TERMS OF SERVICE
for
SENATE COMMUNICATING WITH CONGRESS ACCESS
for VENDORS

THIS TERMS OF SERVICE ("TOS") APPLY TO THE ACCESS AND USAGE OF THE SENATE COMMUNICATING WITH CONGRESS ("CWC") SYSTEM.

In consideration of the covenants and conditions set forth in this TERMS OF SERVICE for SENATE COMMUNICATING WITH CONGRESS ACCESS, the Vendor agrees as follows:

1. CERTAIN DEFINITIONS

For purposes of this document, in its entirety:

1. "Agreement" means this Terms of Service in its entirety
2. "Senate" means the United States Senate
3. "CSS" means Constituent Services System
4. "System" shall mean the Senate Communicating with Congress System
5. "CWC" means the Senate Communicating with Congress System
6. "Holiday" means any Federal Government holiday and any other day that the Senate is closed
7. "Member" means a Member of the U.S. Senate
8. "TOS" means this Terms of Service for Senate Communicating with Congress Access document in its entirety
9. "Respond" means a response by a human being, and does not include any automatically generated response
10. "Vendor Identification Number" means the Senate-provided Vendor-specific APIKey for System use
11. "SOAPBox" means the Senate Office Advocacy Portal Box account management portal for Vendors

2. DURATION

The duration of this Terms of Service shall commence as of the Senate Communicating with Congress Access Application submission date and shall remain in effect until terminated in accordance with the provisions hereof.

3. PURPOSE AND LIMITS

1. The goal of the System is to create an improved method of transmitting advocacy generated constituent communications to offices of the U.S. Senate (the "Senate"). The System is to be used exclusively to communicate to the offices of Senate Members. The System does not provide an opportunity to communicate with committee, leadership, or support offices.
2. The Senate is providing a single entry-point method of communicating to Members of the Senate.
3. The Vendor must provide the Senate messages in the required format that facilitates message counting, aggregation or processing by Senate offices.

4. GRANTING ACCESS

1. Access to the System is granted for the exclusive convenience of the Senate and may be denied or withdrawn at will by the Senate, with or without cause. In the event that the Senate denies access to the System, the Senate will promptly notify the Vendor by email or by any other communication method set forth in its Access Application on file with the Senate.
2. Granting of access to the System, and the use of the System means the Vendor agrees to all terms and conditions set forth in this TOS
3. If the Senate is not satisfied with the Vendor's performance, the Senate may terminate the Agreement, pursuant to Section 8.

5. IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS

1. Vendor Identification Number. The Vendor shall employ its unique Senate-provided Vendor Identification Number to connect to the System for the purposes of sending messages to Senate offices. Each communication sent through the System must be sent using this number.
2. Campaign Identification Number. Each vendor shall specify a unique Campaign Identification Number for each legislative campaign. Each communication sent through the system must include the Campaign's Identification Number.

6. PROHIBITED PRACTICES

The Vendor shall not:

1. Submit to the CWC an email, email address, or name that was not authorized by the email address owner.
2. Submit to the CWC an invalid or unusable email address, to include malformed email addresses and/or invalid characters within the email address, rendering the address unusable as submitted. Messages containing such email addresses will be rejected by the System.
3. Submit to the CWC a spam trap email address.
4. Subcontract with a vendor concerning the services under this Agreement without the prior written approval of the Senate.
5. Violate the Terms of Service for Senate Communicating with Congress Access.

7. COMMUNICATIONS

Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, any notices in connection with this Agreement may be given by either party by email. Notices will be deemed communicated when sent. Additionally, if the Vendor needs to change any information contained within the "Current Background" section of Vendor's CWC Access Application under this Section 7, the Vendor must do so by accessing their Senate-provided SOAPBox account. Any other updates to information contained within the CWC Access Application submitted by the Vendor shall be communicated by giving email notice to the Senate as required in the Vendor’s Senate Communicating with Congress Access Application:

1. If to the Vendor.
   
   • Vendor Email: as set forth in Section 1(a) of the Senate Communicating with Congress Access Application.
2. If to the Senate.
   
