S. 1636 — Introduced in Senate

II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1636 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 18, 2015Mr. Kirk (for himself, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To streamline the collection and distribution of Government information. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Just Google It Act. 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The National Technical Information Service (referred to in this Act as NTIS), the National Archives and Records Administration, the Government Accountability Office (referred to in this section as GAO), and the Library of Congress are all tasked with collecting, categorizing, and distributing Government publications to the public. (2) GAO has found that— (A) NTIS costs have exceeded its revenues during a recent 11-year period by an average of $1,300,000 per year; and (B) of the reports in the NTIS repository that are available elsewhere, 95 percent are available for free and most could be found using a web search engine like google.com. (3) NTIS is a relic of the pre-Internet era and duplicates the products and services offered by multiple Government agencies. 3. National Technical Information Service (a) Repeal Effective on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Technical Information Act of 1988 (subtitle B of title II of Public Law 100–519; 15 U.S.C. 3704b) is repealed. (b) Transfer of critical functions (1) Consultation requirement The Secretary of Commerce, the Archivist of the United States, the Comptroller General of the United States, and the Commissioner of Social Security shall consult with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to determine if any function of NTIS is critical to the economy of the United States. (2) GAO certification The Comptroller General of the United States shall determine which of the critical functions identified pursuant to paragraph (1) are not being carried out by any other agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government. (3) Transfers authorized (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Commerce, before the effective date set forth in subsection (a), may transfer the responsibility for any critical function of NTIS (as identified under paragraph (1)) that is not otherwise being carried out (as determined under paragraph (2)) to another office within the Department of Commerce. (B) Exception The Secretary may not transfer any fee-based services offered by NTIS to another office within the Department of Commerce. (4) Services by contractor If fee-based services determined to be critical to the economy of the United States under paragraph (1) are being carried out by a contractor through a contract with NTIS, such contract may not be renewed, but the Federal agency receiving such services, or the General Service Administration, may enter into a new contract with the contractor or another qualified entity to continue such services after the expiration of the contract with NTIS. (c) Abolition of functions Except for the functions transferred pursuant to subsection (b), all functions of the NTIS immediately before the repeal date described in subsection (a) are abolished on such repeal date. (d) Transfer of unexpended balances Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall— (1) transfer all unexpended balances in the National Technical Information Service Revolving Fund, established pursuant to the Department of Commerce Appropriations Act, 1993 (15 U.S.C. 3704b note), to the general fund of the Treasury for the purpose of deficit reduction; and (2) after the transfer is completed pursuant to paragraph (1), dissolve the National Technical Information Service Revolving Fund. 4. Secretary of Commerce certification Before the effective date set forth in section 3(a), 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 terminated.