119-hr1247

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1247 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1247

 To secure Federal access to scientific literature and other 
 subscription services by requiring Federal agencies and legislative 
 branch research arms to make recommendations on increasing agency 
 library access to serials, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 12, 2025

 Mr. Foster (for himself, Mr. Takano, Mr. Quigley, and Ms. Norton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To secure Federal access to scientific literature and other 
 subscription services by requiring Federal agencies and legislative 
 branch research arms to make recommendations on increasing agency 
 library access to serials, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Well-Informed, Scientific, & 
Efficient Government Act of 2025'' or the ``WISE Government Act''.

SEC. 2. AGENCY JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.

    (a) Prohibition on Nondisclosure Provision for Journal 
Subscriptions.--The head of an agency may not enter into any contract 
for a journal subscription that prohibits disclosure of the cost of the 
subscription to another agency or the Library of Congress.

    (b) Employee Access to Library Subscriptions.--Not later than 6 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each 
agency shall require that each library of the agency make easily and 
clearly available to the employees of the agency, including regional 
employees, through the intranet any policy or procedure for employee 
access to a subscription of the library.
            (c) Report on Increasing Access to Serials.--Not later than 12 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, 
in consultation with the Library of Congress, the applicable agency 
libraries, and other relevant stakeholders (including the Defense 
Technical Information Center, the National Library of Medicine, the 
Education Resources Information Center, and the National Technical 
Information Service) shall submit to Congress and each agency library a 
report on increasing agency library access to serials that includes--

    (1) a survey of subscriptions purchased and cost data for 
 applicable agency libraries and the Library of Congress;

    (2) an outline of any issues with agency access to 
 scientific serials and subscriptions, which may include 
 contract issues, concerns arising with new publishing media 
 (including print, online, and aggregated services), the ability 
 of agency employees to use agency library subscriptions in 
 headquarters and regional offices, purchasing system 
 inefficiencies, and price concerns; and

    (3) recommendations on addressing issues, including short-
 term and long-term solutions and assessing the potential need 
 for greater interagency transparency and new purchasing models.
            (d) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
 Administrator of General Services.

    (2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
 term in 

section 551 of title 5, United States Code.

    (3) Applicable agency library.--The term ``applicable 
 agency library'' means the libraries of--
        (A) the Executive departments listed in 

section 101 
 of title 5, United States Code;
        (B) the military departments listed in 

section 102 
 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (C) any agency with a scientific focus, including 
 the Environmental Protection Agency and the National 
 Aeronautics and Space Administration.

    (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
 the Office of Management and Budget.

    (e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
as requiring the disclosure of matters that are otherwise not subject 
to disclosure under 

section 552

    (b) of title 5, United States Code 
(commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act).
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