H.R. 995 (116th Congress) — Government Settlements (Published)
Would have forced every federal agency to publish each settlement it signs — the amount, who was paid, what was alleged, and the agreement itself — in one public, searchable database, and to state in public why any settlement it kept secret had to be secret.
Introduced in the House 2019-02-06 by Rep. Gary J. Palmer (R-AL-6) and referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Brought up under suspension of the rules on 2019-02-11; at the conclusion of debate a Member objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present, so the question was postponed. Taken up as unfinished business on 2019-02-13 and PASSED 418-0 under the two-thirds threshold, roll call 84. Received in the Senate 2019-02-14, read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — AND NOTHING FURTHER. The bill died with the 116th Congress. `outcome: pending` rather than `blocked` IS A DELIBERATE CHOICE AND IT IS THE WEAKER WORD ON PURPOSE. `blocked` asserts that somebody used a position of power to prevent a vote, and the official record here supports no such claim: it records a referral and then silence. A bill dying in a Senate committee is the ordinary fate of most bills. Naming who prevented a vote without the record in hand is the single worst thing this pipeline can do, so the honest statement is the one made in gaps[] g1 — the measure was stopped somewhere between referral and the calendar, and the record does not say by whom. Source for every step: the bill's own status record at https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/hr/BILLSTATUS-116hr995.xml · The official record