Markup Wrap Up: Committee Advances Legislation to Address AI Integration, DC Crime, U.S. Postal Service Operations, and Regulatory Process

WASHINGTON—Yesterday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a markup to consider a series of bills that address federal agency use of artificial intelligence, uncontrolled crime in the nation’s capital, U.S. Postal Service operations, and the regulatory process.

“The Oversight Committee took important steps this week, in a mostly bipartisan fashion, to legislatively address pressing needs facing Congress, federal agencies, and the American people. Artificial intelligence adoption, rising crime in D.C., postal operations, and reductions in the burdensome regulatory process will be set on a better course due to the bills passed through Committee,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.)

The following bills were reported favorably to the House by the Committee:

H.R. 4552, the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2023: The bipartisan legislation updates the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), last updated in 2014, by clarifying federal cybersecurity roles and responsibilities. In addition, the bill streamlines agency reporting requirements and reduces the frequency of FISMA assessments while requiring continuous monitoring of systems.

“The U.S. government’s increasing use of and reliance on technology to provide information and services to all Americans makes federal information systems a constant target of hostile nations, criminal organizations, and other malicious actors that leverage modern advances in technology,” said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), sponsor of the bill. “This legislation reflects and incorporates positive input from federal agencies and industry stakeholders and underscores the ongoing need to modernize the protection of federal information systems.”

“It has been nearly 10 years since Congress last addressed the legislative structure and framework in such a comprehensive manner. In that time, we have seen all manner of enemies unleash a nonstop barrage of cyber-attacks against American companies and federal agencies. In addition to the increasing amount of attacks, cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated, and the damage they can inflict puts our national security, economy—even the personal safety of the American people—at risk,”said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky).“The bill provides the executive branch with the tools it needs to update cyber policies without putting in overly prescriptive and rigid technical mandates into law.”

H.R. 7523, the Governmentwide Executive Councils Act: The legislation provides additional oversight and accountability for certain governmentwide councils. This bill requires each covered council to provide legislative, policy, and technical analysis to Congress upon request and scopes how the councils support the work of the Office of Management and Budget.

“This legislation would bring greater transparency and accountability on how federal agencies are using taxpayer dollars to meet their performance goals and better serve communities in South Carolina and across the nation. This bill is an important piece of legislation that provides Congress with additional oversight and accountability over executive councils which define and carry out management priorities for all federal agencies and improve the operations and performance of the federal government,” said Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.).

“These existing councils are an important to developing and implementing governmentwide policy changes across practice areas including financial management, information technology, data management, procurement, human resources management, and performance and transparency. This bill makes consistent requirements for these six councils, ensuring that each council maintains a publicly accessible website, publishes a strategic plan, and provides technical assistance directly to Congress,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.)

H.R. 7532, the Federal AI Governance and Transparency Act: The bill focuses government resources on increasing transparency, oversight, and responsible use of Federal AI systems while protecting the public’s privacy and civil liberties. The legislation also requires public notice of AI systems used by federal agencies through AI Governance Charters.
 

“This bipartisan legislation centrally codifies, consolidates, and streamlines existing policies and law on federal agency use while providing the clarity necessary to ensure responsible and transparent use of Federal AI systems. By centrally streamlining and consolidating existing federal AI policy and establishing AI Governance Charters, this legislation provides safeguards for federal AI systems. By implementing these commonsense policies now, this legislation establishes a strong baseline for transparency of future AI use in the federal government,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), sponsor of the bill.

“By acting now, we can put in place framework that responsibly addresses the public risks of these uses so we can best achieve their public benefits. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your historic partnership on this legislation,” said Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), cosponsor of the bill.

H.R. 7528, the Comment Integrity and Management Act of 2024: The bill amends the E-Government Act of 2002 to improve agency management of electronic comments submitted during a rulemaking. The bill requires agencies to verify that any electronic comment was submitted by a human and provides agencies with additional authorities to assist with the management of mass-generated comments that are identical or nearly identical in substance.

“In our commitment to democratic principles, we must protect the right of every American to participate in our political system. This bill represents a good government approach to embrace technological advancements and safeguarding participation in the rulemaking process,” said Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), sponsor of the bill.

“Every American deserves the opportunity to participate in our political system, which includes sharing their views on agency rulemaking. However, agencies may struggle to manage computer-generated or mass comments. This bill provides additional support to agencies navigating these new challenges by allowing them the flexibility necessary to manage electronic comments,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

H.R. 7533, Modernizing Retrospective Regulatory Review Act: The bill requires the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to issue guidance on how agencies can use technology to more efficiently, cost-effectively, and accurately carry out retrospective review of federal regulations that are redundant, obsolete, or contain typographic errors.

“Providing regulators with new tools to strengthen the review process should be a bipartisan effort and this bill requires the Office of Management Budget to issue guidance to federal agencies on how to leverage technology, like artificial intelligence, in the process of conducting retrospective reviews of regulations,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), original sponsor of the bill.

