[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 59 (Thursday, April 10, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2359-S2362]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DIGITAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2013
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I originally was going to engage in a
colloquy with Senator Portman on a very important piece of legislation
that we, Senator Coburn, and Senator Carper, were working on for 2
years, and he will come back.
I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration
of Calendar No. 337, S. 994.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The assistant bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 994) to expand the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to increase
accountability and transparency in Federal spending, and for
other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn; the Carper
substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be considered; the Carper
amendment at the desk be agreed to; the Carper substitute, as amended,
be agreed to; and the bill, as amended, be read a third time and
passed, with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2970) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
(The amendment is printed in the Record of Wednesday, April 9, 2014,
under ``Text of Amendments.'')
The amendment (No. 2971) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To allow the Secretary of Defense to request an extension to
report financial and payment information data)
On page 9, strike lines 17 through 21 and insert the
following:
``(2) Agencies.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
not later than 2 years after the date on which the guidance
under paragraph (1) is issued, each Federal agency shall
report financial and payment information data in accordance
with the data standards established under subsection (a).
``(B) Noninterference with auditability of department of
defense financial statements.--
``(i) In general.--Upon request by the Secretary of
Defense, the Director may grant an extension of the deadline
under subparagraph (A) to the Department of Defense for a
period of not more than 6 months to report financial and
payment information data in accordance with the data
standards established under subsection (a).
``(ii) Limitation.--The Director may not grant more than 3
extensions to the Secretary of Defense under clause (i).
``(iii) Notification.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall notify the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Armed
Services of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform and the Committee on Armed Services of the
House of Representatives of--
``(I) each grant of an extension under clause (i); and
``(II) the reasons for granting such an extension.
The bill (S. 994), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 994
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 ``Digital Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2014'' or the ``DATA Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) expand the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) by disclosing
direct Federal agency expenditures and linking Federal
contract, loan, and grant spending information to programs of
Federal agencies to enable taxpayers and policy makers to
track Federal spending more effectively;
(2) establish Government-wide data standards for financial
data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable
Government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately
for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov (or a
successor system that displays the data);
(3) simplify reporting for entities receiving Federal funds
by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing
compliance costs while improving transparency;
(4) improve the quality of data submitted to
USASpending.gov by holding Federal agencies accountable for
the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted; and
(5) apply approaches developed by the Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board to spending across the
Federal Government.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND
TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of
2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended--
(1) in section 2--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``this section'' and inserting ``this Act'';
(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as
paragraphs (2), (4), and (7), respectively;
(iii) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so
redesignated, the following:
``(1) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.'';
(iv) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so redesignated,
the following:
``(3) Federal agency.--The term `Federal agency' has the
meaning given the term `Executive agency' under section 105
of title 5, United States Code.'';
(v) by inserting after paragraph (4), as so redesignated,
the following:
``(5) Object class.--The term `object class' means the
category assigned for purposes of the annual budget of the
President submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, United
States Code, to the type of property or services purchased by
the Federal Government.
``(6) Program activity.--The term `program activity' has
the meaning given that term under section 1115(h) of title
31, United States Code.''; and
(vi) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of the Treasury.'';
(B) in subsection (b)--
(i) in paragraph (3), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget''; and
(ii) in paragraph (4), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget'';
(C) in subsection (c)--
(i) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(ii) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a semicolon; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) shall have the ability to aggregate data for the
categories described in paragraphs (1) through (5) without
double-counting data; and
``(7) shall ensure that all information published under
this section is available--
``(A) in machine-readable and open formats;
``(B) to be downloaded in bulk; and
``(C) to the extent practicable, for automated
processing.'';
(D) in subsection (d)--
(i) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget'';
(ii) in paragraph (2)--
(I) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget''; and
(II) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget'';
(E) in subsection (e), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget''; and
(F) in subsection (g)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget''; and
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ``of the Office of
Management and Budget''; and
(2) by striking sections 3 and 4 and inserting the
following:
[[Page S2360]]
``SEC. 3. FULL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act
of 2014, and monthly when practicable but not less than
quarterly thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the
Director, shall ensure that the information in subsection (b)
is posted on the website established under section 2.
