Congressional Record, Volume 160 Issue 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)

[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H200-H202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

OPM IG ACT

Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2860) to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that
the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management may use
amounts in the revolving fund of the Office to fund audits,
investigations, and oversight activities, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 2860

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 ``OPM IG Act''.

SEC. 2. USE OF OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT REVOLVING FUND
FOR AUDITS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND OVERSIGHT
ACTIVITIES.

Subsection (e) of section 1304 of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--

[[Page H201]]

(1) in paragraph (1), by adding before the period at the
end of the first sentence the following: ``, and for the cost
of audits, investigations, and oversight activities,
conducted by the Inspector General of the Office, of the fund
and the activities financed by the fund''; and
(2) in paragraph (5)--
(A) by striking ``The Office'' and inserting ``(A) The
Office''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Such budget shall include an estimate from the
Inspector General of the Office of the amount required to pay
the expenses to audit, investigate, and provide other
oversight activities with respect to the fund and the
activities financed by the fund.
``(C) The amount requested by the Inspector General under
subparagraph (B) shall not exceed .33 percent of the total
budgetary authority requested by the Office under
subparagraph (A).''.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Farenthold) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.

General Leave

Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
H.R. 2860 responds to the Office of Personnel Management Inspector
General's call for increased oversight of the OPM's revolving fund by
providing the IG access to a portion of that revolving fund moneys for
oversight.
H.R. 2860 recognizes oversight as a legitimate business cost by using
existing funds to help the IG respond to the increased referrals of
alleged fraud within the OPM's revolving fund operations, including
especially in the background investigation used to determine an
individual's eligibility for a security clearance.
The Office of Personnel Management serves as the regulator for these
rules affecting the management of Federal workers, but has also evolved
into a fee-based service provider that provides billions of dollars in
services each year to the very agencies governed by OPM's rules.
The revolving fund budget has grown significantly over the past 15
years, from $191 million to more than $2 billion today. OPM's revolving
fund budget is almost 91 percent of OPM's budget; yet the resources
available for the IG to audit these funds have not kept pace with the
growing amounts.
For over 30 years, both the General Accountability Office and OPM
Inspectors General have been concerned about the management of
resources in the revolving fund. Each has issued a number of reports
and audits examining various and, often recurring, problems.
Last year, OPM Inspector General McFarland informed the Committee on
Government Oversight and Reform of what he described as a ``serious
problem'' inhibiting his ability to perform the duties and
responsibilities of his office. McFarland stated his office was at a
point where it could not meet its statutory obligation to effectively
oversee revolving fund activities. He noted that his office had been
``inundated with requests from OPM to audit and/or investigate
different parts of revolving fund programs,'' from technical audit work
to the continuing flow of allegations involving falsifications of
background investigations and abuse of authority.
The OPM Inspector General has investigated a number of cases
involving the falsification of background investigations, including
reporting of investigations that never occurred, recording answers to
questions that were never asked, and documents record checks that were
never conducted. Within the military departments at 81 percent of OPM's
customer base, these cases have serious national security implications.
Inspector General McFarland testified before the Federal Workforce
Subcommittee in June, and he said the OPM's revolving fund programs
``have been operating in the shadows for too long,'' adding the often-
cited phrase ``sunshine is the best disinfectant.''
H.R. 2860 would allow the OPM IG to use a portion of the revolving
fund moneys to pay for related audit and investigation work. The OPM
IG's resources would be limited to one-third of 1 percent of the
revolving fund budget, and the IG would be required to submit an annual
budget request and report detailing its revolving fund oversight work.
H.R. 2860 provides resources for critical oversight that can be
accomplished at relatively low cost, using existing funds.
I urge the adoption of this bipartisan bill, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 2860, the OPM IG Act, which is a
successful product of the bipartisan efforts of Federal Workforce
Subcommittee Chairman Farenthold and Ranking Member Lynch, and I
applaud them for their efforts.
I thank my distinguished colleagues for their work and commitment in
sponsoring legislation to provide the Inspector General of the Office
of Personnel Management with critically needed funding to perform
audits, investigations, and oversight of OPM's revolving fund
activities.
Through the revolving fund, OPM provides approximately $2 billion in
services to agencies on a fee-for-service basis. These services include
background investigations, leadership training, and human resource
management.
H.R. 2860 would fix the loophole in the current law which prevents
this $2 billion revolving fund from paying for the costs of the OPM
Inspector General to properly oversee the fund's activities.
This legislation would allow the OPM Inspector General to use a very
small portion of the revolving fund budget, up to a maximum of one-
third of 1 percent of the fund, to pay for audit, investigative, and
oversight work.
The recent Navy Yard shooting and the Edward Snowden leaks of
classified information have highlighted the importance of comprehensive
oversight of the Federal Government's background investigation and
security clearance process.
During last June's Federal Workforce Subcommittee hearing on OPM's
revolving fund, the OPM Inspector General expressed substantial
concerns about the falsification of background investigations.
The OPM Inspector General plays a crucial part in ensuring that the
background investigation process used by the government to determine
whether individuals should be trusted with our Nation's classified and
sensitive information is properly conducted.
This legislation would give the OPM Inspector General the funds and
resources needed to conduct the necessary oversight activities to help
safeguard our government against national security risks.
The Senate has already passed a substantially similar bill, and I ask
all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in
supporting H.R. 2860.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I would like to thank Mr. Cummings and Mr. Lynch for working together
in such a bipartisan manner on this very important national security
bill.
It is a commonsense, good government bill that is designed to use
existing funds that are brought into the OPM to oversee the OPM. They
have got a huge chunk of money here that is coming from the background
checks, and they don't have the resources necessary to adequately make
sure these background checks are going to be done.
Mr. Cummings cited numerous examples of how the failures in the
system have resulted in tragedies and have resulted in information
getting out. We need to make sure these background checks are being
done properly, we need to make sure this money is being administered
properly, and this bipartisan bill does that.

