I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2489 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to enhance the independence 

of the Inspectors General, to create a Council of the Inspectors General 

on Integrity and Efficiency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2005 

Mr. COOPER (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to enhance 

the independence of the Inspectors General, to create 

a Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 

Efficiency, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Government 

5 Accountability Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCING INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GEN2 ERAL. 

3 (a) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The Inspector General 

4 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 3(b) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘An Inspector General may be removed from office prior 

8 to the expiration of his or her term only on any of the 

9 following grounds: 

10 ‘‘(1) Permanent incapacity. 

11 ‘‘(2) Inefficiency. 

12 ‘‘(3) Neglect of duty. 

13 ‘‘(4) Malfeasance. 

14 ‘‘(5) Conviction of a felony or conduct involving 

15 moral turpitude.’’; and 

16 (2) in section 8G(e) by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘An Inspector General may be removed from office prior 

19 to the expiration of his or her term only on any of the 

20 following grounds: 

21 ‘‘(1) Permanent incapacity. 

22 ‘‘(2) Inefficiency. 

23 ‘‘(3) Neglect of duty. 

24 ‘‘(4) Malfeasance. 

25 ‘‘(5) Conviction of a felony or conduct involving 

26 moral turpitude.’’. 
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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF TERMS OF OFFICE.—The 

2 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in section 3 by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(e)(1) The term of office of each Inspector General 

7 shall be seven years. An individual may serve for more 

8 than one term in such office. Any individual appointed and 

9 confirmed to fill a vacancy in such position, occurring be10 fore the expiration of the term for which his or her prede11 cessor was appointed, shall be appointed and confirmed 

12 for a full seven-year term. 

13 ‘‘(2) An individual may continue to serve as Inspector 

14 General beyond the expiration of the term for which the 

15 individual is appointed until a successor is appointed and 

16 confirmed, except that such individual may not continue 

17 to serve for more than 1 year after the date on which the 

18 term would otherwise expire under paragraph (1).’’; and 

19 (2) in section 8G(c) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after 

20 ‘‘(c)’’, and by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(2) The term of office of each Inspector Gen22 eral shall be seven years. An individual may serve 

23 for more than one term in such office. Any indi24 vidual appointed to fill a vacancy in such position, 

25 occurring before the expiration of the term for which 
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1 his or her predecessor was appointed, shall be ap2 pointed for a full 7-year term.’’. 

3 (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 

4 section shall apply to any Inspector General appointed be5 fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 The term of office of an Inspector General serving on such 

7 date of enactment is deemed to begin on such date of en8 actment. 

9 SEC. 3. DIRECT SUBMISSION OF BUDGET REQUESTS TO 

10 CONGRESS. 

11 Section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

12 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(f)(1) For each fiscal year, an Inspector General 

15 may transmit an appropriation estimate and request to 

16 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and 

17 to the appropriate committees or subcommittees of the 

18 Congress, in addition to any appropriation estimate and 

19 request submitted to the head of the establishment con20 cerned. 

21 ‘‘(2) The President shall include in each budget of 

22 the United States Government submitted to the Con23 gress— 

24 ‘‘(A) a separate statement of the amount of ap25 propriations requested by each Inspector General 
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1 who has submitted an appropriation estimate under 

2 paragraph (1); and 

3 ‘‘(B) a statement comparing each such appro4 priation estimate and request submitted by an In5 spector General and the funds requested by the head 

6 of the establishment concerned.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COUNCIL OF THE INSPECTORS 

8 GENERAL ON INTEGRITY AND EFFICIENCY. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Inspector General Act of 

10 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by redesignating sec11 tions 11 and 12 in order as sections 12 and 13, and by 

12 inserting after section 10 the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 11. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE IN14 SPECTORS GENERAL ON INTEGRITY AND EF15 FICIENCY. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established as an 

17 independent entity within the executive branch the Inspec18 tors General Council (in this section referred to as the 

19 ‘Council’). The Council’s mission shall be to increase the 

20 professionalism and effectiveness of personnel by devel21 oping policies, standards, and approaches to aid in the es22 tablishment of a well-trained and highly skilled workforce 

23 in the offices of the Inspectors General. 

24 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall consist of 

2 the following members: 

3 ‘‘(A) All Inspectors General whose offices 

4 are established under— 

5 ‘‘(i) section 2; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) section 8G. 

7 ‘‘(B) The Inspectors General of the Cen8 tral Intelligence Agency and the Government 

9 Printing Office. 

10 ‘‘(C) The Controller of the Office of Fed11 eral Financial Management. 

12 ‘‘(D) A senior level official of the Federal 

13 Bureau of Investigation designated by the Di14 rector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

15 ‘‘(E) The Director of the Office of Govern16 ment Ethics. 

17 ‘‘(F) The Special Counsel of the Office of 

18 Special Counsel. 

19 ‘‘(G) The Deputy Director of the Office of 

20 Personnel Management. 

21 ‘‘(H) The Deputy Director for Manage22 ment of the Office of Management and Budget. 

23 ‘‘(2) CHAIRPERSON AND EXECUTIVE CHAIR24 PERSON.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) EXECUTIVE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

2 Deputy Director for Management of the Office 

3 of Management and Budget shall be the Execu4 tive Chairperson of the Council. 

5 ‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON.—The Council shall 

6 elect one of the Inspectors General referred to 

7 in paragraph (1)(A) or (B) to act as Chair8 person of the Council. The term of office of the 

9 Chairperson shall be two years. 

10 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS OF CHAIRPERSON AND EXECU11 TIVE CHAIRPERSON.— 

12 ‘‘(A) EXECUTIVE CHAIRPERSON.—The Ex13 ecutive Chairperson shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) preside over meetings of the 

15 Council; 

16 ‘‘(ii) provide to the heads of agencies 

17 and entities represented on the Council 

18 with summary reports of the activities of 

19 the Council; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) provide to the Council such in21 formation relating to the agencies and en22 tities represented on the Council as will as23 sist the Council in performing its func24 tions. 
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1 ‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) convene meetings of the Coun4 cil— 

5 ‘‘(I) at least six times each year; 

6 ‘‘(II) monthly to the extent pos7 sible; and 

8 ‘‘(III) more frequently at his or 

9 her discretion; 

10 ‘‘(ii) exercise the functions and duties 

11 of the Council under subsection (c); 

12 ‘‘(iii) appoint a Vice Chairperson to 

13 assist in carrying out the functions of the 

14 Council and act in the absence of the 

15 Chairperson, from a category of Inspectors 

16 General described in subparagraph (A)(i), 

17 (A)(ii), or (B) of subsection [(a)(1)/ 

18 (b)(1)?], other than the category from 

19 which the Chairperson was elected; 

20 ‘‘(iv) make such payments from funds 

21 otherwise available to the Council as may 

22 be necessary to carry out the functions of 

23 the Council; 

24 ‘‘(v) select, appoint, and employ per25 sonnel as needed to carry out the functions 
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1 of the Council subject to the availability of 

2 appropriations and the provisions of title 5, 

3 United States Code, governing appoint4 ments in the competitive service, and the 

5 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter 

6 III of chapter 53 of such title, relating to 

7 classification and General Schedule pay 

8 rates; 

9 ‘‘(vi) to the extent and in such 

10 amounts as may be provided in advance by 

11 appropriations Acts, enter into contracts 

12 and other arrangements with public agen13 cies and private persons to carry out the 

14 functions and duties of the Council; 

15 ‘‘(vii) establish, in consultation with 

16 the members of the Council, such commit17 tees as determined by the Chairperson to 

18 be necessary and appropriate for the effi19 cient conduct of Council functions; and 

