I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 855 

To provide for the independent and objective conduct and supervision of 

audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations funded 

with amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to Ukraine for 

military, economic, and humanitarian aid. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2023 

Mr. WITTMAN (for himself, Mr. ISSA, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. GRIFFITH, and Ms. 

STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed 

Services, and Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the independent and objective conduct and 

supervision of audits and investigations relating to the 

programs and operations funded with amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to Ukraine for military, economic, and humanitarian aid. 

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 ‘‘Independent and Ob5 jective Oversight of Ukrainian Assistance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to provide for the independent and objective 

4 conduct and supervision of audits and investigations 

5 relating to the programs and operations funded with 

6 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to 

7 Ukraine for military, economic, and humanitarian 

8 aid; 

9 (2) to provide for the independent and objective 

10 leadership and coordination of, and recommenda11 tions concerning, policies designed— 

12 (A) to promote economic efficiency and ef13 fectiveness in the administration of the pro14 grams and operations described in paragraph 

15 (1); and 

16 (B) to prevent and detect waste, fraud, 

17 and abuse in such programs and operations; 

18 and 

19 (3) to provide for an independent and objective 

20 means of keeping the Secretary of State, the Sec21 retary of Defense, and the heads of other relevant 

22 Federal agencies fully and currently informed 

23 about— 

24 (A) problems and deficiencies relating to 

25 the administration of the programs and oper26 ations described in paragraph (1); and 


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1 (B) the necessity for, and the progress to2 ward implementing, corrective action related to 

3 such programs. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) AMOUNTS APPROPRIATED OR OTHERWISE

7 MADE AVAILABLE FOR THE MILITARY, ECONOMIC, 

8 AND HUMANITARIAN AID TO UKRAINE.—The term 

9 ‘‘amounts appropriated or otherwise made available 

10 for the military, economic, and humanitarian aid for 

11 Ukraine’’ means amounts appropriated or otherwise 

12 made available for any fiscal year— 

13 (A) for the Ukraine Security Assistance 

14 Initiative; 

15 (B) for Foreign Military Financing fund16 ing for Ukraine; and 

17 (C) under titles III and VI of the Ukraine 

18 Supplemental Appropriations Act (division N of 

19 Public Law 117–103). 

20 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT21 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com22 mittees’’ means— 

23 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

24 the Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 

2 the Senate; 

3 (C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

4 the Senate; 

5 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

6 the House of Representatives; 

7 (E) the Committee on Armed Services of 

8 the House of Representatives; and 

9 (F) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

10 the House of Representatives. 

11 (3) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of12 fice of the Special Inspector General for Ukrainian 

13 Military, Economic, and Humanitarian Aid estab14 lished under section 4(a). 

15 (4) SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term 

16 ‘‘Special Inspector General’’ means the Special In17 spector General for Ukrainian Military, Economic, 

18 and Humanitarian Aid appointed pursuant to sec19 tion 4(b). 

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL IN21 SPECTOR GENERAL FOR UKRAINIAN MILI22 TARY, ECONOMIC, AND HUMANITARIAN AID. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established the 

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1 tary, Economic, and Humanitarian Aid to carry out the 

2 purposes set forth in section 2. 

3 (b) APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL INSPECTOR GEN4 ERAL.—The head of the Office shall be the Special Inspec5 tor General for Ukrainian Military, Economic, and Hu6 manitarian Aid, who shall be appointed by the President. 

7 The first Special Inspector General shall be appointed not 

8 later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act. 

10 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—The appointment of the Spe11 cial Inspector General shall be made solely on the basis 

12 of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, audit13 ing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public 

14 administration, or investigations. 

15 (d) COMPENSATION.—The annual rate of basic pay 

16 of the Special Inspector General shall be the annual rate 

17 of basic pay provided for positions at level IV of the Exec18 utive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 

19 Code. 

20 (e) PROHIBITION ON POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.—For 

21 purposes of section 7324 of title 5, United States Code, 

22 the Special Inspector General is not an employee who de23 termines policies to be pursued by the United States in 

24 the nationwide administration of Federal law. 


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1 (f) REMOVAL.—The Special Inspector General shall 

2 be removable from office in accordance with section 3(b) 

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

4 SEC. 5. ASSISTANT INSPECTORS GENERAL. 

5 The Special Inspector General, in accordance with 

6 applicable laws and regulations governing the civil service, 

7 shall appoint— 

8 (1) an Assistant Inspector General for Audit9 ing, who shall supervise the performance of auditing 

10 activities relating to programs and operations sup11 ported by amounts appropriated or otherwise made 

12 available for military, economic, and humanitarian 

13 aid to Ukraine; and 

14 (2) an Assistant Inspector General for Inves15 tigations, who shall supervise the performance of in16 vestigative activities relating to the programs and 

17 operations described in paragraph (1). 

