[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sentence until such time as the authorization is repealed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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