§ 8. Additional provisions with respect to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense
(a)
No member of the Armed Forces, active or reserve, shall be appointed Inspector General of the Department of Defense.
(b)
(1)
Notwithstanding the last two sentences of section
3
(a), the Inspector General shall be under the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense with respect to audits or investigations, or the issuance of subpoenas, which require access to information concerning—
(2)
With respect to the information described in paragraph (1) the Secretary of Defense may prohibit the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation, or from issuing any subpoena, after the Inspector General has decided to initiate, carry out or complete such audit or investigation or to issue such subpoena, if the Secretary determines that such prohibition is necessary to preserve the national security interests of the United States.
(3)
If the Secretary of Defense exercises any power under paragraph (1) or (2), the Inspector General shall submit a statement concerning such exercise within thirty days to the Committees on Armed Services and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives and to other appropriate committees or subcommittees of the Congress.
(c)
In addition to the other duties and responsibilities specified in this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense shall—
(1)
be the principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense for matters relating to the prevention and detection of fraud, waste, and abuse in the programs and operations of the Department;
(2)
initiate, conduct, and supervise such audits and investigations in the Department of Defense (including the military departments) as the Inspector General considers appropriate;
(3)
provide policy direction for audits and investigations relating to fraud, waste, and abuse and program effectiveness;
(4)
investigate fraud, waste, and abuse uncovered as a result of other contract and internal audits, as the Inspector General considers appropriate;
(5)
develop policy, monitor and evaluate program performance, and provide guidance with respect to all Department activities relating to criminal investigation programs;
(6)
monitor and evaluate the adherence of Department auditors to internal audit, contract audit, and internal review principles, policies, and procedures;
(7)
develop policy, evaluate program performance, and monitor actions taken by all components of the Department in response to contract audits, internal audits, internal review reports, and audits conducted by the Comptroller General of the United States;
(d)
Notwithstanding section
4
(d), the Inspector General of the Department of Defense shall expeditiously report suspected or alleged violations of chapter
47 of title
10, United States Code (Uniform Code of Military Justice), to the Secretary of the military department concerned or the Secretary of Defense.
(e)
For the purposes of section
7, a member of the Armed Forces shall be deemed to be an employee of the Department of Defense, except that, when the Coast Guard operates as a service of another department or agency of the Federal Government, a member of the Coast Guard shall be deemed to be an employee of such department or agency.
(f)
(1)
Each semiannual report prepared by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense under section
5
(a) shall include information concerning the numbers and types of contract audits conducted by the Department during the reporting period. Each such report shall be transmitted by the Secretary of Defense to the Committees on Armed Services and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives and to other appropriate committees or subcommittees of the Congress.
(g)
The provisions of section
1385 of title
18, United States Code, shall not apply to audits and investigations conducted by, under the direction of, or at the request of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(h)
(1)
There is a General Counsel to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, who shall be appointed by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense.
(i)
(1)
The Inspector General of the Department of Defense is authorized to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses as necessary in the performance of functions assigned to the Inspector General by this Act, except that the Inspector General shall use procedures other than subpoenas to obtain attendance and testimony from Federal employees.