[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 300 Engrossed Amendment House (EAH)]

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                        August 1, 2012.
    Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 300) entitled ``An Act 
to prevent abuse of Government charge cards.'', do pass with the 
following

                               AMENDMENT:

            Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Government Charge Card Abuse 
Prevention Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF PURCHASE CARDS.

    (a) Government-wide Safeguards and Internal Controls.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 19 of title 41, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        section:
``Sec. 1909. Management of purchase cards
    ``(a) Required Safeguards and Internal Controls.--The head of each 
executive agency that issues and uses purchase cards and convenience 
checks shall establish and maintain safeguards and internal controls to 
ensure the following:
            ``(1) There is a record in each executive agency of each 
        holder of a purchase card issued by the agency for official 
        use, annotated with the limitations on single transactions and 
        total transactions that are applicable to the use of each such 
        card or check by that purchase card holder.
            ``(2) Each purchase card holder and individual issued a 
        convenience check is assigned an approving official other than 
        the card holder with the authority to approve or disapprove 
        transactions.
            ``(3) The holder of a purchase card and each official with 
        authority to authorize expenditures charged to the purchase 
        card are responsible for--
                    ``(A) reconciling the charges appearing on each 
                statement of account for that purchase card with 
                receipts and other supporting documentation; and
                    ``(B) forwarding a summary report to the certifying 
                official in a timely manner of information necessary to 
                enable the certifying official to ensure that the 
                Federal Government ultimately pays only for valid 
                charges that are consistent with the terms of the 
                applicable Government-wide purchase card contract 
                entered into by the Administrator of General Services.
            ``(4) Any disputed purchase card charge, and any 
        discrepancy between a receipt and other supporting 
        documentation and the purchase card statement of account, is 
        resolved in the manner prescribed in the applicable Government-
        wide purchase card contract entered into by the Administrator 
        of General Services.
            ``(5) Payments on purchase card accounts are made promptly 
        within prescribed deadlines to avoid interest penalties.
            ``(6) Rebates and refunds based on prompt payment, sales 
        volume, or other actions by the agency on purchase card 
        accounts are reviewed for accuracy and properly recorded as a 
        receipt to the agency that pays the monthly bill.
            ``(7) Records of each purchase card transaction (including 
        records on associated contracts, reports, accounts, and 
        invoices) are retained in accordance with standard Government 
        policies on the disposition of records.
            ``(8) Periodic reviews are performed to determine whether 
        each purchase card holder has a need for the purchase card.
            ``(9) Appropriate training is provided to each purchase 
        card holder and each official with responsibility for 
        overseeing the use of purchase cards issued by the executive 
        agency.
            ``(10) The executive agency has specific policies regarding 
        the number of purchase cards issued by various component 
        organizations and categories of component organizations, the 
        credit limits authorized for various categories of card 
        holders, and categories of employees eligible to be issued 
        purchase cards, and that those policies are designed to 
        minimize the financial risk to the Federal Government of the 
        issuance of the purchase cards and to ensure the integrity of 
        purchase card holders.
            ``(11) The executive agency uses effective systems, 
        techniques, and technologies to prevent or identify illegal, 
        improper, or erroneous purchases.
            ``(12) The executive agency invalidates the purchase card 
        of each employee who--
                    ``(A) ceases to be employed by the agency, 
                immediately upon termination of the employment of the 
                employee; or
                    ``(B) transfers to another unit of the agency, 
                immediately upon the transfer of the employee unless 
                the agency determines that the units are covered by the 
                same purchase card authority.
            ``(13) The executive agency takes steps to recover the cost 
        of any illegal, improper, or erroneous purchase made with a 
        purchase card or convenience check by an employee, including, 
        as necessary, through salary offsets.
    ``(b) Guidance.--The Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall review existing guidance and, as necessary, prescribe 
additional guidance governing the implementation of the requirements of 
subsection (a) by executive agencies.
    ``(c) Penalties for Violations.--
            ``(1) In general.--The head of each executive agency shall 
        provide for appropriate adverse personnel actions or other 
        punishment to be imposed in cases in which employees of the 
        agency violate agency policies implementing the guidance 
        required by subsection (b) or make illegal, improper, or 
        erroneous purchases with purchase cards or convenience checks.
            ``(2) Dismissal.--Penalties prescribed for employee misuse 
        of purchase cards or convenience checks shall include dismissal 
        of the employee, as appropriate.
            ``(3) Reports on violations.--The guidance prescribed under 
        subsection (b) shall direct each head of an executive agency 
        with more than $10,000,000 in purchase card spending annually, 
        and each Inspector General of such an executive agency, on a 
        semiannual basis, to submit to the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget a joint report on violations or other 
        actions covered by paragraph (1) by employees of such executive 
        agency. At a minimum, the report shall set forth the following:
                    ``(A) A summary description of confirmed violations 
                involving misuse of a purchase card following 
                completion of a review by the agency or by the 
                Inspector General of the agency.
                    ``(B) A summary description of all adverse 
                personnel action, punishment, or other action taken 
                based on each violation.
    ``(d) Risk Assessments and Audits.--The Inspector General of each 
executive agency shall--
            ``(1) conduct periodic assessments of the agency purchase 
        card or convenience check programs to identify and analyze 
        risks of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments 
        in order to develop a plan for using such risk assessments to 
        determine the scope, frequency, and number of periodic audits 
        of purchase card or convenience check transactions;
            ``(2) perform analysis or audits, as necessary, of purchase 
        card transactions designed to identify--
                    ``(A) potentially illegal, improper, or erroneous 
                uses of purchase cards;
                    ``(B) any patterns of such uses; and
                    ``(C) categories of purchases that could be made by 
                means other than purchase cards in order to better 
                aggregate purchases and obtain lower prices (excluding 
                transactions made under card-based strategic sourcing 
                arrangements);
            ``(3) report to the head of the executive agency concerned 
        on the results of such analysis or audits; and
            ``(4) report to the Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget on the implementation of recommendations made to the 
        head of the executive agency to address findings of any 
        analysis or audit of purchase card and convenience check 
        transactions or programs for compilation and transmission by 
        the Director to Congress and the Comptroller General.
    ``(e) Relationship to Department of Defense Purchase Card 
Regulations.--The requirements of this section shall not apply to the 
Department of Defense. See section 2784 of title 10 for provisions 
relating to management of purchase cards in the Department.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 19 of title 41, United States Code, is 
        amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``1909. Management of purchase cards.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments to Department of Defense Purchase Card 
Provisions.--Subsection (b) of section 2784 of title 10, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by moving paragraph (8) to the end of the subsection 
        and redesignating that paragraph as paragraph (14);
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), 
        and (7) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8), 
        respectively;
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraph (2):
            ``(2) That each purchase card holder and individual issued 
        a convenience check is assigned an approving official other 
        than the card holder with the authority to approve or 
        disapprove transactions.'';
            (4) by adding after paragraph (10) the following new 
        paragraphs:
            ``(11) That the Department of Defense uses effective 
        systems, techniques, and technologies to prevent or identify 
        potential fraudulent purchases.
            ``(12) That the Department of Defense takes appropriate 
        steps to invalidate the purchase card of each card holder who--
                    ``(A) in the case of an employee of the 
                Department--
                            ``(i) ceases to be employed by the 
                        Department, immediately upon termination of the 
                        employment of the employee; or
                            ``(ii) transfers to another unit of the 
                        Department, immediately upon the transfer of 
                        the employee unless the Secretary of Defense 
                        determines that the units are covered by the 
                        same purchase card authority; and
                    ``(B) in the case of a member of the armed forces, 
                is separated or released from active duty or full-time 
                National Guard duty.
            ``(13) That the Department of Defense takes steps to 
        recover the cost of any illegal, improper, or erroneous 
        purchase made with a purchase card or convenience check by an 
        employee or member of the armed forces, including, as 
        necessary, through salary offsets.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(15) That the Inspector General of the Department of 
        Defense conducts periodic audits or reviews of purchase card or 
        convenience check programs to identify and analyze risks of 
        illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments and that 
        the findings of such audits or reviews, along with 
        recommendations to prevent abuse of purchase cards or 
        convenience checks, are reported to the Director of the Office 
        of Management and Budget and Congress.''.
    (c) Deadline for Guidance on Management of Purchase Cards.--The 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe the 
guidance required by section 1909(b) of title 41, United States Code, 
as added by subsection (a), not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF TRAVEL CARDS.

