Department of Defense's Compliance with Statutory Requirements for Funding Military Operations Where Funds Were Not Provided in Advance
Gao ID: GAO-02-903R July 19, 2002Section 127a, title 10 of the United States Code provides the Department of Defense (DOD) with two options for funding nontraining deployments and operations when Congress has not provided funds in advance. These options involve waiving reimbursements for support services and transferring amounts from other DOD accounts. Section 127a prescribes specific procedures to be followed by DOD when these funding options are used; requires DOD to notify Congress of and report on certain new contingency operations; and states that the Comptroller General of the United States shall from time to time, and when requested by a Committee of Congress, conduct a review to determine whether DOD is complying with the statutory requirements and limitations. GAO found that DOD has complied with the requirements contained in section 127a. Since the current notification and reporting requirements of section 127a were enacted in 1996, DOD has provided congressional notification for four operations, involving Bosnia, Kosovo, hurricane relief in Central America, and East Timor. DOD has rarely used the funding options provided in section 127a. It used the section 127a funding option allowing waiver of reimbursement for units providing support once, for Bosnia operations in fiscal year 1996, and has never used the option allowing transfer of funds. However, DOD has used other options to fund contingency operations, such as using funds that were planned to be spent later in a fiscal year and seeking supplemental appropriations.
GAO-02-903R, Department of Defense's Compliance with Statutory Requirements for Funding Military Operations Where Funds Were Not Provided in Advance
This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-02-903R
entitled 'Department of Defense‘s Compliance with Statutory
Requirements for Funding Military Operations Where Funds Were Not
Provided in Advance' which was released on July 19, 2002.
This text file was formatted by the U.S. General Accounting Office
(GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a
longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every
attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of
the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text
descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the
end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided
but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed
version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic
replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail
your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this
document to Webmaster@gao.gov.
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this
material separately.
GAO-02-903R:
United States General Accounting Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
July 19, 2002:
Congressional Committees:
Subject: Department of Defense‘s Compliance with Statutory Requirements
for Funding Military Operations Where Funds Were Not Provided in
Advance:
Section 127a of title 10, United States Code, provides the Department
of Defense (DOD) with two options for funding nontraining deployments
and operations when Congress has not provided funds for these
operations in advance. These options involve waiving reimbursements for
support services and transferring amounts from other DOD accounts.
Section 127a prescribes specific procedures to be followed by DOD when
these funding options are used; requires DOD to notify Congress of and
report to Congress on certain new contingency operations; and states
that the Comptroller General of the United States shall from time to
time, and when requested by a committee of Congress, conduct a review
to determine whether the Department of Defense is complying with the
requirements and limitations of this section. This report responds to
that provision. Our objectives were to assess (1) whether DOD complied
with the notification and reporting requirements contained in 10 U.S.C.
127a and (2) DOD's use of its funding options.
Results in Brief:
DOD has complied with the requirements contained in 10 U.S.C. 127a.
Since the current notification and reporting requirements of section
127a were enacted in 1996, DOD has provided congressional notification
for four operations, involving Bosnia, Kosovo, hurricane relief in
Central America, and East Timor. In each instance, DOD complied with 10
U.S.C. 127a notification and reporting requirements.
DOD has rarely used the funding options provided in section 127a. It
used the section 127a funding option allowing waiver of reimbursement
for units providing support once, for Bosnia operations in fiscal year
1996, and has never used the option allowing transfer of funds. DOD
officials told us the Secretary appreciates having section 127a
available to fund future contingency operations, if needed. However, for
the most part, DOD has used other options to fund contingency
operations such as using funds that were planned to be spent later in a
fiscal year and seeking supplemental appropriations.
Background:
Section 127a of title 10, United States Code, provides two funding
options for certain operations for which funds are not provided in
advance. This section applies to any operation where the incremental
costs [Footnote 1] are expected to exceed $50 million for which
funds had not previously specifically been appropriated or where the
incremental costs, when added to the expected incremental costs of the
Department‘s other ongoing operations, will result in cumulative
incremental costs of more than $100 million. The Secretary of Defense
is authorized to use these funding options for any operation that
involves:
* the deployment (other than for a training exercise) of elements of
the Armed Forces for a purpose for which funds have not been
specifically provided in advance; or;
* the provision of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, or the
support of law enforcement where funds have not been specifically
provided in advance.
Section 127a requires that the Secretary of Defense designate an
operation meeting the criteria specified in the section as a
contingency and promptly notify Congress of that designation. The
Secretary is then authorized to both waive reimbursements and
transfer funds as follows:
* The Secretary shall direct that when a unit participating in an
operation described in section 127a receives services from a DOD
element that operates through the Defense Business Operating Fund (or a
successor fund) that unit may not be required to provide reimbursement.
* Separately, the Secretary may transfer amounts already appropriated
to DOD to accounts from which incremental expenses for the operation
were incurred in order to reimburse those accounts for the incremental
expenses. [Footnote 2] The total amount that the Secretary may transfer
under the authority of this section in any fiscal year is $200 million.
Section 127a also requires the Secretary of Defense, within 45 days of
identifying an operation as a contingency, to submit to Congress a
report describing the operation. The specific information to be
included in the Secretary‘s report includes the:
* objectives of the operation;
* estimated duration of the operation;
* estimated incremental cost of the operation, and;
* exit criteria for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
DOD‘s Compliance With Notification and Reporting Requirements:
Since the current notification and reporting requirements of section
127a were enacted in 1996, DOD has notified Congress of four
operations, involving Bosnia; Kosovo; hurricane relief in Central
America, called Operation Mitch; and East Timor. In each of these
instances, the Secretary of Defense notified Congress in writing that
he was designating the operation as a contingency operation pursuant to
section 127a. Specifically, the Secretary took the following actions:
* In July 1996, the Secretary designated Operation Joint Endeavor, North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military operations supporting
implementation of the Bosnia peace treaty, as an operation meeting the
requirements of section 127a and so notified Congress.