20 ‘‘(viii) prepare and transmit a report 

21 annually on behalf of the Council to the 

22 President on the activities of the Council. 

23 ‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES OF COUNCIL.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall— 
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1 ‘‘(A) continually identify, review, and dis2 cuss areas of weakness and vulnerability in 

3 Federal programs and operations with respect 

4 to fraud, waste, and abuse; 

5 ‘‘(B) develop plans for coordinated, Gov6 ernment-wide activities that address these prob7 lems and promote economy and efficiency in 

8 Federal programs and operations, including 

9 interagency and inter-entity audit, investiga10 tion, inspection, and evaluation programs and 

11 projects to deal efficiently and effectively with 

12 those problems concerning fraud and waste that 

13 exceed the capability or jurisdiction of an indi14 vidual agency or entity; 

15 ‘‘(C) develop policies that will aid in the 

16 maintenance of a corps of well-trained and 

17 highly skilled Office of Inspector General per18 sonnel; 

19 ‘‘(D) maintain an Internet Web site and 

20 other electronic systems for the benefit of all 

21 Inspectors General, as the Council determines 

22 are necessary or desirable; 

23 ‘‘(E) maintain one or more academies as 

24 the Council considers desirable for the profes25 sional training of auditors, investigators, inspec-
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1 tors, evaluators, and other personnel of the var2 ious offices of Inspector General; and 

3 ‘‘(F) make such reports to the Congress as 

4 the Chairperson determines are necessary or 

5 appropriate. 

6 ‘‘(2) ADHERENCE AND PARTICIPATION BY MEM7 BERS.—Each member of the Council should, to the 

8 extent permitted under law, and to the extent not in9 consistent with standards established by the Comp10 troller General of the United States for audits of 

11 Federal establishments, organizations, programs, ac12 tivities, and functions, adhere to professional stand13 ards developed by the Council and participate in the 

14 plans, programs, and projects of the Council. 

15 ‘‘(3) EXISTING AUTHORITIES AND RESPON16 SIBILITIES.—The creation and operation of the 

17 Council— 

18 ‘‘(A) shall not affect the preeminent policy19 setting role of the Department of Justice in law 

20 enforcement and litigation; 

21 ‘‘(B) shall not affect the authority or re22 sponsibilities of any Government agency or enti23 ty; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) shall not affect the authority or re2 sponsibilities of individual members of the 

3 Council. 

4 ‘‘(d) INTEGRITY COMMITTEE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Council shall have 

6 an Integrity Committee, which shall receive, review, 

7 and refer for investigation allegations of wrongdoing 

8 that are made against Inspectors General and cer9 tain staff members of the various Offices of Inspec10 tor General. 

11 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Integrity Committee 

12 shall consist of the following members: 

13 ‘‘(A) The official of the Federal Bureau of 

14 Investigation serving on the Council, who shall 

15 serve as Chairperson of the Integrity Com16 mittee. 

17 ‘‘(B) 3 or more Inspectors General de18 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub19 section (b)(1) appointed by the Chairperson of 

20 the Council, representing both establishments 

21 and designated Federal entities (as that term is 

22 defined in section 8G(a)). 

23 ‘‘(C) The Special Counsel of the Office of 

24 Special Counsel. 
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1 ‘‘(D) The Director of the Office of Govern2 ment Ethics. 

3 ‘‘(3) LEGAL ADVISOR.—The Chief of the Public 

4 Integrity Section of the Criminal Division of the De5 partment of Justice, or his designee, shall serve as 

6 a legal advisor to the Integrity Committee. 

7 ‘‘(4) REFERRAL OF ALLEGATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—An Inspector Gen9 eral shall refer to the Integrity Committee any 

10 allegation of wrongdoing against a staff mem11 ber of his or her office, if— 

12 ‘‘(i) review of the substance of the al13 legation cannot be assigned to an agency 

14 of the executive branch with appropriate 

15 jurisdiction over the matter; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the Inspector General determines 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(I) an objective internal inves19 tigation of the allegation is not fea20 sible; or 

21 ‘‘(II) an internal investigation of 

22 the allegation may appear not to be 

23 objective. 

