[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 94 (Thursday, June 7, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3376-S3378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2559. Mr. DURBIN (for Ms. Duckworth) submitted an amendment 
intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. Inhofe 
(for himself and Mr. McCain) and intended to be proposed to the bill 
H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for 
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle I of title VIII, add the following:

     SEC. 896. DEFENSE CONTRACT AUDIT AGENCY ANNUAL REPORT.

       (a) Revisions to Report Elements.--Subsection (a) of 
     section 2313a(a) of title 10, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``significant'' and all 
     that follows through the semicolon at the end, and inserting 
     ``the regulatory requirements that create compliance 
     difficulties for contractors, including an analysis of how 
     those regulatory requirements affect contractors of different 
     sizes and industries;'';
       (2) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) by striking subparagraphs (A) through (E) and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(A) the total number of new audit or advisory 
     engagements, by type (pre-award, incurred cost, other post-
     award, and business system), with time limits expiring during 
     the fiscal year that were completed or were awaiting 
     completion, as compared to total audit and advisory 
     engagements completed or awaiting completion during the year;
       ``(B) on-time performance relative to time limits for each 
     type of audit or advisory engagement (shown separately for 
     the Defense Contract Audit Agency and qualified private 
     auditors retained by the agency);
       ``(C) the time limit (expressed in days) for each type of 
     audit or advisory engagement, along with the shortest period, 
     longest period, and average period of actual performance 
     (shown separately for the Defense Contract Audit Agency and 
     qualified private auditors retained by the agency);
       ``(D) for pre-award audits and advisory engagements of 
     contractor costs, sustained costs as a total number and as a 
     percentage of total questioned costs, where questioned

[[Page S3378]]

     costs are expressed as the impact on negotiable contract 
     costs (shown separately for the Defense Contract Audit Agency 
     and qualified private auditors retained by the agency);
       ``(E) for post-award audits and advisory engagements of 
     contractor costs, the questioned costs accepted by the 
     contracting officers and contractors as a total number and as 
     a percentage of total questioned costs, where questioned 
     costs are expressed as the impact on reimbursable contract 
     (shown separately for the Defense Contract Audit Agency and 
     qualified private auditors retained by the agency);''; and
       (B) in subparagraph (H)--
       (i) by inserting ``post-award'' after ``dollar value of''; 
     and
       (ii) by striking ``submission'' and inserting ``proposal'';
       (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) 
     as paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (7), and (9), respectively;
       (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(3) A summary of the reasons for the difference between 
     questioned and sustained costs shown in the statistical 
     tables under paragraph (2).'';
       (5) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) of 
     this subsection), by striking ``needed to improve the audit 
     process;'' and inserting ``needed by the Defense Contract 
     Audit Agency to improve the audit process or that would 
     enhance compliance with regulatory requirements.'';
       (6) in paragraph (7) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) of 
     this subsection), by striking ``more effective use of audit 
     resources;'' and inserting ``contract compliance and 
     professional development of the Defense Contract Audit Agency 
     workforce (shown separately for collaborative outreach 
     actions and other outreach actions).''; and
       (7) by inserting after paragraph (7) (as redesignated by 
     paragraph (3) of this subsection) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(8) A statistically representative survey of contracting 
     officers form Department of Defense buying commands, the 
     Defense Contract Management Agency, and small and large 
     business representatives from industry to measure the 
     timeliness and effectiveness of audit and advisory services 
     provided (shown separately for the Defense Contract Audit 
     Agency and qualified private auditors retained by the Defense 
     Contract Audit Agency).''.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--Subsection (a) of such section 
     is further amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``shall include, at a minimum--'' and inserting ``shall 
     include the following:'';
       (2) by capitalizing the first letter following the 
     paragraph designation in each of paragraphs (1), (2), (4), 
     (5), (6), (7), and (9); and
       (3) by striking the semicolon at the end of each of 
     paragraphs (1), (2), (5), and (6) and inserting a period.
       (c) Definitions.--Subsection (d)(1) of such section is 
     amended by striking ``qualified incurred cost submission'' 
     and inserting ``qualified private auditor''.
       (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on October 1, 2020.
                                 ______