II 

Calendar No. 228 

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, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. VITTER, and Mr. 

JOHNSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 

Reported by Ms. COLLINS, with amendments 

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

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, 
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•S 1738 RS 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Special Inspector Gen3 eral for Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2005’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR RELIEF AND 

5 RECONSTRUCTION. 

6 (a) REDESIGNATION.—(1) Section 3001 of the Emer7 gency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and 

8 for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004 

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

10 section 8G note) is amended— 

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

12 Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘Office of the Special Inspector Gen14 eral for Relief and Reconstruction’’; and 

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

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

17 General’’ and inserting ‘‘for Relief and Reconstruc18 tion is the Special Inspector General for Relief and 

19 Reconstruction (in this section referred to as the ‘In20 spector General’). If a vacancy occurs after the serv21 ice of the individual as provided under subsection (b) 

22 of the Special Inspector General for Relief and Re23 construction Act of 2005, the Inspector General 

24 shall be appointed by the Director of the Office of 

25 Management and Budget President, by and with the 

26 advice and consent of the Senate.’’. 
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•S 1738 RS 

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

2 read as follows: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3001. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR RELIEF 

4 AND RECONSTRUCTION.’’. 

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

6 to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘TITLE III—SPECIAL INSPECTOR 

8 GENERAL FOR RELIEF AND 

9 RECONSTRUCTION’’. 

10 (b) CONTINUATION IN OFFICE.—The individual serv11 ing as the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruc12 tion as of the date of the enactment of this Act may con13 tinue to serve as the Special Inspector General for Relief 

14 and Reconstruction (with all additional duties and respon15 sibilities as provided under this Act) after that date with16 out reappointment under paragraph (1) of section 3001(c) 

17 of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for 

18 Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghani19 stan, 2004, but remaining subject to removal as specified 

20 in paragraph (4) of that section. 

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

22 amended— 

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

24 Hurricane Katrina recovery activities’’ after ‘‘Iraq 

25 Relief and Reconstruction Fund’’; and 
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•S 1738 RS 

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

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

3 ‘‘the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of 

5 other Federal agencies, as appropriate,’’. 

6 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF ASSISTANT INSPECTOR

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

8 is amended to read as follows: 

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

10 Inspector General shall, in accordance with applicable laws 

11 and regulations governing the civil service— 

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

13 General for Auditing who shall have the responsi14 bility for supervising the performance of auditing ac15 tivities relating to— 

16 ‘‘(i) programs and operations supported by 

17 the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) programs and operations relating to 

19 Hurricane Katrina recovery activities; and 

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

21 General for Investigations who shall have the re22 sponsibility for supervising the performance of inves23 tigative activities relating to such programs and op24 erations.’’. 
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•S 1738 RS 

1 (e) SUPERVISION.—Such section is further amend2 ed— 

3 (1) in subsection (e)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the Sec5 retary of State and the Secretary of Defense’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘the Director of the Office of 

7 Management and Budget, the Secretary of 

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

9 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(1)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the In12 spector General shall report directly to, and be under the 

13 general supervision of, the Secretary of State and the Sec14 retary of Defense with respect to activities relating to the 

15 Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund. 

16 ‘‘(B) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Inspec17 tor General shall report directly to, and be under the gen18 eral supervision of, the Director of the Office of Management 

19 and Budget and the Secretary of Homeland Security with 

20 respect to activities relating to Hurricane Katrina recovery 

21 activities.’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘Department of De24 fense, the Department of State, or the 

25 United States Agency for International 
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•S 1738 RS 

1 Development’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Gov2 ernment’’; and 

3 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and Hurricane 

4 Katrina recovery activities’’ after ‘‘Iraq 

5 Relief and Reconstruction Fund’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (f)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

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

9 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

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

11 respectively; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(B) It shall be the duty of the Inspector General 

15 to conduct and coordinate audits and investigations of the 

16 treatment, handling, and expenditure of amounts appro17 priated or otherwise made available for Hurricane Katrina 

18 recovery by the Federal Government, and of the programs, 

19 operations, and contracts carried out utilizing such funds, 

20 including— 

21 ‘‘(i) the oversight and accounting of the obliga22 tion and expenditure of such funds; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the monitoring and review of reconstruc24 tion activities funded by such funds; 
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•S 1738 RS 

1 ‘‘(iii) the monitoring and review of contracts 

2 funded by such funds; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the monitoring and review of the transfer 

4 of such funds and associated information between 

5 and among departments, agencies, and entities of 

6 the United States, State and local governments, and 

7 private and nongovernmental entities; 

8 ‘‘(v) the maintenance of records on the use of 

9 such funds to facilitate future audits and investiga10 tions of the use of such funds; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) the monitoring of Federal grants and ben12 efit programs.’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

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

15 (ii) by striking all after ‘‘cooperation 

16 of’’ and inserting ‘‘the inspectors general 

17 and auditing entities of all other Federal 

18 departments and agencies, and State and 

19 local government entities.’’; and depart20 ments and agencies.’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘(B)(i) The Inspector General shall ensure, to the 

24 greatest extent possible, that the activities of the Inspector 

25 General do not duplicate audits and investigations of in-
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1 spectors general and other auditors of Federal depart2 ments and agencies, and State and local government enti3 ties. 

4 ‘‘(ii) The Inspector General shall notify the inspector 

5 general of the relevant agency or department before initi6 ating an audit or investigation relating to Hurricane 

7 Katrina activities. 

8 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

9 limit the statutory authority of inspectors general to con10 duct audits or investigations relating to Hurricane 

11 Katrina activities.’’; 

12 (3) in subsection (h)(4)(B), by striking ‘‘Sec13 retary of State or Secretary of Defense’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘Director of the Office of Management and 

15 Budget and heads of relevant agencies’’; and 

16 (4) in subsection (h)(5)— 

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

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

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

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

21 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro22 vide the Inspector General with appropriate and adequate 

23 office space, together with such equipment, office supplies, 

24 and communications facilities and services as may be nec25 essary for the operations of such offices for activities relat-
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1 ing to Hurricane Katrina, and shall provide necessary 

2 maintenance services for such offices and equipment and 

3 facilities located therein.’’. 

4 (f) REPORTS RELATING TO THE IRAQI RELIEF AND

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

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

8 report under this subsection to the Secretary of State and 

9 the Secretary of Defense. 

10 ‘‘(B)(i) Not later than 30 days after receipt of a re11 port under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of State and 

12 the Secretary of Defense may submit to the appropriate 

13 committees of Congress any comments on the matters cov14 ered by the report as the Secretary of State or the Sec15 retary of Defense, as the case may be, considers appro16 priate. 

17 ‘‘(ii) A report under this subparagraph may include 

18 a classified annex if the Secretary of State or the Sec19 retary of Defense, as the case may be, considers it nec20 essary.’’. 

21 (g) REPORTS RELATING TO HURRICANE KATRINA

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

23 section is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(j) REPORTS RELATING TO HURRICANE KATRINA

25 RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION.—(1)(A) At the end of 
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•S 1738 RS 

1 each calendar quarter, beginning with the first full quarter 

2 after the date of enactment of the Special Inspector Gen3 eral for Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2005, the Inspec4 tor General shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

5 Congress a report summarizing for the period of that 

6 quarter the activities of the Inspector General and of the 

7 Hurricane Katrina recovery activities of the Federal Gov8 ernment. Each report shall include, for the period covered 

9 by such report, a detailed statement of all obligations, ex10 penditures, and revenues associated with recovery activi11 ties for Hurricane Katrina, including the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) Obligations and expenditures of appro13 priated funds. 

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

15 for Hurricane Katrina recovery, together with the 

16 estimate of the Federal Government’s costs to com17 plete each project and each program. 

18 ‘‘(iii) Operating expenses of any Federal de19 partments, agencies, or entities receiving appro20 priated funds for Hurricane Katrina recovery activi21 ties. 

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

23 paragraph (2)— 

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

25 agreement; 
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•S 1738 RS 

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

2 contract or other agreement; 

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

4 department or agency identified, and solicited 

5 offers from, potential contractors to perform 

6 the contract, together with a list of the poten7 tial contractors that were issued solicitations 

8 for the offers; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) the justification and approval docu10 ments on which was based the determination to 

11 use procedures other than procedures that pro12 vide for full and open competition. 

13 ‘‘(B) The first quarterly report required to be sub14 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall also summarize ac15 tivities for Hurricane Katrina recovery undertaken before 

16 that quarter. 

