Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report (02-DEC-02, GAO-03-341R). Section 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. -------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- REPORTNUM: GAO-03-341R ACCNO: A05659 TITLE: Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report DATE: 12/02/2002 SUBJECT: Noncompliance Program evaluation Reporting requirements DOD Cooperative Threat Reduction Program ****************************************************************** ** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a ** ** GAO Product. ** ** ** ** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although ** ** figure captions are reproduced. Tables are included, but ** ** may not resemble those in the printed version. ** ** ** ** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when ** ** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed ** ** document's contents. ** ** ** ****************************************************************** GAO-03-341R GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report 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. GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 2 - - - - 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 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 Leon, Hynek Kalkus, Pierre Toureille, and Lynn Cothern also made key contributions to this report. Sincerely, Joseph Christoff Director, International Affairs and Trade Enclosure GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 3 Enclosure Enclosure Cooperative Threat Reduction Annual Report for FY 2002 Briefing to the Staffs of the Armed Services Committees November 22, 2002 GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 4 Enclosure Enclosure 2 Overview *Background GAO Objectives Results Five Year Plan Accountability Report GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 5 Enclosure Enclosure 3 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 31 st of each year GAO assessment required 30 days after report*s submission Background Congress began requiring annual Cooperative Threat Reduction reports on planning and accountability in the mid- 1990s GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 6 Enclosure Enclosure 4 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. Background GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 7 Enclosure Enclosure 5 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 Background GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 8 Enclosure Enclosure 6 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 GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 9 Enclosure Enclosure 7 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 GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 10 Enclosure Enclosure 8 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 fiveyear 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. Results: Five-Year Plan GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 11 Enclosure Enclosure 9 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: Five-Year Plan GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 12 Enclosure Enclosure 10 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 Results: Accountability Section GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 13 Enclosure Enclosure 11 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 Results: Accountability Section GAO- 03- 341R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report Page 14 Enclosure Enclosure (320156) 12 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 Results: Accountability Section *** End of document. ***