I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3625
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to consolidate the Inspectors 
General relating to the Department of the Treasury, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2003
Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. HOUGHTON, and Mr. POMEROY) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
Means, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, for a 
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to consolidate 
the Inspectors General relating to the Department of 
the Treasury, 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 ‘‘Department of the 
Treasury Inspector General Consolidation Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 80 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 
after section 7804 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 7804A. OFFICE OF THE TREASURY INSPECTOR GEN-
ERAL. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Depart-
ment of the Treasury the Office of the Treasury Inspector 
General. 
‘‘(b) TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be at the head 
of such Office the Treasury Inspector General. The 
Treasury Inspector General shall be under the au-
thority, direction, and control of the Secretary of the 
Treasury with respect to audits or investigations, or 
the issuance of subpoenas, which require access to 
sensitive information concerning—
‘‘(A) ongoing criminal investigations or 
proceedings; 
‘‘(B) undercover operations; 
‘‘(C) the identity of confidential sources, 
including protected witnesses; 
‘‘(D) deliberations and decisions on policy 
matters, including documented information 
used as a basis for making policy decisions, the 
disclosure of which could reasonably be ex-
pected to have a significant influence on the 
economy or market behavior; 
‘‘(E) intelligence or counterintelligence 
matters; or 
‘‘(F) other matters the disclosure of which 
would constitute a serious threat to national se-
curity. 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO NATIONAL 
INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES.—With respect 
to the information described under paragraph (1), 
the Secretary of the Treasury may prohibit the 
Treasury Inspector General from carrying out or 
completing any audit or investigation, or from 
issuing any subpoena, after such Inspector General 
has decided to initiate, carry out, or complete such 
audit or investigation or to issue such subpoena, if 
the Secretary determines that such prohibition is 
necessary to prevent the disclosure of any informa-
tion described under paragraph (1) or to prevent 
significant impairment to the national interests of 
the United States. 
‘‘(3) NOTICE
OF
EXERCISE
OF
SECRETARY’S 
POWER.—If the Secretary of the Treasury exercises 
any power under paragraph (1) or (2), the Secretary 
of the Treasury shall notify the Treasury Inspector
General in writing stating the reasons for such exer-
cise. Within 30 days after receipt of any such notice, 
the Treasury Inspector General shall transmit a 
copy of such notice to the Committees on Govern-
mental Affairs and Finance of the Senate and the 
Committees on Government Operations and Ways 
and Means of the House of Representatives, and to 
other appropriate committees or subcommittees of 
the Congress. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATION
ON
EXERCISE
OF
SEC-
RETARY’S POWER.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
may not exercise any power under paragraph (1) or 
(2) with respect to the duties and responsibilities of 
the Treasury Inspector General concerning the In-
ternal Revenue Service, the Internal Revenue Service 
Oversight Board, or the Office of Chief Counsel of 
the Internal Revenue Service. 
‘‘(c) AUTHORITY
OF TREASURY INSPECTOR GEN-
ERAL.—
‘‘(1) INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.—The 
Office of the Treasury Inspector General shall be 
deemed an establishment of an office of Inspector 
General under the Inspector General Act of 1978. 
The Treasury Inspector General shall exercise all 
duties and responsibilities of an Inspector General of
an establishment with respect to the Department of 
the Treasury and the Secretary of the Treasury. 
‘‘(2) GENERAL AUTHORITY FOR AUDITS AND 
INVESTIGATIONS.—Subject to subsection (b), the 
Treasury Inspector General may initiate, conduct, 
and supervise such audits and investigations in the 
Department of the Treasury as the Treasury Inspec-
tor General considers appropriate. 
‘‘(3) NOTICE
OF
AUDITS
AND
INVESTIGA-
TIONS.—If the Treasury Inspector General initiates 
an audit or investigation under paragraph (2), the 
Treasury Inspector General may provide the head of 
the affected bureau or office that is the subject of 
the audit or investigation with written notice that 
the Treasury Inspector General has initiated such 
audit or investigation. If the Treasury Inspector 
General issues a notice under the preceding sen-
tence, no other audit or investigation shall be initi-
ated into the matter under audit or investigation by 
the Treasury Inspector General and any other audit 
or investigation of such matter shall cease. 
‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—
‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORTING.—The Treasury 
Inspector General shall include in one of the
semiannual reports under section 5 of the In-
spector General Act of 1978—
‘‘(i) an evaluation of the compliance of 
the Internal Revenue Service with—
‘‘(I) restrictions under section 
1204 of the Internal Revenue Service 
Restructuring and Reform Act of 
1998 on the use of enforcement statis-
tics to evaluate Internal Revenue 
Service employees, 
‘‘(II) restrictions under section 
7521 on directly contacting taxpayers 
who have indicated that they prefer 
their representatives be contacted, 
‘‘(III) required procedures under 
section 6320 upon the filing of a no-
tice of a lien, 
‘‘(IV) required procedures under 
subchapter D of chapter 64 for sei-
zure of property for collection of 
taxes, including required procedures 
under section 6330 regarding levies, 
and 
‘‘(V) restrictions under section 
3707 of the Internal Revenue Service
Restructuring and Reform Act of 
1998 on designation of taxpayers, 
‘‘(ii) a review and a certification of 
whether or not the Secretary is complying 
with 
the 
requirements 
of 
section 
6103(e)(8) to disclose information to an 
individual filing a joint return on collection 
activity involving the other individual filing 
the return, 
‘‘(iii) information regarding extensions 
of the statute of limitations for assessment 
and collection of tax under section 6501 
and the provision of notice to taxpayers re-
garding requests for such extension, 
‘‘(iv) an evaluation of the adequacy 
and security of the technology of the Inter-
nal Revenue Service, 
‘‘(v) any termination or mitigation 
under section 1203 of the Internal Rev-
enue Service Restructuring and Reform 
Act of 1998, 
‘‘(vi) information regarding improper 
denial of requests for information from the 
Internal Revenue Service identified under 
subparagraph (C)(i), and
‘‘(vii) information regarding any ad-
ministrative or civil actions with respect to 
violations of the fair debt collection provi-
sions of section 6304, including—
‘‘(I) a summary of such actions 
initiated since the date of the last re-
port, and 
‘‘(II) a summary of any judg-
ments or awards granted as a result 
of such actions. 
