[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11052-S11053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED

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                        INTERNET TAX FREEDOM ACT

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                       ABRAHAM AMENDMENT NO. 3665

  (Ordered to lie on the table.)
  Mr. ABRAHAM submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to 
the bill (S. 442) to establish national policy against State and local 
government interference with interstate commerce on the Internet or 
interactive computer services, and to exercise Congressional 
jurisdiction over interstate commerce by establishing a moratorium on 
the imposition of exaction that would interfere with the free flow of 
commerce via the Internet, and for other purposes, as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
             TITLE II--GOVERNMENT PAPERWORK ELIMINATION ACT

     SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``Government Paperwork 
     Elimination Act''.

     SEC. 202. STUDIES ON USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES TO ENHANCE 
                   ELECTRONIC COMMERCE.

       The Secretary shall conduct an ongoing study of the 
     enhancement of electronic commerce and the impact on 
     individual privacy due to the use of electronic signatures 
     pursuant to this title, and shall report findings to the 
     Commerce Committee of the House and to the Commerce, Science, 
     and Transportation Committee of the Senate not later than 18 
     months after the date of enactment of this title.

     SEC. 203. ELECTRONIC AVAILABILITY OF FORMS.

       (a) New Forms, Questionnaires and Surveys.--The head of an 
     agency or operating unit shall provide for the availability 
     to the affected public in electronic form for downloading or 
     printing through the Internet or other suitable medium of any 
     agency form, questionnaire, or survey created after the date 
     of enactment of this title that is to be submitted to the 
     agency by more than 1,000 non-government persons or entities 
     per year, except where the head of the agency or operating 
     unit determines by a finding that providing for such 
     availability would be impracticable or otherwise 
     unreasonable.
       (b) All Forms, Questionnaires, and Surveys.--As soon as 
     practicable, but not later than 18 months after the date of 
     enactment of this title, each Federal agency shall make all 
     of its forms, questionnaires, and surveys that are expected 
     to be submitted to such agency by more than 1,000 non-
     government persons or entities per year available to the 
     affected public for downloading or printing through the 
     Internet or other suitable electronic medium. This 
     requirement shall not apply where the head of an agency or 
     operating unit determines that providing such availability 
     for particular form, questionnaire or survey documents would 
     be impracticable or otherwise unreasonable.
       (c) Applicability of Section.--The requirements of this 
     section shall not apply to surveys that are both distributed 
     and collected one-time only or that are provided directly to 
     all respondents by the agency.
       (d) Availability.--Forms subject to this section shall be 
     available for electronic submission (with an electronic 
     signature when necessary) under the provisions of section 
     208, and shall be available for electronic storage by 
     employers as described in section 207.
       (e) Paper Forms To Be Available.--Each agency and operating 
     unit shall continue to make forms, questionnaires, and 
     surveys available in paper form.

     SEC. 204. PAYMENTS.

       In conjunction with the process required by section 208--
       (1) where they deem such action appropriate and 
     practicable, and subject to standards or guidance of the 
     Department of the Treasury concerning Federal payments or 
     collections, agencies shall seek to develop or otherwise 
     provide means whereby persons submitting documents 
     electronically are accorded the option of making any 
     payments associated therewith by electronic means.
       (2) payments associated with forms, applications, or 
     similar documents submitted electronically, other than 
     amounts relating to additional costs associated with the 
     electronic submission such as charges imposed by merchants in 
     connection with credit card transactions, shall be no greater 
     than the payments associated with the corresponding printed 
     version of such documents.

     SEC. 205. USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.

       (a) Agency Employees to Receive Electronic Signatures.--The 
     head of each agency shall issue guidelines for determining 
     how and which employees in each respective agency shall be 
     permitted to use electronic signatures within the scope of 
     their employment.
       (b) Availability of Electronic Notice.--An agency may 
     provide a person entitled to receive written notice of a 
     particular matter with the opportunity to receive electronic 
     notice instead.
       (c) Procedures for Acceptance of Electronic Signatures.--
     The Director, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 
     coordinate agency actions to comply with the provisions of 
     this title and shall develop guidelines concerning agency use 
     and acceptance of electronic signatures, and such use and 
     acceptance shall be supported by the issuance of such 
     guidelines as may be necessary or appropriate by the 
     Secretary.
       (1) The procedures shall be compatible with standards and 
     technology for electronic signatures as may be generally used 
     in commerce and industry and by State governments, based upon 
     consultation with appropriate private sector and State 
     government standard setting bodies.
       (2) Such procedures shall not inappropriately favor one 
     industry or technology.
       (3) Under the procedures referred to in subsection (a), an 
     electronic signature shall be as reliable as is appropriate 
     for the purpose, and efforts shall be made to keep the 
     information submitted intact.
       (4) Successful submission of an electronic form shall be 
     electronically acknowledged.
       (5) In accordance with all other sections of the title, to 
     the extent feasible and appropriate, and described in a 
     written finding, an agency, when it expects to receive 
     electronically 50,000 or more submittals of a particular 
     form, shall take all steps necessary to ensure that multiple 
     formats of electronic signatures are made available for 
     submitting such forms.

