GREAT Act

Mr. President, the Federal Government awards more than $600 billion in grant awards--$600 billion. We actually do more in grant awards than we do in contracting. Our current system is riddled with outdated reporting mechanisms that burden grant recipients and inhibit oversight from Agencies in Congress.

The bill, H.R. 4887, which is called the GREAT Act--Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency Act--tries to put some sense into this process. This is a process that has worked with all of the grant requesting Agencies. Whether they be universities, whether they be entities for research, they have all gone through this for the past couple of years, actually. They have given a tremendous amount of input because they struggle in actually requesting the grants and in getting through all of the chaos of those grants.

The OMB and other entities are not getting the data information to the American people, so there is no transparency in that process. For the past couple of years, we have worked very hard to establish a good process of getting transparency and also of helping the grant- requesting entities get a more efficient process.

The GREAT Act would require, within 1 year, OMB and the leading grant Agency to establish a governmentwide data standard for information related to Federal awards. Within 2 years, guidance must be issued for grant-making Agencies on how to apply those standards and implement them into the existing reporting practices. Within 3 years, Agencies must ensure that all grants and cooperative agreements use the new data standard for future information requests. This is exceptionally important to get through the process so that we are not squandering $600 billion in grants.

Let me tell you what this process has gone through.

In February, H.R. 4887 passed unanimously out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Then it went to the House Calendar, and it passed unanimously on September 26. Every Democrat and every Republican in the House voted for this. Subsequently, Senator Enzi and I passed our amended Senate companion to H.R. 4887. It passed unanimously out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in September.

The bill being considered today is reflective of bipartisan support from both the House and the Senate. This bill, H.R. 4887, cleared the Republican hotline weeks ago. Every single Republican has already cleared this. They want the transparency in the grant process and want a better grant process for all of the grant requesters. It is not yet clear on the Democratic side.

My simple request doesn't just come from me. This request comes from the Grant Professionals Association, the National Grants Management Association, the Association of Government Accountants, the American Library Association, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Leading universities around the country have just asked to improve this grant-making process. Every single Democrat in the House has affirmed this, and every Republican in the House and every Republican in the Senate has already cleared it. We are just asking for this bill to move forward and to be passed.

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 4887 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the Johnson substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I am a little confused when every grant- making and requesting organizations--all of the universities around the country--are requesting this. Every single Democrat in the House has already affirmed this. There does not seem to be a great fear of Mick Mulvaney at the OMB since, by the time this will be implemented, it will be 2022. So it is a little bit confusing to me why getting more transparency in grants and helping grant requesting organizations would be controversial.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Russell for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking Representative Jimmy Gomez for his comments tonight and for helping all through this piece of legislation, the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency Act, or GREAT Act. Representative Gomez has been an outstanding partner on this bipartisan bill to create more transparency, efficiency, and accountability in the Federal grant reporting process, and I thank him very much for his hard work.

The GREAT Act represents bipartisan legislation to modernize the Federal grant reporting process. It would do so by mandating a standardized data structure for information that recipients report to Federal agencies.

Unless the reporting requirements for Federal grants are searchable, the auditing process will continue to yield waste and inefficiency at best, allowing fraud and abuse at worst.

Mr. Speaker, in 2017, the Federal Government awarded $662.7 billion in grants funding to State agencies, local and Tribal governments, agencies, nonprofits, universities, and other organizations. Roughly translated, this equates to the gross domestic product of Switzerland or more than the GDP of every country outside the G20.

Within our Federal Government, there are 26 agencies awarding Federal grants, and all of them continue to rely on outdated, burdensome, document-based forms to collect and track grant dollars. Society has moved into a new age of information and technology, and it is time that our government follow suit.

Adopting a governmentwide open data structure for all the information grantees will report will alleviate compliance burdens; provide instant insights for grantor agencies and Congress; and enable easy access to data for oversight, analytics, and program evaluation.

