[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9566 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9566

 To require governmentwide source code sharing, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 12, 2024

 Mr. Langworthy (for himself and Mr. Timmons) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
                             Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require governmentwide source code sharing, 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 ``Source code Harmonization And Reuse 
in Information Technology Act'' or the ``SHARE IT Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 
        the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (3) Custom-developed code.--The term ``custom-developed 
        code''--
                    (A) means source code that is--
                            (i) produced in the performance of a 
                        contract with an agency or is otherwise 
                        exclusively funded by the Federal Government; 
                        or
                            (ii) developed by a Federal employee as 
                        part of the official duties of the employee;
                    (B) includes--
                            (i) source code, or segregable portions of 
                        source code, for which the Federal Government 
                        could obtain unlimited rights under part 27 of 
                        the Federal Acquisition Regulation or any 
                        relevant supplemental acquisition regulations 
                        of an agency; and
                            (ii) source code written for a software 
                        project, module, plugin, script, middleware, or 
                        application programming interface; and
                    (C) does not include--
                            (i) source code that is solely exploratory 
                        or disposable in nature, including source code 
                        written by a developer experimenting with a new 
                        language or library; or
                            (ii) commercial computer software, 
                        commercial off-the-shelf software, or 
                        configuration scripts for such software.
            (4) Federal employee.--The term ``Federal employee'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 2105(a) of title 5, 
        United States Code.
            (5) Metadata.--The term ``metadata'', with respect to 
        custom-developed code--
                    (A) has the meaning given that term in section 3502 
                of title 44, United States Code; and
                    (B) includes--
                            (i) information on whether the custom-
                        developed code was--
                                    (I) produced pursuant to a 
                                contract; or
                                    (II) shared in a public or private 
                                repository;
                            (ii) any contract number under which the 
                        custom-developed code was produced; and
                            (iii) any hyperlink to the repository in 
                        such the code was shared.
            (6) Private repository.--The term ``private repository'' 
        means a software storage location--
                    (A) that contains source code, documentation, and 
                other files; and
                    (B) access to which is restricted to only 
                authorized users.
            (7) Public repository.--The term ``public repository'' 
        means a software storage location--
                    (A) that contains source code, documentation, and 
                other files; and
                    (B) access to which is open to the public.
            (8) Software.--The term ``software'' has the meaning given 
        the term ``computer software'' in section 2.101 of title 48, 
        Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.
            (9) Source code.--The term ``source code'' means a 
        collection of computer commands written in a computer 
        programming language that a computer can execute as a piece of 
        software.

SEC. 3. SOFTWARE REUSE.

    (a) Sharing.--Not later than 210 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the head of each agency shall ensure that the custom-
developed code of the agency and other key technical components 
(including documentation, data models, schemas, metadata, and 
architecture designs) of the code is--
            (1) stored at not less than 1 public repository or private 
        repository;
            (2) accessible to Federal employees via procedures 
        developed under subsection (d)(1)(A)(ii)(III); and
            (3) owned by the agency.
    (b) Software Reuse Rights in Procurement Contracts.--The head of an 
agency that enters into a contract for the custom development of 
software for use by the agency shall acquire and exercise rights 
sufficient to enable the governmentwide access to, sharing of, use of, 
and modification of any custom-developed code created in the 
development of such software.
    (c) Discovery.--Not later than 210 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the head of each agency shall make metadata created on or 
after such date for the custom-developed code of the agency publicly 
accessible.
    (d) Accountability Mechanisms.--
            (1) Agency cios.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer of each 
        agency, in consultation with the Chief Acquisition Officer, or 
        similar official, of the agency and the Federal Chief 
        Information Officer, shall develop an agency-wide policy that--
                    (A) implements the requirements of this Act, 
                including--
                            (i) ensuring that custom-developed code 
                        follows the best practices established by the 
                        Director of the Office and Management and 
                        Budget under paragraph (3) for operating 
                        repositories and version control systems to 
                        keep track of changes and to facilitate 
                        collaboration among multiple developers; and
                            (ii) managing the sharing of custom-
                        developed code under subsection (b), and the 
                        public accessibility of metadata under 
                        subsection (c), including developing--
                                    (I) procedures to determine whether 
                                any custom-developed code meets the 
                                conditions under section 4(b) for an 
                                exemption under this Act;
                                    (II) procedures for making metadata 
                                for custom-developed code publicly 
                                accessible pursuant to subsection (c);
                                    (III) procedures for Federal 
                                employees to gain access to public 
                                repositories and private repositories 
                                that contain custom developed source 
                                code; and
                                    (IV) standardized reporting 
                                practices across the agency to capture 
                                key information relating to a contract 
                                under which custom-developed source 
                                code was produced for reporting 
                                statistics about the contract; and
                    (B) corrects or amends any policies of the agency 
                that are inconsistent with the requirements of this 
                Act.
            (2) Administrator of the office of electronic government.--
                    (A) Minimum standard reporting requirements.--Not 
                later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 
                Act, the Administrator of the Office of Electronic 
                Government shall establish minimum standard reporting 
                requirements for the Chief Information Officers of 
                agencies, which shall include information relating to--
                            (i) measuring the frequency of reuse of 
                        code, including access and modification under 
                        subsection (b);
                            (ii) whether the shared code is maintained;
                            (iii) whether there is a feedback mechanism 
                        for improvements to or community development of 
                        the shared code; and
                            (iv) the number and circumstances of all 
                        exemptions granted under section 4(a)(2).
                    (B) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
                the Administrator of the Office of Electronic 
                Government shall submit to Congress a report on the 
                status of the implementation of this Act by each 
                agency, including--
                            (i) a complete list of all exemptions 
                        granted under section 4(a)(2); and
                            (ii) a table showing whether each agency 
                        has updated the acquisition and other policies 
                        of the agency to be compliant with this Act.
            (3) Guidance.--The Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget shall issue guidance, consistent with the purpose of 
        this Act, that establishes best practices and uniform 
        procedures across agencies for the purposes of implementing 
        this subsection.