I too urge my colleagues to pass the bill, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), the cosponsor

[[Page H202]]

of the bill and a member of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.
First of all, I want to say that as the ranking Democrat on the
Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, I rise in strong support of Mr.
Farenthold's measure here, H.R. 2860, the OPM Inspector General Act,
legislation that will enhance oversight of the background check process
for the issuance of government security clearances.
At the outset as well, I would like to thank the subcommittee
chairman, Mr. Farenthold, for working in a bipartisan manner to sponsor
H.R. 2860. I would also like to thank our full committee chairman, Mr.
Issa, and ranking member, Mr. Cummings, the gentleman from Maryland,
for their hard work and their leadership on this legislation as well.
Recent events involving Edward Snowden and his leaking of classified
information and as well Aaron Alexis and the tragic shooting at the
Washington Navy Yard have called attention to the need to reexamine and
improve the Federal Government's background investigation and security
clearance process.
H.R. 2860 is a key component of our examinations. This legislation
provides the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management
with the resources that he needs to assist Congress in our review and
oversight of a process that is critical within our national security
framework.
We rely heavily on our Inspectors General. They are at the front
lines of investigating fraud, waste, and abuse in government programs.
We as Members of the legislature rely heavily on them in getting
accurate information.
In particular, H.R. 2860 would give the Office of Personnel
Management the authority to access a portion of OPM's revolving fund to
pay for audits, investigations, and oversight of the agency's revolving
fund program, which includes the Federal Government's background
investigations process, their leadership training, and personnel
management solutions.
I think OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland did a great job on
this in making us aware of the necessity for this legislation. During a
June 2013 Federal Workforce Subcommittee hearing, as has been noted,
Mr. McFarland stated that his office was handicapped in its ability to
conduct proper oversight of the OPM's revolving fund activities.
Under existing law, the Inspector General's oversight costs cannot be
charged to the revolving fund. As a result, for fiscal year 2013, the
Inspector General had only available $3 million to conduct oversight of
OPM's program involving $2 billion.
Because of these limited resources, the OPM Inspector General was not
able to thoroughly investigate issues regarding falsification of
background investigations, conduct audits of the revolving fund, or
examine the fund's high-risk areas.
However, H.R. 2860, if enacted, would allow the OPM Inspector
General's oversight costs to be paid from the revolving fund up to a
maximum of one-third of 1 percent of OPM's revolving fund budget.
Assuming a revolving budget of $2 billion, the Inspector General may be
authorized to receive up to a maximum of $6.6 million to fund oversight
costs.

{time} 1430

Common sense indicates that giving the OPM Inspector General
authority for this funding is a sensible and prudent investment.
Moreover, if national security is implicated, the importance of
preventing or mitigating national security threats is, of course,
immeasurable.
Let me also add that this proposal was included in the President's
fiscal year 2014 budget request, and the Senate passed, by unanimous
consent, substantially similar legislation last October. In addition, a
provision granting the OPM Inspector General access to the revolving
fund was included in the omnibus appropriation bill released just last
night. I would note, however, that that provision expires after 1 year.
So Mr. Farenthold's legislation, which I have cosponsored, is
incredibly important and should be adopted. I urge my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to join with myself and Mr. Cummings and Mr.
Farenthold.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, if I could inquire of the gentleman from
Maryland if he has any additional speakers.
Mr. CUMMINGS. We have no additional speakers, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. At this point, I would like to wrap it up and close.
Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from Virginia and the gentleman from
Maryland pointed out, this is a commonsense, good government bill that
has strong national security implications and I am going to urge all my
colleagues to support it.
Again, even though it was included in the omnibus that is coming
through that is 1 year, this creates permanent law where we continue to
do this necessary and appropriate oversight at a fraction of the
percent of the cost of the budget, absolutely a phenomenal bill that we
all need to get behind and support.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself such time as I may consume as I close.
Mr. Speaker, I take this moment to thank Mr. Farenthold, to thank Mr.
Lynch and certainly our chairman, Chairman Issa, for this bipartisan
effort. It just makes sense. There are certain things that happen that
we see in government that need correcting, and this is one of those
things. The fact that we have now put a spotlight on it and, through a
bipartisan effort, have put together legislation that should pass this
House unanimously, it just shows what can be done.
So it is a great piece of legislation. It is a very practical piece
of legislation, and it is one that is needed. With that, I would urge
all of our colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. FARENTHOLD. 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 Texas (Mr. Farenthold) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2860.
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. CUMMINGS. 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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