[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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