[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 601-603]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OPM IG ACT

  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2860) to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that 
the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management may use 
amounts in the revolving fund of the Office to fund audits, 
investigations, and oversight activities, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2860

       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 ``OPM IG Act''.

     SEC. 2. USE OF OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT REVOLVING FUND 
                   FOR AUDITS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND OVERSIGHT 
                   ACTIVITIES.

       Subsection (e) of section 1304 of title 5, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by adding before the period at the 
     end of the first sentence the following: ``, and for the cost 
     of audits, investigations, and oversight activities, 
     conducted by the Inspector General of the Office, of the fund 
     and the activities financed by the fund''; and
       (2) in paragraph (5)--
       (A) by striking ``The Office'' and inserting ``(A) The 
     Office''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B) Such budget shall include an estimate from the 
     Inspector General of the Office of the amount required to pay 
     the expenses to audit, investigate, and provide other 
     oversight activities with respect to the fund and the 
     activities financed by the fund.
       ``(C) The amount requested by the Inspector General under 
     subparagraph (B) shall not exceed .33 percent of the total 
     budgetary authority requested by the Office under 
     subparagraph (A).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Farenthold) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  H.R. 2860 responds to the Office of Personnel Management Inspector 
General's call for increased oversight of the OPM's revolving fund by 
providing the IG access to a portion of that revolving fund moneys for 
oversight.
  H.R. 2860 recognizes oversight as a legitimate business cost by using 
existing funds to help the IG respond to the increased referrals of 
alleged fraud within the OPM's revolving fund operations, including 
especially in the background investigation used to determine an 
individual's eligibility for a security clearance.
  The Office of Personnel Management serves as the regulator for these 
rules affecting the management of Federal workers, but has also evolved 
into a fee-based service provider that provides billions of dollars in 
services each year to the very agencies governed by OPM's rules.
  The revolving fund budget has grown significantly over the past 15 
years, from $191 million to more than $2 billion today. OPM's revolving 
fund budget is almost 91 percent of OPM's budget; yet the resources 
available for the IG to audit these funds have not kept pace with the 
growing amounts.
  For over 30 years, both the General Accountability Office and OPM 
Inspectors General have been concerned about the management of 
resources in the revolving fund. Each has issued a number of reports 
and audits examining various and, often recurring, problems.
  Last year, OPM Inspector General McFarland informed the Committee on 
Government Oversight and Reform of what he described as a ``serious 
problem'' inhibiting his ability to perform the duties and 
responsibilities of his office. McFarland stated his office was at a 
point where it could not meet its statutory obligation to effectively 
oversee revolving fund activities. He noted that his office had been 
``inundated with requests from OPM to audit and/or investigate 
different parts of revolving fund programs,'' from technical audit work 
to the continuing flow of allegations involving falsifications of 
background investigations and abuse of authority.
  The OPM Inspector General has investigated a number of cases 
involving the falsification of background investigations, including 
reporting of investigations that never occurred, recording answers to 
questions that were never asked, and documents record checks that were 
never conducted. Within the military departments at 81 percent of OPM's 
customer base, these cases have serious national security implications.
  Inspector General McFarland testified before the Federal Workforce 
Subcommittee in June, and he said the OPM's revolving fund programs 
``have been operating in the shadows for too long,'' adding the often-
cited phrase ``sunshine is the best disinfectant.''
  H.R. 2860 would allow the OPM IG to use a portion of the revolving 
fund moneys to pay for related audit and investigation work. The OPM 
IG's resources would be limited to one-third of 1 percent of the 
revolving fund budget, and the IG would be required to submit an annual 
budget request and report detailing its revolving fund oversight work.
  H.R. 2860 provides resources for critical oversight that can be 
accomplished at relatively low cost, using existing funds.
  I urge the adoption of this bipartisan bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 2860, the OPM IG Act, which is a 
successful product of the bipartisan efforts of Federal Workforce 
Subcommittee Chairman Farenthold and Ranking Member Lynch, and I 
applaud them for their efforts.

[[Page 602]]

