II

Calendar No. 672

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2712

[Report No. 106–337]

To amend chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize the

consolidation of certain financial and performance management reports

required of Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 12, 2000

Mr. THOMPSON (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

JULY 11, 2000

Reported by Mr. THOMPSON, without amendment

A BILL

To amend chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, to

authorize the consolidation of certain financial and performance management reports required of Federal agencies, 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 ‘‘Reports Consolidation

3 Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

6 (1) existing law imposes numerous financial and

7 performance management reporting requirements on

8 agencies;

9 (2) these separate requirements can cause du10 plication of effort on the part of agencies and result

11 in uncoordinated reports containing information in a

12 form that is not completely useful to Congress; and

13 (3) pilot projects conducted by agencies under

14 the direction of the Office of Management and

15 Budget demonstrate that single consolidated reports

16 providing an analysis of verifiable financial and per17 formance management information produce more

18 useful reports with greater efficiency.

19 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

20 (1) to authorize and encourage the consolida21 tion of financial and performance management re22 ports;

23 (2) to provide financial and performance man24 agement information in a more meaningful and use25 ful format for Congress, the President, and the pub26 lic;
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1 (3) to improve the quality of agency financial

2 and performance management information; and

3 (4) to enhance coordination and efficiency on

4 the part of agencies in reporting financial and per5 formance management information.

6 SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATED REPORTS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 35 of title 31, United

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘§ 3516. Reports consolidation

11 ‘‘(a)(1) With the concurrence of the Director of the

12 Office of Management and Budget, the head of an execu13 tive agency may adjust the frequency and due dates of,

14 and consolidate into an annual report to the President,

15 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and

16 Congress any statutorily required reports described in

17 paragraph (2). Such a consolidated report shall be sub18 mitted to the President, the Director of the Office of Man19 agement and Budget, and to appropriate committees and

20 subcommittees of Congress not later than 150 days after

21 the end of the agency’s fiscal year.

22 ‘‘(2) The following reports may be consolidated into

23 the report referred to in paragraph (1):

24 ‘‘(A) Any report by an agency to Congress, the

25 Office of Management and Budget, or the President
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1 under section 1116, this chapter, and chapters 9,

2 33, 37, 75, and 91.

3 ‘‘(B) The following agency-specific reports:

4 ‘‘(i) The biennial financial management

5 improvement plan by the Secretary of Defense

6 under section 2222 of title 10.

7 ‘‘(ii) The annual report of the Attorney

8 General under section 522 of title 28.

9 ‘‘(C) Any other statutorily required report per10 taining to an agency’s financial or performance man11 agement if the head of the agency—

12 ‘‘(i) determines that inclusion of that re13 port will enhance the usefulness of the reported

14 information to decision makers; and

15 ‘‘(ii) consults in advance of inclusion of

16 that report with the Committee on Govern17 mental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on

18 Government Reform of the House of Represent19 atives, and any other committee of Congress

20 having jurisdiction with respect to the report

21 proposed for inclusion.

22 ‘‘(b) A report under subsection (a) that incorporates

23 the agency’s program performance report under section

24 1116 shall be referred to as a performance and account25 ability report.
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1 ‘‘(c) A report under subsection (a) that does not in2 corporate the agency’s program performance report under

3 section 1116 shall contain a summary of the most signifi4 cant portions of the agency’s program performance report,

5 including the agency’s success in achieving key perform6 ance goals for the applicable year.

7 ‘‘(d) A report under subsection (a) shall include a

8 statement prepared by the agency’s inspector general that

9 summarizes what the inspector general considers to be the

10 most serious management and performance challenges fac11 ing the agency and briefly assesses the agency’s progress

12 in addressing those challenges. The inspector general shall

13 provide such statement to the agency head at least 30 days

14 before the due date of the report under subsection (a).

15 The agency head may comment on the inspector general’s

16 statement, but may not modify the statement.

17 ‘‘(e) A report under subsection (a) shall include a

18 transmittal letter from the agency head containing, in ad19 dition to any other content, an assessment by the agency

20 head of the completeness and reliability of the perform21 ance and financial data used in the report. The assessment

22 shall describe any material inadequacies in the complete23 ness and reliability of the data, and the actions the agency

24 can take and is taking to resolve such inadequacies.’’.
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1 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEARS 2000 AND

2 2001.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of section 3516(a)

3 of title 31, United States Code (as added by subsection

4 (a) of this section), the head of an executive agency may

5 submit a consolidated report under such paragraph not

6 later than 180 days after the end of that agency’s fiscal

7 year, with respect to fiscal years 2000 and 2001.

8 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

9 The table of sections for chapter 35 of title 31, United

10 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat11 ing to section 3515 the following:

‘‘3516. Reports consolidation.’’.

12 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO AUDITED FINANCIAL

13 STATEMENTS.

14 (a) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.—Section 3515 of title

15 31, United States Code, is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘Congress

17 and the’’ before ‘‘Director’’; and

18 (2) by striking subsections (e) through (h).

19 (b) ELIMINATION OF REPORT.—Section 3521(f) of

20 title 31, United States Code, is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (1)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (f)’’

23 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; and

24 (B) by striking ‘‘(1)’’; and

25 (2) by striking paragraph (2).
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1 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO PROGRAM PERFORM2 ANCE REPORTS.

3 (a) REPORT DUE DATE.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1116(a) of title 31,

5 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘No

6 later than March 31, 2000, and no later than March

7 31 of each year thereafter,’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later

8 than 150 days after the end of an agency’s fiscal

9 year,’’.

10 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEARS 2000 AND

11 2001.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section

12 1116 of title 31, United States Code (as amended by

13 paragraph (1) of this subsection), an agency head

14 may submit a report under such subsection not later

15 than 180 days after the end of that agency’s fiscal

16 year, with respect to fiscal years 2000 and 2001.

17 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION IN FINANCIAL

18 STATEMENT.—Section 1116(e) of title 31, United States

19 Code, is amended to read as follows:

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

21 program performance report shall contain an assessment

22 by the agency head of the completeness and reliability of

23 the performance data included in the report. The assess24 ment shall describe any material inadequacies in the com25 pleteness and reliability of the performance data, and the
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1 actions the agency can take and is taking to resolve such

2 inadequacies.

3 ‘‘(2) If a program performance report is incorporated

4 into a report submitted under section 3516, the require5 ments of section 3516(e) shall apply in lieu of paragraph

6 (1).’’.

Calendar No. 672

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2712

[Report No. 106–337]

A BILL

To amend chapter 35 of title 31, United States

Code, to authorize the consolidation of certain financial and performance management reports required of Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

JULY 11, 2000

Reported without amendment