[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 14, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                INSPECTOR GENERAL AT THE UNITED NATIONS

  Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the imminent 
appointment of an inspector general at the United Nations.
  For a long time, I have sponsored and taken a personal interest in 
the inspectors general in the Federal Government. Beginning back in 
1978, as a member of the Governmental Affairs Committee, we drafted and 
passed the original Inspector General Act creating IG's in several 
departments. I then authored amendments to that act in 1988 to add 
several more IG's in other Federal agencies and entities for a grand 
total today of 61 independent IG's ferreting out fraud, waste, and 
abuse in our Federal agencies.
  I have also been quite concerned about the lack of controls on U.N. 
systems and operations, and I know that concern is shared by other 
Members. In that vein, this past spring I went up to New York to meet 
with Madeleine Albright, our U.N. Ambassador, and Secretary General 
Boutros Boutros Ghali to discuss the possible creation of an inspector 
general at the United Nations.
  The result of these discussions and previous work by our U.S. 
delegation is an approved U.N. resolution to create what will be known 
as the Undersecretary General [USG] for Internal Oversight Services 
[IOS] in the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services [OIOS].
  I asked the General Accounting Office [GAO] to take a look at the 
resolution to see how it stacked up to our own IG act. Because we 
believe the standards in place for United States IG's have worked very 
well, we wanted to ensure that any IG at the United Nation would be 
afforded the same independence, authority, and resources of a United 
States IG.
  Now, there are some Senators who probably think that this resolution 
does not go far enough. I happen to disagree. The resolution may not be 
perfect, but I feel it has the potential, if correctly implemented, to 
produce the kind of independent IG office that we have become familiar 
with in U.S. Government agencies. I intend to monitor how it is 
implemented, and, if any changes are needed, pressure will be applied 
to make those changes occur.
  I'd like to take just a moment to discuss the independence of the 
U.N. IG.
  The GAO highlighted the areas of staffing, budget, and procedure as 
being key in determining whether the IG has full operational 
independence. For instance, the resolution does not specifically 
provide for any staff for the Office of Internal Oversight Services, 
the OIOS. To be effective, implementation of the resolution must 
provide for a minimum number of staff, including investigators and 
support. Implementing regulations issued last Thursday, September 8, 
address this point, and clarify many others, stating that the IG shall 
develop his own organizational structure, staffing table, and job 
descriptions. I have asked the GAO to take a look at these regulations 
to see if they address the gaps left by the resolution.
  Funding for the United Nations IG will be proposed by the OIOS and 
approved by the General Assembly which must consider the office's 
independence. The separate budget line item secured by the OIOS's 
predecessor office--Office for Inspections and Investigations, OII--
will be retained by the OIOS. This will ensure that the funding of this 
office is not discretionary. In addition, the IG may comment on the 
adequacy of the budget through the reporting process.
  I was originally concerned about certain policies and procedures that 
had yet to be established, including audit and compliance standards, 
general guidelines, quality standards for inspections and 
investigations, and a procedure for audit followup. However, these have 
since been established under the implementing regulations.
  Additionally, the U.N. resolution provides for the removal of the IG 
``for cause'' with the approval of a majority of the General Assembly. 
Our IG's can be removed by the appointing authority, with a 
notification to the Congress of the reasons for dismissal. Although I 
am pleased that the U.N. resolution provides a standard, I am concerned 
that ``for cause'' is not defined, and I am concerned about the lack of 
precedent in this area.
  I am satisfied with the resolution's reporting requirements which 
state that all reports are required to be made to the Secretary 
General, who then transmits them unaltered to the General Assembly 
accompanied by his--the Secretary General's--comments. This is similar 
to our process of transmission by an IG to his or her agency head who 
then transmits the report to the Congress.
  In most other respects, the resolution accurately reflects our own 
process. For instance, there are provisions for the equivalent of 
whistleblower protection, ample reporting requirements, and access to 
documents and personnel necessary to conduct a complete investigation 
or audit.

  In addition, the resolution provides that all U.N. systems, 
processes, operations, functions, and activities will be subject to 
audit based on a systematic assessment of the risk associated with each 
activity. Similarly, our IG's are required to identify their audit 
universe and determine the coverage, frequency, and priority of audits 
required.
  Concerns were raised in a recent letter-to-the-editor of the 
Washington Post that the U.N. resolution does not go far enough. The 
letter cited lack of budgetary independence, lack of independent hiring 
authority, and lack of whistleblower protection.
  I agree that the OIOS needs a separate item for its funding, and as I 
stated earlier, the OIOS has that separate line item under the 
implementing regulations.
