[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5126 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5126
To reduce by one-half of one percent the discretionary budget authority
of any Federal agency for a fiscal year if the financial statement of
the agency for the previous fiscal year does not receive a qualified or
unqualified audit opinion by an external independent auditor, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 2014
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Burgess, Ms. Schakowsky, and
Mr. Benishek) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the
Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reduce by one-half of one percent the discretionary budget authority
of any Federal agency for a fiscal year if the financial statement of
the agency for the previous fiscal year does not receive a qualified or
unqualified audit opinion by an external independent auditor, 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 ``Audit the Pentagon Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) To strengthen American national security by ensuring
that--
(A) military planning, operations, weapons
development, and a long-term national security strategy
are connected to sound financial controls; and
(B) defense dollars are spent efficiently.
(2) To instill a culture of accountability at the
Department of Defense that supports the vast majority of
dedicated members of the Armed Forces and civilians who want to
ensure proper accounting and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The 2013 Financial Report of the United States
Government found that, of major agencies, only the Department
of Defense had a ``disclaimer'' because it lacked any auditable
reporting or accounting available for independent review. In
the Financial Report, the Treasury Department summarized:
``Since the passage of the CFO Act of 1990, the federal
financial community has made important strides in instilling
strong accounting and financial reporting practices. This year,
23 of the 24 CFO Act agencies obtained an opinion from the
independent auditors on their financial statements. Out of the
24 major `CFO Act' agencies, there were 22 clean opinions, 1
qualified opinion, and only one remaining disclaimer in FY
2013. . . . However, weaknesses in basic financial management
practices and other limitations continue to prevent one major
agency, and the Government as a whole, from achieving an audit
opinion.''.
(2) The financial management of the Department of Defense
has been on the ``High-Risk'' list of the Government
Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO found that the Department
is not consistently able to ``control costs; ensure basic
accountability; anticipate future costs and claims on the
budget; measure performance; maintain funds control; and
prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse''.
(3) At a September 2010 hearing of the Senate, the
Government Accountability Office stated that past expenditures
by the Department of Defense of $5,800,000,000 to improve
financial information, and billions of dollars more of
anticipated expenditures on new information technology systems
for that purpose, may not suffice to achieve full audit
readiness of the financial statement of the Department.
(4) Section 9 of article 1 of the Constitution of the
United States requires all agencies of the Federal Government,
including the Department of Defense, to publish ``a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all
public money''.
(5) Section 303(d) of the Chief Financial Officers Act of
1990 (Public Law 101-576) required that financial statements be
prepared and independently audited for the Department of the
Army by March 31, 1992, and for the Department of the Air Force
by March 31, 1993. Neither the Department of the Army nor the
Department of the Air Force has complied.
(6) Section 3515 of title 31, United States Code, requires
the agencies of the Federal Government, including the
Department of Defense, to present auditable financial
statements beginning not later than March 1, 1997. The
Department has not complied with this law.
(7) The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of
1996 (31 U.S.C. 3512 note) requires financial systems acquired
by the Federal Government, including the Department of Defense,
to be able to provide information to leaders to manage and
control the cost of government. The Department has not complied
with this law.
(8) In 2005, the Department of Defense created a Financial
Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Plan, overseen by a
directorate within the office of the Under Secretary of Defense
(Comptroller), to improve Department business processes with
the goal of producing timely, reliable, and accurate financial
information that could generate an audit-ready annual financial
statement. In December 2005, that directorate, known as the
FIAR Directorate, issued the first of a series of semiannual
reports on the status of the Financial Improvement and Audit
Readiness Plan.
(9) Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said in a speech
on May 24, 2011: ``The current apparatus for managing people
and money across the DoD enterprise is woefully inadequate. The
agencies, field activities, joint headquarters, and support
staff functions of the department operate as a semi-feudal
system--an amalgam of fiefdoms without centralized mechanisms
to allocate resources, track expenditures, and measure results
relative to the department's overall priorities.''.
(10) The accounting problems of the Department of Defense
result in widespread errors in pay that can be difficult to
correct. Such payroll errors can impose hardship on members of
the Armed Forces and their families.
SEC. 4. SPENDING REDUCTIONS FOR AGENCIES WITHOUT CLEAN AUDITS.
(a) Applicability.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), this section
applies to each Federal agency identified by the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget as required to have an
audited financial statement under section 3515 of title 31,
United States Code.
(2) Applicability to military departments and defense
agencies.--For purposes of paragraph (1), in the case of the
Department of Defense, each military department and each
Defense Agency shall be treated as a separate Federal agency.
(b) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``financial
statement'' and ``external independent auditor'' have the same meanings
as those terms have under section 3521(e) of title 31, United States
Code.
(c) Adjustments for Financial Accountability.--
(1) On March 2 of fiscal year 2015 and each subsequent
fiscal year, the discretionary budget authority available for
each Federal agency for such fiscal year is adjusted as
provided in paragraph (2).
(2) If a Federal agency has not submitted a financial
statement for the previous fiscal year, or if such financial
statement has not received either an unqualified or a qualified
audit opinion by an independent external auditor, the
discretionary budget authority available for the Federal agency
is reduced by .5 percent, with the reduction applied
proportionately to each account (other than an account listed
in subsection (d) or an account for which a waiver is made
under subsection (e)).
(3) Consistent with applicable laws, the Secretary of
Defense may make any reduction under paragraph (2) in a manner
that minimizes any effect on national security.
(4) An amount equal to the total amount of any reduction
under paragraph (2) shall be retained in the general fund of
the Treasury for the purposes of deficit reduction.
(d) Accounts Excluded.--The following accounts are excluded from
any reductions referred to in subsection (c)(2):
(1) Military personnel, reserve personnel, and National
Guard personnel accounts of the Department of Defense.
(2) The Defense Health Program account of the Department of
Defense.
(e) Waiver.--The President may waive subsection (c)(2) with respect
to an account if the President certifies that applying the subsection
to that account would harm national security or members of the Armed
Forces who are in combat.
(f) Report.--Not later than 60 days after an adjustment under
subsection (c), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall submit to Congress a report describing the amount and account of
each adjustment.
SEC. 5. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) shall submit to
Congress a report setting forth a list of each report of the Department
required by law to be submitted to Congress which, in the opinion of
the Under Secretary, interferes with the capacity of the Department to
achieve an audit of the financial statements of the Department with an
unqualified opinion.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) as the overall defense budget is cut, congressional
defense committees and the Department of Defense should not
endanger the Nation's troops by reducing wounded warrior
accounts or vital protection (such as body armor) for members
of the Armed Forces in harm's way;
(2) the valuation of legacy assets by the Department of
Defense should be simplified without compromising essential
controls or generally accepted government auditing standards;
and
(3) nothing in this Act should be construed to require or
permit the declassification of accounting details about
classified defense programs, and, as required by law, the
Department of Defense should ensure financial accountability in
such programs using proven practices, including using auditors
with security clearances.
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