II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 237 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to enhance the oversight authorities 

of the Comptroller General, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2011 

Mrs. MCCASKILL (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to enhance the 

oversight authorities of the Comptroller General, and 

for other purposes. 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Government Account3 ability Office Improvement Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION. 

5 (a) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.—Section 716 

6 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in subsection 

7 (a)— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after the section heading the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob4 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re5 quires to discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, 

6 and investigative duties), including through the bringing 

7 of civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil ac8 tion under this section, the court shall recognize the con9 tinuing force and effect of the authorization in the pre10 ceding sentence until such time as the authorization is re11 pealed pursuant to law.’’. 

12 (b) COPIES.—Section 716(a) of title 31, United 

13 States Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further 

14 amended in the second sentence of paragraph (2) by strik15 ing ‘‘inspect an agency record’’ and inserting ‘‘inspect, 

16 and make and retain copies of, an agency record’’. 

17 SEC. 3. ADMINISTERING OATHS. 

18 Section 711 of title 31, United States Code, is 

19 amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(4) administer oaths to witnesses when audit22 ing and settling accounts and, with the prior express 

23 approval of the Comptroller General, when inves24 tigating fraud or attempts to defraud the United 


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1 States, or irregularity or misconduct of an employee 

2 or agent of the United States.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION. 

4 (a) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Subchapter 

5 II of chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 721. Access to certain information 

8 ‘‘(a) No provision of the Social Security Act, includ9 ing section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall 

10 be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the authority 

11 of the Comptroller General to obtain any information or 

12 to inspect or copy any record under section 716 of this 

13 title. 

14 ‘‘(b) No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

15 Cosmetic Act, including section 301(j) of that Act (21 

16 U.S.C. 331(j)), shall be construed to limit, amend, or su17 persede the authority of the Comptroller General to obtain 

18 any information or to inspect or copy any record under 

19 section 716 of this title. 

20 ‘‘(c) No provision of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust 

21 Improvements Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–435) and the 

22 amendments made by that Act shall be construed to limit, 

23 amend, or supersede the authority of the Comptroller Gen24 eral to obtain any information or to inspect or copy any 

25 record under section 716 of this title, including with reVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:37 Feb 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S237.IS S237

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1 spect to any information disclosed to the Assistant Attor2 ney General of the Antitrust Division of the Department 

3 of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission for purposes 

4 of pre-merger review under section 7A of the Clayton Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 18a). 

6 ‘‘(d)(1) The Comptroller General shall prescribe such 

7 policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from 

8 public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information 

9 obtained consistent with this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to— 

11 ‘‘(A) alter or amend the prohibitions against 

12 the disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive infor13 mation prohibited by section 1905 of title 18 and 

14 other applicable laws; or 

15 ‘‘(B) affect the applicability of section 716(e) of 

16 this title, including the protections against unauthor17 ized disclosure contained in that section, to informa18 tion obtained consistent with this section. 

19 ‘‘(e) Specific references to statutes in this section 

20 shall not be construed to affect access by the Government 

21 Accountability Office to information under statutes that 

22 are not so referenced.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

24 The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 31, United 


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1 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat2 ing to section 720 the following: 

‘‘721. Access to certain information.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. AGENCY REPORTS. 

4 Section 720(b) of title 31, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

7 inserting ‘‘or planned’’ after ‘‘action taken’’; and 

8 (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

11 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 

12 on Oversight and Government Operations of the 

13 House of Representatives, the congressional commit14 tees with jurisdiction over the agency program or ac15 tivity that is the subject of the recommendation, and 

16 the Government Accountability Office before the 

17 61st day after the date of the report; and’’. 

Æ 


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