``(b) Information To Be Posted.--For any funds made
available to or expended by a Federal agency or component of
a Federal agency, the information to be posted shall
include--
``(1) for each appropriations account, including an expired
or unexpired appropriations account, the amount--
``(A) of budget authority appropriated;
``(B) that is obligated;
``(C) of unobligated balances; and
``(D) of any other budgetary resources;
``(2) from which accounts and in what amount--
``(A) appropriations are obligated for each program
activity; and
``(B) outlays are made for each program activity;
``(3) from which accounts and in what amount--
``(A) appropriations are obligated for each object class;
and
``(B) outlays are made for each object class; and
``(4) for each program activity, the amount--
``(A) obligated for each object class; and
``(B) of outlays made for each object class.
``SEC. 4. DATA STANDARDS.
``(a) In General.--
``(1) Establishment of standards.--The Secretary and the
Director, in consultation with the heads of Federal agencies,
shall establish Government-wide financial data standards for
any Federal funds made available to or expended by Federal
agencies and entities receiving Federal funds.
``(2) Data elements.--The financial data standards
established under paragraph (1) shall include common data
elements for financial and payment information required to be
reported by Federal agencies and entities receiving Federal
funds.
``(b) Requirements.--The data standards established under
subsection (a) shall, to the extent reasonable and
practicable--
``(1) incorporate widely accepted common data elements,
such as those developed and maintained by--
``(A) an international voluntary consensus standards body;
``(B) Federal agencies with authority over contracting and
financial assistance; and
``(C) accounting standards organizations;
``(2) incorporate a widely accepted, nonproprietary,
searchable, platform-independent computer-readable format;
``(3) include unique identifiers for Federal awards and
entities receiving Federal awards that can be consistently
applied Government-wide;
``(4) be consistent with and implement applicable
accounting principles;
``(5) be capable of being continually upgraded as
necessary;
``(6) produce consistent and comparable data, including
across program activities; and
``(7) establish a standard method of conveying the
reporting period, reporting entity, unit of measure, and
other associated attributes.
``(c) Deadlines.--
``(1) Guidance.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act
of 2014, the Director and the Secretary shall issue guidance
to Federal agencies on the data standards established under
subsection (a).
``(2) Agencies.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
not later than 2 years after the date on which the guidance
under paragraph (1) is issued, each Federal agency shall
report financial and payment information data in accordance
with the data standards established under subsection (a).
``(B) Noninterference with auditability of department of
defense financial statements.--
``(i) In general.--Upon request by the Secretary of
Defense, the Director may grant an extension of the deadline
under subparagraph (A) to the Department of Defense for a
period of not more than 6 months to report financial and
payment information data in accordance with the data
standards established under subsection (a).
``(ii) Limitation.--The Director may not grant more than 3
extensions to the Secretary of Defense under clause (i).
``(iii) Notification.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall notify the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Armed
Services of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform and the Committee on Armed Services of the
House of Representatives of--
``(I) each grant of an extension under clause (i); and
``(II) the reasons for granting such an extension.
``(3) Website.--Not later than 3 years after the date on
which the guidance under paragraph (1) is issued, the
Director and the Secretary shall ensure that the data
standards established under subsection (a) are applied to the
data made available on the website established under section
2.
``(d) Consultation.--The Director and the Secretary shall
consult with public and private stakeholders in establishing
data standards under this section.
``SEC. 5. SIMPLIFYING FEDERAL AWARD REPORTING.
``(a) In General.--The Director, in consultation with
relevant Federal agencies, recipients of Federal awards,
including State and local governments, and institutions of
higher education (as defined in section 102 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)), shall review the
information required to be reported by recipients of Federal
awards to identify--
``(1) common reporting elements across the Federal
Government;
``(2) unnecessary duplication in financial reporting; and
``(3) unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements for
recipients of Federal awards.
``(b) Pilot Program.--
``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency
Act of 2014, the Director, or a Federal agency designated by
the Director, shall establish a pilot program (in this
section referred to as the `pilot program') with the
participation of appropriate Federal agencies to facilitate
the development of recommendations for--
``(A) standardized reporting elements across the Federal
Government;
``(B) the elimination of unnecessary duplication in
financial reporting; and
``(C) the reduction of compliance costs for recipients of
Federal awards.
``(2) Requirements.--The pilot program shall--
``(A) include a combination of Federal contracts, grants,
and subawards, the aggregate value of which is not less than
$1,000,000,000 and not more than $2,000,000,000;
``(B) include a diverse group of recipients of Federal
awards; and
``(C) to the extent practicable, include recipients who
receive Federal awards from multiple programs across multiple
agencies.
``(3) Data collection.--The pilot program shall include
data collected during a 12-month reporting cycle.
``(4) Reporting and evaluation requirements.--Each
recipient of a Federal award participating in the pilot
program shall submit to the Office of Management and Budget
or the Federal agency designated under paragraph (1), as
appropriate, any requested reports of the selected Federal
awards.
``(5) Termination.--The pilot program shall terminate on
the date that is 2 years after the date on which the pilot
program is established.
``(6) Report to congress.--Not later than 90 days after the
date on which the pilot program terminates under paragraph
(5), the Director shall submit to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the
Budget of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform and the Committee on the Budget of the
House of Representatives a report on the pilot program, which
shall include--
``(A) a description of the data collected under the pilot
program, the usefulness of the data provided, and the cost to
collect the data from recipients; and
``(B) a discussion of any legislative action required and
recommendations for--
``(i) consolidating aspects of Federal financial reporting
to reduce the costs to recipients of Federal awards;
``(ii) automating aspects of Federal financial reporting to
increase efficiency and reduce the costs to recipients of
Federal awards;
``(iii) simplifying the reporting requirements for
recipients of Federal awards; and
``(iv) improving financial transparency.
``(7) Government-wide implementation.--Not later than 1
year after the date on which the Director submits the report
under paragraph (6), the Director shall issue guidance to the
heads of Federal agencies as to how the Government-wide
financial data standards established under section 4(a) shall
be applied to the information required to be reported by
entities receiving Federal awards to--
``(A) reduce the burden of complying with reporting
requirements; and
``(B) simplify the reporting process, including by reducing
duplicative reports.
``SEC. 6. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDING.
``(a) Inspector General Reports.--
``(1) In general.--In accordance with paragraph (2), the
Inspector General of each Federal agency, in consultation
with the Comptroller General of the United States, shall--
``(A) review a statistically valid sampling of the spending
data submitted under this Act by the Federal agency; and
``(B) submit to Congress and make publically available a
report assessing the completeness, timeliness, quality, and
accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation and use
of data standards by the Federal agency.
``(2) Deadlines.--
``(A) First report.--Not later than 18 months after the
date on which the Director and the Secretary issue guidance
to Federal agencies under section 4(c)(1), the Inspector
General of each Federal agency shall submit and make
publically available a report as described in paragraph (1).
``(B) Subsequent reports.--On the same date as the
Inspector General of each Federal agency submits the second
and fourth reports under sections 3521(f) and 9105(a)(3) of
[[Page S2361]]
title 31, United States Code, that are submitted after the
report under subparagraph (A), the Inspector General shall
submit and make publically available a report as described in
paragraph (1). The report submitted under this subparagraph
may be submitted as a part of the report submitted under
section 3521(f) or 9105(a)(3) of title 31, United States
Code.
``(b) Comptroller General Reports.--
``(1) In general.--In accordance with paragraph (2) and
after a review of the reports submitted under subsection (a),
the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to
Congress and make publically available a report assessing and
comparing the data completeness, timeliness, quality, and
accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by Federal
agencies and the implementation and use of data standards by
Federal agencies.
``(2) Deadlines.--Not later than 30 months after the date
on which the Director and the Secretary issue guidance to
Federal agencies under section 4(c)(1), and every 2 years
thereafter until the date that is 4 years after the date on
which the first report is submitted under this subsection,
the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit and
make publically available a report as described in paragraph
(1).
