S.Amdt. 2055

SA 2055. Mr. PAUL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1502 proposed by Mr. Schumer to the bill S. 1260, to
establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the
National Science Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub
program, to require a strategy and report on economic security,
science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to
establish a critical supply chain resiliency program, and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title V of division B, add the following:

SEC. 2528. GAO STUDY ON OVERSIGHT OF FEDERAL SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY GRANT MAKING AND INVESTMENTS.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) in instances such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program,
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Iraq, and
Afghanistan, Congress has created special inspectors general
and other oversight entities focused on particular program
areas who have performed in outstanding ways;
(2) the oversight entities described in paragraph (1) have
helped to strengthen oversight in cross-agency activities and
where component inspectors general may have otherwise faced
significant challenges;
(3) because of the cross-agency nature of Federal science
and technology activities, Congress created the Office of
Science and Technology Policy to coordinate and harmonize
among science functions at agencies;
(4) the United States innovation ecosystem, which uses
multiple science agencies to invest in research and
development, can make it more difficult to identify and
remove scientists who violate research integrity principles;
(5) the single agency jurisdiction of an agency inspector
general can be a disadvantage with respect to their oversight
roles, and opportunities to strengthen the system may exist;
(6) single agency jurisdiction of inspectors general may
also make it difficult to harmonize principles and standards
for oversight of waste, fraud, and abuse among agencies; and
(7) certain issues of fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal
science and technology activities span multiple agencies and
are more apparent through cross-agency oversight.
(b) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall conduct a study and submit to Congress a report
that--

[[Page S3523]]

(1) evaluates the frequency of cases of waste, fraud, or
abuse perpetrated across multiple Federal science agencies by
an awardee or group of awardees;
(2) evaluates the effectiveness of existing mechanisms to
detect waste, fraud, and abuse perpetrated across multiple
Federal science agencies by an awardee or group of awardees;
and
(3) evaluates options for strengthening detection of waste,
fraud, and abuse perpetrated across multiple Federal science
agencies by an awardee or group of awardees, including by
examining the benefits and drawbacks of--
(A) providing additional support to agency inspectors
general with regard to coordinated oversight of Federal and
technology grant making investments; and
(B) alternative mechanisms for strengthening prevention and
detection of waste, fraud, and abuse across Federal science
agencies perpetrated across multiple Federal science agencies
by an awardee or group of awardees, such as the establishment
of a special inspector general or other mechanisms as the
Comptroller General sees fit.
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