[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1043-S1044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ENZI (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Johnson, 
        Mr. Perdue, and Mr. Lankford):
  S. 3287. A bill to modify the governmentwide financial management 
plan, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Chief Financial 
Officer Vision Act of 2020, shortened to be the CFO Vision Act of 2020. 
I am pleased to have Senators Warner, Grassley, Johnson, Lankford, and 
Perdue join me as cosponsors of this bill to strengthen Federal 
financial management and improve financial and performance data.
  Improved financial management--this is numbers; I know this puts 
people to sleep--improved financial management and better data can help 
us make more informed budget decisions and ensure that taxpayer money 
is wisely and appropriately spent. Effective financial management helps 
to safeguard taxpayer money and ensure that it is used lawfully, 
efficiently, and effectively for the purposes intended.
  Thirty years ago, Congress passed the Chief Financial Officers Act of 
1990, known as the CFO Act. This law laid a new foundation for Federal 
financial management. It established a financial management leadership 
structure, provided for long-range planning, required audited financial 
statements, and strengthened accountability reporting, among other 
reforms. The CFO Act also called for improvements in the integration of 
agency accounting and financial management systems, in performance 
measurement and cost information, and in our financial management 
workforce.
  Since enactment of that act, we have seen substantial improvements in 
Federal financial management. Today, agencies have CFOs in place to 
provide leadership and accountability over financial operations, and 
most agencies receive clean audit opinions on their annual financial 
statements. However, serious and persistent problems remain.
  Many agencies have struggled to modernize legacy accounting systems 
and are unable to integrate their financial and performance data. 
Oftentimes, the Federal Government is unable to show the relationship 
between dollars spent and results achieved. After more than 20 years of 
trying, the Government Accountability Office still cannot give an 
opinion on the Federal Government's consolidated financial statements. 
They cite serious financial management problems at the Department of 
Defense, among other issues.
  The legislation we are introducing would update that 1990 law in a 
handful of key ways to ensure sustained progress in improving Federal 
financial management. It is based in large part on a GAO--Government 
Accountability Office--review of the 1990 law and testimony last 
October from the Comptroller General of the United States, Gene Dodaro, 
before the Senate Budget Committee.
  First, the CFO Vision Act would standardize CFO and Deputy Chief 
Financial Officer responsibilities, which do vary across Federal 
agencies. To allow for better strategic decision making, the Chief 
Financial Officer Vision Act would specify that the Chief Financial 
Officer responsibilities should include budget formulation and 
execution, planning and performance, risk management and internal 
controls, financial systems, and accounting.
  The bill would also ensure that the Deputy Chief Financial Officers 
could provide continuity in the event of a Chief Financial Officer 
vacancy. Major financial management improvement initiatives can take 
years to implement, potentially outlasting the CFO's tenure. By 
establishing appropriate statutory responsibilities for the Deputy 
Chief Financial Officers, the bill would help minimize the effects of 
the CFO turnover.
  Secondly, the bill would update the governmentwide and agency-level 
planning requirements to ensure they are reasonable and allow for 
proper planning and monitoring. The updated plans would include 
projected milestones and estimated implementation costs. Annual status 
updates would allow Congress to track progress toward these milestones 
and how closely actual costs match those that were projected.
  Third, the CFO Vision Act would require the Office of Management and 
Budget to develop performance-based metrics to determine the status and 
progress of agencies and how they are making progress toward achieving 
cost-effective and efficient government operations.
  Currently, only limited financial management performance-based 
metrics exist, such as the financial statement audit opinion and 
reporting of identified material weaknesses. All accountants understand 
these terms.
  Currently, only limited financial management performance-based 
metrics exist, such as the financial statement audit opinion and the 
reporting of identified material weaknesses. I could say that a third 
time, and still people wouldn't understand it.
  This new requirement would provide a more complete and consistent 
measurement of the quality of the agencies' financial management. These 
performance metrics would be required to be included in the 
governmentwide and agency-level financial management plans and status 
reports. That means we will have more information to work with.
  Finally, our bill would require agency management to annually assess 
and report on the effectiveness of internal control--whether they are 
really keeping track of everything and ensuring that it is correct--the 
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting and other 
key financial management information. Auditors would also be required 
to independently assess internal controls. Such assessments will 
improve confidence in the reliability of financial reporting.
  The CFO Vision Act builds on the CFO Act's foundation. By updating 
it, we can achieve more effective financial management, which I believe 
will ultimately lead to increased accountability and results and 
understanding by the Senators.
  I am pleased that our bill has been endorsed by the National 
Taxpayers Union, the Project on Government Oversight, the DATA 
Coalition, the R Street Institute, Citizens Against Government Waste, 
Truth in Accounting, and Taxpayers for Common Sense. I think that means 
that there are accountants on the boards of all of those. This 
shouldn't be a controversial piece of legislation. It just should be an 
essential update so we know what is happening with the trillions of 
dollars that

[[Page S1044]]

we are allocating, spending, and checking up on. I urge my colleagues 
to support this bill.

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