[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 148 (Monday, September 23, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5600-H5601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GAO DATABASE MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2023

  Mr. BENTZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(S. 679) to amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to require 
Federal agencies to submit to the Comptroller General of the United 
States a report on rules that are revoked, suspended, replaced, 
amended, or otherwise made ineffective.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                 S. 679

       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 ``GAO Database Modernization 
     Act of 2023''.

     SEC. 2. RULES NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

       (a) In General.--Section 801(a)(1) of title 5, United 
     States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(D) For any rule submitted under subparagraph (A), if the 
     Federal agency promulgating the rule, in whole or in part, 
     revokes, suspends, replaces, amends, or otherwise makes the 
     rule ineffective, or the rule is made ineffective for any 
     other reason, the Federal agency shall submit to the 
     Comptroller General a report containing--
       ``(i) the title of the rule;
       ``(ii) the Federal Register citation for the rule, if any;
       ``(iii) the date on which rule was submitted to the 
     Comptroller General; and
       ``(iv) a description of the provisions of the rule that are 
     being revoked, suspended, replaced, amended, or otherwise 
     made ineffective.''.
       (b) Sunset.--Effective on the date that is 6 years after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, section 801(a)(1) of title 
     5, United States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph 
     (D), as added by subsection (a).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Bentz) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BENTZ. 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 material on S. 679.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oregon?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BENTZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 679, the GAO Database 
Modernization Act. This is an important piece of legislation that would 
help Congress, the Government Accountability Office, and the public 
keep track of the rulemaking activities of the administrative state.
  Under the Congressional Review Act, administrative agencies are 
required to notify Congress and the GAO when that agency enacts a new 
rule. This notification process allows Congress to review and, if 
necessary, consider a resolution to reject the new rule within a 
certain period of time.
  The notification process also allows the GAO to maintain a publicly 
available database of all rules. This publicly available database 
allows the American people to access information about the rules and 
regulations that govern their lives.
  One downside, however, is that, under current law, agencies, although 
required to publish new rules, are not required to notify Congress or 
the GAO if they amend or eliminate a rule. This can lead to significant 
confusion. If the GAO is not notified of a change to or revocation of a 
rule, then it is unable to maintain an up-to-date database for the 
American people.
  Further, because agencies are not required to notify Congress when a 
rule is modified or eliminated, many activities undertaken by the 
administrative state occur without any oversight.
  As a result, the American people may view out-of-date information 
when searching for details about regulations, and Congress does not 
have easy access to all the information required to effectively conduct 
oversight of the administrative state.
  S. 679 seeks to remedy this problem. The GAO Database Modernization 
Act will require administrative agencies to notify the GAO whenever 
they amend, suspend, or eliminate any rule.
  This bill would allow the GAO to maintain a comprehensive database, 
tracking all administrative rulemaking developments, not just newly 
enacted rules. This commonsense, narrowly tailored, and bipartisan 
proposal will ensure that the American people have access to complete 
and correct information about the rules that govern their lives.
  It will also allow Congress to better monitor the regulatory 
developments of the administrative state and ensure that Members of 
Congress are appropriately informed of the regulatory state of play.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the GAO Database Modernization Act would amend the 
Congressional Review Act to require Federal agencies to report to the 
GAO certain information about agency rules that are made ineffective 
due to an agency action or other reason.
  The Congressional Review Act, or CRA, requires an agency to submit a 
report to both Houses of Congress and to GAO whenever it promulgates a 
rule. This reporting requirement enables Congress to be kept regularly 
informed of rulemaking activity by all administrative agencies.
  GAO has created a publicly accessible database which tracks all rules 
submitted by the agencies. However, agencies do not currently report 
updates, suspensions, or alterations of rules to GAO unless any 
modifications are part of a newly promulgated regulation.
  To increase transparency, this legislation amends the CRA to require 
agencies to submit a report to GAO on rules that are revoked, 
suspended, amended, or otherwise made ineffective.
  While I do not oppose this legislation, I do note that I have 
concerns with the underlying Congressional Review Act, and I hope that 
we will have an opportunity to examine whether the law is operating as 
intended.
  The CRA, which provides a fast-track process whereby Congress can 
overturn an agency regulation, could be misused to undermine lifesaving 
regulations to protect public health and safety.
  Regulations take significant time, resources, public input, and 
expertise to craft, but the CRA allows narrow, partisan majorities in 
Congress to do away with them without any of the deliberative processes 
that went into making them.
  Since the CRA also prohibits an agency from issuing another rule ``in 
substantially the same form'' without congressional authorization, it 
allows Congress to tie an agency's hands well into the future.
  I hope this legislation is a modest improvement to oversight and 
transparency, but I hope that this is just the beginning of a larger 
conversation about the CRA and its impact on the regulatory process.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H5601]]

  

  Mr. BENTZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared 
to close. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to 
close.
  Mr. Speaker, although I hope that we can engage in a broader 
conversation about the Congressional Review Act, I appreciate that this 
bill provides additional transparency into the regulatory process.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support it, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. BENTZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Bentz) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, S. 679.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________