II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1707

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) to provide

that certain designated Federal entities shall be establishments under

such Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 7, 1999

Mr. THOMPSON (for himself and Mr. FRIST) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.

App.) to provide that certain designated Federal entities

shall be establishments under such Act, 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. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds that—

5 (1) Inspectors General serve an important func6 tion in preventing and eliminating fraud, waste, and

7 abuse in the Federal Government; and
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1 (2) independence is vital for an Inspector Gen2 eral to function effectively.

3 SEC. 2. CERTAIN DESIGNATED FEDERAL ENTITIES AS ES4 TABLISHMENTS UNDER THE INSPECTOR

5 GENERAL ACT OF 1978.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General Act of

7 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—

8 (1) in section 8G(a)(2)—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘Amtrak,’’;

10 (B) by striking ‘‘the Board of Governors of

11 the Federal Reserve System,’’;

12 (C) by striking ‘‘the National Science

13 Foundation,’’; and

14 (D) by striking ‘‘the Tennessee Valley Au15 thority, the United States International Trade

16 Commission, and the United States Postal

17 Service;’’ and inserting ‘‘and the United States

18 International Trade Commission;’’; and

19 (2) in section 11—

20 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘or the

21 Commissioner of Social Security, Social Secu22 rity Administration;’’ and inserting ‘‘the Com23 missioner of Social Security, Social Security

24 Administration; the Reform Board of Amtrak;

25 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
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1 System; the National Science Board, National

2 Science Foundation; the Postmaster General of

3 the United States Postal Service; or the Board

4 of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Author5 ity;’’; and

6 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘or the

7 Veterans’ Administration, or the Social Security

8 Administration;’’ and inserting ‘‘the Veterans’

9 Administration, the Social Security Administra10 tion, Amtrak, the Board of Governors of the

11 Federal Reserve System, the National Science

12 Foundation, the United States Postal Service,

13 or the Tennessee Valley Authority;’’.

14 (b) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE POSITION.—Section

15 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by insert16 ing after the item relating to the Inspector General of the

17 Small Business Administration the following:

18 ‘‘Inspector General, Tennessee Valley Author19 ity.

20 ‘‘Inspector General, Amtrak.

21 ‘‘Inspector General, Board of Governors of the

22 Federal Reserve System.

23 ‘‘Inspector General, National Science Founda24 tion.’’.
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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 8G of the

2 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is

3 amended—

4 (1) in subsection (a)(4) by striking all after ‘‘of

5 this section’’ through the end and inserting a semi6 colon;

7 (2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘Except as

8 provided under subsection (f) of this section, the’’

9 and inserting ‘‘The’’;

10 (3) by striking subsection (f); and

11 (4) in subsection (g) by striking paragraph (3).

12 SEC. 3. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE UNITED

13 STATES POSTAL SERVICE.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General Act of

15 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—

16 (1) by redesignating sections 8G (as amended

17 by section 2), 8H, and 8I as sections 8H, 8I, and

18 8J, respectively; and

19 (2) by inserting after section 8F the following:

20 ‘‘SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE UNITED STATES

21 POSTAL SERVICE

22 ‘‘SEC. 8G. (a) In carrying out the duties and respon23 sibilities specified in this Act, the Inspector General of the

24 United States Postal Service shall have oversight responsi25 bility for all activities of the Postal Inspection Service, in26 cluding any internal investigation performed by the Postal
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1 Inspection Service. The Chief Postal Inspector shall

2 promptly report the significant activities being carried out

3 by the Postal Inspection Service to such Inspector Gen4 eral.

5 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (7)

6 or (8) of section 6(a), the Inspector General of the United

7 States Postal Service may select, appoint, and employ

8 such officers and employees as may be necessary for car9 rying out the functions, powers and duties of the Office

10 of Inspector General and to obtain the temporary or inter11 mittent services of experts or consultants or an organiza12 tion of experts or consultants, subject to the applicable

13 laws and regulations that govern such selections, appoint14 ments, and employment, and the obtaining of such serv15 ices, within the United States Postal Service.

