[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6079 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6079
To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of presidential power,
restoring checks and balances and accountability and transparency in
government, and defending elections against foreign interference, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 26, 2021
Ms. Dean (for herself, Mr. Nadler, and Mr. Schiff) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of presidential power,
restoring checks and balances and accountability and transparency in
government, and defending elections against foreign interference, 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 ``Congressional Subpoena Compliance
and Enforcement Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) As the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed, including
in its July 9, 2020, holding in Trump v. Mazars, Congress's
``power of inquiry--with process to enforce it--is an essential
and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function''.
Congress's power to obtain information, including through the
issuance of subpoenas and the enforcement of such subpoenas, is
``broad and indispensable''.
(2) Congress ``suffers a concrete and particularized injury
when denied the opportunity to obtain information necessary''
to the exercise of its constitutional functions, as the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit correctly
recognized in its August 7, 2020, en banc decision in Committee
on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives v.
McGahn.
(3) Accordingly, the Constitution secures to each House of
Congress an inherent right to enforce its subpoenas in court.
Explicit statutory authorization is not required to secure such
a right of action, and the contrary holding by a divided panel
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit in McGahn, entered on August 31, 2020, was in error.
SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 1365 the following:
``Sec. 1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena recipients
``(a) Cause of Action.--The United States House of Representatives,
the United States Senate, or a committee or subcommittee thereof, may
bring a civil action against the recipient of a subpoena issued by a
congressional committee or subcommittee to enforce compliance with the
subpoena.
``(b) Special Rules.--In any civil action described in subsection
(a), the following rules shall apply:
``(1) The action may be filed in a United States district
court of competent jurisdiction.
``(2) Notwithstanding section 1657(a), it shall be the duty
of every court of the United States to expedite to the greatest
possible extent the disposition of any such action and appeal.
Upon a showing by the plaintiff of undue delay, other
irreparable harm, or good cause, a court to which an appeal of
the action may be taken shall issue any necessary and
appropriate writs and orders to ensure compliance with this
paragraph.
``(3) If a three-judge court is expressly requested by the
plaintiff in the initial pleading, the action shall be heard by
a three-judge court convened pursuant to section 2284, and
shall be reviewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme
Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be taken by the
filing of a notice of appeal within 10 days, and the filing of
a jurisdictional statement within 30 days, of the entry of the
final decision.
``(4) The initial pleading must be accompanied by
certification that the party bringing the action has in good
faith conferred or attempted to confer with the recipient of
the subpoena to secure compliance with the subpoena without
court action.
``(c) Penalties.--
``(1) Cases involving government agencies.--
``(A) In general.--The court may impose monetary
penalties directly against each head of a Government
agency and the head of each component thereof held to
have knowingly failed to comply with any part of a
congressional subpoena, unless--
``(i) the President instructed the official
not to comply; and
``(ii) the President, or the head of the
agency or component thereof, submits to the
court a letter confirming such instruction and
the basis for such instruction.
``(B) Prohibition on use of government funds.--No
appropriated funds, funds provided from any accounts in
the Treasury, funds derived from the collection of
fees, or other Government funds shall be used to pay
any monetary penalty imposed by the court pursuant to
this paragraph.
``(2) Legal fees.--In addition to any other penalties or
sanctions, the court shall require that any defendant, other
than a Government agency, held to have willfully failed to
comply with any part of a congressional subpoena, pay a penalty
in an amount equal to that party's legal fees, including
attorney's fees, litigation expenses, and other costs. If such
defendant is an officer or employee of a Government agency,
such fees may be paid from funds appropriated to pay the salary
of the defendant.
``(d) Waiver.--Any ground for noncompliance asserted by the
recipient of a congressional subpoena shall be deemed to have been
waived as to any particular information withheld from production if the
court finds that the recipient failed in a timely manner to comply with
the applicable requirements of section 105(b) of the Revised Statutes
of the United States with respect to such information.
``(e) Rules of Procedure.--The Supreme Court and the Judicial
Conference of the United States shall prescribe rules of procedure to
ensure the expeditious treatment of actions described in subsection
(a). Such rules shall be prescribed and submitted to the Congress
pursuant to sections 2072, 2073, and 2074. This shall include
procedures for expeditiously considering any assertion of
constitutional or Federal statutory privilege made in connection with
testimony by any recipient of a subpoena from a congressional committee
or subcommittee. The Supreme Court shall transmit such rules to
Congress within 6 months after the effective date of this section and
then pursuant to section 2074 thereafter.
``(f) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term
`Government agency' means any office or entity described in sections
105 and 106 of title 3, an executive department listed in section 101
of title 5, an independent establishment, commission, board, bureau,
division, or office in the executive branch, or other agency or
instrumentality of the Federal Government, including wholly or partly
owned Government corporations.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 85 of
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 1365 the following:
``1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena recipients.''.
SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE WITH CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title II of the Revised Statutes of
the United States (2 U.S.C. 191 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 105. RESPONSE TO CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS.
``(a) Subpoena by Congressional Committee.--Any recipient of any
subpoena from a congressional committee or subcommittee shall appear
and testify, produce, or otherwise disclose information in a manner
consistent with the subpoena and this section.
``(b) Failure To Produce Information.--
``(1) Grounds for withholding information.--Unless required
by the Constitution or by Federal statute, no claim of
privilege or protection from disclosure shall be a ground for
withholding information responsive to the subpoena or required
by this section.
``(2) Identification of information withheld.--In the case
of information that is withheld, in whole or in part, by the
subpoena recipient, the subpoena recipient shall, without delay
provide a log containing the following:
``(A) An express assertion and description of the
ground asserted for withholding the information.
``(B) The type of information.
``(C) The general subject matter.
``(D) The date, author, and addressee.
``(E) The relationship of the author and addressee
to each other.
``(F) The custodian of the information.
``(G) Any other descriptive information that may be
produced or disclosed regarding the information that
will enable the congressional committee or subcommittee
issuing the subpoena to assess the ground asserted for
withholding the information.
``(c) Definition.--For purposes of this section the term
`information' includes any books, papers, documents, data, or other
objects requested in a subpoena issued by a congressional committee or
subcommittee.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for chapter 7 of
title II of the Revised Statutes of the United States is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``105. Response to congressional subpoenas.''.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act may be interpreted to limit or constrain
Congress' inherent authority or foreclose any other means for enforcing
compliance with congressional subpoenas, nor may anything in this Act
be interpreted to establish or recognize any ground for noncompliance
with a congressional subpoena.
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