[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 4, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H67-H70]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2017
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 70) to amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase
the transparency of Federal advisory committees, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 70
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Federal
Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2017''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Ensuring independent advice and expertise.
Sec. 3. Preventing efforts to circumvent the Federal Advisory Committee
Act and public disclosure.
Sec. 4. Increasing transparency of advisory committees.
Sec. 5. Managing Federal advisory committees.
Sec. 6. Comptroller General review and reports.
Sec. 7. Application of Federal Advisory Committee Act to Trade Advisory
Committees.
Sec. 8. Definitions.
Sec. 9. Technical and conforming amendments.
Sec. 10. Effective date.
Sec. 11. No additional funds authorized.
SEC. 2. ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND EXPERTISE.
(a) Bar on Political Litmus Tests.--Section 9 of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by inserting ``membership;''
after ``advisory committees;'';
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections
(e) and (f), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Appointments Made Without Regard to Political
Affiliation or Activity.--All appointments to advisory
committees shall be made without regard to political
affiliation or political activity, unless required by Federal
statute.''.
(b) Minimizing Conflicts of Interest.--Section 9 of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by
subsection (a) of this section, is further amended by
inserting after subsection (b) (as added by such subsection
(a)) the following:
``(c) Public Nominations of Committee Members.--Prior to
appointing members to an advisory committee, the head of an
agency shall give interested persons an opportunity to
suggest potential committee members. The agency shall include
a request for comments in the Federal Register notice
required under subsection (a) and provide a mechanism for
interested persons to comment through the official website of
the agency. The agency shall consider any comments submitted
under this subsection in selecting the members of an advisory
committee.
``(d) Designation of Committee Members.--
``(1) An individual appointed to an advisory committee who
is not a full-time or permanent part-time officer or employee
of the Federal Government shall be designated as--
``(A) a special Government employee, if the individual is
providing advice based on the individual's expertise or
experience; or
``(B) a representative, if the individual is representing
the views of an entity or entities outside of the Federal
Government.
``(2) An agency may not designate committee members as
representatives to avoid subjecting them to Federal ethics
rules and requirements.
``(3) The designated agency ethics official for each agency
shall review the members of each advisory committee that
reports to the agency to determine whether each member's
designation is appropriate, and to redesignate members if
appropriate. The designated agency ethics official shall
certify to the head of the agency that such review has been
made--
``(A) following the initial appointment of members; and
``(B) at the time a committee's charter is renewed, or, in
the case of a committee with an indefinite charter, every 2
years.
``(4) The head of each agency shall inform each individual
appointed to an advisory committee that reports to the agency
whether the individual is appointed as a special Government
employee or as a representative. The agency head shall
provide each committee member with an explanation of the
differences between special Government employees and
representatives and a summary of applicable ethics
requirements. The agency head, acting through the designated
agency ethics official, shall obtain signed and dated written
confirmation from each committee member that the member
received and reviewed the information required by this
paragraph.
``(5) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall
provide guidance to agencies on what to include in the
summary of ethics requirements required by paragraph (4).
``(6) The head of each agency shall, to the extent
practicable, develop and implement strategies to minimize the
need for written determinations under section 208(b)(3) of
title 18, United States Code. Strategies may include such
efforts as improving outreach efforts to potential committee
members and seeking public input on potential committee
members.''.
(c) Regulations Implementing FACA.--Section 7(c) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by
inserting ``promulgate regulations and'' after ``The
Administrator shall''.
(d) Ensuring Independent Advice and Recommendations.--The
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
(1) in section 8--
(A) in the section heading, by inserting ``independent
advice and recommendations;'' after ``responsibilities of
agency heads;'';
(B) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
(C) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) The head of each agency shall ensure that the agency
does not interfere with the free and independent
participation, expression of views, and deliberation by
committee members. Each advisory committee shall include a
statement describing the process used by the advisory
committee in formulating the advice and recommendations when
they are transmitted to the agency.''; and
(2) in section 10--
(A) in the section heading, by inserting ``; chair'' after
``attendance''; and
(B) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new
subsection:
``(g) The Chair shall not be an employee of the agency to
which the advisory committee reports, unless--
``(1) a statute specifically authorizes selection of such
an employee as the Chair; or
``(2) the head of the agency directs an employee to serve
as the Chair.''.
