I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 928 
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to enhance the independence 
of the Inspectors General, to create a Council of the Inspectors General 
on Integrity and Efficiency, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 8, 2007 
Mr. COOPER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to enhance 
the independence of the Inspectors General, to create 
a Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 
Efficiency, 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 ‘‘Improving Government 
Accountability Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ENHANCING INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GEN-
ERAL. 
(a) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The Inspector General 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) in section 3(b) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘An Inspector General may be removed from 
office prior to the expiration of his or her term only 
on any of the following grounds: 
‘‘(1) Permanent incapacity. 
‘‘(2) Inefficiency. 
‘‘(3) Neglect of duty. 
‘‘(4) Malfeasance. 
‘‘(5) Conviction of a felony or conduct involving 
moral turpitude.’’; and 
(2) in section 8G(e) by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘An Inspector General may be removed 
from office prior to the expiration of his or her term 
only on any of the following grounds: 
‘‘(1) Permanent incapacity. 
‘‘(2) Inefficiency. 
‘‘(3) Neglect of duty. 
‘‘(4) Malfeasance. 
‘‘(5) Conviction of a felony or conduct involving 
moral turpitude.’’. 
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(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF TERMS OF OFFICE.—The 
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in section 3 by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e)(1) The term of office of each Inspector General 
shall be seven years. An individual may serve for more 
than one term in such office. Any individual appointed and 
confirmed to fill a vacancy in such position, occurring be-
fore the expiration of the term for which his or her prede-
cessor was appointed, shall be appointed and confirmed 
for a full seven-year term. 
‘‘(2) An individual may continue to serve as Inspector 
General beyond the expiration of the term for which the 
individual is appointed until a successor is appointed and 
confirmed, except that such individual may not continue 
to serve for more than 1 year after the date on which the 
term would otherwise expire under paragraph (1).’’; and 
(2) in section 8G(c) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after 
‘‘(c)’’, and by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) The term of office of each Inspector Gen-
eral shall be seven years. An individual may serve 
for more than one term in such office. Any indi-
vidual appointed to fill a vacancy in such position, 
occurring before the expiration of the term for which 
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his or her predecessor was appointed, shall be ap-
pointed for a full 7-year term.’’. 
(c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 
section shall apply to any Inspector General appointed be-
fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
The term of office of an Inspector General serving on such 
date of enactment is deemed to begin on such date of en-
actment. 
SEC. 3. DIRECT SUBMISSION OF BUDGET REQUESTS TO 
CONGRESS. 
Section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f)(1) For each fiscal year, an Inspector General 
may transmit an appropriation estimate and request to 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and 
to the appropriate committees or subcommittees of the 
Congress, in addition to any appropriation estimate and 
request submitted to the head of the establishment con-
cerned. 
‘‘(2) The President shall include in each budget of 
the United States Government submitted to the Con-
gress— 
‘‘(A) a separate statement of the amount of ap-
propriations requested by each Inspector General 
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who has submitted an appropriation estimate under 
paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(B) a statement comparing each such appro-
priation estimate and request submitted by an In-
spector General and the funds requested by the head 
of the establishment concerned.’’. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COUNCIL OF THE INSPECTORS 
GENERAL ON INTEGRITY AND EFFICIENCY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Inspector General Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by redesignating sec-
tions 11 and 12 in order as sections 12 and 13, and by 
inserting after section 10 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 11. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE IN-
SPECTORS GENERAL ON INTEGRITY AND EF-
FICIENCY. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established as an 
independent entity within the executive branch the Inspec-
tors General Council (in this section referred to as the 
‘Council’). The Council’s mission shall be to increase the 
professionalism and effectiveness of personnel by devel-
oping policies, standards, and approaches to aid in the es-
tablishment of a well-trained and highly skilled workforce 
in the offices of the Inspectors General. 
‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall consist of 
the following members: 
‘‘(A) All Inspectors General whose offices 
are established under— 
‘‘(i) section 2; or 
‘‘(ii) section 8G. 
‘‘(B) The Inspectors General of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency and the Government 
Printing Office. 
‘‘(C) The Controller of the Office of Fed-
eral Financial Management. 
