II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2175 

To address recommendations made to Congress by the Government Accountability Office and detailed in the annual duplication report, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To address recommendations made to Congress by the Government Accountability Office and detailed in the annual 

duplication report, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Acting on the Annual 

5 Duplication Report Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 2175 IS

1 (1) The annual reports prepared by the Comp2 troller General of the United States under section 21 

3 of the Joint Resolution entitled ‘‘Joint Resolution 

4 increasing the statutory limit on the public debt’’, 

5 approved February 12, 2010 (13 U.S.C. 712 note), 

6 have produced approximately $262,000,000,000 in 

7 financial benefits for the Federal Government. 

8 (2) The 2019 report entitled ‘‘Additional Op9 portunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and 

10 Duplication and Achieve Billions in Financial Bene11 fits’’ (GAO–19–285SP) identified 98 new actions 

12 that Congress or the executive branch can take to 

13 improve efficiency and effectiveness across the Fed14 eral Government, and potentially to save tens of bil15 lions of dollars. 

16 (3) Those financial benefits cannot be realized 

17 without full implementation of the actions and rec18 ommendations set forth by the Comptroller General. 

19 (4) Of the 98 new actions, several require legis20 lation to be fully implemented, including— 

21 (A) expanding the definition of allowable 

22 expenses authorized by the Foreign Military 

23 Sales administrative account; 

24 (B) examining the optimal size of the Stra25 tegic Petroleum Reserve; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 2175 IS

1 (C) altering the metal composition of coins 

2 to reduce production costs; 

3 (D) requiring scannable codes on tax re4 turns prepared electronically, but filed on 

5 paper; and 

6 (E) strengthening the accountability of 

7 schools for student loan defaults. 

8 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that— 

10 (1) it is the responsibility of Congress and the 

11 executive branch to take action to implement rec12 ommendations made in the annual reports of the 

13 Government Accountability Office on reducing dupli14 cation in Federal programs to be good stewards of 

15 taxpayer dollars; and 

16 (2) legislation and adequate resources are need17 ed to ensure that all potential financial benefits are 

18 realized from the implementation of those rec19 ommendations. 

20 SEC. 3. ENHANCING FEDERAL REVENUE THROUGH RE21 VIEWING AND REPORTING ON USE AND MAN22 AGEMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SURCHARGES 

23 UNDER FOREIGN MILITARY SALES PROGRAM. 

24 (a) FOREIGN MILITARY SALES PROGRAM DE25 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘foreign military sales 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 2175 IS

1 program’’ means the program authorized under chapter 

2 2 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2761 et 

3 seq.). 

4 (b) REVIEW.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, 

6 acting through the Director of the Defense Security 

7 Cooperation Agency, shall review options for expand8 ing the use of administrative surcharges under the 

9 foreign military sales program, including practices 

10 for managing administrative surcharges and con11 tract administration services surcharges. 

12 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The review 

13 conducted under paragraph (1) shall include the fol14 lowing: 

15 (A) A determination of which specific ex16 penses are incurred by the United States Gov17 ernment in operation of the foreign military 

18 sales program that the administrative surcharge 

19 does not pay for as of the date of the enact20 ment of this Act. 

21 (B) The estimated annual cost of each of 

22 such specific expenses. 

23 (C) An assessment of the costs and bene24 fits of funding such specific expenses through 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 2175 IS

1 the administrative surcharge, including any 

2 data to support such an assessment. 

3 (D) An assessment of how the Department 

4 of Defense could calculate an upper bound of a 

5 target range for the administrative surcharge 

6 account and the contract administration serv7 ices surcharge account, including an assessment 

8 of the costs and benefits of setting such a 

9 bound. 

10 (E) An assessment of how the Department 

11 of Defense calculates the lower bound, or safety 

12 level, for the administrative surcharge account 

13 and the contract administration services sur14 charge account, including what specific factors 

15 inform the calculation and whether such a 

16 method for calculating the safety level is still 

17 valid or should be revisited. 

18 (F) An assessment of the process used by 

19 the Department of Defense to review and set 

20 rates for the administrative surcharge and the 

21 contract administration services surcharge, in22 cluding the extent to which outside parties are 

23 consulted and any proposals the Department of 

24 Defense may have for better ensuring that the 

25 rates are set appropriately. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 2175 IS

1 (G) Such other matters as the Secretary of 

2 Defense determines to be appropriate. 

3 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

5 of Defense, acting through the Director of the Defense 

6 Security Cooperation Agency, shall submit to the Com7 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Com8 mittee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives 

9 a report on— 

10 (1) the findings of the review conducted under 

11 subsection (b); and 

12 (2) any legislative changes needed to allow the 

13 administrative surcharge under the foreign military 

14 sales program to pay for any expenses currently not 

15 covered by that surcharge. 

16 SEC. 4. INCREASING FEDERAL REVENUE BY REVIEWING 

17 AND REPORTING ON OPTIMAL SIZE OF STRA18 TEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE. 

19 (a) REVIEW.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 

21 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

22 conduct a review of options for a long-range target 

23 for the optimal size and configuration of the Stra24 tegic Petroleum Reserve established under part B of 

25 title I of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•S 2175 IS

1 (42 U.S.C. 6231 et seq.) (referred to in this section 

2 as the ‘‘Reserve’’). 

3 (2) MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In con4 ducting the review under paragraph (1), the Sec5 retary shall consider— 

6 (A) the volume of petroleum and petroleum 

7 products to be held in the Reserve; 

8 (B) the infrastructure and modernization 

9 needs of the Reserve; 

10 (C) the projections for future oil produc11 tion and consumption in the United States; 

12 (D) the efficacy of the existing Reserve to 

13 respond to domestic supply disruptions; 

14 (E) the obligations of the International 

15 Energy Agency; 

16 (F) the expected responses of the private 

17 sector to any supply disruptions due to a sub18 optimal size and configuration of the Reserve; 

19 and 

20 (G) the costs and benefits of a range of po21 tential sizes and configurations of the Reserve. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

24 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•S 2175 IS

1 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

2 the House of Representatives a report describing— 

3 (1) the findings of the review conducted under 

4 subsection (a); and 

5 (2) recommendations for legislation needed to 

6 optimize the size and configuration of the Reserve. 

7 SEC. 5. SAVING FEDERAL FUNDS BY AUTHORIZING 

8 CHANGES TO THE COMPOSITION OF CIRCU9 LATING COINS. 

10 Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(x) COMPOSITION OF CIRCULATING COINS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

14 provision of law, the Director of the United States 

15 Mint may modify the composition of circulating 

16 coins in accordance with a study and analysis con17 ducted by the United States Mint, if that modifica18 tion will— 

19 ‘‘(A) reduce costs incurred by the tax20 payers of the United States; 

21 ‘‘(B) be seamless, as determined through 

22 testing conducted by most coin acceptors; and 

23 ‘‘(C) have no impact on the public and 

24 stakeholders, except as described in subpara25 graph (A). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•S 2175 IS

1 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—On the 

2 date that is 90 days before the date on which the 

3 Director of the United States Mint makes a modi4 fication described in paragraph (1), the Director 

5 shall submit to Congress notice that— 

6 ‘‘(A) provides a justification for the modi7 fication, including the support for that modi8 fication in the study and analysis required 

9 under paragraph (1) with respect to the modi10 fication; 

11 ‘‘(B) describes how the modification will 

12 reduce costs incurred by the taxpayers of the 

13 United States; 

14 ‘‘(C) certifies that the modification will be 

15 seamless, as described in paragraph (1)(B); and 

16 ‘‘(D) certifies that the modification will 

17 have no impact on the public or stakeholders, 

18 except as described in paragraph (1)(A).’’. 

19 SEC. 6. REDUCING THE RESOURCE DRAIN BY REQUIRING 

20 THAT ELECTRONICALLY PREPARED PAPER 

21 RETURNS TO INCLUDE SCANNABLE CODE. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 6011 of 

23 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by the 

24 Taxpayer First Act (Public Law 116–25), is amended by 

25 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•S 2175 IS

1 ‘‘(7) SPECIAL RULE FOR RETURNS PREPARED

2 ELECTRONICALLY AND SUBMITTED ON PAPER.—The 

3 Secretary shall require that any return of tax which 

4 is prepared electronically, but is printed and filed on 

5 paper, bear a code which can, when scanned, convert 

6 such return to electronic format.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

8 section 6011(e) of such Code is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3) and (7)’’. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to returns of tax the due date for 

12 which (determined without regard to extensions) is after 

13 December 31, 2020. 

14 SEC. 7. MAXIMIZING EFFECTIVE USE AND RECOUPMENT OF 

15 FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS BY CLOSING THE 

16 FORBEARANCE LOOPHOLE AND AMENDING 

17 DEFAULT RATES. 

18 (a) DEFAULT MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Section 

19 435(a)(7)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 1085(a)(7)(A)) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 

22 and 

23 (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 

24 ‘‘(iii) PROHIBITION.—The plan re25 quired under clause (i) may not include 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
11 

•S 2175 IS

1 placing students in forbearance as a means 

2 of reducing the cohort default rate of the 

3 institution.’’. 

4 (b) FORBEARANCE RULES.—Section 435(m)(1) of 

5 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 1085(m)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(D) With respect to a cohort default rate 

9 calculated for an institution under this para10 graph for fiscal year 2018 and for each suc11 ceeding fiscal year, the cohort default rate shall 

12 be calculated such that in determining the num13 ber of current and former students at an insti14 tution who enter repayment for such fiscal 

15 year— 

16 ‘‘(i) any student who is in nonmanda17 tory forbearance for such fiscal year for a 

18 period of greater than 18 months but less 

19 than 36 months shall not be counted as 

20 entering repayment for that fiscal year; 

21 ‘‘(ii) any student described in clause 

22 (i) shall be counted as entering repayment 

23 for the first fiscal year for which the stu24 dent ceases to be in a period of forbearVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2175.IS S2175

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
12 

•S 2175 IS

1 ance and otherwise meets the requirements 

2 for being in repayment; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) any student who is in a period 

4 of nonmandatory forbearance for 3 or 

5 more years shall be counted as in default 

6 and included in the institution’s total num7 ber of students in default.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS