[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3732 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3732

To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States and title 28, United 
   States Code, to enhance compliance with requests for information 
pursuant to legislative power under Article I of the Constitution, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 12, 2019

   Ms. Dean introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States and title 28, United 
   States Code, to enhance compliance with requests for information 
pursuant to legislative power under Article I of the Constitution, 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 ``Congressional Subpoena Compliance 
and Enforcement Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 1365 the following:
``Sec. 1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena recipients
    ``(a) Special Rules.--In any civil action brought by the United 
States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, or a 
committee or subcommittee thereof, against the recipient of a subpoena 
to secure declaratory, injunctive, or other relief as may be 
appropriate concerning the failure to comply with a subpoena issued by 
a congressional committee or subcommittee, the following rules shall 
apply:
            ``(1) The action shall be filed in a United States district 
        court of competent jurisdiction.
            ``(2) It shall be the duty of the United States district 
        courts, the United States courts of appeal, and the Supreme 
        Court of the United States to advance on the docket and to 
        expedite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 
        such action and appeal.
            ``(3) If a three-judge court is expressly requested by the 
        plaintiff in the initial pleading, the action shall be heard by 
        a three-judge court convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 
        28, United States Code, and shall be reviewable only by appeal 
        directly to the Supreme Court of the United States. Such appeal 
        shall be taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 
        days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement within 30 
        days, of the entry of the final decision.
    ``(b) Monetary Penalties in Cases Involving Government Agencies.--
            ``(1) The court may impose monetary penalties directly 
        against the head of a Government agency or a component thereof 
        held to have willfully failed to comply with any part of a 
        congressional subpoena.
            ``(2) No appropriated funds, funds provided from any 
        accounts in the Treasury, funds derived from the collection of 
        fees, or other Government funds shall be used to pay any 
        monetary penalty imposed by the court pursuant to this section.
    ``(c) Waiver of Privilege.--Any assertion of a privilege or other 
ground for noncompliance (whether statutory, common law, or otherwise) 
asserted by the recipient of a congressional subpoena may be determined 
to have been waived as to any particular record withheld from 
production if the court finds that the recipient failed in a timely 
manner to comply with the requirement of section 105 of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States that it produce a privilege log with 
respect to such record.
    ``(d) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`Government agency' means an executive department listed in section 101 
of title 5, United States Code, an independent establishment, 
commission, board, bureau, division, or office in the executive branch, 
or other agency of the Federal Government, including wholly or partly 
owned Government corporations.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 85 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 1365 the following:

``1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena recipients.''.

SEC. 3. COMPLIANCE WITH CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title II of the Revised Statutes of 
the United States (2 U.S.C. 191 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 105. RESPONSE TO CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS.

    ``(a) Subpoena by Congressional Committee.--Any recipient of any 
subpoena from a congressional committee or subcommittee shall appear 
and testify or produce records in a manner consistent with the subpoena 
and this section.
    ``(b) Congressional Subpoenas for Records.--
            ``(1) Identification of records withheld.--In the case of a 
        record that is withheld, in whole or in part, by the subpoena 
        recipient, the subpoena recipient shall provide a log 
        containing the following information concerning such record:
                    ``(A) An express assertion and description of the 
                legal basis asserted for withholding the record.
                    ``(B) The type of record.
                    ``(C) The general subject matter.
                    ``(D) The date, author, and addressee.
                    ``(E) The relationship of the author and addressee 
                to each other.
                    ``(F) The custodian of the record.
                    ``(G) Any other descriptive information that may be 
                produced or disclosed regarding the record that will 
                enable the congressional committee or subcommittee 
                issuing the subpoena to assess the legal basis asserted 
                for withholding the record.
            ``(2) Missing records.--In the case of any record 
        responsive to the subpoena submitted under paragraph (1) that 
        was, but no longer is, in the possession, custody, or control 
        of the subpoena recipient, the subpoena recipient shall 
        identify the record (including the date, author, subject, and 
        each recipient of the record) and explain the circumstances 
        under which the record ceased to be in the possession, custody, 
        or control of the subpoena recipient.
            ``(3) Electronic records.--Electronic records shall be 
        produced pursuant to this subsection in their native or 
        original file format. Electronic records shall be delivered on 
        a storage device (such as compact disk, memory stick, or thumb 
        drive) and, to the extent feasible, shall be organized, 
        identified, and indexed electronically and shall include an 
        index describing the contents of the production.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section the term `record' 
includes any books, papers, documents, data, or other objects requested 
in a subpoena issued by a congressional committee or subcommittee.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for chapter 7 of 
title II of the Revised Statutes of the United States is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``105. Response to congressional subpoenas.''.

SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to diminish Congress' 
inherent authority or previously established methods and practices for 
enforcing compliance with congressional subpoenas, nor shall anything 
in this Act be interpreted to establish Congress' acceptance of any 
asserted privilege or other legal basis for noncompliance with a 
congressional subpoena.
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