I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4786 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct an audit of fraud relating 
to waivers of certain requirements of the child nutrition programs during 
the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 20, 2023 
Mr. FINSTAD (for himself, Mr. STAUBER, and Mrs. FISCHBACH) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct an audit 
of fraud relating to waivers of certain requirements of 
the child nutrition programs during the COVID–19 pan-
demic, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Feeding Children Not 
Fraudsters Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. FRAUD RELATING TO COVID–19 NUTRITION WAIV-
ERS. 
(a) AUDIT
OF
KNOWN
FRAUD
RELATING
TO 
COVID–19 NUTRITION PROGRAMS AND WAIVERS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and on 
an annual basis thereafter, the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall conduct, with respect to the covered pe-
riod, an audit of a covered State agency relating to 
known fraud, including such fraud carried out 
under— 
(A) the Child and Adult Care Food Pro-
gram under section 17 of the Richard B. Rus-
sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1766); 
(B) the Summer Food Service Program for 
Children under section 13 of the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1761); and 
(C) child nutrition COVID–19 waivers (in-
cluding with respect to the programs described 
in subparagraphs (A) and (B)). 
(2) SCOPE.—An audit conducted by the Sec-
retary pursuant to this section may only relate to 
known fraud not examined under any preceding 
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audit conducted by the Secretary pursuant to this 
section, as applicable. 
(3) CONTENT.—The audit of a covered State 
agency conducted pursuant to this subsection shall 
examine— 
(A) oversight measures (or lack thereof) by 
such State agency; 
(B) decisions made by such State agency 
after being made aware of fraud committed by 
a local agency, institution, or service institution 
served by such State agency; 
(C) hearings conducted by such State 
agency after being made aware of such fraud; 
(D) correspondence between such agency 
and— 
(i) the Department of Agriculture; 
(ii) a local agency served by such 
State agency; and 
(iii) to the extent practicable, and as 
applicable, the institutions and service in-
stitutions served by such agency; 
(E) overpayments or improper payments 
by a local agency, institution, or service institu-
tion served by such State agency; 
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(F) fraudulent uses of funds by a local 
agency, institution, or service institution served 
by such State agency; and 
(G) misrepresentations by— 
(i) an institution with respect to the 
eligibility of such institution to carry out 
the Child and Adult Care Food Program 
under section 17 of the Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1766); or 
(ii) a service institution with respect 
to the eligibility of such institution to carry 
out the Summer Food Service Program for 
Children under section 13 of the Richard 
B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
U.S.C. 1761). 
(4) COOPERATION.—In order to participate in 
or operate any child nutrition program for the school 
year or summer period, as applicable, that is the 
first school year or summer period beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, a State agen-
cy being audited (and any local agency, institution, 
or service institution served by such State agency) 
shall fully cooperate with any audit conducted pursu-
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ant to this subsection, including by providing any in-
formation requested under paragraph (3). 
(5) REPORT.—The Secretary of Agriculture 
shall submit the findings of the audit required under 
this subsection to— 
(A) the House Committee on Education 
and the Workforce; 
(B) the House Committee on Oversight 
and Accountability; 
(C) the Senate Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry; and 
(D) the Senate Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs. 
(6) SUNSET.—The authority of the Secretary to 
conduct an audit under this section shall terminate 
on the date that is 5 years after the date on which 
the first audit is conducted pursuant to this section. 
(b) REQUIREMENT TO RETAIN RECORDS RELATING 
TO FRAUD.— 
(1) CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM.— 
Section 17(f)(1)(B) of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(1)(B)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) RECORDS.—The State shall re-
tain any records related to the fraud, 
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abuse, or invalid claims described in clause 
(i).’’. 
(2) SUMMER
FOOD
SERVICE
PROGRAM.—Sec-
tion 13(o) of the Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(o)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) The State shall retain any records related 
to any act made unlawful under this subsection.’’. 
(3) WAIVERS.—The Secretary shall retain any 
records related to any fraudulent act carried out 
pursuant to a chid nutrition COVID–19 waiver. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) CHILD
NUTRITION
COVID–19
WAIVERS.— 
The term ‘‘child nutrition COVID–19 waivers’’ 
means the nationwide waivers and additional flexi-
bilities published on the website of the Food and 
Nutrition Service of the Department of Agriculture 
on July 12, 2022. 
(2) CHILD
NUTRITION
PROGRAM.—The term 
‘‘child nutrition program’’ means a program carried 
out under the Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or the Child 
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.). 
(3) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe-
riod’’ means the period— 
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(A) beginning on January 1, 2020; and 
(B) ending on December 31, 2022. 
(4) COVERED STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘cov-
ered State agency’’ means a State agency serving a 
local agency, institution, or service institution ad-
ministering or operating a child nutrition program 
under which known fraud was committed. 
(5) INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘institution’’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 17(a)(2) of 
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1766(a)(2)). 
(6) KNOWN FRAUD.—The term ‘‘known fraud’’ 
means, with respect to a child nutrition program, 
fraud for which any person is investigated, charged, 
or convicted by— 
(A) the Department of Justice; 
(B) the Department of Agriculture; or 
(C) an appropriate State official. 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(8) SERVICE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘service 
institution’’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 13(a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)(1)). 
Æ 
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