[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 564 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 564

  To establish in the Government Printing Office a means of enhancing 
    electronic public access to a wide range of Federal electronic 
                              information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 11 (legislative day, March 3), 1993

 Mr. Ford (for himself and Mr. Stevens) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish in the Government Printing Office a means of enhancing 
    electronic public access to a wide range of Federal electronic 
                              information.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Government Printing Office 
Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE.

    (a) In General.--Title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new chapter:

         ``CHAPTER 41--ACCESS TO FEDERAL ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

``Sec.
``4101. Electronic directory; online access to publications; electronic 
                            storage facility.
``4102. Fees.
``4103. Biennial report.
``4104. Definition.
``Sec. 4101. Electronic directory; online access to publications; 
              electronic storage facility
    ``(a) In General.--The Superintendent of Documents, under the 
direction of the Public Printer, shall--
            ``(1) maintain an electronic directory of Federal 
        electronic information;
            ``(2) provide a system of online access to the 
        Congressional Record, the Federal Register, and, as determined 
        by the Superintendent of Documents, other appropriate 
        publications distributed by the Superintendent of Documents; 
        and
            ``(3) operate an electronic storage facility for Federal 
        electronic information to which online access is made available 
        under paragraph (2).
    ``(b) Departmental Requests.--To the extent practicable, the 
Superintendent of Documents shall accommodate any request by the head 
of a department or agency to include in the system of access referred 
to in subsection (a)(2) information that is under the control of the 
department or agency involved.
    ``(c) Consultation.--In carrying out this section, the 
Superintendent of Documents shall consult--
            ``(1) users of the directory and the system of access 
        provided for under subsection (a); and
            ``(2) other providers of similar information services.
The purpose of such consultation shall be to assess the quality and 
value of the directory and the system, in light of user needs.
``Sec. 4102. Fees
    ``(a) In General.--The Superintendent of Documents, under the 
direction of the Public Printer, may charge reasonable fees for use of 
the directory and the system of access provided for under section 4101, 
except that use of the directory and the system shall be made available 
to depository libraries without charge. The fees received shall be 
treated in the same manner as moneys received from sale of documents 
under section 1702 of this title.
    ``(b) Cost Recovery.--The fees charged under this section shall be 
set so as to recover the incremental cost of dissemination of the 
information involved, with the cost to be computed without regard to 
section 1708 of this title.
``Sec. 4103. Biennial report
    ``Not later than December 31 of each odd-numbered year, the Public 
Printer shall submit to the Congress, with respect to the two preceding 
fiscal years, a report on the directory, the system of access, and the 
electronic storage facility referred to in section 4101(a). The report 
shall include a description of the functions involved, including a 
statement of cost savings in comparison with traditional forms of 
information distribution.
``Sec. 4104. Definition
    ``As used in this chapter, the term `Federal electronic 
information' means Federal public information stored electronically.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for title 44, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``41. Access to Federal Electronic Information..............    4101''.

SEC. 3. STATUS REPORT.

    Not later than June 30, 1994, the Public Printer shall submit to 
the Congress a report on the status of the directory, the system of 
access, and the electronic storage facility referred to in section 4101 
of title 44, United States Code, as added by section 2(a).

SEC. 4. SPECIAL RULES.

    (a) Operational Deadline.--The directory, the system of access, and 
the electronic storage facility referred to in section 4101 of title 
44, United States Code, as added by section 2(a), shall be operational 
not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) First Biennial Report.--The first report referred to in section 
4103 of title 44, United States Code, as added by section 2(a), shall 
be submitted not later than December 31, 1995.

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