,,ii  #aadth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #ghg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,march #ah1         
#bjae,mrs4 ,mc,caskill 7for herself and 
,ms4 ,ayotte7 introduced the following  
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,commerce1         
,science1 and ,transportation  ,a ,,bill
  ,to streamline the collection and     
distribution of government information4 
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,,ntis ,elimination ,act4  #b4  
,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 ,act 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 ,in #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 referred to in paragraph 7#e7--  
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  #c4     
,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 and the ,comptroller ,general 
of the ,united ,states shall consult    
with the ,director of the ,office of    
,management and ,budget to determine if 
any activity or function of the         
,national ,technical ,information       
,service--  7,a7 is critical to the     
national economy2 and  7,b7 is not being
 carried out by-- 7i7 any other agency  
or instrumentality of the ,federal      
,government2 or  7ii7 a contractor of   
the ,federal ,government4  7#b7         
,transfers authorized  7,a7 ,in general 
,before the effective date set forth in 
subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of       
,commerce is authorized to transfer the 
responsibility for any ,,ntis activity  
or function that is critical to the     
national economy and not otherwise being
 carried out 7as determined under       
paragraph 7#a77 to another office within
 the ,department of ,commerce4  7,b7    
,congressional notification ,before     

transferring any activity or function   
pursuant to subparagraph 7,a71 the      
,secretary shall submit a report to the 
,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and  
,transportation of the ,senate1 the     
,committee on ,homeland ,security and   
,governmental ,affairs of the ,senate1  
the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce 
of the ,house of ,representatives1 the  
,committee on ,oversight and ,government
 ,reform of the ,house of               
,representatives that--  7i7 identifies 
the activities or functions that will be
 transferred2 and  7ii7 provides the    
rationale for determining that such     
activities or functions are critical to 
the national economy4  7#c7 ,defined    
term ,as used in this subsection1 an    
activity or function that is critical to
 the national economy promotes the      
economic growth of the ,united ,states  
by providing access to information that 
stimulates innovation and discovery4    
7c7 ,repository of nonclassified        
information  7#a7 ,in general ,the      

,secretary of ,commerce is authorized to
 continue to maintain a permanent       
repository of nonclassified scientific1 
technical1 and engineering information  
that contains reports that are          
scientific1 technical1 or engineering in
 nature4  7#b7 ,item to be included     
7,a7 ,in general ,all ,federal entities 
shall send electronic copies of all     
nonclassified scientific1 technical1 and
 engineering reports and information to 
the ,department of ,commerce for        
inclusion in the repository referred to 
in paragraph 7#a74  7,b7 ,notification  
requirement ,if any ,federal entity     
regularly fails to comply with the      
requirement under subparagraph 7,a71 the
 ,secretary of ,commerce shall notify-- 
7i7 the ,committee on ,commerce1        
,science1 and ,transportation of the    
,senate2 and  7ii7 the ,committee on    
,energy and ,commerce of the ,house of  
,representatives4  7#c7 ,public         
availability ,the repository referred to
 in paragraph 7#a7 and any document     

therein shall be publicly available and 
searchable1 including bibliographic     
information1 in a format that is useful 
to ,american industry1 business1        
libraries1 and research institutions4   
7#d7 ,digital copies ,the ,secretary    
shall provide digital copies of any     
document in the repository referred to  
in paragraph 7#a7 to the public free of 
charge4  7#e7 ,authorization of         
appropriations ,there is authorized to  
be appropriated such sums as may be     
necessary to maintain the repository    
referred to in paragraph 7#a74  7d7     
,bibliographic information ,the         
,secretary of ,commerce shall continue  
to make selected bibliographic          
information products available in a     
timely manner to depository libraries as
 part of the ,depository ,library       
,program of the ,government ,publishing 
,office4  7e7 ,use of technology ,the   
,secretary of ,commerce shall utilize   
available technology to ensure that the 
,department of ,commerce is collecting  

all nonclassified scientific1 technical1
 and engineering information to the best
 of its ability4  #d4 ,,ntis ,revolving 
,fund ,not later than #a year after the 
date of the enactment of this ,act1 the 
,secretary of the ,treasury1 after      
consultation with the ,secretary of     
,commerce1 shall--  7#a7 transfer all   
unexpended balances in the ,national    
,technical ,information ,service        
,revolving ,fund 7referred to in this   
section as the ,fund71 established      
pursuant to the ,department of ,commerce
 ,appropriations ,act1 #aiic 7title ,,ii
 of ,public ,law #ajb-cje2 #ae ,u4,s4,c4
 #cgjd;b note71 to the ,department of   
,commerce to be expended solely for the 
maintenance of the repository described 
in section #c7;c72 and  7#b7 dissolve   
the ,fund4  #e4 ,secretary of ,commerce 
certification ,before the effective date
 set forth in section #c7;a71 the       
,secretary of ,commerce shall submit a  
written certification to the ,committee 
on ,commerce1 ,science1 and             

,transportation 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 ,service1 except
 for the activities or functions        
transferred pursuant to section         
#c7;b77#b77;,a71 have been terminated4