Digitizing and, therefore, automating the reporting process would have a twofold effect. First, it would allow greater scrutiny of how the money is being spent. Second, it allows grantees to maximize every dollar they receive from the government to ensure it goes back into communities supporting local businesses, organizations, and education.

In order to fix the way Federal grants are reported, we must move from a document-centric reporting system to a data superhighway. I urge my colleagues in the House and the Senate to support the GREAT Act and bring grant reporting into the 21st century.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Representative Gomez for his hard work on this bipartisan bill. I would also like the thank Representative Darrell Issa for his authorship of the DATA Act of 2014. It laid the foundation for the GREAT Act by applying data standardization to a pilot universe of Federal grants. And I thank him for his original cosponsorship of this bill.

I would also like to thank OMB Director Mulvaney for his office's advice on this legislation and leadership in advancing open data in the grant reporting process this year through the President's management agenda.

Lastly, I would like to thank Leader McCarthy for bringing this bill to the floor and for his broader leadership in pursuing an innovative agenda this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4887) to modernize Federal grant reporting, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 4887, the GREAT Act, introduced by Congresswoman Foxx of North Carolina.

The GREAT Act would amend previously enacted legislation to improve reporting on Federal grants.

In 2014, Congress enacted the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act. The DATA Act required the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a pilot program to alleviate reporting burdens for grant recipients.

Through the pilot, it became clear that grant recipients often have to enter the same data multiple times, and there is no single location where all the data can be analyzed. This redundancy is burdensome for both the grant recipient and for those conducting oversight of Federal awards.

In fiscal year 2017, the Federal Government awarded over $660 billion in grants. Congress has a fiscal responsibility to review this spending, but without standardized data, it is difficult to do.

The GREAT Act fixes both of these problems by tasking the Office of Management and Budget and an executive branch agency with creating standardized reporting elements for Federal awards. The data elements must be machine readable, nonproprietary, and comply with standards in the DATA Act.

The GREAT Act requires the data collected to be made publicly available within 4 years of enactment. The bill exempts personally identifying information, sensitive data, and data otherwise exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

The GREAT Act increases transparency for public and private oversight, helping to ensure taxpayers get the best possible return on their $660 billion investment in Federal grants.

Improved reporting processes will also ease the burden on grant recipients, so these individuals and organizations can focus on doing the work, rather than filling out duplicative information.

The GREAT Act is supported by the DATA Coalition, the National Grants Management Association, and the Association of Government Accountants.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Foxx and Representative Gomez for their work on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), who is a sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking Representative Foxx for her leadership on this important piece of legislation and working closely with me. I also want to thank the staff, who spent countless hours over the past months negotiating and drafting this legislation.

I know it might come as a surprise to see a working class progressive Member of Congress from Los Angeles working with a conservative Member from North Carolina. But with some common sense on both sides of the aisle, we can come together to solve problems facing working families across the country. So I hope that Congress can come together, as we have, to make progress.

The GREAT Act is a straightforward bill that seeks to modernize the grant reporting process by standardizing the information reported by grant recipients.

By simplifying the grant reporting process, the GREAT Act will create a more open and transparent grant process for all recipients. In Los Angeles, that means greater opportunities for organizations working to make government work better for my constituents.

When signed into law, this bill will help universities, city departments, and other organizations automate their recording costs, reduce compliance costs, and focus their energy where it belongs--on maximizing millions in Federal grants to Los Angeles to make it a more prosperous city.

By making grant reports machine readable and fully searchable, the GREAT Act will also improve the performance of the grants process and break down barriers to grants. Nonprofits and local groups will have better access to Federal grants so they can leverage funds to maximize their impact.

This bipartisan effort represents a major step toward ensuring government works as efficiently as possible for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with Representative Foxx and others to continue our bipartisan efforts to help government work better, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the GREAT Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, these are not Mick Mulvaney's decisions to make--or whatever job Mick Mulvaney happens to be in this week. These are not Alex Azar's decisions to make. Congress needs to do its job. On behalf of the minority leader, I object.