II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 651

To establish the Office of the Inspector General within the General Accounting

Office, modify the procedure for congressional work requests for the

General Accounting Office, establish a Peer Review Committee, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 30 (legislative day, MARCH 27), 1995

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To establish the Office of the Inspector General within the

General Accounting Office, modify the procedure for congressional work requests for the General Accounting Office, establish a Peer Review Committee, 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 ‘‘General Accounting

5 Office Oversight and Improvement Act of 1995’’.
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1 TITLE I—INSPECTOR GENERAL

2 OF THE GENERAL ACCOUNT3 ING OFFICE

4 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 31, United

6 States Code, is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating section 704 as section 705;

8 and

9 (2) by inserting after section 703 the following

10 new section:

11 ‘‘§ 704. Inspector general

12 ‘‘(a) There is established the Office of Inspector Gen13 eral within the General Accounting Office.

14 ‘‘(b) The Inspector General shall be appointed and

15 perform his duties in accordance with the provisions of

16 section 8F of the Inspector General Act of 1978.’’.

17 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

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

19 States Code, is amended by striking out the item relating

20 to section 704 and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

‘‘704. Inspector General.

‘‘705. Relationship to other laws.’’.

21 SEC. 102. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE GEN22 ERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

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

24 is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating sections 8E and 8F as sec2 tions 8F and 8G, respectively;

3 (2) in section 8G (as redesignated by paragraph

4 (1) of this section)—

5 (A) by striking out ‘‘8C, or 8D’’ and in6 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘8C, 8D, or 8E’’; and

7 (B) by striking out ‘‘section 8E(a)’’ and

8 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘section 8F(a)’’;

9 (3) by inserting after section 8D the following

10 new section:

11 ‘‘SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE GENERAL

12 ACCOUNTING OFFICE

13 ‘‘SEC. 8E. (a)(1) For purposes of this section the

14 term ‘Inspector General’ means the Inspector General of

15 the Office of the Inspector General for the General Ac16 counting Office established under section 704 of title 31,

17 United States Code.

18 ‘‘(2) To the extent provided under section 705 of title

19 31, United States Code—

20 ‘‘(A) the General Accounting Office shall be an

21 establishment under this Act; and

22 ‘‘(B) the Comptroller General of the United

23 States shall be the head of such establishment under

24 this Act.

25 ‘‘(b)(1) Notwithstanding section 3 of this Act, the In26 spector General—
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1 ‘‘(A) shall be appointed jointly by—

2 ‘‘(i) the Majority Leader and Minority

3 Leader of the Senate; and

4 ‘‘(ii) the Speaker of the House of Rep5 resentatives and the Minority Leader of the

6 House of Representatives; and

7 ‘‘(B) may only be removed from office by a

8 joint resolution of Congress, after notice and an op9 portunity for a hearing, only for—

10 ‘‘(i) permanent disability;

11 ‘‘(ii) inefficiency;

12 ‘‘(iii) neglect of duty;

13 ‘‘(iv) malfeasance; or

14 ‘‘(v) a felony or conduct involving moral

15 turpitude.

16 ‘‘(2) An Inspector General removed from office under

17 paragraph (1)(B) may not be reappointed to the office.’’;

18 and

19 (4) in section 11—

20 (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘, and

21 the Comptroller General of the United States’’

22 before ‘‘; as the case may be;’’ and

23 (B) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘, and

24 the General Accounting Office’’ before ‘‘; as the

25 case may be’’.
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1 SEC. 103. COMPENSATION.

2 Section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is

3 amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

4 ‘‘Inspector General, General Accounting Office.’’.

5 SEC. 104. REORGANIZATION WITHIN THE GENERAL AC6 COUNTING OFFICE.

7 The Comptroller General may reorganize, consoli8 date, or terminate the Office of Special Investigations and

9 transfer or terminate any function of such Office consist10 ent with the provisions and amendments made by this title

11 to—

12 (1) eliminate the performance of any function

13 by the Office of Special Counsel, which shall be per14 formed by the Inspector General of the General Ac15 counting Office after the date of the enactment of

16 this Act; and

17 (2) provide for greater efficiency by the General

18 Accounting Office.
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1 TITLE II—GENERAL ACCOUNT2 ING OFFICE FINAL REPORTS

3 AND CONGRESSIONAL RE4 QUESTS FOR REPORTS

5 SEC. 201. FINAL REPORTS AND CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS

6 FOR REPORTS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 31, United

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 720 the

9 following new sections:

10 ‘‘§ 721. Final reports

11 ‘‘(a) For purposes of this section, the term ‘agency’

12 means a department, agency, or instrumentality of the

13 United States Government (except a mixed-ownership

14 Government corporation) or the District of Columbia

15 government.

