Title: COST Savings Resolution
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
Congressional Oversight to Start Taxpayer Savings Resolution or the COST Savings Resolution
Requires each standing committee of the Senate (except the Committee on Appropriations) with jurisdiction, after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports annually to Congress on federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives with duplicative goals and activities, to conduct hearings on the report's recommendations for consolidation and elimination of the program, agency, office, or initiative.
Requires each standing committee of the Senate (except the Committee on Appropriations) with jurisdiction over any agency or program area on a High Risk List published by the GAO to conduct hearings on the vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or need for transformation, of the agency or program area.
Authorizes committees to hold joint hearings for any program, agency, office, initiative, or program area over which more than one standing committee has jurisdiction.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 119 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 119

Requiring authorizing committees to hold annual hearings on Government 
  Accountability Office investigative reports on the identification, 
   consolidation, and elimination of duplicative Government programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 6 (legislative day, April 4), 2017

   Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Peters) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Requiring authorizing committees to hold annual hearings on Government 
  Accountability Office investigative reports on the identification, 
   consolidation, and elimination of duplicative Government programs.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Congressional Oversight to 
Start Taxpayer Savings Resolution'' or the ``COST Savings Resolution''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING COMMITTEE HEARINGS ON GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY 
              OFFICE REPORTS.

    (a) Duplication Reports.--Not later than 90 days after the date on 
which the Comptroller General of the United States transmits each 
annual report to Congress identifying programs, agencies, offices, and 
initiatives with duplicative goals and activities within the Government 
under section 21 of the Joint Resolution entitled ``Joint Resolution 
increasing the statutory limit on the public debt'' (Public Law 111-
139; 31 U.S.C. 712 note), each standing committee of the Senate (except 
the Committee on Appropriations) with jurisdiction over any such 
program, agency, office, or initiative covered by that report shall 
conduct hearings on the recommendations for consolidation and 
elimination of such program, agency, office, or initiative.
    (b) High Risk List.--Not later than 90 days after the date on which 
the Comptroller General of the United States publishes a High Risk 
List, or any successor thereto, each standing committee of the Senate 
(except the Committee on Appropriations) with jurisdiction over any 
agency or program area on the High Risk List shall conduct hearings on 
the vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or need 
for transformation, of the agency or program area.
    (c) Joint Hearings.--For any program, agency, office, initiative, 
or program area over which more than 1 standing committee of the Senate 
(except the Committee on Appropriations) has jurisdiction, to the 
extent determined beneficial and appropriate by the Chairmen of the 
committees, the committees may hold joint hearings under subsection (a) 
or (b).
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