``(c) Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Data
Analysis Center.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may establish a data
analysis center or expand an existing service to provide
data, analytic tools, and data management techniques to
support--
``(A) the prevention and reduction of improper payments by
Federal agencies; and
``(B) improving efficiency and transparency in Federal
spending.
``(2) Data availability.--The Secretary shall enter into
memoranda of understanding with Federal agencies, including
Inspectors General and Federal law enforcement agencies--
``(A) under which the Secretary may provide data from the
data analysis center for--
``(i) the purposes set forth under paragraph (1);
``(ii) the identification, prevention, and reduction of
waste, fraud, and abuse relating to Federal spending; and
``(iii) use in the conduct of criminal and other
investigations; and
``(B) which may require the Federal agency, Inspector
General, or Federal law enforcement agency to provide
reimbursement to the Secretary for the reasonable cost of
carrying out the agreement.
``(3) Transfer.--Upon the establishment of a data analysis
center or the expansion of a service under paragraph (1), and
on or before the date on which the Recovery Accountability
and Transparency Board terminates, and in addition to any
other transfer that the Director determines is necessary
under section 1531 of title 31, United States Code, there are
transferred to the Department of the Treasury all assets
identified by the Secretary that support the operations and
activities of the Recovery Operations Center of the Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board relating to the
detection of waste, fraud, and abuse in the use of Federal
funds that are in existence on the day before the transfer.
``SEC. 7. CLASSIFIED AND PROTECTED INFORMATION.
``Nothing in this Act shall require the disclosure to the
public of--
``(1) information that would be exempt from disclosure
under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly
known as the `Freedom of Information Act'); or
``(2) information protected under section 552a of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the `Privacy Act of
1974'), or section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``SEC. 8. NO PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.
``Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create a
private right of action for enforcement of any provision of
this Act.''.
SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE AGENCY ACCOUNTING AND OTHER FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT REPORTS AND PLANS.
Section 3512(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by inserting ``and make available on the website
described under section 1122'' after ``appropriate committees
of Congress''.
SEC. 5. DEBT COLLECTION IMPROVEMENT.
Section 3716(c)(6) of title 31, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``Any Federal agency'';
(2) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, by striking
``180 days'' and inserting ``120 days''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) The Secretary of the Treasury shall notify Congress
of any instance in which an agency fails to notify the
Secretary as required under subparagraph (A).''.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, after the last exchange, I would point out
that the Senate now has acted on a very important piece of legislation
that has been 2 years in the works, that actually does reflect the
ability for us to come together in a bipartisan consensus. So I rise
today to discuss the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act--or
DATA Act--an important bill that makes sure taxpayers and policymakers
can track every dollar the Federal Government spends.
It is pretty unbelievable that in this day and age, we don't have an
easily accessible Web site for tracking every Federal tax dollar.
Believe it or not, we do not. Instead, we have an incomplete and
thoroughly confusing structure of financial reporting which most people
can't understand.
I have served in business. I have served as Governor of the
Commonwealth of Virginia. So I have done business accounting and State
government accounting. There is nothing like Federal Government
accounting and the lack of standards and transparency.
Our taxpayers deserve to know where their money goes, and it is our
obligation to share that information in a clear and direct way. Today,
Senator Portman and I, originally, along with Senator Coburn and
Senator Carper, rise--and now that the Senate has acted, we are
actually taking a giant step to correct that problem and to make sure
taxpayers actually get the transparency they deserve.
Since the Federal Government spends more than $3.7 trillion each
year, with more than $1 trillion in awards, accurately tracking these
funds in a consistent way can definitely be a big job. But the data
collected by the budget shops, the accountants, the procurement
officers, the grant makers should be combined and reconciled and then
presented in a relevant, user-friendly, and transparent way. The
various systems should be able to work together based on consistent
financial standards so that policymakers and the public can track the
full cycle of Federal spending. In a word, the public should be able to
``Wikipedia'' where and how the Federal Government spends its money,
and quite honestly, that is what the DATA Act will do.
The DATA Act will make four important improvements that I want to
quickly highlight.