SEC. 3. PREVENTING EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE FEDERAL ADVISORY
COMMITTEE ACT AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.
(a) De Facto Members.--Section 4 of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(d) Treatment of Individual as Member.--An individual who
is not a full-time or permanent part-time officer or employee
of the Federal Government shall be regarded as a member of a
committee if the individual regularly attends and
participates in committee meetings as if the individual were
a member, even if the individual does not have the right to
vote or veto the advice or recommendations of the advisory
committee.''.
(b) Subcommittees.--Section 4 of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by subsection (a)
of this section, is further amended by striking subsection
(a) and inserting the following:
``(a) Application.--The provisions of this Act or of any
rule, order, or regulation promulgated under this Act shall
apply to each advisory committee, including any subcommittee
or subgroup thereof, except to the extent that any Act of
Congress establishing any such advisory committee
specifically provides otherwise. Any subcommittee or subgroup
that reports to a parent committee established under section
9(a) is not required to comply with section 9(f).''.
(c) Committees Created Under Contract.--Section 3(2) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended in
the matter following subparagraph (C) by adding at the end
the following: ``An advisory committee is considered to be
established by an agency, agencies, or the President if it is
formed, created, or organized under contract, other
transactional authority, cooperative agreement, grant, or
otherwise at the request or direction of an agency, agencies,
or the President.''.
(d) Advisory Committees Containing Special Government
Employees.--Section 4 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by subsections (a) and (b) of
this section, is further amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(e) Special Government Employees.--Committee members
appointed as special Government employees shall not be
considered full-time or permanent part-time officers or
employees of the Federal Government for purposes of
determining the applicability of this Act under section
3(2).''.
SEC. 4. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
(a) Information Requirement.--Section 11 of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended to read as
follows:
``SEC. 11. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.
``(a) In General.--With respect to each advisory committee,
the head of the agency to which the advisory committee
reports shall make publicly available in accordance with
subsection (b) the following information:
``(1) The charter of the advisory committee.
[[Page H68]]
``(2) A description of the process used to establish and
appoint the members of the advisory committee, including the
following:
``(A) The process for identifying prospective members.
``(B) The process of selecting members for balance of
viewpoints or expertise.
``(C) The reason each member was appointed to the
committee.
``(D) A justification of the need for representative
members, if any.
``(3) A list of all current members, including, for each
member, the following:
``(A) The name of any person or entity that nominated the
member.
``(B) Whether the member is designated as a special
Government employee or a representative.
``(C) In the case of a representative, the individuals or
entity whose viewpoint the member represents.
``(4) A list of all members designated as special
Government employees for whom written certifications were
made under section 208(b) of title 18, United States Code, a
copy of each such certification, a summary description of the
conflict necessitating the certification, and the reason for
granting the certification.
``(5) Any recusal agreement made by a member or any recusal
known to the agency that occurs during the course of a
meeting or other work of the committee.
``(6) A summary of the process used by the advisory
committee for making decisions.
``(7) Detailed minutes of all meetings of the committee and
a description of committee efforts to make meetings
accessible to the public using online technologies (such as
video recordings) or other techniques (such as audio
recordings).
``(8) Any written determination by the President or the
head of the agency to which the advisory committee reports,
pursuant to section 10(d), to close a meeting or any portion
of a meeting and the reasons for such determination.
``(9) Notices of future meetings of the committee.
``(10) Any additional information considered relevant by
the head of the agency to which the advisory committee
reports.
``(b) Manner of Disclosure.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
head of an agency shall make the information required to be
disclosed under this section available electronically on the
official public website of the agency and to the
Administrator at least 15 calendar days before each meeting
of an advisory committee. If the head of the agency
determines that such timing is not practicable for any
required information, such head shall make the information
available as soon as practicable but no later than 48 hours
before the next meeting of the committee. An agency may
withhold from disclosure any information that would be exempt
from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States
Code.
``(2) Website availability.--The head of an agency shall
make available electronically, on the official public website
of the agency, detailed minutes and, to the extent available,
a transcript or audio or video recording of each advisory
committee meeting not later than 30 calendar days after such
meeting.
``(3) Grant reviews.--In the case of grant reviews,
disclosure of information required by subsection (a)(3) may
be provided in the aggregate rather than by individual grant.
