II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1738 

To expand the responsibilities of the Special Inspector General for Iraq 

Reconstruction to provide independent and objective audits and investigations relating to the Federal programs for Hurricane Katrina recovery. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2005 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

PRYOR, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To expand the responsibilities of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction to provide independent and 

objective audits and investigations relating to the Federal 

programs for Hurricane Katrina recovery. 

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 ‘‘Special Inspector Gen5 eral for Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR RELIEF AND 

2 RECONSTRUCTION. 

3 (a) REDESIGNATION.—(1) Section 3001 of the Emer4 gency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and 

5 for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004 

6 (Public Law 108–106; 117 Stat. 1234; 5 U.S.C. App. 3 

7 section 8G note) is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Office of the 

9 Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘Office of the Special Inspector Gen11 eral for Relief and Reconstruction’’; and 

12 (B) in subsection (c)(1), by striking all after 

13 ‘‘The head of the Office of the Special Inspector 

14 General’’ and inserting ‘‘for Relief and Reconstruc15 tion is the Special Inspector General for Relief and 

16 Reconstruction (in this section referred to as the ‘In17 spector General’). If a vacancy occurs after the serv18 ice of the individual as provided under subsection (b) 

19 of the Special Inspector General for Relief and Re20 construction Act of 2005, the Inspector General 

21 shall be appointed by the Director of the Office of 

22 Management and Budget.’’. 

23 (2)(A) The heading of such section is amended to 

24 read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 3001. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR RELIEF 

2 AND RECONSTRUCTION.’’. 

3 (B) The heading of title III of such Act is amended 

4 to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘TITLE III—SPECIAL INSPECTOR 

6 GENERAL FOR RELIEF AND 

7 RECONSTRUCTION’’. 

8 (b) CONTINUATION IN OFFICE.—The individual serv9 ing as the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruc10 tion as of the date of the enactment of this Act may con11 tinue to serve as the Special Inspector General for Relief 

12 and Reconstruction (with all additional duties and respon13 sibilities as provided under this Act) after that date with14 out reappointment under paragraph (1) of section 3001(c) 

15 of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for 

16 Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghani17 stan, 2004, but remaining subject to removal as specified 

18 in paragraph (4) of that section. 

19 (c) PURPOSES.—Subsection (a) of such section is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and for 

22 Hurricane Katrina recovery activities’’ after ‘‘Iraq 

23 Relief and Reconstruction Fund’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘the Secretary 

25 of State and the Secretary of Defense’’ and inserting 

26 ‘‘the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland 
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1 Security, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of 

2 other Federal agencies, as appropriate,’’. 

3 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF ASSISTANT INSPECTOR

4 GENERAL FOR AUDITING.—Subsection (d) of such section 

5 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANT INSPECTORS GENERAL.—(1) The 

7 Inspector General shall, in accordance with applicable laws 

8 and regulations governing the civil service— 

9 ‘‘(A) appoint 1 or more Assistant Inspectors 

10 General for Auditing who shall have the responsi11 bility for supervising the performance of auditing ac12 tivities relating to— 

13 ‘‘(i) programs and operations supported by 

14 the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) programs and operations relating to 

16 Hurricane Katrina recovery activities; and 

17 ‘‘(B) appoint 1 or more Assistant Inspectors 

18 General for Investigations who shall have the re19 sponsibility for supervising the performance of inves20 tigative activities relating to such programs and op21 erations.’’. 

22 (e) SUPERVISION.—Such section is further amend23 ed— 

24 (1) in subsection (e)— 
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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the Sec2 retary of State and the Secretary of Defense’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘the Director of the Office of 

4 Management and Budget, the Secretary of 

5 State, and the Secretary of Defense’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘Department of De8 fense, the Department of State, or the 

9 United States Agency for International 

10 Development’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Gov11 ernment’’; and 

12 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and Hurricane 

13 Katrina recovery activities’’ after ‘‘Iraq 

14 Relief and Reconstruction Fund’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (f)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; 

18 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

19 (A) through (E) as clauses (i) through (v), 

20 respectively; and 

21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(B) It shall be the duty of the Inspector 

24 General to conduct and coordinate audits and 

25 investigations of the treatment, handling, and 
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1 expenditure of amounts appropriated or other2 wise made available for Hurricane Katrina re3 covery by the Federal Government, and of the 

4 programs, operations, and contracts carried out 

5 utilizing such funds, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) the oversight and accounting of 

7 the obligation and expenditure of such 

8 funds; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the monitoring and review of re10 construction activities funded by such 

11 funds; 

12 ‘‘(iii) the monitoring and review of 

13 contracts funded by such funds; 

14 ‘‘(iv) the monitoring and review of the 

15 transfer of such funds and associated in16 formation between and among depart17 ments, agencies, and entities of the United 

