IIB 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2395 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 22, 2016 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to strengthen 
the independence of the Inspectors General, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2016’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Full and prompt access to all documents. 
Sec. 3. Additional authority provisions for Inspectors General. 
Sec. 4. Additional responsibilities of the Council of the Inspectors General on 
Integrity and Efficiency. 
Sec. 5. Amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978 and the Inspector 
General Reform Act of 2008. 
Sec. 6. Reports required. 
Sec. 7. Public release of misconduct report. 
Sec. 8. No additional funds authorized. 
SEC. 2. FULL AND PROMPT ACCESS TO ALL DOCUMENTS. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—Section 6 of the Inspector General 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (a)(1) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1)(A) notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, except any provision of law enacted by Congress 
that expressly refers to an Inspector General and ex-
pressly limits the right of access by that Inspector 
General, to have timely access to all records, reports, 
audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommenda-
tions, or other materials available to the applicable 
establishment which relate to programs and oper-
ations with respect to which that Inspector General 
has responsibilities under this Act; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
‘‘(B) except as provided in subsection (i), with 
regard to Federal grand jury materials protected 
from disclosure pursuant to Federal Rule of Crimi-
nal Procedure 6(e), to have timely access to such in-
formation if the Attorney General grants the request 
in accordance with subsection (g);’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(g) REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO REQUEST FOR 
FEDERAL GRAND JURY MATERIALS.— 
‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF REQUEST TO ATTORNEY 
GENERAL.—If the Inspector General of an establish-
ment submits a request to the head of the establish-
ment for Federal grand jury materials pursuant to 
subsection (a)(1), the head of the establishment 
shall immediately notify the Attorney General of 
such request. 
‘‘(2) ATTORNEY GENERAL DETERMINATION.— 
Not later than 15 days after the date on which a re-
quest is submitted to the Attorney General under 
paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall determine 
whether to grant or deny the request for Federal 
grand jury materials and shall immediately notify 
the head of the establishment of such determination. 
The Attorney General shall grant the request unless 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
the Attorney General determines that granting ac-
cess to the Federal grand jury materials would be 
likely to— 
‘‘(A) interfere with an ongoing criminal in-
vestigation or prosecution; 
‘‘(B) interfere with an undercover oper-
ation; 
‘‘(C) result in disclosure of the identity of 
a confidential source, including a protected wit-
ness; 
‘‘(D) pose a serious threat to national se-
curity; or 
‘‘(E) result in significant impairment of 
the trade or economic interests of the United 
States. 
‘‘(3) TRANSMITTAL
OF
DETERMINATION
TO 
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION
OF
ATTORNEY
GEN-
ERAL DETERMINATION.—The head of the estab-
lishment shall inform the Inspector General of 
the establishment of the determination made by 
the Attorney General with respect to the re-
quest for Federal grand jury materials. 
‘‘(B) COMMENTS
BY
INSPECTOR
GEN-
ERAL.—The Inspector General of the establish-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
ment described under subparagraph (A) may 
submit comments on the determination sub-
mitted pursuant to such subparagraph to the 
committees listed under paragraph (4) that the 
Inspector General considers appropriate. 
‘‘(4) SUBMISSION OF DENIALS TO CONGRESS BY 
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 
after notifying the head of an establishment of a de-
nial pursuant to paragraph (2), the Attorney Gen-
eral shall submit a statement that the request for 
Federal grand jury materials by the Inspector Gen-
eral was denied and the reason for the denial to each 
of the following: 
‘‘(A) The Committees on Homeland Secu-
rity and Governmental Affairs and the Judici-
ary of the Senate. 
‘‘(B) The Committees on Oversight and 
Government Reform and the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives. 
‘‘(C) Other appropriate committees and 
subcommittees of Congress. 
‘‘(h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion may be construed as authorizing an Inspector General 
to publicly disclose information otherwise prohibited from 
disclosure by law. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
‘‘(i) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (a)(1)(B) and (g) 
shall not apply to requests from the Inspector General of 
the Department of Justice.’’. 
