IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2146 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2012 

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

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to require accountability and transparency in Federal spending, 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 ‘‘Digital Accountability 

3 and Transparency Act of 2012’’ or the ‘‘DATA Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL 

SPENDING 

Sec. 101. General requirements for accountability and transparency in Federal 

spending. 

Sec. 102. Data standardization for accountability and transparency in Federal 

spending. 

Sec. 103. Amendments to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. 

Sec. 104. Effective date and deadlines for accountability and transparency in 

Federal spending. 

TITLE II—FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPENDING 

TRANSPARENCY COMMISSION 

Sec. 201. Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Commission. 

Sec. 202. Conforming amendment relating to compensation of Chairman. 

Sec. 203. Conforming amendments related to Recovery Accountability and 

Transparency Board. 

TITLE III—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Classified information. 

Sec. 302. Paperwork Reduction Act exemption. 

Sec. 303. Matching program exception for inspectors general. 

Sec. 304. Transfer of Consolidated Federal Funds Report. 

Sec. 305. Transfer of authority over Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance to 

Commission. 

Sec. 306. Government Accountability Office Improvement. 

Sec. 307. Amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978 and the Inspector 

General Reform Act of 2008. 

Sec. 308. Limits and transparency for travel and conference spending. 

Sec. 309. Effective date. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

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1 sion established under subchapter III of chapter 36 

2 of title 31, United States Code, as added by this 

3 Act. 

4 (2) The term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has the 

5 meaning provided by section 105 of title 5, United 

6 States Code, except the term does not include the 

7 Government Accountability Office. 

8 TITLE I—ACCOUNTABILITY AND 

9 TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL 

10 SPENDING 

11 SEC. 101. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY 

12 AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL SPENDING. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle III of title 31, United 

14 States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 35 the 

15 following new chapter: 

16 ‘‘CHAPTER 36—ACCOUNTABILITY AND 

17 TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL SPENDING 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

‘‘3601. Definitions. 

‘‘3602. Recipient reporting requirement. 

‘‘3603. Agency reporting requirement. 

‘‘3604. Treasury reporting requirement. 

‘‘3605. Exemptions from recipient reporting requirement. 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—DATA STANDARDIZATION

‘‘3611. Data standardization for reporting information. 

‘‘3612. Full disclosure of information. 

‘‘3613. Federal accountability portal. 

‘‘3614. Agency responsibilities. 

‘‘3615. Consolidated financial reporting. 

‘‘3616. Office of Management and Budget responsibilities. 

‘‘3617. Treasury responsibilities. 

‘‘3618. General Services Administration responsibilities. 


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‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPENDING TRANSPARENCY

COMMISSION

‘‘3621. Establishment. 

‘‘3622. Composition of the Commission. 

‘‘3623. Functions. 

‘‘3624. Powers. 

‘‘3625. Employment, personnel, and related authorities. 

‘‘3626. Transfer of certain personnel. 

‘‘3627. Advisory committee to Commission. 

‘‘3628. Authorization and availability of appropriations. 

‘‘3629. Sunset. 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS

‘‘3641. Independence of inspectors general. 

‘‘3642. Effective date. 

1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER I—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

2 ‘‘§ 3601. Definitions 

3 ‘‘In this chapter: 

4 ‘‘(1) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘recipient’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(A) any person that receives Federal 

7 funds pursuant to a Federal award, either di8 rectly or through a subgrant or subcontract at 

9 any tier; and 

10 ‘‘(B) any State, local, or tribal govern11 ment, or any government corporation, that re12 ceives Federal funds pursuant to a Federal 

13 award, either directly or through a subgrant or 

14 subcontract at any tier. 

15 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL AWARD.—The term ‘Federal 

16 award’ means Federal financial assistance and ex17 penditures that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) include grants, subgrants, loans, 

2 awards, cooperative agreements, agreements en3 tered into under other transactional authority, 

4 and other forms of financial assistance; and 

5 ‘‘(B) include contracts, subcontracts, pur6 chase orders, task orders, and delivery orders. 

7 ‘‘(3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

8 means the Federal Accountability and Spending 

9 Transparency Commission established under sub10 chapter III of this chapter, or any successor entity 

11 to the Federal Accountability and Spending Trans12 parency Commission. 

13 ‘‘(4) CHAIRMAN.—The term ‘Chairman’ means 

14 the Chairman of the Federal Accountability and 

15 Spending Transparency Commission. 

16 ‘‘(5) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘Execu17 tive agency’ has the meaning provided by section 

18 105 of title 5, except the term does not include the 

19 Government Accountability Office. 

20 ‘‘(6) FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT OF

21 1977.—The term ‘Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 

22 1977’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) section 30A of the Securities Ex24 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78dd–1); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) sections 104 and 104A of the For2 eign Corrupt Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 78dd–2). 

3 ‘‘§ 3602. Recipient reporting requirement 

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each recipient shall report to 

5 the Commission each receipt and use of Federal funds 

6 pursuant to a Federal award. 

7 ‘‘(b) CHARACTERISTICS OF REPORTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

10 designate, by rule, the frequency of reports to 

11 be submitted by recipients under subsection (a), 

12 but the frequency shall not be less than once 

13 each quarter. 

14 ‘‘(B) DEADLINES.—The Commission shall, 

15 by rule, specify deadlines by which a particular 

16 receipt or use of Federal funds must be re17 ported by a recipient under subsection (a). In 

18 specifying deadlines under this subparagraph, 

19 the Commission shall take into account the ca20 pabilities of the management and accounting 

21 systems and processes of recipients. The Com22 mission shall, by rule, provide for extensions of 

23 the deadlines specified under this subparagraph 

24 in cases of hardship or emergency. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CONTINUOUS OR AUTOMATIC RE2 PORTING.—To the extent practicable, the Com3 mission shall require continuous or automatic 

4 reporting for compliance with this section. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF REPORTS.—Each report sub6 mitted by a recipient under subsection (a) shall con7 tain the following information: 

8 ‘‘(A) An identification of the recipient, in9 cluding the recipient’s name and location (in10 cluding city, county, State, congressional dis11 trict, and country), with location information 

12 provided in proper United States Postal Service 

13 standardized format, including ZIP+4, or prop14 er international postal service standardized for15 mat where applicable. 

16 ‘‘(B) An identification of the recipient and 

17 the parent entity of the recipient, if the recipi18 ent is owned by another entity. 

19 ‘‘(C) An identification of the Executive 

20 agency. 

21 ‘‘(D) An identification of the Federal 

22 award. 

23 ‘‘(E) If applicable, an identification of the 

24 program pursuant to which the Federal award 

25 was awarded. 


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1 ‘‘(F) The total amount of Federal funds 

2 received from that Executive agency for the 

3 Federal award, during the period covered by the 

4 report. 

5 ‘‘(G) The amount of Federal funds from 

6 the Federal award that were expended or obli7 gated by the recipient to projects or activities 

8 during the period covered by the report. 

9 ‘‘(H) A list of all projects or activities for 

10 which Federal funds were expended or obli11 gated. 

12 ‘‘(I) If the Federal award is a prime 

13 award, an identification of its immediate sub14 awards. 

15 ‘‘(J) If the Federal award is a subaward, 

16 an identification of its immediate prime award. 

17 ‘‘(K) Such additional information reason18 ably related to the receipt and use of Federal 

19 funds as the Commission shall, by rule, require. 

20 ‘‘(3) USE OF DATA STANDARDS.—The reports 

21 submitted under this section shall use the common 

22 data elements and data reporting standards des23 ignated by the Commission under section 3611 of 

24 this title. 


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1 ‘‘(c) FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS BY PRIME

2 AWARDEES.—The Commission shall, by rule, permit 

3 prime awardees to fulfill the requirements of this section 

4 on behalf of subawardees, so long as all subaward tiers 

5 are reported. 

6 ‘‘(d) GUIDANCE BY COMMISSION.—The Commission 

7 shall issue guidance to recipients on compliance with this 

8 section. 

9 ‘‘(e) PREPOPULATION.—To the extent practicable, 

10 the Commission shall prepopulate its electronic systems 

11 for the submission of reports required by this section with 

12 data submitted to it by agencies under section 3603 of 

13 this title, and shall permit recipients either to confirm that 

14 prepopulated data is correct or, if it is incorrect, to make 

15 corrections. 

16 ‘‘(f) REGISTRATION.—Recipients required to report 

17 information under subsection (a) shall register with the 

18 Central Contractor Registration database or complete 

19 such other registration requirements as the Commission 

20 shall, by rule, require. 

21 ‘‘§ 3603. Agency reporting requirement 

22 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each Executive agency shall 

23 report to the Commission all obligations and expenditures 

24 of Federal funds. 

25 ‘‘(b) CHARACTERISTICS OF REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

3 designate, by rule, and after consultation with 

4 the Office of Management and Budget, the fre5 quency of reports to be submitted by agencies 

6 under subsection (a), but the frequency shall 

7 not be less than once each quarter. 

8 ‘‘(B) DEADLINES.—The Commission shall, 

9 by rule, and after consultation with the Office 

10 of Management and Budget, specify the dead11 line by which an obligation or expenditure must 

12 be reported by an agency under subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(C) CONTINUOUS OR AUTOMATIC RE14 PORTING.—To the extent practicable, the Com15 mission shall require continuous or automatic 

16 reporting for compliance with this section. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF REPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION RELATING TO FED19 ERAL AWARDS.—Each report submitted by an 

20 Executive agency under subsection (a) that re21 lates to a Federal award shall contain the fol22 lowing information for that Federal award: 

23 ‘‘(i) An identification of the recipient, 

24 including the recipient’s name and location 

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1 trict, and country), with location informa2 tion provided in proper United States 

3 Postal Service standardized format, includ4 ing ZIP+4, or proper international postal 

5 service standardized format where applica6 ble. 

7 ‘‘(ii) An identification of the recipient 

8 and the parent entity of the recipient, 

9 should the entity be owned by another enti10 ty. 

11 ‘‘(iii) An identification of the Execu12 tive agency. 

13 ‘‘(iv) An identification of the Federal 

14 award. 

15 ‘‘(v) If applicable, an identification of 

16 the program pursuant to which the Fed17 eral award was awarded. 

