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Union Calendar No. 22 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1162 

[Report No. 113–36] 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to make improvements in the 

Government Accountability Office. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2013 

Mr. ISSA (for himself and Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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•HR 1162 RH

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to make 

improvements in the Government Accountability Office. 


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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 ‘‘Government Account5 ability Office Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE IMPROVE7 MENT. 

8 (a) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION.— 

9 (1) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.—Section 

10 716 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in 

11 subsection (a)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; 

13 and 

14 (B) by inserting after the section heading 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob17 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re18 quires to discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, 

19 and investigative duties), including through the bringing 

20 of civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil ac21 tion under this section, the court shall recognize the con22 tinuing force and effect of the authorization in the pre23 ceding sentence until such time as the authorization is re24 pealed pursuant to law.’’. 


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1 (2) COPIES.—Section 716(a) of title 31, United 

2 States Code, as amended by subsection (a), is fur3 ther amended in the second sentence of paragraph 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘inspect an agency record’’ and in5 serting ‘‘inspect, and make and retain copies of, an 

6 agency record’’. 

7 (b) ADMINISTERING OATHS.—Section 711 of title 31, 

8 United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (4) 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) administer oaths to witnesses when audit11 ing and settling accounts and, with the prior express 

12 approval of the Comptroller General, when inves13 tigating fraud or attempts to defraud the United 

14 States, or irregularity or misconduct of an employee 

15 or agent of the United States.’’. 

16 (c) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

17 (1) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Sub18 chapter II of chapter 7 of title 31, United States 

19 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘§ 721. Access to certain information 

22 ‘‘(a) No provision of the Social Security Act, includ23 ing section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall 

24 be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the authority 

25 of the Comptroller General to obtain any information or 


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1 to inspect or copy any record under section 716 of this 

2 title. 

3 ‘‘(b) No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

4 Cosmetic Act, including section 301(j) of that Act (21 

5 U.S.C. 331(j)), shall be construed to limit, amend, or su6 persede the authority of the Comptroller General to obtain 

7 any information or to inspect or copy any record under 

8 section 716 of this title. 

9 ‘‘(c) No provision of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust 

10 Improvements Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–435) and the 

11 amendments made by that Act shall be construed to limit, 

12 amend, or supersede the authority of the Comptroller Gen13 eral to obtain any information or to inspect or copy any 

14 record under section 716 of this title, including with re15 spect to any information disclosed to the Assistant Attor16 ney General of the Antitrust Division of the Department 

17 of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission for purposes 

18 of pre-merger review under section 7A of the Clayton Act 

19 (15 U.S.C. 18a). 

20 ‘‘(d)(1) The Comptroller General shall prescribe such 

21 policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from 

22 public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information 

23 obtained consistent with this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) alter or amend the prohibitions against 

2 the disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive infor3 mation prohibited by section 1905 of title 18 and 

4 other applicable laws; or 

5 ‘‘(B) affect the applicability of section 716(e) of 

6 this title, including the protections against unauthor7 ized disclosure contained in that section, to informa8 tion obtained consistent with this section. 

9 ‘‘(e) Specific references to statutes in this section 

10 shall not be construed to affect access by the Government 

11 Accountability Office to information under statutes that 

12 are not so referenced.’’. 

13 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND14 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 

15 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

16 after the item relating to section 720 the following: 

‘‘721. Access to certain information.’’. 

17 (d) AGENCY REPORTS.—Section 720(b) of title 31, 

18 United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

20 inserting ‘‘or planned’’ after ‘‘action taken’’; and 

21 (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

24 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 

25 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 


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1 of Representatives, the congressional committees 

2 with jurisdiction over the agency program or activity 

3 that is the subject of the recommendation, and the 

4 Government Accountability Office before the 61st 

5 day after the date of the report; and’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 22 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1162 

[Report No. 113–36] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to make 

Office. improvements in the Government Accountability 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS