I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8241 

To eliminate or modify certain mandates of the Government Accountability 

Office. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself and Mr. HICE of Georgia) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To eliminate or modify certain mandates of the Government 

Accountability Office. 

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 Mandates Revi5 sion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUDITS MODIFIED. 

7 (a) TROUBLED ASSET RELIEF PROGRAM.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 116 of the Emer9 gency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8241 IH

1 U.S.C. 5226) is amended by striking subsection (b) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(b) AUDITS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL AUDIT.—The TARP shall annu5 ally prepare and issue to the appropriate committees 

6 of Congress and the public audited financial state7 ments that shall be— 

8 ‘‘(A) prepared in accordance with generally 

9 accepted accounting principles; 

10 ‘‘(B) prepared and audited in the same 

11 manner as the financial statements of covered 

12 executive agencies under section 3515 of title 

13 31, United State Code, and executive agency 

14 components under section 3521 of such Code; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) prepared on the fiscal year basis pre17 scribed under section 1102 of title 31 of such 

18 Code. 

19 ‘‘(2) AUDIT COSTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

21 transfer to the Inspector General of the Depart22 ment of the Treasury such sums as are nec23 essary to reimburse the Inspector General for 

24 the full cost of performing an audit required 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8241 IH

1 under paragraph (1) or procuring the audit 

2 from an independent external auditor. 

3 ‘‘(B) CREDIT.—The reimbursements de4 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be credited to 

5 the appropriation account ‘Salaries and Ex6 penses, Office of the Inspector General, Depart7 ment of the Treasury’ current when the pay8 ment is received and remain available until ex9 pended. 

10 ‘‘(3) CORRECTIVE RESPONSES TO AUDIT PROB11 LEMS.—The TARP shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) take action to address deficiencies 

13 identified by the auditor of the TARP financial 

14 statements; or 

15 ‘‘(B) certify to the appropriate committees 

16 of Congress that no action is necessary or ap17 propriate.’’. 

18 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

19 paragraph (1) shall apply to any audit performed 

20 under section 116(b) of the Emergency Economic 

21 Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5226(b)), as 

22 amended by paragraph (1), with respect to a fiscal 

23 year beginning on or after October 1, 2020. 

24 (b) BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTEC25 TION.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8241 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1017(a) of the Con2 sumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

3 5497(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (5) and 

4 inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) AUDIT OF THE BUREAU.—The Bureau 

6 shall prepare and submit to the Congress and the 

7 Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

8 an audited financial statement for each fiscal year, 

9 covering all accounts and associated activities of 

10 each office, bureau, and activity of the Bureau. The 

11 audited financial statement shall include the balance 

12 sheet, the statement of net cost, the statement of 

13 changes in net position, the statement of budgetary 

14 resources, and such comments and information as 

15 may be determined necessary to inform Congress of 

16 the financial operations and condition of the Bureau. 

17 The Office of Inspector General of the Board of 

18 Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the 

19 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall pro20 vide for an audit of the financial statements of the 

21 Bureau on an annual basis by an independent exter22 nal auditor in accordance with the United States 

23 generally accepted government auditing standards as 

24 may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the 

25 United States.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8241 IH

1 (2) REPEAL OF PREVIOUS REQUIREMENT.— 

2 Section 1016A of the Consumer Financial Protec3 tion Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496a) is repealed. 

4 (3) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by 

5 paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply to any audit per6 formed under section 1017 of the Consumer Finan7 cial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5497) or sec8 tion 1016A of the Consumer Financial Protection 

9 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496a), as amended by 

10 paragraphs (1) and (2), with respect to a fiscal year 

11 beginning on or after October 1, 2020 

12 (c) FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1316 of the Federal 

14 Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Sound15 ness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4516) is amended— 

16 (A) in subsection (g)(4), by striking 

17 ‘‘Comptroller General of the United States’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘auditor of the financial state19 ments of the Agency’’; and 

20 (B) by striking subsection (h) and insert21 ing the following: 

22 ‘‘(h) AUDIT OF AGENCY.—The Agency shall prepare 

23 and submit to the Congress and the Director of the Office 

24 of Management and Budget an audited financial state25 ment for each fiscal year, covering all accounts and associVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:31 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8241.IH H8241

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8241 IH

1 ated activities of each office, bureau, and activity of the 

2 Agency. The audited financial statement shall include the 

3 consolidated balance sheet, the consolidated statement of 

4 net cost, the consolidated statement of changes in net posi5 tion, the combined statement of budgetary resources, and 

6 such comments and information as may be deemed nec7 essary to inform Congress of the financial operations and 

8 condition of the Agency. The Agency shall provide for an 

9 audit of the financial statements of the Agency on an an10 nual basis by an independent external auditor in accord11 ance with the United States generally accepted govern12 ment auditing standards as may be prescribed by the 

13 Comptroller General of the United States.’’. 

14 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by 

15 paragraph (1) shall apply to any audit performed 

16 under section 1316 of the Federal Housing Enter17 prises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 

18 (12 U.S.C. 4516) with respect to a fiscal year begin19 ning on or after October 1, 2020. 

20 (d) FEDERAL CIVIL PENALTIES INFLATION ADJUST21 MENT ACT.—The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjust22 ment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note), is amended in 

23 section 7 by striking subsection (c). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS