[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 44 (Monday, April 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1973-H1975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FREEDOM TO E-FILE ACT
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
Senate bill (S. 777) to require the Department of Agriculture to
establish an electronic filing and retrieval system to enable the
public to file all required paperwork electronically with the
Department and to have access to public information on farm programs,
quarterly trade, economic, and production reports, and other similar
information, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
S. 777
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 ``Freedom to E-File Act''.
SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC FILING AND RETRIEVAL.
(a) Establishment of Internet-Based System.--The Secretary
of Agriculture shall establish an electronic filing and
retrieval system that uses the telecommunications medium
known as the Internet to enable farmers and other persons--
(1) to file electronically all paperwork required by the
agencies of the Department of Agriculture specified in
subsection (b); and
(2) to have access electronically to information, readily
available to the public in published form, regarding farm
programs, quarterly trade, economic, and production reports,
price and supply information, and other similar information
related to production agriculture.
(b) Covered Agencies.--Subsection (a) shall apply to the
following agencies of the Department of Agriculture:
(1) The Farm Service Agency.
(2) The Risk Management Agency.
(3) The Natural Resources Conservation Service.
(4) The rural development components of the Department
included in the Secretary's service center initiative
regarding State and field office collocation implemented
pursuant to section 215 of the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6915).
(c) Time-Table for Implementation.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall--
(1) to the maximum extent practicable, complete the
establishment of the electronic filing and retrieval system
required by subsection (a) to the extent necessary to permit
the electronic information access required by paragraph (2)
of such subsection;
(2) initiate implementation of the electronic filing
required by paragraph (1) of such subsection by allowing
farmers and other persons to download forms from the Internet
and submit completed forms via facsimile, mail, or related
means; and
(3) modify forms used by the agencies specified in
subsection (b) into a more user-friendly format, with self-
help guidance materials.
(d) Interoperability.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary shall ensure that the agencies specified in
subsection (b)--
(1) use computer hardware and software that is compatible
among the agencies and will operate in a common computing
environment; and
(2) develop common Internet user-interface locations and
applications to consolidate the agencies' news, information,
and program materials.
(e) Completion of Implementation.--Not later than two years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall complete the establishment of the electronic filing and
retrieval system required by subsection (a) to permit the
electronic filing required by paragraph (1) of such
subsection.
(f) Progress Report.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit
to Congress a report describing the progress made toward
establishing the electronic filing and retrieval system
required by subsection (a).
SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF AGENCY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FUNDS.
(a) Reservation of Funds.--From funds made available for
each agency of the Department of Agriculture specified in
section 2(b) for information technology or information
resource management, the Secretary of Agriculture shall
reserve an amount equal to not more than the following:
(1) For fiscal year 2001, $3,000,000.
(2) For each subsequent fiscal year, $2,000,000.
(b) Time for Reservation.--The Secretary shall notify
Congress of the amount to be reserved under subsection (a)
for a fiscal year not later than December 1 of that fiscal
year.
(c) Use of Funds.--Funds reserved under subsection (a)
shall be used to establish the electronic filing and
retrieval system required by section 2(a). Once the system is
established and operational, reserved amounts shall be used
for maintenance and improvement of the system.
(d) Return of Funds.--Funds reserved under subsection (a)
and unobligated at the end of the fiscal year shall be
returned to the agency from which the funds were reserved,
and such funds shall remain available until expended.
SEC. 4. CONFIDENTIALITY.
In carrying out this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture--
(1) may not make available any information over the
Internet that would otherwise not be available for release
under section 552 or 552a of title 5, United States Code; and
(2) shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that
the confidentiality of persons is maintained.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Freedom to E-File Act, introduced by the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), requires the United States Department of
Agriculture to establish an electronic filing and retrieval system to
enable the public to file with the Department all required paperwork
electronically. In doing so, the act would allow producers, farmers,
and rural America to have access to information on farm programs,
quarterly trade, economic and production reports and other similar
information. The bill of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood)
allows farmers to do business with the Department of Agriculture over
the Internet.
The rapidly evolving e-commerce economy of the 21st century continues
to assert itself as the future of worldwide commerce. Like any business
today, farmers are using computers and the Internet for a variety of
purposes, including financial management systems and market
information. It is becoming increasingly important to ensure that all
segments of our economy are technologically efficient.
Currently, the United States Department of Agriculture operates in a
progressively antiquated computer environment. The continued use of
such a system threatens to disable producers and farmers from access to
a maturing information technology market. Rural Americans face the very
real potential of being left behind in this era of sweeping
technological advances. It is vital to empower producers and farmers by
providing them with the technological tools to do business via the
Internet with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The continued absence of a viable common computing environment at the
Department will result in the failure to assist the very constituency
it is obliged to serve. The Freedom to E-
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File Act achieves the most important objective of allowing the public
the access and freedom to do effective, better business with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture via the Internet.
The globally integrated e-commerce economy demands that private and
public entities move quickly to establish efficient avenues of
commerce. This legislation forces the USDA in the right direction, the
direction of enabling producers, farmers, and rural Americans to
benefit in an age of technological revolution.
Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Congressional Internet Caucus, I want
to commend the gentleman from Illinois for his leadership on this
issue. This legislation is badly needed. Changes at the Department of
Agriculture to get up to speed, even with other government agencies,
much less with what is happening in the private sector, is long
overdue. I also thank the gentleman from Texas for his support of this
bipartisan legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 777 as amended by H.R. 852, the
Freedom to E-File Act. H.R. 852 was sponsored by the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. LaHood), and I, too, commend him for his leadership in
this area. It was approved by the House Committee on Agriculture on
March 29. It would require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an
Internet-based system to allow farmers and ranchers and other persons
to complete and submit program applications electronically and to have
electronic access to all relevant economic and administrative program
information and data.
