,i #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #deef ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,september #bg1 #bjai,mr4 ,cartwright 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,quigley1 ,ms4 ,lofgren1 ,mr4 ,raskin1 ,mrs4 ,davis of ,california1 ,mr4 ,clay1 ,mr4 ,vargas1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,georgia1 ,mr4 ,crdenas1 ,ms4 ,hill of ,california1 ,mr4 ,carson of ,indiana1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,ms4 ,tlaib1 and ,mr4 ,blumenauer7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to provide for the publication of ,,olc opinions1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,see ,u,ndisclosed ,legal ,interpretations and ,get ,honest ,transparency ,act of #bjai or as the ,,sunlight ,act of #bjai4 #b4 ,schedule of publication for final ,,olc opinions ,each final opinion issued by the ,office of ,legal ,counsel must be made publicly available in its entirety as soon as is practicable1 but-- 7#a7 not later than #cj days after the opinion is issued or updated if such action takes place on or after the date of enactment of this ,act2 7#b7 not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act for an opinion issued on or after ,january #bj1 #aiic2 7#c7 not later than #b years after the date of enactment of this ,act for an opinion issued on or after ,january #bj1 #aiha and before or on ,january #ai1 #aiic2 7#d7 not later than #c years after the date of enactment of this ,act for an opinion issued on or after ,january #bj1 #aifi and before or on ,january #ai1 #aiha2 and 7#e7 not later than #d years after the date of enactment of this ,act for all other opinions4 #c4 ,exceptions and limitation on public availability of final ,,olc opinions 7a7 ,in general ,a final ,,olc opinion or part thereof may be withheld only to the extent-- 7#a7 information contained in the opinion was-- 7,a7 specifically authorized to be kept secret1 under criteria established by an ,executive order1 in the interest of national defense or foreign policy2 7,b7 in fact properly classified1 including all procedural and marking requirements1 pursuant to such ,executive order2 7,c7 the ,attorney ,general determines that the national defense or foreign policy interests protected outweigh the public's interest in access to the information2 and 7,d7 has been put through declassification review within the past two years2 7#b7 information contained in the opinion relates to the appointment of a specific individual not confirmed to ,federal office2 7#c7 information contained in the opinion is specifically exempted from disclosure by statute 7other than sections #eeb and #eeb;b of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code71 provided that such statute-- 7,a7 requires that the material be withheld in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue2 or 7,b7 establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of material to be withheld2 7#d7 information in the opinion includes trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential whose disclosure would likely cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained2 7#e7 the ,president1 in his or her sole and nondelegable determination1 formally and personally claims in writing that executive privilege prevents the release of the information and disclosure would cause specific identifiable harm to an interest protected by an exception or the disclosure is prohibited by law2 or 7#f7 information in the opinion includes personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy4 7b7 ,determination ,to withhold ,any determination under this section to withhold information contained in a final ,,olc opinion must be made by the ,attorney ,general or a designee of the ,attorney ,general4 ,the determination shall be-- 7#a7 in writing2 7#b7 made available to the public within the same timeframe as is required of a formal ,,olc opinion2 7#c7 sufficiently detailed as to inform the public of what kind of information is being withheld and the reason therefore2 and 7#d7 effective only for a period of #c years1 subject to review and reissuance1 with each reissuance made available to the public4 7c7 ,final opinions ,for final ,,olc opinions for which the text is withheld in full or in substantial part1 a detailed unclassified summary of the opinion must be made available to the public1 in the same timeframe as required of the final ,,olc opinion1 that conveys the essence of the opinion1 including any interpretations of a statute1 the ,constitution1 or other legal authority4 ,a notation must be included in any published list of ,,olc opinions regarding the extent of the withholdings4 7d7 ,no limitation on relief ,a decision by the ,attorney ,general to release or withhold information pursuant to this ,act shall not preclude any action or relief conferred by statutory or regulatory regime that empowers any person to request or demand the release of information4 7e7 ,reasonably segregable portions of opinions ,to be published ,any reasonably segregable portion of an opinion shall be provided after withholding of the