  I also agree that the head of the office should be able to staff it 
as he or she sees fit, and this is also addressed in the regulations, 
the U.N. IG will not only have the right to hire and fire, but will, in 
fact, also have more independence than most other program managers at 
the United Nations.
  I was concerned about the statement by Belgian authorities, referred 
to in the letter, which would treat situations where whistleblowers 
make unintended false accusations, as cases of wrongdoing. On its face, 
that's exactly how this statement reads. However, I have determined two 
things through further inquiry: First this is not a statement of 
opinion of the Belgian delegation to the United Nations; it is a 
statement by the coordination of the committee drafting the resolution 
who happened to be Belgian.
  Second, the intent, according to the regulations, is not to include 
unintended false accusations as cases of wrongdoing; only those false 
accusations made intentionally or maliciously.
  Finally, Mr. President, I am anxiously awaiting the commencement of 
the term of the newly approved undersecretary for Internal Oversight 
Services, Ambassador Karl Theodore Paschke of Germany. He appears to 
have the experience and familiarity with the United Nations necessary 
to effectively carry out the charge of this position. I wish him well 
and will be watching him closely.
  Mr. President, I am generally pleased with the resolution and am 
confident that those weaknesses the GAO has identified and I've 
discussed will be resolved favorably. I fully intend to monitor the 
implementation of the resolution to ensure that there is an effective 
and independent IG at the United Nations. Fully implemented, a U.N. IG 
office can be a major force for re-establishment of confidence in how 
the United Nations spends its money--most of which comes from U.S. 
taxpayers.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 8-page GAO report be 
placed in the Record following my remarks.
  There being no objection, the report was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                    General Accounting Office,    
                                             National Security and


                               International Affairs Division,

                                  Washington, DC., August 8, 1994.
     Hon. John Glenn,
     U.S. Senate.
       Dear Senator Glenn: In response to your request, we have 
     analyzed the resolution passed by the United Nations General 
     Assembly on July 29, 1994 which authorized a United Nations 
     (U.N.) Office of Under Secretary General for Internal 
     Oversight Services. We have long held the view that the U.N. 
     should have an independent and professional audit and 
     evaluation office. This office should be headed by a highly 
     qualified individual responsible for conducting and 
     supervising audits, evaluations, inspections and 
     investigations relating to U.N. operations. Our analysis 
     indicates that the Office to be established under the 
     authority of the Secretary General can have, if properly 
     implemented, the operational independence to perform 
     functions substantially similar to those performed by the 
     Offices of Inspectors General, established under the 
     Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended. (See enclosure 1.)
       While the creation of the Office is important, how the 
     resolution is implemented will be key as to whether the 
     Office will indeed have full operational independence and 
     achieve the General Assembly's intended result. The 
     appointment of a sufficient and highly qualified staff; the 
     strong commitment from senior U.N. management to cooperate 
     with the Office and provide it with sufficient budgetary 
     resources; and the establishment of sound policies and 
     procedures for conducting audits, evaluations, inspections 
     and investigations, obtaining corrective action, and 
     reporting to the General Assembly will be required to ensure 
     that the Office is instrumental in achieving management 
     improvements in the U.N. It is expected that the Office, 
     while obtaining its budgetary resources through the budget of 
     the U.N. Secretariat, will have a separately identified line 
     item in the budget. Also, the head of the Office may inform 
     the General Assembly through the reporting process 
     established in the resolution as to the adequacy of the 
     resources provided.
       According to State Department officials, a number of 
     actions called for by the resolution will be completed before 
     September 30, 1994. These include (1) the appointment of an 
     Under Secretary General for Internal Oversight Services with 
     requisite qualifications, and approval by the General 
     Assembly (2) the issuance of procedures to ensure compliance 
     with recommendations of the Office, and (3) the issuance of 
     procedures to protect the identity of, and to prevent 
     reprisals against, any staff members making a 
     complaint or disclosing information, or 
     cooperating in any investigation or inspection by the Office. 
     The President can then certify that the requirements of 
     section 401(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for 
     Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 have been satisfied.
       If you have any question concerning this letter, please do 
     not hesitate to call me on (202) 512-2800.
           Sincerely yours,
                                                 Frank C. Conahan,
                                     Assistant Comptroller General
       Enclosure.
                                  ____


   COMPARISON OF THE U.S. OFFICES OF INSPECTORS GENERAL TO THE UNITED   
              NATIONS OFFICE OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES             
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                United Nations Office of
      Subjects             U.S. Offices of         Internal Oversight   
                         Inspectors General             Services        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office..............  Office of Inspector       Office of Internal      
                       General (OIG).            Oversight Services     
                                                 (OIOS).                
