[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 40 (Monday, March 3, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H928-H930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GUIDANCE OUT OF DARKNESS ACT
Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 1515) to increase access to agency guidance documents.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1515
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 ``Guidance Out Of Darkness
Act'' or the ``GOOD Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the
term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
(3) Guidance document.--
(A) In general.--The term ``guidance document''--
[[Page H929]]
(i) means an agency statement of general applicability
(other than a rule that has the force and effect of law
promulgated in accordance with the notice and comment
procedures under section 553 of title 5, United States Code)
that--
(I) does not have the force and effect of law; and
(II) is designated by an agency official as setting forth--
(aa) a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical
issue; or
(bb) an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue;
and
(ii) may include--
(I) a memorandum;
(II) a notice;
(III) a bulletin;
(IV) a directive;
(V) a news release;
(VI) a letter;
(VII) a blog post;
(VIII) a no-action letter;
(IX) a speech by an agency official; and
(X) any combination of the items described in subclauses
(I) through (IX).
(B) Rule of construction.--The term ``guidance document''--
(i) shall be construed broadly to effectuate the purpose
and intent of this Act; and
(ii) shall not be limited to the items described in
subparagraph (A)(ii).
SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE INTERNET.
(a) In General.--Subject to section 5, on the date on which
an agency issues a guidance document, the agency shall
publish the guidance document in accordance with the
requirements under section 4.
(b) Previously Issued Guidance Documents.--Subject to
section 5, not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, each agency shall publish, in
accordance with the requirements under section 4, any
guidance document issued by that agency that is in effect on
that date.
SEC. 4. SINGLE LOCATION.
(a) In General.--All guidance documents published under
section 3 by an agency shall be published in a single
location on an internet website designated by the Director
under subsection (d).
(b) Agency Internet Websites.--Each agency shall, for
guidance documents published by the agency under section 3,
publish a hyperlink on the internet website of the agency
that provides access to the guidance documents at the
location described in subsection (a).
(c) Organization.--
(1) In general.--The guidance documents described in
subsection (a) shall be--
(A) categorized as guidance documents; and
(B) further divided into subcategories as appropriate.
(2) Agency internet websites.--The hyperlinks described in
subsection (b) shall be prominently displayed on the internet
website of the agency.
(d) Designation.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director shall designate an
internet website on which guidance documents shall be
published under section 3.
SEC. 5. DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE
UNDER FOIA.
If a guidance document issued by an agency is a document
that is exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title
5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Freedom of
Information Act''), or contains information that is exempt
from disclosure under that section, that document or
information, as the case may be, shall not be subject to the
requirements under this Act.
SEC. 6. RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.
On the date on which a guidance document issued by an
agency is rescinded, or, in the case of a guidance document
that is rescinded pursuant to a court order, not later than
the date on which the order is entered, the agency shall, at
the location described in section 4(a)--
(1) maintain the rescinded guidance document; and
(2) indicate--
(A) that the guidance document is rescinded;
(B) if the guidance document was rescinded pursuant to a
court order, the case number of the case in which the order
was entered; and
(C) the date on which the guidance document was rescinded.
SEC. 7. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) Validity of Guidance Documents.--Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to mean that noncompliance with any
provision of this Act affects or otherwise impacts the
validity of any guidance document.
(b) Congressional Review of Guidance Documents.--Nothing in
this Act shall be construed to affect or otherwise impact
whether a guidance document is subject to congressional
review under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 8. REPORT ON AGENCY COMPLIANCE.
Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on agency
compliance with this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Comer) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
General Leave
Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1515, the Guidance
Out of Darkness Act, or the GOOD Act.
Regulatory guidance includes agency statements that, while not
intended to have the force and effect of law, establish agency policies
of statutory, regulatory, or technical issues. Because such guidance
communicates how an agency will administer their law and its programs,
it has a significant effect on regulated entities.
Regulated entities in the public should know what agency guidance
says about the laws and programs that affect them. However, guidance
documents are not easy to find. They are not consistently posted on
agency websites.
This inconsistency burdens regulated entities, and it especially
burdens small businesses who often lack the resources to hire
compliance experts. The problem is so bad that agency guidance
documents are known as regulatory dark matter.
For a brief time, the first Trump administration was able to bring
helpful and needed sunshine to the situation. Following the GOOD Act's
passage by the House during the 115th Congress, the first Trump
administration voluntarily adopted the bill's reforms through an
October 2019 executive order after the Senate failed to act.