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

18 major contract or other agreement that is entered into by 

19 any department or agency of the United States Govern20 ment that involves the use of amounts appropriated or 

21 otherwise made available for Hurricane Katrina recovery 

22 with any public or private sector entity. 

23 ‘‘(3) Not later than 45 days after the date of enact24 ment of the Special Inspector General for Relief and Re25 construction Act of 2005, the Inspector General shall sub-
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•S 1738 RS 

1 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress an interim 

2 report on the status of Hurricane Katrina recovery activi3 ties of the Federal Government. The interim report shall 

4 include the following: 

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

6 the Special Inspector General for Relief and Recon7 struction. 

8 ‘‘(B) The status of auditors and investigators 

9 deployed to the Gulf of Mexico region of the United 

10 States. 

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

12 audits of no bid contracts. 

13 ‘‘(D) Vulnerabilities identified and immediate 

14 actions to address such vulnerabilities. 

15 ‘‘(E) Measures taken to coordinate interagency 

16 oversight elements. 

17 ‘‘(4) Not later than March 31, 2006, and semiannu18 ally thereafter, the Inspector General shall submit to the 

19 appropriate committees of Congress a report meeting the 

20 requirements of section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 

21 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

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

23 under this subsection on an accessible Federal Govern24 ment Internet Web site. 
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•S 1738 RS 

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

2 authorize the public disclosure of information that is— 

3 ‘‘(A) specifically prohibited from disclosure by 

4 any other provision of law; 

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

6 be protected from disclosure in the interest of na7 tional defense or national security or in the conduct 

8 of foreign affairs; or 

9 ‘‘(C) a part of an ongoing criminal investiga10 tion. 

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

12 report under this subsection to the Director of the Office 

13 of Management and Budget, Secretary of Defense Home14 land Security, or heads of other appropriate agencies. 

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

16 under paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of Man17 agement and Budget and the heads of other appropriate 

18 agencies may submit to the appropriate committees of 

19 Congress any comments on the matters covered by the re20 port as the Director of the Office of Management and 

21 Budget and heads of relevant agencies consider appro22 priate. 

23 ‘‘(8) The Inspector General shall respond to any rea24 sonable summons to appear and testify before any duly 

25 constituted committee of Congress.’’. 
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1 (h) TRANSPARENCY.—Subsection (k) of such section 

2 is amended— 

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

4 (i), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of De5 fense shall jointly’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (i) or 

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

7 Budget and the heads of the relevant departments 

8 shall’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘subsection 

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

11 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense 

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

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

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

15 and Budget and the heads of relevant departments 

16 shall’’. 

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

18 amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or para20 graph (1) or (3) of subsection (j)’’ after ‘‘subsection 

21 (i)’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or para23 graph (1) or (3) of subsection (j)’’ after ‘‘subsection 

24 (i)’’each place that term occurs. 
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1 (j) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

2 Subsection (m) of such section is amended— 

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

4 Relations’’ and inserting ‘‘Foreign Relations, and 

5 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and Inter7 national Relations’’ and inserting ‘‘International Re8 lations, and Homeland Security’’. 

9 (k) FUNDING.—Subsection (n) of such section is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

12 Office of the Special Inspector General for Relief and Re13 construction to carry out the responsibilities of the Special 

14 Inspector General relating to Hurricane Katrina recovery 

15 $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’. 

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

17 amended to read as follows: 

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

19 the Office of the Special Inspector General for Relief and 

20 Reconstruction with respect to the Iraq Relief and Recon21 struction Fund shall terminate on the date that is 10 

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

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

24 the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to 
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1 the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund by chapter 2 of 

2 title II of this Act have been obligated. 

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

4 Inspector General for Relief and Reconstruction with re5 spect to Hurricane Katrina recovery activities shall termi6 nate 2 years after the date of enactment of the Special 

7 Inspector General for Relief and Reconstruction Act of 

8 2005. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Office of the Special Inspector General for 

10 Relief and Reconstruction shall terminate on the later date 

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

12 (1).’’. 

Calendar No. 228 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1738 

A BILL 

To expand the responsibilities of the Special Inspeccane Katrina recovery. tions relating to the Federal programs for Hurri- independent and objective audits and investiga- tor General for Iraq Reconstruction to provide 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 

Reported with amendments