I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1368

To establish the Congressional Office of Inspector General.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 1993

Mr. RIDGE introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on House Administration and Rules

A BILL

To establish the Congressional Office of Inspector General.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GEN4 ERAL.

5 There is created an establishment of the Government

6 to be known as the Congressional Office of Inspector Gen7 eral, which shall be independent of the executive depart8 ments and under the control and direction of the Speaker

9 and minority leader of the House of Representatives.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF IN2 SPECTOR GENERAL.

3 The purpose of this Act is to create independent and

4 objective units—

5 (1) to conduct and supervise audits and inves6 tigations relating to the office procedures and oper7 ations of each Member or committee of the House

8 of Representatives and any other office of the House

9 of Representatives whose employees are paid by the

10 Clerk;

11 (2) to provide leadership and coordination and

12 recommend policies for activities designed (A) to

13 promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the

14 administration of, and (B) to prevent and detect

15 fraud and abuse in, such office procedures and oper16 ations; and

17 (3) to provide a means for keeping each Mem18 ber of Congress and the Congress fully and currently

19 informed about problems and deficiencies relating to

20 the administration of such office procedures and op21 erations and the necessity for and progress of cor22 rective action.
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1 SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL; SUPER2 VISION; REMOVAL; APPOINTMENT OF ASSIST3 ANT INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR AUDITING

4 AND ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR

5 INVESTIGATIONS.

6 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There shall be at the head of the

7 Office an Inspector General who shall be appointed by the

8 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the minority

9 leader of the House of Representatives, without regard to

10 political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and

11 demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial

12 analysis, law, management analysis, public administration,

13 or investigations. Except as hereinafter provided in this

14 section, the Inspector General shall hold office for 7 years.

15 The Inspector General shall not be eligible for reappoint16 ment.

17 (b) SUPERVISION.—The Inspector General shall re18 port to and be under the general supervision of the Speak19 er and the minority leader of the House of Representa20 tives. The Speaker of the House shall not prevent or pro21 hibit the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out,

22 or completing any audit or investigation.

23 (c) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be re24 moved from office by the Speaker and the minority leader

25 of the House only for cause.
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1 (d) ASSISTANTS.—Each Inspector General shall in

2 accordance with applicable laws and regulations governing

3 employees of the House of Representatives—

4 (1) appoint an Assistant Inspector General for

5 Auditing who shall have the responsibility for super6 vising the performance of auditing activities relating

7 to office procedures and operations of each Member

8 or committee of the House of Representatives and

9 any other office of the House of Representatives

10 whose employees are paid by the Clerk; and

11 (2) appoint an Assistant Inspector General for

12 Investigations who shall have the responsibility for

13 supervising the performance of investigative activi14 ties relating to such office procedures and oper15 ations.

16 SEC. 4. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty and respon18 sibility of the Inspector General, with respect to the House

19 of Representatives—

20 (1) to provide for policy direction for and to

21 conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and inves22 tigations relating to the office procedures and oper23 ations of each Member or committee of the House

24 of Representatives and any other office of the House
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1 of Representatives whose employees are paid by the

2 Clerk;

3 (2) to review existing and proposed rules of the

4 House of Representatives and regulations relating to

5 office procedures and operations of each Member or

6 committee of the House of Representatives and any

7 other office of the House of Representatives whose

8 employees are paid by the Clerk and to make rec9 ommendations in the annual reports required con10 cerning the impact of such rules or regulations on

11 the economy and efficiency in the administration of

12 office procedures and operations administered or fi13 nanced by each Congressional office of the preven14 tion and detection of fraud and abuse in such office

15 procedures and operations;

16 (3) to recommend policies for, and to conduct,

17 supervise, or coordinate other activities carried out

18 or financed by each Member or committee of the

19 House of Representatives and any other office of the

20 House of Representatives whose employees are paid

21 by the Clerk for the purpose of promoting economy

22 or efficiency in the administration of, or preventing

23 and detecting fraud and abuse in, office procedures

24 and operations; and
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1 (4) to keep the Congress fully and currently in2 formed by means of the reports required and other3 wise, concerning fraud and other serious problems,

4 abuses, and deficiencies relating to the administra5 tion of office procedures and operations, and to

6 report on the progress made in implementing such

7 corrective action.