18 ‘‘(vi) If necessary, the total amount of 

19 the award. 

20 ‘‘(vii) The total amount of Federal 

21 funds received by the recipient from the 

22 Executive agency for the Federal award, 

23 during the period covered by the report. 

24 ‘‘(viii) Information on the award, in25 cluding transaction type, funding agency, 


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1 the North American Industry Classification 

2 System code or Catalog of Federal Domes3 tic Assistance number (if applicable), the 

4 program source, and an award title de5 scriptive of the purpose of each funding ac6 tion. 

7 ‘‘(ix) Such additional information rea8 sonably related to the Federal award as 

9 the Commission shall, by rule, require. 

10 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION NOT RELATING TO

11 FEDERAL AWARDS.—The content of each report 

12 submitted by an Executive agency under sub13 section (a) that does not relate to a Federal 

14 award shall be designated by the Commission, 

15 by rule, and after consultation with the Office 

16 of Management and Budget. 

17 ‘‘(C) IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.—To 

18 the extent practicable, reports submitted by 

19 agencies under subsection (a) shall identify the 

20 programs, budget functions, Treasury accounts, 

21 and appropriations categories pursuant to 

22 which Federal funds are obligated or expended. 

23 ‘‘(D) USE OF OTHER REPORTING INFOR24 MATION.—To the extent practicable, the Com25 mission shall permit agencies to comply with 


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1 subsection (a) by submitting the same informa2 tion that they submit or contribute for other 

3 governmentwide reporting requirements, includ4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(i) For information about Federal 

6 awards— 

7 ‘‘(I) the Federal assistance 

8 awards data system established pursu9 ant to section 6102a of title 31, 

10 United States Code; 

11 ‘‘(II) the Federal procurement 

12 data system established pursuant to 

13 section 1122(a)(4) of title 41, United 

14 States Code; 

15 ‘‘(III) the common application 

16 and reporting system established pur17 suant to section 6 of the Federal Fi18 nancial Assistance Management Im19 provement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 

20 6101 note); or 

21 ‘‘(IV) such systems as may be es22 tablished to replace or supplement the 

23 systems identified in this clause. 

24 ‘‘(ii) For information about internal 

25 expenditures and accounting, the Federal 


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1 Agencies’ Centralized Trial-Balance Sys2 tems (FACTS I and FACTS II), the Gov3 ernmentwide Financial Report System 

4 (GFRS), the Intragovernmental Fiduciary 

5 Confirmation System (IFCS), or such sys6 tems as may be established to replace or 

7 supplement such systems. 

8 ‘‘(3) USE OF DATA STANDARDS.—The reports 

9 submitted under this section shall use the common 

10 data elements and data reporting standards des11 ignated by the Commission under section 3611 of 

12 this title. 

13 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION ALSO SUBJECT TO RECIPI14 ENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—In complying with 

15 this section, each Executive agency shall identify, to 

16 the extent practicable, Federal awards made by the 

17 agency that are subject to the recipient reporting re18 quirement of section 3602 of this title so that infor19 mation reported by recipients and information re20 ported by the agency can be directly compared. 

21 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE BY COMMISSION.—The Commission 

22 shall issue guidance to Executive agencies on compliance 

23 with this section. 

24 ‘‘(d) COMMISSION TO MONITOR COMPLIANCE.—The 

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1 ecutive agency’s compliance with this section, including 

2 the timeliness, completeness, accuracy, and interoper3 ability of the data submitted by each Executive agency. 

4 The Commission shall make these reports publicly avail5 able contemporaneously online. 

6 ‘‘§ 3604. Treasury reporting requirement 

7 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Department of the Treas8 ury shall report to the Commission disbursements of Fed9 eral funds. 

10 ‘‘(b) CHARACTERISTICS OF REPORTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission and 

13 the Secretary of the Treasury shall determine 

14 the frequency of reports submitted by the De15 partment of the Treasury under subsection (a), 

16 but the frequency shall not be less than once 

17 each quarter. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONTINUOUS OR AUTOMATIC RE19 PORTING.—To the extent practicable, the Com20 mission and the Department of the Treasury 

21 shall establish continuous or automatic report22 ing for compliance with this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF REPORT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) The Commission and the Secretary of 

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1 ports submitted by the Department of the 

2 Treasury under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(B) To the extent practicable, reports 

4 submitted by the Department of the Treasury 

5 under subsection (a) shall identify the pro6 grams, budget functions, Treasury accounts, 

7 and appropriations categories pursuant to 

8 which Federal funds are disbursed. 

9 ‘‘(3) USE OF DATA STANDARDS.—The reports 

10 submitted under this section shall use the common 

11 data elements and data reporting standards des12 ignated by the Commission under section 3611 of 

13 this title. 

14 ‘‘(c) COMMISSION TO MONITOR COMPLIANCE.—The 

15 Commission shall regularly submit to Congress reports on 

16 compliance by the Department of the Treasury with this 

17 section, including the timeliness, completeness, accuracy, 

18 and interoperability of the data submitted. The Commis19 sion shall make all reports submitted under this subsection 

20 publicly available contemporaneously online. 

21 ‘‘§ 3605. Exemptions from recipient reporting require22 ment 

23 ‘‘(a) EXEMPTION.—A recipient is exempt from the 

24 reporting requirement of section 3602 of this title with 

25 respect to funds received pursuant to a Federal award if— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the recipient is an individual; and 

2 ‘‘(2) either— 

3 ‘‘(A) the total amount of Federal funds re4 ceived by the recipient does not exceed 

5 $100,000 in the current calendar year or fiscal 

6 year; or 

7 ‘‘(B) no transaction in which the recipient 

8 has received Federal funds during the current 

9 calendar year or fiscal year has exceeded 

10 $24,999. 

11 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO GRANT ADDITIONAL EXEMP12 TIONS.—The Commission may, by rule, grant additional 

13 exemptions under this section for classes or categories of 

14 recipients. 

15 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—The Commis16 sion shall, by rule, provide for an adjustment of the dollar 

17 thresholds specified in subsection (a)(2) to maintain the 

18 constant dollar value of the threshold.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

20 at the beginning of subtitle III of title 31, United States 

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

22 chapter 35 the following new item: 

‘‘36. Accountability and Transparency in Federal Spending ................................................................................ 3601’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. DATA STANDARDIZATION FOR ACCOUNTABILITY 

2 AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL SPENDING. 

3 Chapter 36 of title 31, United States Code, as added 

4 by section 101, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subchapter: 

6 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—DATA STANDARDIZATION 

7 ‘‘§ 3611. Data standardization for reporting informa8 tion 

9 ‘‘(a) COMMON DATA ELEMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall, 

11 by rule, designate common data elements, such as 

12 codes, identifiers, and fields, for information re13 quired to be reported by recipients and agencies 

14 under this chapter, including identifiers for recipi15 ents, awards, and agencies. 

16 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMON DATA ELE17 MENTS.—The common data elements designated 

18 under this subsection shall, to the extent practicable, 

19 be nonproprietary. 

20 ‘‘(3) EXISTING COMMON DATA ELEMENTS.—In 

21 designating common data elements under this sub22 section, the Commission shall, to the extent prac23 ticable, ensure interoperability and incorporate the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(A) Common data elements developed and 

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1 sensus standards body, as defined by the Office 

2 of Management and Budget, such as the Inter3 national Organization for Standardization. 

4 ‘‘(B) Common data elements developed and 

5 maintained by intragovernmental partnerships, 

6 such as the National Information Exchange 

7 Model. 

8 ‘‘(C) Common data elements developed and 

9 maintained by Federal entities with authority 

10 over contracting and financial assistance, such 

11 as the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council. 

12 ‘‘(D) Common data elements developed 

13 and maintained by accounting standards orga14 nizations. 

15 ‘‘(b) DATA REPORTING STANDARDS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall, 

17 by rule, designate data reporting standards to gov18 ern the reporting required to be performed by recipi19 ents and agencies under this title. 

20 ‘‘(2) CHARACTERISTICS OF DATA REPORTING

21 STANDARDS.—The data reporting standards des22 ignated under this subsection shall, to the extent 

23 practicable— 


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1 ‘‘(A) incorporate a widely accepted, non2 proprietary, searchable, platform-independent 

3 computer-readable format; 

4 ‘‘(B) be consistent with and implement ap5 plicable accounting principles; and 

6 ‘‘(C) be capable of being continually up7 graded as necessary. 

8 ‘‘(3) EXISTING DATA REPORTING STAND9 ARDS.—In designating reporting standards under 

10 this subsection, the Commission shall, to the extent 

11 practicable, incorporate existing nonproprietary 

12 standards, such as the eXtensible Business Report13 ing Language (XBRL). 

14 ‘‘§ 3612. Full disclosure of information 

15 ‘‘The Commission shall publish online all information 

16 submitted by recipients and agencies pursuant to sections 

17 3602, 3603, and 3604 of this title in accordance with the 

18 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 

19 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 

20 ‘‘§ 3613. Federal accountability portal 

21 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall estab22 lish and maintain a government-wide Internet-based data 

23 access system, to be known as a ‘Federal accountability 

24 portal’, to carry out the functions described in subsection 

25 (b). 


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1 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal accountability 

3 portal shall incorporate— 

4 ‘‘(A) information submitted by recipients 

5 and agencies under sections 3602, 3603, and 

6 3604 of this title; 

7 ‘‘(B) other information maintained by Fed8 eral, State, local, and foreign government agen9 cies; and 

10 ‘‘(C) other commercially and publicly avail11 able information. 

12 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—The Federal ac13 countability portal shall be designed and operated to 

14 carry out the following functions: 

15 ‘‘(A) Combine information submitted by 

16 recipients and agencies under sections 3602, 

17 3603, and 3604 of this title with other compila18 tions of information, including those listed in 

19 paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(B) Permit Executive agencies, in accord21 ance with applicable law, to verify the eligibility 

22 and responsibility of recipients and potential re23 cipients with respect to the receipt and use of 

24 Federal funds. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Permit Executive agencies, inspectors 

2 general, law enforcement agencies, and appro3 priate State authorities, in accordance with ap4 plicable law, to track Federal awards and re5 cipients to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and 

6 abuse. 