‘‘(B) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Treasury In-
spector General shall include in each semi-
annual report under section 5 of the In-
spector General Act of 1978—
‘‘(I) the number of taxpayer com-
plaints during the reporting period, 
‘‘(II) the number of employee 
misconduct and taxpayer abuse allega-
tions received by the Internal Revenue 
Service or the Inspector General dur-
ing the period from taxpayers, Inter-
nal Revenue Service employees, and 
other sources,
‘‘(III) a summary of the status of 
such complaints and allegations, and 
‘‘(IV) a summary of the disposi-
tion of such complaints and allega-
tions, including the outcome of any 
Department of Justice action and any 
monies paid as a settlement of such 
complaints and allegations. 
‘‘(ii) Subclauses (III) and (IV) of 
clause (i) shall only apply to complaints 
and allegations of serious employee mis-
conduct. 
‘‘(C) 
OTHER
RESPONSIBILITIES.—The 
Treasury Inspector General shall—
‘‘(i) conduct periodic audits of a sta-
tistically valid sample of the total number 
of determinations made by the Internal 
Revenue Service to deny written requests 
to disclose information to taxpayers on the 
basis of section 6103 of this title or section 
552(b)(7) of title 5, United States Code, 
and 
‘‘(ii) establish and maintain a toll-free 
telephone number for taxpayers to use to 
confidentially register complaints of mis-
conduct by Internal Revenue Service em-
ployees and incorporate the telephone num-
ber in the statement required by section 
6227 of the Omnibus Taxpayer Bill of 
Rights (Internal Revenue Service Publica-
tion No. 1). 
‘‘(d) RELATING TO ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF DE-
CISIONS.—An audit or investigation conducted by the 
Treasury Inspector General shall not affect a final deci-
sion of the Secretary under section 6406. 
‘‘(e) TRANSMISSION OF REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any report required to be 
transmitted by the Secretary to the appropriate com-
mittees or subcommittees of the Congress under sec-
tion 5(d) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 shall 
also be transmitted, within the seven-day period 
specified under such section, to the Committees on 
Governmental Affairs and Finance of the Senate 
and the Committees on Government Reform and 
Oversight and Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives. 
‘‘(2) REPORTS RELATING TO THE IRS.—Any re-
port made by the Treasury Inspector General con-
cerning the Internal Revenue Service, the Internal 
Revenue Service Oversight Board, or the Office of
Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service that 
is required to be transmitted by the Secretary to the 
appropriate committees or subcommittees of Con-
gress under section 5(d) of the Inspector General of 
1978 shall also be transmitted, within the 7-day pe-
riod specified under such section, to the Internal 
Revenue Service Oversight Board and the Commis-
sioner of Internal Revenue. 
‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL SELECTION CRITERIA FOR TREAS-
URY INSPECTOR GENERAL.—In addition to the require-
ments of the first sentence of section 3(a) of the Inspector 
General Act of 1978, the Treasury Inspector General 
should have demonstrated ability to lead a large and com-
plex organization. 
‘‘(g) TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL NOT EM-
PLOYEE OF IRS.—An individual appointed to the position 
of Treasury Inspector General may not be an employee 
of the Internal Revenue Service—
‘‘(1) during the 2-year period preceding the 
date of appointment to such position, or 
‘‘(2) during the 5-year period following the date 
such individual ends service in such position. 
‘‘(h) CRIMINAL AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the duties 
and responsibilities exercised by an Inspector Gen-
eral of an establishment, the Treasury Inspector 
General—
‘‘(A) shall have the authority and duty to 
enforce the criminal provisions within the scope 
of the Treasury Inspector General’s jurisdic-
tion, powers, duties and responsibilities as an 
Inspector General of an establishment under 
the Inspector General Act of 1978 and under 
this section, 
‘‘(B) in enforcing the criminal provisions 
described in subparagraph (A), shall have the 
authority to—
‘‘(i) execute and serve search warrants 
and arrest warrants, and serve subpoenas 
and summonses issued under authority of 
the United States, 
‘‘(ii) make arrests without warrant for 
any offense against the United States re-
lating to the laws under the jurisdiction, 
powers, duties and responsibilities of the 
Treasury Inspector General committed in 
the presence of an employee of the Treas-
ury Inspector General authorized to en-
force such laws, or for any felony cog-
nizable under such laws if there is a rea-
sonable ground to believe that the person 
to be arrested has committed or is commit-
ting any such felony, 
‘‘(iii) make seizures of property sub-
ject to forfeiture under such laws, and 
‘‘(iv) carry firearms, 
‘‘(C) shall be responsible for protecting the 
Department of the Treasury against external 
attempts to corrupt or threaten employees of 
the Department of the Treasury, but shall not 
be responsible for the conducting of background 
checks, and 
‘‘(D) may designate any employee in the 
Office of the Treasury Inspector General to en-
force such laws and perform such functions re-
ferred to under subparagraphs (A), (B), and 
(C). 
‘‘(2) REPORTING TO ATTORNEY GENERAL OF 
UNITED STATES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In performing a law 
enforcement function under paragraph (1), the 
Treasury Inspector General shall report any 
reasonable grounds to believe there has been a 
violation of Federal criminal law to the Attor-
ney General of the United States at an appro-