18 SEC. 6. SUPERVISION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

20 (b), the Special Inspector General shall report directly to, 

21 and be under the general supervision of, the Secretary of 

22 State and the Secretary of Defense. 

23 (b) INDEPENDENCE TO CONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS

24 AND AUDITS.—No officer of the Department of Defense, 

25 the Department of State, the United States Agency for 


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1 International Development, or any other relevant Federal 

2 agency may prevent or prohibit the Special Inspector Gen3 eral from— 

4 (1) initiating, carrying out, or completing any 

5 audit or investigation related to amounts appro6 priated or otherwise made available for the military, 

7 economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine; or 

8 (2) issuing any subpoena during the course of 

9 any such audit or investigation. 

10 SEC. 7. DUTIES. 

11 (a) OVERSIGHT OF MILITARY, ECONOMIC, AND HU12 MANITARIAN AID TO UKRAINE PROVIDED AFTER FEB13 RUARY 24, 2022.—The Special Inspector General shall 

14 conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investiga15 tions of the treatment, handling, and expenditure of 

16 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for 

17 military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and 

18 of the programs, operations, and contracts carried out uti19 lizing such funds, including— 

20 (1) the oversight and accounting of the obliga21 tion and expenditure of such funds; 

22 (2) the monitoring and review of reconstruction 

23 activities funded by such funds; 

24 (3) the monitoring and review of contracts 

25 funded by such funds; 


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1 (4) the monitoring and review of the transfer of 

2 such funds and associated information between and 

3 among departments, agencies, and entities of the 

4 United States and private and nongovernmental en5 tities; 

6 (5) the maintenance of records regarding the 

7 use of such funds to facilitate future audits and in8 vestigations of the use of such funds; 

9 (6) the monitoring and review of the effective10 ness of United States coordination with the Govern11 ment of Ukraine, major recipients of Ukrainian refu12 gees, partners in the region, and other donor coun13 tries; 

14 (7) the investigation of overpayments (such as 

15 duplicate payments or duplicate billing) and any po16 tential unethical or illegal actions of Federal employ17 ees, contractors, or affiliated entities; and 

18 (8) the referral of reports compiled as a result 

19 of such investigations, as necessary, to the Depart20 ment of Justice to ensure further investigations, 

21 prosecutions, recovery of funds, or other remedies. 

22 (b) OTHER DUTIES RELATED TO OVERSIGHT.—The 

23 Special Inspector General shall establish, maintain, and 

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1 cial Inspector General considers appropriate to discharge 

2 the duties described in subsection (a). 

3 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Special Inspector General 

4 shall consult with the appropriate congressional commit5 tees before engaging in auditing activities outside of 

6 Ukraine. 

7 (d) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER INSPEC8 TOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.—In addition to the duties 

9 specified in subsections (a) and (b), the Special Inspector 

10 General shall have the duties and responsibilities of in11 spectors general under the Inspector General Act of 1978 

12 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

13 (e) COORDINATION OF EFFORTS.—In carrying out 

14 the duties, responsibilities, and authorities of the Special 

15 Inspector General under this Act, the Special Inspector 

16 General shall coordinate with, and receive cooperation 

17 from— 

18 (1) the Inspector General of the Department of 

19 Defense; 

20 (2) the Inspector General of the Department of 

21 State; 

22 (3) the Inspector General of the United States 

23 Agency for International Development; and 

24 (4) the Inspector General of any other relevant 

25 Federal agency. 


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1 SEC. 8. POWERS AND AUTHORITIES. 

2 (a) AUTHORITIES UNDER INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT

3 OF 1978.—In carrying out the duties specified in section 

4 7, the Special Inspector General shall have the authorities 

5 provided under section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 

6 1978, including the authorities under subsection (e) of 

7 such section. 

8 (b) AUDIT STANDARDS.—The Special Inspector Gen9 eral shall carry out the duties specified in section 7(a) in 

10 accordance with section 4(b)(1) of the Inspector General 

11 Act of 1978. 

12 SEC. 9. PERSONNEL, FACILITIES, AND OTHER RESOURCES. 

13 (a) PERSONNEL.—The Special Inspector General 

14 may select, appoint, and employ such officers and employ15 ees as may be necessary for carrying out the duties of the 

16 Special Inspector General, subject to the provisions of— 

17 (1) chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, 

18 governing appointments in the competitive service; 

19 and 

20 (2) chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 

21 53 of such title, relating to classification and Gen22 eral Schedule pay rates. 

