I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5581 
To prevent abuse of Government credit cards. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 9, 2006 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Government Reform, and in addition to the 
Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To prevent abuse of Government credit cards. 
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 ‘‘Government Credit 
Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF PURCHASE CARDS. 
(a) REQUIRED SAFEGUARDS AND INTERNAL CON-
TROLS.—The head of each executive agency that issues 
and uses purchase cards and convenience checks shall es-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
22:10 Jun 11, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
tablish and maintain safeguards and internal controls to 
ensure the following: 
(1) That there is a record in each executive 
agency of each holder of a purchase card issued by 
the agency for official use, annotated with the limi-
tations on single transaction and total credit 
amounts that are applicable to the use of each such 
card by that purchase cardholder. 
(2) That each purchase card holder is assigned 
an approving official other than the card holder with 
the authority to approve or disapprove expenditures. 
(3) That the holder of a purchase card and 
each official with authority to authorize expenditures 
charged to the purchase card are responsible for— 
(A) reconciling the charges appearing on 
each statement of account for that purchase 
card with receipts and other supporting docu-
mentation; and 
(B) forwarding such reconciliation to the 
designated official who certifies the bill for pay-
ment in a timely manner. 
(4) That any disputed purchase card charge, 
and any discrepancy between a receipt and other 
supporting documentation and the purchase card 
statement of account, is resolved in the manner pre-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
scribed in the applicable Governmentwide purchase 
card contract entered into by the Administrator of 
General Services. 
(5) That payments on purchase card accounts 
are made promptly within prescribed deadlines to 
avoid interest penalties. 
(6) That rebates and refunds based on prompt 
payment on purchase card accounts are monitored 
for accuracy and properly recorded as a receipt to 
the agency that pays the monthly bill. 
(7) That records of each purchase card trans-
action (including records on associated contracts, re-
ports, accounts, and invoices) are retained in accord-
ance with standard Government policies on the dis-
position of records. 
(8) That periodic reviews are performed to de-
termine whether each purchase cardholder has a 
need for the purchase card. 
(9) That appropriate training is provided to 
each purchase cardholder and each official with re-
sponsibility for overseeing the use of purchase cards 
issued by an executive agency. 
(10) That the executive agency has specific poli-
cies regarding the number of purchase cards issued 
by various organizations and categories of organiza-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
tions, the credit limits authorized for various cat-
egories of cardholders, and categories of employees 
eligible to be issued purchase cards, and that those 
policies are designed to minimize the financial risk 
to the Federal Government of the issuance of the 
purchase cards and to ensure the integrity of pur-
chase cardholders. 
(11) That the executive agency utilizes tech-
nologies to prevent or identify fraudulent purchases, 
including controlling merchant codes and utilizing 
statistical machine learning and pattern recognition 
technologies that review the risk of every trans-
action. 
(12) That the executive agency invalidates the 
purchase card of each employee who— 
(A) ceases to be employed by the agency 
immediately upon termination of the employ-
ment of the employee; or 
(B) transfers to another unit of the agency 
immediately upon the transfer of the employee. 
(13) That the executive agency takes steps to 
recover the cost of any improper or fraudulent pur-
chase made by an employee, including, as necessary, 
through salary offsets. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
(b) MANAGEMENT OF PURCHASE CARDS.—The head 
of each executive agency shall prescribe regulations imple-
menting the safeguards and internal controls in subsection 
(a). The regulations shall be consistent with regulations 
that apply Governmentwide regarding the use of purchase 
cards by Government personnel for official purposes. 
(c) PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—The regulations 
prescribed under subsection (b) shall provide for appro-
priate adverse personnel actions or other punishment to 
be imposed in cases in which employees of an executive 
agency violate such regulations or are negligent or engage 
in misuse, abuse, or fraud with respect to a purchase card, 
including imposition of the following penalties: 
(1) In the case of an employee who is suspected 
by the executive agency to have engaged in fraud, 
referral of the case to the United States Attorney 
with jurisdiction over the matter. 
(2) In the case of an employee who is found 
guilty of fraud or found by the executive agency to 
have egregiously abused a purchase card, dismissal 
of the employee. 