``(c) Provision of Information by Administrator of General
Services.--The Administrator of General Services shall
provide, on the official public website of the General
Services Administration, electronic access to the information
made available by each agency under this section.
``(d) Availability of Meeting Materials.--Except where
prohibited by contractual agreements entered into prior to
the effective date of this Act, agencies and advisory
committees shall make available to any person, at actual cost
of duplication, copies of advisory committee meeting
materials.''.
(b) Charter Filing.--Subsection (f) of section 9 of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as
redesignated by section 2(a) of this Act, is amended to read
as follows:
``(f) No advisory committee shall meet or take any action
until an advisory committee charter has been filed with the
Administrator, the head of the agency to whom any advisory
committee reports, and the standing committees of the Senate
and of the House of Representatives having legislative
jurisdiction of such agency. Such charter shall contain the
following information in the following order:
``(1) The committee's official designation.
``(2) The authority under which the committee is
established.
``(3) The committee's objectives and the scope of its
activity.
``(4) A description of the duties for which the committee
is responsible, and, if such duties are not solely advisory,
a specification of the authority for such functions.
``(5) The agency or official to whom the committee reports.
``(6) The agency responsible for providing the necessary
support for the committee.
``(7) The responsibilities of the officer or employee of
the Federal Government designated under section 10(e).
``(8) The estimated number and frequency of committee
meetings.
``(9) The period of time necessary for the committee to
carry out its purposes.
``(10) The committee's termination date, if less than two
years from the date of the committee's establishment.
``(11) The estimated number of members and a description of
the expertise needed to carry out the objectives of the
committee.
``(12) A description of whether the committee will be
composed of special Government employees, representatives, or
members from both categories.
``(13) Whether the agency intends to create subcommittees
and if so, the agency official authorized to exercise such
authority.
``(14) The estimated annual operating costs in dollars and
full-time equivalent positions for such committee.
``(15) The recordkeeping requirements of the committee.
``(16) The date the charter is filed.
A copy of any such charter shall also be furnished to the
Library of Congress.''.
SEC. 5. MANAGING FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
(a) Committee Management Officers.--Subsection (c) of
section 8 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.
App.), as redesignated by section 2(d) of this Act, is
amended to read as follows:
``(c) The head of each agency that has an advisory
committee shall designate an Advisory Committee Management
Officer who shall--
``(1) be a senior official who is--
``(A) an expert in implementing the requirements of this
Act and regulations promulgated pursuant to this Act; and
``(B) the primary point of contact for the General Services
Administration;
``(2) be responsible for the establishment, management, and
supervision of the advisory committees of the agency,
including establishing procedures, performance measures, and
outcomes for such committees;
``(3) assemble and maintain the reports, records, and other
papers (including advisory committee meeting materials) of
any such committee during its existence;
``(4) ensure any such committee and corresponding agency
staff adhere to the provisions of this Act and any
regulations promulgated pursuant to this Act;
``(5) maintain records on each employee of any such
committee and completion of training required for any such
employee;
``(6) be responsible for providing the information required
in section 7(b) of this Act to the Administrator; and
``(7) carry out, on behalf of that agency, the provisions
of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, with respect
to the reports, records, and other papers described in
paragraph (3).''.
SEC. 6. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND REPORTS.
(a) Review.--The Comptroller General of the United States
shall review compliance by agencies with the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, as amended by this Act, including whether
agencies are appropriately appointing advisory committee
members as either special Government employees or
representatives.
(b) Report.--The Comptroller General shall submit to the
committees described in subsection (c) two reports on the
results of the review, as follows:
(1) The first report shall be submitted not later than one
year after the date of promulgation of regulations under
section 7(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.
App.), as amended by section 2(c).
(2) The second report shall be submitted not later than
five years after such date of promulgation of regulations.
(c) Committees.--The committees described in this
subsection are the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT TO
TRADE ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
Section 135(f)(2)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2155(f)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ``subsections (a) and
(b) of sections 10 and 11 of the Federal Advisory Committee
Act'' and inserting ``subsections (a) and (b) of section 10
and subsections (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9), (b)(2), and (d) of
section 11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act''.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
Section 3 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.
App.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(5) The term `special Government employee' has the
meaning given that term in section 202(a) of title 18, United
States Code.''.
