ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES OF U.S. GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE PROGRAM AND PERFORMANCE FISCAL YEAR 1977 U.S. GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES OF WORK UNDER THE "DIRECT ASSISTANCE" PROGRAM CATEGORY The examples in this attachment are illustrative of the wide range of subject matter and interest areas covered by requests made by committees and by individual members. To highlight this, we have arranged them generally by subject matter. Administration of the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act In 1975 we recommended legislative changes to the Congress and made several recommendations to the Secretary of State to strengthen the administration of the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. The Act prohibits U.S. Government employees from soliciting gifts and decorations from other governments and discourages the acceptance of unsolicited gifts and decorations. However, no new legislation has been passed on our recommendations; neither had the Secretary of State generally implemented our recommendations made to him. In June 1977, we issued a follow-up report (ID-77-31) which stressed the continued need for actions so that the letter and spirit of the law would be carried out. On August 17, 1977, Public Law 95-105 amended the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act (5 U.S.C. 7342) which will accomplish the intent of our recommendations. Agricultural Research Planning We reported to the Chairman, Joint Economic Committee, in August 1977 that the planning for agricultural research had been fragmented and an overall national agricultural research plan had not been maintained. We recommended that the Secretary of Agriculture take necessary steps to develop and maintain a national agricultural research plan. The Department agreed that improvements were needed in long-range planning but did not take a position on this recommendation. All-Volunteer Force (AVF) At the request of the Chairman, Subcommittee on Manpower and Personnel, Senate Committee on Armed Services, we are attempting to determine the "true" cost of the AVF. To the extent possible, we plan to determine all direct and indirect cost attributable to the AVF. This assignment also relates to a prior Congressional request to do follow-up work on the issues raised by the Defense Manpower Commission. We plan reporting on the results of our work in February 1978. Antibiotics in Animal Feed On June 27, 1977, we issued a report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, on FDA's regulation of antibiotics used in animal feeds. We recommended that (1) FDA promptly determine the safety and effectiveness of antibiotics used in animal feeds and withdraw approval of those not shown to be safe and effective, (2) policy advisory committees be used to review only broad policy matters, and (3) committee members be made aware of their responsibilities and restrictions under conflict of interest laws and regulations. FDA agreed with our first recommendation and proposed to ban all uses of penicillin in animal feeds and announced its intention to seek a similar ban on many subtherapeutic uses of tetracyclines in animal feeds. On September 19, 1977, we testified before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, on the results of our review. Antirecession Assistance Program In testimony on March 2, 1977, before the House Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations and Human Resources, we reported on the preliminary results of our legislatively-mandated review of the impact of the $2 billion Antirecession Assistance Program on the operations of State and local governments. Our testimony and data were cited by the Subcommittee Chairman and other congressmen when a bill to review the program was deliberated. A summary report was issued to the Congress on July 20, 1977, and three reports describing more specifically the impact of the program are scheduled to be issued in early 1978. At the request of the Subcommittee chairman, we are returning to the same 52 State and and local governments to obtain updated information that would be of assistance to the Congress when it considers renewal of the program in the spring of 1978. Army's Financial Management Systems In response to a request from the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee to review potential Army violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act, we issued a report on November 5, 1976, entitled "Serious Breakdown in Army's Financial Management Systems". The report showed that the Army had obligated more than $200 million in excess of appropriated funds and cited the main causes of Army's difficulties, including extensive delays in improving its systems so that they could be approved by the Comptroller General. The Committee subsequently held hearings and the Army was asked to increase its efforts to have its systems approved by the Comptroller General. Pursuant to the Chairman's request we are now engaged in reviews of Air Force and Navy financial systems to determine whether they are having problems similar to the Army's. On November 1, 1977, we issued a report on the Air Force System and cited problems similar to the Army's. We are continuing our review of the Navy's system. Black Lung Claims Processing At the request of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Human Resources, we reviewed the Department of Labor's actions in processing black lung claims and its success in achieving the intent of the 1972 amendments to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. We reported to the Committee that Labor had not achieved the results contemplated by the act and its amendments, had been slow in adjudicating claims, had approved few claims, had paid out little in benefits, and had a large