(d) RISK ASSESSMENTS AND AUDITS.—The Inspec-
tor General of each executive agency shall— 
(1) periodically conduct risk assessments of the 
agency purchase card program and associated inter-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
nal controls and analyze identified weaknesses and 
the frequency of improper activity in order to de-
velop a plan for using such risk assessments to de-
termine the scope, frequency, and number of peri-
odic audits of purchase cardholders; 
(2) perform periodic audits of purchase card-
holders designed to identify— 
(A) potentially fraudulent, improper, and 
abusive uses of purchase cards; 
(B) any patterns of improper cardholder 
transactions, such as purchases of prohibited 
items; and 
(C) categories of purchases that should be 
made by means other than purchase cards in 
order to better aggregate purchases and obtain 
lower prices; 
(3) report to the head of the executive agency 
concerned on the results of such audits; and 
(4) report to the Director of the Office of Man-
agement and Budget and the Comptroller General 
on the implementation of recommendations made to 
the head of the executive agency to address findings 
during audits of purchase cardholders. 
(e) DEFINITION OF EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘executive agency’’ has the meaning 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
given such term in section 4(1) of the Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(1)). 
(f) RELATIONSHIP TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
PURCHASE CARD REGULATIONS.— 
(1) Except as provided under paragraph (2), 
the requirements under this section shall not apply 
to the Department of Defense. 
(2) Section 2784(b) of title 10, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘periodic 
audits’’ and all that follows through the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘risk assessments of 
the agency purchase card program and associ-
ated internal controls and analyze identified 
weaknesses and the frequency of improper ac-
tivity in order to develop a plan for using such 
risk assessments to determine the scope, fre-
quency, and number of periodic audits of pur-
chase cardholders.’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(11) That the Department of Defense utilizes 
technologies to prevent or identify fraudulent pur-
chases, including controlling merchant codes and uti-
lizing statistical machine learning and pattern rec-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
ognition technologies that review the risk of every 
transaction. 
‘‘(12) That the Secretary of Defense— 
‘‘(A) invalidates the purchase card of each 
employee who ceases to be employed by the De-
partment of Defense immediately upon termi-
nation of the employment of the employee; and 
‘‘(B) invalidates the purchase card of each 
employee who transfers to another agency or 
subunit within the Department of Defense im-
mediately upon such transfer.’’. 
SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF TRAVEL CARDS. 
Section 2 of the Travel and Transportation Reform 
Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–264; 5 U.S.C. 5701 note) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(h) MANAGEMENT OF TRAVEL CHARGE CARDS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIRED
SAFEGUARDS
AND
INTERNAL 
CONTROLS.—The head of each executive agency that 
has employees that use travel charge cards shall es-
tablish and maintain safeguards and internal con-
trols over travel charge cards to ensure the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) That there is a record in each execu-
tive agency of each holder of a travel charge 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
card issued by the agency for official use, anno-
tated with the limitations on amounts that are 
applicable to the use of each such card by that 
travel charge cardholder. 
‘‘(B) That rebates and refunds based on 
prompt payment on travel charge card accounts 
are properly recorded as a receipt of the agency 
that employs the cardholder. 
‘‘(C) That periodic reviews are performed 
to determine whether each travel charge card-
holder has a need for the travel charge card. 
‘‘(D) That appropriate training is provided 
to each travel charge cardholder and each offi-
cial with responsibility for overseeing the use of 
travel charge cards issued by an executive agen-
cy. 
‘‘(E) That each executive agency has spe-
cific policies regarding the number of travel 
charge cards issued by various organizations 
and categories of organizations, the credit limits 
authorized for various categories of cardholders, 
and categories of employees eligible to be issued 
travel charge cards, and that those policies are 
designed to minimize the financial risk to the 
Federal Government of the issuance of the trav-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
el charge cards and to ensure the integrity of 
travel charge cardholders. 
