Managing For Results: Using the Results Act to Address Mission
Fragmentation and Program Overlap (Letter Report, 08/29/97,
GAO/AIMD-97-146).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO described the challenge of
multiple and overlapping federal programs within the framework of the
Government Performance and Results Act, focusing on specific ways in
which the Results Act can focus attention on these management challenges
and help to develop strategies to harmonize federal responses.

GAO noted that: (1) GAO's work has documented the widespread existence
of fragmentation and overlap from both the broad perspective of federal
missions and from the more specific viewpoint of individual federal
programs; (2) GAO's work has shown that as the federal government has
responded over time to new needs and problems, many federal agencies
have been given responsibilities for addressing the same or similar
national issues; but GAO's work also suggests that some issues will
necessarily involve more than one federal agency or more than one
approach; (3) taken as a whole, this body of work indicates that
fragmentation and overlap will present a particular and persistent
challenge to the successful implementation of the Results Act; (4) but
at the same time, the Results Act should offer a new and structured
framework to address crosscutting issues; (5) each of its key
stages--defining missions and desired outcomes, measuring performance,
and using performance information--offers a new opportunity to address
fragmentation and overlap; (6) for example, the Results Act is intended
to foster a dialogue on strategic goals involving the Congress as well
as agency and external stakeholders; (7) this dialogue should help to
identify agencies and programs addressing similar missions and
associated performance implications; (8) the act's emphasis on
results-based performance measures should lead to more explicit
discussions of contributions and accomplishments within crosscutting
programs and encourage related programs to develop common performance
measures; (9) if the Results Act is successfully implemented,
performance information should become available to clarify the
consequences of fragmentation and the implications of alternative policy
and service delivery options, which, in turn, can affect future
decisions concerning department and agency missions and the allocation
of resources among those missions; (10) emphasizing missions, goals, and
objectives, as envisioned by the Results Act, should facilitate a
broader recognition of the nature and extent of fragmentation and
overlap; and (11) however, past efforts to deal with crosscutting
federal activities and recent developments in both the executive branch
and the Congress underscore the need for specific institutions and
processes to sustain and nurture a focus on these issues.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-97-146
     TITLE:  Managing For Results: Using the Results Act to Address 
             Mission Fragmentation and Program Overlap
      DATE:  08/29/97
   SUBJECT:  Congressional/executive relations
             Interagency relations
             Agency missions
             Strategic planning
             Decentralization
             Federal aid programs
             Federal agency reorganization
             Congressional oversight

             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Report to Congressional Requesters

August 1997

MANAGING FOR RESULTS - USING THE
RESULTS ACT TO ADDRESS MISSION
FRAGMENTATION AND PROGRAM OVERLAP

GAO/AIMD-97-146

Addressing Program Overlap

(935224)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  CTFC - Commodity Futures Trading Commission
  DOD - Department of Defense
  DOE - Department of Energy
  EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
  FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency
  GAO - General Accounting Office
  GPRA - Government Performance and Results Act of 1993
  HHS - Department of Health and Human Services
  HUD - Department of Housing and Urban Development
  OMB - Office of Management and Budget
  ONDCP - Office of National Drug Control Policy
  SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission
  TPCC - Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee

Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-277592

August 29, 1997

The Honorable Richard K.  Armey
Majority Leader
House of Representatives

The Honorable John R.  Kasich
Chairman
Committee on the Budget
House of Representatives

The Honorable Dan Burton
Chairman
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
House of Representatives

The Honorable Bob Livingston
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
House of Representatives

This letter responds to your request that we describe the challenge
of multiple and overlapping federal programs within the framework of
the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, known as GPRA or
the Results Act.  As the government searches for ways to do more with
less, mission fragmentation and program overlap have become
increasingly important issues.  The Congress and the administration,
as well as GAO, have identified the fragmented nature of many federal
activities, coupled with the need to reduce the deficit, as the basis
for a fundamental reexamination of federal programs and structures.\1

The Results Act presents a viable means to begin such a
reexamination.  Under the act, agencies are to set strategic and
annual goals, measure performance, and report on the degree to which
goals are met; based on the agencies' plans, the President is
required to submit a governmentwide performance plan presenting, in
conjunction with the annual budget submission, a comprehensive
picture of government performance.  The Congress intended for the
Results Act to fundamentally shift the focus of accountability from a
preoccupation with staffing and activity levels to a focus on the
outcomes of federal programs.  This focus should lead to new
information on those programs that cut across agency lines but share
common goals. 

As requested, this report summarizes our prior work dealing with
mission fragmentation and program overlap and then describes specific
ways in which the Results Act can focus attention on these management
challenges and help to develop strategies to harmonize federal
responses.  As agreed with your offices, we did not update issued
work for this report, although we did ensure that the work was still
relevant and timely. 


--------------------
\1 Federal Government Management:  Examining Government Performance
as We Near the Next Century, Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight, House of Representatives, H.  Rpt.  No.  861, 104th Cong. 
2d Sess.  pp.  5-6 (1996); Office of the Vice President, Transforming
Organizational Structures:  Accompanying Report of the National
Performance Review, Sept.  1993; and Government Restructuring: 
Identifying Potential Duplication in Federal Missions and Approaches
(GAO/T-AIMD-95-161, June 7, 1995). 


   RESULTS IN BRIEF
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1

Our work has documented the widespread existence of fragmentation and
overlap from both the broad perspective of federal missions and from
the more specific viewpoint of individual federal programs.  Appendix
I captures this body of work, which addresses nearly a dozen federal
mission areas and over 30 program areas.  Our work has shown that as
the federal government has responded over time to new needs and
problems, many federal agencies have been given responsibilities for
addressing the same or similar national issues; but our work also
suggests that some issues will necessarily involve more than one
federal agency or more than one approach.  Taken as a whole, this
body of work indicates that fragmentation and overlap will present a
particular and persistent challenge to the successful implementation
of the Results Act. 

But at the same time, the Results Act should offer a new and
structured framework to address crosscutting issues.  Each of its key
stages--defining missions and desired outcomes, measuring
performance, and using performance information--offers a new
opportunity to address fragmentation and overlap.  For example, the
Results Act is intended to foster a dialogue on strategic goals
involving the Congress as well as agency and external stakeholders. 
This dialogue should help to identify agencies and programs
addressing similar missions and associated performance implications. 
The act's emphasis on results-based performance measures should lead
to more explicit discussions of contributions and accomplishments
within crosscutting programs and encourage related programs to
develop common performance measures.  Finally, if the Results Act is
successfully implemented, performance information should become
available to clarify the consequences of fragmentation and the
implications of alternative policy and service delivery options,
which, in turn, can affect future decisions concerning department and
agency missions and the allocation of resources among those missions. 

Emphasizing missions, goals, and objectives, as envisioned by the
Results Act, should facilitate a broader recognition of the nature
and extent of fragmentation and overlap.  However, past efforts to
deal with crosscutting federal activities and recent developments in
both the executive branch and the Congress underscore the need for
specific institutions and processes to sustain and nurture a focus on
these issues. 


   BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2

In this report, we use the term "mission fragmentation" to refer to
those circumstances in which more than one federal agency (or more
than one bureau within an agency) is involved in the same broad area
of national need.  Historically, national need areas have been
described by a classification system called budget functions. 
Developed as a means to classify budgetary resources on a
governmentwide basis according to the need addressed, budget
functions are, by intention, very broad.  Presently, there are 17
national need areas, including such mission areas as international
affairs and income security.\2

Functional classifications have been used in the federal budget
process for many years to serve a variety of purposes; since 1974,
the Congress has used these categories as the framework for the
concurrent resolution on the budget.  Budget functions will also
provide the framework for the governmentwide performance plan that is
required by the Results Act to be included with the President's
Fiscal Year 1999 Budget submitted in February 1998. 