16 ‘‘(b)(1) In addition to actions taken under section

17 718(b)(1), the Comptroller General shall provide an agen18 cy that is relevant to a report, an opportunity to review

19 any finding of the General Accounting Office in such re20 port before such report is final and released.

21 ‘‘(2) After providing the review made available under

22 paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall include a

23 summary of the agency response as a part of the final

24 report.
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1 ‘‘(c) To the greatest extent practicable consistent

2 with applicable law, the Comptroller General shall include

3 a list of all organizational contacts and sources of informa4 tion used in each final report.

5 ‘‘(d) If a Member of Congress requests the Comptrol6 ler General to withhold the release of a final report to any

7 person, the Comptroller General may release such report

8 no earlier than 7 days after the date on which such request

9 is received.

10 ‘‘(e) A final report may not be released, unless the

11 Comptroller General makes a written determination in12 cluded in such report that the General Accounting Office

13 has complied with all internal quality control procedures.

14 ‘‘§ 722. Congressional requests for reports

15 ‘‘(a) No later than 3 days after receiving a request

16 for a report—

17 ‘‘(1) from the chairman of a committee of the

18 Congress, the Comptroller General shall notify the

19 ranking member of such committee that such re20 quest was received; and

21 ‘‘(2) from the ranking minority member of a

22 committee of the Congress, the Comptroller General

23 shall notify the chairman of such committee that

24 such request was received.
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) No later than 3 days after approving a re2 quest to prepare a report for a Member of the Congress

3 the Comptroller General shall—

4 ‘‘(A) notify the Majority Leader and the Minor5 ity Leader of the Senate of such approval if the re6 quester is a Senator; and

7 ‘‘(B) notify the Speaker of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Minority Leader of the House

9 of Representatives of such approval if the requester

10 is a Member of the House of Representatives.

11 ‘‘(2) The Comptroller General shall provide appro12 priate notification for publication in the Congressional

13 Record of all approvals of requests from Members of Con14 gress to prepare reports. All such approvals shall be pub15 lished in the Congressional Record.

16 ‘‘(c) The Comptroller General shall treat all requests

17 from chairmen and ranking members of committees of the

18 Congress on an equal basis.’’.

19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

20 The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 5, United States

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

22 section 720 the following:

‘‘721. Final reports.

‘‘722. Congressional requests for reports.’’.
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1 TITLE III—GENERAL ACCOUNT2 ING OFFICE PEER REVIEW

3 COMMITTEE

4 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF GENERAL ACCOUNTING OF5 FICE PEER REVIEW COMMITTEE.

6 There is established the General Accounting Office

7 Peer Review Committee (hereafter in this title referred to

8 as the ‘‘Committee’’).

9 SEC. 302. MEMBERSHIP.

10 (a) APPOINTMENT.—(1) The members of the Com11 mittee shall be appointed by the Comptroller General of

12 the United States from a list of individuals jointly nomi13 nated by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader

14 of the Senate, and a list of individuals jointly nominated

15 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the

16 Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

17 (2) The Comptroller General shall designate one of

18 the members appointed under paragraph (1) to serve as

19 Chairman of the Committee.

20 (3) The Comptroller General shall appoint an appro21 priate individual to fill any vacancy which may occur on

22 the Committee.

23 (b) MEMBERS.—The Committee shall be composed of

24 no more than 15 members of whom—
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1 (1) 2 members shall be Senators, who shall not

2 be members of the same political party;

3 (2) 2 members shall be Members of the House

4 of Representatives who shall not be members of the

5 same political party;

6 (3) 2 members shall be Inspectors General of

7 executive agencies;

8 (4) 2 members shall be individuals who are not

9 Federal officers or employees; and

10 (5) 7 members shall have experience or exper11 tise in Federal administrative policymaking, proce12 dure, and processes.

