§7113 — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

From fiscal year 2013 on, all grants the Attorney General gives under this title must follow new accountability rules to stop waste and misuse. The Justice Department Inspector General must audit grantees starting the first fiscal year after March 7, 2013, and decide how many audits to do each year. Unresolved audit finding — an Inspector General finding that grant money was used improperly and the problem is not fixed within 12 months after the final audit report. If a grantee has an unresolved audit finding, it cannot get grants for the first 2 fiscal years that start after that 12‑month period ends. The Attorney General must give priority to applicants who had no unresolved findings in the 3 fiscal years before they apply. If a barred grantee is wrongly paid, the Attorney General must put an equal amount into the General Fund of the Treasury and try to get that money back from the grantee. Nonprofit organization — a tax‑exempt 501(c)(3). Nonprofits that hold money offshore to avoid the tax in 26 U.S.C. 511(a) cannot get grants. Nonprofits using the special officer‑pay review process must explain that process and provide supporting data in their application; the Attorney General must make that information public on request. No DOJ funds may be used for a conference that costs more than $20,000 unless the Deputy Attorney General or a designated official gives prior written approval that includes a full cost estimate (food, A/V, speaker fees, entertainment). The Deputy Attorney General must send an annual report on approved conference spending to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. Starting the first fiscal year after March 7, 2013, the Attorney General must yearly certify to the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees whether audits were completed and reviewed, required exclusions were made, reimbursements were paid, and must list any excluded grant recipients. For fiscal year 2018 and after, the rule about “grants awarded by the Attorney General under this title” also covers grants under 34 U.S.C. 20333 and 34 U.S.C. 20709c.

Title 22, §7113

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)For fiscal year 2013, and each fiscal year thereafter, all grants awarded by the Attorney General under this title or an Act amended by this title shall be subject to the following accountability provisions:

(1)(A)In this paragraph, the term “unresolved audit finding” means an audit report finding in the final audit report of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice that the grantee has used grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved during the 12-month period beginning on the date on which the final audit report is issued 11 So in original. Probably should be followed by a period.

(B)Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning after March 7, 2013, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of grants under this title or an Act amended by this title to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the appropriate number of grantees to be audited each year.

(C)A recipient of grant funds under this title or an Act amended by this title that is found to have an unresolved audit finding shall not be eligible to receive grant funds under this title or an Act amended by this title during the first 2 fiscal years beginning after the end of the 12-month period described in subparagraph (A).

(D)In awarding grants under this title or an Act amended by this title, the Attorney General shall give priority to eligible applicants that did not have an unresolved audit finding during the 3 fiscal years before submitting an application for a grant under this title or an Act amended by this title.

(E)If an entity is awarded grant funds under this title or an Act amended by this title during the 2-fiscal-year period during which the entity is barred from receiving grants under subparagraph (C), the Attorney General shall—

(i)deposit an amount equal to the amount of the grant funds that were improperly awarded to the grantee into the General Fund of the Treasury; and

(ii)seek to recoup the costs of the repayment to the fund from the grant recipient that was erroneously awarded grant funds.

(2)(A)For purposes of this paragraph and the grant programs under this title or an Act amended by this title, the term “nonprofit organization” means an organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of title 26 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such title.

(B)The Attorney General may not award a grant under this title or an Act amended by this title to a nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in section 511(a) of title 26.

(C)Each nonprofit organization that is awarded a grant under this title or an Act amended by this title and uses the procedures prescribed in regulations to create a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness for the compensation of its officers, directors, trustees and key employees, shall disclose to the Attorney General, in the application for the grant, the process for determining such compensation, including the independent persons involved in reviewing and approving such compensation, the comparability data used, and contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and decision. Upon request, the Attorney General shall make the information disclosed under this subparagraph available for public inspection.

(3)(A)No amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Justice under this title or an Act amended by this title may be used by the Attorney General, or by any individual or entity awarded discretionary funds through a cooperative agreement under this title or an Act amended by this title, to host or support any expenditure for conferences that uses more than $20,000 in funds made available to the Department of Justice, unless the Deputy Attorney General or the appropriate Assistant Attorney General, Director, or principal deputy (as designated by the Deputy Attorney General) provides prior written authorization that the funds may be expended to host the conference.

(B)Written approval under subparagraph (A) shall include a written estimate of all costs associated with the conference, including the cost of all food, beverages, audio-visual equipment, honoraria for speakers, and entertainment.

(C)The Deputy Attorney General shall submit an annual report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives on all conference expenditures approved under this paragraph.

(4)Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning after March 7, 2013, the Attorney General shall submit, to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, an annual certification indicating whether—

(A)all audits issued by the Office of the Inspector General under paragraph (1) have been completed and reviewed by the appropriate Assistant Attorney General or Director;

(B)all mandatory exclusions required under paragraph (1)(C) have been issued;

(C)all reimbursements required under paragraph (1)(E) have been made; and

(D)includes a list of any grant recipients excluded under paragraph (1) from the previous year.

(b)For purposes of subsection (a), for fiscal year 2018, and each fiscal year thereafter, the term “grant awarded by the Attorney General under this title or an Act amended by this title” includes a grant under any of the following:

(1)Section 20333 of title 34.

(2)The program under section 20709c of title 34.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This title, referred to in text, means title XII of Pub. L. 113–4, Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 136. For complete classification of this title to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was enacted as part of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, and not as part of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 which comprises this chapter.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–393 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, substituted “For fiscal year 2013, and each fiscal year thereafter, all grants” for “All grants” in introductory provisions, and added subsec. (b).

§7113 Accountability