Although this type of system can indicate broad categories of
fragmentation and overlap, it does not directly address the issue of
program duplication.  While mission fragmentation and program overlap
are relatively straightforward to identify, determining whether
overlapping programs are actually duplicative requires an analysis of
target populations, specific program goals, and the means used to
achieve them.  For example, as an indication of duplication within
employment training programs, we reported in 1994 on the extent to
which 38 separate programs shared common goals, targeted comparable
client populations, provided similar services, and used parallel
service delivery mechanisms and administrative structures.  Thirty of
the programs shared characteristics with at least one other
program.\3

To respond to this request, we compiled an inventory of GAO reports
and testimonies dealing with mission fragmentation and program
overlap.  As agreed, we did not update this issued work, but each
identified product was reviewed for relevance and currency.  Our goal
was to capture the breadth of our published work but to include only
those products which described or expanded previous discussions of
mission fragmentation or program overlaps, "patchworks," or
duplications.  Products which were very narrow in scope--for example,
dealing with a program coordination question within a single
agency--were not included unless they were part of a larger body of
work on the specific program area.  The abstracts contained in
appendix I summarize matters relevant to fragmentation and overlap
and do not necessarily reflect the entirety of the product's message. 


--------------------
\2 In addition, there are three other functions--net interest,
allowances, and undistributed offsetting receipts--which allow full
coverage of federal spending.  The function categories, while
complete, do have certain limitations as a classification system. 
For a discussion of this topic, see Budget Issues:  Fiscal Year 1996
Agency Spending by Budget Function (GAO/AIMD-97-95, May 13, 1997). 

\3 Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Overlap Among Programs
Raises Questions About Efficiency (GAO/HEHS-94-193, July 11, 1994). 


   MISSION FRAGMENTATION IS
   WIDESPREAD
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3

Whether approached from a governmentwide perspective or on the basis
of individual programs, our work has documented mission fragmentation
and program overlap.  Although this broad and diverse body of
work--covering nearly a dozen missions and over 30 programs and
involving most departments and agencies--clearly indicates the
potential for inefficiency and waste, it also helps to disclose areas
where intentional participation by multiple agencies may be a
reasonable response to a specific need.  In either case, the Result
Act, and its emphasis on defining missions and expected outcomes, can
provide the environment needed to begin the process of reassessment. 

In response to requests from the Senate Committee on Governmental
Affairs and more recently from House Leadership, we attempted to
quantify the question of mission fragmentation by using spending
patterns to describe the relationship between federal missions and
organizations.\4 By mapping department and agency spending against
the federal mission areas described by budget function
classifications, we showed that most federal agencies addressed more
than one mission and, conversely, most federal missions were assigned
to multiple departments and agencies.  In 1996, for example, most
agencies made obligations to three or more budget functions, and six
of the budget functions were addressed by six or more executive
branch departments and major agencies.  For example, seven major
federal organizations made obligations in 1996 to the Natural
Resources and Environment mission area, and seven to Community and
Regional Development.\5 While the use of broad budget functions as a
proxy for federal missions cannot yield an exact measure of the
extent of fragmentation, our analyses served to illustrate the
potential scope of the issue and indicate areas for further
assessment. 

We have also done a large body of work reviewing specific federal
programs.  Again, in program area after program area--from early
childhood programs to land management and from food safety to
international trade--the picture remains the same:  widespread
fragmentation and overlap, often involving many federal departments
and agencies.  Such unfocused efforts can waste scarce funds, confuse
and frustrate program customers, and limit overall program
effectiveness.  Table 1 summarizes the program areas included in
appendix I, which contains an annotated bibliography of GAO products
covering over two dozen federal program areas including, for example,
the following: 

  -- We have reported extensively on federal programs seeking to help
     people find productive employment.  In 1995, we identified over
     160 employment training programs scattered across 15 departments
     and agencies.  While about 60 percent of the programs were
     administered by two departments, the remainder resided in
     departments not generally expected to provide employment
     training assistance.  Many of the new employment training
     programs had emerged in these latter departments in recent
     years.\6

  -- We reported in 1995 that at least 12 federal departments and
     agencies were responsible for hundreds of community development
     programs that assist distressed urban communities and their
     residents.  Historically, there has been little coordination
     among the agencies, imposing an unnecessary burden on urban
     communities seeking assistance.  We reported that agencies
     tended not to collaborate with each other for a variety of
     reasons, including concerns about losing control over program
     resources.\7

  -- In the emerging area of telemedicine, federal efforts are
     fragmented within nine federal departments and agencies.\8 As
     noted in our 1997 report, no formal mechanism or overall
     strategy exists to ensure that federal investments are fully
     coordinated to serve a common purpose. 

   Table 1:  Missions and Program
   Areas Discussed in GAO Products

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Notwithstanding the performance problems suggested by this work, a
common theme emerges--the evident fragmentation and overlap is the
result of an adaptive and responsive federal government.  As new
needs were identified, the common response has been a proliferation
of responsibilities and roles to federal departments and agencies,
perhaps targeted on a newly identified clientele (e.g., at-risk
children), or involving a new program delivery approach (e.g., credit
programs in addition to grants), or, in the worst case, merely
layered onto existing systems in response to programs that have
failed or performed poorly. 

However, as noted in a recent House Government Reform and Oversight
Committee report,\9 "a certain amount of redundancy is understandable
and can be beneficial if it occurs by design as part of a management
strategy to foster competition, provide better service delivery to
customer groups, or provide emergency backup." Several of our
products provide examples of these types of federal environments. 

  -- In some situations, redundancy may be seen as inherently
     necessary due to the nature of the federal effort.  For example,
     because of security requirements, the Department of Energy's
     (DOE) processes for planning, funding, and evaluating nuclear
     weapons development work came to rely on competition among
     multiple weapons laboratories as a means of ensuring quality.\10

  -- In other cases, the involvement of multiple federal agencies may
     reflect the breadth of activities associated with a given
     federal mission.  For example, countries formerly part of the
     Soviet Union have received assistance through over 200 federal
     programs, some as part of a multiagency approach established by
     law in 1992.  Assistance provided by 23 federal departments and
     agencies has included food aid, private sector development,
     emergency humanitarian assistance, disposition of weapons of
     mass destruction, and democratic reform.\11 Similarly, numerous
     federal agencies are involved in providing disaster assistance. 
     The Federal Response Plan prepared by the Federal Emergency
     Management Agency identifies 27 federal agencies as service
     providers following any type of disaster or emergency that
     requires a federal response.\12

  -- In some program areas, inefficiencies may be difficult to
     address because of other, overriding goals.  For example, the
     decentralized structure of federal statistical agencies has been
     cited as inefficient and contributing to data quality problems. 
     However, the potential advantages of consolidation must be
     weighed against other concerns, such as the potential for abuse
     and breaches of confidentiality that could occur when so much
     information about individuals and businesses is concentrated in
     one agency.\13

Nevertheless, whether seen as the cause of unfocused and confusing
program structures or as a necessary consequence of federal
approaches in a specific program area, the fragmentation and overlap
described by our work inevitably leads to consideration of
reorganization and restructuring.  In testimony before the Senate
Committee on Governmental Affairs, the Comptroller General noted that
experiences in this and foreign countries suggested several basic
principles associated with any reorganization assessment.\14 The most
important lesson gleaned from these experiences was that any
reorganization demands a coordinated approach within and across
agency lines, focused on specific, identifiable goals.  With its
emphasis on defining agency missions, goals and objectives, and
strategies to achieve those goals and objectives--and its requirement
for involvement of the Congress and other agency and external
stakeholders--the Results Act provides a statute-based environment to
begin such an assessment. 


--------------------
\4 See Budget Issues:  Fiscal Year 1996 Agency Spending by Budget
Function (GAO/AIMD-97-95, May 13, 1997) and Budget Function
Classification:  Agency Spending by Subfunction and Object Category,
Fiscal Year 1994 (GAO/AIMD-95-116FS, May 10, 1995). 

\5 GAO/AIMD-97-95, May 13, 1997. 

\6 Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Major Overhaul Needed to
Create a More Efficient, Customer-Driven System (GAO/T-HEHS-95-70,
Feb.  6, 1995). 

\7 Community Development:  Challenges Face Comprehensive Approaches
to Address Needs of Distressed Neighborhoods (GAO/T-RCED-95-262, Aug. 
3, 1995). 