backlog of claims. We made several recommendations to the Secretaries of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare to correct management problems. We also made legislative recommendations for the Congress to consider. Bureau of Indian Affairs On August 9, 1977, the Subcommittee on the Department of Interior and related agencies, Senate Committee on Appropriations, requested a comprehensive review of several aspects of the Bureau of Indian Affairs operations, including the Bureau's controls over administrative expenses and program funds to assist the Indians. We will evaluate the adequacy of accounting system controls to insure realistic budgets and proper obligations and expenditures of funds for administrative expenses and assistance-type programs. Chemical Munitions Policy In a classified report, dated September 21, 1977, we discussed the issues facing the Congress regarding the United States' lethal chemical munitions policy. These issues should be addressed before the Congress decides to fund a program to maintain or upgrade the existing chemical munitions stockpile. Coordination of Transportation Services At the request of the Senate Committee on Public Works (now the Committee on Environment and Public Works), we reviewed the coordination of transportation services provided to participants in Federal grant programs. We identified 114 programs, administered by 11 departments and agencies, which provide for transportation of people. We found confusion at all government levels about the extent of transportation coordination that is permissible for federally funded projects. We recommended that the Congress endorse the concept of transportation coordination, and that the Office of Management and Budget provide clear guidance to grantees on procedures for sharing transportation resources, allocating shared project costs and reimburseing of shared costs. Defense Internal Audit The House Committee on Government Operations requested audits of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Defense Internal Audit Organizations. Reports on these four organizations were issued separately on the following dates Defense, January 27, July 14, and October 31, 1977; Army, July 26, 1977, and Navy and Air Force, November 11, 1977. Hearings were held on the Army and Defense internal audit agencies on July 27, 1977. Significant changes have resulted in the Army Audit Agency from this work including raising the reporting level of the agency, providing for a civilian rather than a military head, removing restrictions on audit work, and reducing the effort on less significant work. We are advised the further hearings are planned on the Navy and Air Force Audit Services in January or February of 1978. Department of Defense Appropriated Funds Reports which we will issue shortly on inadequate administrative control over appropriated funds in the Department of Defense and failure to recover all costs of articles sold to foreign governments will no doubt generate requests for congressional assistance work in FY 1979. We anticipate the requests will ask us to focus on the adequacy of corrective actions the Department of Defense has taken and/or plans to take in response to our report recommendations. Earth Resource Information System In a June 1977 report on Landsat's role in an earth resources information system, we stated that Landsat's possible evolution from an experimental project to an operational system raises many issues-technical, political, economic, institutional, and international--which should be considered now. We stated that a Federal commitment to support an operational system should be made only if further study shows that the possible benefits justify the expenses and resources needed to establish the system. The report was the basis for our testimony in June 1977 on the merits of S.657, the "Earth Resources and Environmental Information Systems Act of 1977." Feasibility Study of a New Denver Mint In response to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, we reviewed of the need for a new Denver Mint for meeting projected coin demand. It was determined that the Bureau of the Mint's current coin producing capability of 18.1 billion coins annually would be exceeded in the early 1980's if projected demand develops. However, the amount that coin demand will exceed coin producing capacity depends on the demand forecast model that is used. Rather than build a new Mint, we recommended that the Bureau use other available options for increasing coin producing capacity, thereby delaying or perhaps eliminating the need for major expansion of production capacity. Based on briefings we provided prior to issuing our report, the committee stopped action on the request by the Department of Treasury for a new $65 million Denver Mint. Federal Employees Group Life Insurance We reported to the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee that a comparison of the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program with life insurance benefits provided by major non-Federal employers showed that life insurance coverage is superior in the nonFederal sector and usually is free to employees. Moreover, FEGLI premiums are much higher than those in the non-Federal sector. Federal Human Nutrition Research A report in process covering Federal human nutrition research states the need for a coordinated approach to advance our knowledge in this area. The report will point out that no Federal department or agency has human nutrition as its primary mission, and that comprehensive and consolidated knowledge on the subject is lacking. Substantial knowledge remains to be developed in a number of important nutritional areas. A summary of the draft report was submitted as a statement for the record in hearings conducted by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology. |