[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 77 (Tuesday, May 19, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5722-H5723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      ENHANCED OVERSIGHT OF STATE AND LOCAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2182) to amend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
to provide for enhanced State and local oversight of activities 
conducted pursuant to such Act, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2182

       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 ``Enhanced Oversight of State 
     and Local Economic Recovery Act''.

     SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING FOR STATE AND LOCAL 
                   OVERSIGHT UNDER AMERICAN RECOVERY AND 
                   REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009.

       (a) Federal Agency Requirement.--Section 1552 of the 
     American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 
     111-5; 123 Stat. 297) is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``(a) Federal Agency Requirement.--'' 
     before ``Federal agencies receiving'';
       (2) by striking ``may,'' and all that follows through 
     ``reasonably'' and inserting ``shall, subject to guidance 
     from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,''; 
     and
       (3) by striking ``data collection requirements'' and 
     inserting ``data collection requirements, auditing, contract 
     and grant planning and management, and investigations of 
     waste, fraud, and abuse''.
       (b) State and Local Government Authority.--Such section is 
     further amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(b) State and Local Government Authority.--
     Notwithstanding any other provision of law, State and local 
     governments receiving funds under this Act may set aside an 
     amount up to 0.5 percent of such funds, in addition to any 
     funds already allocated to administrative expenditures, to 
     conduct planning and oversight to prevent and detect waste, 
     fraud, and abuse.''.
       (c) Conforming Amendment.--The heading for section 1552 of 
     such Act is amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 1552. FUNDING FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
                   OVERSIGHT.''.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR ACQUISITION BY STATE AND LOCAL 
                   GOVERNMENTS THROUGH FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULES.

       Section 502 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) Use of Supply Schedules for Economic Recovery.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Administrator may provide for the 
     use by State or local governments of Federal supply schedules 
     of the General Services Administration for goods or services 
     that are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 
     of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
       ``(2) Voluntary use.--In the case of the use by a State or 
     local government of a Federal supply schedule pursuant to 
     paragraph (1), participation by a firm that sells to the 
     Federal Government through the supply schedule shall be 
     voluntary with respect to a sale to the State or local 
     government through such supply schedule.
       ``(3) Definitions.--The definitions in subsection (c)(3) 
     shall apply for purposes of this subsection.''.

     SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF JOBS CREATED AND JOBS RETAINED.

       Section 1512(g) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
     Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5; 123 Stat. 288) is amended by 
     adding at the end ``The Director of the Office of Management 
     and Budget shall issue guidance to ensure accurate and 
     consistent reporting of `jobs created' and `jobs retained' as 
     those terms are used in subsection (c)(3)(D).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Towns) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 2182, the Enhanced Oversight of State and 
Local Economic Recovery Act. H.R. 2182 will help ensure efficient and 
effective use of the taxpayers' money provided to State and local 
governments for stimulus projects. This legislation grew out of a 
hearing the Oversight Committee held on the Recovery Act. Many State 
and local officials responsible for overseeing spending of stimulus 
dollars pointed out to us that in these troubled economic times, they 
are under tremendous pressure to conduct their normal oversight work, 
let alone cope with the increase that the Recovery Act requires.
  Our hearings, Mr. Speaker, made clear, that State and local 
governments need additional resources to monitor the large infusion of 
funds the Recovery Act directs. H.R. 2182 will provide State and local 
governments with the flexibility to set aside a portion of their 
stimulus funds for auditing, contract and grant planning and 
management, and investigations of waste, fraud and abuse.
  The bill also permits State and local governments to use the Federal 
supply schedules of the General Services Administration for stimulus 
projects. The GSA schedules are prenegotiated Federal contracts for a 
range of common goods and services.
  This is a win-win situation because it will allow State and local 
governments to acquire certain items without engaging in time-consuming 
contracting procedures while guaranteeing the lowest rate price for 
them.
  Lastly, H.R. 2182 requires the Office of Management and Budget to 
give detailed guidance to State and local governments to ensure 
consistency in their reporting of job creation data. Our State and 
local governments are on the front lines of the efforts to fight 
mismanagement of Recovery Act dollars. Their success is vital to making 
the stimulus work for the American people.
  Let me pause here and thank Ranking Member Issa, who has worked very 
closely with me in crafting this legislation, and I want to thank him 
for that. I would also like to thank Representative Kucinich, who has 
worked with us, Representative Platts, and Representatives Welch and 
Connolly for working with me on this bill.
  I should note that the legislation incorporates part of H.R. 1911, 
which was introduced by Representative Connolly from Virginia. H.R. 
2182 is a strong bill. I urge all Members to support this critical 
oversight and accountability measure.
  And I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1230

  Mr. ISSA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I join with the chairman in urging all Members to vote for this 
important correction piece of legislation. I say ``correction'' 
because, in fact, we in Congress make mistakes. It wasn't out of malice 
that we spent $800 billion without asking the question of where would 
the money for oversight come from. These kinds of things happen in 
every organization where you're in such a rush to do one thing that 
it's not until later on in the light of the next day, or in the case of 
Chairman Towns and myself, it's when we held a field hearing in his 
district in Brooklyn

[[Page H5723]]

and people said, Thank you very much for the money, but here is A, B, 
C, D--what's really happening? I commend Chairman Towns for quickly 
reacting to this and to some other issues that were found to be less 
than optimal in the stimulus package.
  In the case of this legislation, H.R. 2182, we seek to empower with 
existing funds State and local governments to not have to reach into 
other money in order to do oversight. This is not to say that we 
wouldn't prefer that the oversight be done at all times even without 
Federal money, but at a time in which the stimulus needs to be spent 
quickly and accurately, this legislation recognizes that money in short 
supply in States and in cities is likely not to go into the oversight 
necessary.
  Particularly with the chairman's initiative to ensure that 
transparency be greater than in any previous Congress, I recognize--and 
he has recognized--that if we want greater transparency, we are going 
to have to ensure that we not only supply the funds to do the oversight 
but that we supply the new technology and means to do the oversight. 
This legislation is deliberately intended to allow for cities and 
States to make investments in hardware or software that allows for them 
to better dig down into their procurement process, their spending, to 
work smarter, not just harder.
  Having no other speakers at this time, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to reiterate my 
strong support of H.R. 2182 as it provides State and local governments 
with the flexibility and resources they need to properly monitor the 
stimulus project. In our hearing, they asked for help, and of course, 
with Congressman Issa and with members of the committee, we are now 
giving them that help. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
the passage of this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2182.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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