[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 29, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H7192-H7194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6388) to provide additional authorities to the Comptroller 
General of the United States, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6388

       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 ``Government Accountability 
     Office Improvement Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.

       (a) Authority To Obtain Records.--Section 716 of title 31, 
     United States Code, is amended in subsection (a)--
       (1) by striking ``(a)'' and inserting ``(2)''; and
       (2) by inserting after the section heading the following:
       ``(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to obtain 
     such agency records as the Comptroller General requires to 
     discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, and 
     investigative duties), including through the bringing of 
     civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil action 
     under this section, the court shall recognize the continuing 
     force and effect of the authorization in the preceding 
     sentence until such time as the authorization is repealed 
     pursuant to law.''.

[[Page H7193]]

       (b) Interviews.--Section 716(a) of title 31, United States 
     Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended in the 
     second sentence of paragraph (2) by inserting ``and interview 
     agency officers and employees'' after ``agency record''.

     SEC. 3. ADMINISTERING OATHS.

       Section 711 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 
     striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
       ``(4) administer oaths to witnesses, except that, in 
     matters other than auditing and settling accounts, the 
     authority of an officer or employee to administer oaths to 
     witnesses pursuant to a delegation under paragraph (2) shall 
     not be available without the prior express approval of the 
     Comptroller General (or a designee).''.

     SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.

       (a) Access to Certain Information.--Subchapter II of 
     chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 721. Access to certain information

       ``(a) No provision of the Social Security Act shall be 
     construed to limit, amend, or supersede the authority of the 
     Comptroller General to obtain any information, to inspect any 
     record, or to interview any officer or employee under section 
     716 of this title, including with respect to any information 
     disclosed to or obtained by the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services under part C or D of title XVIII of the Social 
     Security Act.
       ``(b) No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
     Act shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the 
     authority of the Comptroller General to obtain any 
     information, to inspect any record, or to interview any 
     officer or employee under section 716 of this title, 
     including with respect to any information concerning any 
     method or process which as a trade secret is entitled to 
     protection.
       ``(c) No provision of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust 
     Improvements Act of 1976 and the amendments made by that Act 
     shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the 
     authority of the Comptroller General to obtain any 
     information, to inspect any record, or to interview any 
     officer or employee under section 716 of this title, 
     including with respect to any information disclosed to the 
     Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the 
     Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission for 
     purposes of pre-merger review under section 7A of the Clayton 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 18a).
       ``(d)(1) The Comptroller General shall prescribe such 
     policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from 
     public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information 
     obtained consistent with this section.
       ``(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed--
       ``(A) to alter or amend the prohibitions against the 
     disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive information 
     prohibited by section 1905 of title 18 and other applicable 
     laws; or
       ``(B) to affect the applicability of section 716(e) of this 
     title, including the protections against unauthorized 
     disclosure contained in that section, to information obtained 
     consistent with this section.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 7 of 
     title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
     the item relating to section 720 the following:

``721. Access to certain information.''.

     SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORTS.

       Section 719 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ``and'' at the 
     end;
       (2) in subsection (b)(1)(C), by striking the period at the 
     end and inserting ``; and'';
       (3) by adding at the end of subsection (b)(1) the 
     following:
       ``(D) for agencies subject to sections 901 to 903 and other 
     agencies designated by the Comptroller General, an assessment 
     of their overall degree of cooperation in making personnel 
     available for interview, providing written answers to 
     questions, submitting to an oath authorized by the 
     Comptroller General under section 711, granting access to 
     records, providing timely comments to draft reports, adopting 
     recommendations in reports and responding to such other 
     matters as the Comptroller General deems appropriate.'';
       (4) in subsection (c)(2)(B), by striking ``and'' at the 
     end;
       (5) in subsection (c)(3), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and'', and
       (6) by adding at the end of subsection (c) the following:
       ``(4) as soon as practicable when an agency does not, 
     within a reasonable time, respond to a request by the 
     Comptroller General regarding any matter described in 
     subsection (b)(1)(D).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Waxman) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis) 
will each control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days during which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This bill, H.R. 6388, the Government Accountability Office 
Improvement Act, is crucial legislation for protecting the taxpayers 
from waste, fraud, and abuse, and it is a cornerstone of Congress' 
efforts to improve oversight of the executive branch.
  There are many details in this legislation, but the essence of this 
bill before us is about fighting waste, fraud, and abuse. It gives GAO 
access to the information it needs and helps Congress legislate 
effectively. One of our most important jobs as Members of Congress is 
to protect the interests of the Federal taxpayer.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I want to state at the outset that the most important issue in the 
country right now is the rising cost of fuels, and we can't have that 
debate because leadership on the other side refuses to allow us votes 
on domestic exploration. And I wish we were talking about that today, 
but let me say this. I'm going to speak for H.R. 6388, the Government 
Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2008.
  This bill does a number of things. First of all, one of the things it 
does is overturn the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia's 
decision in Walker v. Cheney where the court held the GAO lacked 
standing to sue the Vice President to compel the release of information 
pertaining to the Vice President's Energy Task Force. It was the first 
time in its then-81-year-old history that the GAO filed suit against an 
executive branch official regarding access to records. This is an 
important issue for congressional power and oversight, and the White 
House, for obvious reasons, is opposing the bill for that reason 
institutionally. The White House is protecting the ``institution,'' the 
executive branch, not the administration, which this bill doesn't 
affect.
  Our interests here should also be ``institutional'' as well making 
sure that this Congress and future Congresses have this type of 
oversight over future executives.
  Last July, the GAO submitted to Congress a legislative proposal to 
make a number of largely noncontroversial changes to their authorizing 
statute. The Government Oversight and Reform Committee addressed many 
of these reforms. The bill we're taking up today represents an effort 
by Congress to strengthen and clarify GAO's investigative authority.
  I had several concerns about this legislation as it was originally 
introduced. The bill would have included new language giving GAO 
specific access to Medicare Part D data held by the Department of 
Health and Human Services, as well as trade secrets held by the Food 
and Drug Administration. Congress has access to that information now. 
We didn't think new language would be necessary.
  The original bill also included broad language to expand GAO's 
authority to interview agency employees and administer oaths to 
witnesses in conjunction with investigations.
  But I would add we, the Committee, adopted the amendment offered by 
Chairman Waxman and myself to improve the original bill, and 
specifically section 4 of the bill now includes language to ensure GAO 
will protect the most sensitive data it obtains under this section.
  Now section 4 will clarify GAO's access to data specific to Medicare 
Part D held by the Department of Health and Human Services, trade 
secrets held by the Food and Drug Administration and proprietary 
commercial information held by the Antitrust Division of the Justice 
Department and the Federal Trade Commission.
  In its current form, these provisions are intended to remedy problems 
that GAO has encountered in getting agencies to voluntarily turn over 
such sensitive data.
  The amendment adopted by the committee attempts to ensure that this 
data containing valuable trade secrets and other confidential 
commercial information is not disclosed.
  While it's still not clear that we need this section, the amendment 
adopted by the committee gives me a sufficient

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level of comfort that information containing trade secrets and other 
confidential commercial data to which GAO has access will be protected 
against improper disclosure.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for time and 
yield back the balance of our time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6388, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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