‘‘(F) That the head of each executive agen-
cy negotiates with the holder of the applicable 
travel card contract, or a third party provider 
of credit evaluations if such provider offers 
more favorable terms, to evaluate the credit-
worthiness of an individual before issuing the 
individual a travel charge card, and that no in-
dividual be issued a travel charge card if the in-
dividual is found not creditworthy as a result of 
the evaluation (except that this paragraph shall 
not preclude issuance of a restricted use travel 
charge card when the individual lacks a credit 
history or the issuance of a pre-paid card when 
the individual has a credit score below the min-
imum credit score established by the agency). 
Each executive agency shall establish a min-
imum credit score for determining the credit-
worthiness of an individual based on rigorous 
statistical analysis of the population of card-
holders and historical behaviors. Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, such eval-
uation shall include an assessment of an indi-
vidual’s consumer report from a consumer re-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
porting agency as those terms are defined in 
section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 
The obtaining of a consumer report under this 
subsection is deemed to be a circumstance or 
purpose authorized or listed under section 604 
of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 
‘‘(G) That each executive agency utilizes 
technologies to prevent or identify fraudulent 
purchases, including controlling merchant codes 
and utilizing statistical machine learning and 
pattern recognition technologies that review the 
risk of every transaction. 
‘‘(H) That each executive agency ensures 
that the travel charge card of each employee 
who ceases to be employed by the agency is in-
validated immediately upon termination of the 
employment of the employee. 
‘‘(I) That each executive agency utilizes 
mandatory split disbursements for travel card 
purchases. 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator of 
General Services shall prescribe regulations gov-
erning the implementation of the safeguards and in-
ternal controls in paragraph (1) by executive agen-
cies. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
‘‘(3) PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—The regu-
lations prescribed under paragraph (2) shall provide 
for appropriate adverse personnel actions or other 
punishment to be imposed in cases in which employ-
ees of an executive agency violate such regulations 
or are negligent or engage in misuse, abuse, or fraud 
with respect to a travel charge card, including re-
moval in appropriate cases. 
‘‘(4) INSPECTOR
GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS.— 
The Inspector General of each executive agency 
shall— 
‘‘(A) periodically conduct risk assessments 
of the agency travel card program and associ-
ated internal controls and analyze identified 
weaknesses and the frequency of improper ac-
tivity in order to develop a plan for using such 
risk assessments to determine the scope, fre-
quency, and number of periodic audits of pur-
chase cardholders; 
‘‘(B) perform periodic audits of travel 
cardholders designed to identify potentially 
fraudulent, improper, and abusive uses of travel 
cards; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
‘‘(C) report to the head of the executive 
agency concerned on the results of such audits; 
and 
‘‘(D) report to the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget and the Comptroller 
General on the implementation of recommenda-
tions made to the head of the executive agency 
to address findings during audits of travel card-
holders. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘executive agency’ means an 
agency as that term is defined in section 5701 
of title 5, United States Code, except that it is 
in the executive branch. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘travel charge card’ means 
the Federal contractor-issued travel charge card 
that is individually billed to each cardholder.’’. 
SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF CENTRALLY BILLED ACCOUNTS. 
The head of an executive agency that has employees 
who use a centrally billed account shall establish and 
maintain safeguards and internal controls to ensure the 
following: 
(1) That items submitted on an employee’s 
travel voucher are compared with items paid for 
using a centrally billed account to ensure that an 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
employee is not reimbursed for an item already paid 
for through a centrally billed account. 
(2) That the executive agency submits requests 
for refunds for unauthorized purchases to the holder 
of the applicable contract for a centrally billed ac-
count. 
(3) That the executive agency submits requests 
for refunds for fully or partially unused tickets to 
the holder of the applicable contract for a centrally 
billed account. 
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act— 
(1) the head of each executive agency shall pro-
mulgate regulations to implement the requirements 
of sections 2 and 4; and 
(2) the Administrator of General Services shall 
promulgate regulations required pursuant to the 
amendments made by section 3. 
(b) BEST
PRACTICES.—Regulations promulgated 
under this section shall reflect best practices for con-
ducting purchase card and travel card programs. 
Æ 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:30 Jun 10, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5581.IH
H5581
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS