[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5267 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5267

 To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct an 
 audit of the expenditures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 25, 2024

   Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct an 
 audit of the expenditures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    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 ``FEMA Operational Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. AUDIT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 
an audit on the expenditures of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency.
    (b) Contents.--The audit conducted under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) detail payments made by the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency for--
                    (A) individual assistance under section 408 of the 
                Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
                Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174);
                    (B) the Public Assistance Program of the Federal 
                Emergency Management Agency;
                    (C) hazard mitigation under section 404 of the 
                Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
                Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c); and
                    (D) Federal agency mission assignments in 
                anticipation of, or in response to, a major disaster or 
                emergency declared under section 401 or 501, 
                respectively, of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
                and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191);
            (2) compare the payments for the programs described in 
        paragraph (1) to the administrative cost of those programs;
            (3) describe the role of personnel hired to administer each 
        program described in paragraph (1);
            (4) describe the amount of the Disaster Relief Fund of the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency that is spent on 
        administrative costs for the programs described in paragraph 
        (1);
            (5) detail how workforce shortages the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency has been experiencing since 2020 have 
        impacted the administrative costs described in paragraph (4); 
        and
            (6) include recommendations for reducing amounts spent on 
        administrative costs and ensuring that disaster survivors, 
        especially in rural communities, receive the most relief 
        possible.
    (c) Submission.--With respect to the audit conducted under 
subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            (1) submit to Congress the audit; and
            (2) make the audit publicly available.
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