Under the executive order, guidance was required to become fully
transparent online. Across the government, each agency was directed to
make available on its website a single, searchable indexed database
with links to all guidance documents in effect. As a result, for the
first time, Members of the public could easily find whatever agency
guidance they needed online in a central location.
The order was in effect during 2019 and 2020 but was regrettably
rescinded by the Biden administration. As a result, agencies pulled
down their guidance web pages, and guidance, once again, fell into
darkness, increasing the potential for agency abuse. This is why we
need to, once again, pass the GOOD Act in the House and require
agencies to publish their regulatory guidance in a single, easily
accessible location.
The American public deserves nothing less from their government.
I thank my committee colleague, Representative Ro Khanna from
California, for cosponsoring my legislation, and I especially thank the
ranking member for working with my staff to help us advance a
bipartisan bill here today.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this simple and
necessary transparency bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1545
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1515, the Guidance Out Of
Darkness Act, sponsored by our chairman, the gentleman from Kentucky
(Mr. Comer).
Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues like to say that this bill
would cast a light on what they love to call regulatory dark matter.
This melodramatic term refers to the guidance documents Federal
agencies issue to help the public better understand actions and
policies.
Guidance documents come in the form of interpretive rules, which
describe an agency's interpretation of a statute or regulation, and
general statements of agency policy. For example, an agency might issue
a guidance document to clarify a regulation and its technical details
or to offer more information on compliance.
Guidance documents don't have the force of law and are already
publicly available. The bill simply requires the agencies to publish
guidance documents on a dedicated website for ease
[[Page H930]]
of access. It also requires the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget to designate a single website for accessing all agency
guidance documents, except for those exempt from disclosure under the
FOIA.
Democrats support a transparent Federal Government that is always
accountable to the public, so we support this bill, as well. We don't
buy into the incendiary rhetoric of some MAGA Republicans trying to
paint agency guidance documents as some kind of sinister tool of the
administrative state. They are the very opposite.
My Republican colleagues have said that this bill is important
because it restores elements of President Trump's Executive Order No.
13891 that was revoked by President Biden.
To set the record straight, President Biden replaced that executive
order--he didn't revoke it--because it sought to limit the Federal
Government's ability to address the country's challenges and serve its
people. Instead, President Biden launched an important effort to
modernize the regulatory review process, including the process around
guidance documents, which we are addressing today.
Let's be very clear: Republicans are dead set on rolling back the
ability of Federal agencies to protect the public from corporate bad
actors. In contrast, Democrats are putting people before profits,
including through evidence-based regulations that protect Americans'
freedoms and well-being.
Passage of this bill today is a good step in the right direction, as
long as we all actually are interested in regulatory transparency and
accountability.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I am happy
to join them. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Kiley).
Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, the basic premise of this bill,
which I am happy to cosponsor, is that we should not have secret laws
in the United States.
A major opportunity that we have right now is to modernize our
government and to rein in the inexorable growth of the administrative
state, restoring power to our elected representatives, States, local
communities, and the American people themselves.
When we think about the administrative state, we think about all the
regulations that are churned out, one after another, and compiled in
the ever-growing Federal Register. The reality is, that is just the tip
of the iceberg. Layered on top of all of that are these so-called
guidance documents. These are memos, Dear Colleague letters, bulletins,
all manner of what is referred to as ``regulatory dark matter.''
With respect to the ranking member, this is not a melodramatic term.
It is actually quite appropriate. In physics, ``dark matter'' refers to
the mysterious substance that makes up about 85 percent of the mass of
the universe, but no one really knows what it is. Similarly, all of
these guidance documents make up a great deal of the regulatory
activity in our country, yet the agencies themselves can't even manage
to track them down. How is an individual or a small business supposed
to find out what this particular interpretation of the law is and how
it will affect them, let alone how Congress is supposed to figure out
how the laws that we have passed are ultimately being enforced and
administered?
This is a commonsense measure that says that all of these guidance
documents, which have real teeth when it comes to the enforcement of
regulations, need to be compiled in one place that is searchable and
accessible to every American citizen. It is a positive step for
transparency and toward restoring government by the people.
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge passage
of H.R. 1515, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Guidance
Out Of Darkness Act, or GOOD Act, and to pass this legislation once
again, like the House did in the last term. I yield back the balance of
my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1515.
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.
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