S.Amdt. 4596

SA 4596. Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. Sanders) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2943, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 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 A of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1004. ENCOURAGEMENT OF IMPROVEMENT OF ABILITY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN
CLEAN AUDIT OPINIONS.

(a) Financial Audit Incentive Fund.--The Secretary of
Defense shall establish a fund to be known as the ``Financial
Audit Incentive Fund'' (in this section referred to as the
``Fund'') for the purpose of encouraging the organizations,
components, and elements of the military departments to
maintain unmodified audit opinions.
(b) Availability.--
(1) In general.--Amounts in the Fund shall be available to
the military departments to address readiness funding
shortfalls for operational training exercises, including home
station training, brigade-level or equivalent training, or
joint exercises directed by combatant commanders.

[[Page S3662]]

(2) Transfers from fund.--Amounts in the Fund may be
transferred to any other account of a military department in
order to fund training described in paragraph (1). Any
amounts transferred from the Fund to an account shall be
merged with amounts in the account to which transferred and
shall be available subject to the same terms and conditions
as amounts in such account, except that amounts so
transferred shall remain available until expended. The
authority to transfer amounts under this paragraph is in
addition to any other authority of the Secretary to transfer
amounts by law.
(3) Limitation.--Amounts in the Fund may be transferred
under this subsection only to organizations components, and
elements of the military departments that have a current
unmodified audit opinion for use by such organizations
components, and elements for purposes specified in paragraph
(1).
(c) Transfers to Fund in Connection With Organizations Not
Having Achieved Qualified Audit Opinions.--
(1) Reduction in amount available.--Subject to paragraph
(2), if during any fiscal year after fiscal year 2019 the
Secretary determines that an organization, component, or
element of the Department has not achieved a qualified
opinion of its statement of budgetary resources for the
calender year ending during such fiscal year--
(A) the amount available to such organization, component,
or element for the fiscal year in which such determination is
made shall be equal to--
(i) the amount otherwise authorized to be appropriated for
such organization, component, or element for the fiscal year;
minus
(ii) the lesser of--

(I) an amount equal to 0.5 percent of the amount described
in clause (i); or
(II) $100,000,000; and

(B) the Secretary shall deposit in the Fund all amounts
unavailable to organizations, components, and elements of the
Department in the fiscal year pursuant to determinations made
under subparagraph (A).
(2) Inapplicability to amounts for military personnel.--Any
reduction applicable to an organization, component, or
element of the Department under paragraph (1) for a fiscal
year shall not apply to amounts, if any, available to such
organization, component, or element for the fiscal year for
military personnel.
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