II 

Calendar No. 363 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 237 

[Report No. 112–159] 

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, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

APRIL 24 (legislative day, APRIL 23), 2012 

Reported by Mr. LIEBERMAN, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION. 

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

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

4 (a)— 

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

6 (2) by inserting after the section heading the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob9 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re10 quires to discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, 

11 and investigative duties), including through the bringing 

12 of civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil ac13 tion under this section, the court shall recognize the con14 tinuing force and effect of the authorization in the pre15 ceding sentence until such time as the authorization is re16 pealed pursuant to law.’’. 

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

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

19 amended in the second sentence of paragraph (2) by strik20 ing ‘‘inspect an agency record’’ and inserting ‘‘inspect, 

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

22 SEC. 3. ADMINISTERING OATHS. 

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

24 amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(4) administer oaths to witnesses when audit2 ing and settling accounts and, with the prior express 

3 approval of the Comptroller General, when inves4 tigating fraud or attempts to defraud the United 

5 States, or irregularity or misconduct of an employee 

6 or agent of the United States.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION. 

8 (a) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Subchapter 

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

10 by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 721. Access to certain information 

12 ‘‘(a) No provision of the Social Security Act, includ13 ing section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall 

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

15 of the Comptroller General to obtain any information or 

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

17 title. 

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

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

20 U.S.C. 331(j)), shall be construed to limit, amend, or su21 persede the authority of the Comptroller General to obtain 

22 any information or to inspect or copy any record under 

23 section 716 of this title. 

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

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


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

2 amend, or supersede the authority of the Comptroller Gen3 eral to obtain any information or to inspect or copy any 

4 record under section 716 of this title, including with re5 spect to any information disclosed to the Assistant Attor6 ney General of the Antitrust Division of the Department 

7 of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission for purposes 

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

9 (15 U.S.C. 18a). 

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

11 policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from 

12 public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information 

13 obtained consistent with this section. 

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

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

16 the disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive infor17 mation prohibited by section 1905 of title 18 and 

18 other applicable laws; or 

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

20 this title, including the protections against unauthor21 ized disclosure contained in that section, to informa22 tion obtained consistent with this section. 

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

24 shall not be construed to affect access by the Government 


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1 Accountability Office to information under statutes that 

2 are not so referenced.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat6 ing to section 720 the following: 

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

7 SEC. 5. NOTICE TO CONGRESS IF AGENCIES DO NOT PRO8 VIDE REQUESTED INFORMATION. 

9 (a) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—Subchapter II of chapter 

10 7 of title 31, United States Code, (as amended by section 

11 4 of this Act) is further amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘§ 722. Notice to Congress if agencies do not provide 

14 requested information 

15 ‘‘If in the discharge of the official duties of the Comp16 troller General (including any audit, evaluation, or inves17 tigative duties) relating to any request from a committee 

18 of Congress or a Member of Congress, the Comptroller Gen19 eral requests information from an agency and the agency 

20 does not provide that information within 30 days after the 

21 date of receiving the request, the Comptroller General shall 

22 submit notice that the agency has not provided the informa23 tion to the Comptroller General to— 

24 ‘‘(1) any committee of Congress that made the 

25 related request to the Comptroller General; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) any Member of Congress who made the re2 lated request to the Comptroller General.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

4 table of sections for chapter 7 of title 31, United States 

5 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

6 section 721 (as added by section 4 of this Act) the following: 

‘‘722. Notice to Congress if agencies do not provide requested information.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. 6. AGENCY REPORTS. 

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

9 amended— 

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

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

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

13 following: 

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

15 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 

16 on Oversight and Government Operations of the 

17 House of Representatives, the congressional commit18 tees with jurisdiction over the agency program or ac19 tivity that is the subject of the recommendation, and 

20 the Government Accountability Office before the 

21 61st day after the date of the report; and’’. 


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smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 363 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 237 

[Report No. 112–159] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to enhance 

eral, and for other purposes. the oversight authorities of the Comptroller GenAPRIL 24, 2012 

Reported with amendments 


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