Note: This document may not always reflect the actual appropriations determined by Congress. Final budget allocations for USAID's programs are not determined until after passage of an appropriations bill and preparation of the Operating Year Budget (OYB).
OPERATING EXPENSES OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
The FY 1998 budget request of $29,047,000 for the operating expenses of the Inspector General, when combined with $4 million in Section 517 (511) recovered funds, provides the resources to finance audits and investigations legislated under the Inspector General Act, to detect fraud and abuse in USAID programs, and to administer the USAID worldwide security program. The new direction and challenges facing USAID in FY 1998 pose an equally great challenge for the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The USAID Administrator has envisioned fewer traditional, full-scale USAID missions abroad; he has revitalized the regional concept for operations; and he has predicted an increase in short-term emergency assistance for complex operations such as USAID operations in Bosnia. This request supports these initiatives and highlights the necessity of a responsive IG organization capable of keeping pace with USAID activities in a rapidly changing world.
FY 1998 Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $29,047,000 The security activities provided for USAID are legislated in the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (5 USC App. 3, §8A), and are accomplished in accordance with the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-399). Security activities, including physical security measures in offices and residences, armored vehicles and security communications equipment, provide a 24-hour umbrella of protection for USAID employees, dependents, facilities, and information. This request includes $547,000 to fund antiterrorism security improvements recommended as a result of the 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia.
Additional demand for audit work will continue to result from the USAID reengineering and reform efforts. The agency volunteered to be a pilot under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), which will result in significant audit work prior to the timeframes set by the Act. The decision to reorganize the agency's project portfolio into strategic objectives (SO), together with a new system of designing and implementing projects by SO teams, will require performance auditors to become familiar with new outcomes and new methods of measuring and reporting progress. Audits and reviews will be performed to meet the requirements of the Chief Financial Officers Act (CFO), the Government Management Reform Act (GMRA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133. Under the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA), the Office of Inspector General plans to conduct status reporting of the agency's internal controls, reviews of the new management systems, financial audits of grantees and contractors, and coordination of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). In FY 1998, the OIG will reassume the oversight and management of the Defense Contracting Audit Agency program from the agency. Funding for this program will not exceed $1 million, to be funded from the agency operating expense appropriation.
The agency's plan to downsize its overseas missions also has implications for the IG investigative workload. There will be an increased risk created by having fewer direct-hire employees to monitor agency activities, both in field missions and in non-presence countries. The OIG investigations program will continue to address agency needs with an emphasis on fraud prevention.
The cost of the budget's proposed additional 1.51 percentage point agency payment to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund for Civil Service Retirement System employees will be absorbed within this request, once the proposal is enacted.
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