[Senate Report 111-76]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 163
_______________________________________________________________________ 

111th Congress                                                   Report
 1st Session                     SENATE                          111-76
_______________________________________________________________________ 
 
          GOVERNMENT CHARGE CARD ABUSE PREVENTION ACT OF 2009 

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                 S. 942


              TO PREVENT ABUSE OF GOVERNMENT CHARGE CARDS

            [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

               September 21, 2009.--Ordered to be printed

                                -------
                      U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

                             WASHINGTON : 2009 















        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

               JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii              TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas              GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana          JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri           LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
JON TESTER, Montana                  ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
ROLAND W. BURRIS, Illinois
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado

                  Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
                     Kevin J. Landy, Chief Counsel
                         Troy H. Cribb, Counsel
                    Paula J. Haurilesko,GAO Detailee
     Brandon L. Milhorn, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
          Molly A. Wilkinson, Minority Deputy General Counsel
                   Eric B. Cho, Minority GSA Detailee
                  Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk












                                                       Calendar No. 163
111th Congress                                                   Report
  1st Session                 SENATE                             111-76
=======================================================================

          GOVERNMENT CHARGE CARD ABUSE PREVENTION ACT OF 2009

                                _______
                                

               September 21, 2009.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 942]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 942) to prevent 
abuse of Government cards, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................4
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................6
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................6
VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............7

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    S. 942 requires specific internal controls at the agency 
level to ensure that purchase and travel cards are used only 
for approved spending and that agencies take appropriate 
personnel actions for misuse of cards. The bill also makes 
permanent language that has appeared in appropriations bills 
for the last several years requiring agencies to conduct a 
creditworthiness check before issuing travel cards to 
individual employees.
    The bill also requires the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to review and update, as 
appropriate, guidance for management of purchase cards and 
travel cards, and it also requires agencies and their 
Inspectors General to report to OMB on card abuses and the 
personnel actions taken by agencies in response to such abuses.