   • Senate Email: SAACWC@saa.senate.gov

8. TERMINATION

The Senate may terminate this Agreement denying access to the System by the Vendor (a) by email or by any other communication method set forth in the SENATE COMMUNICATING WITH CONGRESS ACCESS APPLICATION Section 1(a) in the event of a breach of this Agreement by the Vendor, or (b) at any time at the discretion of the Senate.

9. TERMS OF SERVICE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This Terms of Service constitute the entire Agreement and understanding of the parties and supersedes all previous versions of the Terms of Service, prior agreements and understanding, both written and oral, among the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof.

10. GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE

This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the District of Columbia. The parties hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal courts located in the District of Columbia, and expressly waive any objections or defenses based on lack of personal jurisdiction or venue in connection with any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement.

11. STANDARDS

• 1. Scope.
  This section sets additional Terms of Service standards pursuant to the preceding Terms of Service for Senate Communicating with Congress Access sections for Vendors participating in the Senate Communicating with Congress (CWC) System.

• 2. Data Transmission Contents.
  All data transmissions to the CWC are to comply with the standards contained in the SCWC Standards and Requirements Packet, version 1.0.

• 3. Vendor Responses to the Senate.

  1. When the Senate communicates to a Vendor by telephone or email, Vendor will respond within 24 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays).
  2. When the Senate communicates an emergency to a Vendor by telephone or email, Vendor will respond within two hours.
  3. For the purposes of this section, communications to a Vendor will be made to the telephone or email designated in Section 1 of the Communicating with Congress Access Application submitted by the Vendor.

• 4. Ongoing Consultations.
  At the request of the Senate, the Vendor shall participate in ongoing consultations with the Senate. The Senate will determine the frequency of such consultations.

• 5. Downtime Notification.

  1. The Senate will provide the Vendor with at least 48 hours of notice of non-emergency downtime of the System outside of the normal System maintenance windows noted in A.5 (b), below. In the event of an emergency, the Senate will endeavor to provide timely notice.
  2. The supporting services for the System operate with a weekly maintenance window from midnight to 6 a.m. every Sunday and 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. every Wednesday. The System shall undergo weekly maintenance as noted that may affect access to the System and will be performed without notice.

• 6. Testing.

  1. The Senate will provide a Testing and System Acceptance environment where each Vendor will test their applications with the CWC System to the Senate’s satisfaction prior to the Senate’s authorization for the Vendor to send messages to Member office CSS Systems.
  2. The Senate will notify each Vendor prior to implementing a major change to the CWC System. Included in the notification will be instructions as to how the Vendor may test their applications with the changed System.

• 7. Suspension (or Limitation) of Operations.
  If the Senate determines that it would be advisable (e.g., but not exclusively, in order to protect the availability, functionality, operability, or security of the CWC or any other system of the Senate), the Senate may either suspend operation of the CWC or may limit the amount of data received or released by the CWC. The Senate will notify Vendors when such a determination has been made.

• 8. Suspension of Operations Requests from Specific Senate Offices
  The Senate may, at the request of a Senate office, notify Vendors of the suspension of Senate CWC for the requesting Senate office. Vendor shall cease submitting or sending CWC messages to the office requesting CWC Service suspension within 24 hours of notification to Vendors of this suspension. Any Vendor found to be in violation of this Senate notification may be deemed liable under the terms noted in Sections 4 and 6 of this TERMS OF SERVICE FOR SENATE COMMUNCATING WITH CONGRESS ACCESS.

• 9. Confirmation of Message Receipt into the System
  If a Delivery Agent inquires about the delivery status of a specific message, the Senate will confirm whether or not the message was accepted by CWC and redirected to the appropriate office.

• 10. Changes to these Standards or the Terms of Service for CWC Access.
  The Senate shall provide reasonable notice to Vendors when changes are made to these Standards or the TERMS OF SERVICE FOR SENATE COMMUNCATING WITH CONGRESS ACCESS. Any changes will take effect when communicated by the Senate.