[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 393 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 393

   To provide Internet access to Congressional documents, including 
 certain Congressional Research Service publications, Senate lobbying 
   and gift report filings, and Senate and Joint Committee documents.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 9, 1999

 Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lott, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Robb, 
 and Mr. Enzi) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide Internet access to Congressional documents, including 
 certain Congressional Research Service publications, Senate lobbying 
   and gift report filings, and Senate and Joint Committee documents.

    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 ``Congressional Openness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) it is often burdensome, difficult, and time-consuming 
        for citizens to obtain timely access to public records of the 
        United States Congress;
            (2) congressional documents that are placed in the 
        Congressional Record are made available to the public 
        electronically by the Superintendent of Documents under the 
        direction of the Public Printer;
            (3) other congressional documents are also made available 
        electronically on websites maintained by Members of Congress 
        and committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives;
            (4) a wide range of public records of the Congress remain 
        inaccessible to the public;
            (5) the public should have easy and timely access, 
        including electronic access, to public records of the Congress;
            (6) the Congress should use new technologies to enhance 
        public access to public records of the Congress; and
            (7) an informed electorate is the most precious asset of 
        any democracy.
    (b) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to foster democracy by ensuring public access to public 
        records of the Congress;
            (2) to improve public access to public records of the 
        Congress; and
            (3) to enhance the electronic public access, including 
        access via the Internet, to public records of the Congress.

SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN CRS INFORMATION.

    (a) Availability of Information.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of the Congressional Research 
        Service shall make available through a centralized electronic 
        database, for purposes of access and retrieval by the public 
        under section 5 of this Act, all information described in 
        paragraph (2) that is available through the Congressional 
        Research Service website.
            (2) Information to be made available.--The information to 
        be made available under paragraph (1) is:
                    (A) Congressional Research Service Issue Briefs.
                    (B) Congressional Research Service Reports that are 
                available to Members of Congress through the 
                Congressional Research Service website.
                    (C) Congressional Research Service Authorization of 
                Appropriations Products and Appropriations Products.
    (b) Limitations.--
            (1) Confidential information.--Subsection (a) does not 
        apply to--
                    (A) any information that is confidential, as 
                determined by--
                            (i) the Director; or
                            (ii) the head of a Federal department or 
                        agency that provided the information to the 
                        Congressional Research Service; or
                    (B) any documents that are the product of an 
                individual, office, or Committee research request 
                (other than a document described in section 3(a)(2)).
            (2) Redaction and revision.--In carrying out this section, 
        the Director of the Congressional Research Service may--
                    (A) remove from the information required to be made 
                available under subsection (a) the name and phone 
                number of, and any other information regarding, an 
                employee of the Congressional Research Service;
                    (B) remove from the information required to be made 
                available under subsection (a) any material for which 
                the Director determines that making it available under 
                subsection (a) may infringe the copyright of a work 
                protected under title 17, United States Code; and
                    (C) make any changes in the information required to 
                be made available under subsection (a) that the 
                Director determines necessary to ensure that the 
                information is accurate and current.
    (c) Time.--The Director of the Congressional Research Service shall 
make available all information required under this section no earlier 
than 30 days and no later than 40 days after the date on which the 
information is first made available to Members of Congress through the 
Congressional Research Service web site.
    (d) Manner.--The Director of the Congressional Research Service 
shall make information required to be made available under this section 
in a manner that--
            (1) is practical and reasonable; and
            (2) does not permit the submission of comments from the 
        public.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC RECORDS OF THE CONGRESS.

    (a) Senate.--The Secretary of the Senate, through the Office of 
Public Records and in accordance with such standards as the Secretary 
may prescribe, shall make available on the Internet for purposes of 
access and retrieval by the public:
            (1) Lobbyist disclosure reports.--Lobbyist disclosure 
        reports required by the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
        U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) within 90 days (Saturdays, Sundays, and 
        holidays excepted) after they are received.
            (2) Gift rule disclosure reports.--Senate gift rule 
        disclosure reports required under paragraph 2 and paragraph 
        4(b) of rule XXXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate within 5 
        days (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays excepted) after they are 
        received.
    (b) Directory.--The Superintendent of Documents, under the 
direction of the Public Printer in the Government Printing Office, 
shall include information about the documents made available on the 
Internet under this section in the electronic directory of Federal 
electronic information required by section 4101(a)(1) of title 44, 
United States Code.

SEC. 5. METHOD OF ACCESS.

    (a) In General.--The information required to be made available to 
the public on the Internet under this Act shall be made available as 
follows:
            (1) CRS information.--Public access to information made 
        available under section 3 shall be provided through the 
        websites maintained by members and committees of the Senate. 
        The Director of the Congressional Research Service shall work 
        with the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate to carry out this 
        paragraph.
            (2) Public records.--Public access to information made 
        available under section 4 by the Secretary of the Senate's 
        Office of Public Records shall be provided through the United 
        States Senate website.
    (b) Editorial Responsibility for CRS Reports Online.--The Director 
of the Congressional Research Service is responsible for maintaining 
and updating the information made available on the Internet under 
section 3, and shall have sole discretion to edit that information 
under this Act.
    (c) Further Approval Not Required.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law to the contrary, the Director of the Congressional 
Research Service shall make the information required to be made 
available under section 3 of this Act without the prior approval of the 
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the Committee on House 
Oversight of the House of Representatives, or the Joint Committee on 
Printing.

SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE MATERIALS.

    It is the sense of the Senate that each standing and special 
committee of the Senate and each Joint Committee of the Congress, in 
accordance with such rules as the committee may adopt, should provide 
access via the Internet to publicly-available committee information, 
documents, and proceedings, including bills, reports, and transcripts 
of committee meetings that are open to the public.
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