IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4917 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide 

testimonial subpoena authority, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IG Subpoena Authority 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY PROVISIONS FOR INSPEC5 TORS GENERAL. 

6 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) by inserting after section 6 the following 

9 new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 6A. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY. 

11 ‘‘(a) TESTIMONIAL SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—In ad12 dition to the authority otherwise provided by this Act and 

13 in accordance with the requirements of this section, each 

14 Inspector General, in carrying out the provisions of this 

15 Act (or in the case of an Inspector General or Special In16 spector General not established under this Act, the provi17 sions of the authorizing statute), is authorized to require 

18 by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses 

19 as necessary in the performance of the functions assigned 

20 to the Inspector General by this Act (or in the case of 

21 an Inspector General or Special Inspector General not es22 tablished under this Act, the functions assigned by the au23 thorizing statute), which in the case of contumacy or re24 fusal to obey, such subpoena shall be enforceable by order 

25 of any appropriate United States district court. An Inspec26 tor General may not require by subpoena the attendance 


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1 and testimony of any current Federal employees, but may 

2 use other authorized procedures. 

3 ‘‘(b) NONDELEGATION.—The authority to issue a 

4 subpoena under subsection (a) may not be delegated. 

5 ‘‘(c) PANEL REVIEW BEFORE ISSUANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) APPROVAL REQUIRED.— 

7 ‘‘(A) REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY SUB8 POENA PANEL.—Before the issuance of a sub9 poena described in subsection (a), an Inspector 

10 General shall submit a request for approval to 

11 issue a subpoena to a panel (in this section, re12 ferred to as the ‘Subpoena Panel’), which shall 

13 be comprised of three Inspectors General of the 

14 Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity 

15 and Efficiency, who shall be designated by the 

16 Inspector General serving as Chairperson of the 

17 Council. 

18 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION FROM DISCLOSURE.— 

19 The information contained in the request sub20 mitted by an Inspector General under subpara21 graph (A) and the identification of a witness 

22 shall be protected from disclosure to the extent 

23 permitted by law. Any request for disclosure of 

24 such information shall be submitted to the In25 spector General requesting the subpoena. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TIME TO RESPOND.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), the Subpoena Panel shall 

4 approve or deny a request for approval to issue 

5 a subpoena not later than 10 days after the 

6 submission of such request. 

7 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR

8 PANEL.—If the Subpoena Panel determines 

9 that additional information is necessary to ap10 prove or deny such request, the Subpoena Panel 

11 shall request such information and shall ap12 prove or deny such request not later than 20 

13 days after the submission of such request. 

14 ‘‘(3) DENIAL BY PANEL.—If a majority of the 

15 Subpoena Panel denies the approval of a subpoena, 

16 that subpoena may not be issued. 

17 ‘‘(d) NOTICE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Subpoena Panel ap19 proves a subpoena under subsection (c), the Inspec20 tor General shall notify the Attorney General that 

21 the Inspector General intends to issue the subpoena. 

22 ‘‘(2) DENIAL FOR INTERFERENCE WITH AN ON23 GOING INVESTIGATION.—Not later than 10 days 

24 after the date on which the Attorney General is noti25 fied pursuant to paragraph (1), the Attorney GenVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Sep 28, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4917.RFS H4917

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1 eral may object to the issuance of the subpoena be2 cause the subpoena will interfere with an ongoing in3 vestigation and the subpoena may not be issued. 

4 ‘‘(3) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENA APPROVED.—If 

5 the Attorney General does not object to the issuance 

6 of the subpoena during the 10-day period described 

7 in paragraph (2), the Inspector General may issue 

8 the subpoena. 

9 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Chairperson of the Council 

10 of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, in 

11 consultation with the Attorney General, shall prescribe 

12 regulations to carry out the purposes of this section. 

13 ‘‘(f) INSPECTOR GENERAL DEFINED.—For purposes 

14 of this section, the term ‘Inspector General’ includes each 

15 Inspector General established under this Act and each In16 spector General or Special Inspector General not estab17 lished under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY.—The provisions of this section 

19 shall not affect the exercise of authority by an Inspector 

20 General of testimonial subpoena authority established 

21 under another provision of law.’’; 

22 (2) in section 5(a)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (21)(B), by striking ‘‘; 

24 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (22), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by inserting at the end the following 

4 new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(23) a description of the use of subpoenas for 

6 the attendance and testimony of certain witnesses 

7 authorized under section 6A.’’; and 

8 (3) in section 8G(g)(1), by inserting ‘‘6A,’’ be9 fore ‘‘and 7’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 

2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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