SEC. 9. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Section 7(d)(1) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5
U.S.C. App.) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``the rate specified
for GS-18 of the General Schedule under section 5332'' and
inserting ``the rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule
under section 5315''; and
(2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ``handicapped
individuals (within the meaning of section 501 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794))'' and inserting
``individuals with disabilities (as defined in section 7(20)
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705(20)))''.
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
[[Page H69]]
SEC. 11. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the
requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts
otherwise authorized.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Chaffetz) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.
General Leave
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Committee on
Ways and Means for their work on this bill; and I include committee
exchanges of letters into the Record.
Committee on Ways and Means,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, January 4, 2017.
Hon. Jason Chaffetz,
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House
of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Chaffetz, I am writing with respect to H.R.
70, the ``Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of
2017,'' which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform.
H.R. 70 involves issues that fall within the Rule X
jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. As a result
of your having consulted with the Committee and in order to
expedite the House's consideration of H.R. 70, the Committee
on Ways and Means will not assert its jurisdictional claim
over this bill. However, this is conditional on our mutual
understanding and agreement that doing so will in no way
diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways
and Means with respect to the appointment of conferees or to
any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matters
contained in die bill or similar legislation.
I would appreciate a response to this letter confirming
this understanding with respect to H.R. 70, and would ask
that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be
included in the Congressional Record during Floor
consideration thereof.
Sincerely,
Kevin Brady,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform,
Washington, DC, January 4, 2017.
Hon. Kevin Brady,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: On January 3, 2017, H.R. 70, the Federal
Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2017, was introduced by
Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO-1). The bill was referred primarily
to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, with an
additional referral to the Committee on Ways and Means.
I ask that you allow the Ways and Means Committee to be
discharged from further consideration of the bill so that it
may be scheduled by the Majority Leader. This discharge in no
way affects your jurisdiction over the subject matter of the
bill, and it will not serve as precedent for future
referrals. In addition, should a conference on the bill be
necessary, I would support your request to have the Committee
on Ways and Means represented on the conference committee.
Finally, I would be pleased to include this letter and any
response in the bill report filed by the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, as well as in the
Congressional Record during floor consideration, to
memorialize our understanding.
Thank you for your consideration of my request.
Sincerely,
Jason Chaffetz,
Chairman.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that the primary sponsor is
actually the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay). I reserve the balance
of my time in order to allow Mr. Clay to speak first on this issue, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Let me begin by thanking the chairman for his understanding and his
support of this legislation. I certainly appreciate it, and I am sure
it will make the Federal Government run more efficiently.
I rise in strong support of the Federal Advisory Committee Act
Amendments. I have introduced this bill in previous Congresses, and it
passed the House last year without opposition.
The FACA was originally enacted in 1972. It is intended to ensure
that committees that provide advice to Federal agencies and the
President operate with transparency.
Advisory committees provide the government with recommendations on a
wide range of issues. For example, the EPA relies on the expertise of
the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee to provide technical advice
on setting national air quality standards.
The bill we are considering today would strengthen FACA to make
Federal advisory committees more transparent and to make agencies more
accountable in how they select and use these committees. Agencies
currently can avoid the requirements of FACA by conducting advisory
committee business through subcommittees. This bill makes it clear that
FACA applies to subcommittees as well as parent committees.
The bill also clarifies that a committee set up by a contractor is
subject to FACA if it is formed under direction of the President or an
agency.
Under FACA, agencies would be required to disclose how advisory
members are chosen, whether they have financial conflicts of interest
if they are appointed to provide their own expertise, and who they work
for if they are representing a specific interest.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I hope the Senate will
take it up quickly and send it to the President.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Again, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) for his good
work on this. The Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2017 was
introduced by Representative Clay to help improve the governance and
transparency of the Federal advisory committees. Last Congress, this
bill passed through the committee by regular order and passed the
House.
Congress acknowledged the merits of using advisory committees to
acquire viewpoints from business, academic, and other interests when it
passed the original act back in 1972. While not necessarily well-known,
Federal advisory committees are small bodies of people who provide
advice, guidance, and recommendation to Federal policymakers on a wide
range of topics.
All told, in fiscal year 2015, there were roughly 1,000 Federal
advisory committees, and they held roughly 7,400 meetings at a cost to
the American taxpayers of more than $369 million. Now, this strikes me
personally as an exceptionally high number. It is a large amount of
money. We need to learn more about them, and I personally would help
champion to reduce the number of overall Federal advisory committees.
