I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3872
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Office of
Inspector General in the Executive Office of the President.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 23, 1996
Mr. BASS (for himself, Mr. CLINGER, and Mr. HORN) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight
A BILL
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish
an Office of Inspector General in the Executive Office
of the President.
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 ‘‘White House Inspector
General Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR EX-
ECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—Section 11 of the
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend-
ed—
(1) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘the Presi-
dent (with respect only to the Executive Office of
the President),’’ after ‘‘means’’; and
(2) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘the Execu-
tive Office of the President,’’ after ‘‘means’’.
(b) APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not
later than 120 days after the effective date of this Act,
the President shall nominate an individual as the Inspec-
tor General of the Executive Office of the President pursu-
ant to the amendments made by subsection (a).
SEC. 3. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF
THE PRESIDENT.
The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)
is amended—
(1) by redesignating the second section 8G (re-
garding a rule of construction) as section 8I; and
(2) by inserting after the first section 8G (re-
garding requirements for Federal entities and des-
ignated Federal entities) the following:
‘‘SEC. 8H. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF
THE PRESIDENT.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY, DIRECTION, AND CONTROL
OF
PRESIDENT.—Notwithstanding the last 2 sentences of
section 3(a), the Inspector General of the Executive Office
of the President shall be under the authority, direction,
and control of the President with respect to audits or in-
vestigations, or the issuance of subpoenas, which require
access to information concerning—
‘‘(1) ongoing criminal investigations or proceed-
ings;
‘‘(2) undercover operations;
‘‘(3) the identity of confidential sources, includ-
ing protected witnesses;
‘‘(4) deliberations and decisions on policy mat-
ters, including documented information used as a
basis for making policy decisions;
‘‘(5) intelligence or counterintelligence matters;
or
‘‘(6) other matters the disclosure of which
would constitute a serious threat to the national se-
curity, or would cause significant impairment to the
national interests (including interests in foreign
trade negotiations), of the United States.
‘‘(b) PROHIBITING ACTIVITIES OF INSPECTOR GEN-
ERAL.—With respect to information described in sub-
section (a), the President may prohibit the Inspector Gen-
eral of the Executive Office of the President from carrying
out or completing any audit or investigation, or issuing
any subpoena, after the Inspector General has decided to
initiate, carry out, or complete such audit or investigation
or to issue such subpoena, if the President determines
that—
‘‘(1) the disclosure of that information would
interfere with the core functions of the constitutional
responsibilities of the President; and
‘‘(2) the prohibition is necessary to prevent the
disclosure of that information.
‘‘(c) NOTICE.—
‘‘(1) NOTICE TO INSPECTOR GENERAL.—If the
President makes a determination referred to in sub-
section (b)(1) or (2), the President shall within 30
days notify the Inspector General in writing stating
the reasons for that determination.
‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—Within 30 days
after receiving a notice under paragraph (1), the In-
spector General shall transmit a copy of the notice
to each of the Chairman and the ranking minority
party member of the Committee on Government Re-
form and Oversight of the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Sen-
ate, and other appropriate committees or sub-
committees of the Congress.
‘‘(d) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—The In-
spector General of the Executive Office of the Presi-
dent shall include in each semiannual report to the
President under section 5, at a minimum—
‘‘(A) a list of the title or subject of each
inspection, investigation, or audit conducted
during the reporting period;
‘‘(B) a statement of whether corrective ac-
tion has been completed on each significant rec-
ommendation described in previous semiannual
reports, and, in a case where corrective action
has been completed, a description of such cor-
rective action;
‘‘(C) a certification that the Inspector Gen-
eral has had full and direct access to all infor-
mation relevant to the performance of functions
of the Inspector General;
‘‘(D) a description of all cases occurring
during the reporting period in which the Inspec-
tor General could not obtain documentary evi-
dence relevant to any inspection, audit, or in-
vestigation due to a determination of the Presi-
dent under subsection (b); and
‘‘(E) such recommendations as the Inspec-
tor General considers appropriate concerning
legislation to promote economy and efficiency in
the administration of programs and operations
undertaken by the Executive Office of the
President, and to detect and eliminate fraud,
waste, and abuse in such programs and oper-
ations.
‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Within 30
days after receiving a semiannual report under sec-
tion 5 from the Inspector General of the Executive
Office of the President, the President shall transmit
the report to each of the Chairman and the ranking
minority party member of the Committee on Govern-
ment Reform and Oversight of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Governmental
Affairs of the Senate with any comments the Presi-
dent considers appropriate.’’.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on January 21, 1997.
Æ