II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1700 

To establish an Office of the Hurricane Katrina Recovery Chief Financial 

Officer, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 

Mr. COBURN (for himself, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. FRIST, Mr. REID, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. CARPER, and Mr. DEMINT) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To establish an Office of the Hurricane Katrina Recovery 

Chief Financial Officer, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Oversight of Vital 

5 Emergency Recovery Spending Enhancement and En6 forcement Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The term ‘‘Chief 

3 Financial Officer’’ means the Hurricane Katrina Recovery 

4 Chief Financial Officer. 

5 (b) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of 

6 the Hurricane Katrina Recovery Chief Financial Officer. 

7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

9 the Executive Office of the President, the Office of the 

10 Hurricane Katrina Recovery Chief Financial Officer. 

11 (b) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.— 

12 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Hurricane Katrina 

13 Recovery Chief Financial Officer shall be the head 

14 of the Office. The Chief Financial Officer shall be 

15 appointed by the President, by and with the advice 

16 and consent of the Senate. 

17 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Chief Financial Of18 ficer shall have the qualifications required under sec19 tion 901(a)(3) of title 31, United States Code. 

20 (c) FUNCTIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Financial Officer 

22 shall— 

23 (A) be responsible for the efficient and ef24 fective use of Federal funds in all activities re25 lating to the recovery from Hurricane Katrina; 
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1 (B) have all authorities and perform all 

2 functions of a Chief Financial Officer under 

3 section 902 of title 31, United States Code, 

4 with respect to all agencies and all Federal ac5 tivities relating to the recovery from Hurricane 

6 Katrina in accordance with paragraph (2); and 

7 (C) strive to ensure that— 

8 (i) priority in the distribution of Fed9 eral relief funds is given to individuals and 

10 organizations most in need of financial as11 sistance; and 

12 (ii) priority in the distribution of Fed13 eral reconstruction funds is given to busi14 ness entities that are based in Louisiana, 

15 Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida or busi16 ness entities that hire workers who resided 

17 in those States on August 24, 2005. 

18 (2) COORDINATION OF AGENCIES.—In the per19 formance of the functions under paragraph (1)(B) 

20 by the Chief Financial Officer— 

21 (A) the President shall act as the head of 

22 the agency and the Chief Financial Officer shall 

23 have management and oversight of all agencies 

24 performing activities relating to the recovery 

25 from Hurricane Katrina for purposes of the ap-
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1 plication of section 902 of title 31, United 

2 States Code; and 

3 (B) the Chief Financial Officer shall co4 ordinate and have management and oversight 

5 responsibilities of each applicable Chief Finan6 cial Officer in the performance of functions 

7 under section 902(a) (5) and (6) of title 31, 

8 United States Code, instead of performing such 

9 functions for each applicable agency. 

10 (3) REGULAR REPORTS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Every month the Chief 

12 Financial Officer shall submit a financial report 

13 on the activities for which the Chief Financial 

14 Officer has management and oversight respon15 sibilities to— 

16 (i) the Committee on Homeland Secu17 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Sen18 ate; 

19 (ii) the Committee on Homeland Se20 curity of the House of Representatives; 

21 (iii) the Committees on Appropria22 tions of the Senate and House of Rep23 resentatives; and 

24 (iv) the Committee on Government 

25 Reform of the House of Representatives. 
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1 (B) CONTENTS.—Each report under this 

2 paragraph shall include— 

3 (i) the extent to which Federal relief 

4 funds have been given to individuals and 

5 organizations most in need of financial as6 sistance; 

7 (ii) the extent to which Federal recon8 struction funds have been made available 

9 to business entities that are based in Lou10 isiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida or 

11 business entities that hire workers who re12 sided in those States on August 24, 2005; 

13 and 

14 (iii) the extent to which Federal agen15 cies have made use of sole source or cost16 plus contracts. 

17 (C) FIRST REPORT.—The first report 

18 under this paragraph shall be submitted for the 

19 first full month for which a Chief Financial Of20 ficer has been appointed. 

21 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFI22 CERS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed as to relieve 

23 the responsibilities of any Chief Financial Officer under 

24 section 902 of title 31, United States Code. 
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1 (e) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS.—Upon request to 

2 the Chief Financial Officer, the Office shall make the 

3 records of the Office available to the Inspector General 

4 of any Federal agency performing recovery activities relat5 ing to Hurricane Katrina for the purpose of performing 

6 the duties of that Inspector General under the Inspector 

7 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

8 SEC. 4. REPORTS OF THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 

9 OFFICE. 

10 The Office shall provide quarterly reports to the com11 mittees specified in section 3(c)(3)(A) relating to all activi12 ties and expenses approved by the Office, including— 

13 (1) the accuracy of reports submitted by the 

14 Chief Financial Officer to Congress; 

15 (2) the extent to which agencies performing ac16 tivities relating to the recovery from Hurricane 

17 Katrina have made use of sole source or cost-plus 

18 contracts; 

19 (3) the appropriate use of Federal funds by 

20 State and local government agencies; 

21 (4) an analysis of whether Federal relief funds 

22 have been distributed to individuals and organiza23 tions most in need of financial assistance and Fed24 eral reconstruction funds have been made available 

25 to business entities that are based in Louisiana, Mis-
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1 sissippi, Alabama, or Florida or business entities 

2 that hire workers who resided in those States on Au3 gust 24, 2005; and 

4 (5) the extent to which waste, fraud, or abuse 

5 exist in the use of Federal funds relating to the re6 covery from Hurricane Katrina. 

7 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT SERVICES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall provide ad9 ministrative and support services (including office space) 

10 for the Office and the Chief Financial Officer. 

11 (b) PERSONNEL.—The President shall provide for 

12 personnel for the Office through the detail of Federal em13 ployees. Any Federal employee may be detailed to the Of14 fice without reimbursement, and such detail shall be with15 out interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege. 

16 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

18 as necessary to carry out this Act. 

19 SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF OFFICE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office and position of Chief 

21 Financial Officer shall terminate 1 year after the date of 

22 enactment of this Act. 
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1 (b) EXTENSION.—The President may extend the date 

2 of termination under subsection (a) to any date occurring 

3 before 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