IIB

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1827

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 9, 2000

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

AN ACT

To improve the economy and efficiency of Government operations by requiring the use of recovery audits and recovery activity by Federal agencies.

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 ‘‘Government Waste

3 Corrections Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) Overpayments are a serious problem for

7 Federal agencies, given the magnitude and com8 plexity of Federal operations and documented and

9 widespread financial management weaknesses. Fed10 eral agency overpayments waste tax dollars and de11 tract from the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal

12 operations by diverting resources from their intended

13 uses.

14 (2) In private industry, overpayments to pro15 viders of goods and services occur for a variety of

16 reasons, including duplicate payments, pricing er17 rors, and missed cash discounts, rebates, or other al18 lowances. The identification and recovery of such

19 overpayments, commonly referred to as ‘‘recovery

20 auditing and activity’’, is an established private sec21 tor business practice with demonstrated large finan22 cial returns. On average, recovery auditing and ac23 tivity in the private sector identify overpayment

24 rates of 0.1 percent of purchases audited and result

25 in the recovery of $1,000,000 for each

26 $1,000,000,000 of purchases.
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1 (3) Recovery auditing and recovery activity al2 ready have been employed successfully in limited

3 areas of Federal activity. They have great potential

4 for expansion to many other Federal agencies and

5 activities, thereby resulting in the recovery of sub6 stantial amounts of overpayments annually. Limited

7 recovery audits conducted by private contractors to

8 date within the Department of Defense have identi9 fied errors averaging 0.4 percent of Federal pay10 ments audited, or $4,000,000 for every

11 $1,000,000,000 of payments. If fully implemented

12 within the Federal Government, recovery auditing

13 and recovery activity have the potential to recover

14 billions of dollars in Federal overpayments annually.

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol16 lowing:

17 (1) To ensure that overpayments made by the

18 Federal Government that would otherwise remain

19 undetected are identified and recovered.

20 (2) To require the use of recovery audit and re21 covery activity by Federal agencies.

22 (3) To provide incentives and resources to im23 prove Federal management practices with the goal

24 of significantly reducing Federal overpayment rates

25 and other waste and error in Federal programs.
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF RECOVERY AUDIT REQUIRE2 MENT.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF REQUIREMENT.—Chapter

4 35 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding

5 at the end the following:

6 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—RECOVERY AUDITS

7 ‘‘§ 3561. Definitions

8 ‘‘In this subchapter, the following definitions apply:

9 ‘‘(1) AMOUNTS COLLECTED.—The term

10 ‘amounts collected’ means monies received or cred11 ited, by any means, including setoff, by the United

12 States Government.

13 ‘‘(2) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The term

14 ‘Chief Financial Officer’ means the official estab15 lished by section 901 of this title, or the functional

16 equivalent of such official in the case of any agency

17 that does not have a Chief Financial Officer under

18 that section.

19 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means

20 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg21 et.

22 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSE.—The term ‘disclose’ means to

23 release, publish, transfer, provide access to, or other24 wise divulge individually identifiable information to

25 any person other than the individual who is the sub26 ject of the information.
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1 ‘‘(5) FACIAL-DISCREPANCY PAYMENT ERROR.—

2 The term ‘facial-discrepancy payment error’—

3 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph

4 (B), means any payment error that results

5 from, is substantiated by, or is identified as a

6 result of information contained on any invoice,

7 delivery order, bill of lading, statement of ac8 count, or other submission given to the Govern9 ment by a supplier of goods or services in the

10 usual and customary conduct of business, or as

11 required by law or contract to substantiate pay12 ment for such goods or services, including any

13 such document submitted electronically; and

14 ‘‘(B) does not include payment errors iden15 tified, resulting, or supported from documents

16 that are—

17 ‘‘(i) records of a proprietary nature,

18 maintained solely by the supplier of goods

19 or services;

20 ‘‘(ii) not specifically required to be

21 provided to the Government by contract,

22 law, regulation, or to substantiate pay23 ment; or

24 ‘‘(iii) submitted to the Government for

25 evaluative purposes prior to the award of a
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1 contract, as part of the evaluation and

2 award process.

3 ‘‘(6) INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA4 TION.—The term ‘individually identifiable informa5 tion’ means any information, whether oral or re6 corded in any form or medium, that identifies the in7 dividual or with respect to which there is a reason8 able basis to believe that the information can be

9 used to identify the individual.

10 ‘‘(7) OVERSIGHT.—The term ‘oversight’ means

11 activities by a Federal, State, or local governmental

12 entity, or by another entity acting on behalf of such

13 a governmental entity, to enforce laws relating to,

14 investigate, or regulate payment activities, recovery

15 activities, and recovery audit activities.

