FederalDaily - July 15, 2005
GAO Calls for Sweeping Government Reform
Federal government needs to transform and change, a new Government Accountability
Office (GAO) report said. Federal agencies should become flatter, more results-oriented,
externally focused, partnership-oriented and employee-enabling organizations,
GAO added. GAO said the nation is on an unsustainable fiscal path and unless
the government takes action, the country will face large and growing structural
deficit shortfalls. Government cannot accept all of its existing programs,
policies, functions and activities as “givens.” Also, agencies
need to change their cultures and create the capacity to become high-performing
organizations, by implementing a more results-oriented and performance-based
approach to how they do business. To read the GAO report, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d05830t.pdf.
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Bolstering Army by 80,000
Sens. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Bill Nelson,
D-Fla., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Reps. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., and Mark
Udall, D-Colo., on June 13 announced that they will introduce legislation to
significantly increase the Army’s baseline troop strength—by 80,000.
The United States Army Relief Act will boost the overall troop levels authorized
by Congress by 20,000 active duty members per year over the next four years.
The congressmen issued a statement saying that while defense spending has increased
since September 11, permanent troop levels have not risen accordingly. They
said the active duty force is “stretched to the limit.” Tauscher
said, “Raising the cap on the size of the U.S. Army will reduce the need
for back-to-back tours, stop-loss orders and lengthy, unpredictable deployments.”
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House Passes Veterans’ COLA Bill
This week the House passed the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living
Adjustment Act of 2005, H.R. 1220. The legislation will:
- provide a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to disability
compensation rates for veterans with service-connected disabilities
equal to the adjustment provided under Social Security;
- provide a COLA to the rate of indemnity compensation for
survivors of certain disabled veterans equal to the adjustment
provided under Social Security;
- authorize a two-year project for improvement of business
practices in the Veterans Health Administration; and
- permanently authorize six Parkinson’s Disease Research
Educational and Clinical Centers.
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DHS Finances Under the Microscope
Rep. Todd Platts, R-Pa., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Management,
Finance, and Accountability, wants to talk finances with Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff. Following Chertoff’s Second
Stage Review of DHS, Platts said he wants to ensure that financial management
is a high priority. Platt said recent reports have revealed serious accounting
problems, including mismanagement of large contracts at the Transportation
Security Administration, ineffective control of grants processing and budget
shortfalls at the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For the
past two fiscal years, DHS has been unable to produce audited financial statements,
Platts said. At a hearing on July 27, Platts plans to question DHS officials
on efforts to improve financial accountability.
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