H.R. 6450 — what changed
Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2016
From Introduced in House to Received in Senate. 2 sections amended between Introduced in House and Received in Senate.
Sec. 4 Reports and additional information
Report on vacancies in the offices of inspector general— The Comptroller General of the United States shall—
conduct a study of prolonged vacancies in the Offices of Inspector General during which a temporary appointee has served as the head of the office that includes—
the number and duration of Inspector General vacancies;
an examination of the extent to which the number and duration of such vacancies has changed over time;
an evaluation of the impact such vacancies have had on the ability of the relevant Office of Inspector General to effectively carry out statutory requirements; and
recommendations to minimize the duration of such vacancies;
not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, present a briefing on the findings of the study conducted under paragraph (1) to—
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives; and
not later than 15 months after the date of enactment of this Act, submit a report on the findings of the study conducted under paragraph (1) to the committees described in paragraph (2).
Report on issues involving multiple offices of inspector general— The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency shall—
conduct an analysis of critical issues that involve the jurisdiction of more than one individual Federal agency or entity to identify—
each such issue that could be better addressed through greater coordination among, and cooperation between, individual Offices of Inspector General;
the best practices that can be employed by the Offices of Inspector General to increase coordination and cooperation on each issue identified; and
any recommended statutory changes that would facilitate coordination and cooperation among the Offices of Inspector General on critical issues; and
not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, submit a report on the findings of the analysis described in paragraph (1) to—
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives.
Additional information— Section 5 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App) is amended—
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (10)—
by striking “period for which” and inserting “period—
“(A) for which”
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) for which no establishment comment was returned within 60 days of providing the report to the establishment; and
“(C) for which there are any outstanding unimplemented recommendations, including the aggregate potential cost savings of those recommendations.”
in paragraph (15), by striking “and” at the end;
in paragraph (16), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(17) statistical tables showing—
“(A) the total number of investigative reports issued during the reporting period;
“(B) the total number of persons referred to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution during the reporting period;
“(C) the total number of persons referred to State and local prosecuting authorities for criminal prosecution during the reporting period; and
changed
“(D) the total number of indictments and criminal information informations during the reporting period that resulted from any prior referral to prosecuting authorities;
“(18) a description of the metrics used for developing the data for the statistical tables under paragraph (17);
“(19) a report on each investigation conducted by the Office involving a senior Government employee where allegations of misconduct were substantiated, including a detailed description of—
“(A) the facts and circumstances of the investigation; and
“(B) the status and disposition of the matter, including—
“(i) if the matter was referred to the Department of Justice, the date of the referral; and
“(ii) if the Department of Justice declined the referral, the date of the declination;
“(20) a detailed description of any instance of whistleblower retaliation, including information about the official found to have engaged in retaliation and what, if any, consequences the establishment imposed to hold that official accountable;
“(21) a detailed description of any attempt by the establishment to interfere with the independence of the Office, including—
“(A) with budget constraints designed to limit the capabilities of the Office; and
“(B) incidents where the establishment has resisted or objected to oversight activities of the Office or restricted or significantly delayed access to information, including the justification of the establishment for such action; and
“(22) detailed descriptions of the particular circumstances of each—
“(A) inspection, evaluation, and audit conducted by the Office that is closed and was not disclosed to the public; and
“(B) investigation conducted by the Office involving a senior Government employee that is closed and was not disclosed to the public.”
in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following:
“(4) Subject to any other provision of law that would otherwise prohibit disclosure of such information, the information described in paragraph (1) may be provided to any Member of Congress upon request.
“(5) An Office may not provide to Congress or the public any information that reveals the personally identifiable information of a whistleblower under this section unless the Office first obtains the consent of the whistleblower.”
in subsection (f)—
in paragraph (5), by striking “and” at the end;
in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(7) the term senior Government employee means—
“(A) an officer or employee in the executive branch (including a special Government employee as defined in section 202 of title 18, United States Code) who occupies a position classified at or above GS–15 of the General Schedule or, in the case of positions not under the General Schedule, for which the rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule; and
“(B) any commissioned officer in the Armed Forces in pay grades O–6 and above.”
Duty To submit and make available to the public certain recommendations— Section 4 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(e)
“(1) In carrying out the duties and responsibilities established under this Act, whenever an Inspector General issues a recommendation for corrective action to the agency, the Inspector General—
“(A) shall submit the document making a recommendation for corrective action to—
“(i) the head of the establishment;
“(ii) the congressional committees of jurisdiction; and
“(iii) if the recommendation for corrective action was initiated upon request by an individual or entity other than the Inspector General, that individual or entity;
“(B) may submit the document making a recommendation for corrective action to any Member of Congress upon request; and
“(C) not later than 3 days after the recommendation for corrective action is submitted in final form to the head of the establishment, post the document making a recommendation for corrective action on the website of the Office of Inspector General.
“(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as authorizing an Inspector General to publicly disclose information otherwise prohibited from disclosure by law.”
Posting of reports on websites of Offices of Inspectors General— Section 8M(b) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—
in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “is made publicly available” and inserting “is submitted in final form to the head of the Federal agency or the head of the designated Federal entity, as applicable”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(3) Rule of construction—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as authorizing an Inspector General to publicly disclose information otherwise prohibited from disclosure by law.”
Sec. 8 No additional funds authorized
changed
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act or the amendments made by this Act. The requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall be carried out using amounts otherwise appropriated.authorized.