[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 183 (Wednesday, December 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8728-S8729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SAVING FEDERAL DOLLARS THROUGH BETTER USE OF GOVERNMENT PURCHASE AND 
                        TRAVEL CARDS ACT OF 2015

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 315, S. 1616.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1616) to provide for the identification and 
     prevention of improper payments and the identification of 
     strategic sourcing opportunities by reviewing and analyzing 
     the use of Federal agency charge cards.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I further ask unanimous consent that the Carper 
substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to; the bill, as 
amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider 
be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action 
or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2930) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to, 
as follows:

                (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Saving Federal Dollars 
     Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards 
     Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Improper payment.--The term ``improper payment'' has 
     the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Improper 
     Payments Information Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note).
       (2) Questionable transaction.--The term ``questionable 
     transaction'' means a charge card transaction that from 
     initial card data appears to be high risk and may therefore 
     be improper due to non-compliance with applicable law, 
     regulation or policy.
       (3) Strategic sourcing.--The term ``strategic sourcing'' 
     means analyzing and modifying a Federal agency's spending 
     patterns to better leverage its purchasing power, reduce 
     costs, and improve overall performance.

     SEC. 3. EXPANDED USE OF DATA ANALYTICS.

       (a) Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget, in consultation with the Administrator 
     for General Services, shall develop a strategy to expand the 
     use of data analytics in managing government purchase and 
     travel charge card programs. These analytics may employ 
     existing General Services Administration capabilities, and 
     may be in conjunction with agencies' capabilities, for the 
     purpose of --
       (1) identifying examples or patterns of questionable 
     transactions and developing enhanced tools and methods for 
     agency use in--
       (A) identifying questionable purchase and travel card 
     transactions; and
       (B) recovering improper payments made with purchase and 
     travel cards;
       (2) identifying potential opportunities for agencies to 
     further leverage administrative process streamlining and cost 
     reduction from purchase and travel card use, including 
     additional agency opportunities for card-based strategic 
     sourcing;

[[Page S8729]]

       (3) developing a set of purchase and travel card metrics 
     and benchmarks for high risk activities, which shall assist 
     agencies in identifying potential emphasis areas for their 
     purchase and travel card management and oversight activities, 
     including those required by the Government Charge Card Abuse 
     Prevention Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-194); and
       (4) developing a plan, which may be based on existing 
     capabilities, to create a library of analytics tools and data 
     sources for use by Federal agencies (including inspectors 
     general of those agencies).

     SEC. 4. GUIDANCE ON IMPROVING INFORMATION SHARING TO CURB 
                   IMPROPER PAYMENTS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget, in consultation with the Administrator 
     of General Services and the interagency charge card data 
     management group established under section 5, shall issue 
     guidance on improving information sharing by government 
     agencies (including inspectors general) for the purposes of 
     section 3(a)(1).
       (b) Elements.--The guidance issued under subsection (a) 
     shall--
       (1) require relevant officials at Federal agencies to 
     identify high-risk activities and communicate that 
     information to the appropriate management levels within the 
     agencies;
       (2) require that appropriate officials at Federal agencies 
     review the reports issued by charge card-issuing banks on 
     questionable transaction activity (such as purchase and 
     travel card pre-suspension and suspension reports, 
     delinquency reports, and exception reports), including 
     transactions that occur with high risk activities, and 
     suspicious timing or amounts of cash withdrawals or advances;
       (3) provide for the appropriate sharing of information 
     related to potential questionable transactions, fraud 
     schemes, and high risk activities with General Services 
     Administration Office of Charge Card Management and the 
     appropriate officials in Federal agencies; and
       (4) include other requirements determined appropriate by 
     the Director for the purposes of carrying out this Act.

     SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY CHARGE CARD DATA MANAGEMENT GROUP.

       (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of General Services 
     and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
     establish a purchase and travel charge card data management 
     group to develop and share best practices for the purposes 
     described in section 3(a).
       (b) Elements.--The best practices developed under 
     subsection (a) shall--
       (1) cover rules, edits, and task order or contract 
     modifications related to charge card-issuing banks;
       (2) include the review of accounts payable information and 
     purchase and travel card transaction data of agencies for the 
     purpose of identifying potential strategic sourcing and other 
     additional opportunities (such as recurring payments, utility 
     payments, and grant payments) for which the charge cards or 
     related payment products could be used as a payment method; 
     and
       (3) include other best practices as determined by the 
     Administrator and Director.
       (c) Membership.--The purchase and travel charge card data 
     management group shall meet regularly as determined by the 
     co-chairs, for a duration of three years, and include those 
     agencies as described in section 2 of the Government Charge 
     Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-194) and 
     others identified by the Administrator and Director.

     SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) General Services Administration Report.--Not later than 
     one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Administrator for General Services shall submit a report to 
     Congress on the implementation of this Act, including the 
     metrics used in determining whether the analytic and 
     benchmarking efforts have reduced, or contributed to the 
     reduction of, questionable or improper payments as well as 
     improved utilization of card-based payment products.
       (b) Agency Reports and Consolidated Report to Congress.--
     Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the head of each Federal agency described in 
     section 2 of the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act 
     of 2012 (Public Law 112-194) shall submit a report to the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget on that 
     agency's activities to implement this Act.
       (c) Office of Management and Budget Report to Congress.--
     The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
     submit to Congress a consolidated report of agency activities 
     to implement this Act, which may be included as part of 
     another report submitted to Congress by the Director.
       (d) Report on Additional Savings Opportunities.--Not later 
     than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     the Administrator of General Services shall submit a report 
     to Congress identifying and exploring further potential 
     savings opportunities for government agencies under the 
     Federal charge card programs. This report may be combined 
     with the report required under subsection (a).

  The bill (S. 1616), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

                          ____________________