II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 428 

To establish the Office of the Inspector General of the Senate. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2011 

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To establish the Office of the Inspector General of the 

Senate. 

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

3 SECTION 1. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE 

4 SENATE. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

6 (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

7 means the Committee on Rules and Administration 

8 of the Senate. 

9 (2) EMPLOYEE OF THE SENATE.—The term 

10 ‘‘employee of the Senate’’ means an employee whose 

11 pay is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate. 


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1 (3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspec2 tor General’’ means the Inspector General of the 

3 Senate. 

4 (4) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of5 fice of the Inspector General of the Senate. 

6 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—There is estab7 lished the Office of the Inspector General of the Senate 

8 within the Senate. The Office shall be headed by the In9 spector General of the Senate. 

10 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

11 (1) APPOINTMENT.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General 

13 shall be appointed by, and under the general 

14 supervision of the majority leader and the mi15 nority leader of the Senate, acting jointly. The 

16 majority leader and the minority leader of the 

17 Senate shall appoint the Inspector General 

18 without regard to political affiliation and solely 

19 on the basis of integrity and demonstrated abil20 ity in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, 

21 law, management analysis, public administra22 tion, or investigations. The Inspector General 

23 shall be subject to the policy direction and over24 sight of the Committee. 


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1 (B) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—Not later 

2 than January 1, 2010, the majority leader and 

3 the minority leader of the Senate shall appoint 

4 the first Inspector General under this section. 

5 (2) TERM OF SERVICE.—The Inspector General 

6 shall serve for a term of 5 years, and an individual 

7 serving as Inspector General may be reappointed for 

8 not more than 2 additional terms. 

9 (3) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be 

10 removed from office before the expiration of a term 

only by a 2 11 ⁄3 majority vote of the Committee, in con12 sultation with the majority leader and the minority 

13 leader of the Senate and the Committee on Appro14 priations. 

15 (4) SALARY.—The Inspector General shall be 

16 paid at an annual rate of pay equal to the maximum 

17 rate payable for an employee of standing committees 

18 under section 105(e) of the Legislative Branch Ap19 propriations Act, 1968 (2 U.S.C. 61–1(e)). 

20 (d) DUTIES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty and re22 sponsibility of the Inspector General to— 

23 (A) provide policy direction for and to con24 duct, supervise, and coordinate audits and inVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:28 Mar 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428

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1 vestigations relating to the programs and oper2 ations of the Senate; 

3 (B) review existing and proposed legisla4 tion and regulations relating to programs and 

5 operations of the Senate and to make rec6 ommendations in the semiannual reports re7 quired by subsection (e) concerning the impact 

8 of such legislation or regulations on the econ9 omy and efficiency in the administration of pro10 grams and operations administered or financed 

11 by the Senate or the prevention and detection 

12 of fraud and abuse in such programs and oper13 ations; 

14 (C) recommend policies for, and to con15 duct, supervise, or coordinate other activities 

16 carried out or financed by the Senate for the 

17 purpose of promoting economy and efficiency in 

18 the administration of, or preventing and detect19 ing fraud and abuse in, its programs and oper20 ations; 

21 (D) recommend policies for, and to con22 duct, supervise, or coordinate relationships 

23 within the Senate with respect to— 

24 (i) all matters relating to the pro25 motion of economy and efficiency in the 


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1 administration of, or the prevention and 

2 detection of fraud and abuse in, programs 

3 and operations administered or financed by 

4 the Senate; or 

5 (ii) the identification and prosecution 

6 of participants in such fraud or abuse; and 

7 (E) keep the Committee and the Com8 mittee on Appropriations fully and currently in9 formed, by means of the reports required by 

10 subsection (e) and otherwise, concerning fraud 

11 and other serious problems, abuses, and defi12 ciencies relating to the administration of pro13 grams and operations administered or financed 

14 by the Senate, to recommend corrective action 

15 concerning such problems, abuses, and defi16 ciencies, and to report on the progress made in 

17 implementing such corrective action. 

