[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 373 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 373
To require notification to Congress of certain contracts, and to amend
title 31, United States Code, to prohibit the unauthorized expenditure
of funds for publicity or propaganda purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 26, 2005
Ms. DeLauro (for herself, Mr. Waxman, Mr. George Miller of California,
Mr. McDermott, and Ms. Slaughter) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require notification to Congress of certain contracts, and to amend
title 31, United States Code, to prohibit the unauthorized expenditure
of funds for publicity or propaganda purposes.
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 Propaganda Prohibition Act
of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Investigations in 2004 and 2005 by the Government
Accountability Office revealed that appropriated funds have
been used in more than one Federal agency to fund ``covert
propaganda'' that is ``misleading as to source''.
(2) An independent investigation revealed that the
Department of Education paid a conservative commentator to
speak in support of the No Child Left Behind Act during his
television and radio appearances.
(3) The American public has been subjected to receiving
millions of dollars worth of messages in print, television,
radio, and in person without being informed that the sources
are not independent.
(4) There is not enough information about Federal public
relations and advertising efforts to allow for consistent
oversight by Congress.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to ensure that advertising and public relations
campaigns paid for with Federal appropriations are unbiased and
factual, and do not contain a political message or covert
propaganda;
(2) to increase the oversight and evaluation of advertising
campaigns paid for by the Federal Government by requiring that
agencies provide notice to the appropriate congressional
committees of all public relations, media relations, and
advertising contracts;
(3) to require that all public relations and media outreach
tools developed by Federal agencies inform the target audience
of the source of funding for the message; and
(4) to make permanent the prohibition against spending
Federal funds on publicity and propaganda that has been
included in appropriations Acts since 1951.
SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS REGARDING CERTAIN CONTRACTS.
(a) Requirement to Notify Congress Regarding Certain Contracts.--
Not later than 30 days after entering into a covered contract, an
Executive agency shall submit to each covered congressional committee a
written notification containing the name of the contractor, the amount
of the contract, the purpose of the contract, a summary of the
statement of work for the contract, and any other information the
agency considers relevant.
(b) Requirement to Submit Other Information Upon Request.--Upon
request by the Comptroller General or the chairman or ranking minority
member of any covered congressional committee, an Executive agency that
provided a notification under subsection (a) for a covered contract
shall provide to the person making the request--
(1) a copy of the covered contract;
(2) any modifications to the covered contract; and
(3) any materials produced under the covered contract.
(c) Covered Contracts.--In this section, the term ``covered
contract'' means a contract with an Executive agency for public
relations, media relations, advertising, or public opinion research
services, or any subcontract for such services under a Federal
contract.
(d) Covered Congressional Committees.--In this section, the term
``covered congressional committee'', with respect to a notification
submitted by an Executive agency under subsection (a), means each of
the following:
(1) The Committee on Government Reform of the House of
Representatives.
(2) The Committee on Governmental Affairs and Homeland
Security of the Senate.
(3) The Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(4) The Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(5) Each authorizing committee of the House of
Representatives and the Senate with jurisdiction over the
Executive agency submitting the notification.
(e) Executive Agency.--In this section, the term ``Executive
agency'' has the meaning provided in section 105 of title 5, United
States Code.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON UNAUTHORIZED EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS FOR PUBLICITY
OR PROPAGANDA PURPOSES.
(a) Prohibition.--Chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1355. Prohibition on unauthorized expenditure of funds for
publicity or propaganda purposes
``(a) Prohibition.--An officer or employee of the United States
Government may not make or authorize an expenditure or obligation of
funds for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States
unless authorized by law.
``(b) Penalties.--
``(1) Adverse personnel action.--An officer or employee of
the United States Government violating subsection (a) shall be
subject to appropriate administrative discipline including,
when circumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay or
removal from office.
``(2) Criminal penalty.--An officer or employee of the
United States Government knowingly and willfully violating
subsection (a) shall be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned
for not more than 2 years, or both.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 13 of
such title is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``1355. Prohibition on unauthorized expenditure of funds for publicity
or propaganda purposes.''.
SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL SPONSORSHIP OF ALL
FEDERAL ADVERTISING OR OTHER COMMUNICATION MATERIALS.
(a) Requirement.--Each advertisement or other communication paid
for by an Executive agency, either directly or through a contract
awarded by the Executive agency, shall include a prominent notice
informing the target audience that the advertisement or other
communication is paid for by that Executive agency.
(b) Advertisement or Other Communication.--In this section, the
term ``advertisement or other communication'' includes--
(1) an advertisement disseminated in any form, including
print or by any electronic means; and
(2) a communication by an individual in any form, including
speech, print, or by any electronic means.
(c) Executive Agency.--In this section, the term ``Executive
agency'' has the meaning provided in section 105 of title 5, United
States Code.
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