[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1998 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1998
To obtain an unqualified audit opinion, and improve financial
accountability and management at the Department of Homeland Security.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 15, 2011
Mr. Brown of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. Carper, and Mr. Johnson of
Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To obtain an unqualified audit opinion, and improve financial
accountability and management at the Department of Homeland Security.
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 ``Department of Homeland Security
Improved Financial Accountability Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVING FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND MANAGEMENT.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``Department'' means the Department of
Homeland Security;
(2) the terms ``qualified opinion'' and ``unqualified
opinion'' mean a qualified opinion and an unqualified opinion,
respectively, within the meanings given those terms under
generally accepted government auditing standards; and
(3) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security.
(b) Reaching an Unqualified Audit Opinion.--In order to ensure
compliance with the Department of Homeland Security Financial
Accountability Act (Public Law 108-330; 118 Stat. 1275) and the
amendments made by that Act, the Secretary shall--
(1) take the necessary steps to ensure that the balance
sheet of the Department and associated statement of custodial
activity for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2012 and
September 30, 2013 are ready in a timely manner and in
preparation for an audit as part of preparing the performance
and accountability reports required under section 3516(f) of
title 31, United States Code, including submitting the reports
not later than November 15, 2012 and November 15, 2013,
respectively, in order to obtain a qualified or unqualified
opinion;
(2) take the necessary steps to ensure that the full set of
consolidated financial statements of the Department for the
fiscal years ending September 30, 2014 and September 30, 2015
are ready in a timely manner and in preparation for an audit as
part of preparing the performance and accountability reports
required under section 3516(f) of title 31, United States Code,
including submitting the reports not later than November 15,
2014 and November 15, 2015, respectively, in order to obtain a
qualified or unqualified opinion; and
(3) take the necessary steps to ensure that the full set of
consolidated financial statements of the Department for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and each fiscal year
thereafter, are ready in a timely manner and in preparation for
an audit as part of preparing the performance and
accountability reports required under section 3516(f) of title
31, United States Code, including submitting the reports not
later than November 15, 2016, and each year thereafter, in
order to obtain an unqualified opinion.
(c) Report to Congress on Progress of Meeting Audit Requirements.--
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and
annually thereafter until an unqualified opinion is submitted under
paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (b), and in order to ensure progress
in implementing the Department of Homeland Security Financial
Accountability Act (Public Law 108-330; 118 Stat. 1275) and the
amendments made by that Act, the Chief Financial Officer of the
Department shall submit to Congress a report on the plans to obtain an
unqualified opinion, which shall discuss plans and resources needed to
meet the deadlines under subsection (b).
(d) Report To Congress on Plans To Modernize Financial Systems.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and in order to improve financial
management at the Department, the Chief Financial Officer of
the Department shall submit to Congress and the Comptroller
General of the United States a report on the plans of the
Department and resources needed to modernize the financial
systems of the Department.
(2) Contents.--The report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall discuss--
(A) the challenges of and opportunities for using
existing financial systems of the Department, including
an assessment of the feasibility and cost of using an
existing financial system;
(B) the challenges and opportunities of
implementing a new financial system and associated
financial controls; and
(C) the lessons learned from the prior attempts of
the Department to develop a financial system that will
be considered in implementing a new financial system.
(3) Review.--Not later than 180 days after the date on
which the Chief Financial Officer of the Department submits the
report under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the
United States shall review the report and submit to Congress a
report that provides--
(A) an assessment of the status of the financial
system modernization by the Department;
(B) an evaluation of the report;
(C) an assessment of the plans to modernize, and
developments at the Department relating to, the
financial system of the Department; and
(D) any recommendations for improving the plans for
a new financial system at the Department.
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