16 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this Act shall restrict, eliminate, or

17 otherwise adversely affect any of the rights, privileges, or

18 benefits of employees of the United States Postal Service,

19 or labor organizations representing employees of the

20 United States Postal Service, under chapter 12 of title 39,

21 United States Code, the National Labor Relations Act,

22 any handbook or manual affecting employee labor rela23 tions with the United States Postal Service, or any collec24 tive bargaining agreement.
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1 ‘‘(d) There are authorized to be appropriated, out of

2 the Postal Service Fund, such sums as may be necessary

3 for the Office of Inspector General of the United States

4 Postal Service.’’.

5 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

6 (1) REDESIGNATIONS IN THE INSPECTOR GEN7 ERAL ACT OF 1978.—Section 8J of the Inspector

8 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) (as redesig9 nated by subsection (a) of this section) is

10 amended—

11 (A) by striking all beginning with ‘‘section

12 8’’ through ‘‘this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘section 8,

13 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G, or 8I of this

14 Act’’; and

15 (B) by striking ‘‘8G(a)’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘8H(a)’’.

17 (2) RELATING TO TITLE 39, UNITED STATES

18 CODE.—

19 (A) BOARD OF GOVERNORS.—Section 202

20 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by

21 striking subsection (e).

22 (B) DEFINITION.—Section 102 of title 39,

23 United States Code, is amended by striking

24 paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(4) ‘Inspector General’ means the Inspector

2 General of the United States Postal Service, ap3 pointed under section 3(a) of the Inspector General

4 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.);’’.

5 (C) POSTAL EMPLOYMENT POLICY.—Sec6 tion 1003 of title 39, United States Code, is

7 amended—

8 (i) in subsection (a), in the first sen9 tence by striking ‘‘chapters 2 and 12 of

10 this title, section 8G of the Inspector Gen11 eral Act of 1978, or other provision of

12 law,’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter 2 or 12 of

13 this title, subsection (b) or (c) of this sec14 tion, or any other provision of law,’’;

15 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘re16 spective’’ and inserting ‘‘other’’; and

17 (iii) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘in18 cluded’’ and inserting ‘‘includes’’.

19 (3) RELATING TO THE FEDERAL PROPERTY

20 AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ACT OF 1949.—Sec21 tion 304C(b)(1) of the Federal Property and Admin22 istrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C.

23 254d(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘8G’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘8H’’.
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1 (c) INCUMBENT INSPECTOR GENERAL; AUTHORIZA2 TION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the position of Inspector

4 General of the United States Postal Service is occu5 pied on the effective date of this Act (other than by

6 a person serving due to a vacancy arising in that po7 sition before the expiration of a term of the prede8 cessor of that person), then, for purposes of the pe9 riod beginning on such effective date and ending on

10 January 5, 2004, or, if earlier, the date on which

11 such person ceases to serve in that position, the pro12 visions of title 39, United States Code, and the In13 spector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall

14 be applied as if the amendments made by this sec15 tion had not been enacted, except as provided in

16 paragraph (2).

17 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any

19 other provision of this subsection or section 5 of

20 this Act, section 8G(d) of the Inspector General

21 Act of 1978 (as amended by this section) shall

22 be effective for purposes of fiscal years begin23 ning on or after October 1, 2000.

24 (B) SAVINGS PROVISION.—For purposes of

25 the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2000,
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1 funding for the Office of Inspector General of

2 the United States Postal Service shall be made

3 available in the same manner as if this Act had

4 never been enacted.

5 (3) ELIGIBILITY OF PRIOR INSPECTOR GEN6 ERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall prevent any person

7 who has served as Inspector General of the United

8 States Postal Service at any time before the effective

9 date of this Act from being appointed to that posi10 tion pursuant to the amendments made by this Act.

11 SEC. 4. INCUMBENT INSPECTORS GENERAL.

12 The person serving on the effective date of this Act

13 as Inspector General of each designated Federal entity

14 (other than the United States Postal Service) made an es15 tablishment under this Act—

16 (1) may continue such service until the Presi17 dent makes an appointment under section 3(a) of

18 the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)

19 consistent with the amendments made by this Act;

20 and

21 (2) shall be subject to section 8H (c) and (d)

22 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.

23 App.) (as redesignated by section 3 of this Act) as

24 applicable to the appropriate head of the establish25 ment as amended by this Act, unless that person is
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1 appointed by the President, by and with the advice

2 and consent of the Senate, to be Inspector General

3 of that establishment.

4 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

5 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

6 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

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