II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2712

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

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reports Consolidation

5 Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) existing law imposes numerous financial and

2 performance management reporting requirements on

3 agencies;

4 (2) these separate requirements can cause du5 plication of effort on the part of agencies and result

6 in uncoordinated reports containing information in a

7 form that is not completely useful to Congress; and

8 (3) pilot projects conducted by agencies under

9 the direction of the Office of Management and

10 Budget demonstrate that single consolidated reports

11 providing an analysis of verifiable financial and per12 formance management information produce more

13 useful reports with greater efficiency.

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

15 (1) to authorize and encourage the consolida16 tion of financial and performance management re17 ports;

18 (2) to provide financial and performance man19 agement information in a more meaningful and use20 ful format for Congress, the President, and the pub21 lic;

22 (3) to improve the quality of agency financial

23 and performance management information; and
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1 (4) to enhance coordination and efficiency on

2 the part of agencies in reporting financial and per3 formance management information.

4 SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATED REPORTS.

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

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘§ 3516. Reports consolidation

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

10 Office of Management and Budget, the head of an execu11 tive agency may adjust the frequency and due dates of,

12 and consolidate into an annual report to the President,

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

14 Congress any statutorily required reports described in

15 paragraph (2). Such a consolidated report shall be sub16 mitted to the President, the Director of the Office of Man17 agement and Budget, and to appropriate committees and

18 subcommittees of Congress not later than 150 days after

19 the end of the agency’s fiscal year.

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

21 the report referred to in paragraph (1):

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

23 Office of Management and Budget, or the President

24 under section 1116, this chapter, and chapters 9,

25 33, 37, 75, and 91.
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1 ‘‘(B) The following agency-specific reports:

2 ‘‘(i) The biennial financial management

3 improvement plan by the Secretary of Defense

4 under section 2222 of title 10.

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

6 General under section 522 of title 28.

7 ‘‘(C) Any other statutorily required report per8 taining to an agency’s financial or performance man9 agement if the head of the agency—

10 ‘‘(i) determines that inclusion of that re11 port will enhance the usefulness of the reported

12 information to decision makers; and

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

14 that report with the Committee on Govern15 mental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on

16 Government Reform of the House of Represent17 atives, and any other committee of Congress

18 having jurisdiction with respect to the report

19 proposed for inclusion.

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

21 the agency’s program performance report under section

22 1116 shall be referred to as a performance and account23 ability report.

24 ‘‘(c) A report under subsection (a) that does not in25 corporate the agency’s program performance report under
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1 section 1116 shall contain a summary of the most signifi2 cant portions of the agency’s program performance report,

3 including the agency’s success in achieving key perform4 ance goals for the applicable year.

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

6 statement prepared by the agency’s inspector general that

7 summarizes what the inspector general considers to be the

8 most serious management and performance challenges fac9 ing the agency and briefly assesses the agency’s progress

10 in addressing those challenges. The inspector general shall

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

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

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

14 statement, but may not modify the statement.

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

16 transmittal letter from the agency head containing, in ad17 dition to any other content, an assessment by the agency

18 head of the completeness and reliability of the perform19 ance and financial data used in the report. The assessment

20 shall describe any material inadequacies in the complete21 ness and reliability of the data, and the actions the agency

22 can take and is taking to resolve such inadequacies.’’.

23 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEARS 2000 AND

24 2001.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of section 3516(a)

25 of title 31, United States Code (as added by subsection
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1 (a) of this section), the head of an executive agency may

2 submit a consolidated report under such paragraph not

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

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

5 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

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

7 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat8 ing to section 3515 the following:

‘‘3516. Reports consolidation.’’.

9 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO AUDITED FINANCIAL

10 STATEMENTS.

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

12 31, United States Code, is amended—

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

14 and the’’ before ‘‘Director’’; and

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

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

17 title 31, United States Code, is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (1)—

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

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

21 (B) by striking ‘‘(1)’’; and

22 (2) by striking paragraph (2).

23 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO PROGRAM PERFORM24 ANCE REPORTS.

25 (a) REPORT DUE DATE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1116(a) of title 31,

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

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

4 31 of each year thereafter,’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later

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

6 year,’’.

7 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEARS 2000 AND

8 2001.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section

9 1116 of title 31, United States Code (as amended by

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

11 may submit a report under such subsection not later

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

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

14 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION IN FINANCIAL

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

16 Code, is amended to read as follows:

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

18 program performance report shall contain an assessment

19 by the agency head of the completeness and reliability of

20 the performance data included in the report. The assess21 ment shall describe any material inadequacies in the com22 pleteness and reliability of the performance data, and the

23 actions the agency can take and is taking to resolve such

24 inadequacies.
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1 ‘‘(2) If a program performance report is incorporated

2 into a report submitted under section 3516, the require3 ments of section 3516(e) shall apply in lieu of paragraph

4 (1).’’.

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