,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dchb  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #b1 #bjad ,mr4
 ,bridenstine 7for himself and ,mr4     
,cuellar7 introduced the following bill2
 which was referred to the ,committee on
 ,science1 ,space1 and ,technology  ,a  
,,bill  ,to streamline the collection   
and distribution of government          
information4  #a4 ,findings ,congress   
finds the following3  7#a7 ,the         
,national ,technical ,information       
,service 7referred to in this ,act as   
,,ntis71 the ,national ,archives and    
,records ,administration1 the           
,government ,accountability ,office     
7referred to in this section as ,,gao71 
and the ,library of ,congress all       
collect1 categorize1 and distribute     
government information4  7#b7 ,,ntis was
 established in #aiej1 more than #dj    
years before the creation of the        
,internet4  7#c7 ,,ntis is tasked with  
collecting and distributing             
government-funded scientific1 technical1

 engineering1 and business-related      
information and reports4  7#d7 ,,gao    
found that ,,ntis sold only #h percent  
of the #b1ejj1jjj reports in its        
collection between #aiie and #bjjj4     
7#e7 ,a ,november #bjab ,,gao review of 
,,ntis made the following conclusions3  
7,a7 ,of the reports added to ,,ntis's  
repository during fiscal years #aiij    
through #bjaa1 ,,gao estimates that     
approximately #gd percent were readily  
available from other public sources44   
7,b7 ,these reports were often available
 either from the issuing organization's 
website1 the ,federal ,internet portal  
7http3_/_/www4,,usa4gov7 or from another
 source located through a web search44  
7,c7 ,the source that most often had the
 report ,,gao was searching for was     
another website located through         
http3_/_/www4,google4com44  7,d7 #ie    
percent of the reports available from   
sources other than ,,ntis were available
 free of charge44  7#f7 ,no ,federal    
agency should use taxpayer dollars to   

purchase a report from the ,national    
,technical ,information ,service that is
 available through the ,internet for    
free4  7#g7 ,as far back as #aiii1      
,secretary of ,commerce ,william        
,daley--  7,a7 admitted that the        
,national ,technical ,information       
,service would eventually outlive its   
usefulness and be unable to sustain its 
revenue-losing profit model2  7,b7      
explained that declining sales revenues 
soon would not be sufficient to recover 
all of ,,ntis' operating costs2 and     
7,c7 attributed this decline to other   
agencies' practice of making their      
research results available to the public
 for free through the ,web4  7#h7       
,according to the ,november #bjab ,,gao 
report--  7,a7 ,,ntis product           
expenditures exceeded revenues for #aj  
out of the past #aa fiscal years42  7,b7
 ,the agency lost1 on average1 about    
#a4c million over the last #aa years on 
its products42 and  7,c7 ,the decline in
 revenue for its products continues to  

call into question whether ,,ntis's     
basic statutory function of acting as a 
self-financing repository and           
disseminator of scientific and technical
 information is still viable44  7#i7    
,,ntis has compensated for its lost     
revenue by charging other ,federal      
agencies for various services that are  
not associated with ,,ntis's primary    
mission4  7#aj7 ,future technological   
advances will ensure that the services  
offered by ,,ntis are even more         
superfluous for essential government    
functions than they are today4  #b4     
,national ,technical ,information       
,service  7a7 ,repeal ,effective on the 
date that is #a year after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,national ,technical ,information ,act  
of #aihh 7subtitle ,b of title ,,ii of  
,public ,law #ajj-eai2 #ae ,u4,s4,c4    
#cgjd;b7 is repealed4  7b7 ,transfer of 
critical functions  7#a7 ,consultation  
requirement ,the ,secretary of          
,commerce1 the ,archivist of the ,united

 ,states1 the ,comptroller ,general of  
the ,united ,states1 and the            
,commissioner of ,social ,security shall
 consult with the ,director of the      
,office of ,management and ,budget to   
determine if any function of the        
,national ,technical ,information       
,service is critical to the economy of  
the ,united ,states4  7#b7 ,,gao        
certification ,the ,comptroller ,general
 shall determine which of the critical  
functions identified pursuant to        
paragraph 7#a7 are not being carried out
 by any other agency or instrumentality 
of the ,federal ,government4  7#c7      
,transfers authorized ,before the       
effective date set forth in subsection  
7a71 the ,secretary of ,commerce may    
transfer the responsibility for any     
critical function of ,,ntis 7as         
identified under paragraph 7#a77 that is
 not otherwise being carried out 7as    
determined under paragraph 7#b77 to     
another office within the ,department of
 ,commerce4  7c7 ,abolition of functions

 ,except for the functions transferred  
pursuant to subsection 7b71 all         
functions of the ,national ,technical   
,information ,service immediately before
 the repeal date described in subsection
 7a7 are abolished on such repeal date4 
#c4 ,secretary of ,commerce             
certification ,before the effective date
 set forth in section #b7;a71 the       
,secretary of ,commerce shall submit a  
written certification to the ,committee 
on ,finance of the ,senate and the      
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce of  
the ,house of ,representatives that all 
of the operations of the ,national      
,technical ,information ,service have   
been terminated4