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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle H — Other Matters

P. L. 115-

House Conference Report. 115-874

(a) Report Formatting Plan Required.—Not later than March 1, 2019, the Secretary of Defense shall provide a plan to the congressional defense committees on activities to standardize the formatting of unclassified Department of Defense reports required by Congress. Such plan shall include—

(1) a description of the method for ensuring that reports are created in a platform-independent, machine-readable format that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by commonly used web search applications; and

(2) a cost estimate and schedule for implementation of the activities under paragraph (1), with a completion date of not later than March 1, 2020.

(b) Online Repository Plan Required.—Not later than March 1, 2019, the Secretary of Defense shall provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees on the feasibility of developing a publically accessible online repository of unclassified reports of the Department of Defense issued since January 1, 2010. Such briefing shall include—

(1) protocols for inclusion of unclassified reports that, as determined by the Secretary, may not be appropriate for public release in their entirety; and

(2) a cost estimate and schedule for implementation and maintenance of the online repository.

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 879) that would direct the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services on a plan for standardizing formatting and public accessibility of unclassified Department of Defense reports to Congress, to ensure they are usable.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes with an amendment that would direct the Secretary of Defense to prepare plans to address standardization and sharing of reports to Congress, to include cost and schedule estimates.