[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 130 (Monday, July 26, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3872-H3874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET JUSTIFICATION TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2021

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
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.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                 S. 272

       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 ``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

[[Page H3873]]

     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 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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.


                             General Leave

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the measure before us.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill before us, the Congressional Budget 
Justification Transparency Act, is a commonsense, good government 
measure every Member should support.
  It would require the congressional budget justification documents 
that agencies prepare for congressional committees to be posted online 
in a centralized, searchable database.
  This would make these detailed, plain-language explanations of how 
agencies plan to spend taxpayer dollars more accessible to the public.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative   Mike Quigley for his 
work on the House companion to this measure. He has a long history as a 
strong advocate of transparency in the operations of the Federal 
Government.
  This bill builds on the work of the Committee to improve government 
transparency by allowing the public to more easily learn about how 
Federal agencies spend their taxpayer dollars.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 272, the Congressional Budget 
Justification Transparency Act.
  The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act is a long 
overdue reform that would ensure Congress and the Nation's taxpayers 
can understand the full scope and context of the annual Federal budget.
  I would like to thank Congressman   Mike Quigley for working together 
with House Oversight and Reform Committee Ranking Member Comer to pass 
the nearly identical companion bill, H.R. 22, through the House at the 
beginning of this year.
  Last year, more than $6.8 trillion was spent to fight the COVID-19 
pandemic.
  Public spending transparency resources like USAspending.gov and 
PandemicOversight.gov, helped the public track agency spending, but 
they are not enough.
  Annual Federal agency budget justifications provide detailed and 
plain language explanations of how agencies plan to spend 
congressionally appropriated funds.

                              {time}  1600

  However, these necessary justification materials are scattered across 
agency websites and often difficult to find. This bipartisan 
legislation will ensure the American people and Congress can easily 
access these important budget justification materials to review 
proposed agency spending.
  The bill requires every agency to make their annual budget 
justification materials publicly available on a single website. To do 
this, the bill requires the Office of Management and Budget to issue a 
full listing of agency budget justifications and the individual agency 
web pages where they are posted.
  Thanks to another law produced by the House Oversight and Reform 
Committee, the 2018 Good Accounting Obligation in Government Act, 
congressional budget justifications also now list unimplemented 
Inspector General audit and GAO report recommendations. This means the 
bill will also help Congress and the public annually track open IG and 
GAO oversight recommendations.
  The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act makes the 
executive branch annual budget process truly open to the American 
people and provides needed transparency of each agency's detailed 
budget justifications.
  The American public and their congressional Representatives deserve 
full access to agency plans to spend their hard-earned tax dollars. 
America's tax dollars must be used wisely, and I encourage my 
colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Pennsylvania has no 
further speakers, I am prepared to close.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer).
  Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 272, the Congressional Budget 
Justification Transparency Act.
  This bill is a timely and important reform to ensure Congress and the 
public can review all Federal spending. This bipartisan legislation 
make it possible for the public and every member of Congress to readily 
find and compare the annual budget justification and supporting 
materials that each agency prepares and sends to Congress. This 
detailed review is critical to ensuring that our tax dollars are spent 
properly.
  This reform is also needed now more than ever. Last year alone, the 
Federal Government spent more than $6.8 trillion. Unfortunately, this 
trend in massive government spending does not seem to be slowing down 
any time soon.
  The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act will require 
all agencies to make their budget justification materials available 
online in plain language. In doing so, this legislation will empower 
Congress' ability to conduct oversight of Federal agencies' use of 
taxpayer dollars by consolidating agency data. It will also provide 
much-needed transparency to the American people.
  Requiring each agency to provide detailed plain language explanations 
of how they intend to spend taxpayer dollars ensures Americans can 
review those decisions at any time.
  I want to thank my colleague, Congressman   Mike Quigley, for working 
with me on H.R. 22 which we were able to pass through the House back on 
January 5 of this year. I was glad to see the Senate's recent action 
advancing this much-needed reform bill through Congress.
  This legislation illustrates the importance of working across the 
aisle to improve congressional oversight to ensure American tax dollars 
are spent efficiently and effectively. Today the House sends the 
Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act to the President's 
desk.
  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working on many more bipartisan 
government accountability bills and encourage my colleagues to support 
this bill.

[[Page H3874]]

  

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am 
prepared to close.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this 
commonsense transparency bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of S. 272, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kahele). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) 
that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 272.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

                          ____________________