7 ‘‘(D) Serve as the primary accountability 

8 portal for the entire Federal Government. 

9 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE BY COMMISSION.—The Commission 

10 shall issue guidance on the use of and access to the Fed11 eral accountability portal. 

12 ‘‘§ 3614. Agency responsibilities 

13 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of receipt of 

14 Federal funds of an Executive agency pursuant to any 

15 Federal award, the Executive agency shall require any re16 cipient of such funds to provide the information required 

17 under section 3602 of this title. 

18 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES FOR RECIPIENT NONCOMPLI19 ANCE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an Executive 

21 agency may impose a civil penalty in an amount not 

22 more than $250,000 on a recipient of Federal funds 

23 from that Executive agency that does not provide 

24 the information required under section 3602 of this 


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1 title or provides information that contains a material 

2 omission or misstatement. 

3 ‘‘(2) NONPRECLUSION.—The imposition of a 

4 civil penalty under this subsection does not preclude 

5 any other criminal or civil statutory, common law, or 

6 administrative remedy that is available by law to the 

7 United States or any other person. Any amounts re8 ceived from a civil penalty under this subsection 

9 shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United 

10 States to the credit of the appropriation or appro11 priations from which the award is made. 

12 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—The head of an Executive 

13 agency shall provide a written notification to a re14 cipient that fails to provide the information required 

15 under section 3602 of this title or provides informa16 tion that contains a material omission or 

17 misstatement. Such notification shall provide the re18 cipient with information on how to comply with the 

19 requirements of such section 3602 and notice of the 

20 penalties for failing to do so. The head of the Execu21 tive agency may not impose a civil penalty under 

22 paragraph (1) until 60 days after the date of the no23 tification. 


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1 ‘‘(c) COMPLIANCE WITH COMMISSION GUIDANCE.— 

2 Executive agencies shall comply with the instructions and 

3 guidance issued by the Commission under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of the Com6 mission for information or assistance from any Ex7 ecutive agency or other entity of the Federal Gov8 ernment, the head of such entity shall, insofar as is 

9 practicable and not in contravention of any existing 

10 law, furnish such information or assistance to the 

11 Commission, or an authorized designee. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT OF REFUSALS.—Whenever infor13 mation or assistance requested by the Commission 

14 is, in the judgment of the Commission, unreasonably 

15 refused or not provided, the Commission shall report 

16 the circumstances to Congress. 

17 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT TO USE COMMON DATA ELE18 MENTS AND DATA REPORTING STANDARDS.—After the 

19 Commission designates any common data element or data 

20 reporting standard under section 3611 of this title, each 

21 Executive agency shall issue guidance that requires every 

22 recipient of Federal funds under any of its Federal awards 

23 to use that common data element or data reporting stand24 ard for any information reported to that Executive agency 


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1 to which the common data element or data reporting 

2 standard is applicable. 

3 ‘‘(f) PREPOPULATION.—To the extent practicable, 

4 each Executive agency shall use data from the website 

5 maintained by the Commission under the Federal Funding 

6 Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 

7 6101 note) to prepopulate any electronic systems main8 tained by that agency for the submission of reports on 

9 the receipt and use of Federal funds distributed by that 

10 agency. 

11 ‘‘§ 3615. Consolidated financial reporting 

12 ‘‘(a) REPORT IDENTIFYING RECIPIENT FINANCIAL

13 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO BE CONSOLIDATED.—In 

14 consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, 

15 each Executive agency shall, not later than two years after 

16 the effective date of this chapter, submit to the President, 

17 Congress, and the Commission a report that— 

18 ‘‘(1) describes any agency-specific financial re19 porting requirements for recipients of Federal funds 

20 pursuant to a Federal award from the agency; 

21 ‘‘(2) identifies every element of information that 

22 such recipients must regularly submit to the agency 

23 pursuant to such requirements; and 

24 ‘‘(3) for each element so identified, identifies 

25 whether that element or a similar element is already 


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1 being reported to the Commission by such recipients 

2 under this title. 

3 ‘‘(b) DATE CERTAIN THAT RECIPIENTS MAY USE

4 CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL REPORTING.—Beginning on 

5 the date that is three years after the effective date of this 

6 chapter, recipients of Federal funds are deemed to have 

7 satisfied the agency-specific financial reporting require8 ments identified in the reports required by subsection (a) 

9 by transmitting the same information to the Commission, 

10 in a manner prescribed by the Commission. 

11 ‘‘(c) RECIPIENT NOTIFICATION.—After an Executive 

12 agency has submitted its report under subsection (a), the 

13 Executive agency shall issue guidance notifying recipients 

14 of Federal funds under its awards that they may, as of 

15 the date that is three years after the effective date of this 

16 chapter, satisfy those agency-specific financial reporting 

17 requirements identified by the agency in its report re18 quired under subsection (a) by reporting the same infor19 mation to the Commission only. 

20 ‘‘(d) COMMISSION RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) After an Executive agency submits its re22 port under subsection (a), the Commission shall pro23 mulgate rules describing the manner in which the 

24 agency-specific financial reporting requirements 

25 identified in the report may be met by recipients of 


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1 Federal funds from that agency through reporting to 

2 the Commission only. 

3 ‘‘(2) Upon receipt of agency-specific financial 

4 reporting information as described under this sec5 tion, the Commission shall immediately make such 

6 information available to the Executive agency to 

7 which the information had previously been required 

8 to be submitted. 

9 ‘‘§ 3616. Office of Management and Budget respon10 sibilities 

11 ‘‘After the Commission designates any common data 

12 element or data reporting standard under section 3611 of 

13 this title, the Director of the Office of Management and 

14 Budget shall issue guidance that requires Executive agen15 cies to use that common data element or data reporting 

16 standard for any information reported by Executive agen17 cies to the Office of Management and Budget to which 

18 the common data element or data reporting standard is 

19 applicable. 

20 ‘‘§ 3617. Treasury responsibilities 

21 ‘‘After the Commission designates any common data 

22 element or data reporting standard under section 3611 of 

23 this title, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue guid24 ance that requires Executive agencies to use that common 

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1 tion reported by Executive agencies to the Department of 

2 the Treasury to which the common data element or data 

3 reporting standard is applicable. 

4 ‘‘§ 3618. General Services Administration responsibil5 ities 

6 ‘‘After the Commission designates any common data 

7 element or data reporting standard under section 3611 of 

8 this title, the Administrator of General Services shall 

9 apply that common data element or data reporting stand10 ard for any information contained in acquisition-related 

11 databases maintained by the General Services Administra12 tion to which the common data element or data reporting 

13 standard is applicable.’’. 

14 SEC. 103. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FUNDING AC15 COUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 

16 2006. 

17 (a) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR

18 USASPENDING.GOV.—Section 2(c) of the Federal Fund19 ing Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 

20 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2); 

22 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 

23 (5) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(4) shall, to the extent practicable, publish 

2 data under this section in a manner that complies 

3 with applicable principles and best practices in the 

4 private sector for the publication of open government 

5 data; 

6 ‘‘(5) shall serve as a public portal for Federal 

7 financial information, including information con8 cerning all Federal awards and information con9 cerning the expenditure of all Federal funds; 

10 ‘‘(6) shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) make available all information pub12 lished under subsections (b), (c), and (d) in a 

13 reasonably timely manner; 

14 ‘‘(B) make available all information pub15 lished under subsections (b), (c), and (d), using 

16 the common data elements and data reporting 

17 standards designated by the Commission under 

18 section 3611 of title 31, United States Code; 

19 ‘‘(C) make available all information pub20 lished under subsections (b), (c), and (d) with21 out charge, license, or registration requirement; 

22 ‘‘(D) permit all information published 

23 under subsections (b), (c), and (d) to be 

24 searched and aggregated; 


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1 ‘‘(E) permit all information published 

2 under subsections (b), (c), and (d) to be 

3 downloaded, including downloaded in bulk; 

4 ‘‘(F) to the extent practicable, disseminate 

5 information published under subsections (b), 

6 (c), and (d) via automatic electronic means; 

7 ‘‘(G) to the extent practicable, permit in8 formation published under subsections (b), (c), 

9 and (d) to be freely shared by the public, such 

10 as by social media; and 

11 ‘‘(H) to the extent practicable, use perma12 nent uniform resource locators for information 

13 published under subsections (b), (c), and (d).’’. 

14 (b) REQUIREMENT TO REPORT ALL DATA SUB15 MITTED UNDER DATA ACT AND CHAPTER 61 OF TITLE

16 31 ON USASPENDING.GOV.—Section 2 of the Federal 

17 Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 

18 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note), as amended by subsection (a), is 

19 further amended— 

20 (1) by striking subsections (d) and (e); 

21 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub22 section (e); and 

23 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol24 lowing new subsections (c) and (d): 


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1 ‘‘(c) FULL DISCLOSURE OF DATA SUBMITTED

2 UNDER THE DIGITAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANS3 PARENCY ACT OF 2012.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall 

5 publish on the website established under this section 

6 all information submitted by recipients and agencies 

7 pursuant to sections 3602, 3603, and 3604 of title 

8 31, United States Code, as added by the Digital Ac9 countability and Transparency Act of 2012. 

10 ‘‘(2) AGGREGATION OF INFORMATION THAT IS

11 EXEMPT FROM RECIPIENT REPORTING REQUIRE12 MENT.—The Commission shall publish, online and in 

13 the aggregate, information that is exempt from re14 cipient reporting under section 3605 of such title 

15 but that is reported by an Executive agency under 

16 section 3603 of such title in the aggregate. 

17 ‘‘(d) FULL DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RE18 QUIRED BY CHAPTER 61 OF TITLE 31.—The Commission 

19 shall publish on the website established under this section 

20 all information contained in the information system re21 quired under section 6103 of title 31, United States 

22 Code.’’. 

23 (c) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—Subsection 2(a) of 

24 the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 


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1 Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended by adding 

2 at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(4) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘recipient’ 

4 means— 

5 ‘‘(A) any person that receives Federal 

6 funds pursuant to a Federal award, either di7 rectly or through a subgrant or subcontract at 

8 any tier; and 

9 ‘‘(B) any State, local, or tribal govern10 ment, or any government corporation, that re11 ceives Federal funds pursuant to a Federal 

12 award, either directly or through a subgrant or 

13 subcontract at any tier. 

