[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11890-11892]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   FEDERAL REGISTER MODERNIZATION ACT

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4195) to amend chapter 15 of title 44, United States Code 
(commonly known as the Federal Register Act), to modernize the Federal 
Register, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4195

       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 ``Federal Register 
     Modernization Act''.

     SEC. 2. FEDERAL REGISTER MODERNIZATION.

       (a) References to Printing.--Chapter 15 of title 44, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) in section 1502--
       (A) in the heading, by striking ``printing'' and inserting 
     ``publishing''; and
       (B) by striking ``printing and distribution'' and inserting 
     ``publishing'';
       (2) in section 1507 is amended--
       (A) by striking ``the duplicate originals or certified 
     copies of the document have'' and inserting ``the document 
     has''; and
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``printed'' and inserting 
     ``published''; and
       (3) in section 1509, in subsections (a) and (b) of, by 
     striking ``printing, reprinting, wrapping, binding, and 
     distributing'' and inserting ``publishing'', each place it 
     appears.
       (b) Publish Defined.--Section 1501 of title 44, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) by striking ``; and'' at the end of the definition for 
     ``person'' and inserting a semicolon;
       (2) by inserting after the definition for ``person'' the 
     following:
       ```publish' means to circulate for sale or distribution to 
     the public; and''.
       (c) Filing Documents With Office Amendment.--Section 1503 
     of title 44, United States Code, is amended to read as 
     follows:

     ``Sec. 1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of time; 
       public inspection; transmission for publishing

       ``The original document required or authorized to be 
     published by section 1505 of this title shall be filed with 
     the Office of the Federal Register for publication at times 
     established by the Administrative Committee of the Federal 
     Register by regulation. The Archivist of the United States 
     shall cause to be noted on the original of each document the 
     day and hour of filing. Upon filing, the document shall be 
     immediately available for public inspection in the Office. 
     The original shall be retained by the National Archives and 
     Records Administration and shall be available for inspection 
     under regulations prescribed by the Archivist, unless such 
     original is disposed of in accordance with disposal schedules 
     submitted by the Administrative Committee and authorized by 
     the Archivist pursuant to regulations issued under chapter 33 
     of this title; however, originals of proclamations of the 
     President and Executive orders shall be permanently retained 
     by the Administration as part of the National Archives of the 
     United States. The Office shall transmit to the Government 
     Printing Office, as provided by this chapter, each document 
     required or authorized to be published by section 1505 of 
     this title. Every Federal agency shall cause to be 
     transmitted for filing the original of all such documents 
     issued, prescribed, or promulgated by the agency.''.
       (d) Federal Register Amendment.--Section 1504 of title 44, 
     United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 1504. `Federal Register'; publishing; contents; 
       distribution; price

       ``Documents required or authorized to be published by 
     section 1505 of this title shall be published immediately by 
     the Government Printing Office in a serial publication 
     designated the `Federal Register'. The Public Printer shall 
     make available the facilities of the Government Printing 
     Office for the prompt publication of the Federal Register in 
     the manner and at the times required by this chapter and the 
     regulations prescribed under it. The contents of the daily 
     issues shall constitute all documents, required or authorized 
     to be published, filed with the Office of the Federal 
     Register up to the time of the day immediately preceding the 
     day of publication fixed by regulations under this chapter. 
     There shall be published with each document a copy of the 
     notation, required to be made by section 1503 of this title, 
     of the day and hour when, upon filing with the Office, the 
     document was made available for public inspection. 
     Distribution shall be made at a time in the morning of the 
     day of distribution fixed by regulations prescribed under 
     this chapter. The prices to be charged for the Federal 
     Register may be fixed by the Administrative Committee of the 
     Federal Register established by section 1506 of this title 
     without reference to the restrictions placed upon and fixed 
     for the sale of Government publications by sections 1705 and 
     1708 of this title.''.
       (e) Documents To Be Published in Federal Register.--Section 
     1505 of title 44, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in the heading, by striking ``Comments'' and inserting 
     ``News Commentary''; and
       (B) by striking ``comments'' and inserting ``news 
     commentary''; and
       (2) in subsection (c), in the matter following paragraph 
     (2)--
       (A) by inserting ``telecommunications, the Internet,'' 
     after ``the press, the radio,''; and
       (B) by striking ``and two duplicate originals or two 
     certified copies'' and inserting ``document''.
       (f) Administrative Committee of the Federal Register 
     Amendment.--Section 1506 of title 44, United States Code, is 
     amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 1506. Administrative Committee of the Federal 
       Register; establishment and composition; powers and duties

