[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 194 (Thursday, December 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14214-H14215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SPENDING PRACTICES QUESTIONED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Metcalf). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Hoke] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, I think that you are well aware that I have 
come to the well on a number of occasions to address the House 
regarding my concerns about Government waste in general and how to root 
it out and eliminate it. But in particular I have focused attention on 
the Department of Energy and the extravagant travel practices of 
certain members of the Department, and the relationship of that travel 
to the transfer of money from certain accounts into other accounts as 
it relates to the overall mission of the Department of Energy.
  In that context, I had occasion to get a telephone call from the 
Secretary of Energy some 3 or 4 weeks ago, asking to meet with me and 
to explain certain things, which I did. It was my impression, both from 
that conversation as well as from other developments that had occurred 
in the press, that perhaps a new leaf had been turned over in the 
Department of Energy, that the kind of profligate waste and abuse of 
travel moneys and of traveling and just a general sort of complete 
uncaring attitude toward the taxpayers' money had been overcome, and 
that really we had done some good work perhaps just by bringing 
attention to it in this House.
  But it is my very sad duty today to report to you and to this House 
that I have had come across my desk a cable that was addressed to the 
State Department from U.S. Ambassador John B. Ritch. He is the U.S. 
Chief of Mission to the United Nations in Vienna. It criticizes in very 
stark terms the ongoing waste of taxpayer dollars on travel by the 
Department of Energy, specifically the U.S. delegation to the 
International Atomic Energy Agency conference in Vienna this past 
September.

                              {time}  1615

  I want to read to you from the cable. It says, ``Subject: 
Nonproliferation of delegates as well as weapons.''

       The size of the United States delegation to this year's 
     IAEA general conference exceeded thermonuclear critical mass 
     and threatened to vaporize our message of fiscal austerity to 
     the United Nations. At least 38 Washington visitors, of whom 
     only 19 were accredited to the conference, came to Vienna to 
     participate in the 39th general conference in September. At a 
     rate of $188 per day for 8 days, per diem alone approached 
     $60,000. With an average air fare of $900, air fare for the 
     delegation came to $35,000, bringing the total close to 
     $100,000. This figure does not include the visitors' 
     salaries, nor does it cover the full cost of the United 
     States delegation, which also included most of the already 
     in-place staff. Counting the U.N. Vienna, our delegation came 
     to about 50.
       Ironically, the United States delegation spent much of the 
     week fighting a proposal that would have increased our annual 
     contribution to the technical assistance fund by $125,000, 
     roughly the same amount that it took to bring our visitors to 
     Vienna. Predictably, most of the work to defend the United 
     States position actually ended up being done by a few 
     experts from Washington and U.N. VIE.

  Let me remind you again, Mr. Speaker, this is written by our U.S. 
ambassador to the U.N. delegation in Vienna. This is an ambassador who 
is an appointee of President Clinton.

       In the context of today's budget climate and Administration 
     efforts to reinvent a more cost-effective government, this 
     year's delegation represented a profligate cost. But, as 
     indicated above, it was also an embarrassment. Several of our 
     G-77 and other counterparts wondered aloud how our professed 
     budgetary austerity squared with extravagant United States 
     Government travel habits. By way of comparison, most other 
     delegations, even from larger countries, included only one or 
     two visitors from capitals. It is also true that a traveling 
     Cabinet officer needs some accompanying support. But these 
     points do not serve to justify more than three dozen visitors 
     from Washington, particularly since the general conference 
     is, in certain respects, one of the least substantive events 
     on the IAEA calendar. We want to be clear on this point: U.N. 
     VIE encourages substantive visits, but for substance, 
     Washington officials should glean far more from a well-
     scheduled one-to-two-day visit during the normal IAEA work 
     cycle.

  The Ambassador said the size of the U.S. delegation to IAEA 
conference this past September threatened to vaporize our message of 
fiscal austerity for the United Nations.
  Now, what brings me to the floor, besides wanting to bring to your 
attention, Mr. Speaker, this, I think, important piece of information, 
what really brings me to the floor is that lost in all of the liberal 
rhetoric that we hear around here about massive budget cuts, about 
heartless and cold treatment, about callousness, is the fact that the 
Federal Government continues to waste billions and billions of dollars 
annually. It is precisely this type of waste and abuse that Americans 
want stopped.
  This disclosure that comes on the heels of President Clinton's veto 
of the very first balanced budget to cross his desk ever, and the first 
balanced budget to come across any President's desk in 26 years, raises 
questions certainly about this administration's commitment to 
controlling Federal spending. The President is talking about 
reinventing Government. If this is the kind of Government that he has 
reinvented, if this is what he wants in terms of reinvention, then, 
doggone it, Mr. Speaker, we are getting nowhere on this.
  I will wrap up by saying this: The President's veto of the budget 
package while he has this kind of profligate spending going on in his 
own agencies clearly shows the lie of what is going on at the political 
levels in this government.
  Mr. Speaker, I am including for the Record the message just 
referenced, as follows:

