[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 721 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 721

      To require the disclosure of certain visitor access records.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 23, 2017

Mr. Udall (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Carper) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 90-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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