Legislative Oversight and Defense Agencies

Testimony was given concerning congressional requests for information on the evolution of certain defense agencies and defense activities. GAO found that: (1) Department of Defense (DOD) officials believe that congressional inquiries for information on defense activities have imposed an immense burden on it; (2) the increase in requests for information on defense activities came primarily from committees which have had jurisdiction over the DOD budget; (3) the average number of committees requesting hearings has nearly tripled; and (4) the average number of congressional written and telephone inquiries have decreased by 34 and 18 percent, respectively. GAO also found that: (1) in order to provide a ready reference for congressional members to consider issues involving defense agencies, current and historical information on the method used to create each of the agencies, the evolution of their assigned missions, and their budget and staffing levels were needed; and (2) generally, most of the defense agencies experienced only moderate growth in staffing levels between 1975 and 1986.