[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 124 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3398-S3399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 942. Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mr. Risch) submitted an amendment
intended to be proposed to amendment SA 935 proposed by Mr. Schumer
(for Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Wicker)) to the bill S. 2226, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 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 C of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1240A. LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR UKRAINE ASSISTANCE.
(a) Office of the Lead Inspector General.--There is
established the Office of the Lead Inspector General for
Ukraine Assistance to provide for the oversight of
independent and objective conduct and supervision of audits
and investigations relating to the programs and operations
funded with amounts appropriated or their use made available
by the United States for Ukraine to defeat the Russian
invasion.
(b) Appointment of Lead Inspector General; Removal.--
(1) Appointment.--The head of the Office of the Lead
Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance shall be known as
the Lead Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance (in this
section referred to as the ``Lead Inspector General''), who
shall be designated by the President.
(2) Qualifications.--The appointment of the Lead Inspector
General shall be made solely on the basis of integrity and
demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial
analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, or
investigations.
(3) Selection.--The Lead Inspector General may be a member
of the civil service or Foreign Service and may be selected
from among the offices of the Inspectors General.
(4) Deadline for appointment.--The appointment of an
individual as Lead Inspector General shall be made not later
than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(5) Prohibition on political activities.--For purposes of
section 7324 of title 5, United States Code, the Lead
Inspector General shall not be considered an employee who
determines policies to be pursued by the United States in the
nationwide administration of Federal law.
(6) Removal.--The Inspectors General shall be removable
from office in accordance with the provisions of section
403(b) of title 5, United States Code.
(c) Supervision.--
(1) In general.--The Lead Inspector General shall report
directly to, and be under the general supervision of, the
Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense.
(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to limit the ability of the Inspectors General to
enter into agreements to conduct joint audits, inspections,
or investigations in the exercise of their oversight
responsibilities in accordance with this section with respect
to Ukraine.
(d) Duties.--The duties of the Lead Inspector General are
as follows:
(1) To appoint, from among the offices of the Inspectors
General, an Assistant Inspector General, who shall supervise
auditing and investigative activities and assist the Lead
Inspector General in the discharge of responsibilities under
this subsection.
(2) To develop and carry out, in coordination with the
offices of the Inspectors General, a joint strategic plan to
conduct comprehensive oversight of all military and
nonmilitary United States support for Ukraine.
(3) To apply key lessons from prior oversight work, in
coordination with the offices of the Inspectors General, to
Ukraine response programs and operations to minimize waste,
fraud, and abuse.
(4) With respect to military and nonmilitary United States
support for Ukraine--
(A) to ensure, through joint or individual audits,
inspections, and investigations, independent and effective
oversight of--
(i) all funds appropriated or otherwise made available for
such support; and
(ii) the programs, operations, and contracts carried out
using such funds; and
(B) to review and ascertain the accuracy of information
provided by Federal agencies relating to--
(i) obligations and expenditures;
(ii) costs of programs and projects;
(iii) accountability of funds;
(iv) the tracking and monitoring of all lethal and
nonlethal security assistance and compliance with end-use
certification requirements; and
(v) the award and execution of major contracts, grants, and
agreements in support of Ukraine.
(5) To employ, or authorize the employment by the
Inspectors General, on a temporary basis using the
authorities in section 3161 of title 5, United States Code
(without regard to subsection (b)(2) of such section), such
auditors, investigators, and other personnel as the Lead
Inspector General considers appropriate to carrying out the
duties described in this subsection.
(6) To carry out such other responsibilities relating to
the coordination and efficient and effective discharge by the
Inspectors General of duties relating to United States
military and nonmilitary support for Ukraine as the Lead
Inspector General shall specify.
(7) To discharge the responsibilities under this subsection
in a manner consistent with the authorities and requirements
of this section and the authorities and requirements
applicable to the Inspectors General under chapter 4 of title
5, United States Code.
(e) Deployment of Lead Inspector General Staff.--
(1) In general.--The Office of the Lead Inspector General
for Ukraine shall maintain a presence of at least 1
individual in the country of Ukraine at all times.
(2) Evacuation plan.--The Lead Inspector General shall
coordinate with the appropriate chief of mission for this
purpose and shall maintain a plan to evacuate personnel
should it be required.
(3) Notice and justification.--To any extent that the Lead
Inspector General determines that the Office of the Lead
Inspector General cannot maintain such a presence in Ukraine,
the Lead Inspector General shall notify the appropriate
committees of Congress in writing within 7 days of such
determination, along with a justification for why the
presence could not be maintained.
(f) Reports.--
(1) Quarterly reports.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the end of
each fiscal-year quarter, the Lead Inspector General shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
summarizing with respect to that quarter and, to the extent
possible, the period from the end of such quarter to the date
on which the report is submitted, the activities of the Lead
Inspector General with respect to programs and operations
funded with amounts appropriated or their use made available
by the United States for Ukraine.
(B) Elements.--Each report required by subparagraph (A)
shall include, for the period covered by the report--
(i) a description of any identified waste, fraud, or abuse
with respect to programs and operations funded with amounts
appropriated or their use made available by the United States
for Ukraine;
(ii) a description of the status and results of--
(I) investigations, inspections, and audits; and
(II) referrals to the Department of Justice;
(iii) a description of the overall plans for review by the
Inspectors General of such support of Ukraine, including
plans for investigations, inspections, and audits; and
(iv) an evaluation of the compliance of the Government of
Ukraine with all requirements for receiving United States
funds, including a description of any area of concern with
respect to the ability of the Government of Ukraine to
achieve such compliance.
(2) Public availability.--The Lead Inspector General shall
publish on a publicly available internet website each report
required by paragraph (1) in English and any other language
the Lead Inspector General determines is widely used and
understood in Ukraine.
(3) Form.--Each report required by this subsection shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex if the Lead Inspector General considers it necessary.
(4) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection may
be construed to authorize the public disclosure of
information that is--
(A) specifically prohibited from disclosure by any other
provision of law;
(B) specifically required by Executive order to be
protected from disclosure in the interest of national defense
or national security or in the conduct of foreign affairs; or
(C) a part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
(g) Publication of United States Assistance to Ukraine.--
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the President, acting through the Secretary of
Defense and Secretary of State, shall publish a comprehensive
accounting of amounts
[[Page S3399]]
appropriated or their use made available by the United States
for Ukraine on a publicly available website of the United
States Government.
(h) Termination.--The Office of the Lead Inspector General
for Ukraine Assistance shall terminate 180 days after the
date on which amounts appropriated or their use made
available by the United States for Ukraine are less than the
amounts that were appropriated or otherwise available for the
military and nonmilitary support of Ukraine on February 24,
2022.
(i) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Amounts appropriated or their use made available by the
united states for ukraine.--The term ``amounts appropriated
or their use made available by the United States for
Ukraine'' means--
(A) amounts appropriated or otherwise made available on or
after January 1, 2022, for--
(i) the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative under
section 1250 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114-92; 129 Stat. 1608);
(ii) any foreign military financing accessed by the
Government of Ukraine;
(iii) the presidential drawdown authority under section
506(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2318(a));
(iv) the defense institution building program under section
332 of title 10, a United States Code;
(v) the building partner capacity program under section 333
of title 10, United States Code;
(vi) the international military education and training
program of the Department of State; and
(vii) the United States European Command; and
(B) amounts appropriated or otherwise made available on or
after January 1, 2022, for the military, economic,
reconstruction, or humanitarian support of Ukraine under any
account or for any purpose not described in sub-paragraph
(A).
(2) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Armed
Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Armed
Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee
on Oversight and Accountability of the House of
Representatives.
(3) Inspectors general.--The term ``Inspector General''
means the following:
(A) The Inspector General of the Department of Defense.
(B) The Inspector General of the Department of State.
(C) The Inspector General of the United States Agency for
International Development.
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