Office head.........  Inspector General (IG)..  Under Secretary General 
                                                 (USG) for Internal     
                                                 Oversight Services     
                                                 (IOS).                 
Purpose.............  Create independent and    Exercise operational    
                       objective units to        independence to        
                       conduct and supervise     initiate, carry out,   
                       audits and                and report with regard 
                       investigations of         to monitoring program  
                       programs and              implementation and     
                       operations..              conducting internal    
                                                 audits, inspections,   
                                                 evaluation, and        
                                                 investigations.        
                      Promote economy,          Evaluate the efficiency 
                       efficiency, and           and effectiveness of   
                       effectiveness of          programs and           
                       programs and              legislative mandates.  
                       operations..                                     
                      Prevent and detect fraud  Investigate reports of  
                       and abuse in programs     violations of          
                       and operations..          regulations, rules, and
                                                 administrative         
                                                 issuances and assess   
                                                 the potential within   
                                                 program areas for fraud
                                                 and other violations   
                                                 through the analysis of
                                                 systems of control.    
                      Provide a means for       Assist the Secretary    
                       keeping the head of the   General in fulfilling  
                       agency and the Congress   his internal oversight 
                       fully and currently       responsibilities and   
                       informed about problems   prepare reports for    
                       and deficiencies in       transmittal to the     
                       programs and              General Assembly by the
                       operations..              Secretary General as   
                                                 presented.             
Authority...........  Each IG shall report to   The USG for IOS shall be
                       and be under the          under the authority of 
                       general supervision of    the Secretary General. 
                       their agency head..                              
                      Neither the head of the   OIOS shall have         
                       agency, nor the officer   operational            
                       next in rank below the    independence to        
                       agency head, shall        initiate, carry out,   
                       prevent or prohibit the   and report on any      
                       IG from initiating,       action which the OIOS  
                       carrying out, or          considers necessary to 
                       completing any audit or   fulfill its            
                       investigation..           responsibilities.      
                                                 Operational            
                                                 independence means that
                                                 the Secretary General  
                                                 has the right to       
                                                 instruct the OIOS to   
                                                 carry out an action    
                                                 within the purview of  
                                                 its mandate but cannot 
                                                 prohibit it from doing 
                                                 so.                    
Authority...........  Each IG is authorized to  The OIOS has the        
                       have access to all        authority to access all
                       records, reports,         information it needs   
                       audits, reviews,          with respect to the    
                       documents, papers,        resources and staff of 
                       recommendations, or       the U.N. Organization. 
                       other material which      By reference to its    
                       relate to programs and    assumption of all      
                       operations..              functions of the Office
                                                 of Inspections and     
                                                 Investigations has the 
                                                 Office has direct      
                                                 access to all necessary
                                                 documents and people.  
Appointment.........  28 IGs are appointed by   The USG for IOS shall be
                       the President, by and     appointed by the       
                       with the advice and       Secretary General,     
                       consent of the Senate.    following consultations
                       32 IGs are appointed by   with Member States, and
                       their entity heads..      approved by the General
                                                 Assembly.              
                      Appointed without regard  Appointed with due      
                       to political              regard for geographic  
                       affiliation..             rotation.              
                      Appointed solely on the   The USG for IOS shall be
                       basis of integrity and    an expert in the fields
                       demonstrated ability in   of accounting,         
                       accounting, auditing,     auditing, financial    
                       financial analysis,       analysis,              
                       law, management           investigations,        
                       analysis, public          management law or      
                       administration, or        public administration. 
                       investigations..                                 
                      IGs have no fixed term    The USG for IOS shall   
                       of office..               serve for one fixed    
                                                 term of five years     
                                                 without possibility of 
                                                 renewal.               
Removal.............  Presidentially-appointed  The USG for OIS may be  
                       IGs may be removed from   removed by the         
                       office by the             Secretary General only 
                       President. Likewise,      for cause and with the 
                       entity heads who          approval of the General
                       appoint IGs may also      Assembly.              
                       remove them. Reasons                             
                       for such removal shall                           
                       be communicated to the                           
                       Congress by the                                  
                       President and entity                             
                       heads, respectively..                            
