THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT AGENDA: HEARING BEFORE THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DEC 01.2003 SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 7, 2003 Serial No. 108-21 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house 87-701 PDF U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM DAN BURTON, Indiana TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut DOUG OSE, California RON LEWIS, Kentucky JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan WILLIAM J. JANKLOW, South Dakota HENRY A. WAXMAN, California JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts DIANE E. WATSON, California STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California C.A. "DUTCH" RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of Columbia JIM COOPER, Tennessee CHRIS BELL, Texas BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Independent) Ford, Jess T., Director, International Affairs and Trade Division, U.S. General Accounting Office; Ambassador Ruth A. Davis, Director Gen- eral, U.S. Department of State; Major General Charles E. Williams, retired, Director, Overseas Buildings Office, U.S. Department of State; Richard Nygard, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Management, U.S. Agency for International Development; Ambassador Anne Sigmund, Acting Inspector General, U.S. Department of State; and William Itoh, Acting Deputy Inspector General, U.S. Department of State Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Davis, Ambassador Ruth A., Director General, U.S. Department of State, Shays, Hon. Christopher, a Representative in Congress from the State of Connecticut, prepared statement of Sigmund, Ambassador Anne, Acting Inspector General, U.S. Department of State, prepared statement of Williams, Major General Charles E., retired, Director, Overseas Buildings 65 THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT AGENDA: RIGHTSIZING THE U.S. PRESENCE ABROAD MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2003 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, EMERGING THREATS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:05 p.m., in room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Shays (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Shays, Duncan, Kucinich, and Ruppersberger. Staff present: Lawrence Halloran, staff director and counsel; R. Nicholas Palarino, Phd., senior policy advisor; Thomas Costa, professional staff member; Robert A. Briggs, clerk; David Rapallo, minority counsel; Earley Green, minority chief clerk; and Jean Gosa, minority assistant clerk. Mr. SHAYS. A quorum being present, the subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations hearing entitled, The President's Management Agenda, Rightsizing the U.S. Presence Abroad" is called to order. After the guns stop firing, the battle for freedom, peace and security in Iraq and throughout the world will continue to be waged with words and ideas. Success in that global arena will be determined by the size, scope and skill of the U.S. diplomatic presence abroad. Today, America's diplomatic front lines are staffed by more than 60,000 people, representing up to 40 Federal agencies working at 260 embassies and consulates worldwide. But that overseas posture appears to be the product of cold war habits and bureaucratic inertia rather than any systematic effort to put the right people in the right places to advance U.S. interests. Currently, no one can even say with any accuracy how many executive branch employees are posted at foreign missions. No common accounting system measures the true cost of international activities by so many different Federal agencies and programs. Ambassadors have little more than titulary authority to manage the comings and goings of nonState Department personnel. Many embassies are not safe and new buildings are being built without reliable projections of how many people will have to work there. The President's Management Agenda calls for a rightsized overseas presence to better shape, focus and secure the work of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals abroad. |