,,ii #aaeth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #cjbg ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #g1 #bjah ,mrs4 ,mc,caskill 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,portman1 ,mr4 ,peters1 ,mr4 ,carper1 ,ms4 ,hassan1 ,mr4 ,tester1 ,mr4 ,hoeven1 ,ms4 ,heitkamp1 ,mr4 ,jones1 ,ms4 ,harris1 ,mr4 ,lankford1 ,mr4 ,daines1 and ,mrs4 ,ernst7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to save taxpayer money and improve the efficiency and speed of intragovernmental correspondence1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,modernizing ,congressional ,reporting ,act of #bjah4 #b4 ,definitions ,in this ,act-- 7#a7 the term acceptable electronic format means a file format and metadata elements authorized by the ,national ,archives and ,records ,administration for the transfer of permanent electronic records-- 7,a7 as set forth in-- 7i7 ,national ,archives and ,records ,administration ,bulletin #bjad-jd3 ,revised ,format ,guidance for the ,transfer of ,permanent ,electronic ,records1 dated ,january #ca1 #bjad1 or any successor bulletin2 and 7ii7 ,national ,archives and ,records ,administration ,bulletin #bjae-jd3 ,metadata ,guidance for the ,transfer of ,permanent ,electronic ,records1 dated ,september #ae1 #bjae1 or any successor bulletin2 and 7,b7 that complies with the requirements of the ,office of ,management and ,budget ,memorandum on the ,managing ,government ,records ,directive1 dated ,august #bd1 #bjab 7,m-#ab-ah71 or any successor memorandum2 7#b7 the term agency has the meaning given the term in section #eea of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code2 7#c7 the term congressional office means-- 7,a7 an office of any committee or subcommittee of the ,senate or the ,house of ,representatives1 including any select or special committee2 7,b7 an office of any individual ,senator or ,member of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7,c7 a leadership office of the ,senate or the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7#d7 the term structured data has the meaning given the term in ,national ,archives and ,records ,administration ,bulletin #bjad-jd3 ,revised ,format ,guidance for the ,transfer of ,permanent ,electronic ,records1 dated ,january #ca1 #bjad1 or any successor bulletin4 #c4 ,electronic transmission of reports 7a7 ,in general ,on or after the date that is #cj days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 except as provided in subsection 7c7 and to the extent specifically required otherwise by law-- 7#a7 any report or written communication required to be submitted to ,congress by an agency under any provision of law1 and any response from an agency to a request by a congressional office for written information1 shall only be transmitted by the agency in an acceptable electronic format2 and 7#b7 any structured data included in or with any report1 written communication1 or written information described in paragraph 7#a7 shall be transmitted by the agency in an acceptable electronic format for structured data4 7b7 ,format preference 7#a7 ,in general ,in transmitting a report1 written communication1 or written information described in subsection 7a7 to a congressional office1 an agency shall1 to the extent possible1 provide the original electronic file or an electronically converted file rather than a scanned document1 even if the document includes a signature4 7#b7 ,searchable scanned documents ,each scanned document that is transmitted by an agency to a congressional office shall be made searchable via optical character recognition or other means4 7c7 ,other formats ,an agency that transmits a report1 written communication1 or written information described in subsection 7a7 to a congressional office in an acceptable electronic format may1 if requested by the congressional office1 transmit the report1 written communication1 or written information to the congressional office-- 7#a7 in an electronic format that is not an acceptable electronic format2 7#b7 as a physical document2 or 7#c7 in camera4