\8 The involvement of many federal entities is a function of the
breadth of activities encompassed by telemedicine and an example of
how federal responses to emerging issues can often lead to fragmented
systems.  Depending on how it is defined, telemedicine can involve
the use of imaging and diagnostic equipment to gather data from a
patient, computer hardware and software to record data, communication
lines or satellites to send the data from one location to another,
and computer equipment at the receiving end for a physician or
specialist to interpret the data.  A telemedicine system could be as
simple as a computer hookup to a medical reference source or as
advanced as robotic surgery.  See Telemedicine:  Federal Strategy Is
Needed to Guide Investments (GAO/NSIAD/HEHS-97-67, Feb.  14, 1997). 

\9 H.  Rpt.  No.  104-861, p.  6. 

\10 DOE's National Laboratories:  Adopting New Missions and Managing
Effectively Pose Significant Challenges (GAO/T-RCED-94-113, Feb.  3,
1994). 

\11 Former Soviet Union:  Information on U.S.  Bilateral Program
Funding (GAO/NSIAD-96-37, Dec.  15, 1995). 

\12 Results Act:  Observations on the Federal Emergency Management
Agency's Draft Strategic Plan (GAO/RCED-97-204R, July 22, 1997). 

\13 Statistical Agencies:  Consolidation and Quality Issues
(GAO/T-GGD-97-78, Apr.  9, 1997). 

\14 Government Reorganization:  Issues and Principles
(GAO/T-GGD/AIMD-95-166, May 17, 1995). 


   RESULTS ACT HOLDS POTENTIAL TO
   ADDRESS MISSION FRAGMENTATION
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4

The Results Act will present the Congress and the administration with
a new opportunity to address mission fragmentation and program
overlap.  As we noted in our recent assessment of the status of
Results Act implementation, the act's emphasis on results implies
that federal programs contributing to the same or similar outcomes
should be closely coordinated, consolidated, or streamlined, as
appropriate, to ensure that goals are consistent and that program
efforts are mutually reinforcing.\15 To implement the act, agencies
will need to undertake three key steps:  define mission and desired
outcomes, measure performance, and use performance information.  Each
of these steps offers opportunities for the Congress and the
administration to intervene in ways that could address mission
fragmentation.  For example,

  -- as missions and desired outcomes are determined, instances of
     fragmentation and overlap can be identified and appropriate
     responses can be defined;

  -- as performance measures are developed, the extent to which
     agency goals are complementary and the need for common
     performance measures to allow for cross-agency evaluations can
     be considered; and

  -- as continued budget pressures prompt decisionmakers to weigh
     trade-offs inherent in resource allocation and restructuring
     decisions, the Results Act can provide the framework to
     integrate and compare performance of related programs to better
     inform choices among competing budgetary claims. 


--------------------
\15 The Government Performance and Results Act:  1997 Governmentwide
Implementation Will Be Uneven (GAO/GGD-97-109, June 2, 1997). 


      DEFINE MISSIONS AND DESIRED
      OUTCOMES
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.1

Perhaps the most important element of the Results Act, at least with
respect to the challenge of mission fragmentation and program
overlap, is that it creates a framework that enables and expects
congressional and other stakeholder consultation in agency strategic
planning.\16 This should create the environment needed to look across
the activities of individual programs within specific agencies and
toward the goals and objectives that the federal government is trying
to achieve.  The consultation process should present an important
opportunity for congressional committees and executive branch
agencies to mutually address the extent and consequences of
fragmented and overlapping agency missions and poorly targeted
programs. 

In many areas, our previous work has shown that emphasizing missions
is the best means to cut across organizational boundaries and
identify fragmentation.  By emphasizing the intended outcomes of
related federal programs, our work has identified legislative changes
needed to clarify the Congress' intent and expectations or to address
changing conditions that have arisen since initial statutory
requirements were established.  Examples include the following: 

  -- In the area of rural development, we reported in 1994 that the
     patchwork of uncoordinated, narrowly focused programs was an
     inefficient surrogate for a single federal policy.  At the time
     of our review, a federal interagency group had been established
     to address service delivery problems, but it could take only
     limited action because it lacked the authority to make changes
     in the programs.  We suggested that the Congress consider
     establishing an interagency executive committee with a mandate
     to report on alternatives to the current fragmented environment,
     including establishing measurable program goals.\17

  -- Following on our work examining federal export promotion
     programs, the Congress tasked an interagency working group, the
     Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, with establishing
     governmentwide priorities for promotion programs and proposing
     an annual unified federal budget reflecting those priorities. 
     Our work had shown a lack of information on what federal export
     promotion programs were achieving, whether federal resources for
     export promotion were being used as effectively as possible, and
     obstacles to accessing the programs due to the fragmentation of
     needed services among several agencies.\18

  -- Healthy People 2000 is a national strategy for improving the
     health of the American people.  Started in 1979, Healthy People
     is a series of outcome-based public health objectives developed
     and updated each decade by the U.S.  Public Health Service in
     consultation with other federal agencies, state governments, and
     national organizations.  Currently, three broad goals are
     supported by 300 objectives that address 22 priority areas. 
     Over time, the Congress has required that Healthy People
     objectives be incorporated into other federal programs as a
     means to ensure that goals and objectives are coordinated to
     meet federal needs.\19

The opportunity for congressional involvement in agency strategic
planning could present challenges given the complexity of current
committee jurisdictions.  To address this, bipartisan teams in the
House of Representatives have been established to coordinate and
facilitate committee consultations with executive branch agencies. 
We have supported and will continue to actively support the House's
departmental staff teams as they review and consult on agencies'
draft strategic plans.  For example, at the request of the Chairmen
of the House Committees on Government Reform and Oversight,
Appropriations, and the Budget, we recently developed a set of key
questions to be used by the staff teams during their reviews.  These
questions dealt with identifying relationships among agencies'
strategic plans, determining similar or related efforts across
agencies, and noting the extent of interagency coordination.\20

The apparent challenge of integrating performance expectations for
crosscutting programs with congressional oversight processes and
executive management structures should also be aided by an additional
Results Act requirement:  the governmentwide performance plan.  The
act requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to present a
governmentwide performance plan, based on agencies' annual
performance plans, with the President's Budget; the first plan is
required to be issued in February 1998 with the fiscal year 1999
budget.  The Congress intended that this plan present a "single
cohesive picture of the annual performance goals for the fiscal
year."\21 While the precise format is left to the discretion of the
OMB Director, the plan is expected to be organized around budget
functions, thus providing a mission-based, cross-agency perspective. 
This approach should facilitate identifying crosscutting programs
while also supporting integration with the concurrent resolution on
the budget--an important congressional oversight tool that also uses
budget functions. 


--------------------
\16 Managing for Results:  Achieving GPRA's Objectives Requires
Strong Congressional Role (GAO/T-GGD-96-79, Mar.  6, 1996). 

\17 Rural Development:  Patchwork of Federal Programs Needs to Be
Reappraised (GAO/RCED-94-165, July 28, 1994). 

\18 See Export Promotion:  Governmentwide Strategy Needed for Federal
Programs (GAO/T-GGD-93-7, Mar.  15, 1993). 

\19 GAO/GGD-97-109, June 2, 1997, and Public Health:  A Health Status
Indicator for Targeting Federal Aid to States (GAO/HEHS-97-13, Nov. 
13, 1996). 

\20 Agencies' Strategic Plans Under GPRA:  Key Questions to
Facilitate Congressional Review (GAO/GGD-10.1.16, May 1997). 

\21 Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, S.  Rpt.  No. 
58, 103d Cong.  1st Sess.  p.  27 (1993). 


      MEASURE PERFORMANCE
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.2

The Results Act requires agencies to develop annual plans with
suitable performance measures in order to reinforce the connection
between the long-term strategic goals outlined in strategic plans and
the day-to-day activities of managers and staff.  To the extent that
federal efforts are fragmented across agency lines, developing
crosscutting performance measures through interagency coordination
could ease implementation burdens while strengthening efforts to
develop best practices.  Complementary and, where appropriate, common
performance measures could permit comparisons of related programs'
results and the tools used to achieve those results. 

