[Congressional Record: July 29, 2008 (House)]
[Page H7192-H7194]
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008
Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 6388) to provide additional authorities to the Comptroller
General of the United States, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6388
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Government Accountability
Office Improvement Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS.
(a) Authority To Obtain Records.--Section 716 of title 31,
United States Code, is amended in subsection (a)--
(1) by striking ``(a)'' and inserting ``(2)''; and
(2) by inserting after the section heading the following:
``(a)(1) The Comptroller General is authorized to obtain
such agency records as the Comptroller General requires to
discharge his duties (including audit, evaluation, and
investigative duties), including through the bringing of
civil actions under this section. In reviewing a civil action
under this section, the court shall recognize the continuing
force and effect of the authorization in the preceding
sentence until such time as the authorization is repealed
pursuant to law.''.
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(b) Interviews.--Section 716(a) of title 31, United States
Code, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended in the
second sentence of paragraph (2) by inserting ``and interview
agency officers and employees'' after ``agency record''.
SEC. 3. ADMINISTERING OATHS.
Section 711 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
``(4) administer oaths to witnesses, except that, in
matters other than auditing and settling accounts, the
authority of an officer or employee to administer oaths to
witnesses pursuant to a delegation under paragraph (2) shall
not be available without the prior express approval of the
Comptroller General (or a designee).''.
SEC. 4. ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION.
(a) Access to Certain Information.--Subchapter II of
chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 721. Access to certain information
``(a) No provision of the Social Security Act shall be
construed to limit, amend, or supersede the authority of the
Comptroller General to obtain any information, to inspect any
record, or to interview any officer or employee under section
716 of this title, including with respect to any information
disclosed to or obtained by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services under part C or D of title XVIII of the Social
Security Act.
``(b) No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the
authority of the Comptroller General to obtain any
information, to inspect any record, or to interview any
officer or employee under section 716 of this title,
including with respect to any information concerning any
method or process which as a trade secret is entitled to
protection.
``(c) No provision of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust
Improvements Act of 1976 and the amendments made by that Act
shall be construed to limit, amend, or supersede the
authority of the Comptroller General to obtain any
information, to inspect any record, or to interview any
officer or employee under section 716 of this title,
including with respect to any information disclosed to the
Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the
Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission for
purposes of pre-merger review under section 7A of the Clayton
Act (15 U.S.C. 18a).
``(d)(1) The Comptroller General shall prescribe such
policies and procedures as are necessary to protect from
public disclosure proprietary or trade secret information
obtained consistent with this section.
``(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed--
``(A) to alter or amend the prohibitions against the
disclosure of trade secret or other sensitive information
prohibited by section 1905 of title 18 and other applicable
laws; or
``(B) to affect the applicability of section 716(e) of this
title, including the protections against unauthorized
disclosure contained in that section, to information obtained
consistent with this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 7 of
title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after
the item relating to section 720 the following:
``721. Access to certain information.''.
SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORTS.
Section 719 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(C), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and'';
(3) by adding at the end of subsection (b)(1) the
following:
``(D) for agencies subject to sections 901 to 903 and other
agencies designated by the Comptroller General, an assessment
of their overall degree of cooperation in making personnel
available for interview, providing written answers to
questions, submitting to an oath authorized by the
Comptroller General under section 711, granting access to
records, providing timely comments to draft reports, adopting
recommendations in reports and responding to such other
matters as the Comptroller General deems appropriate.'';
(4) in subsection (c)(2)(B), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(5) in subsection (c)(3), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and'', and
(6) by adding at the end of subsection (c) the following:
``(4) as soon as practicable when an agency does not,
within a reasonable time, respond to a request by the
Comptroller General regarding any matter described in
subsection (b)(1)(D).''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Waxman) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis)
will each control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days during which to revise and extend their
remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This bill, H.R. 6388, the Government Accountability Office
Improvement Act, is crucial legislation for protecting the taxpayers
from waste, fraud, and abuse, and it is a cornerstone of Congress'
efforts to improve oversight of the executive branch.
There are many details in this legislation, but the essence of this
bill before us is about fighting waste, fraud, and abuse. It gives GAO
access to the information it needs and helps Congress legislate
effectively. One of our most important jobs as Members of Congress is
to protect the interests of the Federal taxpayer.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to state at the outset that the most important issue in the
country right now is the rising cost of fuels, and we can't have that
debate because leadership on the other side refuses to allow us votes
on domestic exploration. And I wish we were talking about that today,
but let me say this. I'm going to speak for H.R. 6388, the Government
Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2008.
This bill does a number of things. First of all, one of the things it
does is overturn the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia's
decision in Walker v. Cheney where the court held the GAO lacked
standing to sue the Vice President to compel the release of information
pertaining to the Vice President's Energy Task Force. It was the first
time in its then-81-year-old history that the GAO filed suit against an
executive branch official regarding access to records. This is an
important issue for congressional power and oversight, and the White
House, for obvious reasons, is opposing the bill for that reason
institutionally. The White House is protecting the ``institution,'' the
executive branch, not the administration, which this bill doesn't
affect.
Our interests here should also be ``institutional'' as well making
sure that this Congress and future Congresses have this type of
oversight over future executives.
Last July, the GAO submitted to Congress a legislative proposal to
make a number of largely noncontroversial changes to their authorizing
statute. The Government Oversight and Reform Committee addressed many
of these reforms. The bill we're taking up today represents an effort
by Congress to strengthen and clarify GAO's investigative authority.
I had several concerns about this legislation as it was originally
introduced. The bill would have included new language giving GAO
specific access to Medicare Part D data held by the Department of
Health and Human Services, as well as trade secrets held by the Food
and Drug Administration. Congress has access to that information now.
We didn't think new language would be necessary.
The original bill also included broad language to expand GAO's
authority to interview agency employees and administer oaths to
witnesses in conjunction with investigations.
But I would add we, the Committee, adopted the amendment offered by
Chairman Waxman and myself to improve the original bill, and
specifically section 4 of the bill now includes language to ensure GAO
will protect the most sensitive data it obtains under this section.
Now section 4 will clarify GAO's access to data specific to Medicare
Part D held by the Department of Health and Human Services, trade
secrets held by the Food and Drug Administration and proprietary
commercial information held by the Antitrust Division of the Justice
Department and the Federal Trade Commission.
In its current form, these provisions are intended to remedy problems
that GAO has encountered in getting agencies to voluntarily turn over
such sensitive data.
The amendment adopted by the committee attempts to ensure that this
data containing valuable trade secrets and other confidential
commercial information is not disclosed.
While it's still not clear that we need this section, the amendment
adopted by the committee gives me a sufficient
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level of comfort that information containing trade secrets and other
confidential commercial data to which GAO has access will be protected
against improper disclosure.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for time and
yield back the balance of our time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 6388, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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