              II. Background and Need for the Legislation

    Since 1998, federal departments and agencies have utilized 
government charge cards through the General Service 
Administration's SmartPay program. The charge cards available 
through this program include purchase cards and travel cards. 
Agency employees use purchase cards to buy commercial goods and 
services; agencies pay the bills for those cards directly to 
their contractor bank. Employees use government travel cards to 
pay for official travel expenses. Either the employee is billed 
and pays for the expenses and the agency reimburses the 
employee for the official expenses, or the government is billed 
directly by their contractor bank.
    Agencies use government charge cards as a low cost method 
to streamline government acquisition and travel processes. For 
example, according to GSA, charge card services are provided at 
no cost to the agencies, generated more than $1 billion in 
gross agency refunds over the past 10 years and avoid an 
estimated $1.8 billion in agency administrative processing 
costs annually compared to paper-based procurement processes. 
Although the program has been highly successful, improvements 
in the consistent application of internal controls to prevent 
waste, fraud, and abuse are needed. Numerous Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) reports over the last decade have 
identified inadequate and inconsistent controls across federal 
agencies with respect to both purchase and travel cards.\1\ The 
lack of adequate management has led to the waste of millions of 
dollars in taxpayers' money on fraudulent purchases, or on 
purchases that were of questionable need or were unnecessarily 
expensive. While travel cards are not paid directly with 
taxpayers' money like purchase cards, failure by employees to 
timely pay their bills can result in the loss of millions of 
dollars in refunds to the Federal Government from travel card 
issuers. Additionally, non-payment of travel card bills 
diminishes the credibility of the Federal Government as a 
business partner.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\GAO, Purchase Cards: Increased Management Oversight and Control 
Could Save Hundreds of Millions of Dollars. GAO-04-717T, Washington, 
D.C.: April 28, 2004; GAO, Purchase Cards: Steps Taken to Improve DOD 
Program Management, but Actions Needed to Address Misuse. GAO-03-156, 
Washington D.C.: December 2, 2003; GAO, Purchase Cards: Control 
Weaknesses Leave Army Vulnerable to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. GAO-02-
844T, Washington, D.C.: July 17, 2002; and GAO, Purchase Cards: Control 
Weaknesses Leave Two Navy Units Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse. GAO-02-
32, Washington, D.C.: November 30, 2001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    GAO issued a report in March 2008 entitled Governmentwide 
Purchase Cards: Actions Needed to Strengthen Internal Controls 
to Reduce Fraudulent, Improper, and Abusive Purchases.\2\ This 
report found that, despite previous GAO reports on this issue 
and new regulations, various government agencies still lacked 
adequate internal controls over government purchase cards, 
leading to waste, fraud, and abuse. Using a statistical sample 
of purchase card transactions, GAO estimated that nearly 41% of 
the transactions failed to meet basic internal control 
standards, and GAO found numerous instances of fraud. For 
example, one cardholder used the purchase card program to 
embezzle over $642,000 over a period of six years from the 
Department of Agriculture. A postmaster at the U.S. Postal 
Service used his government purchase card to fraudulently 
subscribe to two internet dating services from April 2004 to 
October 2006. At the time GAO issued its report, the cardholder 
had paid over $1,100 in restitution to the government but had 
faced no disciplinary action for this fraud.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\GAO, Governmentwide Purchase Cards: Actions Needed to Strengthen 
Internal Controls to Reduce Fraudulent, Improper, and Abusive 
Purchases. GAO-08-333, Washington D.C.: March 14, 2008.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act is based 
largely on GAO's recommendations regarding necessary controls 
to prevent the waste, fraud, and abuse that GAO and agency 
Inspectors General have uncovered. The bill mandates a 
consistent set of core internal controls that every agency 
should utilize to prevent and detect improper use of government 
charge cards. For example, it mandates the use of systems, 
techniques, and technologies to prevent or identify improper 
purchases. These measures could include use of controlling 
merchant codes to prevent a card from being used at a vendor 
that does not provide goods and services that are appropriate 
to the function for which the card is issued. They also could 
include utilizing statistical machine learning and pattern 
recognition technologies that review the risk of every 
transaction. Commercial credit card issuers currently use this 
technology to flag purchases that do not fit normal purchasing 
patterns for cardholders.
    The Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act also 
requires each agency Inspector General to periodically conduct 
risk assessments of agency purchase card and travel card 
programs and perform periodic audits to identify potential 
fraudulent, improper, and abusive use of government charge 
cards. GAO and agency Inspectors General have successfully used 
techniques like data mining to reveal instances of improper use 
of government charge cards. Having this information on an 
ongoing basis will help in strengthening and maintaining a 
rigorous system of internal controls to prevent future 
instances of waste, fraud, and abuse with government charge 
cards.
    In addition, GAO's investigations often have found 
inconsistent or nonexistent consequences for federal employees 
who misused or abused government charge cards. The Government 
Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act requires that penalties be in 
place so that employees who abuse government charge cards face 
consistent and appropriate consequences, including dismissal 
where appropriate, thus creating a deterrent effect that will 
prevent future misuse.
    The Committee urges federal agencies, in implementing the 
requirements of the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention 
Act, to review and utilize best practices for conducting 
purchase card and travel card programs. In this respect, GAO's 
Audit Guide: Auditing and Investigating the Internal Control of 
Government Purchase Card Programs is a useful summary of the 
best practices for establishing and monitoring internal 
controls for government purchase card programs.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\GAO, Audit Guide: Auditing and Investigating the Internal 
Control of Government Purchase Card Programs. GAO-04-87G, Washington, 
D.C.: Nov. 1, 2003.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        III. Legislative History

    On April 30, 2009, S. 942 was introduced by Senator Chuck 
Grassley and referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs. The bill is co-sponsored by 
Chairman Lieberman, Ranking Minority Member Collins, Senator 
Carper, and Senator Begich. On May 20, 2009, the Committee 
favorably reported S. 942 by voice vote. Members present for 
the vote on the bill were Senators Lieberman, Akaka, Carper, 
Pryor, McCaskill, Burris, Bennet, Collins, and Voinovich.

                    IV. Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 designates the name of the act as the 
``Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2009.''