18 States, State and local governments, and 

19 private and nongovernmental entities; 

20 ‘‘(v) the maintenance of records on 

21 the use of such funds to facilitate future 

22 audits and investigations of the use of such 

23 funds; and 

24 ‘‘(vi) the monitoring of Federal grants 

25 and benefit programs.’’; and 
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1 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

2 (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(4)’’; 

3 (ii) by striking all after ‘‘cooperation 

4 of’’ and inserting ‘‘the inspectors general 

5 and auditing entities of all other Federal 

6 departments and agencies, and State and 

7 local government entities.’’; and 

8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(B)(i) The Inspector General shall en11 sure, to the greatest extent possible, that the 

12 activities of the Inspector General do not dupli13 cate audits and investigations of inspectors gen14 eral and other auditors of Federal departments 

15 and agencies, and State and local government 

16 entities. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The Inspector General shall notify the 

18 inspector general of the relevant agency or de19 partment before initiating an audit or investiga20 tion relating to Hurricane Katrina activities. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in this section shall be con22 strued to limit the statutory authority of inspec23 tors general to conduct audits or investigations 

24 relating to Hurricane Katrina activities.’’; 
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1 (3) in subsection (h)(4)(B), by striking ‘‘Sec2 retary of State or Secretary of Defense’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘Director of the Office of Management and 

4 Budget and heads of relevant agencies’’; and 

5 (4) in subsection (h)(5)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(5)’’; 

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘for activities relating to 

8 Iraq’’ after ‘‘operation of such offices’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 shall provide the Inspector General with appro12 priate and adequate office space, together with 

13 such equipment, office supplies, and commu14 nications facilities and services as may be nec15 essary for the operations of such offices for ac16 tivities relating to Hurricane Katrina, and shall 

17 provide necessary maintenance services for such 

18 offices and equipment and facilities located 

19 therein.’’. 

20 (f) REPORTS RELATING TO THE IRAQI RELIEF AND

21 RECONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (i) of such section is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(7)(A) The Inspector General shall also submit 

24 each report under this subsection to the Secretary of 

25 State and the Secretary of Defense. 
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1 ‘‘(B)(i) Not later than 30 days after receipt of 

2 a report under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of 

3 State and the Secretary of Defense may submit to 

4 the appropriate committees of Congress any com5 ments on the matters covered by the report as the 

6 Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense, as 

7 the case may be, considers appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(ii) A report under this subparagraph may in9 clude a classified annex if the Secretary of State or 

10 the Secretary of Defense, as the case may be, con11 siders it necessary.’’. 

12 (g) REPORTS RELATING TO HURRICANE KATRINA

13 RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (j) of such 

14 section is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(j) REPORTS RELATING TO HURRICANE KATRINA

16 RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION.—(1)(A) At the end of 

17 each calendar quarter, beginning with the first full quarter 

18 after the date of enactment of the Special Inspector Gen19 eral for Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2005, the Inspec20 tor General shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

21 Congress a report summarizing for the period of that 

22 quarter the activities of the Inspector General and of the 

23 Hurricane Katrina recovery activities of the Federal Gov24 ernment. Each report shall include, for the period covered 

25 by such report, a detailed statement of all obligations, ex-
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1 penditures, and revenues associated with recovery activi2 ties for Hurricane Katrina, including the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) Obligations and expenditures of appro4 priated funds. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Accounting of the costs incurred to date 

6 for Hurricane Katrina recovery, together with the 

7 estimate of the Federal Government’s costs to com8 plete each project and each program. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Operating expenses of any Federal de10 partments, agencies, or entities receiving appro11 priated funds for Hurricane Katrina recovery activi12 ties. 

13 ‘‘(iv) In the case of any contract described in 

14 paragraph (2)— 

15 ‘‘(I) the amount of the contract or other 

16 agreement; 

17 ‘‘(II) a brief discussion of the scope of the 

18 contract or other agreement; 

19 ‘‘(III) a discussion of how the contracting 

20 department or agency identified, and solicited 

21 offers from, potential contractors to perform 

22 the contract, together with a list of the poten23 tial contractors that were issued solicitations 

24 for the offers; and 
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1 ‘‘(IV) the justification and approval docu2 ments on which was based the determination to 

3 use procedures other than procedures that pro4 vide for full and open competition. 

5 ‘‘(B) The first quarterly report required to be sub6 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall also summarize ac7 tivities for Hurricane Katrina recovery undertaken before 

8 that quarter. 

9 ‘‘(2) A contract described in this paragraph is any 

10 major contract or other agreement that is entered into by 

11 any department or agency of the United States Govern12 ment that involves the use of amounts appropriated or 

13 otherwise made available for Hurricane Katrina recovery 

14 with any public or private sector entity. 

