The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has pressed 24 federal agencies by sending letters asking them to detail their progress on complying with the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act, which requires the government to take stock of its information technology.
"Since Congress passed legislation four years ago to address some serious shortcomings, we need to follow up to ensure those reforms are being implemented," said Governmental Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.
The letter, co-signed by Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Lieberman, asks agency heads to answer several questions regarding IT capital planning, management, procurement and contracting. "Your response to these questions will serve as the basis for our further oversight on information technology management issues," the letter said.
Thompson also said late last week that his committee will conduct a review of agencies' efforts to implement the Government Performance and Results Act and release the findings this spring.
The Results Act, passed in 1993, took full effect this year and required federal agencies and departments to submit reports by March 31 on their progress toward achieving performance goals.
"The guys have just looked at some of them and we have our work cut out for us," Thompson said during a speech to an audience of inspectors general at the Heritage Foundation.
Thompson said he was dismayed to read the Environmental Protection Agency listed as an accomplishment the promulgation of two new regulations, and the Office of Management and Budget reported receiving clean opinions on 18 departments' financial statements-despite other information provided by OMB indicating only 13 agencies earned clean opinions (OMB said there was an editing error in its report). Thompson has asked the General Accounting Office to review the content of each report and recommend information that should be included.
In a separate initiative, Thompson last August sent letters to 24 agencies and departments asking for an analysis of how their individual performance plans address their "major management challenges" and how well they are implementing GAO and inspector general audit recommendations. Over the past eight months, Thompson's staff has interviewed representatives from each of the agencies. The committee plans to finish those interviews late this month and then release its findings in a report.
Thompson said Americans are content with government for the moment, but warned an economic downturn would quickly erode the public's confidence in government. Thompson said he is frustrated with agencies that say they make reform a priority. "But you're not making any progress," he said. "It's a lack of accountability and management."
Thompson said he wants to add more teeth to his reform efforts by enlisting appropriating committees. "It doesn't necessarily mean whacking and hacking all the time," he said, although he added that such a budget debate would get an agency's attention.
"This doesn't have to be an anti-government approach. It has to be a better government approach."
One inspector general last week suggested joint oversight hearings of the Governmental Affairs and Appropriations committees-an idea Thompson said is "clearly on the agenda," while adding there may not be enough time for that this year.
NEXT STORY: IRS tries to balance service, enforcement roles