     SEC. 206. ENFORCEABILITY AND LEGAL EFFECT OF ELECTRONIC 
                   RECORDS.

       Electronic records submitted or maintained in accordance 
     with agency procedures

[[Page S11053]]

     and guidelines established pursuant to the title, or 
     electronic signatures or other forms of electronic 
     authentication used in accordance with such procedures and 
     guidelines, shall not be denied legal effect, validity or 
     enforceability because they are in electronic form.

     SEC. 207. EMPLOYER ELECTRONIC STORAGE OF FORMS.

       If an employer is required by any Federal law or regulation 
     to collect or store, or to file with a Federal agency forms 
     containing information pertaining to employees, such employer 
     may, after 18 months after enactment of this title, store 
     such forms electronically unless the relevant agency 
     determines by regulation that storage of a particular form in 
     an electronic format is inconsistent with the efficient 
     secure or proper administration of an agency program. Such 
     forms shall also be accepted in electronic form by agencies 
     as provided by section 208.

     SEC. 208. IMPLEMENTATION BY AGENCIES.

       (a) Implementation.--Consistent with the Privacy Act of 
     1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and after consultation with the Attorney 
     General, and subject to applicable laws and regulations 
     pertaining to the Department of the Treasury concerning 
     Federal payments and collections and the National Archives 
     and Records Administration concerning the proper maintenance 
     and preservation of agency records, Federal agencies shall, 
     not later than 18 months after the enactment of this title, 
     establish and implement policies and procedures under which 
     they will use and authorize the use of electronic 
     technologies in the transmittal of forms, applications, and 
     similar documents or records, and where appropriate, for the 
     creation and transmission of such documents or records and 
     their storage for their required retention period.
       (b) Establishment of a Timeline for Implementation.--Within 
     18 months after the date of enactment of this title, Federal 
     agencies shall establish timelines for the implementation of 
     the requirements of subsection (a).
       (c) General Accounting Office Report.--The Comptroller 
     General shall report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives 
     Committee on Commerce 21 months after the date of enactment 
     of this title on the proposed implementation policies and 
     timelines described in subsections (a) and (b).
       (d) Implementation Deadline.--Except where an agency makes 
     a written finding that electronic filing of a form is either 
     technically infeasible, economically unreasonable, or may 
     compromise national security, all Federal forms must be made 
     available for electronic submission within 60 months after 
     the date of enactment of this title.

     SEC. 209. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

       Because there is no meaningful difference between contracts 
     executed in the electronic world and contracts executed in 
     the analog world, it is the sense of the Congress that such 
     contracts should be treated similarly under Federal law. It 
     is further the sense of the Congress that such contracts 
     should be treated similarly under State law.

     SEC. 210. APPLICATION WITH OTHER LAWS.

       Nothing in this title shall apply to the Department of the 
     Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service, to the extent 
     that--
       (1) it involves the administration of the internal revenue 
     laws; and
       (2) it conflicts with any provision of the Internal Revenue 
     Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 or the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986.

     SEC. 211. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.

       Except as provided by law, information collected in the 
     provision of electronic signature services for communications 
     with an agency, as provided by this Act, shall only be used 
     or disclosed by persons who obtain, collect, or maintain such 
     information as a business or government practice, for the 
     purpose of facilitating such communications, or with the 
     prior affirmative consent of the person about whom the 
     information pertains.

     SEC. 212. DEFINITIONS.

       For purposes of this title:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Commerce.
       (2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means executive agency, as 
     that term is defined in section 105 of title 5, United States 
     Code.
       (3) Electronic signature.--The term ``electronic 
     signature'' means a method of signing an electronic message 
     that--
       (A) identifies a particular person as the source of such 
     electronic message; and
       (B) indicates such person's approval of the information 
     contained in such electronic message.
       (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
     the Office of Management and Budget.
       (5) Form, questionnaire, or survey.--The terms ``form'', 
     ``questionnaire'', and ``survey'' include documents produced 
     by an agency to facilitate interaction between an agency and 
     non-government persons.

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