18 (2) ADMINISTRATION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the re20 sponsibilities specified in paragraph (1)(A), the 

21 Inspector General shall— 

22 (i) comply with standards established 

23 by the Comptroller General of the United 

24 States for audits of Federal establishVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:28 Mar 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428

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1 ments, organizations, programs, activities, 

2 and functions; 

3 (ii) establish guidelines for deter4 mining when it shall be appropriate to use 

5 non-Federal auditors; and 

6 (iii) take appropriate steps to assure 

7 that any work performed by non-Federal 

8 auditors complies with the standards estab9 lished by the Comptroller General de10 scribed under clause (i). 

11 (B) COMPLIANCE.—For purposes of deter12 mining compliance with subparagraph (A)(i) 

13 with respect to whether internal quality controls 

14 are in place and operating and whether estab15 lished audit standards, policies, and procedures 

16 are being followed by the Office, reviews shall 

17 be performed exclusively by an audit entity in 

18 the Federal Government, including the Govern19 ment Accountability Office. 

20 (3) COORDINATION AND COOPERATION.—In 

21 carrying out the duties and responsibilities estab22 lished under this Act, the Inspector General shall 

23 give particular regard to the activities of the Comp24 troller General of the United States with a view toVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:28 Mar 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S428.IS S428

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1 ward avoiding duplication and insuring effective co2 ordination and cooperation. 

3 (4) REPORTS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—In car4 rying out the duties and responsibilities established 

5 under this Act, the Inspector General shall report 

6 expeditiously to the Attorney General whenever the 

7 Inspector General has reasonable grounds to believe 

8 there has been a violation of Federal criminal law. 

9 (e) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.— 

10 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

11 (A) the term ‘‘disallowed cost’’ means a 

12 questioned cost that management, in a manage13 ment decision, has sustained or agreed should 

14 not be charged to the Government; 

15 (B) the term ‘‘final action’’ means— 

16 (i) the completion of all actions that 

17 the management of a Senate operation or 

18 program has concluded, in its management 

19 decision, are necessary with respect to the 

20 findings and recommendations included in 

21 an audit report; and 

22 (ii) in the event that the management 

23 of a Senate operation or program con24 cludes no action is necessary, final action 


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1 occurs when a management decision has 

2 been made; 

3 (C) the term ‘‘management decision’’ 

4 means the evaluation by the management of a 

5 Senate operation or program of the findings 

6 and recommendations included in an audit re7 port and the issuance of a final decision by 

8 management concerning its response to such 

9 findings and recommendations, including ac10 tions concluded to be necessary; 

11 (D) the term ‘‘questioned cost’’ means a 

12 cost that is questioned by the Office because 

13 of— 

14 (i) an alleged violation of a provision 

15 of a law, regulation, contract, grant, coop16 erative agreement, or other agreement or 

17 document governing the expenditure of 

18 funds; 

19 (ii) a finding that, at the time of the 

20 audit, such cost is not supported by ade21 quate documentation; or 

22 (iii) a finding that the expenditure of 

23 funds for the intended purpose is unneces24 sary or unreasonable; 


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1 (E) the term ‘‘recommendation that funds 

2 be put to better use’’ means a recommendation 

3 by the Office that funds could be used more ef4 ficiently if management of a Senate operation 

5 or program took actions to implement and com6 plete the recommendation, including— 

7 (i) reductions in outlays; 

8 (ii) deobligation of funds from pro9 grams or operations; 

10 (iii) withdrawal of interest subsidy 

11 costs on loans or loan guarantees, insur12 ance, or bonds; 

13 (iv) costs not incurred by imple14 menting recommended improvements re15 lated to the operations of the program or 

16 operation, a contractor or grantee; 

17 (v) avoidance of unnecessary expendi18 tures noted in preaward reviews of con19 tract or grant agreements; or 

20 (vi) any other savings which are spe21 cifically identified; and 

22 (F) the term ‘‘unsupported cost’’ means a 

23 cost that is questioned by the Office because 

24 the Office found that, at the time of the audit, 


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1 such cost is not supported by adequate docu2 mentation. 