13 (c) EX OFFICIO MEMBER.—The Comptroller General

14 shall serve as a nonvoting ex officio member of the

15 Committee.

16 (d) COMPENSATION.—(1) No member of the Commit17 tee who is a Federal officer or employee shall receive com18 pensation for service to the Committee.

19 (2) Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United

20 States Code, no member of the Committee who is not a

21 Federal officer or employee shall receive compensation for

22 service to the Committee.

23 (e) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com24 mittee who are not Federal officers and employees shall

25 be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
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1 subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies

2 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States

3 Code, while away from their homes or regular places of

4 business in the performance of services for the Committee.

5 SEC. 303. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE.

6 The Committee shall—

7 (1) recommend a formal process and standards

8 for review under which agencies, and affected parties

9 may appeal to the General Accounting Office to cor10 rect factual errors, and to reconsider findings con11 tained in General Accounting Office studies, audits,

12 investigations, and reports which are based on or

13 substantially influenced by erroneous information, or

14 previously unconsidered information;

15 (2) recommend procedures to notify the Con16 gress, the public, and the media of modifications or

17 retractions to studies, audits, investigations, and re18 ports following a review described under paragraph

19 (1);

20 (3) review policies and guidelines, and rec21 ommend improvements to eliminate inappropriate

22 advocacy of policy or the expression of unsubstan23 tiated conclusions within General Accounting Office

24 reports and testimony;
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1 (4) recommend improvements to ensure that

2 General Accounting Office work product is fair, fac3 tual, unbiased, professional and consistent with the

4 purposes for which the General Accounting Office

5 was established;

6 (5) review the General Accounting Office’s in7 ternal quality control procedures, including—

8 (A) Government Auditing Standards;

9 (B) the General Accounting Office’s Com10 munications Manual;

11 (C) the General Accounting Office Policy

12 Procedures Manual; and

13 (D) the Post-Assignment Quality Review

14 System;

15 (6) recommend procedures for making the re16 quester of any service by the General Accounting Of17 fice to remain anonymous to the General Accounting

18 Office team members conducting and overseeing the

19 relevant investigation and reporting activities;

20 (7) review the General Accounting Office’s poli21 cies and procedures, and make recommendations to

22 eliminate duplicative or superfluous auditing and in23 vestigative activities;

24 (8)(A) provide an estimate to the Congress on

25 the number of annual man-hours and costs incurred
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1 by respondents to General Accounting Office audits;

2 and

3 (B) recommend policies, guidelines or proce4 dures to reduce compliance costs without adversely

5 affecting the necessary activities of General Account6 ing Office auditors or the quality of work product;

7 and

8 (9) make recommendations to the Comptroller

9 General and the Congress on measures to—

10 (A) improve professionalism, impartiality,

11 independence, and excellence within the General

12 Accounting Office;

13 (B) improve hiring practices, employee

14 training and morale, administrative structure

15 and policies; and

16 (C) further the purposes for which the

17 General Accounting Office was established.

18 SEC. 304. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the greatest extent practicable

20 consistent with applicable law, the Comptroller General

21 shall implement the recommendations of the Committee

22 (including the establishment or modification of proce23 dures, guidelines, and standards).
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1 (1) Upon the termination of the Committee the

2 Comptroller shall submit to Congress a report on the

3 recommendations made pursuant to this Act.

4 (b) NOTIFICATION TO THE CONGRESS.—No later

5 than 90 days after the date of the termination of the Com6 mittee, the Comptroller General shall notify the Majority

7 Leader and the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the

8 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Minority

9 Leader of the House of Representatives of any Committee

10 recommendation that the Comptroller General is unable

11 to implement and the specific reason for such inability.

12 SEC. 305. SUPPORT SERVICES.

13 The General Accounting Office shall provide adminis14 trative and support services for the Committee.

15 SEC. 306. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.

16 The provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee

17 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Committee.

18 SEC. 307. TERMINATION OF COMMITTEE.

19 The Committee shall terminate 1 year after the date

20 of the enactment of this Act.

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