(b) SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING
THE DE-
PARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—Section 8E(b) of the Inspector 
General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting a semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 
the end and insert ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) shall have access under section 6(a)(1)(A) 
to information available to the Department of Jus-
tice under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 
6(e).’’. 
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY PROVISIONS FOR INSPEC-
TORS GENERAL. 
(a) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY FOR INSPECTORS GEN-
ERAL TO REQUIRE TESTIMONY OF CERTAIN PERSONS.— 
The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting after section 6 the following 
new section: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
‘‘SEC. 6A. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY. 
‘‘(a) TESTIMONIAL SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—In ad-
dition to the authority otherwise provided by this Act and 
in accordance with the requirements of this section, each 
Inspector General, in carrying out the provisions of this 
Act (or in the case of an Inspector General or Special In-
spector General not established under this Act, the provi-
sions of the authorizing statute), is authorized to require 
by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses 
as necessary in the performance of the functions assigned 
to the Inspector General by this Act (or in the case of 
an Inspector General or Special Inspector General not es-
tablished under this Act, the functions assigned by the au-
thorizing statute), in the case of contumacy or refusal to 
obey, shall be enforceable by order of any appropriate 
United States district court. An Inspector General may 
not require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of 
any current Federal employees, but may use other author-
ized procedures. 
‘‘(b) NONDELEGATION.—The authority to issue a 
subpoena under subsection (a) may not be delegated. 
‘‘(c) PANEL REVIEW BEFORE ISSUANCE.— 
‘‘(1) APPROVAL REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(A) REQUEST
FOR
APPROVAL
BY
SUB-
POENA PANEL.—Before the issuance of a sub-
poena described in subsection (a), an Inspector 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
General shall submit a request for approval to 
issue a subpoena to a panel (in this section, re-
ferred to as the ‘Subpoena Panel’), which shall 
be comprised of three Inspectors General of the 
Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity 
and Efficiency, who shall be designated by the 
Inspector General serving as Chairperson of the 
Council. 
‘‘(B) PROTECTION
FROM
DISCLOSURE.— 
The information contained in the request sub-
mitted by an Inspector General under subpara-
graph (A) and the identification of a witness 
shall be protected from disclosure to the extent 
permitted by law. Any request for disclosure of 
such information shall be submitted to the In-
spector General requesting the subpoena. 
‘‘(2) TIME TO RESPOND.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the Subpoena Panel shall 
approve or deny a request for approval to issue 
a subpoena not later than 10 days after the 
submission of such request. 
‘‘(B) 
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
FOR 
PANEL.—If the Subpoena Panel determines 
that additional information is necessary to ap-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
HR 2395 RFS
prove or deny such request, the Subpoena Panel 
shall request such information and shall ap-
prove or deny such request not later than 20 
days after the submission of such request. 
‘‘(3) DENIAL BY PANEL.—If a majority of the 
Subpoena Panel denies the approval of a subpoena, 
that subpoena may not be issued. 
‘‘(d) NOTICE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Subpoena Panel ap-
proves a subpoena under subsection (c), the Inspec-
tor General shall notify the Attorney General that 
the Inspector General intends to issue the subpoena. 
‘‘(2) DENIAL FOR INTERFERENCE WITH AN ON-
GOING
INVESTIGATION.—Not later than 10 days 
after the date on which the Attorney General is noti-
fied pursuant to paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen-
eral may object to the issuance of the subpoena be-
cause the subpoena will interfere with an ongoing in-
vestigation and the subpoena may not be issued. 
‘‘(3) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENA APPROVED.—If 
the Attorney General does not object to the issuance 
of the subpoena during the 10-day period described 
in paragraph (2), the Inspector General may issue 
the subpoena. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:51 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2395.RFS
H2395
smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS