[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1079 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1079


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2019

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 2019.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.