I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2136
To amend title 31, United States Code, to ensure that the General Accounting
Office performs its functions in an impartial, complete, and timely man-
ner in investigating issues of concern to the public.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 17, 1993
Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. WALKER, Ms.
PRYCE
of Ohio, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. EWING, Mr. BUNNING, Mr.
BALLENGER, and Mr. EVERETT) introduced the following bill; which was
referred jointly to the Committees on Government Operations and Rules
A BILL
To amend title 31, United States Code, to ensure that the
General Accounting Office performs its functions in an
impartial, complete, and timely manner in investigating
issues of concern to the public.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘General Accounting
Office Reform and Reorganization Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to ensure that in conduct-
ing evaluations and preparing reports pursuant to an
order or request of the Congress, the General Accounting
Office performs its functions in an impartial, complete,
and timely manner.
SEC. 3. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF GENERAL ACCOUNTING
OFFICE INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7 of title
31, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by redesignating section 720 as section 721;
and
(2) by inserting after section 719 the following
new section:
‘‘§ 720. Review, approval, and conduct of investiga-
tions, evaluations, assessments, and re-
ports requested by Congress
‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Comptroller General may not make a report pursuant to
a request of a Member or committee of the Congress, un-
less—
‘‘(1) the Oversight Board approves in accord-
ance with this section a methodology for preparing
the report; and
‘‘(2) the report is prepared in accordance with
the methodology as approved by the Oversight
Board.
‘‘(b) Upon receiving a request from a committee of
the Congress for a report, the Comptroller General shall
notify the ranking minority member of that committee
that the request has been received.
‘‘(c) A Member of Congress who requests that the
Comptroller General make a report, the staff of the Mem-
ber, and a Member and the staff of a committee of the
Congress that requests that the Comptroller General make
a report, may not advise, consult, confer, or otherwise
communicate with the Comptroller General or any person-
nel of the General Accounting Office regarding the report
until after the date on which the final report is issued.
‘‘(d) The Comptroller General may not issue any final
report pursuant to a request of a Member or committee
of Congress unless the final report is approved—
‘‘(1) by the subcommittee under subsection
(h)(3) that has responsibility for the subject area of
the report; and
‘‘(2) after approval under subparagraph (A), by
the Oversight Board.
‘‘(e)(1) Any Member of Congress may submit to the
Oversight Board comments challenging the findings or
recommendations of any final report issued by the Comp-
troller General.
‘‘(2) Upon receipt of comments under paragraph (1),
the Oversight Board may—
‘‘(A) refer the comments to the Comptroller
General for further investigation; or
‘‘(B) refer the final report and comments to an
outside entity (including a college or university) for
peer review of the findings of the report and the
data used.
‘‘(f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), there
shall be printed in the Congressional Record—
‘‘(A) on a quarterly basis, a list of the names
of all Members of Congress who requested, in the
quarter covered by the list, that the Comptroller
General make any report; and
‘‘(B) by not later than 90 days after the last
day of each session of the Congress, a brief sum-
mary of the status and results of each investigation
conducted by the General Accounting Office in that
session.
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to requests by
Members of Congress for a report dealing with a national
security issue.
‘‘(g)(1) No hearing may be held by a committee or
subcommittee of the Congress regarding a report by the
General Accounting Office before the end of the 7-day pe-
riod beginning on the date of the release of the final re-
port.
‘‘(2) Before the 7-day period ending on the date on
which a person is required to testify to a committee or
subcommittee of the Congress regarding an investigation
conducted by the General Accounting Office, the Chair-
man of the committee or subcommittee shall provide to
the person a copy of the final report of the General Ac-
counting Office relating to the investigation.
‘‘(h)(1) There is established the General Accounting
Office Oversight Board. The Oversight Board shall review
in accordance with this section requests by Members and
committees of the Congress for the performance of inves-
tigations by the Comptroller General.
‘‘(2) The Oversight Board shall be comprised of 21
members appointed as follows:
‘‘(A) 5 Members of the House of Representa-
tives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives.
‘‘(B) 5 Members of the House of Representa-
tives appointed by the minority leader of the House
of Representatives.