The legislation before us today also contains a provision that will
ensure that the Secretary of Agriculture maintains the confidentiality
of persons, and ensures that that information is released only in
accordance with current law.
Mr. Speaker, I have long been a proponent of initiatives at USDA to
provide better service to farmers and ranchers through streamlining and
the use of new technologies, while at the same time saving taxpayer
dollars.
To date, USDA's progress in the information technology arena has been
disappointing. For example, a February 2000 General Accounting Office
report states that USDA's progress in implementing its initiatives,
reorganization, and modernization efforts has been mixed. The report
then identifies two primary reasons for its lack of success, the lack
of a comprehensive plan to guide the modernization effort and the lack
of a management structure with the accountability and authority to
resolve differences among the agencies. These findings give me little
confidence and further validate my concerns that USDA cannot overcome
its stovepipe culture without the intervention of Congress. USDA
recognizes this, and, at certain levels, supports this bill.
Growing numbers of farmers and ranchers are using home computers.
This fact, coupled with budget demands, is putting enormous pressure on
USDA's field service employees. It is, therefore, imperative that USDA
take advantage of the Internet for the efficiencies it can offer. Doing
so will benefit overworked field service staff, save taxpayer dollars,
and allow farmers and ranchers to spend more time on their operations
and less time visiting USDA offices.
For these reasons, I believe USDA must improve electronic access to
its programs and services. Consequently, I support the goals of S. 777,
as amended, otherwise known as the Freedom to E-File Act. While I would
prefer a more comprehensive look at USDA reorganization and
modernization needs, it unfortunately appears that changes at USDA are
only going to be made on an incremental basis.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as
he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), the author
of the legislation.
(Mr. LaHOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank very much the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) for his leadership as the chairman of the
subcommittee that held hearings on the bill; and the ranking member of
that subcommittee, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton),
also for her leadership and support; and certainly the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the ranking member of the full committee, for his
encouragement over the last year to move ahead with this important
legislation.
To put it simply, this legislation will bring the Department of
Agriculture into the 21st century by allowing farmers, producers, and
people in rural America to do their business with the USDA over the
Internet. Like any business, farmers are using computers for a variety
of purposes, including financial management, accessing market
information, and utilizing precision agriculture management systems.
As I have traveled around the 14 counties that I represent in central
Illinois, much of which is agriculture, and visited farm families and
visited farm homes, every farmer has a computer today. Every farmer in
America has access to the world. One of the first things that farmers
do in the early morning hours is they get on their computer and they
check the weather. Then in my area they check the price of corn and
beans and livestock. Then they look and see how their stocks are doing,
if they have the good fortune of having that kind of capability to own
stocks.
But then what we are offering them under this legislation is the fact
that they do not have to hop in their truck and go down to the FS
office to file their forms or to find out what the USDA has to offer
them. All of this information will be available to them. After they
check the price of corn and beans and after they check the weather,
they can find out what else is going on at USDA, a marvelous
opportunity. I believe, if given the opportunity, many farmers would
choose to file necessary farm program paperwork from their home or
office computer.
The interesting thing is that, this year alone, 34 million taxpayers
have already filed or will file their income taxes before April 15th
over the Internet, electronically. The Internal Revenue Service has
moved taxpayers into the 21st century; and we should be doing that for
our farmers and ranchers, and particularly for those who represent
large masses of agriculture area, Wyoming, the Dakotas, areas where
farmers and ranchers have to travel long distances. This will avail
them of wonderful opportunities to save time and energy by having
access to this information and filing their forms electronically.
Mr. Speaker, I say that the Freedom to E-File Act is a reasonable,
sensible way to help farmers spend less time filling out paperwork and
more time doing what they know how to do best, which is farming and
ranching. This legislation will not only increase the efficiency of
farmers and ranchers, it will also increase the efficiency of the USDA,
as has been mentioned, by reducing the amount of paperwork that needs
to be filled out in local county offices.
USDA has already started down the road to providing some of the
benefits of the Internet to the American farmer. Freedom to E-File will
provide the Department with the necessary flexibility and resources to
allow USDA to bring agriculture into the Internet age.
Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Combest),
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the gentleman from Virginia
(Mr. Goodlatte), and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton)
and all the staff people on both sides for your help in crafting this
legislation, and also to USDA. We have kind of brought them along
kicking and screaming in this process, but we think they are with us
now; and we hope that they will be able to implement this legislation
after it is signed by the President.
Finally, Senator Peter Fitzgerald from the other body was most
helpful in having this legislation pass there; and I want to
acknowledge his work and encourage all Members to support this very,
very important legislation.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would just say in conclusion, I encourage our
colleagues to support this bill. We have heard from
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the gentleman from Illinois all of the reasons why this is needed. The
disappointment is that we have not been able to move it faster within
USDA, but it is certainly my hope that all of those who may be in the
category of ``foot-draggers'' within the various agencies and various
employees of USDA might take this legislation and the support of many
at USDA and recognize that we will have some additional opportunities
this year to do more in this area of information technology, and, in
doing more, we will be able to serve our farmers more efficiently.
Mr. Speaker, I thank all of those who have been involved in this
legislation; and I urge the support of it.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would join in urging my colleagues to support this
legislation. It is very true that farmers in many respects are some of
our best users of computer technology and the Internet, and it is time
that the Department that is designed to support their efforts moves
into the 21st century, as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood)
indicated.
{time} 1530
So I strongly support this bill. I thank the gentleman for his
efforts in this matter.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Nethercutt). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 777, as amended.
The question was taken.
Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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