‘‘(D) A senior level official of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation designated by the Di-
rector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
‘‘(E) The Director of the Office of Govern-
ment Ethics. 
‘‘(F) The Special Counsel of the Office of 
Special Counsel. 
‘‘(G) The Deputy Director of the Office of 
Personnel Management. 
‘‘(H) The Deputy Director for Manage-
ment of the Office of Management and Budget. 
‘‘(2) CHAIRPERSON
AND
EXECUTIVE
CHAIR-
PERSON.— 
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‘‘(A) 
EXECUTIVE
CHAIRPERSON.—The 
Deputy Director for Management of the Office 
of Management and Budget shall be the Execu-
tive Chairperson of the Council. 
‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON.—The Council shall 
elect one of the Inspectors General referred to 
in paragraph (1)(A) or (B) to act as Chair-
person of the Council. The term of office of the 
Chairperson shall be two years. 
‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS OF CHAIRPERSON AND EXECU-
TIVE CHAIRPERSON.— 
‘‘(A) EXECUTIVE CHAIRPERSON.—The Ex-
ecutive Chairperson shall— 
‘‘(i) preside over meetings of the 
Council; 
‘‘(ii) provide to the heads of agencies 
and entities represented on the Council 
with summary reports of the activities of 
the Council; and 
‘‘(iii) provide to the Council such in-
formation relating to the agencies and en-
tities represented on the Council as will as-
sist the Council in performing its func-
tions. 
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‘‘(B) 
CHAIRPERSON.—The 
Chairperson 
shall— 
‘‘(i) convene meetings of the Coun-
cil— 
‘‘(I) at least six times each year; 
‘‘(II) monthly to the extent pos-
sible; and 
‘‘(III) more frequently at his or 
her discretion; 
‘‘(ii) exercise the functions and duties 
of the Council under subsection (c); 
‘‘(iii) appoint a Vice Chairperson to 
assist in carrying out the functions of the 
Council and act in the absence of the 
Chairperson, from a category of Inspectors 
General described in subparagraph (A)(i), 
(A)(ii), or (B) of subsection (b)(1), other 
than the category from which the Chair-
person was elected; 
‘‘(iv) make such payments from funds 
otherwise available to the Council as may 
be necessary to carry out the functions of 
the Council; 
‘‘(v) select, appoint, and employ per-
sonnel as needed to carry out the functions 
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of the Council subject to the availability of 
appropriations and the provisions of title 5, 
United States Code, governing appoint-
ments in the competitive service, and the 
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter 
III of chapter 53 of such title, relating to 
classification and General Schedule pay 
rates; 
‘‘(vi) to the extent and in such 
amounts as may be provided in advance by 
appropriations Acts, enter into contracts 
and other arrangements with public agen-
cies and private persons to carry out the 
functions and duties of the Council; 
‘‘(vii) establish, in consultation with 
the members of the Council, such commit-
tees as determined by the Chairperson to 
be necessary and appropriate for the effi-
cient conduct of Council functions; and 
‘‘(viii) prepare and transmit a report 
annually on behalf of the Council to the 
President on the activities of the Council. 
‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES OF COUNCIL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall— 
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‘‘(A) continually identify, review, and dis-
cuss areas of weakness and vulnerability in 
Federal programs and operations with respect 
to fraud, waste, and abuse; 
‘‘(B) develop plans for coordinated, Gov-
ernment-wide activities that address these prob-
lems and promote economy and efficiency in 
Federal programs and operations, including 
interagency and inter-entity audit, investiga-
tion, inspection, and evaluation programs and 
projects to deal efficiently and effectively with 
those problems concerning fraud and waste that 
exceed the capability or jurisdiction of an indi-
vidual agency or entity; 
‘‘(C) develop policies that will aid in the 
maintenance of a corps of well-trained and 
highly skilled Office of Inspector General per-
sonnel; 
‘‘(D) maintain an Internet Web site and 
other electronic systems for the benefit of all 
Inspectors General, as the Council determines 
are necessary or desirable; 
‘‘(E) maintain one or more academies as 
the Council considers desirable for the profes-
sional training of auditors, investigators, inspec-
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