    Section 2 of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 
(Public Law 105-264; 5 U.S.C. 5701 note) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Management of Travel Charge Cards.--
            ``(1) Required safeguards and internal controls.--The head 
        of each executive agency that has employees that use travel 
        charge cards shall establish and maintain the following 
        internal control activities to ensure the proper, efficient, 
        and effective use of such travel charge cards:
                    ``(A) There is a record in each executive agency of 
                each holder of a travel charge card issued on behalf of 
                the agency for official use, annotated with the 
                limitations on amounts that are applicable to the use 
                of each such card by that travel charge card holder.
                    ``(B) Rebates and refunds based on prompt payment, 
                sales volume, or other actions by the agency on travel 
                charge card accounts are monitored for accuracy and 
                properly recorded as a receipt of the agency that 
                employs the card holder.
                    ``(C) Periodic reviews are performed to determine 
                whether each travel charge card holder has a need for 
                the travel charge card.
                    ``(D) Appropriate training is provided to each 
                travel charge card holder and each official with 
                responsibility for overseeing the use of travel charge 
                cards issued by the executive agency.
                    ``(E) Each executive agency has specific policies 
                regarding travel charge cards issued for various 
                component organizations and categories of component 
                organizations, the credit limits authorized for various 
                categories of card holders, and categories of employees 
                eligible to be issued travel charge cards, and designs 
                those policies to minimize the financial risk to the 
                Federal Government of the issuance of the travel charge 
                cards and to ensure the integrity of travel charge card 
                holders.
                    ``(F) Each executive agency has policies to ensure 
                its contractual arrangement with each travel charge 
                card issuing contractor contains a requirement that the 
                creditworthiness of an individual be evaluated before 
                the individual is issued a travel charge card, and that 
                no individual be issued a travel charge card if that 
                individual is found not creditworthy as a result of the 
                evaluation (except that this paragraph shall not 
                preclude issuance of a restricted use, prepaid, 
                declining balance, controlled-spend, or stored value 
                card when the individual lacks a credit history or has 
                a credit score below the minimum credit score 
                established by the Director of the Office of Management 
                and Budget). The Director of the Office of Management 
                and Budget shall establish a minimum credit score for 
                determining the creditworthiness of an individual based 
                on rigorous statistical analysis of the population of 
                card holders and historical behaviors. Notwithstanding 
                any other provision of law, such evaluation shall 
                include an assessment of an individual's consumer 
                report from a consumer reporting agency as those terms 
                are defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting 
                Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a).
                    ``(G) Each executive agency uses effective systems, 
                techniques, and technologies to prevent or identify 
                improper purchases.
                    ``(H) Each executive agency ensures that the travel 
                charge card of each employee who ceases to be employed 
                by the agency is invalidated immediately upon 
                termination of the employment of the employee (or, in 
                the case of a member of the uniformed services, upon 
                separation or release from active duty or full-time 
                National Guard duty).
                    ``(I) Each executive agency shall ensure that, 
                where appropriate, travel card payments are issued 
                directly to the travel card-issuing bank for credit to 
                the employee's individual travel card account.
            ``(2) Guidance on management of travel charge cards.--Not 
        later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the 
        Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012, the 
        Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall review 
        the existing guidance and, as necessary, prescribe additional 
        guidance for executive agencies governing the implementation of 
        the requirements in paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Inspector general audit.--The Inspector General of 
        each executive agency with more than $10,000,000 in travel card 
        spending shall conduct periodic audits or reviews of travel 
        card programs to analyze risks of illegal, improper, or 
        erroneous purchases and payments. The findings of such audits 
        or reviews along with recommendations to prevent improper use 
        of travel cards shall be reported to the Director of the Office 
        of Management and Budget and Congress.
            ``(4) Penalties for violations.--Consistent with the 
        guidance prescribed under paragraph (2), each executive agency 
        shall provide for appropriate adverse personnel actions to be 
        imposed in cases in which employees of the executive agency 
        fail to comply with applicable travel charge card terms and 
        conditions or applicable agency regulations or commit fraud 
        with respect to a travel charge card, including removal in 
        appropriate cases.
            ``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Executive agency.--The term `executive 
                agency' means an agency as that term is defined in 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 5701(1) of title 
                5, United States Code.
                    ``(B) Travel charge card.--The term `travel charge 
                card' means any Federal contractor-issued travel charge 
                card that is individually billed to each card 
                holder.''.

SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT OF CENTRALLY BILLED ACCOUNTS.

    (a) Required Internal Controls for Centrally Billed Accounts.--The 
head of an executive agency that has employees who use a travel charge 
card that is billed directly to the United States Government shall 
establish and maintain the following internal control activities:
            (1) The executive agency shall ensure that officials with 
        the authority to approve official travel verify that centrally 
        billed account charges are not reimbursed to an employee.
            (2) The executive agency shall dispute unallowable and 
        erroneous charges and track the status of the disputed 
        transactions to ensure appropriate resolution.
            (3) The executive agency shall submit requests to servicing 
        airlines for refunds of fully or partially unused tickets, when 
        entitled to such refunds, and track the status of unused 
        tickets to ensure appropriate resolution.
    (b) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall review the existing guidance and, as necessary, prescribe 
additional guidance for executive agencies implementing the 
requirements of subsection (a).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 133 of title 41, United 
        States Code.
            (2) Employee.--The term ``employee'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 2(d)(3) of the Travel and Transportation 
        Reform Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-264; 5 U.S.C. 5701 note).

SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) Executive Agency Accounting.--Nothing in this Act, or the 
amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to excuse the head of 
an executive agency from the responsibilities set out in section 3512 
of title 31, United States Code, or in the Improper Payments 
Information Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note).
    (b) Personal Information.--Nothing in this Act, or the amendments 
made by this Act, shall be construed to require the disclosure of 
personally identifying information that is otherwise protected from 
disclosure under section 552a of title 5, United States Code (popularly 
known as the Privacy Act of 1974).

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
112th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                 S. 300

_______________________________________________________________________

                               AMENDMENT