  I thank my distinguished colleagues for their work and commitment in 
sponsoring legislation to provide the Inspector General of the Office 
of Personnel Management with critically needed funding to perform 
audits, investigations, and oversight of OPM's revolving fund 
activities.
  Through the revolving fund, OPM provides approximately $2 billion in 
services to agencies on a fee-for-service basis. These services include 
background investigations, leadership training, and human resource 
management.
  H.R. 2860 would fix the loophole in the current law which prevents 
this $2 billion revolving fund from paying for the costs of the OPM 
Inspector General to properly oversee the fund's activities.
  This legislation would allow the OPM Inspector General to use a very 
small portion of the revolving fund budget, up to a maximum of one-
third of 1 percent of the fund, to pay for audit, investigative, and 
oversight work.
  The recent Navy Yard shooting and the Edward Snowden leaks of 
classified information have highlighted the importance of comprehensive 
oversight of the Federal Government's background investigation and 
security clearance process.
  During last June's Federal Workforce Subcommittee hearing on OPM's 
revolving fund, the OPM Inspector General expressed substantial 
concerns about the falsification of background investigations.
  The OPM Inspector General plays a crucial part in ensuring that the 
background investigation process used by the government to determine 
whether individuals should be trusted with our Nation's classified and 
sensitive information is properly conducted.
  This legislation would give the OPM Inspector General the funds and 
resources needed to conduct the necessary oversight activities to help 
safeguard our government against national security risks.
  The Senate has already passed a substantially similar bill, and I ask 
all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in 
supporting H.R. 2860.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I would like to thank Mr. Cummings and Mr. Lynch for working together 
in such a bipartisan manner on this very important national security 
bill.
  It is a commonsense, good government bill that is designed to use 
existing funds that are brought into the OPM to oversee the OPM. They 
have got a huge chunk of money here that is coming from the background 
checks, and they don't have the resources necessary to adequately make 
sure these background checks are going to be done.
  Mr. Cummings cited numerous examples of how the failures in the 
system have resulted in tragedies and have resulted in information 
getting out. We need to make sure these background checks are being 
done properly, we need to make sure this money is being administered 
properly, and this bipartisan bill does that.
  I too urge my colleagues to pass the bill, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), the cosponsor of the bill and a member of 
the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.
  First of all, I want to say that as the ranking Democrat on the 
Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, I rise in strong support of Mr. 
Farenthold's measure here, H.R. 2860, the OPM Inspector General Act, 
legislation that will enhance oversight of the background check process 
for the issuance of government security clearances.
  At the outset as well, I would like to thank the subcommittee 
chairman, Mr. Farenthold, for working in a bipartisan manner to sponsor 
H.R. 2860. I would also like to thank our full committee chairman, Mr. 
Issa, and ranking member, Mr. Cummings, the gentleman from Maryland, 
for their hard work and their leadership on this legislation as well.
  Recent events involving Edward Snowden and his leaking of classified 
information and as well Aaron Alexis and the tragic shooting at the 
Washington Navy Yard have called attention to the need to reexamine and 
improve the Federal Government's background investigation and security 
clearance process.
  H.R. 2860 is a key component of our examinations. This legislation 
provides the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management 
with the resources that he needs to assist Congress in our review and 
oversight of a process that is critical within our national security 
framework.
  We rely heavily on our Inspectors General. They are at the front 
lines of investigating fraud, waste, and abuse in government programs. 
We as Members of the legislature rely heavily on them in getting 
accurate information.
  In particular, H.R. 2860 would give the Office of Personnel 
Management the authority to access a portion of OPM's revolving fund to 
pay for audits, investigations, and oversight of the agency's revolving 
fund program, which includes the Federal Government's background 
investigations process, their leadership training, and personnel 
management solutions.
  I think OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland did a great job on 
this in making us aware of the necessity for this legislation. During a 
June 2013 Federal Workforce Subcommittee hearing, as has been noted, 
Mr. McFarland stated that his office was handicapped in its ability to 
conduct proper oversight of the OPM's revolving fund activities.
  Under existing law, the Inspector General's oversight costs cannot be 
charged to the revolving fund. As a result, for fiscal year 2013, the 
Inspector General had only available $3 million to conduct oversight of 
OPM's program involving $2 billion.
  Because of these limited resources, the OPM Inspector General was not 
able to thoroughly investigate issues regarding falsification of 
background investigations, conduct audits of the revolving fund, or 
examine the fund's high-risk areas.
  However, H.R. 2860, if enacted, would allow the OPM Inspector 
General's oversight costs to be paid from the revolving fund up to a 
maximum of one-third of 1 percent of OPM's revolving fund budget. 
Assuming a revolving budget of $2 billion, the Inspector General may be 
authorized to receive up to a maximum of $6.6 million to fund oversight 
costs.

                              {time}  1430

  Common sense indicates that giving the OPM Inspector General 
authority for this funding is a sensible and prudent investment. 
Moreover, if national security is implicated, the importance of 
preventing or mitigating national security threats is, of course, 
immeasurable.
  Let me also add that this proposal was included in the President's 
fiscal year 2014 budget request, and the Senate passed, by unanimous 
consent, substantially similar legislation last October. In addition, a 
provision granting the OPM Inspector General access to the revolving 
fund was included in the omnibus appropriation bill released just last 
night. I would note, however, that that provision expires after 1 year.
  So Mr. Farenthold's legislation, which I have cosponsored, is 
incredibly important and should be adopted. I urge my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to join with myself and Mr. Cummings and Mr. 
Farenthold.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, if I could inquire of the gentleman from 
Maryland if he has any additional speakers.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. We have no additional speakers, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. At this point, I would like to wrap it up and close.
  Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from Virginia and the gentleman from 
Maryland pointed out, this is a commonsense, good government bill that 
has strong national security implications and I am going to urge all my 
colleagues to support it.
  Again, even though it was included in the omnibus that is coming 
through that is 1 year, this creates permanent

[[Page 603]]

law where we continue to do this necessary and appropriate oversight at 
a fraction of the percent of the cost of the budget, absolutely a 
phenomenal bill that we all need to get behind and support.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself such time as I may consume as I close.
  Mr. Speaker, I take this moment to thank Mr. Farenthold, to thank Mr. 
Lynch and certainly our chairman, Chairman Issa, for this bipartisan 
effort. It just makes sense. There are certain things that happen that 
we see in government that need correcting, and this is one of those 
things. The fact that we have now put a spotlight on it and, through a 
bipartisan effort, have put together legislation that should pass this 
House unanimously, it just shows what can be done.
  So it is a great piece of legislation. It is a very practical piece 
of legislation, and it is one that is needed. With that, I would urge 
all of our colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2860.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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