Both the need for and the potential benefits arising from efforts to
build a crosscutting perspective into outcome-oriented performance
measurement development can be drawn from our previous work. 
However, the persistent theme from this body of work is that although
results-based performance information would help federal managers
improve their programs, little information is collected. 

  -- Our work on employment training programs found that many federal
     agencies did not know if they were really helping people find
     jobs.  For example, in a study of programs targeting the
     economically disadvantaged, we found that most agencies did not
     collect information on whether participants found jobs; or if
     they did, whether the jobs were related to the training
     provided; and if it was, what wages the participants earned. 
     Without this information, program administrators could not
     determine if they were preparing participants for local labor
     market opportunities, whether employment resulted from
     participation in employment training, or if participants would
     most likely have found the same types of jobs on their own.\22

  -- The challenge of performance measurement development is
     increased when there are multiple nonfederal entities, in
     addition to multiple federal agencies, involved in a program
     area.  For example, our work on ecosystem management noted that
     data needed to test the concept were often noncomparable and
     insufficient and that a governmentwide approach would require
     unparalleled interagency and federal/nonfederal coordination.\23

Even where efforts are made to develop common performance information
across overlapping programs, the information developed can still
differ from program to program, hampering crosscutting comparisons. 
For example, our 1996 review of three agencies whose programs provide
economic development assistance found that each cited a "performance
ratio"--computed as a comparison of total dollars invested in a
project to the dollars invested by the federal agency--as one measure
of how they were meeting their goals.\24

However, each agency defined total dollars invested differently and
calculated the ratio for only a portion of its programs.  While
determining the outcomes of economic development programs certainly
presents significant challenges, the use of different methods to
calculate apparently similar performance indicators would in any case
preclude comparison of the programs. 

Our work also suggests that sustained congressional involvement, in
some cases spanning many years, will be required even where a
legislated coordinating mechanism exists.  For example, the Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was established in 1988 after
several previous legislative efforts were unsuccessful in causing
development of a comprehensive national drug strategy.  ONDCP is
responsible for developing and coordinating implementation of a drug
control strategy among the now more than 50 federal agencies involved
in this program area.  Recently, ONDCP began developing national
performance measures to be collected in addition to individual agency
performance data to help determine whether or how well
counternarcotics efforts were contributing to the goals of the
national strategy.  Consistent with the intent of the Results Act, we
recommended that ONDCP complete a long-term plan with meaningful
performance measures and multiyear funding needs linked to the goals
and objectives of the strategy.  In February 1997, ONDCP proposed a
10-year strategy and is making progress toward developing performance
targets and measures for each of its goals.\25

Lastly, the Congress has a vital role regarding performance
measurement development in addition to its consultative role with
respect to agency strategic plans.  This role can be particularly
important in areas of uncoordinated and fragmented missions.  For
example, assessing the outcomes of science-related programs can be
extremely difficult because a wide range of factors determine if and
how a particular research and development project will result in
commercial or other benefits, and the challenge of this type of
assessment is heightened by the involvement of multiple federal
agencies.  Recently, the Research Roundtable, a consortium of federal
research and development agencies, has been considering the extent to
which its member agencies can and should adopt a common approach to
measuring performance.  The Roundtable is one of about 25 interagency
groups, many of which were recently formed on an ad hoc basis to
discuss common concerns in crosscutting issues, including goal
setting and performance measurement.  The Congress could work with
these types of interagency coordinating groups to ensure that
congressional data needs are met within any common performance
measurement model.  Moreover, this consultation will also reinforce
earlier strategic planning consultations intended to clarify and
harmonize missions.\26


--------------------
\22 Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Basic Program Data Often
Missing (GAO/T-HEHS-94-239, Sept.  28, 1994) and Multiple Employment
Training Programs:  Most Federal Agencies Do Not Know If Their
Programs Are Working Effectively (GAO/HEHS-94-88, Mar.  2, 1994). 

\23 Ecosystem Management:  Additional Actions Needed to Adequately
Test a Promising Approach (GAO/RCED-94-111, Aug.  16, 1994). 

\24 The agencies were the Appalachian Regional Commission, the
Economic Development Administration, and the Tennessee Valley
Authority.  See Economic Development:  Limited Information Exists on
the Impact of Assistance Provided by Three Agencies (GAO/RCED-96-103,
Apr.  3, 1996). 

\25 Drug Control:  Reauthorization of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy (GAO/T-GGD-97-97, May 1, 1997). 

\26 Managing for Results:  Key Steps and Challenges in Implementing
GPRA In Science Agencies (GAO/T-GGD/RCED-96-214, July 10, 1996). 


      USE PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.3

For the Results Act to achieve its objective of improved federal
performance and accountability, the performance information made
available must be used.  Of course, different users will have
different needs.  Agency managers should use performance information
to ensure that programs meet intended goals, to assess the efficiency
of processes, and to promote continuous improvement.  The Congress
needs information on whether and in what respect a program is working
well to support its oversight of agencies and their
appropriations.\27 In the specific area of fragmented and overlapping
activities, performance information can help identify performance
variations and redundancies and can lay the foundation for improved
coordination, program consolidations, or the elimination of unneeded
programs. 

However, developing useful performance information in an environment
of fragmented missions presents unique demands, partly because of the
number of federal decisionmakers involved.  For example, federal
employment training programs are not only spread across multiple
departments and agencies but are also subject to multiple
congressional authorization, oversight, and appropriations
jurisdictions.  In fact, for the major departments and agencies
providing employment training programs, seven different
appropriations subcommittees currently review and determine funding
levels.\28

Ideally, the consultation requirements associated with strategic plan
development can help address these concerns.  In particular, the
House departmental teams, composed of representatives from relevant
House authorizing committees as well as the appropriations, budget,
and oversight committees, were specifically established to help
coordinate committee consultations and simplify the provision of
congressional views on agency strategic plans.  These actions should
help promote clarity and consistency of congressional information
needs, thus setting the stage for subsequent congressional interest
in collected performance information.  But the performance
measurement challenge of fragmented missions--that is, concentrating
attention on redundancies or performance differences across agencies,
in addition to performance gaps within a single agency--will present
unique difficulties for both the executive branch and the Congress. 


--------------------
\27 For a discussion of possible implications of the Results Act on
resource allocation processes, see Performance Budgeting:  Past
Initiatives Offer Insights for GPRA Implementation (GAO/AIMD-97-46,
Mar.  27, 1997). 

\28 For a discussion of the intersection of federal missions,
departments and agencies delivering services, and cognizant
appropriations subcommittees, see Budget Account Structure:  A
Descriptive Overview (GAO/AIMD-95-179, Sept.  18, 1995). 


   BUILDING A SUSTAINED FOCUS ON
   FRAGMENTATION AND OVERLAP
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5

Past efforts to deal with crosscutting federal activities suggest
that even within the statutory framework of the Results Act, success
will take time and will require sustained attention in both the
executive branch and the Congress.  At this very early stage of
Results Act implementation, it is clear that much work remains to be
done.  In June 1997 testimony before a joint hearing of the Senate
Appropriations and Governmental Affairs Committees, the Director of
OMB acknowledged, "(A)gencies understandably have first focused on
their own programs, and are only beginning to look at enhancing
interagency coordination for programs or activities that are
crosscutting in nature."\29 Our reviews of draft agency strategic
plans, requested by House Leadership to assist the congressional
consultation process, confirmed that agencies are only beginning to
consider the challenges of fragmentation and overlap. 

  -- Nearly all of the draft plans lacked evidence of interagency
     coordination, and some of the plans--including those from some
     agencies that operate complex programs where interagency
     coordination is clearly required--lacked any discussion of the
     need to coordinate with other agencies on crosscutting issues. 
     For example, the ability of the Department of Health and Human
     Services to achieve its goal of self-sufficiency and parental
     responsibility for welfare recipients is likely to depend on
     employment, training, and education programs administered by the
     Departments of Labor and Education; yet, the draft plan makes no
     mention of the roles of these other agencies. 

