[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1079 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.1079

                     One Hundred Sixteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and nineteen


                                 An Act


 
To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue 
      guidance on electronic consent forms, 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 ``Creating Advanced Streamlined 
Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019'' or the ``CASES 
Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
    It is the sense of Congress that--
        (1) congressional offices provide crucial services to 
    constituents by acting as a liaison between the constituents and 
    the respective agencies;
        (2) this includes assisting constituents by making inquiries 
    and working toward resolutions on behalf of the constituent with 
    the respective agencies; and
        (3) this process should be simplified through the creation of 
    electronic forms that may be submitted under section 552a of title 
    5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Privacy Act), 
    thus modernizing the process for constituents and improving access 
    and efficiency of Government services and agencies in order to 
    expedite the resolution of the problem for which constituents 
    sought help.
SEC. 3. OMB GUIDANCE ON ELECTRONIC CONSENT AND ACCESS FORMS.
    (a) Guidance.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guidance that does the 
following:
        (1) Requires each agency to accept electronic identity proofing 
    and authentication processes for the purposes of allowing an 
    individual to provide prior written consent for the disclosure of 
    the individual's records under section 552a(b) of title 5, United 
    States Code, or for individual access to records under section 
    552a(d) of such title.
        (2) Creates a template for electronic consent and access forms 
    and requires each agency to post the template on the agency website 
    and to accept the forms from any individual properly identity 
    proofed and authenticated in accordance with paragraph (1) for the 
    purpose of authorizing disclosure of the individual's records under 
    section 552a(b) of title 5, United States Code, or for individual 
    access to records under section 552a(d) of such title.
        (3) Requires each agency to accept the electronic consent and 
    access forms described in paragraph (2) from any individual 
    properly identity proofed and authenticated in accordance with 
    paragraph (1) for the purpose of authorizing disclosure of the 
    individual's records to another entity, including a congressional 
    office, in accordance with section 552a(b) of title 5, United 
    States Code, or for individual access to records under section 
    552a(d).
    (b) Agency Compliance.--Each agency shall comply with the guidance 
issued pursuant to subsection (a) not later than 1 year after the date 
on which such guidance is issued.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
        (1) Agency; individual; record.--The terms ``agency'', 
    ``individual'', and ``record'' have the meanings given those terms 
    in section 552a(a) of title 5, United States Code.
        (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of the 
    Office of Management and Budget.
SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.
    No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of 
this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts 
otherwise authorized.
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.