Reporting...........  Each IG is authorized to  OIOS shall submit       
                       make such                 reports on the         
                       investigations and        effective utilization  
                       reports relating to the   and management of      
                       administration of         resources and the      
                       programs and operations   protection of assets to
                       the IGs consider          the Secretary General, 
                       necessary, and to keep    who shall ensure that  
                       the head of the agency    all such reports are   
                       and the Congress fully    made available to the  
                       and currently informed    General Assembly as    
                       by means of reports and   presented, together    
                       otherwise..               with any separate      
                                                 comments the Secretary 
                                                 General may deem       
                                                 appropriate.           
                      Each IG shall report      The OIOS will submit to 
                       immediately to the head   the Secretary General  
                       of the agency whenever    special reports on     
                       the IG becomes aware of   significant            
                       particularly serious or   investigations         
                       flagrant problems,        involving serious      
                       abuses, or                mismanagement, abuse or
                       deficiencies. The         fraud as they arise.   
                       agency head shall         OIOS reports concerning
                       transmit any such         the utilization and    
                       report to the Congress    management of          
                       within seven calendar     resources, and the     
                       days..                    protection of assets,  
                                                 will be submitted      
                                                 without change to the  
                                                 General Assembly, along
                                                 with any comments the  
                                                 Secretary General deems
                                                 appropriate.           
                      Each IG shall prepare     The OIOS shall submit to
                       semiannual reports        the Secretary General  
                       summarizing the           for transmittal as     
                       activities of the OIG     received to the General
                       during the immediately    Assembly, together with
                       preceding six-month       separate comments the  
                       periods. These reports    Secretary General deems
                       shall be furnished to     appropriate, an annual 
                       the agency head for       analytical and summary 
                       transmittal to the        report on its          
                       Congress together with    activities for the     
                       a report by the agency    year. Reports          
                       head..                    containing personnel   
                                                 information which, if  
                                                 disclosed, may violate 
                                                 individual rights to   
                                                 privacy, and those     
                                                 related to ongoing     
                                                 investigations         
                                                 involving potential    
                                                 criminal actions would 
                                                 not be provided to the 
                                                 General Assembly.      
                      Agency heads are          The Secretary General   
                       responsible for           shall establish        
                       designating a top         procedures for the     
                       management official to    approval of            
                       oversee audit followup,   recommendations and the
                       including resolution      resolution of disputes 
                       and corrective action..   and shall facilitate   
                                                 the prompt and         
                                                 effective              
                                                 implementation of the  
                                                 approved               
                                                 recommendations of OIOS
                                                 and inform the General 
                                                 Assembly of actions    
                                                 taken in response.     
                      IGs are responsible for   An OIOS compliance unit 
                       reviewing responses to    will be dedicated to   
                       audit reports and         ensuring that          
                       reporting significance    recommendations,       
                       disagreements to the      including those of the 
                       audit followup            Board of Auditors, are 
                       official..                implemented promptly   
                                                 and effectively.       
                      IG semiannual reports to  The OIOS shall report to
                       the agency head for       the Secretary General  
                       transmittal to the        as and when necessary  
                       Congress, shall contain   but at least twice     
                       the status of audit       yearly on the          
                       recommendations..         implementation of      
                                                 recommendations        
                                                 addressed to program   
                                                 managers.              
Coordination........  Each IG shall give        The OIOS will coordinate
                       particular regard to      its activities and     
                       the activities of the     provide copies of all  
                       Comptroller General       final reports to the   
                       with a view toward        Board of Auditors and  
                       avoiding duplication      the Joint Inspection   
                       and insuring effective    Unit to minimize       
                       coordination and          duplication of effort. 
                       cooperation..                                    
Standards...........  Each IG shall comply      For audit and compliance
                       with audit standards      functions, standards   
                       established by the        along the lines of     
                       Comptroller General.      those issued by the    
                       Also, the IGs have        International          
                       established quality       Organization of Supreme
                       standards for             Audit Institutions will
                       investigations..          be established. General
                                                 guidelines and quality 
                                                 standards for          
                                                 inspections and        
                                                 investigations will    
                                                 also be established.   
Referrals...........  Each IG shall report      The Secretary General is
                       expeditiously to the      to ensure that         
                       Attorney General          disciplinary and/or    
                       whenever the IG has       jurisdictional         
                       reasonable grounds to     proceedings are        
                       believe there has been    initiated without undue
                       a violation of federal    delay in cases where   
                       criminal law..            the Secretary General  
                                                 considers it justified.
