[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 132 (Thursday, August 3, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4891-S4892]
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 2017
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 169, S. 1099.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 1099) 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.
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Carper
amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill, as
amended, be considered 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. 771) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To make a technical correction)
On page 5, beginning on line 6, strike ``General Services
Administration Office of Charge Card Management'' and insert
``the General Services Administration''.
The bill (S. 1099), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 1099
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 ``Saving Federal Dollars
Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards
Act of 2017''.
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;
(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 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 the General Services
Administration and the appropriate officials in Federal
agencies;
(4) consider the recommendations made by Inspectors General
or the best practices Inspectors General have identified; and
(5) 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).
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