We have some 2 million Federal employees, I think, who are highly
capable, motivated, and compensated to provide this work. It is good to
get outside perspective; but, at some point, we are going to have to
look at the cost, the size, and the scope of this as well.
Nevertheless, we have to make sure that we are getting the most of
these taxpayer dollars.
Some agencies believe the FACA requirements are cumbersome and
resource intensive. We could certainly streamline this. This reduces
the ability of committees to focus on substantive issues in a timely
fashion.
Both governmental agencies and private groups say the 1972 act does
not do enough to require agencies to promote openness and transparency
with regard to Federal advisory committees. The bill works to address
these problems and bring transparency to the Federal advisory
committees and the Federal agency decisionmaking process.
The bill provides needed transparency for how committee members are
selected in several ways. First, the bill requires members to be
selected without political affiliation. The bill also authorizes agency
heads to require members to fully disclose any conflicts of interest.
You would think that that would be common sense but something that we
actually need to put into this bill and make sure that we understand
that.
In addition, the bill allows these individuals who regularly attend
and participate in committee meetings to be considered as a member,
even if they are not allowed to vote.
The bill also improves transparency of committee activities. This is
done by increasing the independence of these committees and making sure
its advice, information, and recommendations are a judgment of
the committee and not the agency.
[[Page H70]]
The bill also increases transparency by requiring each agency to make
available on their Web site the committee and its activities.
I urge our Members to support this. It has wide support and has had
it in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. I urge its
passage. I again thank Mr. Clay, Mr. Connolly, and others who were
working on this issue.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Connolly), a colleague, friend, and cohort on the
Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr.
Clay) for his leadership on this very important piece of legislation. I
also thank the distinguished chairman of our full committee for his
leadership in moving this through.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2017, I think, fall
under the umbrella of good government, which the Oversight and
Government Reform Committee, at its best, strives to promote on a
bipartisan basis. I am proud, as Mr. Clay indicated, to be an original
cosponsor of the bill.
We welcome consideration of the Federal Advisory Committee Act
Amendments, which would improve the transparency and accountability of
Federal advisory committees, often arcane, Byzantine parts of the
government most of the public can't access.
This crucial piece of legislation ensures that the selection process
of advisory committee members takes place without regard to political
affiliation and requires the disclosure of potential conflicts of
interest.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act, FACA, enacted on October 6, 1972,
formalized the process for establishing, operating, overseeing, and
terminating Federal advisory committees. Federal advisory committees
provide a mechanism for government officials to gain knowledge from
Federal and non-Federal experts on key policy matters. FACA ensures
Federal advisory committees, however, are both transparent and
accessible.
FACA was enacted in response to concerns that Federal advisory
committees were becoming increasingly common but had little oversight
or accountability. The then-House Committee on Government Operations
listened to concerns over the lack of transparency and formalized a
governance process for these advisory bodies by establishing the
Committee Management Secretariat within the General Services
Administration to monitor compliance with the new law. The intent of
that law was to make Federal advisory committees more accountable, more
transparent, balanced, and independent from the influence of special
interests.
This bill before us today, inspired by Mr. Lacy's leadership, will
help strengthen the independence of those advisory committees by
requiring members to be selected without regard to partisan
affiliation. It is imperative that the recommendations and guidance of
the committees be provided free of political influence, pressure, and
intervention.
The bill closes the loophole that allows subcommittees to operate
outside of the regulations of FACA. It also improves the transparency
of advisory committees by requiring agency heads to obtain conflict of
interest disclosures from all committee members serving as individual
experts.
H.R. 2347 builds upon the accountability of the advisory committees
by explicitly stating that committees established by contractors must
comply with the law and that individuals who regularly attend and
participate as if they are members are considered members regardless of
their ability to vote.
This bill also calls on the Government Accountability Office to
review and report regularly on agency compliance.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Byrne). The time of the gentleman has
expired.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Virginia an
additional 30 seconds.
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, last Congress, the Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform reported this bill favorably by unanimous
consent.
I urge my colleagues to continue Congress' longstanding support of
oversight, accountability, and transparency and vote for this
thoughtful and important piece of legislation.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I continue
to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I would urge
the House to adopt this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, it is a good piece of legislation. I again
thank Mr. Clay and Mr. Connolly for their work on this, and I urge its
passage.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 70.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
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