[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1162 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1162
To require the Office of Management and Budget to report to Congress on
actions taken by Executive branch employees to censor lawful speech,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 24, 2023
Mr. Perry introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Office of Management and Budget to report to Congress on
actions taken by Executive branch employees to censor lawful speech,
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 ``Accountability for Government
Censorship Act''.
SEC. 2. REPORTS ON FEDERAL AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS WITH PLATFORMS
REGARDING CENSORSHIP OF SPEECH.
(a) Agency Report to OMB.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall submit a
report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
listing each instance during the 5-year period immediately
preceding the date of enactment of this Act that an officer or
employee of the agency communicated with a platform (including
an interactive computer service) that is not owned and operated
by the Federal Government for the purposes of--
(A) removing or suppressing lawful speech, in whole
or in part, from or on any platform;
(B) adding any disclaimer, information, or other
alert to lawful speech expressed on any platform; or
(C) removing or restricting the access of any
person or entity to any platform.
(2) Additional information.--With respect to any
communication listed pursuant to paragraph (1), the head of the
agency shall include the following information:
(A) The name of the sub-agency, bureau, or office
at which the officer or employee is employed.
(B) The name of any officer or employee involved in
the communication, including their position and direct
supervisor or supervisors.
(C) The statutory authority for making the
communication (if any), and if no such authority
exists, an explanation for why the agency viewed it in
their authority to take the action.
(D) The name of the platform that received the
communication, including the name and positions of
employees of the platform that were specifically
communicated with.
(E) A written justification summarizing and
explaining the purpose for taking the communication.
(F) A written summary of the outcome of the
communication.
(G) A list of any other agency that was involved
in, consulted with, or otherwise coordinated on the
communication.
(3) Certification of no communications.--If an officer or
employee of an agency has not engaged in a communication
described under paragraph (1) during such 5-year period, the
head of that agency shall submit to the Director a
certification to that effect not later than 90 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(b) OMB Report to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 210 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the
Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the
House of Representatives a report, which may include a
classified annex, that includes--
(A) the information on communications submitted to
the Director by any agency pursuant to subsection (a);
and
(B) a summary of the agency communications reported
under subsection (a) organized by platform (including
an interactive computer service) that received such
communications.
(2) Unclassified form.--The information included in the
report submitted by the Director listing communications under
subsection (a), descriptions of such communications under each
of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection (a)(2), and the
summary under paragraph (1)(B) of this paragraph may not be
included in any classified annex and shall be submitted in
unclassified form.
(c) Inspectors General Review and Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 210 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, each Inspector General of an agency that
submits a report or certification to the Director under
subsection (a) shall conduct a review of the agency's
compliance with the requirements of this Act and submit a
report on such compliance to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives.
(2) Congressional briefing for agencies found to be
noncompliant.--An agency required to submit a report or
certification to the Director under subsection (a) that is
found by the agency's Inspector General to be noncompliant with
the requirements of this Act shall brief the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and
the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of
Representatives not later than 60 days after the committee
receives an Inspector General report on an agency's compliance.
(d) Definitions.--In this Act--
(1) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given that term in
section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code, and includes any
office within the Executive Office of the President;
(2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget; and
(3) the term ``interactive computer service'' has the
meaning given that term in section 230(f) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)).
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