     IMMEDIATE--UNCLASSIFIED--DSSCS MESSAGE--11758 CHARACTERS
     VZCZCMSS4272
     ACTION=DOE CMS(-),EIA(-),NN42(-),PO(-) OIN IDD(-)
     INFO=
     DATEZYUW RUEHVEN3288 3191559-EEEE=RHEBDOE.
     ZNY EEEEE ZZH
     EZ02:
     O J51559Z NOV 95
     FM USMISSION USVIENNA
     TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1929
     RUEHMT/AMCONSUL MONTREAL 0020
     RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1147
     RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2122
     RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3037
     RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1126
     RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
     BT
     UNCLAS E F T O SECTION 01 OF 02 USVIENNA 003288
     **** SECTION BREAK ****
     SECTION 01 OF 02
     DEPT FOR PM--AMBASSADOR SIEVERING;
     FROM USMISSION UNVIE
     SENSITIVE
     NOFORN
     E.O. 12958: N/A
     TAGS: IAEA, AORC, AFIN, US
     SUBJECT: NON-PROLIFERATION OF DELEGATES AS WELL AS WEAPONS
     EZ05:
     REF: USVIENNA 2856

       1. This is an action request, see para 8.


                                summary

       2. The size of the U.S. delegation to this year's IAEA 
     general conference (REFTEL) exceeded thermonuclear critical 
     mass and threatened to vaporize our message of fiscal 
     austerity to the UN. Against the twin backdrops of UN reform 
     and reinventing government, UNVIE recommends that the 
     Department issue strict guidance to limit the size of U.S. 
     delegations to international conferences. As to the severity 
     of the problem and how it might best be rectified, we are 
     interested in the observations of other relevant U.S. 
     missions. Ambassador would welcome a clear-cut instruction to 
     administer the country clearance authority against a new and 
     stricter standard. End summary.


                           counting the beans

       3. At least 38 Washington visitors (of whom only 19 were 
     accredited to the conference) came to Vienna to participate 
     in the 39th IAEA general conference in September. At a 

[[Page H 14215]]
     rate of $188 per day for 8 days, per diem alone approached $60,000. 
     With an average airfare (Delta roundtrip Washington-Vienna-
     Washington) of $900, airfare for the delegation came to 
     $35,000, bringing the total close to $100,000. This figure 
     does not include the visitors' salaries. Nor does it cover 
     the full cost of the U.S. delegation, which also included 
     most of the already-in-place UNVIE staff. Counting UNVIE, our 
     delegation came to about 50.
       4. Ironically, the U.S. delegation spent much of the week 
     fighting a proposal that would have increased our annual 
     contribution to the technical assistance fund by $125,000, 
     roughly the same amount it took to bring our visitors to 
     Vienna. (Predictably, most of the work to defend the U.S. 
     position ended up being done by a few experts from Washington 
     and UNVIE.)


                          go forth and reduce

       5. In the context of today's budget climate and 
     administration efforts to reinvent a more cost-effective 
     Government, this year's delegation represented a profligate 
     cost. But, as indicated above, it was also an embarrassment. 
     Several of our G-77 and other counterparts wondered aloud how 
     our professed budgetary austerity squared with extravagant 
     USG travel habits. By way of comparison, most other 
     delegations, even from larger countries, included only one or 
     two visitors from capitals. (The only delegation even 
     comparable to ours was the Japanese, which totalled 20, 
     including Vienna-based personnel; Japan was shielded from 
     comment, however, by an impeccable UN payment record.)
       6. To be sure, some U.S. delegation members came to do work 
     not directly related to the general conference, taking 
     advantage of the presence of counterparts here--for example, 
     for an NPT depositaries meeting and consultations on nuclear 
     materials. It is also true that a traveling cabinet officer 
     needs some accompanying support. But these points do not 
     serve to justify more than three dozen visitors from 
     Washington, particularly since the general conference is, in 
     certain respects, one of the least substantive events in the 
     IAEA calendar. We want to be clear on this point: UNVIE 
     encourages substantive visits, but for substance, Washington 
     officials would glean far more from a well-scheduled 1-2 day 
     visit during the normal IAEA work cycle.

     ACTION REQUEST
     UNCLAS E F T O SECTION 02 OF 02 USVIENNA 003288
     DEPT FOR PM--AMBASSADOR SIEVERING;
     FROM USMISSION UNVIE
     NOFORN SENSITIVE
     E.O. 12958: N/A
     TAGS: IAEA, AORC, AFIN, US
     SUBJECT: NON-PROLIFERATION OF DELEGATES AS WELL AS WEAPONS

       7. Ambassador requests that the Department draw up 
     standards or guidelines which IO and relevant missions can 
     use to limit significantly the size of U.S. delegations to 
     international conferences. For its part, UNVIE--having beefed 
     up its IAEA section to reflect U.S. national security 
     priorities--is now positioned not only to cover the daily 
     work of the Agency but also to handle, with very limited 
     augmentation from Washington, the board of governors meetings 
     and general conferences. Buttressed by instructions, we are 
     prepared to use the country clearance process to help manage 
     cost-effective USG participation in Vienna conferences. Ritch

     BT
     #3288
     2482
     NNNN.
                                               Amb. John B. Ritch,
     Chief of Mission.

                          ____________________