3 (2) IN GENERAL.—Not later than April 30 and 

4 October 31 of each year, the Inspector General shall 

5 prepare semiannual reports summarizing the activi6 ties of the Office during the immediately preceding 

7 6-month periods ending March 31 and September 

8 30. Such reports shall include— 

9 (A) a description of significant problems, 

10 abuses, and deficiencies relating to the adminis11 tration of programs and operations of the Sen12 ate disclosed by such activities during the re13 porting period; 

14 (B) a description of the recommendations 

15 for corrective action made by the Office during 

16 the reporting period with respect to significant 

17 problems, abuses, or deficiencies identified 

18 under subparagraph (A); 

19 (C) an identification of each significant 

20 recommendation described in previous semi21 annual reports on which corrective action has 

22 not been completed; 

23 (D) a summary of matters referred to 

24 prosecutive authorities and the prosecutions 

25 and convictions which have resulted; 


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1 (E) a listing, subdivided according to sub2 ject matter, of each audit report issued by the 

3 Office during the reporting period and for each 

4 audit report, where applicable, the total dollar 

5 value of questioned costs (including a separate 

6 category for the dollar value of unsupported 

7 costs) and the dollar value of recommendations 

8 that funds be put to better use; 

9 (F) a summary of each particularly signifi10 cant report; 

11 (G) statistical tables showing the total 

12 number of audit reports and the total dollar 

13 value of questioned costs (including a separate 

14 category for the dollar value of unsupported 

15 costs), for audit reports— 

16 (i) for which no management decision 

17 had been made by the commencement of 

18 the reporting period; 

19 (ii) which were issued during the re20 porting period; 

21 (iii) for which a management decision 

22 was made during the reporting period, in23 cluding— 

24 (I) the dollar value of disallowed 

25 costs; and 


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1 (II) the dollar value of costs not 

2 disallowed; and 

3 (iv) for which no management deci4 sion has been made by the end of the re5 porting period; 

6 (H) statistical tables showing the total 

7 number of audit reports and the dollar value of 

8 recommendations that funds be put to better 

9 use by management, for audit reports— 

10 (i) for which no management decision 

11 had been made by the commencement of 

12 the reporting period; 

13 (ii) which were issued during the re14 porting period; 

15 (iii) for which a management decision 

16 was made during the reporting period, in17 cluding— 

18 (I) the dollar value of rec19 ommendations that were agreed to by 

20 management; and 

21 (II) the dollar value of rec22 ommendations that were not agreed to 

23 by management; and 


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1 (iv) for which no management deci2 sion has been made by the end of the re3 porting period; 

4 (I) a summary of each audit report issued 

5 before the commencement of the reporting pe6 riod for which no management decision has 

7 been made by the end of the reporting period 

8 (including the date and title of each such re9 port), an explanation of the reasons such man10 agement decision has not been made, and a 

11 statement concerning the desired timetable for 

12 achieving a management decision on each such 

13 report; 

14 (J) a description and explanation of the 

15 reasons for any significant revised management 

16 decision made during the reporting period; and 

17 (K) information concerning any significant 

18 management decision with which the Inspector 

19 General is in disagreement. 

20 (3) COMMENTS.—Thirty days before the sub21 mission of a semiannual report under paragraph (2), 

22 the Inspector General shall allow the programs or 

23 operations of the Senate being investigated to com24 ment on the report and will include any comments 

25 or correspondence from the program or operation of 


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1 the Senate being investigated as it relates to applica2 ble audit reports, final actions, management deci3 sions, disallowed costs recovered or unrecovered, and 

4 any recommendations that funds be put to better 

5 use. 

6 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Within 60 days 

7 after the transmission of a semiannual report, the 

8 Inspector General shall make copies of such report 

9 available to the public upon request and at a reason10 able cost. 

11 (5) REPORTS OF CERTAIN PROBLEMS.—The In12 spector General shall report immediately to the 

13 Committee and the Committee on Appropriations 

14 whenever the Inspector General becomes aware of 

15 particularly serious or flagrant problems, abuses, or 

16 deficiencies relating to the administration of Senate 

17 programs and operations. 

