III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 34 

Authorizing expenditures by the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs, reported the following original resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Rules and Administration 

RESOLUTION 

Authorizing expenditures by the Committee on Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

3 In carrying out its powers, duties, and functions 

4 under the Standing Rules of the Senate, in accordance 

5 with its jurisdiction under rule XXV of the Standing Rules 

6 of the Senate and S. Res. 445, agreed to October 9, 2004 

7 (108th Congress), including holding hearings, reporting 

8 such hearings, and making investigations as authorized by 

9 paragraphs 1 and 8 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules 

10 of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security and 


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•SRES 34 IS 

1 Governmental Affairs (in this resolution referred to as the 

2 ‘‘committee’’) is authorized from March 1, 2017, through 

3 February 28, 2019, in its discretion, to— 

4 (1) make expenditures from the contingent fund 

5 of the Senate; 

6 (2) employ personnel; and 

7 (3) with the prior consent of the Government 

8 department or agency concerned and the Committee 

9 on Rules and Administration, use on a reimbursable 

10 or nonreimbursable basis the services of personnel of 

11 any such department or agency. 

12 SEC. 2. EXPENSES. 

13 (a) EXPENSES FOR PERIOD ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 

14 2017.—The expenses of the committee for the period 

15 March 1, 2017, through September 30, 2017, under this 

16 resolution shall not exceed $5,591,653, of which amount— 

17 (1) not to exceed $75,000 may be expended for 

18 the procurement of the services of individual consult19 ants, or organizations thereof (as authorized by sec20 tion 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 

21 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i))); and 

22 (2) not to exceed $20,000 may be expended for 

23 the training of the professional staff of the com24 mittee (under procedures specified by section 202(j) 

25 of that Act). 


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1 (b) EXPENSES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 PERIOD.— 

2 The expenses of the committee for the period October 1, 

3 2017, through September 30, 2018, under this resolution 

4 shall not exceed $9,585,691, of which amount— 

5 (1) not to exceed $75,000 may be expended for 

6 the procurement of the services of individual consult7 ants, or organizations thereof (as authorized by sec8 tion 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 

9 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i))); and 

10 (2) not to exceed $20,000 may be expended for 

11 the training of the professional staff of the com12 mittee (under procedures specified by section 202(j) 

13 of that Act). 

14 (c) EXPENSES FOR PERIOD ENDING FEBRUARY 28, 

15 2019.—The expenses of the committee for the period Oc16 tober 1, 2018, through February 28, 2019, under this res17 olution shall not exceed $3,994,038, of which amount— 

18 (1) not to exceed $75,000 may be expended for 

19 the procurement of the services of individual consult20 ants, or organizations thereof (as authorized by sec21 tion 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 

22 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i))); and 

23 (2) not to exceed $20,000 may be expended for 

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1 mittee (under procedures specified by section 202(j) 

2 of that Act). 

3 SEC. 3. REPORTING LEGISLATION. 

4 The committee shall report its findings, together with 

5 such recommendations for legislation as it deems advis6 able, to the Senate at the earliest practicable date, but 

7 not later than February 28, 2019. 

8 SEC. 4. EXPENSES AND AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS. 

9 (a) EXPENSES OF THE COMMITTEE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), expenses of the committee under this res12 olution shall be paid from the contingent fund of the 

13 Senate upon vouchers approved by the chairman of 

14 the committee. 

15 (2) VOUCHERS NOT REQUIRED.—Vouchers shall 

16 not be required for— 

17 (A) the disbursement of salaries of employ18 ees paid at an annual rate; 

19 (B) the payment of telecommunications 

20 provided by the Office of the Sergeant at Arms 

21 and Doorkeeper; 

22 (C) the payment of stationery supplies pur23 chased through the Keeper of the Stationery; 

24 (D) payments to the Postmaster of the 

25 Senate; 


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•SRES 34 IS 

1 (E) the payment of metered charges on 

2 copying equipment provided by the Office of the 

3 Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper; 

4 (F) the payment of Senate Recording and 

5 Photographic Services; or 

6 (G) the payment of franked and mass mail 

7 costs by the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper. 

8 (b) AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS.—There are authorized 

9 to be paid from the appropriations account for ‘‘Expenses 

10 of Inquiries and Investigations’’ of the Senate such sums 

11 as may be necessary for agency contributions related to 

12 the compensation of employees of the committee— 

13 (1) for the period March 1, 2017, through Sep14 tember 30, 2017; 

15 (2) for the period October 1, 2017, through 

16 September 30, 2018; and 

17 (3) for the period October 1, 2018, through 

18 February 28, 2019. 

19 SEC. 5. INVESTIGATIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The committee, or any duly au21 thorized subcommittee of the committee, is authorized to 

22 study or investigate— 

23 (1) the efficiency and economy of operations of 

24 all branches of the Government including the pos25 sible existence of fraud, misfeasance, malfeasance, 


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1 collusion, mismanagement, incompetence, corruption, 

2 or unethical practices, waste, extravagance, conflicts 

3 of interest, and the improper expenditure of Govern4 ment funds in transactions, contracts, and activities 

5 of the Government or of Government officials and 

6 employees and any and all such improper practices 

7 between Government personnel and corporations, in8 dividuals, companies, or persons affiliated therewith, 

9 doing business with the Government, and the com10 pliance or noncompliance of such corporations, com11 panies, or individuals or other entities with the rules, 

12 regulations, and laws governing the various govern13 mental agencies and its relationships with the public; 

14 (2) the extent to which criminal or other im15 proper practices or activities are, or have been, en16 gaged in the field of labor-management relations or 

17 in groups or organizations of employees or employ18 ers, to the detriment of interests of the public, em19 ployers, or employees, and to determine whether any 

20 changes are required in the laws of the United 

21 States in order to protect such interests against the 

22 occurrence of such practices or activities; 

23 (3) organized criminal activity which may oper24 ate in or otherwise utilize the facilities of interstate 

25 or international commerce in furtherance of any 


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1 transactions and the manner and extent to which, 

2 and the identity of the persons, firms, or corpora3 tions, or other entities by whom such utilization is 

4 being made, and further, to study and investigate 

5 the manner in which and the extent to which per6 sons engaged in organized criminal activity have in7 filtrated lawful business enterprise, and to study the 

8 adequacy of Federal laws to prevent the operations 

9 of organized crime in interstate or international 

10 commerce, and to determine whether any changes 

11 are required in the laws of the United States in 

12 order to protect the public against such practices or 

13 activities; 

14 (4) all other aspects of crime and lawlessness 

15 within the United States which have an impact upon 

16 or affect the national health, welfare, and safety, in17 cluding but not limited to investment fraud schemes, 

18 commodity and security fraud, computer fraud, and 

19 the use of offshore banking and corporate facilities 

20 to carry out criminal objectives; 

21 (5) the efficiency and economy of operations of 

22 all branches and functions of the Government with 

23 particular reference to— 

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1 ed against the requirements imposed by the 

2 rapidly mounting complexity of national secu3 rity problems; 

4 (B) the capacity of present national secu5 rity staffing, methods, and processes to make 

6 full use of the Nation’s resources of knowledge 

7 and talents; 

8 (C) the adequacy of present intergovern9 mental relations between the United States and 

10 international organizations principally con11 cerned with national security of which the 

12 United States is a member; and 

13 (D) legislative and other proposals to im14 prove these methods, processes, and relation15 ships; 

16 (6) the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of 

17 all agencies and departments of the Government in18 volved in the control and management of energy 

19 shortages including, but not limited to, their per20 formance with respect to— 

21 (A) the collection and dissemination of ac22 curate statistics on fuel demand and supply; 

23 (B) the implementation of effective energy 

24 conservation measures; 

25 (C) the pricing of energy in all forms; 


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1 (D) coordination of energy programs with 

2 State and local government; 

3 (E) control of exports of scarce fuels; 

4 (F) the management of tax, import, pric5 ing, and other policies affecting energy supplies; 

6 (G) maintenance of the independent sector 

7 of the petroleum industry as a strong competi8 tive force; 

9 (H) the allocation of fuels in short supply 

10 by public and private entities; 

11 (I) the management of energy supplies 

12 owned or controlled by the Government; 

13 (J) relations with other oil producing and 

14 consuming countries; 

15 (K) the monitoring of compliance by gov16 ernments, corporations, or individuals with the 

17 laws and regulations governing the allocation, 

18 conservation, or pricing of energy supplies; and 

19 (L) research into the discovery and devel20 opment of alternative energy supplies; and 

21 (7) the efficiency and economy of all branches 

22 and functions of Government with particular ref23 erences to the operations and management of Fed24 eral regulatory policies and programs. 


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1 (b) EXTENT OF INQUIRIES.—In carrying out the du2 ties provided in subsection (a), the inquiries of this com3 mittee or any subcommittee of the committee shall not be 

4 construed to be limited to the records, functions, and oper5 ations of any particular branch of the Government and 

6 may extend to the records and activities of any persons, 

7 corporation, or other entity. 

8 (c) SPECIAL COMMITTEE AUTHORITY.—For the pur9 poses of this section, the committee, or any duly author10 ized subcommittee of the committee, or its chairman, or 

11 any other member of the committee or subcommittee des12 ignated by the chairman is authorized, in its, his, her, or 

13 their discretion— 

14 (1) to require by subpoena or otherwise the at15 tendance of witnesses and production of correspond16 ence, books, papers, and documents; 

17 (2) to hold hearings; 

18 (3) to sit and act at any time or place during 

19 the sessions, recess, and adjournment periods of the 

20 Senate; 

21 (4) to administer oaths; and 

22 (5) to take testimony, either orally or by sworn 

23 statement, or, in the case of staff members of the 

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1 vestigations, by deposition in accordance with the 

2 Committee Rules of Procedure. 

3 (d) AUTHORITY OF OTHER COMMITTEES.—Nothing 

4 contained in this section shall affect or impair the exercise 

5 of any other standing committee of the Senate of any 

6 power, or the discharge by such committee of any duty, 

7 conferred or imposed upon it by the Standing Rules of 

8 the Senate or by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 

9 1946. 

10 (e) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—All subpoenas and re11 lated legal processes of the committee and any duly au12 thorized subcommittee of the committee authorized under 

13 S. Res. 73, agreed to February 12, 2015 (114th Con14 gress), are authorized to continue. 

Æ 


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