SEC. 4. EXEMPTIONS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Automatic.--
                    (A) In general.--This Act shall not apply to 
                classified source code or source code developed 
                primarily for use in a national security system (as 
                defined in section 11103 of title 40, United States 
                Code).
                    (B) National security.--An exemption from the 
                requirements under section 3 shall apply to classified 
                source code or source code developed--
                            (i) primarily for use in a national 
                        security system (as defined in section 11103 of 
                        title 40, United States Code); or
                            (ii) by an agency, or part of an agency, 
                        that is an element of the intelligence 
                        community (as defined in section 3(4) of the 
                        National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
                        3003(4)).
                    (C) Freedom of information act.--An exemption from 
                the requirements under section 3 shall apply to source 
                code the disclosure of which is exempt under section 
                552(b) of title 5, United States Code (commonly known 
                as the ``Freedom of Information Act'').
            (2) Discretionary.--
                    (A) Exemption and guidance.--
                            (i) In general.--The Chief Information 
                        Officer of an agency, in consultation with the 
                        Federal Privacy Council, or any successor 
                        thereto, may exempt from the requirements of 
                        section 3 any source code for which a limited 
                        exemption described in subparagraph (B) 
                        applies.
                            (ii) Guidance required.--The Federal 
                        Privacy Council shall provide guidance to the 
                        Chief Information Officer of each agency 
                        relating to the limited exemption described in 
                        subparagraph (B)(ii) to ensure consistent 
                        application of this paragraph across agencies.
                    (B) Limited exemptions.--The limited exemptions 
                described in this paragraph are the following:
                            (i) The head of the agency is prohibited 
                        from providing the source code to another 
                        individual or entity under another Federal law 
                        or regulation, including under--
                                    (I) the Export Administration 
                                Regulations;
                                    (II) the International Traffic in 
                                Arms Regulations;
                                    (III) the regulations of the 
                                Transportation Security Administration 
                                relating to the protection of Sensitive 
                                Security Information; and
                                    (IV) the Federal laws and 
                                regulations governing the sharing of 
                                classified information not covered by 
                                the exemption in paragraph (1).
                            (ii) The sharing or public accessibility of 
                        the source code would create an identifiable 
                        risk to the privacy of an individual.
    (b) Reports Required.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than December 31 of each year, 
        the Chief Information Officer of an agency shall submit to the 
        Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government a report 
        of the source code of the agency to which an exemption under 
        subsection (1) or (2) of subsection (a) applied during the 
        fiscal year ending on September 30 of that year with a brief 
        narrative justification of each exemption.
            (2) Form.--The report under paragraph (1) shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form, with a classified annex as 
        appropriate.
            (3) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
        Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government shall 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on 
        the status of the implementation of this Act by each agency, 
        including--
                    (A) a compilation of all information, including a 
                narrative justification, relating to each exemption 
                granted under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a);
                    (B) a table showing whether each agency has updated 
                the acquisition and other policies of the agency to be 
                compliant with this Act;
                    (C) an evaluation of the compliance of the agency 
                with the framework described in section 3(d)(2)(A); and
                    (D) a classified annex as appropriate.

SEC. 5. GAO REPORT ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRACTICES.

    (a) Initial Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to Congress a report that includes an assessment of--
            (1) any duplication in the procurement of software by 
        agencies, including estimates of the frequency and dollar value 
        of such duplication;
            (2) how source code sharing and open-source software 
        collaboration can improve cybersecurity at agencies;
            (3) how the adoption of cloud-based software may support 
        the heads of Federal agencies; and
            (4) how the acquisition of commercial software may support 
        the heads of Federal agencies.
    (b) Supplemental Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to Congress a report that includes an assessment of the 
implementation of this Act.

SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act may be construed as requiring the disclosure of 
information or records that are exempt from public disclosure under 
section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 
``Freedom of Information Act'').

SEC. 7. APPLICATION.

    This Act shall apply to custom-developed code that is developed or 
revised--
            (1) by a Federal employee not less than 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act; or
            (2) under a contract awarded pursuant to a solicitation 
        issued not less than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act.

SEC. 8. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING.

    No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act.
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