On the recordJuly 17, 2019
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I will keep my comments brief because this bipartisan, commonsense bill is simple. H.R. 736 would make all agency reports to Congress, and releasable under FOIA, available on one website at no cost to the American public. Each year, Federal agencies submit thousands of reports to Congress that contain a wealth of information that enables the public to better understand how Federal agencies are, or are not, fulfilling their respective missions, from ensuring the safety of our drugs and food supply to protecting the environment and monitoring the soundness of our financial institutions. Unfortunately, many, if not most, of these reports simply sit collecting dust in the committees they are delivered to or are posted in numerous and confusing places on dozens of agency websites, rarely to be seen or thought of again. In fact, the only comprehensive list of congressionally mandated reports is printed in paper format each year by the Clerk of the House and is available only by request, provided that one knows it exists. My bill would, for the first time, create a single website where the public and Members of Congress can easily search, sort, and download all congressionally mandated reports from agencies. Ultimately, this will help us conduct better research and oversight of these agencies and will allow the public to learn about what agencies are doing with their hard-earned tax dollars.…