portions which are exempt under this subsection4 ,the amount of information withheld1 and the exemption under which the withholding is made1 shall be indicated on the released portion of the opinion1 unless including that indication would harm an interest protected by the exemption in this subsection under which the withholding is made4 ,if technically feasible1 the amount of the information withheld1 and the exemption under which the withholding is made1 shall be indicated at the place in the opinion where such withholding is made4 #d4 ,method of ,publication ,the ,attorney ,general shall publish each final ,,olc opinion to the extent the law permits1 including by publishing the opinions on a publicly accessible website that-- 7#a7 with respect to each opinion-- 7,a7 contains an electronic copy of the opinion1 including any transmittal letter associated with the opinion1 in an open format that is platform independent and that is available to the public without restrictions2 7,b7 provides the public the ability to retrieve an opinion1 to the extent practicable1 through searches based on-- 7i7 the title of the opinion2 7ii7 the date of publication or revision2 or 7iii7 the full text of the opinion2 7,c7 identifies the time and date when the opinion was required to be published1 and when the opinion was transmitted for publication2 and 7,d7 provides a permanent means of accessing the opinion electronically2 7#b7 includes a means for bulk download of all ,,olc opinions or a selection of opinions retrieved using a text-based search2 7#c7 provides free access to the opinions1 and does not charge a fee1 require registration1 or impose any other limitation in exchange for access to the website2 and 7#d7 is capable of being upgraded as necessary to carry out the purposes of this ,act4 #e4 ,index of ,opinions 7a7 ,in general ,the ,office of ,legal ,counsel shall publish --- 7#a7 a complete list of final ,,olc opinions1 arranged chronologically1 within #ij days of the enactment of this legislation2 7#b7 the list of opinions shall be updated immediately every time an ,,olc opinion becomes final2 and 7#c7 a revision to an opinion shall be listed as if it were a new opinion4 7b7 ,requirements as ,to list ,each list under subsection 7a7 shall comply with the following3 7#a7 publication ,the list must be made available to the public by publication on the website in section #d4 7#b7 ,information and format required ,the list shall -- 7,a7 include1 for each opinion-- 7i7 the full name of the opinion2 7ii7 the date it was finalized or revised2 7iii7 each author's name2 7iv7 each recipient's name2 7v7 a summary of the opinion2 7vi7 a unique identifier assigned to each final or revised opinion2 and 7vii7 whether an opinion has been withdrawn2 and 7,b7 be published in both human-readable and machine-readable formats4 #f4 ,private right of action ,on complaint1 the district court of the ,united ,states in the district in which the complainant resides1 or has his principal place of business1 or in the ,district of ,columbia1 has jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from withholding information contained in a final ,,olc opinion and to order the production of information improperly withheld from the complainant4 ,in such a case the court shall determine the matter de novo1 and may examine the contents of such ,,olc opinion in camera to determine whether such information or any part thereof shall be withheld under any of the exemptions set forth in section #c1 and the burden is on the agency to sustain its action4 #g4 ,severability ,if any provision of this ,act1 any amendment made by this ,act1 or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid1 the validity of the remainder of the ,act1 of any such amendments1 and of the application of such provisions to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby4 #h4 ,definitions 7a7 ,,olc ,opinion ,the term ,,olc opinion means views on a matter of legal interpretation communicated by the ,office of ,legal ,counsel of the ,department of ,justice to any other office or agency1 or person in an office or agency1 in the ,executive ,branch1 including any office in the ,department of ,justice1 the ,white ,house1 or the ,executive ,office of the ,president1 and rendered in accordance with sections #eaa-eac of title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code4 ,where the communication of the legal interpretation takes place verbally1 a memorialization of that communication qualifies as an ,,olc opinion4 7b7 ,final ,,olc ,opinion ,the term final ,,olc opinion means an ,,olc opinion that-- 7#a7 the ,attorney ,general1 ,assistant ,attorney ,general for ,,olc1 or a ,deputy ,assistant ,general for ,,olc1 has determined is final2 7#b7 government officials or government contractors are relying on2 7#c7 is relied upon to formulate legal guidance2 or 7#d7 is directly or indirectly cited in another ,office of ,legal ,counsel opinion4 7c7 ,revised ,,olc opinion ,the term revised ,,olc opinion means an ,,olc opinion that is withdrawn1 information is added to1 or information is removed from4