16 ‘‘(8) PAYMENT ACTIVITY.—The term ‘payment

17 activity’ means an executive agency activity that en18 tails making payments to vendors or other non19 governmental entities that provide property or serv20 ices for the direct benefit and use of an executive

21 agency.

22 ‘‘(9) RECOVERY AUDIT.—The term ‘recovery

23 audit’ means a financial management technique ap24 plied internally by Government employees, or by pri25 vate sector contractors, and used by executive agen-
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1 cies to audit their internal records to identify facial2 discrepancy payment errors made by those executive

3 agencies to vendors and other entities in connection

4 with a payment activity, including facial-discrepancy

5 payment errors that result from any of the following:

6 ‘‘(A) Duplicate payments.

7 ‘‘(B) Invoice errors.

8 ‘‘(C) Failure to provide applicable dis9 counts, rebates, or other allowances.

10 ‘‘(D) Any other facial-discrepancy errors

11 resulting in inaccurate payments.

12 ‘‘(10) RECOVERY ACTIVITY.—The term ‘recov13 ery activity’ means executive agency activity other14 wise authorized by law, including chapter 37 of this

15 title, to attempt to collect an identified overpayment.

16 ‘‘(11) RECOVERY AUDIT CONTRACTOR.—The

17 term ‘recovery audit contractor’ means any person

18 who has been hired by an executive agency to per19 form a recovery audit pursuant to a recovery audit

20 contract.

21 ‘‘§ 3562. Recovery audit requirement

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as exempted under sec23 tion 3565(d) of this title, the head of each executive

24 agency—
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1 ‘‘(1) shall conduct for each fiscal year recovery

2 audits and recovery activity with respect to payment

3 activities of the agency if such payment activities for

4 the fiscal year total $500,000,000 or more (adjusted

5 by the Director annually for inflation);

6 ‘‘(2) may conduct for any fiscal year recovery

7 audits and recovery activity with respect to payment

8 activities of the agency if such payment activities for

9 the fiscal year total less than $500,000,000 (ad10 justed by the Director annually for inflation); and

11 ‘‘(3) may request that the Director exempt a

12 payment activity, in whole or in part, from the re13 quirement to conduct recovery audits under para14 graph (1) if the head of the executive agency deter15 mines and can demonstrate that compliance with

16 such requirement—

17 ‘‘(A) would impede the agency’s mission;

18 or

19 ‘‘(B) would not, or would no longer be,

20 cost-effective.

21 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES.—In conducting recovery audits

22 and recovery activity under this section, the head of an

23 executive agency—
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1 ‘‘(1) shall consult and coordinate with the Chief

2 Financial Officer and the Inspector General of the

3 agency to avoid any duplication of effort;

4 ‘‘(2) shall implement this section in a manner

5 designed to ensure the greatest financial benefit to

6 the Government;

7 ‘‘(3) may conduct recovery audits and recovery

8 activity internally in accordance with the standards

9 issued by the Director under section 3565(b)(2) of

10 this title, or by procuring performance of recovery

11 audits, or by any combination thereof; and

12 ‘‘(4) shall ensure that such recovery audits and

13 recovery activity are carried out consistent with the

14 standards issued by the Director under section

15 3565(b)(2) of this subchapter.

16 ‘‘(c) SCOPE OF AUDITS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each recovery audit of a

18 payment activity under this section shall cover pay19 ments made by the payment activity in the preceding

20 fiscal year, except that the first recovery audit of a

21 payment activity shall cover payments made during

22 the fiscal year in which the Government Waste Cor23 rections Act of 2000 is enacted, and payments made

24 in the preceding fiscal year.
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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FISCAL YEARS.—The head of

2 an executive agency may conduct recovery audits of

3 payment activities for additional preceding fiscal

4 years if determined by the agency head to be prac5 tical and cost-effective subject to any statute of limi6 tations constraints regarding recordkeeping under

7 applicable law.

8 ‘‘(d) RECOVERY AUDIT CONTRACTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO USE CONTINGENCY CON10 TRACTS.—Notwithstanding section 3302(b) of this

11 title, as consideration for performance of any recov12 ery audit procured by an executive agency, the exec13 utive agency may pay the recovery audit contractor

14 an amount equal to a percentage of the total amount

15 collected by the United States as a result of overpay16 ments identified by the contractor in the audit.