* In March 1999, the Secretary designated Operation Fuerte Apoyo (Strong
Support)--operations supporting Hurricane Mitch humanitarian relief and
rehabilitation--as an operation meeting the requirements of section
127a and so notified Congress.
* In April 1999, the Secretary designated U.S. participation in and
support of NATO military operations in and around Kosovo as an
operation meeting the requirements of section 127a and so notified
Congress.
* In March 2000, the Secretary designated U.S. participation in and
support of Operation Stabilise-the operational name for International
Force East Timor-as an operation meeting the requirements of section
127a and so notified Congress.
The Secretary subsequently provided Congress with a written report for
each of the above operations that addressed the topics specified in
section 127a.
DOD‘s Use of the Waiver of Reimbursement and Transfer Funding Options:
DOD has rarely used the two funding options contained in 10 U.S.C.
127a. We identified one instance in which DOD used the waiver of
reimbursement provision of 10 U.S.C. 127a”in support of Bosnia
operations in 1996. In that instance, DOD‘s United States
Transportation Command accepted $77 million in orders from the Army‘s
and the Air Force‘s operating forces without reimbursement. To make it
possible for the Transportation Command to provide these services, it
was necessary to transfer Army and Air Force Defense Business Operating
Fund cash balances of $53 million and $24 million respectively to the
Transportation Command‘s Defense Business Operating Fund activity. We
found no instances recorded in DOD‘s files on section 127a in which DOD
used the transfer authority. We were told that DOD considered invoking
the section 127a funding options at the start of Operation Enduring
Freedom (military operations combating terrorism) in September 2001 but
that Congress appropriated funds in advance, thereby negating the
requirement for the Secretary to invoke section 127a.
We discussed the infrequent use of section 127a with officials at DOD.
Officials within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
told us the Secretary appreciates having section 127a flexibilities
available for future contingency operations, if needed. However, for
the most part, DOD has not needed to utilize these flexibilities for
contingency operations because it had used funds that were planned to
be spent later in a fiscal year and sought supplemental appropriations.
Scope and Methodology:
To assess DOD‘s compliance with the notification and reporting
requirements of 10 U.S.C. 127a, we (1) reviewed the section to identify
the requirements placed on DOD; (2) reviewed the Department‘s files,
including the notification letters and subsequent reports to Congress;
(3) and compared the notifications and reports sent to the Congress
with the section‘s requirements. To assess DOD‘s use of the funding
options contained in section 127a, we further reviewed DOD‘s files to
identify any instances in which the funding options were used and
discussed their use with officials from the Office of the Secretary of
Defense (Comptroller). We reviewed the information in this letter with
DOD officials and made changes where appropriate. We performed our work
from May through June 2002 in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards.
We are sending copies of this report to the Chairman and Ranking
Minority Members, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and House
Committee on Government Reform; the Secretary of Defense; the Under
Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); and the Director, Office of
Management and Budget. Copies of this report will also be made
available to others upon request. In addition, this report will be
available at no charge on the GAO web site at [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov].
If you have any questions regarding this report, please call me on
(757) 552-8100. Principal contributors to this report were Steve
Sternlieb, Ray S. Carroll, Lester Ward, and Laura Talbott.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Neal P. Curtin:
Director, Defense Capabilities and Management:
Congressional Committees:
The Honorable Carl Levin:
Chairman:
The Honorable John W. Warner:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye:
Chairman:
The Honorable Ted Stevens:
Ranking Minority Member:
Subcommittee on Defense:
Committee on Appropriations:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Bob Stump:
Chairman:
The Honorable Ike Skelton:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Jerry Lewis:
Chairman:
The Honorable John P. Murtha:
Ranking Minority Member:
Subcommittee on Defense:
Committee on Appropriations:
House of Representatives:
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] As defined in section 127a, "incremental costs" means those
directly attributable costs that would not have been incurred if it
were not for the operation.
[2] Among other restrictions, transfers may only be made from amounts
appropriated to DOD for any fiscal year that remain available for
obligation, except operation and maintenance appropriations that are
specified as being for operating forces (known as a budget activity 1
account) or mobilization (known as a budget activity 2 account).
[End of section]
GAO‘s Mission:
The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress,
exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional
responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability
of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use
of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides
analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make
informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO‘s commitment to
good government is reflected in its core values of accountability,
integrity, and reliability.
Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony:
The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no
cost is through the Internet. GAO‘s Web site [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov] contains abstracts and fulltext files of current
reports and testimony and an expanding archive of older products. The
Web site features a search engine to help you locate documents using
key words and phrases. You can print these documents in their entirety,
including charts and other graphics.
Each day, GAO issues a list of newly released reports, testimony, and
correspondence. GAO posts this list, known as ’Today‘s Reports,“ on its
Web site daily. The list contains links to the full-text document
files. To have GAO e-mail this list to you every afternoon, go to
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov] and select ’Subscribe to daily E-mail
alert for newly released products“ under the GAO Reports heading.
Order by Mail or Phone:
The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2
each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent
of Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or
more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent.
Orders should be sent to:
U.S. General Accounting Office:
441 G Street NW, Room LM:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
To order by Phone:
Voice: (202) 512-6000:
TDD: (202) 512-2537:
Fax: (202) 512-6061:
To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs Contact:
Web site: [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm]:
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov:
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470:
Public Affairs:
Jeff Nelligan, managing director, NelliganJ@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4800:
U.S. General Accounting Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7149:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
