 |
||||||||||||
| Home | : | Graphics On | : | Privacy Policy | Sign up for Email: | Search: | ||||||
| Press Releases |
| November 06, 2003 | |||
 |
|||
|
COLENMAN HEARING EXPOSES DOD’S MULTIMILLON DOLLAR TRAVEL ABUSES
Coleman signs onto Grassley legislation to stop abuse, Both Senators commit to expanding scope of initiative to include centrally billed accounts |
|||
|
Releasing the results of a highly critical GAO audit today at a Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) hearing, Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) chastised the Department of Defense for wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars a year by flouting DOD travel guidelines and routinely booking top dollar first and business class airline tickets.
“The current system allows for abuse. It must be fixed. To paraphrase an old adage—“watch the millions and the billions take care of themselves,” Senator Coleman said. “Our goal today is to ground the high flyers who abuse the system and to ensure DOD is committed to implementing long-term solutions to this costly problem.” As a direct result of the subcommittee hearing and GAO’s findings, Coleman also announced that he would become a co-sponsor of the “Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2003”, authored by Senator Grassley, that will serve as one step towards putting an end to the abuse. Coleman stated that as a result of information learned during the hearing, he and Senator Grassley agreed to work to include additional safeguards to prevent unauthorized travel by including centrally billed travel accounts within the legislation. “We have a strong tool with this legislation to stop the abuse,” said Coleman. “I am proud to be a part of this important legislation created by Senator Grassley, and pleased that we will be able to expand the scope of the prevention measures to include those activities that have been a part of the DOD travel abuse.” While DOD personnel may use first and business class travel, it must be properly authorized by a designated official and then justified by the traveler. It is usually only approved when exceptional circumstances warrant the additional cost. Based on extensive analysis of 68,000 premium class tickets costing nearly $124 million in fiscal years 2001 and 2002, GAO found that 72 percent of DOD’s premium class travel was not properly authorized and 73 percent was not properly justified by the employee. Each premium class ticket costs the government up to thousands of dollars more than a comparable coach class ticket. The GAO report is the latest in a series of reports showing high delinquency rates and significant potential fraud and abuse related to the Department of Defense’s travel program and management of its various credit card programs. Higher-ranking civilian personnel and military officials accounted for nearly half of the premium class transactions, according to the study. Senator Coleman, Chairman of PSI, cited several of the worst examples: - A DOD employee flew first class on a round trip ticket from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. for $3,253 compliments of the federal government. A coach fare for the same trip would have cost $238, a difference of $3,015. - Another employee flew business class on a round trip ticket from Washington, D.C. to Taiwan for $4,319 when a coach fare for the same trip would have cost $1,450, a difference of $2,869. - A family of four relocated from London to Honolulu and flew first and business class non-stop at a cost to taxpayers of $20,943 – had they simply made the effort to reduce costs and follow travel procedures, they would have saved taxpayers $18,443. The audit found that DOD does not have the management controls in place to identify improper use of premium class travel, resulting in “millions of dollars of unnecessary costs” annually. To further reduce travel abuses and costs, the GAO report makes several recommendations for improving controls over authorization and justification, policies and procedures, and monitoring and oversight of first and business class travel. DOD officials agreed with the GAO recommendations and have begun implementing changes. “Where we find fraud and abuse, we must not only root it out – but, we must fix it and stop it from occurring again,” Coleman said. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Congresswoman Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL), who requested the GAO audit with Senator Coleman, testified at the hearing. “Unless the Defense Department gets serious about internal controls and enforces its own regulations, we will continue to find waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the Department,” Senator Grassley testified. “Some improvements may have been made, but I see no sign that the Department of Defense has made a concerted effort to implement a positive control environment throughout the Department. Every time we peel back another layer of abuse, we find another just below.” “It is ironic that massive financial abuses, including tens of millions in improper first and business class travel, are occurring at the Department of Defense, an institution that places a premium on discipline, the chain of command and accountability,” Congresswoman Schakowsky said. “That makes the culture of waste, fraud and abuse that seems to permeate all aspects of DoD's fiscal operations all the more intolerable. This has to stop. It is unfair to our soldiers and to U.S. taxpayers." Other witnesses included Mr. Gregory Kutz, Director, GAO Financial Management and Assurance Team, Mr. John Kelly, Assistant Director, GAO Financial Management and Assurance Team, Mr. John Ryan, Assistant Director, GAO Office of Special Investigations, Mr. Lawrence J. Lanzillotta, Principal Deputy Under Secretary (Comptroller), DOD and Mr. Charles S. Abell, Assistant Secretary of Defense (Force Management Policy) DOD. |
|||
| ### | |||
| Printable Version | |||
|
|||
| About the Committee | Hearings | Legislation & Nominations | Press | Issues | Subcommittees | Committee Documents | Related Links |
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510