Complaints..........  An IG may receive and     OIOS will investigate   
                       investigate complaints    reports of alleged     
                       or information from an    misconduct,            
                       employee about possible   malfeasance, deliberate
                       violations of law,        mismanagement, abuses, 
                       gross waste of funds,     or violations of       
                       and abuse of authority.   regulations and        
                       The IG shall not          administrative         
                       disclose the identity     issuances. The         
                       of the employee without   Secretary General is to
                       his/her consent, unless   ensure that procedures 
                       the IG determines such    are in place that      
                       disclosure is             provide for direct     
                       unavoidable. Also,        confidential access of 
                       employees are to be       staff members to OIOS  
                       protected from reprisal   and for protection     
                       for making a complaint    against repercussions. 
                       to the IG..                                      
Funding.............  Federal agencies with     OIOS budget proposals   
                       presidentially-           shall be submitted to  
                       appointed IGs and the     the Secretary General  
                       National Science          who shall submit       
                       Foundation have           proposals to the       
                       separate appropriation    General Assembly for   
                       accounts. Entity-         its consideration and  
                       appointed IGs have        approval, taking into  
                       their office's financed   account the office's   
                       with funds that are       independence in the    
                       also available for        exercise of its        
                       other entity              functions. By          
                       activities..              references to this     
                                                 assumption of all      
                                                 function of the Office 
                                                 of Inspections and     
                                                 Investigations, it is  
                                                 expected that OIOS     
                                                 funding fill be        
                                                 identified in a        
                                                 separate line item of  
                                                 the budget of the U.N. 
                                                 Secretariat. The OIOS  
                                                 may comment on the     
                                                 adequacy of its budget 
                                                 in its annual          
                                                 analytical and summary 
                                                 report transmitted to  
                                                 the General Assembly.  
Planning............  IGs are required to       All U.N. systems,       
                       identify their audit      processes, operations, 
                       universe and to           functions and          
                       determine the coverage,   activities will be     
                       frequency, and priority   subject to audit based 
                       of audits required..      on a systematic        
                                                 assessment of the risk 
                                                 associated with each   
                                                 activity.              
Additional            The ``Inspectors General  The OIOS may advise     
 authorities.          Vision Statement''        program managers on the
                       states that IGs will      effective discharge of 
                       work with agency heads    their responsibilities,
                       and the Congress to       provide assistance to  
                       improve program           program managers in    
                       management, and to        implementing           
                       build relationships       recommendations,       
                       with program managers     ascertain that program 
                       based on a shared         managers are given     
                       commitment to improving   methodological support,
                       program operations and    and encourage self-    
                       effectiveness..           evaluation.            
                      Each IG is authorized to  The USG to IOS shall    
                       have direct and prompt    have direct access to  
                       access to the head of     the Secretary General  
                       the agency when           as well as all         
                       necessary, subject to     personnel to fulfill   
                       the appointments          the responsibilities of
                       governing the civil       the Office.            
                       service regulations..                            
                      Each IG is authorized to  This administrative     
                       select, appoint, and      provision is not       
                       employ such officers      addressed in the       
                       and employees as may be   resolution establishing
                       necessary..               OIOS.                  
                      Each IG is authorized to  Budget provisions exist 
                       enter into contracts      to assist in the       
                       and other arrangements    professional assessment
                       for audits or other       of a wide range of U.N.
                       studies..                 actions in the areas of
                                                 inspections,           
                                                 evaluations, auditing  
                                                 and investigation.     
                      Whenever information or   The Office has the      
                       assistance requested by   authority to demand    
                       the IG is unreasonably    compliance whenever    
                       refused or not            information or         
                       provided, the IG shall    assistance requested is
                       report this               unreasonably refused,  
                       circumstance to the       delayed or not         
                       agency head without       provided.              
                       delay..                                          
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources: ``Review of the Efficiency of the Administrative and Financial 
  Functioning of the United Nations,'' A Report of the Fifth Committee  
  of the United Nations, A.48/501/Add.2, July 21, 1994, which was       
  approved by resolution in the United Nations General Assembly on July 
  29, 1994; ``Review of the Efficiency of the Administrative and        
  Financial Functioning of the United Nations: Office of Inspections and
  Investigations,'' Note by the Secretary General, A/48/640, November   
  23, 1994; Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended; Office of        
  Management and Budget Circular A-50, ``Audit Followup''; Office of    
  Management and Budget Circular A-73, ``Audit of Federal Programs and  
  Operations''; and ``Inspectors General Vision and Strategies to Apply 
  Our Reinvention Principles,'' January 1994; ``Secretary-Generals      
  Bulletin'' Subject: Office for Inspections on Investigation ST/SGB/268
  23 November 1993; ``Review of the Efficiency of the Administration and
  Financial Functioning of the United Nations'' Program Budget for the  
  Biennium 1994-1995A/C.5/48/42, 6 December 1993.                       

  

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