[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 10 (Monday, February 7, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    REOPENING THE M ACCOUNTS AT DOD

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last week I came to the floor of the 
Senate and made some very critical remarks about Comptroller General 
Bowsher's recent decision to reopen the M accounts at the Department of 
Defense or DOD.
  Congress passed a law in 1990 that phased out those accounts by 
September 30, 1993. Now, Mr. Bowsher wants to reopen the doors to the 
magic vault or M accounts by just a crack, he promises, to correct $130 
million clerical errors.
  I fear that Mr. Bowsher, the national money copy, has given DOD the 
green light to proceed further down the road to fiscal mismanagement.
  I fear Mr. Bowsher's decision will help to undermine discipline and 
integrity of financial management within the Government.
  This is strong medicine, I know, but the facts tell me the criticism 
is deserved.
  Over the years, I have been very complimentary of Mr. Bowsher's work. 
He has cooperated with me on a number of important projects. He has 
helped Congress exercise oversight. He has been a faithful watchdog at 
the entrance to the U.S. Treasury.
  But in this particular case, I have to disagree with him. He made a 
bad decision.
  My concerns about Mr. Bowsher flow directly from his recent decision 
to reopen the Department of Defense or DOD M accounts.
  The decision that authorizes DOD to reopen the M accounts is laid 
down in a document entitled ``Department of the Treasury Request for 
Opinion on Account Closing Provisions of the Fiscal Year 1991 National 
Defense Authorization Act,'' No. B-251287, Dated September 29, 1993.
  Mr. President, when I spoke about the issue on the floor last week, I 
examined the weak legal foundation for the decision and urged Mr. 
Bowsher to withdraw it.
  I did not have enough time to get into the issues surrounding what is 
called unmatched disbursements. That is what I would like to do today.
  Mr. President, I feel that Mr. Bowsher's decision gives tacit 
approval to improper accounting practices which breed unmatched 
disbursements.
  These improper procedures and their unfortunate by-product are 
totally inconsistent with the spirit and intent of all provisions of 
law governing finance and accounting.
  Unmatched disbursements, I fear, are the principal driver behind Mr. 
Bowsher's decision.
  Unmatched disbursements are Government checks that have been cashed 
and returned to the Treasury but Government accountants are unable to 
match and post those checks to the correct accounts.
  Mr. President, DOD is thought to have about 50 billion dollars' worth 
of unmatched disbursements right now. The figure could well be higher 
than that. Nobody knows for sure.
  A multibillion-dollar pool of unmatched disbursements--from the point 
of view of a Pentagon bureaucrat--has all the advantages of another 
slush fund. Unmatched disbursements can hide cost overruns, 
overobligations, unauthorized expenditures, and even illegal 
payments.
  Mr. President, I fear Mr. Bowsher's decision condones sloppy 
bookkeeping at the Pentagon.
  I refer here to the discussion on page 6 of the decision document, B-
251287 dated September 29, 1993, that I placed in the Record last week.
  Mr. President, I would like to warn my colleagues. This is arcane, 
complicated language, but it is important. It goes right to the heart 
of the issue.
  Please listen carefully.
  This is how Mr. Bowsher blesses the ugly procedure:

       If a disbursement that was made before cancellation of an 
     appropriation account cannot be matched with a recorded 
     obligation of a canceled account, but DOD can establish to 
     the satisfaction of Treasury that the disbursement represents 
     payment of a valid unrecorded obligation otherwise properly 
     chargeable against the canceled appropriation account, the 
     Treasury may adjust the canceled account balance to reflect 
     the disbursement.

  The idea of being unable to match a check to a recorded obligation is 
bad enough, but the thought of then allowing DOD to scour the 
countryside in search of an unrecorded obligation to cover the check is 
disgusting.
  Mr. President, we are looking at the point where control over the 
peoples' money is breaking down, and Comptroller General Bowsher is 
right there in the middle of it. I fear he is making himself a party to 
the problem.
  Government checks that cannot be matched with corresponding entries 
in accounting records are a danger signal--a red warning flag.
  If Government checks are returned to the Treasury but cannot be 
matched up with recorded obligations, then it is time to call in the 
FBI, lock the doors, seal up safes and filing cabinets and launch a 
top-to-botton investigation. Questions must be answered. Lot's of 
questions. Were illegal or improper payments made? To whom? Why? Was 
money stolen? Is there a violation of Federal criminal law?
  The national money cop, the Comptroller General, should not be giving 
the go-ahead signal on unmatched disbursements.
  Mr. Bowsher's decision appears to do exactly that.
  Mr. President, the existence of unrecorded obligations and 
expenditures at the DOD makes one thing very clear to me: Financial 
management at the Pentagon has collapsed.
  And Comptroller General Bowsher should not dredge up a legal gimmick 
to bless it.
  For the ordinary citizen, unmatched disbursements are like writing 
checks but never filling out the stub and not knowing how much money is 
left over or which bills have been paid.
  This practice is unacceptable. It must not be tolerated.
  That is why DOD cannot audit the books. That is why the Defense 
Business Operations Fund or DBOF cannot comply with the Chief Financial 
Officers Act of 1990.
  The failure to record obligations and expenditures in ledgers and to 
link those transactions to the proper appropriations accounts is 
totally inconsistent with the law of the land.
  The required linkage between obligations and expenditures must be 
established before a payment is made. If preliminary commitment 
accounting work is done, then disbursements could be quickly and easily 
posted to the proper accounts.
  Mr. Bowsher does not dispute this fact. He says,

       I share your concern about the failure of the agencies to 
     record obligations and expenditures as they occur and agree 
     this practice has exacerbated the problem of unmatched 
     disbursements.

  Yet his decision would give DOD financial managers an indefinite 
amount of time to make the necessary accounting hookups.
  But how long should that take: 5 days, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, a 
year, or 5 years? What is it?
  The Comptroller General does not seem to know the answer.
  The Treasury will give DOD until May 31, 1994. DOD wanted a year or 
more.
  I had also asked Mr. Bowsher to help me craft legislation to 
eliminate unmatched disbursements.
  But Mr. Bowsher says current law is satisfactory. It already requires 
Government officials to record obligations and expenditures.
  This is what Mr. Bowsher says:

       I think the statutes are clear with regard to the 
     requirement for the proper recording of obligations and 
     expenditures. What I think needs improvement is the execution 
     of the requirement of these statutes.

  What the Comptroller General is telling us is this: DOD is not 
complying with the law.
  Yet Mr. Bowsher's decision tries to make noncompliance look more 
legitimate.
  Mr. President, I would like to direct the next logical question to 
Mr. Bowsher:
  Mr. Bowsher, what do we need to do to bring DOD into compliance with 
these laws?
  Mr. Bowsher's decision sends the wrong message to the financial 
management community: sloppy bookkeeping is OK.
  Mr. Bowsher needs to send a clear, unambiguous signal to the 
financial managers at the Pentagon: Obligations and disbursements 
should be recorded immediately--as they occur.
  Anything short of that is unacceptable.
  Mr. President, I will have much more to say on the question of 
unmatched disbursements in the weeks and months ahead.
  Mr. President, I hope to have more to say on this question of 
unmatched disbursements in the weeks and months, until we either take 
care of this by changing law, or until we take care of this by seeing 
that the existing law is honored by those responsible for its faithful 
execution.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Feinstein). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I may speak 
out of order.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator is recognized.

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