Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1608) to amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase the transparency of Federal advisory committees, and for other purposes.

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments.

Representative Lacy Clay, my good friend from Missouri, has introduced this bill each Congress for a decade now. The bill passed in each of the previous two Congresses, and it passed the House last year without opposition.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act was originally enacted in 1972. It is intended to ensure that committees that provide advice to Federal agencies and the President operate with transparency.

The bill we are considering today would strengthen FACA to make Federal advisory committees more transparent and to make agencies more accountable in how they select members for these committees.

Agencies often avoid the requirements of FACA by conducting advisory committee business through subcommittees. This bill makes it clear that FACA applies to subcommittees as well as parent committees. The bill also clarifies that a committee set up by a contractor is subject to FACA if it is formed under direction of the President or an agency.

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments, agencies would be required to disclose how advisory members are chosen and whether they have financial conflicts of interest. They would also be required to disclose if they are appointed to provide their own expertise and who they work for if they are representing a specific interest.

Last Congress, this legislation was approved without opposition by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the Senate. Chairman Ron Johnson and his staff were very helpful in pushing this bill through the Senate.

The bill we are considering today includes changes made following negotiations we engaged in during the process. These are changes to address concerns raised last Congress by the Department of Health and Human Services and technical corrections from the General Services Administration.

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay).

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I must say that my friend from Missouri has been indefatigable in trying to get this bill passed. It looks like it received some notice, at least the last time, in the Senate.

I have joked with my friend that maybe if he got somebody else to introduce it, we could get the bill passed. But he keeps trying. If at first you don't succeed--

I believe that because he has understood that these advisory committees are very important and sometimes amount to enacting legislation, so important are some of them to our process, that he has to keep plugging away until we get it done. I thank him for doing so.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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