14 ‘‘(5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

15 means the Federal Accountability and Spending 

16 Transparency Commission established under sub17 chapter III of chapter 36 of title 31, United States 

18 Code, or any successor entity to the Federal Ac19 countability and Spending Transparency Commis20 sion.’’. 

21 (d) NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 2(f) of the Fed22 eral Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 

23 2006 is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(1) ACCESS TO OTHER DATA.—Nothing’’; and 

2 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

3 paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(2) NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—Nothing in this 

5 Act shall prohibit the Commission from complying 

6 with the requirements of this section using such new 

7 technologies as may replace websites for data publi8 cation and dissemination.’’. 

9 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO REPLACE OMB 

10 WITH COMMISSION FOR MANAGEMENT OF

11 USASPENDING.GOV.—Section 2 of such Act (31 U.S.C. 

12 6101 note) is further amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Office of 

14 Management and Budget’’ and inserting ‘‘Commis15 sion’’ both places it appears in paragraph (1); and 

16 (2) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘Director of 

17 the Office of Management and Budget’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘Commission’’ in paragraph (1) and in para19 graph (3). 

20 (f) REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED PROVISIONS.—Section 

21 2(b) of such Act (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is further amend22 ed by striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 

23 (g) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

24 Such Act (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is further amended— 


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1 (1) in section 2(b), by striking ‘‘Not later than 

2 January 1, 2008, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and 

3 (2) in section 2(g)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Committee on Govern5 ment Reform’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee on 

6 Oversight and Government Reform’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

9 subparagraph (A); 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of 

11 subparagraph (B) and inserting a period; 

12 and 

13 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C). 

14 SEC. 104. EFFECTIVE DATE AND DEADLINES FOR ACCOUNT15 ABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL 

16 SPENDING. 

17 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Chapter 36 of title 31, 

18 United States Code, as added by section 101, is further 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new sub20 chapter: 

21 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

22 ‘‘§ 3641. Independence of inspectors general 

23 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall affect the independent 

24 authority or discretion of an inspector general to deter25 mine whether or how to conduct an audit, investigation, 


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1 or any other function authorized by the Inspector General 

2 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), or to disclose any informa3 tion relating to an audit or investigation. 

4 ‘‘§ 3642. Effective date 

5 ‘‘This chapter takes effect on the date of the enact6 ment of this chapter.’’. 

7 (b) DEADLINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION.— 

8 (1) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT OF COMMIS9 SIONERS.—Within 60 days after the effective date of 

10 this Act, the President shall appoint Commissioners 

11 to the Commission under section 3622 of title 31, 

12 United States Code, as added by this Act. 

13 (2) COMMISSION DEADLINES.— 

14 (A) Within 60 days after the effective date 

15 of this Act, the Commission shall establish the 

16 committee required under section 3627 of title 

17 31, United States Code, as added by this Act. 

18 (B) Within 180 days after the effective 

19 date of this Act, the Commission shall— 

20 (i) promulgate rules and issue guid21 ance under sections 3602 and 3603 of title 

22 31, United States Code, as added by this 

23 Act; 

24 (ii) together with the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury, determine the frequency and 


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1 content of reports to be submitted to the 

2 Commission by the Department of the 

3 Treasury under section 3604 of such title, 

4 as so added; 

5 (iii) designate common data elements 

6 under section 3611(a) of such title and 

7 data reporting standards under section 

8 3611(b) of such title, as so added; and 

9 (iv) establish one or more websites 

10 under the Federal Funding Accountability 

11 and Transparency Act of 2006, as amend12 ed by this Act. 

13 (3) AGENCY AND DEPARTMENT DEADLINES.— 

14 (A) Within one year after the effective date 

15 of this Act, each Executive agency shall imple16 ment section 3614(a) of title 31, United States 

17 Code, as added by this Act. 

18 (B) Within two years after the Commission 

19 designates any common data element or data 

20 reporting standard under section 3611 of such 

21 title, as so added— 

22 (i) each Executive agency shall issue 

23 guidance under section 3614(e) of such 

24 title, as so added; 


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1 (ii) the Director of the Office of Man2 agement and Budget shall issue guidance 

3 under section 3615 of such title, as so 

4 added; and 

5 (iii) the Administrator of General 

6 Services shall take the actions required 

7 under section 3617 of such title, as so 

8 added. 

9 (4) TREASURY DEADLINES.— 

10 (A) Within 180 days after the effective 

11 date of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

12 together with the Commission, shall determine 

13 the frequency and content of reports to be sub14 mitted to the Commission by the Department of 

15 the Treasury under section 3604 of title 31, 

16 United States Code, as added by this Act. 

17 (B) Within 180 days after the Commission 

18 and the Secretary of the Treasury determine 

19 the frequency and content of reports to be sub20 mitted to the Commission by the Department of 

21 the Treasury under section 3604 of such title, 

22 as so added, the Department of the Treasury 

23 shall begin to submit such reports to the Com24 mission. 


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1 (C) Within two years after the Commission 

2 designates any common data element or data 

3 reporting standard under section 3611 of such 

4 title, as so added, the Secretary of the Treasury 

5 shall issue guidance under section 3616 of such 

6 title, as so added. 

7 (5) RECIPIENT DEADLINES.—Notwithstanding 

8 any other provision of this Act or the amendments 

9 made by this Act, no recipient shall be required to 

10 comply with this Act or such amendments until 180 

11 days after the Commission has issued rules and 

12 guidance under section 3602 of title 31, United 

13 States Code, as added by this Act. 

14 (6) TRANSFER OF USASPENDING.GOV.—Within 

15 180 days after the effective date of this Act, the 

16 Commission and the Office of Management and 

17 Budget shall transfer the management and control 

18 of USASpending.gov from the Office of Management 

19 and Budget to the Commission, as required by the 

20 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 

21 Act of 2006, as amended by this Act. 


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1 TITLE II—FEDERAL ACCOUNT2 ABILITY AND SPENDING 

3 TRANSPARENCY COMMISSION 

4 SEC. 201. FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPENDING 

5 TRANSPARENCY COMMISSION. 

6 Chapter 36 of title 31, United States Code, as added 

7 by section 101, is further amended by inserting after sub8 chapter II the following new subchapter: 

9 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY 

10 AND SPENDING TRANSPARENCY COMMISSION 

11 ‘‘§ 3621. Establishment 

12 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

13 Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Com14 mission as an independent agency in the Executive 

15 Branch. 

16 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS AND POWERS TRANSFERRED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED.—Except as 

18 provided in this section, there are transferred to the 

19 Commission all functions of the Recovery Account20 ability and Transparency Board. 

21 ‘‘(2) POWERS, AUTHORITIES, RIGHTS, AND DU22 TIES.—The Federal Accountability and Spending 

23 Transparency Commission shall succeed to all pow24 ers, authorities, rights, and duties that were vested 

25 in the Recovery Accountability and Transparency 


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1 Board on the day before the effective date of this 

2 chapter. 

3 ‘‘§ 3622. Composition of the Commission 

4 ‘‘(a) MEMBERS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

6 composed of five Commissioners who shall be ap7 pointed by the President, by and with the consent of 

8 the Senate. 

9 ‘‘(2) PARTY AFFILIATION.—Not more than 

10 three of the members of the Commission shall be 

11 members of the same political party. 

12 ‘‘(3) TERM.—Each Commissioner shall hold of13 fice for a term of five years and until a successor 

14 is appointed and has qualified, except that— 

15 ‘‘(A) a Commissioner shall not so continue 

16 to serve beyond the expiration of the next ses17 sion of Congress subsequent to the expiration of 

18 such term of office; 

19 ‘‘(B) any Commissioner appointed to fill a 

20 vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the 

21 term for which that Commissioner’s predecessor 

22 was appointed shall be appointed for the re23 mainder of such term; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the terms of office of the Commis25 sioners first taking office after the enactment of 


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1 this paragraph shall expire as designated by the 

2 President at the time of nomination, one at the 

3 end of one year, one at the end of two years, 

4 one at the end of three years, one at the end 

5 of four years, and one at the end of five years. 

6 ‘‘(4) COMPENSATION.—An individual appointed 

7 to the Commission under this subsection shall be 

8 compensated at the rate of basic pay prescribed for 

9 level III of the Executive Schedule under section 

10 5314 of title 5. 

11 ‘‘(b) CHAIRMAN.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ap13 point, by and with the advice and consent of the 

14 Senate, a member of the Commission as Chairman, 

15 who shall serve as Chairman at the pleasure of the 

16 President. An individual may be appointed as Chair17 man at the same time that person is appointed as 

18 a Commissioner. At any time, the President may ap19 point, by and with the advise and consent of the 

20 Senate, a different Chairman, and the Commissioner 

21 previously appointed as Chairman may complete that 

22 Commissioner’s term as a Commissioner. 

23 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Chairman shall be the chief 

24 administrative officer of the Commission and shall 

25 preside at meetings of the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(3) POWERS AND FUNCTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) Except as otherwise provided in this 

3 paragraph and in section 3625 of this chapter, 

4 the executive and administrative functions of 

5 the Commission, including functions of the 

6 Commission with respect to the appointment 

7 and supervision of personnel employed under 

8 the Commission, the distribution of business 

9 among such personnel and among administra10 tive units of the Commission, and the use and 

11 expenditure of funds, according to budget cat12 egories, plans, programs, and priorities estab13 lished and approved by the Commission, shall 

14 be exercised solely by the Chairman. 

15 ‘‘(B) In carrying out any of his functions 

16 under the provisions of this paragraph, the 

17 Chairman shall be governed by the general poli18 cies, plans, priorities, and budgets approved by 

19 the Commission and by such regulatory deci20 sions, findings, and determinations as the Com21 mission may by law be authorized to make. 

22 ‘‘(C) The appointment by the Chairman of 

23 the heads of major administrative units under 

24 the Commission shall be subject to the approval 

25 of the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Personnel employed regularly and full 

2 time in the immediate offices of Commissioners 

3 other than the Chairman shall not be affected 

4 by the provisions of this paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(E) The Commission shall be responsible 

6 for the functions of revising budget estimates of 

7 the Commission and determining the distribu8 tion of appropriated funds according to major 

9 programs and purposes of the Commission. 

