[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1996 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 429
112th CONGRESS
   2d Session
                                H. R. 1996

                          [Report No. 112-594]

To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, with respect to the award 
  of fees and other expenses in cases brought against agencies of the 
 United States, to require the Administrative Conference of the United 
States to compile, and make publically available, certain data relating 
      to the Equal Access to Justice Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2011

     Mrs. Lummis (for herself, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. Thompson of 
   Pennsylvania, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. 
Tipton, Mr. Denham, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Coffman of Colorado, 
Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Nunes, Mrs. Noem, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Duncan of 
   Tennessee, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Herger, and Mr. Flake) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

                             July 11, 2012

    Additional sponsors: Mr. Walden, Mr. Ribble, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. 
 Marchant, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Costa, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Ross of Florida, 
  Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Smith of Nebraska, Mr. Labrador, Mrs. 
    Hartzler, Ms. Foxx, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Latta, Mr. 
Luetkemeyer, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Paul, Mr. Jones, Mr. Benishek, Mrs. Adams, 
   Mr. Duffy, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Miller of 
    Florida, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. Coble, Mr. Quayle, Mr. 
Hultgren, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. Flores, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Fleming, Mr. 
   Canseco, Mr. Graves of Georgia, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Nunnelee, Mr. 
  Crawford, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Cravaack, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Duncan of 
      South Carolina, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Berg, Mr. Gardner, and Mr. 
                              Westmoreland


