[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1711 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1711
To require the disclosure of certain visitor access records.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2017
Mr. Quigley (for himself, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Clark of
Massachusetts, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Speier,
Mr. Raskin, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Evans, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr.
Carson of Indiana, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Hastings, and Mr. Danny K. Davis
of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the disclosure of certain visitor access records.
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 ``Making Access Records Available to
Lead American Government Openness Act'' or the ``MAR-A-LAGO Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Beginning in 2009, the Obama administration instituted
a policy to release the visitor access records for the White
House complex.
(2) This policy was responsible for making public the names
of nearly 6,000,000 visitors to the White House in the 8 years
of the Obama administration.
(3) This policy provided the people of the United States
with insight into who influences the White House and
transparency regarding efforts by lobbyists to effect policies,
legislation, and Presidential actions.
(4) To date, the Trump administration has not indicated
whether it will continue the policy of publicly releasing White
House visitor access records.
(5) Since taking office on January 20, 2017, President
Trump has conducted official business not only in the White
House, but also at several of his privately owned clubs and
resorts.
(6) President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach,
Florida, has been dubbed the ``Winter White House'' and the
``Southern White House''.
(7) President Trump has spent 5 of his first 9 weekends in
office at Mar-a-Lago.
(8) Mar-a-Lago is a private membership facility open to
members, their guests, and others who have been invited as
guests for special events.
(9) Visitors to Mar-a-Lago do not undergo the same
background checks as White House visitors and visitor access
records to the club have not been released to the public.
(10) The President has conducted official business and
hosted international leaders at Mar-a-Lago.
(11) Media reports have shown President Trump and members
of his Cabinet at Mar-a-Lago and nearby Trump International
Golf Club interacting with members and guests, providing access
unavailable to the general public.
(12) President Trump owns many other properties that offer
similar amenities and membership-only access where he is likely
to conduct official business during his term in office.
(13) On March 11, 2017, President Trump hosted several
members of his Cabinet at his Trump National Golf Club in
Potomac Falls, Virginia, to discuss homeland security, health
care, and the economy according to media reports.
(14) Media reports have indicated that the President may
use his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort as a ``Summer White
House''.
(15) The people of the United States expect and deserve
transparency in government. The policy to release visitor
access records instituted by the previous administration
appropriately balanced transparency with the need for
confidentiality in government actions.
(16) To the extent Mar-a-Lago and any other private
facilities become locations where the President conducts
business and interacts with individuals who are not government
officials, the same disclosures should apply.
SEC. 3. IMPROVING ACCESS TO INFLUENTIAL VISITOR ACCESS RECORDS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered location.--The term ``covered location''
means--
(A) the White House;
(B) the residence of the Vice President; and
(C) any other location at which the President or
the Vice President regularly conducts official
business.
(2) Covered records.--The term ``covered records'' means
information relating to a visit at a covered location, which
shall include--
(A) the name of each visitor at the covered
location;
(B) the name of each individual with whom each
visitor described in subparagraph (A) met at the
covered location; and
(C) the purpose of the visit.
(b) Requirement.--Except as provided in subsection (c), not later
than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President
shall establish and update, every 90 days, a publicly available
database that contains covered records for the preceding 30-day period.
(c) Exceptions.--
(1) In general.--The President shall not include in the
database established under subsection (b) any covered record--
(A) the posting of which would implicate personal
privacy or law enforcement concerns or threaten
national security; or
(B) relating to a purely personal guest at a
covered location.
(2) Sensitive meetings.--With respect to a particularly
sensitive meeting at a covered location, the President shall--
(A) include the number of visitors at the covered
location in the database established under subsection
(b); and
(B) post the applicable covered records in the
database established under subsection (b) when the
President determines that release of the covered
records is no longer sensitive.
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