[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2712 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2712

 To amend chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize the 
 consolidation of certain financial and performance management reports 
         required of Federal agencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 12, 2000

 Mr. Thompson (for himself and Mr. Lieberman) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                          Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, to authorize the 
 consolidation of certain financial and performance management reports 
         required of Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reports Consolidation Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) existing law imposes numerous financial and performance 
        management reporting requirements on agencies;
            (2) these separate requirements can cause duplication of 
        effort on the part of agencies and result in uncoordinated 
        reports containing information in a form that is not completely 
        useful to Congress; and
            (3) pilot projects conducted by agencies under the 
        direction of the Office of Management and Budget demonstrate 
        that single consolidated reports providing an analysis of 
        verifiable financial and performance management information 
        produce more useful reports with greater efficiency.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to authorize and encourage the consolidation of 
        financial and performance management reports;
            (2) to provide financial and performance management 
        information in a more meaningful and useful format for 
        Congress, the President, and the public;
            (3) to improve the quality of agency financial and 
        performance management information; and
            (4) to enhance coordination and efficiency on the part of 
        agencies in reporting financial and performance management 
        information.

SEC. 3. CONSOLIDATED REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3516. Reports consolidation
    ``(a)(1) With the concurrence of the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget, the head of an executive agency may adjust the 
frequency and due dates of, and consolidate into an annual report to 
the President, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and 
Congress any statutorily required reports described in paragraph (2). 
Such a consolidated report shall be submitted to the President, the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and to appropriate 
committees and subcommittees of Congress not later than 150 days after 
the end of the agency's fiscal year.
    ``(2) The following reports may be consolidated into the report 
referred to in paragraph (1):
            ``(A) Any report by an agency to Congress, the Office of 
        Management and Budget, or the President under section 1116, 
        this chapter, and chapters 9, 33, 37, 75, and 91.
            ``(B) The following agency-specific reports:
                    ``(i) The biennial financial management improvement 
                plan by the Secretary of Defense under section 2222 of 
                title 10.
                    ``(ii) The annual report of the Attorney General 
                under section 522 of title 28.
            ``(C) Any other statutorily required report pertaining to 
        an agency's financial or performance management if the head of 
        the agency--
                    ``(i) determines that inclusion of that report will 
                enhance the usefulness of the reported information to 
                decision makers; and
                    ``(ii) consults in advance of inclusion of that 
                report with the Committee on Governmental Affairs of 
                the Senate, the Committee on Government Reform of the 
                House of Representatives, and any other committee of 
                Congress having jurisdiction with respect to the report 
                proposed for inclusion.
    ``(b) A report under subsection (a) that incorporates the agency's 
program performance report under section 1116 shall be referred to as a 
performance and accountability report.
    ``(c) A report under subsection (a) that does not incorporate the 
agency's program performance report under section 1116 shall contain a 
summary of the most significant portions of the agency's program 
performance report, including the agency's success in achieving key 
performance goals for the applicable year.
    ``(d) A report under subsection (a) shall include a statement 
prepared by the agency's inspector general that summarizes what the 
inspector general considers to be the most serious management and 
performance challenges facing the agency and briefly assesses the 
agency's progress in addressing those challenges. The inspector general 
shall provide such statement to the agency head at least 30 days before 
the due date of the report under subsection (a). The agency head may 
comment on the inspector general's statement, but may not modify the 
statement.
    ``(e) A report under subsection (a) shall include a transmittal 
letter from the agency head containing, in addition to any other 
content, an assessment by the agency head of the completeness and 
reliability of the performance and financial data used in the report. 
The assessment shall describe any material inadequacies in the 
completeness and reliability of the data, and the actions the agency 
can take and is taking to resolve such inadequacies.''.
    (b) Special Rule for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001.--Notwithstanding 
paragraph (1) of section 3516(a) of title 31, United States Code (as 
added by subsection (a) of this section), the head of an executive 
agency may submit a consolidated report under such paragraph not later 
than 180 days after the end of that agency's fiscal year, with respect 
to fiscal years 2000 and 2001.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 3515 the following:

``3516. Reports consolidation.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

    (a) Financial Statements.--Section 3515 of title 31, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``Congress and the'' 
        before ``Director''; and
            (2) by striking subsections (e) through (h).
    (b) Elimination of Report.--Section 3521(f) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``subsections (a) and (f)'' and 
                inserting ``subsection (a)''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(1)''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2).

SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO PROGRAM PERFORMANCE REPORTS.

    (a) Report Due Date.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1116(a) of title 31, United States 
        Code, is amended by striking ``No later than March 31, 2000, 
        and no later than March 31 of each year thereafter,'' and 
        inserting ``Not later than 150 days after the end of an 
        agency's fiscal year,''.
            (2) Special rule for fiscal years 2000 and 2001.--
        Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section 1116 of title 31, 
        United States Code (as amended by paragraph (1) of this 
        subsection), an agency head may submit a report under such 
        subsection not later than 180 days after the end of that 
        agency's fiscal year, with respect to fiscal years 2000 and 
        2001.
    (b) Inclusion of Information in Financial Statement.--Section 
1116(e) of title 31, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each program 
performance report shall contain an assessment by the agency head of 
the completeness and reliability of the performance data included in 
the report. The assessment shall describe any material inadequacies in 
the completeness and reliability of the performance data, and the 
actions the agency can take and is taking to resolve such inadequacies.
    ``(2) If a program performance report is incorporated into a report 
submitted under section 3516, the requirements of section 3516(e) shall 
apply in lieu of paragraph (1).''.
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