  -- Even if an agency's draft plan recognized the need to coordinate
     with others, there was generally little information about what
     strategies would be pursued to address mission fragmentation and
     program overlap.  For example, although the draft plans for the
     Departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs contained a general
     goal to improve coordination among agencies involved in related
     functions, no specific strategies to achieve this goal were
     discussed. 

These developments serve to emphasize a fundamental issue:  the need
for specific institutions and processes to sustain and nurture a
focus on mission fragmentation and program overlap.  The very nature
of this issue presents special challenges for both the executive
branch and the Congress. 

In the executive branch, the sheer number of departments and
agencies, many of which are "holding" organizations for widely
diverse subordinate bureaus, administrations, and services, will
present a significant impediment.  The Results Act establishes
mechanisms to deal with this environment:  strategic plans,
emphasizing long-term goals and objectives in consultation with the
Congress and external stakeholders, and the governmentwide
performance plan, presenting "a single cohesive picture of the
federal government's annual performance goals." However,
notwithstanding consultation requirements and the iterative nature of
strategic planning, such plans will likely focus internally,
especially if there are no persistent, external, cross-agency
integrating efforts.  The recent growth of ad hoc interagency
coordinating groups is an encouraging development, but sustained
impetus from OMB will likely be needed to ensure that agency plans
address fragmentation concerns.  The governmentwide performance plan,
prepared by OMB based on agency performance plans, offers perhaps the
best opportunity for continued attention to coordination and
integration issues within the executive branch, but it remains an
untested approach whose relationship to the Congress, as discussed
below, is unclear. 

The departmental staff teams established in the House of
Representatives have provided a valuable means to coordinate
congressional consultations, but mission fragmentation and program
overlap will continue to present challenges to the traditional
committee structures and processes.  Moreover, the governmentwide
performance plan raises a series of questions for the Congress,
including the following: 

  -- How can the Congress most appropriately respond to the
     performance goals specified in the plan? 

  -- How can the Congress express its perspectives and priorities on
     governmentwide performance goals, especially with respect to
     areas of fragmentation and overlap? 

  -- How can the Congress best stimulate development of common
     performance measures within fragmented mission areas and
     programs, especially for those that cut across jurisdictions of
     specific committees? 

These questions suggest continuing challenges for the Congress as it
seeks to address crosscutting performance issues in the context of
its current institutions and processes. 


--------------------
\29 Statement of Franklin D.  Raines, Director, Office of Management
and Budget, before the Senate Appropriations and Governmental Affairs
Committees, June 24, 1997, p.  3. 


---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.1

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce its
contents earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report
until 30 days from the date of this letter.  At that time, we will
send copies to the House Minority Leader and the Ranking Minority
Members of your Committees; the Chairmen and Ranking Minority Members
of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Committee on the Budget,
and Committee on Governmental Affairs; and other interested Members
of the Congress.  We will also send copies to the Director, Office of
Management and Budget, and will make copies available to others upon
request. 

The major contributors to this letter were Michael J.  Curro,
Assistant Director, and Linda F.  Baker, Senior Evaluator.  Please
contact me at (202) 512-9573 if you have any questions. 

Paul L.  Posner
Director, Budget Issues


ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GAO WORK
ON MISSION FRAGMENTATION AND
PROGRAM OVERLAP
=========================================================== Appendix I

This appendix lists principal GAO products regarding mission
fragmentation and program overlap.  Included are (1) products that
provide general commentary on the subject and related issues; (2)
products that pertain to mission fragmentation at a single department
or agency; and (3) products that examine fragmentation within a
particular mission or program area. 


   GENERAL COMMENTARY
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:1

Managing for Results:  The Statutory Framework for Improving Federal
Management and Effectiveness (GAO/T-GGD/AIMD-97-144, June 24, 1997)

Managing for Results:  Analytic Challenges in Measuring Performance
(GAO/HEHS/GGD-97-138, May 30, 1997)

The Government Performance and Results Act:  1997 Governmentwide
Implementation Will Be Uneven (GAO/GGD-97-109, June 2, 1997)

Budget Issues:  Fiscal Year 1996 Spending by Budget Function
(GAO/AIMD-97-95, May 13, 1997)

Performance Budgeting:  Past Initiatives Offer Insights for GPRA
Implementation (GAO/AIMD-97-46, Mar.  27, 1997)

Measuring Performance:  Strengths and Limitations of Research
Indicators (GAO/RCED-97-91, Mar.  21, 1997)

Managing for Results:  Enhancing the Usefulness of GPRA Consultations
Between the Executive Branch and Congress (GAO/T-GGD-97-56, Mar.  10,
1997)

Managing for Results:  Using GPRA to Assist Congressional and
Executive Branch Decisionmaking (GAO/T-GGD-97-43, Feb.  12, 1997)

Managing for Results:  Key Steps and Challenges in Implementing GPRA
in Science Agencies (GAO/T-GGD/RCED-96-214, July 10, 1996)

Executive Guide:  Effectively Implementing the Government Performance
and Results Act (GAO/GGD-96-118, June 1996)

Managing for Results:  Achieving GPRA's Objectives Requires Strong
Congressional Role (GAO/T-GGD-96-79, Mar.  6, 1996)

Budget Account Structure:  A Descriptive Overview (GAO/AIMD-95-179,
Sept.  18, 1995)

Program Evaluation:  Improving the Flow of Information to the
Congress (GAO/PEMD-95-1, Jan.  30, 1995)

Government Restructuring:  Identifying Potential Duplication in
Federal Missions and Approaches (GAO/T-AIMD-95-161, June 7, 1995)

Program Consolidation:  Budgetary Implications and Other Issues
(GAO/T-AIMD-95-145, May 23, 1995)

Government Reorganization:  Issues and Principles
(GAO/T-GGD/AIMD-95-166, May 17, 1995)


   PRODUCTS PERTAINING TO
   INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS OR
   AGENCIES
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:2

The Department of Housing and Urban Development:  Information on Its
Role, Programs, and Issues (GAO/RCED-97-173R, July 21, 1997)

GAO presented information on the Department of Housing and Urban
Development's (HUD) role, organization, and resources and a
description of its major programs, their condition, and related
issues.  For example, in addition to HUD, five other federal
departments, two independent agencies, and three government-sponsored
enterprises--as well as private investors, public housing
authorities, and nonprofit groups--contribute to meeting our nation's
housing needs. 

Housing and Urban Development:  Potential Implications of Legislation
Proposing to Dismantle HUD (GAO/RCED-97-36, Feb.  21, 1997)

GAO discussed the breadth of HUD's responsibilities in housing
assistance, community development, housing finance, and related
regulatory functions in the context of a legislative proposal to
dismantle the Department.  The report summarized the potential impact
of the proposal on HUD's customers and the capacity of states and
other federal agencies to assume functions proposed in the bill.  GAO
also discussed the evolution of HUD's missions, noting that when
created in 1965, it captured most federal housing and community
development functions whose focus was primarily urban; HUD was not
given responsibility for certain client-specific programs (e.g.,
veterans housing), for programs affecting rural areas, or for
oversight of tax policies that affect housing or of financial
institutions that participate in the nation's mortgage markets. 

Government Reorganization:  Observations on the Department of
Commerce (GAO/T-GGD/RCED/AIMD-95-248, July 25, 1995)

The missions and functions of the Department of Commerce have been
among the most diverse of the cabinet departments, with its
components responsible for such functions as expanding U.S.  exports,
developing innovative technologies, gathering and disseminating
statistical data, measuring and fostering economic growth, granting
patents and trademarks, promoting minority entrepreneurship,
predicting the weather, and serving as an environmental steward.  GAO
noted that developing a strategic plan will be particularly
challenging for Commerce because the Department does not have
exclusive federal responsibility for any of these themes. 

Environmental Protection:  Current Environmental Challenges Require
New Approaches (GAO/T-RCED-95-190, May 17, 1995)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not been able to target
its resources as efficiently as possible to the nation's highest
environmental priorities because it does not have an overarching
legislative mission and its environmental responsibilities have not
been integrated.  Over the years, the Congress has responded to a
series of environmental threats with individual laws that tended to
assign pollution control responsibilities according to environmental
medium (such as air or water) and often prescribed implementing
requirements and mandated time frames for their completion. 

Department of Energy:  Need to Reevaluate Its Role and Missions
(GAO/T-RCED-95-85, Jan.  18, 1995)

Created to deal with the energy crisis of the 1970s, Department of
Energy's (DOE) mission and priorities have changed over time, with
new missions in weapons production and now environmental cleanup
emerging.  This testimony suggests a set of questions that could be
used to clarify DOE's mission, a necessary step to addressing its
long-standing management problems. 

Department of Education:  Opportunities to Realize Savings
(GAO/T-HEHS-95-56, Jan.  18, 1995)

GAO discussed (1) a need to reexamine programs previously suggested
by Education for elimination because they duplicated other programs,
had already achieved their purposes, or were more appropriately
funded through nonfederal sources and (2) programs related to
employment training that overlapped with each other and other
programs outside Education. 


   PRODUCTS BY MISSION OR PROGRAM
   AREA
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3


      AGRICULTURE
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.1


         FOOD SAFETY
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.1.1

Food Safety:  Changes Needed to Minimize Unsafe Chemicals in Food
(GAO/RCED-94-192, Sept.  26, 1994)

GAO identified fundamental weaknesses in the federal programs that
monitor chemicals in food.  Because the problems associated with the
current fragmented federal system cannot be solved by individual
agencies' efforts, GAO recommended various actions that the Congress
should take, including creating a single agency to carry out a
cohesive set of food safety laws. 

Food Safety:  A Unified, Risk-Based System Needed to Enhance Food
Safety (GAO/T-RCED-94-71, Nov.  4, 1993)

Efforts made in response to many recommendations to improve food
safety had fallen short because the agencies continued to operate
under different regulatory approaches contained in their basic laws. 
GAO suggested that a single food safety agency may be needed to
effectively resolve long-standing problems, deal with emerging food
safety issues, and ensure a safe food supply. 


      COMMERCE AND HOUSING CREDIT
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.2


         FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
         REGULATION
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.2.1

Bank Oversight Structure:  U.S.  and Foreign Experience May Offer
Lessons for Modernizing U.S.  Structure (GAO/GGD-97-23, Nov.  20,
1996)

In response to proposals to consolidate U.S.  bank regulatory
agencies, GAO examined how other countries structure and carry out
their bank regulation and central bank activities.  In contrast to
foreign systems, the U.S.  bank oversight system was relatively
complex, with four different federal agencies having the same basic
oversight responsibilities for those banks under their respective
purview.  Prior work showed that these agencies often differed on how
laws should be interpreted, implemented, and enforced; how banks
should be examined; and how to respond to troubled institutions.  GAO
also noted that differentiating oversight responsibilities by type of
financial institution can result in overlap and a lack of
accountability. 

Financial Market Regulation:  Benefits and Risks of Merging SEC and
CFTC (GAO/T-GGD-95-153, May 3, 1995)

GAO commented on legislation which sought to improve the
effectiveness and the efficiency of financial services regulation by
merging the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission, the two agencies that regulate U.S. 
domestic equity and futures markets.  Although a logical step to
consider as part of continuing modernization efforts, the Congress
must ultimately decide whether the potential benefits of a merger
outweigh the risks. 

Bank Regulation:  Consolidation of the Regulatory Agencies
(GAO/T-GGD-94-106, Mar.  4, 1994)

GAO supported in principle consolidating regulatory activities of the
various agencies involved, endorsing a partial consolidation pending
clarification of the role of the Federal Reserve. 

Bank And Thrift Regulation:  Concerns About Credit Availability and
Regulatory Burden (GAO/T-GGD-93-10, Mar.  17, 1993)

The current regulatory system of four separate agencies evolved over
decades of legislative efforts to address specific problems,
resulting in a fragmented system that may no longer be capable of
handling the complexities of today's banking and thrift industries. 
However, further analyses of the root causes of regulatory burden
would be needed so that the burden could be eased without adversely
affecting safety and soundness and consumer protection goals. 


      COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL
      DEVELOPMENT
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.3


         COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.3.1

HUD:  Inventory of Self-Sufficiency and Economic Opportunity Programs
(GAO/RCED-97-191R, July 28, 1997)

GAO inventoried and discussed the programmatic and funding linkages
among 23 HUD self-sufficiency and economic opportunity programs that
target tenants of public and assisted housing or low- and
moderate-income residents in certain geographic areas. 

Community Development:  Challenges Face Comprehensive Approaches to
Address Needs of Distressed Neighborhoods (GAO/T-RCED-95-262, Aug. 
3, 1995)

The fragmentation of federal programs among at least 12 federal
departments and agencies imposes a burden on distressed urban
communities seeking assistance.  Historically, there has been little
coordination among the agencies, which have been protective of their
own resources and separate organizational missions. 

Community Development:  Comprehensive Approaches and Local
Flexibility Issues (GAO/T-RCED-96-53, Dec.  5, 1995)

GAO summarized its work on comprehensive approaches, noting that the
many federal programs involved, considered individually, make sense
but together often work against their intended purposes. 

Community Development:  Comprehensive Approaches Address Multiple
Needs but Are Challenging to Implement (GAO/RCED/HEHS-95-69, Feb.  8,
1995)

Comprehensive approaches to helping distressed neighborhoods face
many challenges.  One such challenge is that community organizations
have to piece together a complex web of funding from private and
public sources, with coordination among the many federal agencies
involved having been limited. 


         ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.3.2

Economic Development:  Limited Information Exists on the Impact of
Assistance Provided by Three Agencies (GAO/RCED-96-103, Apr.  3,
1996)

The limited information available on the impact of economic
development assistance provided by three programs--the Appalachian
Regional Commission, the Department of Commerce's Economic
Development Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority--did
not establish a strong causal linkage between a positive effect and
agency assistance.  As one measure of how an agency's programs met
their goals, each of the three agencies cited a 3-to-1 "performance
ratio," computed as a comparison of total dollars invested in a
project with dollars invested by the agency.  However, each agency
defined "total dollars" differently and calculated the ratio for only
a portion of its programs. 

Economic Development Programs (GAO/RCED-95-251R, July 28, 1995)

This report lists and provides budgetary information on 342 economic
development programs described in the 1994 Catalogue of Federal
Domestic Assistance. 


         EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.3.3

Chemical Weapons Stockpile:  Changes Needed in the Management of the
Emergency Preparedness Program (GAO/NSIAD-97-91, June 11, 1997)

GAO found that efforts to improve management of the chemical
stockpile emergency preparedness program have been frustrated by
continued disagreement between the Army and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) over their roles and responsibilities. 
Because these disagreements risk the future effectiveness of the
program, GAO recommended that the agencies work together to resolve
differences or, alternatively, implement congressional direction to
eliminate FEMA's role in the program. 

Chemical Weapons Stockpile:  Emergency Preparedness in Alabama Is
Hampered by Management Weaknesses (GAO/NSIAD-96-150, July 23, 1996)

The Army's chemical stockpile emergency preparedness program in
Alabama has been hampered by management weaknesses at the federal
level and inadequate action by state and local agencies.  Management
weaknesses at the federal level include fragmented and unclear roles
and responsibilities and a lack of teamwork in the budget process. 
GAO found these weaknesses contribute to time-consuming negotiations
and delays in implementing projects critical to emergency
preparedness. 


Disaster Management:  Improving the Nation's Response to Catastrophic
Disasters (GAO/RCED-93-186, July 23, 1993)

Following on two hurricanes in 1992, GAO summarized its analyses,
conclusions, and recommendations concerning federal disaster
management.  GAO concluded that the federal strategy--encompassing 26
different agencies--does not promote adequate preparedness when there
is advance warning of a disaster.