8 (b) AUDIT STANDARDS.—In carrying out the respon9 sibilities each Inspector General shall comply with estab10 lished standards for audits of Federal establishments, or11 ganizations, programs, activities, and functions.

12 (c) REPORTS OF RULES VIOLATIONS.—In carrying

13 out the duties and responsibilities established each Inspec14 tor General shall report expeditiously to the chairman and

15 the ranking minority party member of the Committee on

16 Standards and Official Conduct whenever the Inspector

17 General has reasonable grounds to believe there has been

18 a violation of the Rules of the House of Representatives.

19 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORTS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each Inspector General shall, not

21 later than October 31 of each year, prepare annual reports

22 summarizing the activities of the Office during the imme23 diately proceeding 12 month period ending September 30.

24 Such report shall include, but need not be limited to—
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1 (1) a description of significant problems,

2 abuses, and deficiencies relating to the administra3 tion of office procedures and operations of each

4 Member and committee of the House of Representa5 tives and any other office of the House of Represent6 atives whose employees are paid by the Clerk dis7 closed by such activities during the reporting period;

8 (2) a description of the recommendations for

9 corrective action made by the Office during the re10 porting period with respect to significant problems,

11 abuses, or deficiencies identified pursuant to para12 graph (1);

13 (3) an identification of each significant rec14 ommendation described in previous annual reports

15 on which corrective action has not been completed;

16 (4) a summary of matters referred to the Com17 mittee on Standards of Official Conduct and the ac18 tions which have resulted;

19 (5) a summary of each report made to the

20 Speaker and minority leader of the House of Rep21 resentatives under section 6(b) during the reporting

22 period;

23 (6) a listing, subdivided according to subject

24 matter, of each audit report issued by the office dur25 ing the reporting period and for each audit report,
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1 where applicable the total dollar value of questioned

2 costs (including a separate category for the dollar

3 value of unsupported costs) and the dollar value of

4 recommendations that funds be put to better use;

5 (7) a summary of each particularly significant

6 report;

7 (8) statistical tables showing the total number

8 of audit reports and the total dollar value of ques9 tioned costs (including a separate category for the

10 dollar value of unsupported costs), for audit re11 ports—

12 (A) for which no management decision has

13 been made by the commencement of the report14 ing period;

15 (B) which were issued during the reporting

16 period; and

17 (C) for which a management decision was

18 made during the reporting period, including—

19 (i) the dollar value of disallowed costs;

20 and

21 (ii) the dollar value of costs not dis22 allowed; and

23 (D) for which no management decision has

24 been made by the end of the reporting period;
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1 (9) statistical tables showing the total number

2 of audit reports and the dollar value of recommenda3 tions that funds be put to better use by manage4 ment, for audit reports—

5 (A) for which no management decision had

6 been made by the commencement of the report7 ing period;

8 (B) which were issued during the reporting

9 period; and

10 (C) for which a management decision was

11 made during the reporting period including—

12 (i) the dollar value of recommenda13 tions that were not agreed to by manage14 ment; and

15 (ii) the dollar value of recommenda16 tions that were not agreed to by manage17 ment; and

18 (D) for which no management decision has

19 been made by the end of the reporting period.

20 (10) a summary of each audit report issued be21 fore the commencement of the reporting period for

22 which no management decision has been made by

23 the end of the reporting period (including the date

24 and title of each such report), an explanation of the

25 reasons such management decision has not been
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1 made, and a statement concerning the desired time2 table for achieving a management decision on each

3 such report; and

4 (11) information concerning any significant

5 management decision with which the Inspector Gen6 eral is in disagreement.

7 (b) FURNISHING OF ANNUAL REPORT.—The annual

8 report of the Inspector General shall be furnished to the

9 Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representa10 tives not later than October 31 of each year.

11 (c) REPORT OF SERIOUS PROBLEMS.—The Inspector

12 General shall report immediately to the Speaker and mi13 nority leader of the House of Representatives whenever

14 the Inspector General becomes aware of particularly seri15 ous or flagrant problems, abuses, or deficiencies relating

16 to the administration of office procedures and operations

17 of any Member or committee of the House of Representa18 tives and any other office of the House of Representatives

19 whose employees are paid by the Clerk.