10 ‘‘(F) The Chairman may authorize the per11 formance by any officer, employee, or adminis12 trative unit under the Chairman’s jurisdiction 

13 of any functions of the Chairman under this 

14 paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON TERMS.—No person ap16 pointed as Chairman under this subsection shall 

17 serve as Chairman for more than 10 years, whether 

18 or not such service is consecutive. 

19 ‘‘(5) INTERIM CHAIRMAN.—Upon the effective 

20 date of this chapter, the person serving as Chair21 person of the Recovery Accountability and Trans22 parency Board on the day before the effective date 

23 of this chapter shall serve as acting Chairman of the 

24 Commission until the President appoints a Chair25 man of the Commission pursuant to this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(c) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall 

2 not impair the right of the remaining Commissioners to 

3 exercise all the powers of the Commission. 

4 ‘‘§ 3623. Functions 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) be responsible for the collection, storage, 

7 and public disclosure of information about Federal 

8 spending; 

9 ‘‘(2) serve as the authoritative government 

10 source for the information about Federal spending 

11 that it collects; and 

12 ‘‘(3) coordinate and conduct oversight of Fed13 eral funds in order to prevent waste, fraud, and 

14 abuse. 

15 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the 

16 Commission shall include each of the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Receiving, storing, and publicly dissemi18 nating all of the information that is reported to it 

19 under sections 3602, 3603, and 3604 of this title. 

20 ‘‘(2) Reviewing whether reporting under section 

21 3602 of this title meets applicable standards and 

22 specifies the purpose of the Federal award and 

23 measures of performance. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Identifying possible criminal activity and 

2 referring such matters to appropriate Federal, State, 

3 and local law enforcement authorities. 

4 ‘‘(4) Supporting ongoing criminal investiga5 tions, prosecutions, and related proceedings. 

6 ‘‘(5) Furnishing research, analytical, and infor7 mational services to Executive agencies, inspectors 

8 general, law enforcement agencies, and appropriate 

9 State authorities in the interest of detection, preven10 tion, and prosecution of waste, fraud, and abuse of 

11 Federal funds. 

12 ‘‘(6) Regularly evaluating the quality of the 

13 data submitted to it under sections 3602, 3603, and 

14 3604 of this title. 

15 ‘‘(7) Standardizing common data elements and 

16 data reporting standards to foster transparency and 

17 accountability for Federal spending, as required by 

18 section 3611 of this title. 

19 ‘‘(8) Reviewing whether there are appropriate 

20 mechanisms for interagency collaboration relating to 

21 Federal funds, including coordinating and collabo22 rating to the extent practicable with the Council of 

23 the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency 

24 established by section 11 of the Inspector General 

25 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 


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1 ‘‘(9) Issuing a report in accordance with sub2 section (e) on the feasibility of collecting and pub3 lishing online tax expenditures data. 

4 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIES IN ANALYSES AND REVIEWS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent practicable, 

6 the Commission shall give high priority to analyses 

7 and reviews relating to Federal funds— 

8 ‘‘(A) awarded without the use of competi9 tive procedures; or 

10 ‘‘(B) awarded to any contractor found to 

11 be in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices 

12 Act of 1977. 

13 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION.—The Commission shall 

14 identify any contractor found to be in violation of 

15 the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 as a vio16 lator of such Act in any contract information related 

17 to such contractor published online under the Fed18 eral Funding Accountability and Transparency Act 

19 of 2006. 

20 ‘‘(d) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) REGULAR REPORTS ON DATA QUAL23 ITY AUDITS.—The Commission shall regularly 

24 submit to the President and Congress reports 

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1 mitted to it under sections 3602, 3603, and 

2 3604 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(B) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS ON ACTIVI4 TIES.—The Commission shall submit semi-an5 nual reports to the President and Congress, 

6 summarizing the activities and findings of the 

7 Commission and, in the Commission’s discre8 tion, the findings of inspectors general of Exec9 utive agencies that relate to the Commission’s 

10 activities during the reporting period. 

11 ‘‘(C) REPORT ON SAVINGS.—Not later 

12 than five years after the effective date of this 

13 chapter, the Commission shall submit to the 

14 President, Congress, and the Comptroller Gen15 eral of the United States a report containing 

16 estimates of the direct and indirect cost savings 

17 to the Treasury achieved as a result of the 

18 Commission’s activities. 

19 ‘‘(D) OTHER REPORTS.—Section 2(f) of 

20 the Federal Funding Accountability and Trans21 parency Act of 2006 requires another report by 

22 the Commission. 

23 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission 

24 shall make all reports submitted under paragraph 

25 (1) publicly available contemporaneously online. 


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1 ‘‘(3) GAO EVALUATION.—Upon receipt of the 

2 report submitted by the Commission under para3 graph (1)(C), the Comptroller General shall conduct 

4 an evaluation of the report and submit the evalua5 tion to Congress within six months after receipt of 

6 the report, with such findings and recommendations 

7 as the Comptroller General considers appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(e) TAX EXPENDITURES REPORT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

10 (b)(7), not later than one year after the effective 

11 date of this chapter, the Commission shall submit to 

12 the appropriate congressional committees a report 

13 on tax expenditures data that includes the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) A description of processes that could 

15 be put in place to collect and disseminate tax 

16 expenditures data, and the potential effects of 

17 making such data publicly available on the In18 ternal Revenue Service, taxpayers, and other 

19 relevant parties determined by the Commission. 

20 ‘‘(B) Any changes in law that are needed 

21 to make such tax expenditures data publicly 

22 available. 

23 ‘‘(2) TAX EXPENDITURES DEFINED.—In this 

24 section, the term ‘tax expenditures’ has the meaning 

25 given that term in section 3(3) of the Congressional 


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1 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 

2 U.S.C. 622(3)). 

3 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission 

4 shall make the report submitted under paragraph 

5 (1) publicly available. 

6 ‘‘(f) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

8 make recommendations to Executive agencies on 

9 measures to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse relating 

10 to Federal funds. 

11 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIVE REPORTS.—Not later than 30 

12 days after receipt of a recommendation under para13 graph (1), an Executive agency shall submit a report 

14 to the President, the congressional committees of ju15 risdiction, and the Commission on whether the Exec16 utive agency agrees or disagrees with the rec17 ommendations and any actions the Executive agency 

18 will take to implement the recommendations. The 

19 Commission shall make all reports submitted to it 

20 under this paragraph publicly available contempora21 neously online. 

22 ‘‘§ 3624. Powers 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall conduct 

24 independent analyses and reviews of spending of Federal 

25 funds, including analyses and reviews of information 


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1 maintained in the Federal accountability portal estab2 lished under section 3612 of this title, and provide inves3 tigative and audit support to the inspectors general of Ex4 ecutive agencies. 

5 ‘‘(b) ANALYSES AND REVIEWS.—The Commission 

6 may— 

7 ‘‘(1) conduct its own independent analyses and 

8 reviews of spending of Federal funds; and 

9 ‘‘(2) collaborate with and provide support for 

10 any inspector general of any Executive agency or 

11 other law enforcement authority on any audit, inves12 tigation, or other review relating to Federal funds. 

13 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ANALYSES, REVIEWS, AND INVESTIGATIVE

15 AND AUDIT SUPPORT.—In conducting analyses and 

16 reviews, and in providing investigative and audit 

17 support to inspectors general and law enforcement 

18 authorities, the Commission shall have the authori19 ties provided under paragraphs (1), (3), and (6) 

20 through (10) of section 6(a), and section 6(b), of the 

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

22 ‘‘(2) MATCHING PROGRAM AUTHORITY WITH

23 RESPECT TO EVALUATIONS AND REVIEWS.—The au24 thorities provided under section 6(a)(9) of the In25 spector General Act of 1978 (provided to the ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:41 Apr 27, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2146.RFS H2146

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1 mission pursuant to paragraph (1)) may be used by 

2 the Commission while conducting an evaluation or 

3 other review authorized under such Act. 

4 ‘‘(d) CONTRACTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may enter 

6 into contracts to enable the Commission to discharge 

7 its duties under this chapter, including contracts 

8 and other arrangements for audits, studies, analyses, 

9 and other services with public agencies and with pri10 vate persons, and make such payments as may be 

11 necessary to carry out the duties of the Commission. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTING FOR MISSIONS OF OTHER

13 AGENCIES.—The Commission may enter into con14 tracts with any Federal agency (within or outside 

15 the executive branch) to enable such agency to iden16 tify waste, fraud, and abuse, including contracts and 

17 other arrangements for audits, studies, analyses, and 

18 other services. 

19 ‘‘(3) CONTRACTING FOR PUBLICATION OF

20 DATA.—The Commission may make contracts or 

21 agreements with any Federal agency (within or out22 side the executive branch) to publish data main23 tained by such agency on the website maintained 

24 under the Federal Funding Accountability and 

25 Transparency Act of 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(e) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The Commission may 

2 transfer funds appropriated to the Commission for ex3 penses to support administrative support services, inves4 tigations, audits, reviews, or other activities related to 

5 oversight by the Commission of Federal funds to any of6 fice of inspector general, the Office of Management and 

7 Budget, and the General Services Administration. 

8 ‘‘§ 3625. Employment, personnel, and related authori9 ties 

10 ‘‘(a) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall 

11 have an Executive Director, who shall be appointed by the 

12 Commission and serve at the pleasure of the Commission. 

13 The Executive Director shall report directly to the Com14 mission and carry out the functions of the Commission 

15 subject to the supervision and direction of the Commis16 sion. The position of Executive Director shall be a career 

17 reserved position in the Senior Executive Service, as that 

18 position is defined under section 3132 of title 5. 

19 ‘‘(b) OTHER EMPLOYEES.—The Commission may ap20 point and fix the compensation of such officers, attorneys, 

21 information technology professionals, and other employees 

22 as may be necessary for carrying out the functions of the 

23 Commission under this chapter. 

24 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The General Serv25 ices Administration shall provide the Commission with adVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:41 Apr 27, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2146.RFS H2146

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1 ministrative support services, including the provision of of2 fice space and facilities. 

