[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4794-S4795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET JUSTIFICATION TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2021

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 66, S. 272.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 272) to amend the Federal Funding Accountability 
     and Transparency Act of 2006, to require the budget 
     justifications and appropriation requests of agencies be made 
     publicly available.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, with an amendment to strike all after the 
enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Budget 
     Justification Transparency Act of 2021''.

     SEC. 2. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS AND 
                   APPROPRIATION REQUESTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 3 of the Federal Funding 
     Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 
     note) is amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 3. FULL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

       ``(a) In General.--Not less frequently than monthly when 
     practicable, and in any event not less frequently than 
     quarterly, the Secretary (in consultation with the Director 
     and, with respect to information described in subsection 
     (b)(2), the head of the applicable Federal agency) shall 
     ensure that updated information with respect to the 
     information described in subsection (b) is posted on the 
     website established under section 2.
       ``(b) Information To Be Posted.--
       ``(1) Funds.--For any funds made available to or expended 
     by a Federal agency or component of a Federal agency, the 
     information to be posted shall include--
       ``(A) for each appropriations account, including an expired 
     or unexpired appropriations account, the amount--
       ``(i) of budget authority appropriated;
       ``(ii) that is obligated;
       ``(iii) of unobligated balances; and
       ``(iv) of any other budgetary resources;
       ``(B) from which accounts and in what amount--
       ``(i) appropriations are obligated for each program 
     activity; and
       ``(ii) outlays are made for each program activity;
       ``(C) from which accounts and in what amount--
       ``(i) appropriations are obligated for each object class; 
     and
       ``(ii) outlays are made for each object class; and
       ``(D) for each program activity, the amount--
       ``(i) obligated for each object class; and
       ``(ii) of outlays made for each object class.
       ``(2) Budget justifications.--
       ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
       ``(i) the term `budget justification materials' means the 
     annual budget justification materials of a Federal agency, or 
     a component of a Federal agency, that are submitted, in 
     conjunction with the budget of the United States Government 
     submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 
     Code; and
       ``(ii) the term `open Government data asset' has the 
     meaning given that term in section 3502 of title 44, United 
     States Code.
       ``(B) Information.--The information to be posted--
       ``(i) shall include any budget justification materials--

       ``(I) for the second fiscal year beginning after the date 
     of enactment of this paragraph, and each fiscal year 
     thereafter; and
       ``(II) to the extent practicable, that were released for 
     any fiscal year before the date of enactment of this 
     paragraph; and

       ``(ii) shall not include budget justification materials the 
     disclosure of which is prohibited by law, that are 
     classified, or that are exempt from disclosure under section 
     552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
       ``(C) Format.--Budget justification materials shall be 
     posted under subparagraph (B)--
       ``(i) as an open Government data asset;
       ``(ii) in a manner that enables users to download 
     individual reports, download all reports in bulk, and 
     download in bulk the results of a search, to the extent 
     practicable; and
       ``(iii) in a structured data format, to the extent 
     practicable.
       ``(D) Deadline.--The budget justification materials 
     required to be posted under subparagraph (B)(i) shall be 
     posted not later than 2 weeks after the date on which the 
     budget justification materials are first submitted to 
     Congress.
       ``(E) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph 
     shall be construed to authorize a Federal agency, or a 
     component of a Federal agency, to destroy any budget 
     justification materials relating to a fiscal year before the 
     fiscal year described in subparagraph (B)(i).''.
       (b) Information Regarding Agency Budget Justifications.--
     Section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(i)(1) The Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget shall make publicly available on a website, and 
     continuously update, a tabular list for each fiscal year of 
     each agency that submits budget justification materials, 
     which shall include--
       ``(A) the name of the agency;
       ``(B) a unique identifier that identifies the agency;
       ``(C) to the extent practicable, the date on which the 
     budget justification materials of the agency are first 
     submitted to Congress;
       ``(D) the date on which the budget justification materials 
     of the agency are posted online under section 3 of the 
     Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 
     (31 U.S.C. 6101 note);
       ``(E) the uniform resource locator where the budget 
     justification materials are published on the website of the 
     agency; and
       ``(F) a single data set that contains the information 
     described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) with respect to 
     the agency for all fiscal years for which budget 
     justifications of the agency are made available under section 
     3 of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act 
     of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) in a structured data format.
       ``(2)(A) Each agency that submits budget justification 
     materials shall make the materials available on the website 
     of the agency, in accordance with the policies established by 
     the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under 
     subparagraph (B).
       ``(B) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
     this subsection, the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
     shall establish policies and data standards for agencies 
     relating to making available materials under subparagraph 
     (A), which shall include guidelines for making budget 
     justification materials available in a format aligned with 
     the requirements of section 3(b)(2)(C) of the Federal Funding 
     Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 
     note) and using a uniform resource locator that is in a 
     consistent format across agencies and is descriptive, 
     memorable, and pronounceable, such as the format of 
     `agencyname.gov/budget'.
       ``(C) If the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget maintains a public website that contains the budget of 
     the United States Government submitted under subsection (a) 
     and any related materials, such website shall also contain a 
     link to the tabular list required under paragraph (1).
       ``(3) In this subsection, the term `budget justification 
     materials' has the meaning given that term in section 3(b)(2) 
     of the Federal Funding

[[Page S4795]]

     Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 
     note).''.

     SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that such 
     statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; the bill, as 
amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the 
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was 
agreed to.
  The bill (S. 272) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed.

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