II 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6450 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 8, 2016 
Received 
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, 
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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. Additional authority provisions for Inspectors General. 
Sec. 3. Additional responsibilities of the Council of the Inspectors General on 
Integrity and Efficiency. 
Sec. 4. Reports and additional information. 
Sec. 5. Full and prompt access to all documents. 
Sec. 6. Access to information for certain Inspectors General. 
Sec. 7. Technical and conforming amendments. 
Sec. 8. No additional funds authorized. 
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY PROVISIONS FOR INSPEC-
TORS GENERAL. 
Section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 
U.S.C. App.), as amended by section 5 of this Act, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(j)(1) In this subsection, the terms ‘agency’, ‘match-
ing program’, ‘record’, and ‘system of records’ have the 
meanings given those terms in section 552a(a) of title 5, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(2) For purposes of section 552a of title 5, United 
States Code, or any other provision of law, a computerized 
comparison of two or more automated Federal systems of 
records, or a computerized comparison of a Federal sys-
tem of records with other records or non-Federal records, 
performed by an Inspector General or by an agency in co-
ordination with an Inspector General in conducting an 
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audit, investigation, inspection, evaluation, or other review 
authorized under this Act shall not be considered a match-
ing program. 
‘‘(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 
impede the exercise by an Inspector General of any match-
ing program authority established under any other provi-
sion of law. 
‘‘(k) Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United 
States Code, shall not apply to the collection of informa-
tion during the conduct of an audit, investigation, inspec-
tion, evaluation, or other review conducted by the Council 
of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency or 
any Office of Inspector General, including any Office of 
Special Inspector General.’’. 
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COUNCIL 
OF THE INSPECTORS GENERAL ON INTEG-
RITY AND EFFICIENCY. 
Section 11 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(3)(B), by amending clause 
(viii) to read as follows: 
‘‘(viii) prepare and transmit an an-
nual report on behalf of the Council on the 
activities of the Council to— 
‘‘(I) the President; 
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‘‘(II) the appropriate committees 
of jurisdiction of the Senate and the 
House of Representatives; 
‘‘(III) the Committee on Home-
land Security and Governmental Af-
fairs of the Senate; and 
‘‘(IV) the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives.’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)(1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (G), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as 
subparagraph (I); and 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (G) 
the following: 
‘‘(H) 
except 
for 
matters 
coordinated 
among Inspectors General under section 3033 
of title 50, United States Code, receive, review, 
and mediate any disputes submitted in writing 
to the Council by an Office of Inspector General 
regarding an audit, investigation, inspection, 
evaluation, or project that involves the jurisdic-
tion of more than one Office of Inspector Gen-
eral; and’’; and 
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(3) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking subparagraph (C); 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(A), (B), and (D) as clauses (i), (ii), and 
(iii), respectively, and adjusting the mar-
gins accordingly; 
(iii) in the matter preceding clause (i), 
as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘The Integ-
rity’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Integrity’’; 
(iv) in clause (i), as so redesignated, 
by striking ‘‘, who’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘the Committee’’; 
(v) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, 
by inserting ‘‘or the designee of the Direc-
tor’’ before the period at the end; and 
(vi) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Integrity 
Committee shall elect one of the Inspectors 
General referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) 
to act as Chairperson of the Integrity 
Committee. 
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‘‘(ii) TERM.—The term of office of the 
Chairperson of the Integrity Committee 
shall be 2 years.’’; 
(B) by amending paragraph (5) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(5) REVIEW OF ALLEGATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 days 
after the date on which the Integrity Committee 
receives an allegation of wrongdoing against an 
Inspector General or against a staff member of 
an Office of Inspector General described under 
paragraph (4)(C), the allegation of wrongdoing 
shall be reviewed and referred to the Depart-
ment of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel 
for investigation, or to the Integrity Committee 
for review, as appropriate, by— 
‘‘(i) a representative of the Depart-
ment of Justice, as designated by the At-
torney General; 
‘‘(ii) a representative of the Office of 
Special Counsel, as designated by the Spe-
cial Counsel; and 
‘‘(iii) a representative of the Integrity 
Committee, as designated by the Chair-
person of the Integrity Committee. 
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‘‘(B) REFERRAL TO THE CHAIRPERSON.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in clause (ii), not later than 30 days 
after the date on which an allegation of 
wrongdoing is referred to the Integrity 
Committee under subparagraph (A), the 
Integrity 
Committee 
shall 
determine 
whether to refer the allegation of wrong-
doing to the Chairperson of the Integrity 
Committee to initiate an investigation. 
‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—The 30-day period 
described in clause (i) may be extended for 
an additional period of 30 days if the In-
tegrity Committee provides written notice 
to the congressional committees described 
in paragraph (8)(A)(iii) that includes a de-
tailed, case-specific description of why the 
additional time is needed to evaluate the 
allegation of wrongdoing.’’; 
(C) in paragraph (6)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘paragraph (5)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graph (5)(B)’’; and 
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