| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 188 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To require that the Amtrak Board of Directors comply with the open meetings |
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| 6 | 6 | | requirements of section 552b of title 5, United States Code, and for |
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| 7 | 7 | | other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY3, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. N |
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| 11 | 11 | | EHLS(for himself and Mr. GRAVES) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 12 | 12 | | was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To require that the Amtrak Board of Directors comply with |
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| 15 | 15 | | the open meetings requirements of section 552b of title |
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| 16 | 16 | | 5, United States Code, and for other purposes. |
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| 17 | 17 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 18 | 18 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 19 | 19 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 20 | 20 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amtrak Transparency 4 |
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| 21 | 21 | | and Accountability for Passengers and Taxpayers Act’’. 5 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. OPEN MEETINGS. 6 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Section 24301(e) of title 49, United States Code, is 7 |
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| 24 | 24 | | amended— 8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jan 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H188.IH H188 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 188 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | (1) by striking ‘‘Section 552 of title 5, this 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | part’’ and inserting the following: 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 31 | 31 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | graph (3), sections 552 and 552b of title 5, this 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | part’’; 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) in the second sentence by striking ‘‘Section 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | 552 of title 5, United States Code, applies’’ and in-7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | serting the following: 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘(2) T |
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| 38 | 38 | | IMING OF APPLICATION.—Except as pro-9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | vided in paragraph (3), sections 552 and 552b of 10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | title 5 apply’’; and 11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (3) by adding at the end the following: 12 |
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| 42 | 42 | | ‘‘(3) S |
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| 43 | 43 | | COPE OF APPLICATION.— 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 45 | 45 | | NFORMATION.—The requirements of 14 |
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| 46 | 46 | | the second sentence of section 552b(b) of title 15 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 5 shall not apply to any portion of an Amtrak 16 |
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| 48 | 48 | | meeting and subsections (d) and (e) of section 17 |
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| 49 | 49 | | 552b of title 5 shall not apply to any informa-18 |
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| 50 | 50 | | tion pertaining to any portion of an Amtrak 19 |
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| 51 | 51 | | meeting otherwise required by section 552b of 20 |
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| 52 | 52 | | title 5 to be disclosed to the public in any case 21 |
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| 53 | 53 | | in which Amtrak properly determines that such 22 |
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| 54 | 54 | | portion or portions of the meeting or the disclo-23 |
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| 55 | 55 | | sure of such information is likely to involve— 24 |
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| 56 | 56 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jan 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H188.IH H188 |
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| 57 | 57 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •HR 188 IH |
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| 59 | 59 | | ‘‘(i) contract negotiations, including 1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | negotiations for contract procurements and 2 |
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| 61 | 61 | | agreements, the disclosure of which would 3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | imperil or compromise the competitive po-4 |
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| 63 | 63 | | sition of Amtrak; 5 |
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| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘(ii) collective bargaining agreements 6 |
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| 65 | 65 | | or any terms and conditions that are pro-7 |
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| 66 | 66 | | posed for inclusion in any collective bar-8 |
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| 67 | 67 | | gaining agreement, including the negotia-9 |
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| 68 | 68 | | tion of terms and conditions with employ-10 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ees or representatives of employees of Am-11 |
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| 70 | 70 | | trak; and 12 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘(iii) with respect to any individual 13 |
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| 72 | 72 | | who is a prospective officer, employee, or 14 |
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| 73 | 73 | | contractor or an officer, employee, or con-15 |
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| 74 | 74 | | tractor employed or appointed by Amtrak, 16 |
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| 75 | 75 | | matters involving the employment, appoint-17 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ment, termination of employment, terms 18 |
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| 77 | 77 | | and conditions of employment, evaluation 19 |
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| 78 | 78 | | of the performance of, promotion or dis-20 |
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| 79 | 79 | | ciplining of any such individual, unless all 21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | such individuals whose rights could be ad-22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | versely affected request in writing that the 23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | matter or matters be discussed at a public 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | meeting. 25 |
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| 85 | 85 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | •HR 188 IH |
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| 87 | 87 | | ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL APPLICATION.—In addi-1 |
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| 88 | 88 | | tion to the information described in subpara-2 |
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| 89 | 89 | | graph (B), the information described in section 3 |
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| 90 | 90 | | 552b(c) shall apply to Amtrak meetings.’’. 4 |
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| 91 | 91 | | Æ |
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| 92 | 92 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jan 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H188.IH H188 |
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| 93 | 93 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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