[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6204-S6205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Grassley):
  S. 2167. A bill to amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
App.) to increase the efficiency and accountability of Offices of 
Inspector General within Federal departments, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.


                inspector general act amendments of 1998

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, since coming to the Senate and assuming 
the Chairmanship of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, one 
of my top priorities has been the seemingly never-ending fight to 
ferret out and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in federal government 
programs. We've all heard the horror stories of $500 hammers and roads 
built to nowhere. The waste of scarce federal resources not only picks 
the pockets of the taxpayers but also places severe financial pressures 
on already overburdened programs, forcing cutbacks in the delivery of 
vital government services.
  Over the past year, I have seen this waste first-hand as the 
Subcommittee put a spotlight on massive fraud in the Medicare program. 
To cite just one example, the Subcommittee's investigation revealed 
that the federal government had been sending Medicare checks to 14 
health care companies whose address, if they had existed, was in the 
middle of the runway of the Miami International Airport. That fraud 
cost the taxpayers millions of dollars, diverting scarce resources from 
the elderly and legitimate health care providers.
  This example and others like it were uncovered by my Subcommittee 
working hand-in-hand with the Inspector General's Office, whose mission 
is to identify the eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in federal 
programs. In many ways, the Inspectors General are the eyes and ears of 
the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, in particular, and the 
Congress, in general, as we strive to detect and prevent waste, fraud, 
abuse, and mismanagement in federal programs.
  Mr. President, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Inspector 
General Act, the law that the Congress passed to create these guardians 
of the public purse. As we recognize this anniversary, it is important 
for Congress to take a close look at the IG system.
  During the past 20 years, the Inspector General community has grown 
from 12 in 1978 to 57 Inspectors General today. These offices receive 
more than $1 billion in annual funding and employ over 10,000 auditors, 
criminal investigators, and support personnel. The Office of Inspector 
General is charged with tremendous responsibilities and is given 
considerable authority to uncover waste and abuse within the 
government.
  By and large, the IG community has done an outstanding job. They have 
made thousands of recommendations to Congress, ultimately saving 
taxpayers literally billions of dollars. Investigations by Inspectors 
General have also resulted in the recovery of billions of dollars from 
companies and individuals who defrauded the federal government. These 
investigations have been the basis for thousands of criminal 
prosecutions, debarments, exclusions and suspensions.
  The Inspectors General have a demonstrated record of success over the 
past 20 years, but as with any government program, we must be vigilant 
to ensure that the program is well managed, accountable, and effective. 
With this goal in mind and drawing on my work with the Inspectors 
General over the past year and a half, I am introducing the ``Inspector 
General Act Amendments of 1998,'' a bill to improve the accountability 
and efficiency of the Inspectors General program. I am pleased to have 
my colleague from Iowa, Senator Grassley, as a cosponsor.

  The bill is designed to increase the accountability and independence 
of Inspectors General. It establishes a renewable nine-year term of 
office for each of the 26 Inspectors General who are appointed by the 
President and confirmed by the Senate. This provision will also 
encourage Inspectors General to serve for longer periods of time so 
that their experience and judgment can be used to fight waste, fraud 
and abuse.
  This bill also takes steps to streamline the IG Offices themselves--
making them more efficient and flexible--by consolidating existing 
offices and by reducing the volume of the inspectors general reporting 
requirements.
  The number of OIGs has increased more than four-fold in twenty years, 
and many of these are small offices with just a handful of employees. 
These small OIGs can be made far more efficient and effective by 
transferring their functions to larger, department-wide IG offices. For 
example, my bill consolidates the current stand-alone office of the 
Peace Corps, with just 15 employees, into the State Department--
eliminating unnecessary overhead and bureaucracy but continuing 
thorough audit and oversight of the Peace Corps. Under this proposal, 
seven existing small IG offices are consolidated into the IG offices of 
major departments.
  Currently, Offices of Inspectors General are required by law to 
provide semi-annual reports to Congress. My bill would increase the 
value of the report process by reducing the requirement to a single 
annual report and streamlining the information required for each 
report. For example, the new reporting requirement would require the 
IGs to identify areas within their jurisdiction which are at highest 
risk for waste, fraud and abuse. In that way, the Congress can attack 
those weak areas before they get worse and before the problems become 
more difficult to solve.
  The Inspectors General have made valuable contributions to the 
efficient operation of the federal government, but their record is not 
without blemish. For example, this successful record was recently 
tarnished by the activities of the Treasury Department's Office of 
Inspector General. After an extensive investigation, my Subcommittee 
found that this office violated federal laws in the award of two sole-
source contracts, which wasted thousands of dollars. It was disturbing 
to find that this one Inspector General's Office was itself guilty of 
wasting resources--the very office charged with preventing fraud and 
abuse. At the conclusion of that investigation, the Subcommittee asked 
the question: who is watching the watchdogs?

  Let me stress that, in my view, problems like the ones in the 
Treasury Inspector General's office are not widespread in the Inspector 
General community. However, an Inspector General is not like any other 
government manager. Inspectors General are the very officials in 
government responsible for combating waste, fraud and abuse in Federal 
programs. And as such, Inspectors General should be held to a higher 
standard. To do their job effectively, Inspectors General must be above 
reproach, must set an example for other government managers to follow, 
and must not create situations where there is even the appearance of 
impropriety. Credibility and effectiveness are lost when the office 
charged with combating waste and abuse engages in the kind of activity 
that the Inspector General is responsible for deterring.
  To increase accountability, my bill requires independent external 
reviews of the Inspector General offices every three years. It gives 
each office the flexibility to choose the most efficient method of 
review, but it does require that the watchdogs themselves submit to 
oversight by a qualified third party. This provision will help ensure 
public confidence in the management and efficiency of the IG offices.
  Finally, Mr. President, one provision that is not included in this 
bill, but that deserves careful consideration, is the grant of 
statutory law enforcement authority for the Inspector General of the 
Department of Health and Human Services. The Medicare fraud 
investigation conducted by my Subcommittee revealed the dangers faced 
by HHS-IG Special Agents when they work with the FBI and others to 
investigate some cases of health care fraud. These agents work side by 
side with other federal law enforcement professionals, and the Congress 
should carefully examine the best way to provide them with tools 
necessary for them to do their jobs effectively.
  Mr. President, the bill I introduce today represents the first step 
in the process to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and 
accountability of the Inspector General program. These offices

[[Page S6205]]

provide valuable assistance to the Congress so that we can exercise our 
duty to oversee the operation of the federal government and to make 
sure that the taxpayer's money is well spent and not wasted. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in this effort to strengthen and improve the 
Inspectors General program into the next century.
                                 ______