24 ‘‘(B) STAFF MEMBER DEFINED.—In this 

25 subsection the term ‘staff member’ means— 
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1 ‘‘(i) any employee of an Office of In2 spector General who reports directly to an 

3 Inspector General; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) who is designated by an Inspec5 tor General under subparagraph (C). 

6 ‘‘(C) DESIGNATION OF STAFF MEMBERS.— 

7 Each Inspector General shall annually submit 

8 to the Chairperson of the Integrity Committee 

9 a designation of positions whose holders are 

10 staff members for purposes of subparagraph 

11 (B). 

12 ‘‘(5) REVIEW OF ALLEGATIONS.—The Integrity 

13 Committee shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) review all allegations of wrongdoing it 

15 receives against an Inspector General, or 

16 against a staff member of an Office of Inspec17 tor General; and 

18 ‘‘(B) refer to the Chairperson of the Integ19 rity Committee any allegation of wrongdoing 

20 determined by the Integrity Committee to be 

21 meritorious that cannot be referred to an agen22 cy of the executive branch with appropriate ju23 risdiction over the matter. 

24 ‘‘(6) AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGA25 TIONS.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The Chairperson of 

2 the Integrity Committee shall cause a thorough 

3 and timely investigation of each allegation re4 ferred under paragraph (5)(B) to be conducted 

5 in accordance with this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(B) RESOURCES.—At the request of the 

7 Chairperson of the Integrity Committee, the 

8 head of each agency or entity represented on 

9 the Council— 

10 ‘‘(i) may provide resources necessary 

11 to the Integrity Committee; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) may detail employees from that 

13 agency or entity to the Integrity Com14 mittee, subject to the control and direction 

15 of the Chairperson, to conduct an inves16 tigation pursuant to this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(7) PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS APPLICABLE.—Investiga19 tions initiated under this subsection shall be 

20 conducted in accordance with the most current 

21 Quality Standards for Investigations issued by 

22 the Council or by its predecessors (the Presi23 dent’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency and 

24 the Executive Council on Integrity and Effi25 ciency). 
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1 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL POLICIES AND PROCE2 DURES.—The Integrity Committee, in conjunc3 tion with the Chairperson of the Council, shall 

4 establish additional policies and procedures nec5 essary to ensure fairness and consistency in— 

6 ‘‘(i) determining whether to initiate 

7 an investigation; 

8 ‘‘(ii) conducting investigations; 

9 ‘‘(iii) reporting the results of an inves10 tigation; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) providing the person who is the 

12 subject of an investigation with an oppor13 tunity to respond to any Integrity Com14 mittee report. 

15 ‘‘(C) REPORTS.—The Chairperson of the 

16 Integrity Committee shall report to the Execu17 tive Chairperson of the Council the results of 

18 any investigation that substantiates any allega19 tion certified under paragraph (5)(B). 

20 ‘‘(8) NO RIGHT OR BENEFIT.—This subsection 

21 is not intended to create any right or benefit, sub22 stantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a per23 son against the United States, its agencies, its offi24 cers, or any person. 
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1 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—The provisions of this section 

2 apply only to the Inspectors General (and their offices) 

3 listed in subsection (b)(1)(A) and (B).’’. 

4 (b) EXISTING EXECUTIVE ORDERS.—Executive 

5 Order 12805, dated May 14, 1992, Executive Order 

6 12805, dated March 21, 1996, and Executive Order 

7 12993, dated March 26, 1996, shall have no force or ef8 fect. 

9 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.—The 

11 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

12 amended— 

13 (A) in sections 2(1), 4(b)(2), and 

14 8G(a)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘section 11(2)’’ each 

15 place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 12(2)’’; 

16 and 

17 (B) in section 8G(a), in the matter pre18 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 11’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘section 12’’. 

