[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 549 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 549

 To require the Attorney General 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 10, 2011

  Mr. Ensign (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. McCain, Mr. Vitter, Mr. 
 Enzi, Mr. Crapo, and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill; which 
     was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Attorney General 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 ``Casting Light on EAJA Agency Records 
for Oversight Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Equal Access to Justice Act, established in 1980 to 
        provide small businesses, individuals, and public interest 
        groups the opportunity to recover attorney fees and costs, is 
        funded through a permanent Congressional appropriation.
            (2) The Equal Access to Justice Act, as passed, includes 
        statutory reporting requirements to Congress on the 
        administration and payments funded through the Act.
            (3) The Department of Justice and the Administrative 
        Conference of the United States ceased reporting to Congress on 
        EAJA payments and administration in 1995.
            (4) Payments authorized by EAJA have continued every year 
        without Congressional oversight.

SEC. 3. DATA COMPILATION, REPORTING, AND PUBLIC ACCESS.

    (a) Reporting in Agency Adjudications.--Section 504(c) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ``After consultation 
        with the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the 
        United States, each'' and inserting ``Each''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e)(1) The Attorney General of the United States shall issue an 
annual, online report to the Congress on the amount of fees and other 
expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal year under this section. 
The report shall describe the number, nature, and amount of the awards, 
the claims involved in the controversy, a justification for awards 
exceeding the cap provided in subsection (b)(1)(A), and any other 
relevant information that may aid the Congress in evaluating the scope 
and impact of such awards. The report shall be made available to the 
public online, and contain a searchable database, total awards given, 
and total number of applications for the award of fees and other 
expenses that were filed, defended, and heard, and shall include, with 
respect to each such application, the following:
            ``(A) Name of the party seeking the award of fees and other 
        expenses.
            ``(B) The agency to which the application for the award was 
        made.
            ``(C) The name of administrative law judges in the case.
            ``(D) The disposition of the application, including any 
        appeal of action taken on the application.
            ``(E) The hourly rates of attorneys and expert witnesses 
        stated in the application that was awarded.
    ``(2) The report under paragraph (1) shall cover payments of fees 
and other expenses under this section that are made under a settlement 
agreement.
    ``(3) Each agency shall provide the Attorney General with such 
information as is necessary for the Attorney General to comply with the 
requirements of this subsection.''.
    (b) Reporting in Court Cases.--Section 2412(d) of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (4), the 
following:
    ``(5) The Attorney General of the United States shall issue an 
annual, online report to the Congress on the amount of fees and other 
expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal year under this 
subsection. The report shall describe the number, nature, and amount of 
the awards, the claims involved in the controversy, a justification for 
awards exceeding the cap provided in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), and any 
other relevant information that may aid the Congress in evaluating the 
scope and impact of such awards. The report shall be made available to 
the public online and shall contain a searchable database of total 
awards given and the total number of cases filed, defended, or heard, 
and shall include with respect to each such case the following:
            ``(A) The name of the party seeking the award of fees and 
        other expenses in the case.
            ``(B) The district court hearing the case.
            ``(C) The names of presiding judges in the case.
            ``(D) The name of the agency involved in the case.
            ``(E) The disposition of the application for fees and other 
        expenses, including any appeal of action taken on the 
        application.
            ``(F) The hourly rates of attorneys and expert witnesses 
        stated in the application that was awarded.
The report under this paragraph shall cover payments of fees and other 
expenses under this subsection that are made under a settlement 
agreement.''.

SEC. 4. GAO STUDY.

    Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General shall commence an audit 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, 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.
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