17 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS OF RECOVERY

18 AUDIT CONTRACTOR.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to per20 formance of a recovery audit, a contract for

21 such performance may authorize the recovery

22 audit contractor (subject to subparagraph (B))

23 to—

24 ‘‘(i) notify any person of possible over25 payments made to the person and identi-
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1 fied in the recovery audit under the con2 tract; and

3 ‘‘(ii) respond to questions concerning

4 such overpayments.

5 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A contract for per6 formance of a recovery audit shall not affect—

7 ‘‘(i) the authority of the head of an

8 executive agency, or any other person,

9 under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978

10 and other applicable laws, including the

11 authority to initiate litigation or referrals

12 for litigation; or

13 ‘‘(ii) the requirements of sections

14 3711, 3716, 3718, and 3720 of this title

15 that the head of an agency resolve dis16 putes, compromise, or terminate overpay17 ment claims, collect by setoff, and other18 wise engage in recovery activity with re19 spect to overpayments identified by the re20 covery audit.

21 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—Nothing in

22 this subchapter shall be construed to authorize a re23 covery audit contractor with an executive agency—

24 ‘‘(A) to require the production of any

25 record or information by any person other than
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1 an officer, employee, or agent of the executive

2 agency; and

3 ‘‘(B) to establish, or otherwise have a

4 physical presence on the property or premises

5 of any private sector entity as part of its con6 tractual obligations to an executive agency.

7 ‘‘(4) REQUIRED CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDI8 TIONS.—The head of an executive agency shall in9 clude in each contract for procurement of perform10 ance of a recovery audit requirements that the con11 tractor shall—

12 ‘‘(A) protect from improper use, and pro13 tect from disclosure to any person who is inter14 nal or external to the firm of the recovery audit

15 contractor and who is not directly involved in

16 the identification or recovery of overpayments,

17 otherwise confidential or proprietary business

18 information, and any financial information, that

19 may be viewed or obtained in the course of car20 rying out a recovery audit for an executive

21 agency;

22 ‘‘(B) provide to the head of the executive

23 agency and the Inspector General of the execu24 tive agency periodic reports on conditions giving

25 rise to overpayments identified by the recovery
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1 audit contractor and any recommendations on

2 how to mitigate such conditions;

3 ‘‘(C) notify the head of the executive agen4 cy and the Inspector General of the executive

5 agency of any overpayments identified by the

6 contractor pertaining to the executive agency or

7 to another executive agency that are beyond the

8 scope of the contract; and

9 ‘‘(D) promptly notify the head of the exec10 utive agency and the Inspector General of the

11 executive agency of any indication of fraud or

12 other criminal activity discovered in the course

13 of the audit.

14 ‘‘(5) EXECUTIVE AGENCY ACTION FOLLOWING

15 NOTIFICATION.—The head of an executive agency

16 shall take prompt and appropriate action in response

17 to a notification by a recovery audit contractor pur18 suant to the requirements under paragraph (4), in19 cluding forwarding to other executive agencies any

20 information that applies to them.

21 ‘‘(6) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—Prior to

22 contracting for any recovery audit, the head of an

23 executive agency shall conduct a public-private cost

24 comparison process. The outcome of the cost com25 parison process shall determine whether the recovery
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1 audit is performed in-house or by a recovery audit

2 contractor.

3 ‘‘(e) INSPECTORS GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub4 chapter shall be construed as diminishing the authority

5 of any Inspector General, including such authority under

6 the Inspector General Act of 1978.

7 ‘‘(f) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUDIT AUTHOR8 ITY.—Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as di9 minishing the authority granted under section 3726 of this

10 title.

11 ‘‘(g) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—

12 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE OF INDIVID13 UALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.—(A) Any non14 governmental entity that obtains individually identi15 fiable information through performance of recovery

16 auditing or recovery activity under this chapter may

17 disclose that information only for the purpose of

18 such auditing or activity, respectively, and oversight

19 of such auditing or activity, unless otherwise author20 ized by the individual that is the subject of the infor21 mation.

22 ‘‘(B) Any person that violates subparagraph

23 (A) shall be liable for any damages (including non24 pecuniary damages, costs, and attorneys fees)

25 caused by the violation.
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1 ‘‘(2) DESTRUCTION OR RETURN OF INFORMA2 TION.—(A) Upon the date described in subpara3 graph (B), a nongovernmental entity having posses4 sion of individually identifiable information disclosed

5 in the course of a recovery audit or recovery activity

6 under this chapter performed by the nongovern7 mental entity shall destroy the information or return

8 it to the person from whom it was obtained, unless

9 another applicable law requires retention of the in10 formation.

11 ‘‘(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), the

12 date referred to in subparagraph (A) is the date of

13 conclusion of the matter or need for which the infor14 mation was disclosed.

15 ‘‘(ii) If on the date referred to in clause (i) the

16 nongovernmental entity has actual notice of any

17 oversight of the recovery auditing or recovery activ18 ity, the date referred to in subparagraph (A) is the

19 date of the conclusion of such oversight.

20 ‘‘§ 3563. Disposition of amounts collected

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

22 3302(b) of this title, the amounts collected annually by

23 the United States as a result of recovery audits by an exec24 utive agency under this subchapter shall be treated in ac25 cordance with this section.
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1 ‘‘(b) USE FOR RECOVERY AUDIT COSTS.—Amounts

2 referred to in subsection (a) shall be available to the execu3 tive agency—

4 ‘‘(1) to pay amounts owed to any recovery audit

5 contractor for performance of the audit;

6 ‘‘(2) to reimburse any applicable appropriation

7 for other recovery audit costs incurred by the execu8 tive agency with respect to the audit; and

9 ‘‘(3) to pay any fees authorized under chapter

10 37 of this title.

11 ‘‘(c) USE FOR MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PRO12 GRAM.—Of the amount referred to in subsection (a), a

13 sum not to exceed 25 percent of such amount—

14 ‘‘(1) shall be available to the executive agency

15 to carry out the management improvement program

16 of the agency under section 3564 of this title;

17 ‘‘(2) may be credited for that purpose by the

18 agency head to any agency appropriations that are

19 available for obligation at the time of collection; and

20 ‘‘(3) shall remain available for the same period

21 as the appropriations to which credited.

22 ‘‘(d) REMAINDER TO TREASURY.—Of the amount re23 ferred to in subsection (a), there shall be deposited into

24 the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts a sum equal to—

25 ‘‘(1) 50 percent of such amount; plus
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1 ‘‘(2) such other amounts as remain after the

2 application of subsections (b) and (c).

3 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall not apply

5 to amounts collected through recovery audits and re6 covery activity to the extent that such application

7 would be inconsistent with another provision of law

8 that authorizes crediting of the amounts to a non9 appropriated fund instrumentality, revolving fund,

10 working capital fund, trust fund, or other fund or

11 account.

12 ‘‘(2) SUBSECTIONS (c) AND (d).—Subsections

13 (c) and (d) shall not apply to amounts collected

14 through recovery audits and recovery activity, to the

15 extent that such amounts are derived from an ap16 propriation or fund that remains available for obliga17 tion at the time the amounts are collected.

18 ‘‘§ 3564. Management improvement program

19 ‘‘(a) CONDUCT OF PROGRAM.—

20 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED PROGRAMS.—The head of each

21 executive agency that is required to conduct recovery

22 audits under section 3562 of this title shall conduct

23 a management improvement program under this sec24 tion, consistent with guidelines prescribed by the Di25 rector.
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1 ‘‘(2) DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS.—The head of

2 any other executive agency that conducts recovery

3 audits under section 3562 that meet the standards

4 issued by the Director under section 3565(b)(2) may

5 conduct a management improvement program under

6 this section.

7 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM FEATURES.—In conducting the pro8 gram, the head of the executive agency—

9 ‘‘(1) shall, as the first priority of the program,

10 address problems that contribute directly to agency

11 overpayments; and

12 ‘‘(2) may seek to reduce errors and waste in

13 other programs and operations of that executive

14 agency by improving the executive agency’s staff ca15 pacity, information technology, and financial man16 agement.

17 ‘‘(c) INTEGRATION WITH OTHER ACTIVITIES.—The

18 head of an executive agency—

19 ‘‘(1) subject to paragraph (2), may integrate

20 the program under this section, in whole or in part,

21 with other management improvement programs and

22 activities of that agency or other executive agencies;

23 and
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1 ‘‘(2) must retain the ability to account specifi2 cally for the use of amounts made available under

3 section 3563 of this title.

4 ‘‘§ 3565. Responsibilities of the Office of Management

5 and Budget

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall coordinate

7 and oversee the implementation of this subchapter.

8 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consulta10 tion with the Chief Financial Officers Council and

11 the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency,

12 shall issue guidance and provide support to agencies

13 in implementing the subchapter. The Director shall

14 issue initial guidance not later than 180 days after

15 the date of enactment of the Government Waste

16 Corrections Act of 2000.

17 ‘‘(2) RECOVERY AUDIT STANDARDS.—The Di18 rector shall include in the initial guidance under this

19 subsection standards for the performance of recovery

20 audits under this subchapter, that are developed in

21 consultation with the Comptroller General of the

22 United States and private sector experts on recovery

23 audits, including such experts who currently use re24 covery auditing as part of their financial manage25 ment procedures.
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1 ‘‘(c) FEE LIMITATIONS.—The Director may limit the

2 percentage amounts that may be paid to contractors under

3 section 3562(d)(1) of this title.

4 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may exempt

6 an executive agency, in whole or in part, from the

7 requirement to conduct recovery audits under section

8 3562(a)(1) of this title if the Director determines

9 that compliance with such requirement—

10 ‘‘(A) would impede the agency’s mission;

11 or

12 ‘‘(B) would not, or would no longer be

13 cost-effective.

14 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director

15 shall promptly report the basis of any determination

16 and exemption under paragraph (1) to the Com17 mittee on Government Reform of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Governmental

19 Affairs of the Senate.

20 ‘‘(3) EXEMPTION OF MAJOR DEFENSE SYSTEM

21 ACQUISITION PROGRAMS.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Unless determined

23 otherwise by the head of the agency authorized

24 to conduct a Department of Defense major sys25 tem acquisition program, the requirements of
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1 section 3562(a) of this title shall not apply to

2 such a program procured with a cost-type con3 tract until the contract has become a closed

4 contract.

5 ‘‘(B) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MAJOR

6 SYSTEM ACQUISITION PROGRAM DEFINED.—In

7 this paragraph, the term ‘Department of De8 fense major system acquisition program’ has

9 the meaning that term has in Office of Manage10 ment and Budget Circular A–109, as in effect

11 on the date of the enactment of the Government

12 Waste Corrections Act of 2000.

13 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 months

15 after the date of the enactment of the Government

16 Waste Corrections Act of 2000, and annually for

17 each of the 2 years thereafter, the Director shall

18 submit a report on implementation of the subchapter

19 to the President, the Committee on Government Re20 form of the House of Representatives, the Com21 mittee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and

22 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of

23 Representatives and of the Senate.

24 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report shall include—
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1 ‘‘(A) a general description and evaluation

2 of the steps taken by executive agencies to con3 duct recovery audits, including an inventory of

4 the programs and activities of each executive

5 agency that are subject to recovery audits;

6 ‘‘(B) an assessment of the benefits of re7 covery auditing and recovery activity, including

8 amounts identified and recovered (including by

9 administrative setoffs);

10 ‘‘(C) an identification of best practices that

11 could be applied to future recovery audits and

12 recovery activity;

13 ‘‘(D) an identification of any significant

14 problems or barriers to more effective recovery

15 audits and recovery activity;

16 ‘‘(E) a description of executive agency ex17 penditures in the recovery audit process;

18 ‘‘(F) a description of executive agency

19 management improvement programs under sec20 tion 3564 of this title; and

21 ‘‘(G) any recommendations for changes in

22 executive agency practices or law or other im23 provements that the Director believes would en24 hance the effectiveness of executive agency re25 covery auditing.
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1 ‘‘§ 3566. General Accounting Office reports

2 ‘‘Not later than 60 days after issuance of each report

3 under section 3565(e) of this title the Comptroller General

4 of the United States shall submit a report on the imple5 mentation of this subchapter to the Committee on Govern6 ment Reform of the House of Representatives, the Com7 mittee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Com8 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives

9 and of the Senate, and the Director.’’.

10 (b) APPLICATION TO ALL EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.—

11 Section 3501 of title 31, United States Code, is amended

12 by inserting ‘‘and subchapter VI of this chapter’’ after

13 ‘‘section 3513’’.

14 (c) DEADLINE FOR INITIATION OF RECOVERY AU15 DITS.—The head of each executive agency shall begin the

16 first recovery audit under section 3562(a)(1) title 31,

17 United States Code, as amended by this section, for each

18 payment activity referred to in that section by not later

19 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this

20 Act.

21 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis at the be22 ginning of chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, is

23 amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘SUBCHAPTER V—RECOVERY AUDITS

‘‘Sec.

‘‘3561. Definitions.

‘‘3562. Recovery audit requirement.
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‘‘3563. Disposition of amounts collected.

‘‘3564. Management improvement program.

‘‘3565. Responsibilities of the Office of Management and Budget.

‘‘3566. General Accounting Office reports.’’.

1 SEC. 4. STUDY.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of

3 Management and Budget shall conduct a study of the ef4 fects of recovery audits conducted by executive agencies,

5 including any significant problems relating to the provi6 sion of improper or inadequate notice of recovery audits

7 to persons who are the subjects of such audits.

8 (b) REPORT.—The Director shall report to the Con9 gress the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of

10 the study under this section.

Passed the House of Representatives March 8,

2000.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.