23 (b) EMPLOYMENT OF EXPERTS AND CONSULT24 ANTS.—The Special Inspector General may obtain the 

25 services of experts and consultants in accordance with sec26 tion 3109 of title 5, United States Code, at daily rates 


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1 not to exceed the equivalent rate prescribed for grade GS– 

2 15 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of such 

3 title. 

4 (c) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—To the extent and 

5 in such amounts as may be provided in advance by appro6 priations Acts, the Special Inspector General may— 

7 (1) enter into contracts and other arrangements 

8 for audits, studies, analyses, and other services with 

9 public agencies and with private persons; and 

10 (2) make such payments as may be necessary 

11 to carry out the duties of the Special Inspector Gen12 eral. 

13 (d) RESOURCES.—The Secretary of State or the Sec14 retary of Defense, as appropriate, shall provide the Special 

15 Inspector General with— 

16 (1) appropriate and adequate office space at ap17 propriate locations of the Department of State or 

18 the Department of Defense, as appropriate, in 

19 Ukraine or in European partner countries; 

20 (2) such equipment, office supplies, and com21 munications facilities and services as may be nec22 essary for the operation of such offices; and 

23 (3) necessary maintenance services for such of24 fices and the equipment and facilities located in such 

25 offices. 


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1 (e) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of the Special 

3 Inspector General for information or assistance from 

4 any department, agency, or other entity of the Fed5 eral Government, the head of such entity shall, to 

6 the extent practicable and not in contravention of 

7 any existing law, furnish such information or assist8 ance to the Special Inspector General or an author9 ized designee. 

10 (2) REPORTING OF REFUSED ASSISTANCE.— 

11 Whenever information or assistance requested by the 

12 Special Inspector General is, in the judgment of the 

13 Special Inspector General, unreasonably refused or 

14 not provided, the Special Inspector General shall im15 mediately report the circumstances to— 

16 (A) the Secretary of State or the Secretary 

17 of Defense, as appropriate; and 

18 (B) the appropriate congressional commit19 tees. 

20 SEC. 10. REPORTS. 

21 (a) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Not later than 30 days 

22 after the end of each quarter of each fiscal year, the Spe23 cial Inspector General shall submit to the appropriate con24 gressional committees, the Secretary of State, and the 

25 Secretary of Defense a report that— 


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1 (1) summarizes, for the applicable quarter, and 

2 to the extent possible, for the period from the end 

3 of such quarter to the date on which the report is 

4 submitted, the activities during such period of the 

5 Special Inspector General and the activities under 

6 programs and operations funded with amounts ap7 propriated or otherwise made available for military, 

8 economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine; and 

9 (2) includes, for applicable quarter, a detailed 

10 statement of all obligations, expenditures, and reve11 nues associated with military, economic, and human12 itarian activities in Ukraine, including— 

13 (A) obligations and expenditures of appro14 priated funds; 

15 (B) a project-by-project and program-by16 program accounting of the costs incurred to 

17 date for military, economic, and humanitarian 

18 aid to Ukraine, including an estimate of the 

19 costs to be incurred by the Department of De20 fense, the Department of State, the United 

21 States Agency for International Development, 

22 and other relevant Federal agencies to complete 

23 each project and each program; 

24 (C) revenues attributable to, or consisting 

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1 national organizations to programs and projects 

2 funded by any Federal department or agency 

3 and any obligations or expenditures of such rev4 enues; 

5 (D) revenues attributable to, or consisting 

6 of, foreign assets seized or frozen that con7 tribute to programs and projects funded by any 

8 Federal department or agency and any obliga9 tions or expenditures of such revenues; 

10 (E) operating expenses of entities receiving 

11 amounts appropriated or otherwise made avail12 able for military, economic, and humanitarian 

13 aid to Ukraine; and 

14 (F) for any contract, grant, agreement, or 

15 other funding mechanism described in sub16 section (b)— 

17 (i) the dollar amount of the contract, 

18 grant, agreement, or other funding mecha19 nism; 

20 (ii) a brief discussion of the scope of 

21 the contract, grant, agreement, or other 

22 funding mechanism; 

23 (iii) a discussion of how the Federal 

24 department or agency involved in the con25 tract, grant, agreement, or other funding 


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1 mechanism identified, and solicited offers 

2 from, potential individuals or entities to 

3 perform the contract, grant, agreement, or 

4 other funding mechanism, including a list 

5 of the potential individuals or entities that 

6 were issued solicitations for the offers; and 

7 (iv) the justification and approval doc8 uments on which the determination to use 

9 procedures other than procedures that pro10 vide for full and open competition was 

11 based. 