                             July 11, 2012

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 25, 
                                 2011]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, with respect to the award 
  of fees and other expenses in cases brought against agencies of the 
 United States, to require the Administrative Conference of the United 
States to compile, and make publically available, certain data relating 
      to the Equal Access to Justice Act, and for other 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 ``Government Litigation Savings Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Agency Proceedings.--Section 504 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)----
                            (i) by inserting after the first sentence 
                        the following: ``Fees and other expenses may be 
                        awarded under this subsection only to a 
                        prevailing party who has a direct and personal 
                        interest in the adversary adjudication because 
                        of medical costs, property damage, denial of 
                        benefits, unpaid disbursement, fees and other 
                        expenses incurred in defense of the 
                        adjudication, interest in a policy concerning 
                        such medical costs, property damage, denial of 
                        benefits, unpaid disbursement, or fees and 
                        other expenses, or otherwise.''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``The agency conducting the adversary 
                        adjudication shall make any party against whom 
                        the adjudication is brought, at the time the 
                        adjudication is commenced, aware of the 
                        provisions of this section.''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3), in the first sentence--
                            (i) by striking ``may reduce'' and 
                        inserting ``shall reduce''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``unduly and 
                        unreasonably'' and inserting ``unduly or 
                        unreasonably'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``$125 per 
                hour'' and all that follows through the end and 
                inserting ``$200 per hour.);''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``; except 
                that'' and all that follows through ``section 601;'' 
                and inserting ``except that--
                    ``(I) the net worth of a party (other than an 
                individual or a unit of local government) shall include 
                the net worth of any parent entity or subsidiary of 
                that party; and
                    ``(II) for purposes of subclause (I)--
                            ``(aa) a `parent entity' of a party is an 
                        entity that owns or controls the equity or 
                        other evidences of ownership in that party; and
                            ``(bb) a `subsidiary' of a party is an 
                        entity the equity or other evidences of 
                        ownership in which are owned or controlled by 
                        that party;'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ``, United States 
        Code''; and
            (4) by striking subsections (e) and (f) and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(e)(1) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the 
United States, after consultation with the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 
of the Small Business Administration, shall report annually to the 
Congress on the amount of fees and other expenses awarded during the 
preceding fiscal year pursuant to this section. The report shall 
describe the number, nature, and amount of the awards, the claims 
involved in the controversy, and any other relevant information that 
may aid the Congress in evaluating the scope and impact of such awards. 
Each agency shall provide the Chairman in a timely manner all 
information necessary for the Chairman to comply with the requirements 
of this subsection. The report shall be made available to the public 
online.
    ``(2)(A) The report required by paragraph (1) shall account for all 
payments of fees and other expenses awarded under this section that are 
made pursuant to a settlement agreement, regardless of whether the 
settlement agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to nondisclosure 
provisions, except that any version of the report made available to the 
public may not reveal any information the disclosure of which is 
contrary to the national security of the United States.
    ``(B) The disclosure of fees and other expenses required under 
subparagraph (A) does not affect any other information that is subject 
to nondisclosure provisions in the settlement agreement.
    ``(f) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference shall create 
and maintain online a searchable database containing the following 
information with respect to each award of fees and other expenses under 
this section:
            ``(1) The name of each party to whom the award was made.
            ``(2) The name of each counsel of record representing each 
        party to whom the award was made.
            ``(3) The agency to which the application for the award was 
        made.
            ``(4) The name of each counsel of record representing the 
        agency to which the application for the award was made.
            ``(5) The name of each administrative law judge, and the 
        name of any other agency employee serving in an adjudicative 
        role, in the adversary adjudication that is the subject of the 
        application for the award.
            ``(6) The amount of the award.
            ``(7) The names and hourly rates of each expert witness for 
        whose services the award was made under the application.
            ``(8) The basis for the finding that the position of the 
        agency concerned was not substantially justified.
    ``(g) The online searchable database described in subsection (f) 
may not reveal any information the disclosure of which is prohibited by 
law or court order, or the disclosure of which is contrary to the 
national security of the United States.
    ``(h) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
adjust the maximum hourly fee set forth in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii) for 
the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2012, and for each fiscal year 
thereafter, to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index, as 
determined by the Secretary of Labor.''.
    (b) Court Cases.--Section 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read as follows: ``(A) 
        Except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, a court, 
        in any civil action (other than cases sounding in tort), 
        including proceedings for judicial review of agency action, 
        brought by or against the United States in any court having 
        jurisdiction of that action, shall award to a prevailing party 
        (other than the United States) fees and other expenses, in 
        addition to any costs awarded pursuant to subsection (a), 
        incurred by that party in the civil action, unless the court 
        finds that the position of the United States was substantially 
        justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust. 
        Fees and other expenses may be awarded under this paragraph 
        only to a prevailing party who has a direct and personal 
        interest in the civil action because of medical costs, property 
        damage, denial of benefits, unpaid disbursement, fees and other 
        expenses incurred in defense of the civil action, interest in a 
        policy concerning such medical costs, property damage, denial 
        of benefits, unpaid disbursement, or fees and other expenses, 
        or otherwise.'';
            (2) in paragraph (1)(C)--
                    (A) by striking ``court, in its discretion, may'' 
                and inserting ``court shall''; and
                    (B) by striking ``unduly and unreasonably'' and 
                inserting ``unduly or unreasonably'';
            (3) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``$125'' 
                and all that follows through the end and inserting 
                ``$200 per hour.);'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``; except 
                that'' and all that follows through ``section 601 of 
                title 5;'' and inserting ``except that--
                    ``(I) the net worth of a party (other than an 
                individual or a unit of local government) shall include 
                the net worth of any parent entity or subsidiary of 
                that party; and
                    ``(II) for purposes of subclause (I)--
                            ``(aa) a `parent entity' of a party is an 
                        entity that owns or controls the equity or 
                        other evidences of ownership in that party; and
                            ``(bb) a `subsidiary' of a party is an 
                        entity the equity or other evidences of 
                        ownership in which are owned or controlled by 
                        that party;''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
adjust the maximum hourly fee set forth in paragraph (2)(A)(ii) for the 
fiscal year beginning October 1, 2012, and for each fiscal year 
thereafter, to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index, as 
determined by the Secretary of Labor.
    ``(6)(A) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the 
United States shall report annually to the Congress on the amount of 
fees and other expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal year 
pursuant to this subsection. The report shall describe the number, 
nature, and amount of the awards, the claims involved in each 
controversy, and any other relevant information which may aid the 
Congress in evaluating the scope and impact of such awards. Each agency 
shall provide the Chairman with such information as is necessary for 
the Chairman to comply with the requirements of this paragraph. The 
report shall be made available to the public online.
    ``(B)(i) The report required by subparagraph (A) shall account for 
all payments of fees and other expenses awarded under this subsection 
that are made pursuant to a settlement agreement, regardless of whether 
the settlement agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to 
nondisclosure provisions, except that any version of the report made 
available to the public may not reveal any information the disclosure 
of which is contrary to the national security of the United States.
    ``(ii) The disclosure of fees and other expenses required under 
clause (i) does not affect any other information that is subject to 
nondisclosure provisions in the settlement agreement.
    ``(C) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference shall include 
and clearly identify in the annual report under subparagraph (A), for 
each case in which an award of fees and other expenses is included in 
the report--
            ``(i) any amounts paid from section 1304 of title 31 for a 
        judgment in the case;
            ``(ii) the amount of the award of fees and other expenses; 
        and
            ``(iii) the statute under which the plaintiff filed suit.
    ``(7) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference shall create 
and maintain online a searchable database containing the following 
information with respect to each award of fees and other expenses under 
this subsection:
            ``(A) The name of each party to whom the award was made.
            ``(B) The name of each counsel of record representing each 
        party to whom the award was made.
            ``(C) The agency involved in the case.
            ``(D) The name of each counsel of record representing the 
        agency involved in the case.
            ``(E) The name of each judge in the case, and the court in 
        which the case was heard.
            ``(F) The amount of the award.
            ``(G) The names and hourly rates of each expert witness for 
        whose services the award was made.
            ``(H) The basis for the finding that the position of the 
        agency concerned was not substantially justified.
    ``(8) The online searchable database described in paragraph (7) may 
not reveal any information the disclosure of which is prohibited by law 
or court order, or the disclosure of which is contrary to the national 
security of the United States.
    ``(9) The Attorney General of the United States shall provide to 
the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States in a 
timely manner all information necessary for the Chairman to carry out 
the Chairman's responsibilities under this subsection.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--Section 2412(e) of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended by striking ``of section 2412 of title 28, United 
States Code,'' and inserting ``of this section''.

SEC. 3. GAO STUDY.

    Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General shall commence an audit of the implementation 
of the Equal Access to Justice Act for the years 1995 through the end 
of the calendar year in which this Act is enacted. The Comptroller 
General shall, to the extent practical, not later than 1 year after the 
end of the calendar year in which this Act is enacted, complete such 
audit and submit to the Congress a report on the results of the audit.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 429

112th CONGRESS

   2d Session

                               H. R. 1996

                          [Report No. 112-594]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, with respect to the award 
  of fees and other expenses in cases brought against agencies of the 
 United States, to require the Administrative Conference of the United 
States to compile, and make publically available, certain data relating 
      to the Equal Access to Justice Act, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 11, 2012

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed