[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1347 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1347

To provide transparency, accountability, and limitations of Government 
                         sponsored conferences.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2013

  Mr. Coburn (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Chiesa, Mr. Enzi, and Ms. 
    Ayotte) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide transparency, accountability, and limitations of Government 
                         sponsored conferences.

    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 ``Conference Accountability Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. GOVERNMENT SPONSORED CONFERENCES.

    (a) Travel Expenses of Federal Agencies Relating to Conferences.--
            (1) Limitations and reports on travel expenses to 
        conferences.--Chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is 
        amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 5712. Limitations and reports on travel expenses to conferences
    ``(a) In this section, the term--
            ``(1) `conference' means a meeting that--
                    ``(A) is held for consultation, education, or 
                discussion;
                    ``(B) is not held entirely at an agency facility;
                    ``(C) involves costs associated with travel and 
                lodging for some participants; and
                    ``(D) is sponsored by 1 or more agencies, 1 or more 
                organizations that are not agencies, or a combination 
                of such agencies or organizations; and
            ``(2) `international conference' means a conference 
        attended by representatives of--
                    ``(A) the United States Government; and
                    ``(B) any foreign government, international 
                organization, or foreign nongovernmental organization.
    ``(b) No agency may pay the travel expenses for more than 50 
employees of that agency who are stationed in the United States, for 
any international conference occurring outside the United States, 
unless the Secretary of State submits to Congress before the conference 
a written certification that attendance for such employees is in the 
national interest.
    ``(c) Not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter of each 
fiscal year, each agency shall post on the public Internet website of 
that agency a report on each conference for which the agency paid 
travel expenses during the preceding 3 months that includes--
            ``(1) the itemized expenses paid by the agency, including 
        travel expenses, the cost of scouting for and selecting the 
        location of the conference, and any agency expenditures to 
        otherwise support the conference;
            ``(2) the primary sponsor of the conference;
            ``(3) the location of the conference;
            ``(4) in the case of a conference for which that agency was 
        the primary sponsor, a statement that--
                    ``(A) justifies the location selected;
                    ``(B) demonstrates the cost efficiency of the 
                location; and
                    ``(C) provides a cost benefit analysis of holding a 
                conference rather than conducting a teleconference;
            ``(5) the date of the conference;
            ``(6) an explanation how the conference advanced the 
        mission of the agency;
            ``(7) the title and pay grade of any Federal employee or 
        any individual who is not a Federal employee whose travel 
        expenses or other conference expenses were paid by the agency; 
        and
            ``(8) the total number of individuals whose travel expenses 
        or other conference expenses were paid by the agency.
    ``(d) Each report posted on the public Internet website under 
subsection (c) shall--
            ``(1) be in a searchable electronic format; and
            ``(2) remain on that website for at least 5 years after the 
        date of posting.''.
            (2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of 
        sections for chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is 
        amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5711 
        the following:

``5712. Limitations and reports on travel expenses to conferences.''.
    (b) Limitations on Annual Travel Expenses.--
            (1) In general.--In the case of each of fiscal years 2014 
        through 2018, an agency (as defined under section 5701(1) of 
        title 5, United States Code) may not make, or obligate to make, 
        expenditures for travel expenses, in an aggregate amount 
        greater than 80 percent of the aggregate amount of such 
        expenses for fiscal year 2010.
            (2) Identification of travel expenses.--Not later than 
        September 1, 2013, and after consultation with the 
        Administrator of General Services and the Director of the 
        Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish 
        guidelines for the determination of what expenses constitute 
        travel expenses for purposes of this subsection. The guidelines 
        shall identify specific expenses, and classes of expenses, that 
        are to be treated as travel expenses.
    (c) Conference Transparency and Limitations.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    (A) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given under 
                section 5701(1) of title 5, United States Code; and
                    (B) the term ``conference'' has the meaning given 
                under section 5712(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code 
                (as added by subsection (a)).
            (2) Public availability of conference materials.--Each 
        agency shall post on the public Internet website of that agency 
        detailed information on any presentation made by any employee 
        of that agency at a conference, including--
                    (A) any minutes relating to the presentation;
                    (B) any speech delivered;
                    (C) any visual exhibit, including photographs or 
                slides;
                    (D) any video, digital, or audio recordings of the 
                conference; and
                    (E) information regarding any financial support or 
                other assistance from a foundation or other non-Federal 
                source used to pay or defray the costs of the 
                conference, which shall include a certification by the 
                head of the agency that there is no conflict of 
                interest resulting from the support received from each 
                such source.
            (3) Limitation on amount expended on a conference.--
                    (A) In general.--No agency may expend more than 
                $500,000 to support a single conference.
                    (B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed to preclude an agency from 
                receiving financial support or other assistance from a 
                foundation or other non-Federal source to pay or defray 
                the costs of a conference the total cost of which 
                exceeds $500,000.
            (4) Limitation on the annual number of conferences an 
        agency may support.--
                    (A) In general.--An agency may expend funds on not 
                more than 1 conference that is sponsored or organized 
                by a particular organization during any fiscal year, 
                unless the agency is the primary sponsor and organizer 
                of the conference.
                    (B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed to preclude an agency from 
                paying travel expenses for an employee of that agency 
                to attend a conference.
            (5) Limitation on conference policies.--An agency may not 
        establish or implement a policy that discourages or prohibits 
        the selection of a location for travel, an event, a meeting, or 
        a conference because the location is perceived to be a resort 
        or vacation destination.
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