Section 2. Management of purchase cards

    Subsection (a) requires the head of each executive agency 
that issues and uses purchase cards and convenience checks--
checks written against a purchase card account--to establish 
and maintain safeguards and internal controls to ensure 
effective management, such as: keeping a record in each 
executive agency of each holder of a purchase card issued by 
the agency for official use; assigning each cardholder an 
approving official; requiring reconciliation of the charges by 
the purchase cardholder and approving official with supporting 
documentation; ensuring payments are made promptly for valid 
purchases; retaining records of each purchase card transaction 
in accordance with government policies on disposition of 
records; invalidating purchase cards for employees who cease to 
be employed by the agency or transfer to another unit; and 
providing appropriate training to cardholders.
    Subsection (b) provides that no later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of OMB 
shall review the existing guidance and, as necessary, prescribe 
additional guidance governing the implementation of the 
safeguards and internal controls required by subsection (a) by 
executive agencies.
    Subsection (c) requires that the head of each executive 
agency shall provide for appropriate adverse personnel actions 
or other punishment, including dismissal of the employee as 
appropriate, in cases in which employees of the agency violate 
agency policies implementing the guidance required by 
subsection (b) or make improper, erroneous, or illegal 
purchases with purchase cards or convenience checks. This 
subsection also requires that the guidance required by 
subsection (b) mandate that each head of an executive agency 
with more than $10,000,000 in purchase card spending annually, 
and each Inspector General of such an executive agency, on a 
semi-annual basis, submit to the Director of OMB a joint report 
on violations of the guidance required by subsection (b) by 
employees of such executive agency.
    Subsection (d) requires the Inspector General of each 
executive agency to conduct periodic assessments of the agency 
purchase card or convenience check programs to identify and 
analyze weaknesses; perform analyses or audits, as necessary, 
of purchase card transactions designed to identify potentially 
illegal, improper, erroneous, and abusive uses of purchase 
cards, patterns of such uses, and categories of purchases that 
could be made by means other than purchase cards; report to the 
Director of OMB on the implementation of recommendations made 
to the head of the executive agency to address findings of any 
analysis or audit of purchase card and convenience check 
transactions or programs for compilation and transmission by 
the Director to Congress and the Comptroller General.
    Subsection (e) provides that the term ``executive agency'' 
has the meaning given such term in section 4(1) of the Office 
of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(1)), except as 
provided under subsection (f).
    Subsection (f) clarifies that subsections (a) through (d) 
do not apply to the Department of Defense, which is subject to 
similar requirements under 10 U.S.C. 2784. This subsection 
makes further conforming amendments to 10 U.S.C. 2784 in order 
to harmonize military and civilian regulations. The subsection 
also requires the Inspector General of the Department of 
Defense to conduct periodic assessments similar to those 
required in subsection (d) and to submit, jointly with the 
Secretary of Defense, a semi-annual report to the Director of 
OMB.

Section 3. Management of travel cards

    Section 3 amends Section 2 of the Travel and Transportation 
Reform Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-264; 5 U.S.C. 5701 note) by 
adding a new subsection that requires the head of each 
executive agency that has employees that use travel cards to 
establish and maintain internal control activities over travel 
charge cards, including: maintaining a record of each holder of 
a travel charge card issued on behalf of the agency for 
official use; monitoring rebates and refunds based on prompt 
payment, sales volume, or other actions on travel charge card 
accounts; conducting periodic reviews to determine whether each 
travel charge cardholder has a need for the travel charge card; 
and providing appropriate training to travel card holders. This 
section also requires that each executive agency ensure its 
contractual arrangement with travel charge card issuing 
contractors contains a requirement to evaluate the 
creditworthiness of an individual before issuing that 
individual a travel charge card, and that no individual is 
issued a travel charge card if that individual is found not 
creditworthy as a result of the evaluations. An agency is not 
precluded from issuing a restricted travel charge card or pre-
paid card when the individual lacks a credit history or has a 
credit score below the minimum credit score established by OMB. 
The section requires the Director of OMB to establish a minimum 
credit score for determining the creditworthiness of an 
individual based on rigorous statistical analysis of the 
population of cardholders and historical behaviors. 
Additionally, not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment, the Director of OMB is required to revise, as 
necessary, guidance on the management of travel cards. The 
section further requires that each agency shall take 
appropriate adverse personnel actions, including removal where 
appropriate, against employees who have failed to comply with 
agency regulations or have committed fraud with respect to a 
travel charge card. Additionally, the section requires the 
Inspector General of each federal agency to conduct periodic 
assessments of travel card programs and controls.

Section 4. Management of centrally billed accounts

    Section 4 requires the head of an executive agency that has 
employees who use a travel charge card that is billed directly 
to the United States Government to establish and maintain 
internal control activities to compare items on an employee's 
travel voucher to items paid for using a centrally billed 
account. This section also requires the Director of the OMB to 
prescribe guidance implementing internal control requirements 
for centrally billed accounts not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act.

Section 5. Construction

    Section 5 provides that nothing in the Act shall be 
construed to excuse the head of an executive agency from the 
responsibilities established in 31 U.S.C. 3512 (relating to 
executive agency accounting and other financial management and 
plans), or in the Improper Payments Act of 2002 (31 U.S.C. 3321 
note).

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill. The 
Congressional Budget Office states that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and would not effect state, local, 
and tribal governments. The enactment of this legislation will 
not have significant regulatory impact.

             VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                                      June 2, 2009.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 942, the Government 
Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2009.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

S. 942--Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2009

    S. 942 would require each executive branch agency to 
establish controls on the use of government credit cards. The 
bill would require each agency's inspector general (IG) to 
assess the risk of illegal or improper credit card use and to 
conduct periodic audits to identify potentially fraudulent 
activities. The bill also would allow agencies to dismiss 
employees who are found guilty of misusing government credit 
cards.
    CBO estimates that implementing S. 942 would cost less than 
$500,000 a year, subject to the availability of appropriated 
funds. The bill also could affect direct spending by agencies 
not funded through annual appropriations, such as the Tennessee 
Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power Administration. CBO 
estimates, however, that any increase in spending by those 
agencies would not be significant.
    Under current law, agencies must take certain actions to 
manage the use of government credit cards including 
establishing policies and procedures, conducting oversight, and 
penalizing unauthorized use of government cards. Most of the 
provisions of S. 942 would codify those practices. Based on 
information from the Office of Management and Budget (which 
sets procurement policy), the General Services Administration 
(the contract administrator for federal credit cards), and 
several agency IGs, CBO estimates that implementing the bill 
would not significantly increase the costs to oversee the use 
of government charge cards.
    S. 942 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

       VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
S. 942 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed 
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in 
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is 
shown in roman):

                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES

                    Subtitle A--General Military Law

               PART IV--SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROCUREMENT


CHAPTER 165--ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBLITY

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



SEC. 2784. MANAGEMENT OF PURCHASE CARDS

    (a) * * *
    (b) Required Safeguards and Internal Controls.--Regulations 
under subsection (a) shall include safeguards and internal 
controls to ensure the following:
          (1) * * *
          (11) That each purchase cardholder and individual 
        issued a convenience check is assigned an approving 
        official other than the cardholder with the authority 
        to approve or disapprove transactions.
          (12) That the Department of Defense utilizes 
        effective systems, techniques, and technologies to 
        prevent or identify fraudulent purchases.
          (13) That the Department of Defense takes appropriate 
        steps to invalidate the purchase card of each employee 
        who--
                  (A) ceases to be employed by the Department 
                of Defense, immediately upon termination of the 
                employment of the employee; or
                  (B) transfers to another unit of the 
                Department of Defense immediately upon the 
                transfer of the employee unless the Secretary 
                of Defense determines that the units are 
                covered by the same purchase card authority.
          (14) That the Department of Defense takes appropriate 
        steps to recover the cost of any erroneous, improper or 
        illegal purchase made with a purchase card or 
        convenience check by an employee, including, as 
        necessary, through salary offsets.
          (15) That the Inspector General of the Department of 
        Defense conducts periodic assessments of purchase card 
        or convenience check programs to identify and analyze 
        risks of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and 
        payments and uses such risk assessments to develop 
        appropriate recommendations for corrective actions.
    (c) * * *
    (d) Semi-Annual Report.--The Secretary of Defense and the 
Inspector General of the Department of Defense, shall submit to 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget on a 
semiannual basis a joint report on illegal, improper, or 
erroneous purchases and payments made with purchase cards or 
convenience checks by employees of the Department of Defense. 
At a minimum, the report shall include the following:
          (1) A description of each violation.
          (2) A description of any adverse personnel action, 
        punishment, or other action taken against the employee 
        for such violation.
          (3) A description of actions taken by the Department 
        of Defense to address recommendations made to address 
        findings arising out of risk assessments and audits 
        conducted pursuant to this section.

              TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION REFORM ACT OF 1998


(Public Law 105-264; 5 U.S.C. 5701, note)

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (h) Management of Travel Charge Cards.--
          (1) Required safeguards and internal controls.--The 
        head of each executive agency that has employees that 
        use travel charge cards shall establish and maintain 
        the following internal control activities to ensure the 
        proper, efficient, and effective use of such travel 
        charge cards:
                  (A) There is a record in each executive 
                agency of each holder of a travel charge card 
                issued on behalf of the agency for official 
                use, annotated with the limitations on amounts 
                that are applicable to the use of each such 
                card by that travel charge cardholder.
                  (B) Rebates and refunds based on prompt 
                payment sales volume, or other actions by the 
                agency on travel charge card accounts are 
                monitored for accuracy and properly recorded as 
                a receipt of the agency that employs the 
                cardholder.
                  (C) Periodic reviews are performed to 
                determine whether each travel charge cardholder 
                has a need for the travel charge card.
                  (D) Appropriate training is provided to each 
                travel charge cardholder and each official with 
                responsibility for overseeing the use of travel 
                charge cards issued by an executive agency.
                  (E) Each executive agency has specific 
                policies regarding the number of travel charge 
                cards issued for various component 
                organizations and categories of component 
                organizations, the credit limits authorized for 
                various categories of cardholders, and 
                categories of employees eligible to be issued 
                travel charge cards, and designs those policies 
                to minimize the financial risk to the Federal 
                Government of the issuance of the travel charge 
                cards and to ensure the integrity of the travel 
                charge cardholders.
                  (F) Each executive agency ensures its 
                contractual arrangement with each servicing 
                travel charge card issuing contractor contains 
                a requirement to evaluate the creditworthiness 
                of an individual before issuing that individual 
                a travel charge card, and that no individual be 
                issued a travel charge card if that individual 
                is found not creditworthy as a result of the 
                evaluation (except that this paragraph shall 
                not preclude issuance of a restricted use 
                travel charge card or pre-paid card when the 
                individual lacks a credit history or has a 
                credit score below the minimum credit score 
                established by the Office of Management and 
                Budget). The Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget shall establish a minimum 
                credit score for determining the 
                creditworthiness of an individual based on 
                rigorous statistical analysis of the population 
                of cardholders and historical behaviors. 
                Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
                such evaluation shall include an assessment of 
                an individual's consumer report from a consumer 
                reporting agency as those terms are defined in 
                section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
                  (G) Each executive agency utilizes effective 
                systems, techniques, and technologies to 
                prevent or identify improper purchases.
                  (H) Each executive agency ensures that the 
                travel charge card of each employee who ceases 
                to be employed by the agency is invalidated 
                immediately upon termination of the employment 
                of the employee.
                  (I) Each executive agency utilizes, where 
                appropriate, direct payment to the holder of 
                the travel card contract.
          (2) Guidance on management of travel charge cards.--
        Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget shall review the existing guidance and, as 
        necessary, prescribe additional guidance for executive 
        agencies governing the implementation of the 
        requirements in paragraph (1).
          (3) Penalties for violations.--
                  (A) In general.--Consistent with the guidance 
                prescribed under paragraph (2), each executive 
                agency shall provide for appropriate adverse 
                personnel actions to be imposed in cases in 
                which employees of the executive agency fail to 
                comply with applicable travel charge card terms 
                and conditions or applicable agency regulations 
                or commit fraud with respect to a travel 
                charge, including removal in appropriate cases.
                  (B) Reports on violations.--The guidance 
                prescribed under paragraph (2) shall require 
                each head of an executive agency with more than 
                $10,000,000 in travel card spending annually, 
                and each inspector general of such an executive 
                agency, on a semi-annual basis, to submit to 
                the Director of the Office of Management and 
                Budget a joint report on violations or other 
                actions covered by subparagraph (A) by 
                employees of such executive agency. At a 
                minimum, the report shall set forth the 
                following:
                          (i) A description of each violation.
                          (ii) A description of any adverse 
                        personnel action, punishment, or other 
                        action taken against the employee for 
                        such violation or other action.
          (4) Risk assessments and audits.--The Inspector 
        General of each executive agency shall--
                  (A) conduct periodic assessments of the 
                agency travel charge card program and 
                associated internal controls to identify and 
                analyze risks of illegal, improper, or 
                erroneous travel charges and payments in order 
                to develop a plan for using such risk 
                assessments to determine the scope, frequency, 
                and number of periodic audits of travel charge 
                card transactions;
                  (B) perform periodic analysis and audits, as 
                appropriate, of travel charge card transactions 
                designed to identify potentially improper, 
                erroneous, and illegal uses of travel charge 
                cards;
                  (C) report to the head of the executive 
                agency concerned on the results of such 
                analysis and audits; and
                  (D) report to the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget on the implementation of 
                recommendations made to the head of the 
                executive agency to address findings of any 
                analysis or audit of travel charge card 
                transactions or programs for compilation and 
                transmission by the Director to Congress and 
                the Comptroller General.
          (5) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                  (A) The term ``executive agency'' means an 
                agency as that term is defined in subparagraphs 
                (A) and (B) of section 5701(1) of title 5, 
                United States Code.
                  (B) The term ``travel charge card'' means any 
                Federal contractor-issued travel charge card 
                that is individually billed to each cardholder.

                                  
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