20 (2) TITLE 31, U.S.C.—Section 1105(a) of title 

21 31, United States Code, is amended by striking the 

22 first paragraph (33) and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(33) a separate appropriation account for ap24 propriations for the Inspectors General Council, and, 

25 included in that account, a separate statement of the 
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1 aggregate amount of appropriations requested for 

2 each academy maintained by the Inspectors General 

3 Council.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. MISCELLANEOUS ENHANCEMENTS. 

5 (a) OFFICES AS DISCRETE AGENCIES.—Section 6(d) 

6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

7 amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(d)(1)(A) For purposes of applying the provisions 

9 of law identified in subparagraph (B)— 

10 ‘‘(i) each Office of Inspector General shall 

11 be considered to be a separate agency; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the Inspector General who is the head 

13 of an office referred to in clause (i) shall, with 

14 respect to such office, have the functions, pow15 ers, and duties of an agency head or appointing 

16 authority under such provisions. 

17 ‘‘(B) This paragraph applies with respect to the fol18 lowing provisions of title 5, United States Code: 

19 ‘‘(i) Subchapter II of chapter 35. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Sections 8335(b), 8336, 8414, and 

21 8425(b). 

22 ‘‘(iii) All provisions relating to the Senior Exec23 utive Service (as determined by the Office of Per24 sonnel Management), subject to paragraph (2). 
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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of applying section 4507(b) of title 

2 5, United States Code, paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall be ap3 plied by substituting ‘the Council of the Inspectors Gen4 eral on Integrity and Efficiency (established by section 11 

5 of the Inspector General Act) shall’ for ‘the Inspector Gen6 eral who is the head of an office referred to in clause (i) 

7 shall, with respect to such office,’.’’. 

8 (b) INSPECTORS GENERAL OF DESIGNATED FED9 ERAL ENTITIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

10 law, the Inspector General of each designated Federal en11 tity (as those terms are defined under section 8G of the 

12 Inspector General Act of 1978) shall, for pay and all other 

13 purposes, be classified at a grade, level, or rank designa14 tion, as the case may be, comparable to those of a majority 

15 of the senior staff members of such designated Federal 

16 entity (such as, but not limited to, a General Counsel, 

17 Deputy Director, or Chief of Staff) that report directly 

18 to the head of such designated Federal entity. 

19 (c) SUBPOENA POWER.—Section 6(a)(4) of the In20 spector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘in any medium (including 

23 electronically stored information, as well as any tan24 gible thing)’’ after ‘‘other data’’; and 
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘subpena’’ and inserting ‘‘sub2 poena’’. 

3 (d) LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR DES4 IGNATED FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Section 6(e) of the In5 spector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘appointed 

8 under section 3’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(9) In this subsection the term ‘Inspector Gen11 eral’ means an Inspector General appointed under 

12 section 3 or an Inspector General appointed under 

13 section 8G’’. 

14 SEC. 6. PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL REMEDIES ACT. 

15 Section 3801(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, 

16 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 

17 end of subparagraph (C), by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semi18 colon at the end of subparagraph (D), and by adding at 

19 the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(E) a designated Federal entity (as such 

21 term is defined under section 8G(a)(2) of the 

22 Inspector General Act of 1978).’’. 
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1 SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF SEMIANNUAL REPORTING RE2 QUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO INSPECTION 

3 REPORTS AND EVALUATION REPORTS. 

4 Section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

6 (1) in each of subsections (a)(6), (a)(8), (a)(9), 

7 (b)(2), and (b)(3)— 

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘, inspection reports, and 

9 evaluation reports’’ after ‘‘audit reports’’ the 

10 first place it appears; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘audit’’ the second place it 

12 appears; and 

13 (2) in subsection (a)(10) by inserting ‘‘, inspec14 tion reports, and evaluation reports’’ after ‘‘audit re15 ports’’. 

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