         HOUSING
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.3.4

Government-Sponsored Enterprises:  Advantages and Disadvantages of
Creating a Single Housing GSE Regulator (GAO/GGD-97-139, July 9,
1997)

GAO reported that our work continued to indicate that the three
housing GSE regulators-- HUD, the Office of Federal Housing
Enterprise Oversight, and the Federal Housing Finance Board--would be
more effective if combined and authorized to oversee both safety and
soundness and mission compliance.  Although the GSEs operate
differently, the risks they manage and their missions are similar. 
GAO noted that a combined independent regulatory agency should be
better positioned to achieve the autonomy and prominence necessary to
oversee the large and influential housing GSEs, which include the
Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Association, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. 

Homeownership:  The Federal Housing Administration's Role in Helping
People Obtain Home Mortgages (GAO/RCED-96-123, Aug.  13, 1996)

GAO identified several federal agencies and other entities which
shared the basic mission of assisting households who may be
underserved by the private market; however, none reached as many
households as the Federal Housing Administration.  Each of the
programs differed in several key dimensions, including loan limits,
allowable debt-to-income ratios, and the involvement of direct
federal funding. 


         RURAL DEVELOPMENT
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.3.5

Rural Development:  Steps Towards Realizing the Potential of
Telecommunications Technologies (GAO/RCED-96-155, June 14, 1996)

As of December 1995, at least 28 federal programs administered by 15
federal agencies provided funds that were either specifically
designated for telecommunications projects in rural areas or could be
used for that purpose.  Rural development experts and public
officials suggested various needed changes to federal
telecommunications programs, including making the multiple programs
easier to identify and use. 

Rural Development:  Patchwork of Federal Water and Sewer Programs Is
Difficult to Use (GAO/RCED-95-160BR, Apr.  13, 1995)

Seventeen programs administered by eight federal agencies are
designed specifically for, or may be used by, rural areas to
construct or improve water and wastewater facilities.  The programs
had common objectives but different eligibility criteria.  The
complexity and number of programs hampered the ability of rural areas
to utilize them. 

Rural Development:  Patchwork of Federal Programs Needs to Be
Reappraised (GAO/RCED-94-165, July 28, 1994)

The web of federal policies, programs, and regulations accompanying
federal funding for rural development makes service delivery
inefficient, according to local and regional officials.  Moreover,
the federal interagency group established to address some service
delivery problems can take only limited action due to its restricted
authority. 

Rural Development:  Federal Programs That Focus on Rural America and
Its Economic Development (GAO/RCED-89-56BR, Jan.  19, 1989)

Using data from the Bureau of the Census and the Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance, GAO identified 88 federal rural development
programs. 


      EDUCATION, TRAINING,
      EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL
      SERVICES
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.4


         EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.4.1

Early Childhood Programs:  Multiple Programs and Overlapping Target
Groups (GAO/HEHS-95-4FS, Oct.  31, 1994)

In fiscal years 1992 and 1993, there were over 90 early childhood
programs in 11 federal agencies and 20 offices.  This "system" of
multiple programs with firm eligibility cutoffs could lead to
disruptions in services from even slight changes in a child's family
status.  While multiple programs targeted disadvantaged
preschool-aged children, GAO noted that most such children did not
participate in any preschool program. 


         EMPLOYMENT TRAINING
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.4.2

Department of Labor:  Challenges in Ensuring Workforce Development
and Worker Protection (GAO/T-HEHS-97-85, Mar.  6, 1997)

The Department of Labor has taken some action to address
fragmentation issues described by GAO, but these actions have not
been enough to solve the problems.  Passage of recent welfare reform
legislation puts even greater demands on an employment training
system that appears unprepared to respond. 

People With Disabilities:  Federal Programs Could Work Together More
Efficiently to Promote Employment (GAO/HEHS-96-126, Sept.  3, 1996)

Federal assistance to people with disabilities is diffuse, involving
130 programs in 19 agencies.  Often services are not coordinated
between programs, and people with disabilities may receive duplicate
services or face service gaps. 

Multiple Teacher Training Programs:  Information on Budgets,
Services, and Target Groups (GAO/HEHS-95-71FS, Feb.  22, 1995)

In fiscal year 1993, at least 86 teacher training programs in 9
federal agencies funded similar types of services. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Information Crosswalk on 163
Employment Training Programs (GAO/HEHS-95-85FS, Feb.  14, 1995)

GAO provided a crosswalk between employment training programs and
their fiscal year 1995 appropriation, program purposes, authorizing
legislation, budget accounts, target groups, and type of assistance
provided. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Major Overhaul Needed to
Create a More Efficient, Customer-Driven System (GAO/T-HEHS-95-70,
Feb.  6, 1995)

At least 163 programs--administered by 15 federal departments and
agencies which received about $20 billion in fiscal year
1995--provide employment training assistance to a wide variety of
client groups.  The current fragmented system suffers from problems
arising from a multitude of narrowly focused programs that often
compete for clients and funds.  Separate administrative structures
raise questions about the programs' efficiency; the system confuses
those seeking assistance and frustrates employers and administrators. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Basic Program Data Often
Missing (GAO/T-HEHS-94-239, Sept.  28, 1994)

Federal agencies tended to focus their assessment efforts on
inputs--dollars spent and participants served.  Only about one-half
of the programs surveyed collected data on what happened to
participants after they received program services, and only about
one-quarter collected data on wages earned. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Overlap Among Programs Raises
Questions About Efficiency (GAO/HEHS-94-193, July 11, 1994)

Of the 38 programs in GAO's analysis, 30 were determined to be
overlapping.  That is, they shared common goals, had comparable
clients, provided similar services, and used parallel delivery
mechanisms and administrative structures with at least one other
program. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Conflicting Requirements
Underscore Need for Change (GAO/T-HEHS-94-120, Mar.  10, 1994)

Despite decades of efforts to better coordinate employment training
programs, conflicting eligibility requirements and differences in
annual operating cycles hamper the provision of needed services. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Most Federal Agencies Do Not
Know If Their Programs Are Working Effectively (GAO/HEHS-94-88, Mar. 
2, 1994)

Federal agencies closely monitor their expenditure of billions of
dollars for employment training assistance for the economically
disadvantaged, but most agencies do not collect information on
participant outcomes or conduct studies of program
effectiveness--both of which are needed to know how well programs are
helping participants enter or reenter the workforce. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Overlapping Programs Can Add
Unnecessary Administrative Costs (GAO/HEHS-94-80, Jan.  28, 1994)

GAO's review of nine programs targeting the economically
disadvantaged showed those programs had similar goals, often served
the same categories of people, and provided many of the same services
using separate but parallel delivery structures. 

Multiple Employment Training Programs:  Conflicting Requirements
Hamper Delivery of Services (GAO/HEHS-94-78, Jan.  28, 1994)

Despite decades of efforts to better coordinate employment training
programs, conflicting eligibility requirements and differences in
annual operating cycles are hampering the provision of needed
services.  For example, nine programs targeting the economically
disadvantaged use several different standards for measuring income
level, defining family or household, and determining what is included
in income; 16 programs that target youth have four different
operating cycles. 

Multiple Employment Programs:  National Employment Training Strategy
Needed (GAO/T-HRD-93-27, June 18, 1993)

Federal, state, and local officials have struggled with the problems
created by a fragmented system of employment training programs, with
several states launching coordination efforts at the local level. 
Despite the elimination of some programs, the total number has
continued to grow. 

Multiple Employment Programs (GAO/HRD-92-39R, July 24, 1992)

In fiscal year 1991, 14 federal departments or independent agencies
administered 125 federal employment training programs.  Most of the
programs and the majority of the funding were for programs
administered by either the Department of Education or the Department
of Labor.


         STUDENT AID
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.4.3

Department of Education:  Information on Consolidation Opportunities
and Student Aid (GAO/T-HEHS-95-130, Apr.  6, 1995)

GAO described efforts by the Department of Education to consolidate
its programs and noted instances of potential overlap with programs
administered by other federal agencies. 


      GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE AND
      TECHNOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.5


         HIGH PERFORMANCE
         COMPUTING
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.5.1

High Performance Computing and Communications:  New Program Direction
Would Benefit From a More Focused Effort (GAO/AIMD-95-6, Nov.  4,
1994)

Much valuable research has been accomplished within the context of
the High Performance Computing and Communications program, a
coordinated effort among nine federal agencies to accelerate the
availability and utilization of the next generation of high
performance computers and networks.  GAO stated that a more focused
management approach could better ensure that new program goals
regarding the national information infrastructure are met. 


