Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report
Gao ID: GAO-03-341R December 2, 2002Section 1308 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 requires the Comptroller General to provide Congress with an assessment of the Department of Defense's annual report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program within 90 days of the submission of the annual report to Congress. The Department of Defense submitted its CTR annual report for Fiscal Year 2002 to Congress on September 3, 2002 almost 19 months after the submission date mandated by law. GAO found that the report (1) did not clearly set forth future funding data required by Congress, (2) did not include certain important planning elements, (3) in some instances asserted the use of a more rigorous methodology than was actually used, and (4) incorporated some but not all prior GAO recommendations.
GAO-03-341R, Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report
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United States General Accounting Office:
GAO:
GAO-03-341R:
United States General Accounting Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
December 2, 2002:
The Honorable Carl Levin:
Chairman:
The Honorable John Warner:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Bob Stump:
Chairman:
The Honorable Ike Skelton:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
House of Representatives:
Subject: Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report:
Section 1308(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2001 (P.L. 106-398) requires the Comptroller General to provide
Congress with an assessment of the Department of Defense‘s annual
report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program within 90 days
of the submission of the annual report to Congress. The Department of
Defense submitted its CTR annual report for Fiscal Year 2002 to
Congress on September 3, 2002, almost 19 months after the submission
date mandated by law.
On November 22, 2002, we briefed members of your staff on our
assessment of the CTR annual report for Fiscal Year 2002. In summary,
we found that the report (1) did not clearly set forth future funding
data required by Congress, (2) did not include certain important
planning elements, (3) in some instances asserted the use of a more
rigorous methodology than was actually used, and (4) incorporated some
but not all prior GAO recommendations. We also noted that we had not
assessed the validity of the data contained in the annual report
because the Department of Defense had not updated most of that data
prior to the report‘s late submission.
We performed our work in Washington, D.C., from September 2002 through
November 2002 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards.
We obtained comments on the information contained in the enclosure from
the Director of the Department of Defense‘s CTR Policy Office. In
general he concurred with our findings.
We are sending copies of this report to the Honorable Donald Rumsfield,
Secretary of Defense, and interested congressional committees. The
report will also be available at no charge on GAO‘s home page at
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staff have any questions regarding this assessment,
please contact me at (202) 512-8979. James Shafer, Beth Anne Hoffman
León, Hynek Kalkus, Pierre Toureille, and Lynn Cothern also made key
contributions to this report.
Sincerely,
Singed by:
Joseph Christoff:
Director, International Affairs and Trade:
Enclosure:
[End of letter]
Enclosure:
Cooperative Threat Reduction Annual Report for FY 2002:
Briefing to the Staffs of the Armed Services Committees:
November 22, 2002:
Overview:
* Background;
* GAO Objectives;
* Results;
* Five Year Plan;
* Accountability Report.
Background:
Congress began requiring annual Cooperative Threat Reduction reports on
planning and accountability in the mid-1990s:
DOD‘s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program helps former Soviet
states in reducing threat of weapons of mass destruction.
In mid-1990s, Congress directed DOD to report annually on CTR
multiyear planning and accountability efforts.
* Multiyear plan for DOD‘s use of the amounts provided for CTR;
intended to guide preparation of annual budgets;
- due with budget justification materials;
* Report on efforts to ensure that CTR aid was being accounted for and
used as intended;
- due January 31st of each year;
- GAO assessment required 30 days after report‘s submission.
Congress consolidated CTR reporting requirements in 2000 to facilitate
more timely submission of data:
DOD typically submitted CTR planning and accountability reports to
Congress months after they were due.
Congress consolidated CTR reporting requirements in 2000:
* Cited need for more timely submission of data;
* Required that the new CTR annual report include:
- plan setting forth amount and purpose of funding to be provided over
next 5 years; to guide preparation of annual budgets;
- section describing efforts to ensure that CTR aid is being accounted
for and used as intended;
* Required that annual report be submitted first Monday of February.
Congress also required GAO to provide Congress with its assessment of
the five-year plan and the accountability section within 90 days of the
annual report‘s submission.
First consolidated CTR annual report submitted 19 months late:
First consolidated CTR annual report (for fiscal year 2002) was due
February 5, 2001.
DOD submitted the FY 2002 annual report on September 3, 2002;
* Information generally not updated beyond January 2001 information cut
off date.
According to DOD officials, late submission was result of:
* Questions regarding out year budgets and program scope, due in part
to new administration‘s review of CTR program;
* Absence of confirmed DOD officials during the transition;
* Relatively low priority;
* September 11 aftermath.
GAO Objectives:
* Determine whether five-year plan addresses congressional requirements
and federal strategic planning guidance;
* Determine whether accountability section addresses congressional
requirements and past GAO recommendations.
Results in Brief:
FY 2002 five-year plan:
* does not clearly address all congressional requirements (does not
clearly not set forth the amount of CTR funding to be provided over 5
years);
* does not include important planning elements.
Accountability section:
* addresses the elements required by Congress;
* asserts use of more rigorous methodology than actually used;
* incorporates some but not all prior GAO recommendations.
Results: Five-Year Plan:
Plan does not clearly set forth amount of CTR funding:
Plan does not clearly set forth the amount of funding that DOD planned
to provide over the five-year term of the plan;
* Amount must be deduced from summary table; $2.173 billion was planned
to have been provided over FY 2003-2007;
* Previous CTR multiyear plan (FY 2001) had clearly presented five-year
funding amount by fiscal year.
According to DOD officials, DOD comptroller was unwilling to endorse a
clearer presentation in the FY 2002 five-year plan, due to uncertainty
regarding program‘s out year budgets and scope.
Plan does not systematically incorporate key federal strategic planning
elements:
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) strategic plans should
include:
* Description of external factors beyond the agency‘s control that could
affect its achievement of program goals;
* Annual performance goals that are based on objective measures of
results and linked to long-term goals;
* Plans for evaluations to help establish or revise program goals.
Such elements could help guide preparation of annual CTR budgets but
are not systematically incorporated in the five-year CTR plan sent to
Congress.
GPRA-related plan is being developed for internal use by CTR
implementing agency (Defense Threat Reduction Agency).
Results: Accountability Section:
Addresses the elements required by Congress:
* Describes the condition and location of CTR-furnished equipment;
* Discusses the status of contracts and services and methods to ensure
intended use;
* Determines whether assistance provided has been used for the purpose
intended;
* Describes the audits and examinations and other such efforts planned
for the next year.
Asserts use of more rigorous methodology than actually used:
* Asserts the use of a statistically significant sample on an audit and
examination (A&E) visit;
* Statistically significant sample not used on A&E visit.
The report incorporates some, but not all, prior GAO recommendations:
Recommendations regarding the completeness of information provided
(from GAO‘s 2000 report) have been incorporated;
* Listing of services included in report;
* Listing of assistance is cumulative from start of program.
Recommendations regarding the planning and scope of A&Es (from GAO‘s
2001 report) are not reflected.
[End of enclosure]
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