       ``The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register 
     shall consist of the Archivist of the United States or Acting 
     Archivist, who shall chair the committee, an officer of the 
     Department of Justice designated by the Attorney General, and 
     the Public Printer or Acting Public Printer. The Director of 
     the Federal Register shall act as secretary of the committee. 
     The committee shall prescribe, with the approval of the 
     President, regulations for carrying out this chapter. The 
     regulations shall provide for, among other things--
       ``(1) the documents which shall be authorized under section 
     1505(b) of this title to be published in the Federal 
     Register;
       ``(2) the manner and form in which the Federal Register 
     shall be published;
       ``(3) the manner of distribution to Members of Congress, 
     officers and employees of the United States, or Federal 
     agency, for official use, and the number which shall be 
     available for distribution to the public;
       ``(4) the prices to be charged for individual copies of, 
     and subscriptions to, the Federal Register and any reprints 
     and bound volumes of it;
       ``(5) the manner and form by which the Federal Register may 
     receive information and comments from the public, if 
     practicable and efficient; and
       ``(6) special editions of the Federal Register.''.
       (g) Code of Federal Regulations Amendment.--Section 1510 of 
     title 44, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 1510. Code of Federal Regulations

       ``(a) Special Edition for Codification of Agency 
     Documents.--The Administrative Committee of the Federal 
     Register, with the approval of the President, may require, 
     from time to time as it considers necessary, the preparation 
     and publication in a special edition of the Federal Register 
     a complete codification of the documents of each agency of 
     the Government having general applicability and legal effect, 
     issued or promulgated by the agency by publication in the 
     Federal Register or by filing with the Administrative 
     Committee, and which are relied upon by the agency as 
     authority for, or are invoked or used by it in the discharge 
     of, its activities or functions, and are in effect as to 
     facts arising on or after dates specified by the 
     Administrative Committee.
       ``(b) Code of Federal Regulations.--A codification prepared 
     under subsection (a) of this section shall be published and 
     shall be designated as the `Code of Federal Regulations'. The 
     Administrative Committee shall regulate the manner and forms 
     of publishing this codification.
       ``(c) Supplementation, Collation, and Republication.--The 
     Administrative Committee shall regulate the supplementation 
     and the collation and republication of the codification with 
     a view to keeping the Code of Federal Regulations as current 
     as practicable. Each unit of codification shall be 
     supplemented and republished at least once each calendar 
     year. The Office of the Federal Register may create updates 
     of each unit of codification from time to time and make the 
     same available electronically or may provide public access 
     using an electronic edition that allows a user to select a 
     specific date and retrieve the version of the codification in 
     effect as of that date.
       ``(d) Preparation and Publication by the Federal 
     Register.--The Office of the Federal Register shall prepare 
     and publish the

[[Page 11891]]

     codifications, supplements, collations, and user aids 
     authorized by this section.
       ``(e) Prima Facie Evidence.--The codified documents of the 
     several agencies published in the Code of Federal Regulations 
     under this section, as amended by documents subsequently 
     filed with the Office and published in the daily issues of 
     the Federal Register, shall be prima facie evidence of the 
     text of the documents and of the fact that they are in effect 
     on and after the date of publication.
       ``(f) Regulations.--The Administrative Committee, with 
     approval of the President, shall issue regulations for 
     carrying out this section.
       ``(g) Exception.--This section does not require 
     codification of the text of Presidential documents published 
     and periodically compiled in supplements to title 3 of the 
     Code of Federal Regulations.''.
       (h) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 15 of title 44, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking the items related to sections 1502, 1503, 
     and 1504 and inserting the following:

``1502. Custody and publishing of Federal documents; appointment of 
              Director.
``1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of time; public 
              inspection; transmission for publishing.
``1504. `Federal Register'; publishing; contents; distribution; 
              price.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Gosar) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The Federal Register Modernization Act is an important bill that will 
allow our government to better adapt to 21st century technology while 
both serving the public better and saving money. Much of the Federal 
recordkeeping and document publishing includes outdated requirements 
for printed version of documents. This is especially true for the 
Federal Register.
  Today, there are only 124 paid subscribers to the print version of 
the Federal Register. Despite this fact, the Federal Government is 
legally required to continue to produce a print version of the 
Register. Moreover, statutes biased towards paper-based communication 
also require Federal agencies to submit multiple physical copies of the 
same document for publication. The result is a nonsensical situation in 
which agencies must hand-deliver CDs to the Office of the Federal 
Register with identical versions of the same documents saved on it.
  This commonsense legislation will fix both of these issues. First, it 
will allow the Register to be published rather than printed, allowing 
for an eventual switch to a digital-only version, patterned off of the 
Federal Register's already award-winning Web site. Second, it will 
streamline the document submission process to eliminate the requirement 
for multiple copies and give the Register more freedom in how documents 
may be submitted.
  Importantly, this bipartisan proposal has the support of the 
administration, and I encourage all Members to support this 
legislation.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to thank Chairman Darrell Issa for introducing this bill. I am 
happy to be an original cosponsor of the Federal Register Modernization 
Act.
  This is a good government bill that will reduce waste and save 
taxpayers money. This bill is based on a legislative proposal from the 
National Archives and Records Administration.
  The Archivist of the United States sent a letter to Congress last 
November that read:

       This legislation would modernize the Federal Register to 
     take advantage of modern technology to increase efficiency.