18 (6) PUBLIC DISCLOSURES OF INFORMATION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub20 section shall be construed to authorize the pub21 lic disclosure of information which is— 

22 (i) specifically prohibited from disclo23 sure by any other provision of law; 

24 (ii) specifically required by Executive 

25 order to be protected from disclosure in 


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1 the interest of national defense or national 

2 security or in the conduct of foreign af3 fairs; or 

4 (iii) a part of an ongoing criminal in5 vestigation. 

6 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding para7 graph (A)(iii), any report under this subsection 

8 may be disclosed to the public in a form which 

9 includes information with respect to a part of 

10 an ongoing criminal investigation if such infor11 mation has been included in a public record. 

12 (C) NO WITHHOLDING OF INFORMATION

13 FROM COMMITTEES.—Except to the extent and 

14 in the manner provided under section 6103(f) 

15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, nothing 

16 in this subsection or in any other provision of 

17 this Act shall be construed to authorize or per18 mit the withholding of information from the 

19 Committee or Committee on Appropriations. 

20 (f) WEBSITE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall establish 

22 and maintain a website. 

23 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OFFICE

24 WEBSITE.— 


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1 (A) POSTING OF REPORTS AND AUDITS.— 

2 The Inspector General shall— 

3 (i) not later than 3 days after any re4 port or audit (or portion of any report or 

5 audit) is made publicly available, post that 

6 report or audit (or portion of that report 

7 or audit) on the website of the Office; and 

8 (ii) ensure that any posted report or 

9 audit (or portion of that report or audit) 

10 described under clause (i)— 

11 (I) is easily accessible from a di12 rect link on the homepage of the 

13 website of the Office; 

14 (II) includes a summary of the 

15 findings of the Inspector General; and 

16 (III) is in a format that— 

17 (aa) is searchable and 

18 downloadable; and 

19 (bb) facilitates printing by 

20 individuals of the public access21 ing the website. 

22 (B) REPORTING OF FRAUD, WASTE, AND

23 ABUSE.— 

24 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector Gen25 eral shall establish and maintain a direct 


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1 link on the homepage of the website for in2 dividuals to report fraud, waste, and 

3 abuse. Individuals reporting fraud, waste, 

4 or abuse using the direct link established 

5 under this subparagraph shall not be re6 quired to provide personally identifying in7 formation relating to that individual. 

8 (ii) ANONYMITY.—The Inspector Gen9 eral shall not disclose the identity of any 

10 individual making a report under this sub11 paragraph without the consent of the indi12 vidual, unless the Inspector General deter13 mines that such a disclosure is unavoidable 

14 during the course of the investigation. 

15 (g) INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS OF EMPLOYEES

16 AND MEMBERS.— 

17 (1) AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General may 

18 receive and investigate complaints or information 

19 from an employee of the Senate or a Senator con20 cerning the possible existence of an activity consti21 tuting a violation of law, rules, or regulations, or 

22 mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of au23 thority, or a substantial and specific danger to the 

24 public health and safety, including complaints or 

25 other relative information. 


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1 (2) NONDISCLOSURE.—The Inspector General 

2 shall not, after receipt of a complaint or information 

3 from an employee of the Senate or a Senator, dis4 close the identity of the employee or Senator without 

5 the consent of the employee or Senator, unless re6 quired by law or the Inspector General determines 

7 such disclosure is otherwise unavoidable during the 

8 course of the investigation. 

9 (3) PROHIBITING RETALIATION.—An employee 

10 of the Senate or Senator who has authority to take, 

11 direct others to take, recommend, or approve any 

12 personnel action, shall not, with respect to such au13 thority, take or threaten to take any action against 

14 any employee or Senator as a reprisal for making a 

15 complaint or disclosing information to the Inspector 

16 General, unless the complaint was made or the infor17 mation disclosed with the knowledge that it was 

18 false or with willful disregard for its truth or falsity. 

