IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1162 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 16, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to make 

improvements in 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, 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 1162 RFS 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Government Account3 ability Office Improvement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE IMPROVE5 MENT. 

6 (a) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION.— 

7 (1) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.—Section 

8 716 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in 

9 subsection (a)— 

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

11 and 

12 (B) by inserting after the section heading 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob15 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re16 quires to discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, 

17 and investigative duties), including through the bringing 

18 of civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil ac19 tion under this section, the court shall recognize the con20 tinuing force and effect of the authorization in the pre21 ceding sentence until such time as the authorization is re22 pealed pursuant to law.’’. 

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

24 States Code, as amended by subsection (a), is fur25 ther amended in the second sentence of paragraph 

26 (2) by striking ‘‘inspect an agency record’’ and inVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:02 Apr 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1162.RFS H1162

sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 1162 RFS 

1 serting ‘‘inspect, and make and retain copies of, an 

2 agency record’’. 

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

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

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) administer oaths to witnesses when audit7 ing and settling accounts and, with the prior express 

8 approval of the Comptroller General, when inves9 tigating fraud or attempts to defraud the United 

10 States, or irregularity or misconduct of an employee 

11 or agent of the United States.’’. 

12 (c) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

13 (1) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Sub14 chapter II of chapter 7 of title 31, United States 

15 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘§ 721. Access to certain information 

18 ‘‘(a) No provision of the Social Security Act, includ19 ing section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall 

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

21 of the Comptroller General to obtain any information or 

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

23 title. 

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

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


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 1162 RFS 

1 U.S.C. 331(j)), shall be construed to limit, amend, or su2 persede the authority of the Comptroller General to obtain 

3 any information or to inspect or copy any record under 

4 section 716 of this title. 

5 ‘‘(c)(1) The Comptroller General shall prescribe such 

6 policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from 

7 public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information 

8 obtained consistent with this section. 

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

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

11 the disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive infor12 mation prohibited by section 1905 of title 18 and 

13 other applicable laws; or 

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

15 this title, including the protections against unauthor16 ized disclosure contained in that section, to informa17 tion obtained consistent with this section. 

18 ‘‘(d) Specific references to statutes in this section 

19 shall not be construed to affect access by the Government 

20 Accountability Office to information under statutes that 

21 are not so referenced.’’. 

22 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND23 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 

24 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

25 after the item relating to section 720 the following: 

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


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 1162 RFS 

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

2 United States Code, is amended— 

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

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

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

6 following: 

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

8 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 

9 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

10 of Representatives, the congressional committees 

11 with jurisdiction over the agency program or activity 

12 that is the subject of the recommendation, and the 

13 Government Accountability Office before the 61st 

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

Passed the House of Representatives April 15, 2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS