[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.
                                 <all>