, 2011Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.