  The bill would give the Office of the Federal Register the 
flexibility to publish the Federal Register electronically. It also 
would allow agencies to stop sending unnecessary paper copies of 
documents when they send materials to be published in the Federal 
Register. The National Archives estimates that this one step could save 
almost $900,000 over 5 years.
  This is exactly the kind of legislation Congress should be passing. 
It is bipartisan, noncontroversial, and will make a modest update that 
will make the government more efficient and effective with regard to 
information being accessible. I urge my colleagues to support the 
legislation.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from California, Chairman Issa, my distinguished colleague 
and the chairman of the committee.
  Mr. ISSA. I would inquire if the ranking member is yielding back so 
that I can close.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Yes.
  Mr. ISSA. Thank you. Then I will close.
  Mr. Speaker, the Federal Register Modernization Act does exactly what 
the title suggests--it modernizes the Federal Register Act.
  When you look at a well-intended bill that hasn't been addressed 
since the 1930s, it comes to mind how easy it is to ask something to go 
on and to have a Federal bureaucracy actually do a good job. The 
National Archives and many of the institutions here in Washington do 
work, but from time to time, you ask the question: At what cost?
  The Modernization Act seeks to do two things: one, simply lower the 
cost for printing, which is no longer necessary in a digital age, and, 
in fact, to open the door for what I believe is the modernization that 
goes beyond that.
  Since 1994, when the Office of the Federal Register first published 
its electronic edition of the Federal Register, we have, in fact, had 
an opening for our government to go digital beyond just any minor 
amount. Today, many people ask the question--and I am going to ask the 
question here today--if the IRS has 50 years' worth of your tax 
returns, why wouldn't we capture the workings of government digitally, 
hold them and, at the appropriate time, make them available for our 
children and our grandchildren for whatever purpose they may have in 
studying the history of what we do here today?
  This small modernization is about cost savings, but it is also a 
recognition that, in this day and age, we can capture everything 
digitally, that we can store vast amounts of it and that we can make it 
searchable and valuable to the next generation. For that reason, this 
is a small recognition that it is time to get off paper, to save money 
and to have the Federal Register accessible online to offices, homes, 
and public libraries, and not simply to print paper because, in the 
1930s, that is what we said to do. I believe, when we look at the last 
decade, in which the annual page count exceeded 75,000 pages, we 
recognize that those pages were made possible by the same computers--
the same automation--that allow us to no longer print paper.
  I ask the Conference and the Congress to vote for H.R. 4195 in order 
to remove these outdated statutory requirements. I urge its passage.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Homeland 
Security Committee, I rise to speak about H.R. 4195, the ``Federal 
Register Modernization Act,'' which modernizes the Federal Register.
  I want to thank Chairman Darrell Issa and Ranking Member Elijah 
Cummings for their leadership and efforts in bringing this bill to the 
floor.
  This bill will bring much needed transparency without compromising 
national security to the decisions, orders, and actions of federal 
agencies.
  There are challenges to providing government information solely in 
digital format since there are constituents that lack access to 
technology or the skills necessary to locate information online.
  Electronic documents can easily be changed and modified from original 
postings which challenges federal transparency.

[[Page 11892]]

  Digital records can also challenge transparency by the capacity of 
systems to manage demand for accessing information online.
  It would be good for transparency if we allow public and private 
achieving of federal registration content because constituents would 
have access to material in multiple ways.
  This bill requires the Federal Register to be published (e.g., by 
electronic means), rather than printed, and that documents in the 
Federal Register be made available for sale or distribution to the 
public in published form.
  This bill also revises the requirements for the filling of documents 
with the Office of the Federal Register for inclusion in the Federal 
Register and for the publication of the Code of Federal Regulations to 
reflect the publication requirement.
  The Office of the Federal Register (OFR) of the National Archives and 
Records Administration (NARA) and the U.S. Government Printing Office 
(GPO) does a great job by informing citizens of their rights and 
obligations, documenting the actions of Federal Agencies, and providing 
a forum for public participation in the democratic process.
  The Federal Register informs citizens by publishing the following 
entries:
  Presidential Documents, including Executive orders and proclamations;
  Rules and Regulations, including policy statements and 
interpretations of rules;
  Proposed Rules, including petitions for rulemaking and other advance 
proposals; and
  Notices, including scheduled hearings and meetings open to the 
public, grant applications, administrative orders, and other 
announcements of government actions.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to make it easier for citizens and communities 
to understand the regulatory process and to participate in Government 
decision-making.
  We can ensure that transparency our constituents demand by making 
material more searchable and easier to access.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of H.R. 
4195.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 4195.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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