12 (b) COVERED CONTRACTS, GRANTS, AGREEMENTS, 

13 AND FUNDING MECHANISMS.—A contract, grant, agree14 ment, or other funding mechanism described in this sub15 section is any major contract, grant, agreement, or other 

16 funding mechanism that is entered into by any Federal 

17 department or agency that involves the use of amounts 

18 appropriated or otherwise made available for the military, 

19 economic, or humanitarian aid to Ukraine with any public 

20 or private sector entity— 

21 (1) to build or rebuild the physical infrastruc22 ture of Ukraine; 

23 (2) to establish or reestablish a political or soci24 etal institution of Ukraine; 


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1 (3) to provide products or services to the people 

2 of Ukraine; or 

3 (4) to provide security assistance to Ukraine. 

4 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Special Inspector 

5 General shall publish each report submitted pursuant to 

6 subsection (a) on a publicly available internet website in 

7 English, Ukrainian, and Russian. 

8 (d) FORM.—Each report required under subsection 

9 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in10 clude a classified annex if the Special Inspector General 

11 determines that a classified annex is necessary. 

12 (e) SUBMISSION OF COMMENTS TO CONGRESS.— 

13 During the 30-day period beginning on the date a report 

14 is received under subsection (a), the Secretary of State 

15 and the Secretary of Defense may submit comments to 

16 the appropriate congressional committees, in unclassified 

17 form, regarding any matters covered by the report that 

18 the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense con19 siders appropriate. Such comments may include a classi20 fied annex if the Secretary of State or the Secretary of 

21 Defense considers such annex to be necessary. 

22 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec23 tion may be construed to authorize the public disclosure 

24 of information that is— 


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1 (1) specifically prohibited from disclosure by 

2 any other provision of law; 

3 (2) specifically required by Executive order to 

4 be protected from disclosure in the interest of de5 fense or national security or in the conduct of for6 eign affairs; or 

7 (3) a part of an ongoing criminal investigation. 

8 SEC. 11. TRANSPARENCY. 

9 (a) REPORT.—Except as provided in subsection (c), 

10 not later than 60 days after receiving a report under sec11 tion 10(a), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 

12 Defense shall jointly make copies of the report available 

13 to the public upon request and at a reasonable cost. 

14 (b) COMMENTS.—Except as provided in subsection 

15 (c), not later than 60 days after submitting comments 

16 pursuant to section 10(e), the Secretary of State and the 

17 Secretary of Defense shall jointly make copies of such 

18 comments available to the public upon request and at a 

19 reasonable cost. 

20 (c) WAIVER.— 

21 (1) AUTHORITY.—The President may waive the 

22 requirement under subsection (a) or (b) with respect 

23 to availability to the public of any element in a re24 port submitted pursuant to section 10(a) or any 

25 comments submitted pursuant to section 10(e) if the 


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1 President determines that such waiver is justified 

2 for national security reasons. 

3 (2) NOTICE OF WAIVER.—The President shall 

4 publish a notice of each waiver made under para5 graph (1) in the Federal Register not later than the 

6 date of the submission to the appropriate congres7 sional committees of a report required under section 

8 10(a) or any comments under section 10(e). Each 

9 such report and comments shall specify whether a 

10 waiver was made pursuant to paragraph (1) and 

11 which elements in the report or the comments were 

12 affected by such waiver. 

13 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro15 priated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 to carry out this 

16 Act. 

17 (b) OFFSET.—The amount appropriated under the 

18 heading ‘‘ASSISTANCE FOR EUROPE, EURASIA, AND CEN19 TRAL ASIA’’ in title III of the Department of State, For20 eign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations 

21 Act, 2022 (division K of Public Law 117–103) is reduced 

22 by $20,000,000. 

23 SEC. 13. TERMINATION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall terminate on the 

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1 propriated or otherwise made available for the reconstruc2 tion of Ukraine that are unexpended are less than 

3 $250,000,000. 

4 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Before the termination date re5 ferred to in subsection (a), the Special Inspector General 

6 shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional 

7 committees a final forensic audit report on programs and 

8 operations funded with amounts appropriated or otherwise 

9 made available for the military, economic, and humani10 tarian aid to Ukraine. 

Æ 


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