II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 17 

To ensure the Government Accountability Office has adequate access to 

information. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. SASSE (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To ensure the Government Accountability Office has 

adequate access to information. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘GAO Access and Over5 sight Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION. 

7 (a) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Subchapter 

8 II of chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 


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•S 17 IS

1 ‘‘§ 721. Access to certain information 

2 ‘‘(a) No provision of the Social Security Act, includ3 ing section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall 

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

5 of the Comptroller General to obtain any information or 

6 to inspect any record under section 716 of this title. 

7 ‘‘(b) The specific reference to a statute in subsection 

8 (a) shall not be construed to affect access by the Govern9 ment Accountability Office to information under statutes 

10 that are not referenced in subsection (a).’’. 

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

12 United States Code, is amended— 

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

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

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

16 following: 

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

18 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 

19 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

20 of Representatives, the congressional committees 

21 with jurisdiction over the agency program or activity 

22 that is the subject of the recommendation, and the 

23 Government Accountability Office before the 61st 

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


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1 (c) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.—Section 716 

2 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in subsection 

3 (a)— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; and 

5 (2) by inserting after the section heading the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob8 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re9 quires to discharge the duties of the Comptroller General 

10 (including audit, evaluation, and investigative duties), in11 cluding through the bringing of civil actions under this 

12 section. In reviewing a civil action under this section, the 

13 court shall recognize the continuing force and effect of the 

14 authorization in the preceding sentence until such time as 

15 the authorization is repealed pursuant to law.’’. 

16 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

18 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat19 ing to section 720 the following: 

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

Æ 


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