[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 50 (Monday, April 15, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H1998-H1999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 1162) to amend title 31, United States Code, to make improvements 
in the Government Accountability Office, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1162

       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''.

     SEC. 2. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE IMPROVEMENT.

       (a) Authority To Obtain Information.--
       (1) Authority to obtain records.--Section 716 of title 31, 
     United States Code, is amended in subsection (a)--
       (A) by striking ``(a)'' and inserting ``(2)''; and
       (B) 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     sentence until such time as the authorization is repealed 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.''.
       (2) Copies.--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 striking ``inspect an 
     agency record'' and inserting ``inspect, and make and retain 
     copies of, an agency record''.
       (b) 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 when auditing and 
     settling accounts and, with the prior express approval of the 
     Comptroller General, when investigating fraud or attempts to 
     defraud the United States, or irregularity or misconduct of 
     an employee or agent of the United States.''.
       (c) Access to Certain Information.--
       (1) 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, including 
     section 453(l) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 653(l)), shall be 
     construed to limit, amend, or supersede the authority of the 
     Comptroller General to obtain any information or to inspect 
     or copy any record under section 716 of this title.
       ``(b) No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
     Act, including section 301(j) of that Act (21 U.S.C. 331(j)), 
     shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the 
     authority of the Comptroller General to obtain any 
     information or to inspect or copy any record under section 
     716 of this title.
       ``(c)(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 to--
       ``(A) 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) 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.
       ``(d) Specific references to statutes in this section shall 
     not be construed to affect access by the Government 
     Accountability Office to information under statutes that are 
     not so referenced.''.
       (2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of 
     sections 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.''.

       (d) Agency Reports.--Section 720(b) of title 31, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting 
     ``or planned'' after ``action taken''; and
       (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
       ``(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and 
     Government Reform of the House of Representatives, the 
     congressional committees with jurisdiction over the agency 
     program or activity that is the subject of the 
     recommendation, and the Government Accountability Office 
     before the 61st day after the date of the report; and''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
each will control 20 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 
legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As you know, the Government Accountability Office is a legislative 
branch agency that investigates how the Federal Government spends 
taxpayer dollars. Often called the ``congressional watchdog,'' the GAO 
investigates instances of waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal 
Government. My committee has direct jurisdiction over the GAO.
  Congress must have current information on how Federal programs are 
performing in order to both legislate and effectively conduct 
meaningful oversight.
  H.R. 1162, the GAO Improvement Act, will enhance the GAO's ability to 
serve Congress primarily by ensuring the agency has access to key data 
warehoused in the executive branch.
  This bill ensures that the GAO has access to the National Directory 
of New Hires, which is used to verify eligibility for Federal programs, 
to detect or prevent fraud, and to identify improper payments.
  H.R. 1162 will ensure the GAO has the ability to obtain agency 
records and to administer oaths to witnesses when auditing accounts and 
investigating fraud.
  It will allow the Comptroller General to seek judicial remedy to 
enforce GAO's right to information under the law.
  GAO has an exemplary record of protecting sensitive government 
information, including national security documents. The committee is 
confident that GAO, a nonpartisan portion of the legislative branch, 
will continue to vigorously maintain confidentiality regarding 
information it obtains.
  I want to note that the language in this bill was included in 
previous

[[Page H1999]]

versions of the DATA Act that was approved unanimously by the House in 
the last Congress.
  I want to additionally thank the ranking member, Mr. Cummings, for 
his partnership in this issue. No matter which of us holds the gavel, 
we together know that the information we base our decisions on, the 
information critical to the American people, has a balance of time that 
we must realize must be sooner and not later.
  The ranking member and I absolutely support this bill in its current 
form because we know that fresh information is critically important if 
we're to make our decisions well timely.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I first just want to dedicate a moment or two to our 
fellow citizens up in Boston who are going through some very traumatic 
times right now. The fact that bombs have gone off in Boston, that 
sadly there have been fatalities and sadly many people have been 
injured, our prayers go out to our fellow citizens, to the first 
responders, and we pray that this matter will be resolved in a way that 
brings anybody who brings harm to anyone to justice.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, on the subject of the bill, I rise in strong 
support of this bill.
  I want to associate myself with the words of our chairman, Mr. Issa. 
This is truly indeed a bipartisan bill. As to the contents of the bill, 
GAO assists Congress in identifying waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal 
programs and recommending ways to make government work better.
  Because of its vital role, GAO needs unfetterred access to Federal 
agencies. Efforts by executive branch officials to withhold information 
from GAO unfortunately impede Congress' ability to legislate 
effectively. And I will say it over and over again, as long as I live, 
we need to be effective and efficient in everything we do on this 
Earth. This is an effort to make sure that we can be just that, more 
effective and efficient.
  The Government Accountability Office Improvement Act will increase 
the effectiveness of GAO by clarifying and strengthening its authority 
in several critical areas, including access to records.
  The GAO Improvement Act addresses a Federal court decision in Walker 
v. Cheney that limited GAO's ability to question agency access 
determinations in court.
  The bill provides the Comptroller General, with express authority 
from Congress, to pursue litigation if the Comptroller General 
determines that the performance of her official duties is harmed when 
an agency improperly withholds information.
  The bill also clarifies GAO's access to information in other key 
areas by confirming GAO's right to make and retain copies of records, 
authorizing the GAO to administer oaths in certain circumstances and 
specifically granting GAO access to certain information.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, the bill creates a reporting mechanism so that 
Congress will be more fully informed when agencies do not cooperate 
with GAO.
  I introduced similar legislation to this bill in the last Congress 
which passed the House as a provision of H.R. 2146, the DATA Act, to 
which it was added at my request.
  Again, I want to thank the chairman of the committee for his 
cooperation in getting the bill to the floor, and I urge Members to 
pass H.R. 1162.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I now will place in the record a letter from 
the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee supporting the bill, but 
recognizing that the primary jurisdiction over this database belongs to 
the Ways and Means Committee, and we are responding in the affirmative 
for that.

                                      Committee on Ways and Means,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                   Washington, DC, April 15, 2013.
     Hon. Darrell Issa,
     Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
         Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Issa, On March 20, 2013, the Committee on 
     Oversight and Government Reform reported H.R. 1162, the 
     Government Accountability Office Improvement Act, favorably 
     to the House. Section 2, dealing with authority to access the 
     National Directory of New Hires in Section 453 of the Social 
     Security Act, touches the jurisdiction of the Committee on 
     Ways and Means. As a result of your having consulted with the 
     Committee concerning the provision of the bill that falls 
     within our Rule X jurisdiction, I agree not to seek a 
     sequential referral so that the bill may proceed 
     expeditiously to the House floor.
       The Committee on Ways and Means takes this action with the 
     mutual understanding that, by forgoing consideration of H.R. 
     1162 at this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over the 
     subject matter contained in this or similar legislation, and 
     the Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as 
     the bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may 
     address any remaining issues that fall within our Rule X 
     jurisdiction. The Committee also reserves the right to seek 
     appointment of an appropriate number of conferees to any 
     House-Senate conference involving this or similar 
     legislation, and requests your support for such request.
       Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter 
     confirming this understanding, and would ask that a copy of 
     our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration thereof.
           Sincerely,
                                                        Dave Camp,
                                                         Chairman.

  Before I recognize the next speaker, I would ask that the House take 
a moment to recognize the loss of life in Boston as this tragedy 
continues to unfold.

                              {time}  1710

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for time, and I am 
prepared to close unless there are further speakers on the other side.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. We have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Then I think we both ask for favorable consideration, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1162, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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