[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3371 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3371

    To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to establish public 
   disclosure requirements for working groups of advisory committees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 28, 2001

  Mr. Waxman (for himself, Mr. Matsui, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Owens, Mr. 
Kanjorski, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Pomeroy, and Mr. 
   Becerra) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to establish public 
   disclosure requirements for working groups of advisory committees.

    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 ``Federal Advisory Committee 
Transparency Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 
              WORKING GROUPS.

    (a) Working Group Defined.--Section 3 of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(5) The term `working group' means any committee, board, 
        commission, council, conference, panel, task force, or other 
        similar group, or any subcommittee or other subgroup thereof, 
        that is established or utilized by an advisory committee to--
                    ``(A) gather information, develop work plans, 
                perform studies, draft reports, or discuss preliminary 
                findings with agency employees; or
                    ``(B) conduct deliberations, prepare reports, or 
                make recommendations to the advisory committee.''.
    (b) Requirements for Working Groups.--The Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.) is amended by striking section 16 and 
inserting the following:

                     ``treatment of working groups

    ``Sec. 16. (a) Notice of Establishment or Utilization.--An advisory 
committee shall publish notice of the establishment or utilization of 
any working group by the advisory committee, by not later than 15 days 
after the date of that establishment or utilization, respectively.
    ``(b) Procedures; Availability of Transcripts.--A working group 
shall be treated as an advisory committee for purposes of sections 10 
and 11.''.
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