‘‘(C) 5 Members of the Senate appointed by the
majority leader of the Senate.
‘‘(D) 5 Members of the Senate appointed by the
minority leader of the Senate.
‘‘(E) The Comptroller General, who shall be a
nonvoting member.
‘‘(3)(A) The Oversight Board shall have a sub-
committee for each division in the General Accounting Of-
fice, and each subcommittee shall be responsible for the
subject area of that division.
‘‘(B) Each subcommittee shall consist of 9 members
of the Oversight Board, of whom—
‘‘(i) 2 shall be members of the Oversight Board
appointed by each of the officials referred to in para-
graph (2)(A) through (D); and
‘‘(ii) one shall be the Comptroller General, who
shall be a nonvoting member.
‘‘(C) Each subcommittee shall select a chairman and
a vice chairman from among its members. No member of
the Oversight Board may serve as chairman or vice chair-
man of more than one subcommittee. No member of the
Oversight Board may serve on more than 2 subcommittees
at any time unless granted a waiver by the Oversight
Board.
‘‘(4) A vacancy in the membership of the Oversight
Board shall not affect the power of the remaining mem-
bers to execute the functions of the Oversight Board and
shall be filled in the same manner as in the case of the
original appointment.
‘‘(5) The Oversight Board shall select a chairman and
a vice chairman from among its members at the beginning
of each Congress. The vice chairman shall act in the place
of the chairman in the absence of the chairman. The chair-
manship and vice chairmanship shall alternate between
the Senate and the House of Representatives with each
Congress. The chairman during each even-numbered Con-
gress shall be selected by the members of the House of
Representatives on the Oversight Board, from among
those members. The chairman during each odd-numbered
Congress shall be selected by the members of the Senate
on the Oversight Board, from among those members. The
vice chairman during each Congress shall be selected by
the members on the Oversight Board who are members
of the House of Congress of which the chairman for that
Congress is not a Member.
‘‘(i) In this section, the term ‘report’ includes an in-
vestigation, evaluation, assessment, or report, including
one under section 712(4) or (5) or section 717.’’.
(b) INITIAL SUBCOMMITTEES.—
(1) NUMBER.—The General Accounting Office
Oversight Board established by section 720 of title
31, United States Code, as amended by this Act,
shall have 7 subcommittees until such time as there
is a different number of divisions in the General Ac-
counting Office.
(2) SUBJECT
AREAS.—Each subcommittee of
the General Accounting Office Oversight Board shall
be responsible for one of the following subject areas,
until such time as there is any change in the subject
areas of the divisions of the General Accounting Of-
fice and the Oversight Board alters the subject areas
of the subcommittee to coincide with that change:
(A) Accounting and financial management.
(B) General government.
(C) Human resources.
(D) Information management and tech-
nology.
(E) National security and international af-
fairs.
(F) Program evaluation and methodology.
(G) Resources, community, and economic
development.
(c) OVERSIGHT BOARD DEFINED.—Section 701 of
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
‘‘(3) ‘Oversight Board’ means the General Ac-
counting Office Oversight Board established by sec-
tion 720.’’.
(d) CLERICAL
AMENDMENT.—Title 31, United
States Code, is amended in the table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 7 by striking the item relating to sec-
tion 720 and inserting the following:
‘‘720. Review, approval, and conduct of investigations, evaluations, assessments,
and reports requested by Congress.
‘‘721. Agency reports.’’.
SEC. 4. GAO DETAILEES AND ASSIGNEES.
Section 734 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘The Comptrol-
ler’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) The Comptroller General may not detail or as-
sign an officer or employee of the General Accounting Of-
fice to a committee of the Congress—
‘‘(1) more than twice in any Congress; or
‘‘(2) for a period longer than 3 months.
‘‘(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title,
the Comptroller General may not make any investigation,
evaluation, assessment, or report pursuant to a request
from a committee of the Congress or the Chairman of a
committee of the Congress if an officer or employee of the
General Accounting Office was detailed or assigned to the
committee in the 3-month period ending on the date of
the submittal of the request.’’.
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