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

21 (1) the term ‘‘questioned cost’’ means a cost

22 that is questioned by the Office because of—

23 (A) an alleged violation of the Rules of the

24 House of Representatives;
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1 (B) a finding that, at the time of the

2 audit, such cost is not supported by adequate

3 documentation; or

4 (C) a finding that the expenditure of funds

5 for the intended purpose is unnecessary or un6 reasonable;

7 (2) the term ‘‘unsupported costs’’ means a cost

8 that is questioned by the Office because the Office

9 found that at the time of the audit, such cost is not

10 supported by adequate documentation;

11 (3) the term ‘‘disallowed cost’’ means a ques12 tioned cost that management, in a management deci13 sion, has sustained or agreed should not be charged

14 to the House of Representatives;

15 (4) the term ‘‘recommendation that funds be

16 put to better use’’ means a recommendation by the

17 Office that funds could be used more efficiently if

18 management of a Member’s office or House commit19 tee or other office took action to implement and

20 complete the recommendation including—

21 (A) reductions in outlays; and

22 (B) any other savings which are specifi23 cally identified;

24 (5) the term ‘‘management decision’’ means the

25 evaluation by the management of a Member’s office
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1 or House committee or other office of the findings

2 and recommendations included in an audit report

3 and the issuance of a final decision by management

4 concerning its response to such findings and rec5 ommendations, including actions concluded to be

6 necessary; and

7 (6) the term ‘‘final action’’ means—

8 (A) the completion of all actions that the

9 management of a Member’s office or House

10 committee or other office has concluded in its

11 management decision, are necessary with re12 spect to the findings and recommendations in13 cluded in the audit report; and

14 (B) in the event that the management of

15 a Member’s office or House committee or other

16 office concludes no action is necessary, final ac17 tion occurs when a management decision has

18 been made.

19 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the authority other21 wise provided by this Act, the Inspector General in carry22 ing out the provisions of this Act, is authorized—

23 (1) to have access to all records, reports, audits,

24 reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, or

25 other material available to the applicable Member’s
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1 office or House committee or other office which re2 lates to office procedures and operations with re3 spect to which the Inspector General has responsibil4 ities under this Act;

5 (2) to make such investigations and reports re6 lating to the administration of the office procedures

7 and operations of the applicable Member’s office or

8 House committee or other office as are, in the judg9 ment of the Inspector General, necessary or desir10 able;

11 (3) to administer to or take from any person an

12 oath, affirmation, or affidavit, whenever necessary in

13 the performance of the functions assigned by this

14 Act, employee of an Office of an Inspector General

15 designated by the Inspector General shall have the

16 same force and effect as if administered or taken by

17 or before an officer having a seal; and

18 (4) to have direct and prompt access to a Mem19 ber or chairman of a House committee or head of

20 any other office within the House of Representatives

21 when necessary for any purpose pertaining to the

22 performance of functions and responsibilities under

23 this Act.

24 (b) REPORT OF REFUSAL.—Whenever information or

25 assistance requested under subsection (a)(1) is, in the
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1 judgment of an Inspector General, unreasonably refused

2 or not provided, the Inspector General shall report the cir3 cumstance to the Speaker and minority leader of the

4 House of Representatives without delay.

5 SEC. 7. COMPLAINTS BY EMPLOYEES; DISCLOSURE OF

6 IDENTITY; REPRISALS.

7 (a) COMPLAINTS.—The Inspector General may re8 ceive and investigate complaints or information from an

9 employee of the House of Representatives concerning the

10 possible existence of an activity constituting a violation of

11 law, Rules of the House of Representatives, or mis12 management, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority or

13 a substantial and specific danger to the public health and

14 safety.

15 (b) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITY.—The Inspector Gen16 eral shall not, after a receipt of a complaint or information

17 from an employee, disclose the identity of the employee

18 without the consent of the employee, unless the Inspector

19 General determines such disclosure is unavoidable during

20 the course of the investigation.

21 (c) REPRISALS.—Any employee who has authority to

22 take, direct others to take, recommend or approve any per23 sonnel action, shall not, with respect to such authority,

24 take or threaten to take any action against any employee

25 as reprisal for making a complaint or disclosing informa-
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1 tion to an Inspector General, unless the complaint was

2 made or the information disclosed with the knowledge that

3 it was false or with willful disregard for its truth or falsity.

4 SEC. 8. REPEALER.

5 Clause 2 of rule VI of the Rules of the House of Rep6 resentatives is repealed.

Æ