15 ‘‘(3) Not later than 45 days after the date of enact16 ment of the Special Inspector General for Relief and Re17 construction Act of 2005, the Inspector General shall sub18 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress an interim 

19 report on the status of Hurricane Katrina recovery activi20 ties of the Federal Government. The interim report shall 

21 include the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) The operational activities of the Office of 

23 the Special Inspector General for Relief and Recon24 struction. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The status of auditors and investigators 

2 deployed to the Gulf of Mexico region of the United 

3 States. 

4 ‘‘(C) A strategic plan for oversight, including 

5 audits of no bid contracts. 

6 ‘‘(D) Vulnerabilities identified and immediate 

7 actions to address such vulnerabilities. 

8 ‘‘(E) Measures taken to coordinate interagency 

9 oversight elements. 

10 ‘‘(4) Not later than March 31, 2006, and semiannu11 ally thereafter, the Inspector General shall submit to the 

12 appropriate committees of Congress a report meeting the 

13 requirements of section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 

14 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

15 ‘‘(5) The Inspector General shall publish each report 

16 under this subsection on an accessible Federal Govern17 ment Internet Web site. 

18 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

19 authorize the public disclosure of information that is— 

20 ‘‘(A) specifically prohibited from disclosure by 

21 any other provision of law; 

22 ‘‘(B) specifically required by Executive order to 

23 be protected from disclosure in the interest of na24 tional defense or national security or in the conduct 

25 of foreign affairs; or 
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1 ‘‘(C) a part of an ongoing criminal investiga2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(7)(A) The Inspector General shall also submit each 

4 report under this subsection to the Director of the Office 

5 of Management and Budget, Secretary of Defense, or 

6 heads of other appropriate agencies. 

7 ‘‘(B) Not later than 30 days after receipt of a report 

8 under paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of Man9 agement and Budget and the heads of other appropriate 

10 agencies may submit to the appropriate committees of 

11 Congress any comments on the matters covered by the re12 port as the Director of the Office of Management and 

13 Budget and heads of relevant agencies consider appro14 priate. 

15 ‘‘(8) The Inspector General shall respond to any rea16 sonable summons to appear and testify before any duly 

17 constituted committee of Congress.’’. 

18 (h) TRANSPARENCY.—Subsection (k) of such section 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection 

21 (i), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of De22 fense shall jointly’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (i) or 

23 (j), the Director of the Office of Management and 

24 Budget and the heads of the relevant departments 

25 shall’’; and 
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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘subsection 

2 (j)(2) of comments on a report under subsection (i), 

3 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense 

4 shall jointly’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (i)(7)(B) or 

5 (j)(7)(B) of comments on a report under subsection 

6 (i) or (j), the Director of the Office of Management 

7 and Budget and the heads of relevant departments 

8 shall’’. 

9 (i) WAIVER.—Subsection (l) of such section is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or para12 graph (1) or (3) of subsection (j)’’ after ‘‘subsection 

13 (i)’’; and 

14 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or para15 graph (1) or (3) of subsection (j)’’ after ‘‘subsection 

16 (i)’’. 

17 (j) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

18 Subsection (m) of such section is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and Foreign 

20 Relations’’ and inserting ‘‘Foreign Relations, and 

21 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and Inter23 national Relations’’ and inserting ‘‘International Re24 lations, and Homeland Security’’. 
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1 (k) FUNDING.—Subsection (n) of such section is 

2 amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) There are authorized to be appropriated to 

4 the Office of the Special Inspector General for Relief 

5 and Reconstruction to carry out the responsibilities 

6 of the Special Inspector General relating to Hurri7 cane Katrina recovery $80,000,000 for fiscal year 

8 2006.’’. 

9 (l) TERMINATION.—Subsection (o) of such section is 

10 amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(o) TERMINATION.—(1)(A) The responsibilities of 

12 the Office of the Special Inspector General for Relief and 

13 Reconstruction with respect to the Iraq Relief and Recon14 struction Fund shall terminate on the date that is 10 

15 months after the date, as determined by the Secretary of 

16 State and Secretary of Defense, on which 80 percent of 

17 the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to 

18 the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund by chapter 2 of 

19 title II of this Act have been obligated. 

20 ‘‘(B) The responsibilities of the Office of the Special 

21 Inspector General for Relief and Reconstruction with re22 spect to Hurricane Katrina recovery activities shall termi23 nate 2 years after the date of enactment of the Special 

24 Inspector General for Relief and Reconstruction Act of 

25 2005. 
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1 ‘‘(2) The Office of the Special Inspector General for 

2 Relief and Reconstruction shall terminate on the later date 

3 occurring under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph 

4 (1).’’. 

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