“As the regulatory state grows, Congress must ensure agencies also review existing regulations. Retrospective review helps agencies decide if the current regulations impacting the lives of Americans need to be revisited. […] This would ensure agencies are able to use new technology to complete retrospective reviews and follow a plan to do so,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

H.R. 7525, the Special District Grant Accessibility Act: The bill establishes a definition in law for special districts—independent political subdivisions of a State created for the purpose of performing limited and specific governmental functions—and requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance to federal agencies requiring special districts be recognized as a unit of local government and clarifying to grant issuing agencies how special districts are eligible to receive federal financial assistance.

“This bill represents a long overdue and bipartisan effort to ensure that special districts have the same access to federal resources as other units of local government by establishing a formal definition of what a special district is in federal law. […] Thousands of special districts provide a variety of services including park maintenance, storm drainage management, water conservation, toll roads, hospitals, libraries, utilities, and employer control. […] This bill would reemphasize that special districts are units of local government and therefore eligible for federal financial assistance,” said Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), sponsor of the bill.

“Many Americans receive essential services through special districts—units of local government authorized under state law to deliver specific services to communities. There are approximately 35,000 special districts across the country in every state. These special districts provide critical services to mostly rural communities across the nation. This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to federal agencies emphasizing how special districts should be recognized as a unit of local government,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

H.R. 7530, the D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safer (D.C. CRIMES) Act: Addresses the D.C. crime crisis by prohibiting the D.C. Council from pursuing progressive soft-on-crime sentencing policy.

“Congress cannot ignore the fact that crime is out of control in the District of Columbia. If you were to ask any member of D.C. law enforcement, they would tell you that crime is out of control. If the DC council is not going to act, Congress does have a responsibility to act in the interest of the District of Columbia. That’s what this bill does. This bill brings common sense back to the Criminal Code in the District. We have a responsibility to hold people accountable to the law and that is what this bill does,” said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), sponsor of the bill.

“Last year, this Congress successfully blocked the D.C. Council’s Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 by passing the bipartisan House Joint Resolution 26—the first law passed by the 118th Congress. That was a great first step toward addressing rising crime in D.C., but that only kept the problem from getting much worse. The bill we are considering today expands upon that work. The D.C. CRIMES Act overturns targeted portions of the D.C. Council’s Youth Rehabilitation Act by amending the definition of a youth offender from a person under the age of twenty-five to under the age of eighteen. […] We cannot allow further pro-crime policies to be put in place while this crisis continues. Citizens of D.C. and visitors to our Nation’s Capital deserve to feel safe. This bill is a great step towards ensuring our capital city is safe,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

H.R. 7526, the D.C. Consumer Vehicle Choice Protection Act: The bill repeals the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment’s (DCDOEE) December 2023 final rule regarding the adoption of the California electric vehicle mandate.

“D.C. residents will not be the only ones impacted by this policy, but anyone who visits or works in the District will have to deal with the consequences of this out of touch push towards electric vehicles. It is clear that D.C. did not consider the economic wellbeing or really what the residents wanted before coming up with this policy decision,”said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), sponsor of the bill.

“The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment noticed a final rulemaking aligning local D.C. regulations with California. This final rule mandates that District auto dealers sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2035. This action is foolish. Forcing industry to produce and consumers to purchase expensive and unpopular products only further cripples an already struggling economy. That is why H.R. 7526 halts the District’s reckless new rulemaking. It reverses this radical mandate and restores the previous standard, which is much less restrictive and more in line with consumer needs,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

H.R.7527, the Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act: The bill requires U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees and contractors to report traffic crashes that result in injury or death to the USPS. This legislation also requires the USPS to issue regulations regarding public reporting on traffic deaths and injuries within ninety days and establish a mechanism to monitor and enforce compliance with these regulations.

“The House Oversight Committee is responsible for overseeing the U.S. Postal Service, an organization tasked with delivering mail across the nation[…] To conduct oversight of this important topic, Congress needs to be informed,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

“This legislation requires USPS to maintain an internal database related to crashes and publish an annual report. The legislation also requires USPS to take action against contractors who repeatedly failed to submit the required crash reports. It’s our hope that by doing this today we can create a virtuous feedback loop in which crash data enforces strict adherence to safety compliance. These are best practices that save lives,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), sponsor of the bill.

H.R. 5301, the Eliminate Useless Reports Act of 2023: The bill requires federal agencies to list within their annual budget justification materials any recurring reports, including governmentwide and interagency reports, they identify as outdated or duplicative and to recommend whether to sunset, modify, consolidate, or reduce the frequency of such reports.

“Every year, the federal agencies are required by various laws to produce thousands of reports, with a single report costing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars. While many reports help inform Congress and the public, some are outdated or duplicative. […] This bill would increase government efficiency and save taxpayer dollars by eliminating unnecessary reports,” said Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).