3 ‘‘§ 3626. Transfer of certain personnel 

4 ‘‘(a) RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANS5 PARENCY BOARD EMPLOYEES.—The Chairman or Execu6 tive Director, or both, shall identify employees of the Re7 covery Accountability and Transparency Board for trans8 fer to the Commission, and such identified employees shall 

9 be transferred to the Commission for employment. 

10 ‘‘(b) PAY.— 

11 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each 

12 transferred employee shall, during the 2-year period 

13 beginning on the effective date of this chapter, re14 ceive pay at a rate equal to not less than the basic 

15 rate of pay (including any geographic differential) 

16 that the employee received during the pay period im17 mediately preceding the date of transfer. 

18 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) does not limit the right of 

19 the Commission to reduce the rate of basic pay of 

20 a transferred employee for cause, for unacceptable 

21 performance, or with the consent of the employee. 

22 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) applies to a transferred em23 ployee only while that employee remains employed by 

24 the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘§ 3627. Advisory committee to Commission 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission shall 

4 establish an advisory committee to be known as the 

5 Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency 

6 Advisory Committee (in this section referred to as 

7 the ‘Advisory Committee’). 

8 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The Advisory Committee shall 

9 submit to the Commission such findings and rec10 ommendations related to the Commission’s imple11 mentation of this chapter as it determines are ap12 propriate. 

13 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP AND CHAIRPERSON.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall ap15 point no fewer than 10, and no more than 20, mem16 bers to the Advisory Committee, from among indi17 viduals who— 

18 ‘‘(A) represent the interests of recipients of 

19 Federal contracts; 

20 ‘‘(B) represent the interests of State, local, 

21 and tribal governments receiving Federal 

22 grants; 

23 ‘‘(C) represent the interests of other recipi24 ents of Federal funds; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) represent nonprofit organizations 

2 that advocate transparency and accountability 

3 in government. 

4 ‘‘(2) TERM.—Each member of the Advisory 

5 Committee appointed under this section shall serve 

6 for a term of three years, except that the Commis7 sion may appoint original members of the Com8 mittee to one-year and two-year terms in order to 

9 achieve staggered terms. No person shall serve more 

10 than one term. 

11 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the Ad12 visory Committee shall elect a chairperson. 

13 ‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Committee shall 

14 meet not less frequently than six times annually, at the 

15 call of the chairperson of the Advisory Committee. 

16 ‘‘(d) COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

17 Each member of the Committee who is not a full-time em18 ployee of the United States shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) be entitled to receive compensation at a 

20 rate not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual 

21 rate of basic pay in effect for a position at level V 

22 of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 

23 5 for each day during which the member is engaged 

24 in the actual performance of the duties of the Com25 mittee; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) while away from the home or regular place 

2 of business of the member in the performance of 

3 services for the Committee, be allowed travel ex4 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in 

5 the same manner as persons employed intermittently 

6 in the Government service are allowed expenses 

7 under section 5703(b) of title 5. 

8 ‘‘(e) STAFF.—The Commission shall make available 

9 to the Advisory Committee such staff of the Commission 

10 as the chairperson of the Advisory Committee recommends 

11 is necessary to carry out this section. 

12 ‘‘(f) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.—After receipt of any 

13 finding or recommendation from the Advisory Committee, 

14 the Commission shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) review the finding or recommendation; and 

16 ‘‘(2) promptly issue a public statement— 

17 ‘‘(A) assessing the finding or recommenda18 tion of the Advisory Committee; and 

19 ‘‘(B) disclosing the action, if any, the Com20 mission intends to take with respect to the find21 ing or recommendation. 

22 ‘‘(g) ADVISORY COMMITTEE FINDINGS.—Nothing in 

23 this section shall be construed as requiring the Commis24 sion to agree to or act upon any finding or recommenda25 tion of the Advisory Committee. 


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1 ‘‘(h) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 

2 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall 

3 apply to the Advisory Committee. 

4 ‘‘§ 3628. Authorization and availability of appropria5 tions 

6 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated $51,000,000 for each of 

8 fiscal years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 

9 and 2019 to carry out the functions of the Commission. 

10 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—If the Re11 covery Accountability and Transparency Board has unobli12 gated appropriations as of the effective date of this chap13 ter, such appropriations are authorized to remain available 

14 to the Commission until September 30, 2015. 

15 ‘‘§ 3629. Sunset 

16 ‘‘This subchapter shall cease to be in effect after the 

17 date occurring seven years after the date of the enactment 

18 of this subchapter.’’. 

19 SEC. 202. CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO COM20 PENSATION OF CHAIRMAN. 

21 Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following new item: 

23 ‘‘Chairman of the Federal Accountability and 

24 Spending Transparency Commission.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATED TO RE2 COVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANS3 PARENCY BOARD. 

4 (a) REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED PROVISIONS IN SUB5 TITLE B OF TITLE XV OF PUBLIC LAW 111–5.—Subtitle 

6 B of title XV of division A of the American Recovery and 

7 Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 

8 287) is amended by striking sections 1521, 1522, 1525(a), 

9 1529, and 1530. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) REFERENCES TO BOARD AND CHAIR12 PERSON.— 

13 (A) Paragraph (2) of section 1501 of the 

14 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

15 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 287) is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

18 means the Federal Accountability and Spending 

19 Transparency Commission established in chapter 36 

20 of title 31, United States Code.’’. 

21 (B) Such section is further amended by 

22 striking paragraph (3). 

23 (C) The following provisions of such Act 

24 are amended by striking ‘‘Board’’ each place it 

25 appears and inserting ‘‘Commission’’ in the 

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1 ing of subtitle B of title XV, and sections 1523, 

2 1524, 1525(b), 1525(c), 1526, 1527, 1528, 

3 1542, and 1553. 

4 (D) Section 1513(b)(2) of such Act is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘the quarter in which the 

6 Board terminates under section 1530’’ and in7 serting ‘‘the quarter ending September 30, 

8 2013’’. 

9 (c) REPEAL OF SUBTITLE B OF TITLE XV OF PUB10 LIC LAW 111–5.—Effective on October 1, 2013, subtitle 

11 B of title XV of division A of such Act is repealed. 

12 (d) REFERENCES IN FEDERAL LAW TO BOARD.—On 

13 and after the effective date of this Act, any reference in 

14 Federal law to the Recovery Accountability and Trans15 parency Board is deemed to be a reference to the Federal 

16 Accountability and Spending Transparency Commission. 

17 TITLE III—ADDITIONAL 

18 PROVISIONS 

19 SEC. 301. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. 

20 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

21 Act shall be construed to require the public disclosure of 

22 classified information. 

23 SEC. 302. PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT EXEMPTION. 

24 Section 3518(c) of title 44, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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

2 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (3)’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para4 graph (3); and 

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol6 lowing new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), this subchapter 

8 shall not apply to the collection of information during the 

9 conduct of any evaluation, or other review conducted by 

10 the Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency 

11 Commission, or during the conduct of any audit, investiga12 tion, inspection, evaluation, or any other review conducted 

13 by the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Effi14 ciency or any office of inspector general, including any of15 fice of special inspector general.’’. 

16 SEC. 303. MATCHING PROGRAM EXCEPTION FOR INSPEC17 TORS GENERAL. 

18 Section 6(a) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

19 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

21 (2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para22 graph (10); and 

23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol24 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(9) notwithstanding subsections (e)(12), (o), 

2 (p), (q), (r), and (u) of section 552a of title 5, 

3 United States Code, to compare, through a matching 

4 program (as defined in such section), any Federal 

5 records with other Federal or non-Federal records, 

6 while conducting an audit, investigation, or inspec7 tion authorized under this Act to identify weak8 nesses that may lead to waste, fraud, or abuse and 

9 to detect improper payments and fraud; and’’. 

10 SEC. 304. TRANSFER OF CONSOLIDATED FEDERAL FUNDS 

11 REPORT. 

12 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—The Commission 

13 and the Secretary of Commerce shall transfer the func14 tions of the Consolidated Federal Funds Report to the 

15 website established under the Federal Funding Account16 ability and Transparency Act of 2006, as amended by this 

17 Act. 

18 (b) INFORMATION.—Section 2(d) of the Federal 

19 Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, 

20 as amended by section 103 of this Act, is further amend21 ed— 

22 (1) by striking the period at the end of para23 graph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(7) shall permit users to determine the fol2 lowing information: 

3 ‘‘(A) For each fiscal year, the total amount 

4 of Federal funds that were obligated in each 

5 State, county or parish, congressional district, 

6 and municipality of the United States. 

7 ‘‘(B) For each fiscal year, the total amount 

8 of Federal funds that were actually expended in 

9 each State, county or parish, congressional dis10 trict, and municipality of the United States.’’. 

11 (c) CONFORMING REPEALS OF SUPERSEDED PROVI12 SIONS.—Chapter 62 of subtitle V of title 31, United States 

13 Code, is repealed. The item relating to that chapter in the 

14 table of chapters at the beginning of subtitle V of such 

15 title is repealed. 

16 SEC. 305. TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY OVER CATALOG OF 

17 FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE TO COM18 MISSION. 

19 (a) TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY FROM ADMINIS20 TRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES AND DIRECTOR OF OF21 FICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET TO COMMISSION.— 

22 (1) DEFINITION.—Paragraph (6) of section 

23 6101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended to 

24 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(6) ‘Commission’ means the Federal Account2 ability and Spending Transparency Commission es3 tablished in subchapter III of chapter 36 of this 

4 title.’’. 

5 (2) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO PROGRAM IN6 FORMATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 6102 of such 

7 title is amended— 

8 (A) in subsections (a) and (b), by striking 

9 ‘‘Administrator’’ and inserting ‘‘Commission’’ 

10 both places it appears; 

11 (B) in subsection (c)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘Commission’’; 

14 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and 

15 that the printed catalog’’ and all that fol16 lows through ‘‘printing’’; and 

17 (iii) in paragraph (4)— 

18 (I) by striking ‘‘transmit annu19 ally’’ and inserting ‘‘make’’; and 

20 (II) by striking ‘‘to the Com21 mittee’’ and all that follows through 

22 the period and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘available to the Committee on Over24 sight and Government Reform of the 

25 House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on Homeland Security and 

2 Governmental Affairs of the Senate.’’. 

3 (3) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO ASSISTANCE

4 AWARDS INFORMATION SYSTEM.—Section 6102a of 

5 such title is amended— 

6 (A) by striking subsection (b); 

7 (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub8 section (b); 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘Director’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘Commission’’ each place it appears; and 

11 (D) in subsection (b), as so redesignated— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘transmit promptly 

13 after the end of each calendar quarter, free 

14 of charge,’’ and insert ‘‘make available’’; 

15 and 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘Oversight’’ and in17 serting ‘‘Administration’’. 

18 (4) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO ACCESS TO

19 COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEM.—Section 6103 of 

20 such title is amended— 

21 (A) in subsections (a) and (c), by striking 

22 ‘‘Administrator’’ and inserting ‘‘Commission’’ 

23 each place it appears; and 

24 (B) by striking the text of subsection (b) 

25 and inserting the following: ‘‘The Commission 


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1 shall publish online all of the information con2 tained in the information system under sub3 section (a) in accordance with the Federal 

4 Funding Accountability and Transparency Act 

5 of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).’’. 

6 (5) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO CATALOG OF

7 FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—Sec8 tion 6104 of such title if amended by striking ‘‘Ad9 ministrator’’ and inserting ‘‘Commission’’ each place 

10 it appears. 

11 (6) REPEAL OF AUTHORIZATION.—Section 

12 6106 of such title is repealed. 

13 (b) DEADLINE FOR TRANSFER OF PROGRAM INFOR14 MATION SYSTEM AND CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC

15 ASSISTANCE.—Within 180 days after the effective date of 

16 this Act, the Commission and the Administrator of Gen17 eral Services shall transfer the management and control 

18 of the following from the Administrator to the Commis19 sion, as required by chapter 61 of title 31, United States 

20 Code, as amended by subsection (a): 

21 (1) The computer information system required 

22 under section 6103 of such title, as so amended. 

23 (2) The catalog of Federal domestic assistance 

24 programs required under section 6104 of such title, 

25 as so amended. 


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1 (c) DEADLINE FOR TRANSFER OF ASSISTANCE

2 AWARDS INFORMATION SYSTEM.—Within 180 days after 

3 the effective date of this Act, the Commission and the Di4 rector of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

5 transfer the management and control of the assistance 

6 awards information system from the Director to the Com7 mission, as required by section 6102a of title 31, United 

8 States Code, as amended by subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 306. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE IM10 PROVEMENT. 

11 (a) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION.— 

12 (1) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.—Section 

13 716 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in 

14 subsection (a)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; 

16 and 

17 (B) by inserting after the section heading 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob20 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re21 quires to discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, 

22 and investigative duties), including through the bringing 

23 of civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil ac24 tion under this section, the court shall recognize the con25 tinuing force and effect of the authorization in the preVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:41 Apr 27, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2146.RFS H2146

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1 ceding sentence until such time as the authorization is re2 pealed pursuant to law.’’. 

3 (2) COPIES.—Section 716(a) of title 31, United 

4 States Code, as amended by subsection (a), is fur5 ther amended in the second sentence of paragraph 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘inspect an agency record’’ and in7 serting ‘‘inspect, and make and retain copies of, an 

8 agency record’’. 

9 (b) ADMINISTERING OATHS.—Section 711 of title 31, 

10 United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (4) 

11 and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) administer oaths to witnesses when audit13 ing and settling accounts and, with the prior express 

14 approval of the Comptroller General, when inves15 tigating fraud or attempts to defraud the United 

16 States, or irregularity or misconduct of an employee 

17 or agent of the United States.’’. 

18 (c) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

19 (1) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Sub20 chapter II of chapter 7 of title 31, United States 

21 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘§ 721. Access to certain information 

24 ‘‘(a) No provision of the Social Security Act, includ25 ing section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall 


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1 be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the authority 

2 of the Comptroller General to obtain any information or 

3 to inspect or copy any record under section 716 of this 

4 title. 

5 ‘‘(b) No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

6 Cosmetic Act, including section 301(j) of that Act (21 

7 U.S.C. 331(j)), shall be construed to limit, amend, or su8 persede the authority of the Comptroller General to obtain 

9 any information or to inspect or copy any record under 

10 section 716 of this title. 

11 ‘‘(c) No provision of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust 

12 Improvements Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–435) and the 

13 amendments made by that Act shall be construed to limit, 

14 amend, or supersede the authority of the Comptroller Gen15 eral to obtain any information or to inspect or copy any 

16 record under section 716 of this title, including with re17 spect to any information disclosed to the Assistant Attor18 ney General of the Antitrust Division of the Department 

19 of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission for purposes 

20 of pre-merger review under section 7A of the Clayton Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 18a). 

22 ‘‘(d)(1) The Comptroller General shall prescribe such 

23 policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from 

24 public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information 

25 obtained consistent with this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to— 

2 ‘‘(A) alter or amend the prohibitions against 

3 the disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive infor4 mation prohibited by section 1905 of title 18 and 

5 other applicable laws; or 

6 ‘‘(B) affect the applicability of section 716(e) of 

7 this title, including the protections against unauthor8 ized disclosure contained in that section, to informa9 tion obtained consistent with this section. 

10 ‘‘(e) Specific references to statutes in this section 

11 shall not be construed to affect access by the Government 

12 Accountability Office to information under statutes that 

13 are not so referenced.’’. 

14 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND15 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 

16 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

17 after the item relating to section 720 the following: 

‘‘721. Access to certain information.’’. 

18 (d) AGENCY REPORTS.—Section 720(b) of title 31, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

21 inserting ‘‘or planned’’ after ‘‘action taken’’; and 

22 (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

25 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 


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1 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

2 of Representatives, the congressional committees 

3 with jurisdiction over the agency program or activity 

4 that is the subject of the recommendation, and the 

5 Government Accountability Office before the 61st 

6 day after the date of the report; and’’. 

7 SEC. 307. AMENDMENTS TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT 

8 OF 1978 AND THE INSPECTOR GENERAL RE9 FORM ACT OF 2008. 

10 (a) INCORPORATION OF PROVISIONS FROM THE IN11 SPECTOR GENERAL REFORM ACT OF 2008 INTO THE IN12 SPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.— 

13 (1) CLASSIFICATION AND PAY.— 

14 (A) AMENDMENT.—Section 8G of the In15 spector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following 

17 new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(i) CLASSIFICATION AND PAY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of law, the Inspector General of each des21 ignated Federal entity shall, for pay and all other 

22 purposes, be classified at a grade, level, or rank des23 ignation, as the case may be, at or above those of 

24 a majority of the senior level executives of that des25 ignated Federal entity (such as a General Counsel, 


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1 Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer, 

2 Chief Human Capital Officer, or Chief Acquisition 

3 Officer). The pay of an Inspector General of a des4 ignated Federal entity shall be not less than the av5 erage total compensation (including bonuses) of the 

6 senior level executives of that designated Federal en7 tity calculated on an annual basis. 

8 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ADJUSTMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an In10 spector General of a designated Federal entity 

11 whose pay is adjusted under paragraph (1), the 

12 total increase in pay in any fiscal year resulting 

13 from that adjustment may not exceed 25 per14 cent of the average total compensation (includ15 ing bonuses) of the Inspector General of that 

16 entity for the preceding 3 fiscal years. 

17 ‘‘(B) SUNSET OF LIMITATION.—The limi18 tation under subparagraph (A) shall not apply 

19 to any adjustment made in fiscal year 2013 or 

20 each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

21 (B) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 4(b) 

22 of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 

23 (Public Law 110–409; 122 Stat. 4304; 5 

24 U.S.C. App. 3 note) is repealed. 

25 (2) PAY RETENTION.— 


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1 (A) AMENDMENT.—The Inspector General 

2 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 

3 adding after section 8L the following new sec4 tion: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 8M. PAY RETENTION. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of section 3392 

7 of title 5, United States Code, other than the terms ‘per8 formance awards’ and ‘awarding of ranks’ in subsection 

9 (c)(1) of such section, shall apply to career appointees of 

10 the Senior Executive Service who are appointed to the po11 sition of Inspector General. 

12 ‘‘(b) NONREDUCTION IN PAY.—Notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of law, career Federal employees serving 

14 on an appointment made pursuant to statutory authority 

15 found other than in section 3392 of title 5, United States 

16 Code, shall not suffer a reduction in pay, not including 

17 any bonus or performance award, as a result of being ap18 pointed to the position of Inspector General.’’. 

19 (B) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 4(c) 

20 of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 

21 (Public Law 110–409; 122 Stat. 4304; 5 

22 U.S.C. App. 3 note) is repealed. 

23 (3) ALLEGATIONS OF WRONGDOING AGAINST

24 SPECIAL COUNSEL OR DEPUTY SPECIAL COUNSEL.— 


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1 (A) AMENDMENT.—Section 11(d) of the 

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

3 is amended by adding at the end the following 

4 new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(12) ALLEGATIONS OF WRONGDOING AGAINST

6 SPECIAL COUNSEL OR DEPUTY SPECIAL COUNSEL.— 

7 ‘‘(A) SPECIAL COUNSEL DEFINED.—In this 

8 paragraph, the term ‘Special Counsel’ means 

9 the Special Counsel appointed under section 

10 1211(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

11 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF INTEGRITY COM12 MITTEE.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An allegation of 

14 wrongdoing against the Special Counsel or 

15 the Deputy Special Counsel may be re16 ceived, reviewed, and referred for investiga17 tion by the Integrity Committee to the 

18 same extent and in the same manner as in 

19 the case of an allegation against an Inspec20 tor General (or a member of the staff of 

21 an Office of Inspector General), subject to 

22 the requirement that the Special Counsel 

23 recuse himself or herself from the consider24 ation of any allegation brought under this 

25 paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION WITH EXISTING

2 PROVISIONS OF LAW.—This paragraph 

3 does not eliminate access to the Merit Sys4 tems Protection Board for review under 

5 section 7701 of title 5, United States 

6 Code. To the extent that an allegation 

7 brought under this subsection involves sec8 tion 2302(b)(8) of that title, a failure to 

9 obtain corrective action within 120 days 

10 after the date on which that allegation is 

11 received by the Integrity Committee shall, 

12 for purposes of section 1221 of such title, 

13 be considered to satisfy section 

14 1214(a)(3)(B) of that title. 

15 ‘‘(C) REGULATIONS.—The Integrity Com16 mittee may prescribe any rules or regulations 

17 necessary to carry out this paragraph, subject 

18 to such consultation or other requirements as 

19 might otherwise apply.’’. 

20 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

21 7(b) of the Inspector General Reform Act of 

22 2008 (Public Law 110–409; 122 Stat. 4312; 5 

23 U.S.C. 1211 note) is repealed. 

24 (b) AGENCY APPLICABILITY.— 


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1 (1) AMENDMENTS.—The Inspector General Act 

2 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by subsection 

3 (a), is further amended— 

4 (A) in section 8L— 

5 (i) in subsection (a)(1)— 

6 (I) by striking the first ‘‘agency’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘Federal agency and 

8 designated Federal entity’’; and 

9 (II) by striking the second and 

10 third ‘‘agency’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal 

11 agency or designated Federal entity’’; 

12 and 

13 (ii) in subsection (b)— 

14 (I) in paragraph (1), by striking 

15 ‘‘agency’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal 

16 agency and designated Federal enti17 ty’’; and 

18 (II) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (aa) in subparagraph (A), 

20 by striking ‘‘agency’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘Federal agency and des22 ignated Federal entity’’; and 

23 (bb) in subparagraph (B), 

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1 ing ‘‘Federal agency and des2 ignated Federal entity’’; and 

3 (B) in section 11(c)(3)(A)(ii), by striking 

4 ‘‘department, agency, or entity of the executive 

5 branch’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal agency or des6 ignated Federal entity’’. 

7 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 

8 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

9 head and the Inspector General of each Federal 

10 agency and each designated Federal entity (as such 

11 terms are defined in sections 12 and 8G of the In12 spector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), re13 spectively) shall implement the amendments made by 

14 this subsection. 

15 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR INSPECTORS GENERAL

16 WEBSITES.—Section 8L(b)(1) of the Inspector General 

17 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘report or audit (or portion of 

19 any report or audit)’’ and inserting ‘‘audit report, 

20 inspection report, or evaluation report (or portion of 

21 any such report)’’; and 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘report or audit (or portion of 

23 that report or audit)’’ and inserting ‘‘report (or por24 tion of that report)’’ each place it appears. 

25 (d) CORRECTIONS.— 


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1 (1) EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER.—Section 

2 7(c)(2) of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 

3 (Public Law 110–409; 122 Stat. 4313; 31 U.S.C. 

4 501 note) is amended by striking ‘‘12933’’ and in5 serting ‘‘12993’’. 

6 (2) PUNCTUATION AND CROSS-REFERENCES.— 

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

8 is amended— 

9 (A) in section 6(a)(4), by striking ‘‘infor10 mation, as well as any tangible thing)’’ and in11 serting ‘‘information), as well as any tangible 

12 thing’’; and 

13 (B) in section 8G(g)(3), by striking ‘‘8C’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘8D’’. 

15 (3) SPELLING.—The Inspector General Act of 

16 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

17 (A) in section 3(a), by striking ‘‘subpena’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘subpoena’’; 

19 (B) in section 6(a)(4), by striking ‘‘sub20 pena’’ and ‘‘subpenas’’ and inserting ‘‘sub21 poena’’ and ‘‘subpoenas’’, respectively; 

22 (C) in section 8D(a)— 

23 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub24 penas’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoenas’’; and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

2 ‘‘subpena’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoena’’, each 

3 place it appears; 

4 (D) in section 8E(a)— 

5 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub6 penas’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoenas’’; and 

7 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

8 ‘‘subpena’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoena’’ each 

9 place it appears; and 

10 (E) in section 8G(d), by striking ‘‘sub11 pena’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoena’’. 

12 (e) REPEAL.—Section 744 of the Financial Services 

13 and General Government Appropriations Act, 2009 (divi14 sion D of Public Law 111–8; 123 Stat. 693; 5 U.S.C. App. 

15 8L) is repealed. 

16 SEC. 308. LIMITS AND TRANSPARENCY FOR TRAVEL AND 

17 CONFERENCE SPENDING. 

18 (a) TRAVEL EXPENSES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES RE19 LATING TO CONFERENCES.— 

20 (1) LIMITATIONS AND REPORTS ON TRAVEL EX21 PENSES TO CONFERENCES.—Chapter 57 of title 5, 

22 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

23 section 5711 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 5712. Limitations and reports on travel expenses to 

2 conferences 

3 ‘‘(a) In this section, the term— 

4 ‘‘(1) ‘conference’ means a meeting that— 

5 ‘‘(A) is held for consultation, education, or 

6 discussion; 

7 ‘‘(B) is not held entirely at an agency facil8 ity; 

9 ‘‘(C) involves costs associated with travel 

10 and lodging for some participants; and 

11 ‘‘(D) is sponsored by 1 or more agencies, 

12 1 or more organizations that are not agencies, 

13 or a combination of such agencies or organiza14 tions; and 

15 ‘‘(2) ‘international conference’ means a con16 ference attended by representatives of — 

17 ‘‘(A) the United States Government; and 

18 ‘‘(B) any foreign government, international 

19 organization, or foreign nongovernmental orga20 nization. 

21 ‘‘(b) No agency may pay the travel expenses for more 

22 than 50 employees of that agency who are stationed in 

23 the United States, for any international conference occur24 ring outside the United States, unless the Secretary of 

25 State determines that attendance for such employees is 

26 in the national interest. 


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1 ‘‘(c) At the beginning of each quarter of each fiscal 

2 year, each agency shall post on the public Internet website 

3 of that agency a report on each conference for which the 

4 agency paid travel expenses during the preceding 3 

5 months that includes— 

6 ‘‘(1) the itemized expenses paid by the agency, 

7 including travel expenses, the cost of scouting for 

8 and selecting the location of the conference, and any 

9 agency expenditures to otherwise support the con10 ference; 

11 ‘‘(2) the primary sponsor of the conference; 

12 ‘‘(3) the location of the conference; 

13 ‘‘(4) in the case of a conference for which that 

14 agency was the primary sponsor, a statement that— 

15 ‘‘(A) justifies the location selected; 

16 ‘‘(B) demonstrates the cost efficiency of 

17 the location; and 

18 ‘‘(C) provides a cost benefit analysis of 

19 holding a conference rather than conducting a 

20 teleconference; 

21 ‘‘(5) the date of the conference; 

22 ‘‘(6) a brief explanation how the conference ad23 vanced the mission of the agency; 

24 ‘‘(7) the title of any Federal employee or any 

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1 el expenses or other conference expenses were paid 

2 by the agency; and 

3 ‘‘(8) the total number of individuals whose trav4 el expenses or other conference expenses were paid 

5 by the agency. 

6 ‘‘(d) Each report posted on the public Internet 

7 website under subsection (c) shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) be in a searchable electronic format; and 

9 ‘‘(2) remain on that website for at least 5 years 

10 after the date of posting.’’. 

11 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND12 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 57 of title 

13 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

14 the item relating to section 5711 the following: 

‘‘5712. Limitations and reports on travel expenses to conferences.’’. 

15 (b) LIMITATIONS ON ANNUAL TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of each of fiscal 

17 years 2012 through 2016, an agency (as defined 

18 under section 5701(1) of title 5, United States 

19 Code) may not make, or obligate to make, expendi20 tures for travel expenses, in an aggregate amount 

21 greater than 80 percent of the aggregate amount of 

22 such expenses for fiscal year 2010. 

23 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

24 (A) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Not later than 

25 September 1, 2012 and after consultation with 


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1 the Administrator of General Services and the 

2 Director of the Administrative Office of the 

3 United States Courts, the Director of the Office 

4 of Management and Budget shall establish 

5 guidelines for the determination of what ex6 penses constitute travel expenses for purposes 

7 of this subsection. The guidelines shall identify 

8 specific expenses, and classes of expenses, that 

9 are to be treated as travel expenses. 

10 (B) EXEMPTION FOR MILITARY TRAVEL.— 

11 The guidelines required under subparagraph 

12 (A) shall exclude military travel expenses in de13 termining what expenses constitute travel ex14 penses. Military travel expenses shall include 

15 travel expenses involving military combat, the 

16 training or deployment of uniformed military 

17 personnel, and such other travel expenses as are 

18 determined under the guidelines. 

19 (c) CONFERENCE TRANSPARENCY AND LIMITA20 TIONS.— 

21 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

22 (A) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning 

23 given under section 5701(1) of title 5, United 

24 States Code; and 


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1 (B) the term ‘‘conference’’ has the mean2 ing given under section 5712(a)(1) of that title 

3 (as added by subsection (a)). 

4 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF CONFERENCE MA5 TERIALS.—Each agency shall post on the public 

6 Internet website of that agency detailed information 

7 on any presentation made by any employee of that 

8 agency at a conference, including— 

9 (A) any minutes relating to the presen10 tation; 

11 (B) any speech delivered; 

12 (C) any visual exhibit, including photo13 graphs or slides; 

14 (D) any video, digital, or audio recordings 

15 of the conference; and 

16 (E) information regarding any financial 

17 support or other assistance from a foundation 

18 or other non-Federal source used to pay or de19 fray the costs of the conference, which shall in20 clude a certification by the head of the agency 

21 that there is no conflict of interest resulting 

22 from the support received from each such 

23 source. 

24 (3) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT EXPENDED ON A

25 CONFERENCE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—No agency may expend 

2 more than $500,000 to support a single con3 ference. 

4 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

5 this paragraph shall be construed to preclude 

6 an agency from receiving financial support or 

7 other assistance from a foundation or other 

8 non-Federal source to pay or defray the costs of 

9 a conference the total cost of which exceeds 

10 $500,000. 

11 (4) LIMITATION ON THE ANNUAL NUMBER OF

12 CONFERENCES AN AGENCY MAY SUPPORT.—No 

13 agency may expend funds on more than a single con14 ference sponsored or organized by an organization 

15 during any fiscal year, unless the agency is the pri16 mary sponsor and organizer of the conference. 

17 SEC. 309. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and 

19 the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 25, 2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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