II 112th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3415 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 19, 2012 Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. Vitter) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the disclosure of all payments made under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Government Transparency and Recordkeeping Act of 2012.

2.

Disclosure of payments

Section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (d)

Disclosure of payments

(1)

In general

(A)

Past payments

Except as provided in paragraph (3), not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Government Transparency and Recordkeeping Act of 2012, the Secretary of the Treasury shall make all records of individual payments made under this section since January 1, 2003, available to Congress and the public in accordance with paragraph (2). (B)

Annual update

Beginning 1 year after the date on which the Secretary of the Treasury makes the records available under subparagraph (A), and each year thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall make all records of individual payments made under this section during the previous year available to Congress and the public in accordance with paragraph (2). (2)

Requirements

In making records available under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure that— (A)the records are made available on a publicly accessible Internet website; and (B)each record contains— (i)information that clearly identifies the entity receiving the payment; (ii)a copy of the settlement or judgment under which the payment was made; (iii)the amount of the total payment to each entity; and (iv)a breakdown of the payment showing the specific amount of the damages, interest, and attorneys’ fees. (3)

Prohibition

(A)

In general

The Secretary of the Treasury may not make a record of individual payment available under this subsection if— (i)the payment was not the result of any executive branch, Federal department, agency, or instrumentality statutory or regulatory approval or permit related case, court order, consent decree, or Federal department, agency, or instrumentality settlement; or (ii)the disclosure of the information is otherwise prohibited by law or court order, or is not in the best interest of national security. (B)

Rationale

For each record of individual payment not disclosed under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to Congress a statement explaining the rationale for not disclosing the record. .