[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3307 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3307

To amend title 5 of the United States Code to require Federal agencies 
 to conduct an assessment of the privacy implications resulting from a 
                             proposed rule.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 10, 1999

  Mr. Chabot (for himself, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Skeen, Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. 
 Foley, Mr. Paul, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. 
   Doolittle, Mr. Cox, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. Largent, Mr. 
Herger, Mr. Dickey, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Stearns, 
 Mr. Hostettler, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, and Mr. Burton of Indiana) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 5 of the United States Code to require Federal agencies 
 to conduct an assessment of the privacy implications resulting from a 
                             proposed rule.

    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 ``Defense of Privacy Act''.

SEC. 2. PRIVACY ASSESSMENT OF PROPOSED RULES.

    Chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 603(b)--
                    (A) by striking the period in paragraph (5) and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(6) a description and assessment of the extent to which 
        the proposed rule will impact the privacy interests of 
        individuals and nongovernmental organizations.'';
            (2) in section 604(a)--
                    (A) by striking the final ``and'' in paragraph (4);
                    (B) by striking the final period in paragraph (5) 
                and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(6) a description of the steps the agency has taken to 
        minimize the privacy impact on individuals and nongovernmental 
        organizations, including a statement of the factual, policy, 
        and legal reasons for selecting the alternative adopted in the 
        final rule and why each one of the other significant 
        alternatives to the rule considered by the agency which affect 
        the privacy interests of individuals and nongovernmental 
        organizations was rejected.'';
            (3) in section 605--
                    (A) by inserting ``(other than subsection (b)(5))'' 
                after ``603'' in subsection (b);
                    (B) by inserting ``(other than subsection (a)(6))'' 
                after ``604'' in subsection (b);
                    (C) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 
                (e);
                    (D) by designating the final two sentences of 
                subsection (b) as subsection (d);
                    (E) in subsection (d) (as designated by 
                subparagraph (D))--
                            (i) by striking ``the preceding sentence'' 
                        and inserting ``subsection (b) or (c)''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``The'' and inserting ``If 
                        the head of the agency makes a certification 
                        under subsection (b), the''; and
                    (F) by inserting after subsection (b) the following 
                new subsection (c):
    ``(c) Sections 603(b)(5) and 604(a)(6) of this title shall not 
apply to any proposed or final rule if the head of the agency certifies 
that the rule will not, if promulgated, have an impact on the privacy 
interests of individuals or nongovernmental organizations.''; and
            (4) in section 610, by inserting ``or which have a 
        significant impact on the privacy interests of a substantial 
        number of individuals or nongovernmental organizations'' after 
        ``small entities'' each place it occurs.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

    Chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code is amended--
            (1) in section 601(6), by striking the final ``and'';
            (2) in section 601(7)(B), by striking the final period and 
        inserting ``; and''
            (3) in section 601(8), by striking ``Recordkeeping 
        requirement.--The'' and inserting ``the'';
            (4) in section 602(a)(2), by striking the comma before the 
        final ``and'' and inserting a semicolon;
            (5) in section 609(a), by striking ``through techniques 
        such'' and inserting ``through the reasonable use of techniques 
        such'';
            (6) in section 609(b) (4) and (5), by striking 
        ``subsections 603(b), paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) and 603(c)'' 
        and inserting ``sections 603(b) (3), (4), and (5), and 
        603(c)'';
            (7) in section 609(c), by striking ``subsection 605(b)'' 
        and inserting ``section 605(b)''; and
            (8) in section 612(a), by striking ``to the Committees'' 
        and all that follows through ``House of Representatives'', and 
        inserting ``to the Committees on the Judiciary and Small 
        Business of the Senate and House of Representatives''.
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