First, it creates transparency for all Federal funds. The DATA Act
will expand the current site of usaspending.gov to include spending
data for all Federal funds by appropriation, Federal agency, program,
function, as well as maintain the current reporting for Federal awards
like contracts, grants, and loans.
Second--and this is a giant step forward; we are not going to get all
the way there--we are starting down this path of setting government-
wide financial data standards. We closely monitored the efforts to
increase transparency for the Recovery Act funds a few years back, and
one reason--even for folks who did not like the Recovery Act--that
oversight was successful is because they had consistent standards for
reporting the data. Our taxpayers were able to see where the funds and
projects were located in their communities.
So the DATA Act requires the Department of the Treasury to establish
government-wide financial data standards for Federal agencies so that
every term reported is consistent across the Federal Government. This
should clearly improve the quality of data.
Too often we see an item appear in one area as a grant and in another
area as an expenditure. Trying to sort through what's what is virtually
impossible. This part of the DATA Act will help clear that up.
Third, so we do not simply layer on additional reporting requirements
without greater accountability, it actually reduces recipient reporting
requirements. The DATA Act requires OMB to review the established
reporting requirements for contracts, grants, and loans to reduce
compliance costs based on these new financial data standards.
I have long been concerned--and I know many of my colleagues on both
side of the aisle--about the compliance costs for recipients of Federal
funds. Too often a grantee has to report not once or twice but
sometimes up to a half dozen times the exact same information. We have
seen this in Virginia with many of our universities, such as UVA, where
they actually have to report multiple times the same information to
multiple agencies.
If all this redundancy were streamlined, recipients such as the
University of Virginia or the University of Tennessee could actually
direct more money to programs and less to administrative costs.
Fourth, it improves data quality. Under the DATA Act, the inspectors
general at each agency will be required
[[Page S2362]]
to provide a report every 2 years on the quality and accuracy of the
financial data provided to usaspending.gov. The GAO will create a
government-wide report on data quality and accuracy. Too often the data
that is reported at this point does not meet appropriate standards.
We must have a reliable system in place to track Federal funds and
compare spending across Federal agencies to get the best value for
taxpayers and reduce duplication.
In fact, in the GAO's annual report on duplication released this
week, it highlighted the need for better data and specifically called
out the limitations. GAO described a ``lack of reliable budget and
performance information and a comprehensive list of federal programs''
as one of the biggest challenges in addressing duplication.
I know many of the Members, when I started talking about data
standards and better accountability, headed for the exists. I recognize
this is not a topic that necessarily excites folks. But I see my
colleague, the Senator from Tennessee, on the floor--a former Governor,
as was I. If we are going to get better value for our taxpayers, we
have to start with good data, we have to start with a better ability to
monitor that data and follow it.
In a world where people can Google all kinds of information, we ought
to be able to follow the money in terms of where our taxpayer dollars
head. We ought to make sure the recipients of those taxpayer grants can
report that information in a single, consistent, and clear way.
Policymakers and taxpayers should be able to assess the value of the
dollars we invest in these programs.
This has been a long and winding path. As a relatively new Member of
the Senate--and I hear some of the debates about some of the old days
in the Senate--I am not sure I was here in the old days. But this is a
case where, after a 2-year period, working with Members of the House--
Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Cummings in the House--and working in
the Senate with Senator Carper and Senator Coburn--Senator Coburn who
is out today for health reasons--and my colleague who joined with me in
pushing this bill from day one, Senator Portman--who, if time allows,
will get back from a speech to add his comments as well--I would like
to thank these Members.
I would also like to thank all of the Senate cosponsors for their
support of the DATA Act, including members of our Budget Committee, the
Government Performance Task Force that I chair.
I would like to thank in particular Senators Coons, Whitehouse,
Ayotte, Johnson, and our Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, and my
staff, Amy Edwards, and all the others who have been relentless on
working this through with other committees and the administration to
make sure we got this bill done.
So while we may not have resolved all the issues of the day, today
the Senate acted in a unanimous, bipartisan way to actually provide
better value for taxpayers, more transparency, and less bureaucracy. I
would say for a Thursday afternoon--with all the other discussion going
on--work well done.
With that, I yield the floor.
____________________