I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3872

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Office of

Inspector General in the Executive Office of the President.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 23, 1996

Mr. BASS (for himself, Mr. CLINGER, and Mr. HORN) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and

Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish

an Office of Inspector General in the Executive Office

of the President.

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 ‘‘White House Inspector

5 General Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR EX2 ECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—Section 11 of the

4 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend5 ed—

6 (1) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘the Presi7 dent (with respect only to the Executive Office of

8 the President),’’ after ‘‘means’’; and

9 (2) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘the Execu10 tive Office of the President,’’ after ‘‘means’’.

11 (b) APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not

12 later than 120 days after the effective date of this Act,

13 the President shall nominate an individual as the Inspec14 tor General of the Executive Office of the President pursu15 ant to the amendments made by subsection (a).

16 SEC. 3. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING INSPECTOR

17 GENERAL OF THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF

18 THE PRESIDENT.

19 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)

20 is amended—

21 (1) by redesignating the second section 8G (re22 garding a rule of construction) as section 8I; and

23 (2) by inserting after the first section 8G (re24 garding requirements for Federal entities and des25 ignated Federal entities) the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 8H. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING INSPECTOR

2 GENERAL OF THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF

3 THE PRESIDENT.

4 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY, DIRECTION, AND CONTROL OF

5 PRESIDENT.—Notwithstanding the last 2 sentences of

6 section 3(a), the Inspector General of the Executive Office

7 of the President shall be under the authority, direction,

8 and control of the President with respect to audits or in9 vestigations, or the issuance of subpoenas, which require

10 access to information concerning—

11 ‘‘(1) ongoing criminal investigations or proceed12 ings;

13 ‘‘(2) undercover operations;

14 ‘‘(3) the identity of confidential sources, includ15 ing protected witnesses;

16 ‘‘(4) deliberations and decisions on policy mat17 ters, including documented information used as a

18 basis for making policy decisions;

19 ‘‘(5) intelligence or counterintelligence matters;

20 or

21 ‘‘(6) other matters the disclosure of which

22 would constitute a serious threat to the national se23 curity, or would cause significant impairment to the

24 national interests (including interests in foreign

25 trade negotiations), of the United States.
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1 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITING ACTIVITIES OF INSPECTOR GEN2 ERAL.—With respect to information described in sub3 section (a), the President may prohibit the Inspector Gen4 eral of the Executive Office of the President from carrying

5 out or completing any audit or investigation, or issuing

6 any subpoena, after the Inspector General has decided to

7 initiate, carry out, or complete such audit or investigation

8 or to issue such subpoena, if the President determines

9 that—

10 ‘‘(1) the disclosure of that information would

11 interfere with the core functions of the constitutional

12 responsibilities of the President; and

13 ‘‘(2) the prohibition is necessary to prevent the

14 disclosure of that information.

15 ‘‘(c) NOTICE.—

16 ‘‘(1) NOTICE TO INSPECTOR GENERAL.—If the

17 President makes a determination referred to in sub18 section (b)(1) or (2), the President shall within 30

19 days notify the Inspector General in writing stating

20 the reasons for that determination.

21 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—Within 30 days

22 after receiving a notice under paragraph (1), the In23 spector General shall transmit a copy of the notice

24 to each of the Chairman and the ranking minority

25 party member of the Committee on Government Re-
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1 form and Oversight of the House of Representatives,

2 the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Sen3 ate, and other appropriate committees or sub4 committees of the Congress.

5 ‘‘(d) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.—

6 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—The In7 spector General of the Executive Office of the Presi8 dent shall include in each semiannual report to the

9 President under section 5, at a minimum—

10 ‘‘(A) a list of the title or subject of each

11 inspection, investigation, or audit conducted

12 during the reporting period;

13 ‘‘(B) a statement of whether corrective ac14 tion has been completed on each significant rec15 ommendation described in previous semiannual

16 reports, and, in a case where corrective action

17 has been completed, a description of such cor18 rective action;

19 ‘‘(C) a certification that the Inspector Gen20 eral has had full and direct access to all infor21 mation relevant to the performance of functions

22 of the Inspector General;

23 ‘‘(D) a description of all cases occurring

24 during the reporting period in which the Inspec25 tor General could not obtain documentary evi-
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1 dence relevant to any inspection, audit, or in2 vestigation due to a determination of the Presi3 dent under subsection (b); and

4 ‘‘(E) such recommendations as the Inspec5 tor General considers appropriate concerning

6 legislation to promote economy and efficiency in

7 the administration of programs and operations

8 undertaken by the Executive Office of the

9 President, and to detect and eliminate fraud,

10 waste, and abuse in such programs and oper11 ations.

12 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Within 30

13 days after receiving a semiannual report under sec14 tion 5 from the Inspector General of the Executive

15 Office of the President, the President shall transmit

16 the report to each of the Chairman and the ranking

17 minority party member of the Committee on Govern18 ment Reform and Oversight of the House of Rep19 resentatives and the Committee on Governmental

20 Affairs of the Senate with any comments the Presi21 dent considers appropriate.’’.

22 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

23 This Act shall take effect on January 21, 1997.

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