II 

Calendar No. 646 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2991 

[Report No. 111–350] 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to enhance the oversight authorities 

of the Comptroller General, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 

Mrs. MCCASKILL (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

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

NOVEMBER 18, 2010 

Reported by Mr. LIEBERMAN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to enhance the 

oversight authorities of the Comptroller General, 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 ‘‘Government Account5 ability Office Improvement Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.—Section 716 

3 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in subsection 

4 (a)— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; and 

6 (2) by inserting after the section heading the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob9 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re10 quires to discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, 

11 and investigative duties), including through the bringing 

12 of civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil ac13 tion under this section, the court shall recognize the con14 tinuing force and effect of the authorization in the pre15 ceding sentence until such time as the authorization is re16 pealed pursuant to law.’’. 

17 (b) COPIES AND INTERVIEWS.—Section 716(a) of 

18 title 31, United States Code, as amended by subsection 

19 (a), is further amended in the second sentence of para20 graph (2) by striking ‘‘inspect an agency record’’ and in21 serting ‘‘inspect, and make and retain copies of, an agency 

22 record and interview agency officers and employees’’. 

23 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 716 of title 

24 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(f) No provision of any law in existence on the date 

2 of the enactment of this section or enacted after such date 

3 shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the au4 thority of the Comptroller General to obtain any informa5 tion, to inspect any record, or to interview any officer or 

6 employee under this section in carrying out any authorized 

7 audit, evaluation, or investigation, except to the extent 

8 such provision expressly and specifically refers to this sec9 tion and provides for such limitation, amendment, or 

10 supersession.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. ADMINISTERING OATHS. 

12 Paragraph (4) of section 711 of title 31, United 

13 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(4) administer oaths to witnesses, except that, 

15 in matters other than auditing and settling accounts, 

16 the authority of an officer or employee to administer 

17 oaths to witnesses pursuant to a delegation under 

18 paragraph (2) shall not be available without the 

19 prior express approval of the Comptroller General 

20 (or a designee).’’. 

21 SEC. 4. AGENCY REPORTS. 

22 Section 720(b) of title 31, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 

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

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


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1 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol2 lows: 

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

4 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee 

5 on Oversight and Government Operations of the 

6 House of Representatives, the congressional commit7 tees with jurisdiction over the agency program or ac8 tivity that is the subject of the recommendation, and 

9 the Government Accountability Office before the 

10 61st day after the date of the report; and’’. 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Government Account13 ability Office Improvement Act of 2010’’. 

14 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION. 

15 (a) AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.—Section 716 

16 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in subsection 

17 (a)— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; and 

19 (2) by inserting after the section heading the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to ob22 tain such agency records as the Comptroller General re23 quires to discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, 

24 and investigative duties), including through the bringing 

25 of civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil acVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:40 Nov 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2991.RS S2991

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1 tion under this section, the court shall recognize the con2 tinuing force and effect of the authorization in the pre3 ceding sentence until such time as the authorization is re4 pealed pursuant to law.’’. 

5 (b) COPIES.—Section 716(a) of title 31, United States 

6 Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended in 

7 the second sentence of paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘inspect 

8 an agency record’’ and inserting ‘‘inspect, and make and 

9 retain copies of, an agency record’’. 

10 SEC. 3. ADMINISTERING OATHS. 

11 Section 711 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

12 by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(4) administer oaths to witnesses when auditing 

14 and settling accounts and, with the prior express ap15 proval of the Comptroller General, when investigating 

16 fraud or attempts to defraud the United States, or ir17 regularity or misconduct of an employee or agent of 

18 the United States.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION. 

20 (a) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Subchapter 

21 II of chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

22 by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘§ 721. Access to certain information 

24 ‘‘(a) No provision of the Social Security Act, including 

25 section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall be conVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:40 Nov 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2991.RS S2991

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1 strued to limit, amend, or supersede the authority of the 

2 Comptroller General to obtain any information or to in3 spect or copy any record under section 716 of this title. 

4 ‘‘(b) No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos5 metic Act, including section 301(j) of that Act (21 U.S.C. 

6 331(j)), shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the 

7 authority of the Comptroller General to obtain any infor8 mation or to inspect or copy any record under section 716 

9 of this title. 

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

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

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

13 amend, or supersede the authority of the Comptroller Gen14 eral to obtain any information or to inspect or copy any 

15 record under section 716 of this title, including with respect 

16 to any information disclosed to the Assistant Attorney Gen17 eral of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice 

18 or the Federal Trade Commission for purposes of pre-merg19 er review under section 7A of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 

20 18a). 

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

22 policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from 

23 public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information 

24 obtained consistent with this section. 

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


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1 ‘‘(A) to 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) to affect the applicability of section 716(e) 

6 of this title, including the protections against unau7 thorized disclosure contained in that section, to infor8 mation obtained consistent with this section. 

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

10 not be construed to affect access by the Government Account11 ability Office to information under statutes that are not 

12 so referenced.’’. 

13 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

14 table of sections for chapter 7 of title 31, United States 

15 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

16 section 720 the following: 

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

17 SEC. 5. AGENCY REPORTS. 

18 Section 720(b) of title 31, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

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

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

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

23 following: 

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

25 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on 


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1 Oversight and Government Operations of the House of 

2 Representatives, the congressional committees with ju3 risdiction over the agency program or activity that is 

4 the subject of the recommendation, and the Govern5 ment Accountability Office before the 61st day after 

6 the date of the report; and’’. 


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Calendar No. 646 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2991 

[Report No. 111–350] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to enhance 

eral, and for other purposes. the oversight authorities of the Comptroller GenNOVEMBER 18, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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