Government Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2010

Madam Speaker, pursuant to subsection (c)(2) of H. Res. 1493, the House-passed Budget Enforcement Resolution, I am submitting the following information for printing in the Congressional Record. The Budget Enforcement Resolution requires that I identify the Committee actions that help achieve deficit reduction by reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs, promoting efficiency and government reform, and controlling spending in the government programs. This requirement reflects the House's commitment to deficit reduction and bringing about a more efficient and accountable government for the American people. As Chairman of the Oversight Committee, I am pleased to comply with this requirement.

A September 2 letter from the Speaker of the House and Majority Leader to House Committee Chairs identifies some of the important legislative steps the Oversight Committee has taken to promote deficit reduction, fiscal responsibility, and government reform in the 111th Congress. The Oversight Committee and the House of Representatives passed the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness and Performance Improvement Act, H.R. 2142. As the letter acknowledges, the enhanced oversight provided by this legislation will significantly cut government waste. In addition, the Committee approved the Improper Payments Elimination and Reduction Act, H.R. 3393, which was also signed into law (as S. 1508) on July 22, 2010. The Office of Management and Budget recently reported that the federal government made an astonishing $98 billion in duplicate, erroneous, or undocumented payments in 2009. The Committee's and the Congress' efforts, in passing H.R. 3393 / S. 1508, will provide the government with the tools it needs to recover these overpayments for the American taxpayers and stop them from occurring in the first instance.

In addition to these important reforms, the Oversight Committee is pursuing a broad-based approach to deficit reduction and budget savings. The Committee's actions include direct oversight of agencies to improve and address inefficient practices that would result in over $19.4 billion in budget savings. The Committee also has advanced legislative reforms to strengthen the internal watchdogs at government agencies, improve the investigative and auditing arm of Congress, empower federal workers to fight fraud and waste without fear of retaliation, improve government efficiency by facilitating the sale of surplus federal real property, and save hundreds of millions of tax dollars by expediting the transition of government-wide telecommunication services. These efforts are described below.

Holding Agencies Accountable for the Implementation of Over $19.4

billion in Cost Savings Reforms

At the request of the Oversight Committee, Inspectors

General from across the government identified improvements

and efficiencies in government operations that would result

in over $19.4 billion in savings to the federal budget if

fully implemented. As the country begins to recover from the

economic crisis, the American public should have confidence

that agencies will be held accountable for taking any actions

necessary to recover such significant savings of their hard-

earned tax dollars. The Oversight Committee will monitor

implementation of each of these IG recommendations. The

Committee will require agency heads to report back on the

steps they are taking to recoup these savings for the U.S.

taxpayers, to provide a timeline for the realization of these

savings, and detail any administrative or legislative action

needed to bring about these savings and efficiencies.

Strengthening the IG Community

The Oversight Committee is also taking legislative action

to promote better and more efficient government. This

September, the Committee plans to bring legislation (H.R.

5815) to the floor of the House of Representatives that will

better equip Inspectors General to fulfill their statutory

mission of rooting out waste and fraud in the federal

government. The legislation complements and strengthens the

Committee's ongoing oversight efforts in this area. The

legislation will require corrective action by government

agencies to address IG cost saving recommendations. A

statutory mandate will remove the bureaucratic inertia and

barriers that too often slow or thwart agency efforts to

tackle inefficiencies that account for billions of dollars in

unnecessary spending every year. The legislation will also

provide IGs with the tools they need to conduct complete and

thorough investigations of waste, fraud, and abuse in

government contracting. Collectively, the reforms in H.R.

5815 will strengthen the authority of IGs so they can better

fulfill their important mission of fighting waste and

protecting the interests of the taxpayers.

Improving the GAO

During this Congress, the House of Representatives passed

legislation (H.R. 2646) sponsored by the Oversight Committee

that will strengthen the authority and effectiveness of the

General Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO helps inform the

Congress, Executive agencies, and the public about areas and

programs within the federal government that are performing

well, and those that need to be improved or are vulnerable to

waste, fraud, and abuse. GAO audits provide reliable

assessments as to whether the taxpayers are receiving full

value from important government programs. H.R. 2646, which is

awaiting action in the Senate, will increase the

effectiveness of GAO by ensuring that GAO is not

unnecessarily restricted in its efforts to secure necessary

information in the course of performing its auditing and

investigative functions for the Congress.

Empowering Federal Employees to Combat Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

The Oversight Committee is committed to advancing H.R.

1507, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009,

and is currently negotiating with the Senate on this

essential reform. Similar legislation was passed as part of

the Recovery Act in the beginning of the Congress, but was

unfortunately stripped out in conference with the Senate. The

government should make every effort to ensure that tax

dollars are not misspent or vulnerable to waste, fraud, or

abuse. Federal employees at financial and other agencies

throughout the government are often the first to witness

abuses or illegality that presents a risk to the taxpayer.

They are in a position to call attention to waste in

government operations because they see what is happening

inside our government on a day-to-day basis. Providing strong

protections for those who disclose misconduct helps to

promote a more accountable and transparent federal

bureaucracy. Importantly, the legislation also extends strong

whistleblower protections to employees of government

contractors.

Facilitating Savings through Sales of Real Property

Last September, the Oversight Committee favorably reported

H.R. 2495, the Federal Real Property Disposal Act. This

legislation would encourage the sale of surplus federal real

property by allowing the General Services Administration to

use its funds to prepare unneeded properties to be reported

excess. It would also allow agencies to retain the proceeds

from the sale of surplus real property. These measures would

implement recommendations by GAO, which has stated in its

High-Risk Series that the funding needed to prepare property

for disposal and some agencies' inability to retain sale

proceeds have been longstanding barriers to the sale of

surplus property. The language of H.R. 2495 is being added to

S. 1510, the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division

Modernization Act, and the Oversight Committee is currently

negotiating with the Senate on final language for the bill.

Saving Tax Dollars by Expediting the Telecommunications Transition

The delay in transitioning government-wide

telecommunications services from the General Services

Administration's FTS2001 contract to Networx has resulted in

the loss of approximately $22 million a month. At the current

pace, those losses could total between $300 million and a

half-billion dollars in unrealized cost savings by May 2011.

The Oversight Committee held a hearing on this issue in May

2010 and will continue closely monitoring and working with

the General Services Administration, the Office of Management

and Budget, and individual Agencies to expedite the

transition to Networx. In addition, I am planning to

introduce legislation requiring agencies to complete the

transition to Networx before the current FTS2001 bridge and

crossover contracts expire in May 2011. If enacted, this

legislation would eliminate the need for the General Services

Administration to enter into any additional bridge contracts.

I look forward to continuing to work with House leadership,

the other Committee Chairs, and the Members of this body as

we take steps to eliminate the deficit, and promote

government that best protects the interests of the U.S.

taxpayers.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2646) to amend title 31, United States Code, to enhance the oversight authorities of the Comptroller General, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and add any extraneous materials.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2646, the Government Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2009. This legislation, introduced by the chairman of the Oversight Committee, Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn, will increase the effectiveness of the GAO by clarifying and strengthening the GAO's authority in several critical areas, including its access to records.

Congress relies heavily on the GAO as a force multiplier in carrying out the investigative and oversight functions vested in the legislative branch. The GAO helps inform the Congress and executive agencies and the public about areas and programs within the Federal Government that are performing well and those that need to be improved or are vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse. General Accounting Office audits provide reliable assessments as to whether the taxpayers are receiving full value from important government programs. This legislation is necessary to ensure that GAO can successfully carry out all of these important functions for the Congress.

Specifically, the GAO Improvement Act addresses a 2002 Federal court decision that limited the GAO's ability to question agency access determinations in court. The bill explicitly provides the Comptroller General with standing to pursue litigation if the Comptroller General determines that the performance of her official duties has been harmed by an agency improperly withholding information.

The bill also clarifies the GAO's access to information in two important areas. First, it confirms the GAO's right to make and retain copies of records, which has been denied by Federal agencies in some cases. And it provides the GAO with the right to interview agency officers and employees. The bill also says that the GAO's access to agency information should be limited only if an act passed by the Congress expressly and specifically extends to limit such access.

Additionally, the bill clarifies GAO's authority to administer oaths, an important tool in conducting audits and taking statements. Lastly, it provides agencies more flexibility in reporting to Congress in their responses to GAO recommendations. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reported H.R. 2646 favorably on a voice vote on June 4, 2009.

At the committee markup, a bipartisan amendment was added to the bill that would have allowed the GAO to conduct reviews of certain actions taken by the Federal Reserve that previously have been exempt from GAO review. However, similar language was included in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which passed the House before the holiday recess.

Therefore, the legislation that we are considering today is the bill introduced by Representative Towns on June 4 and is without the committee's amendment related to the Federal Reserve.

Madam Speaker, the Congress and the American people need the GAO to help us remain informed about what's being done well and what needs to be improved within the Federal Government. The GAO can only do this effectively if it has access to all the information it needs. This bill strengthens the GAO in this manner. It is an important good-government initiative that will improve the effectiveness of government operations.

I urge all Members to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer).

Madam Speaker, in closing, before I yield back, I just want to say that I understand the spirit in which the gentleman from Ohio has brought this issue forward. I do understand the central role that oversight and investigation have in this Congress. It is the only way that we can make sure that the executive follows the legislative mandate of Congress and that the resources provided by the taxpayer are properly used to limit fraud, waste and abuse. So I understand the spirit in which he acts.

I think his desire for transparency is spot on, and I agree with it. I think the position of the chairman, Mr. Towns of New York, is that we have included a provision in another bill recently passed that would provide for all of that. I understand, however, that the belt-and- suspenders approach that the gentleman would like to see, which is, let's put it in every bill that we send over there, is germane. And I respect that urgency.

However, I do in this case agree with the chairman that we have addressed those concerns in the other bill, and we will need to be diligent in making sure that the effect of that language is carried into law.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise to claim time in opposition.

As it is presently.

As has been recounted by my friend from Massachusetts, the amendment which was in the bill that would have given the GAO the ability to audit the Fed was taken out of the bill; and the bill, as it was introduced originally, is before this Congress. I question the wisdom of moving on this bill, absent a provision to audit the Fed prior to the Senate acting because suppose the Senate, which has the ability to go any direction on this, suppose the Senate strips out the provision that I did support, the Ron Paul provision, the Senate strips that out, and then we have stripped out a provision in our bill. It just sends a signal to the Fed that it's business as usual.

That's the reason I am raising this question right now, because it hasn't passed the Senate. If it passed the Senate, I would not be on the floor challenging this legislation. Because if it had been passed, it went through conference, then finally at last the Fed is going to be held accountable; but we aren't that far along yet.

So I bring on the first day of legislative action in this second session of the 111th Congress a bill to the floor that essentially gives the Fed what they want, which is they don't want any oversight at all. And why was this brought forward in the first place? Because Congress and our committee, particularly, depend on the Government Accountability Office and the audits and the reviews they perform to assist us in helping us justify our oversight responsibilities.

But GAO currently, unless the law changes, cannot perform audits or conduct reviews of the various credit facilities that the Federal Reserve created. And due to an express prohibition on auditing monetary activities of the Fed containing section 714 of title 31, GAO isn't allowed to assist Congress in conducting oversight on the Fed's role.

Now, this Congress voted for the financial reforms. A majority of Members of Congress signed on to Mr. Paul's very strong proposal to audit the Fed. I was one of those signatories. So this isn't a question of whether we want to audit the Fed or not. A majority of the Members of Congress agree on that. Well, why start off this new year with a bill that strips that provision out long before the Senate acts? Let's see what the Senate is going to do. That's why I didn't want to see this bill brought to the floor at a time when the Senate hasn't acted on the Fed language; and if we go ahead and take that language out of our bill, some could read it in the Senate as a green light to strip out the Paul provision, which is a much stronger provision than what I brought forward in my amendment.

So those are the concerns that I wanted to bring forward and air them publicly, and just ask Members--a cautionary note here about what's happening with respect to the Fed. Since a majority of Members of Congress already want to audit the Fed, why should we go and weaken our position by passing a bill that strips out audit provisions before the Senate has acted on the bill that contains the Paul amendment?

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

I want to say to my friend from Massachusetts, you and I both support our Chair. We support the oversight function of our committee and of the Congress, and that is the spirit in which I rise. Also, I think it's critical that we track this financial reform legislation as it moves through the Senate to make sure that the provisions that were put in by Representative Paul are not going to be stripped. I would not want the Senate to misinterpret the stripping of a Federal audit provision from a government oversight bill as being an indication of the weakening of the intention of Congress to hold the Fed accountable.

So it's for that reason that I raise that issue, and I appreciate the gentleman's remarks.

I yield back the balance of my time.

No, I am not.

As noted all year, oversight and accountability are critically important. This bill provides GAO additional process authorities regarding access to information and enhances GAO's ability to carry out its mission. The GAO has done a long-standing right-of- access to agency records. On occasion, its efforts have been frustrated and delayed by agencies refusing to provide GAO with copies of necessary records or by a lack of willingness on the part of agency officers and employees to discuss the content of records or provide background information relevant to programs under review.

This bill augments the GAO's existing access authority by confirming GAO's right to make and retain copies of records and by providing GAO with the right to interview agency officers and employees. In addition, the bill requires agencies to interpret statutes as requiring disclosure of information to GAO unless the statute expressly prohibits disclosure to GAO. Finally, the bill makes some commonsense changes to the Comptroller General's ability to administer oaths as well as agency reporting requirements.

Madam Speaker, Congress looks to the GAO to assist with the investigative and oversight functions vested in the legislative branch. This bill is intended to increase the effectiveness of GAO by ensuring that the agency is not unnecessarily restricted in its efforts to secure necessary information when performing these necessary and important functions.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding his time.