19 (4) INDEPENDENCE IN CARRYING OUT DU20 TIES.—A Senator or an employee of the Senate, in21 cluding the majority leader or minority leader of the 

22 Senate, or the Committee, may not prevent or pro23 hibit the Inspector General from carrying out any of 

24 the duties or responsibilities assigned to the Inspec25 tor General under this section. 


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1 (h) POWERS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the authority 

3 otherwise provided by this Act, the Inspector Gen4 eral in carrying out the provisions of this Act, is au5 thorized to— 

6 (A) have access to all records, reports, au7 dits, reviews, documents, papers, recommenda8 tions, or other material available which relate to 

9 Senate programs and operations with respect to 

10 which the Inspector General has responsibilities 

11 under this Act; 

12 (B) make such investigations and reports 

13 relating to the administration of the Senate 

14 programs and operations, in the judgment of 

15 the Inspector General, necessary or desirable; 

16 (C) request such information or assistance 

17 as may be necessary for carrying out the duties 

18 and responsibilities provided by this Act from 

19 any Federal, State, or local governmental agen20 cy or unit thereof; 

21 (D) require by subpoena the production of 

22 all information, documents, reports, answers, 

23 records, accounts, papers, and other data and 

24 documentary evidence necessary in the perform25 ance of the functions assigned by this Act, 


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1 which subpoena, in the case of contumacy or re2 fusal to obey, shall be enforceable by order of 

3 any appropriate United States district court, 

4 except that procedures other than subpoenas 

5 shall be used by the Inspector General to obtain 

6 documents and information from Senate pro7 grams and operations; 

8 (E) administer to or take from any person 

9 an oath, affirmation, or affidavit, whenever nec10 essary in the performance of the functions as11 signed by this Act, which oath, affirmation, or 

12 affidavit when administered or taken by or be13 fore an employee of the Office designated by 

14 the Inspector General shall have the same force 

15 and effect as if administered or taken by or be16 fore an officer having a seal; 

17 (F) have direct and prompt access to the 

18 Senate program or operation involved when nec19 essary for any purpose pertaining to the per20 formance of functions and responsibilities under 

21 this Act; and 

22 (G) the extent and in such amounts as 

23 may be provided in advance by appropriations 

24 Acts, to enter into contracts and other arrange25 ments for audits, studies, analyses, and other 


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1 services with public agencies and with private 

2 persons, and to make such payments as may be 

3 necessary to carry out the provisions of this 

4 Act. 

5 (2) STAFF.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General 

7 may appoint and fix the pay of such personnel 

8 as the Inspector General considers appropriate 

9 subject to the approval of the Committee, ex10 cept that no personnel of the Office (other than 

11 the Inspector General) may be paid at an an12 nual rate greater than $500 less than the an13 nual rate of pay of the Inspector General under 

14 subsection (c)(4). 

15 (B) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—In 

16 carrying out the functions of the Office, the In17 spector General may procure the temporary 

18 (not to exceed 1 year) or intermittent services 

19 of individual consultants, or organizations 

20 thereof, in the same manner and under the 

21 same conditions as a standing committee of the 

22 Senate may procure such services under section 

23 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 

24 1946 (2 U. S.C. 72a(i)). 


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1 (C) INDEPENDENCE IN APPOINTING

2 STAFF.—No individual may carry out any of 

3 the duties or responsibilities of the Office unless 

4 the individual is appointed by the Inspector 

5 General, or provides services procured by the 

6 Inspector General, under this paragraph. Noth7 ing in this subparagraph may be construed to 

8 prohibit the Inspector General from entering 

9 into a contract or other arrangement for the 

10 provision of services under this section. 

11 (3) EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.—The Com12 mittee shall provide the Office with appropriate and 

13 adequate office space, together with such equipment, 

14 supplies, and communications facilities and services 

15 as determined by the Inspector General to be nec16 essary for the operation of the Office, and shall pro17 vide necessary maintenance services for such office 

18 space and the equipment and facilities located there19 in. 

20 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

22 $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

23 (j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

24 on October 1, 2011. 

Æ 


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