         NATIONAL LABORATORIES
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.5.2

DOE's National Laboratories:  Adopting New Missions and Managing
Effectively Pose Significant Challenges (GAO/T-RCED-94-113, Feb.  3,
1994)

GAO called for DOE to take a more strategic focus to managing and
evaluating its laboratories, noting that with the collapse of the
Soviet Union, the missions of DOE's laboratories needed
clarification.  These labs--originally created to develop nuclear
weapons--faced the prospect of limited future funding at the same
time they were under pressure to address current national priorities,
such as improving economic competitiveness and cleaning up the
environment. 


         RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
         FACILITIES
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.5.3

Federal R&D Laboratories (GAO/RCED/NSIAD-96-78R, Feb.  29, 1996)

For fiscal year 1995, 17 federal departments and agencies identified
515 federal research and development laboratories, including those
operated by contractors.  While the Department of Agriculture
reported the largest number of laboratories (185), laboratories in
the Department of Defense (DOD), DOE, the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) accounted for 88 percent of the funding. 


         SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION
         RESEARCH
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.5.4

Federal Research:  Interim Assessment of the Small Business
Innovation Research and Technology Transfer Programs
(GAO/T-RCED-96-93, Mar.  6, 1996)

GAO found that 11 federal agencies participate in the Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which requires agencies with
substantial amounts of R&D spending to award a certain number of
grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to small businesses to
encourage experimental, developmental, or research work.  Each agency
manages its own program, but the Small Business Administration issues
policy directives and annual reports for the program.  GAO identified
instances in which companies received funding for the same proposals
multiple times before agencies became aware of the duplication. 

Federal Research:  Preliminary Information on the Small Business
Technology Transfer Program (GAO/RCED-96-19, Jan.  24, 1996)

GAO identified five agencies that participate in the Small Business
Technology Transfer (STTR) program, which requires agencies with
substantial amounts of R&D spending to award a certain number of
grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to small businesses who
agree to collaborate with a nonprofit research institution to
encourage experimental, developmental, or research work.  The five
STTR agencies also participate in the similar SBIR program.  GAO
concluded that similarities between the two programs raise questions
about the need for the STTR program. 


      GENERAL GOVERNMENT
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.6


         FEDERAL STATISTICAL
         AGENCIES
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.6.1

Statistical Agencies:  Consolidation and Quality Issues
(GAO/T-GGD-97-78, Apr.  9, 1997)

Of the 70 federal agencies engaged in statistical activities, 11 are
considered the principal statistical agencies, with 2 Commerce
agencies--the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Economic
Analysis--together with the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor
Statistics, accounting for about $825 million of a total $1.2 billion
in fiscal year 1997.  This decentralized system contributes to
inefficiency, a lack of national priorities for allocation of
resources, a burden on data users and providers, and restrictions on
the exchange of data among statistical agencies.  Centralization
appeared to address these types of problems, but potential
disadvantages could include diminished responsiveness to the needs of
former parent departments and objections to the concentration of data
in a single agency. 

Statistical Agencies:  A Comparison of U.S.  and Canadian Statistical
Systems (GAO/GGD-96-142, Aug.  1, 1996)

U.S.  and Canadian statistical systems are characterized by different
organizational approaches and legal frameworks.  The U.S.  system is
highly decentralized; 11 agencies collect, analyze, and produce
statistics as their primary mission.  A number of laws, policies, or
regulations, some of which apply only to a specific agency, govern
the collection, use, and confidentiality of statistical information. 
Each agency has its own separate budget; in some cases, to protect
the confidentiality of data providers, laws allow only the agency
collecting specific data to have access to them.  In Canada, a single
agency, operating under a single law, produces and disseminates
virtually all broadly used official government statistics. 

Federal Statistics:  Principal Statistical Agencies' Missions and
Funding (GAO/GGD-96-107, July 1, 1996)

OMB considers any agency spending at least $500,000 in a fiscal year
for statistical activities to be part of the federal statistical
system.  In fiscal year 1995, 72 agencies met this threshold.  Eleven
of these agencies collect, analyze, and produce statistics as their
primary mission, and these 11 agencies received over $1 billion in
current appropriations in both fiscal years 1994 and 1995. 


      HEALTH
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.7


         LONG-TERM CARE
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.7.1

Long-Term Care:  Demography, Dollars, and Dissatisfaction Drive
Reform (GAO/T-HEHS-94-140, Apr.  12, 1994)

GAO noted that at the core of the considerable dissatisfaction with
the long-term care system is a belief that services from a fragmented
delivery system are difficult to access. 

Services for the Elderly:  Longstanding Transportation Problems Need
More Federal Attention (GAO/HRD-91-117, Aug.  29, 1991)

GAO reported that fragmentation of special transportation serving the
elderly was a major, long-standing barrier limiting the effectiveness
of federal resources.  Experts contacted attributed fragmentation to
multiple funding sources, differences between social service and
transportation providers, and the costs of coordination. 

Administration on Aging:  More Federal Action Needed to Promote
Service Coordination for the Elderly (GAO/HRD-91-45, Apr.  23, 1991)

Officials and others contacted agreed that shared responsibility
between multiple state and local agencies frequently resulted in
fragmented service delivery.  The Administration on Aging, this
report stated, did not keep pace in the 1980s with growing
coordination needs.  Improving the efficiency and quality of services
through stronger coordination will continue to be important in the
1990s as an aging population increases the demand for home and
community-based services. 


         SUBSTANCE ABUSE
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.7.2

Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention:  Multiple Youth Programs
Raise Questions of Efficiency and Effectiveness (GAO/T-HEHS-97-166,
June 24, 1997)

GAO identified 70 programs in 13 federal departments and agencies in
1995--in addition to state, county, and local government and private
programs--which could be used to provide substance abuse and/or
violence prevention services for youths.  Previous GAO work raised
questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of this overlapping
system, which also creates difficulties for those seeking to access
the most appropriate services and funding sources.  Insufficient
information exists on the accomplishments of the federal programs. 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health:  Reauthorization Issues Facing the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(GAO/T-HEHS-97-135, May 22, 1997)

GAO noted that given the number of federal agencies with related
responsibilities in the area of substance abuse and mental health
services, SAMSHA has a particular challenge as well as an opportunity
to coordinate activities and promote the development of effective
linkages. 

Drug and Alcohol Abuse:  Billions Spent Annually for Treatment and
Prevention Activities (GAO/HEHS-97-12, Oct.  8, 1996)

Federal funding for substance abuse treatment and prevention
increased by $1.6 billion from fiscal years 1990 through 1994. 
Federal agencies involved also increased from 12 to 16.  Three
departments accounted for most of the federal funds available for
substance abuse treatment and prevention--HHS, Education, and
Veterans Affairs. 

Drug Use Among Youth:  No Simple Answers to Guide Prevention
(GAO/HRD-94-24, Dec.  29, 1993)

GAO identified 19 federal prevention programs listed in the Catalog
of Federal Domestic Assistance devoted exclusively to substance abuse
prevention and analyzed these programs in terms of risk factors
addressed.


         NUCLEAR HEALTH AND SAFETY
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.7.3

Nuclear Health and Safety:  Consensus on Acceptable Radiation Risk to
the Public Is Lacking (GAO/RCED-94-190, Sept.  19, 1994)

Federal agencies have set different limits on human exposure to
radiation, in part because the agencies have not agreed on
calculation methods and have different radiation protection
strategies.  These differences raise questions about the precision,
credibility, and overall effectiveness of federal radiation standards
and guidelines in protecting public health.  GAO also noted that
historically, interagency coordination efforts, often prompted by
congressional interest and concerns, have been ineffective. 


         TELEMEDICINE
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.7.4

Telemedicine:  Federal Strategy Is Needed to Guide Investments
(GAO/NSIAD/HEHS-97-67, Feb.  14, 1997)

From fiscal years 1994 to 1996, nine federal departments and
independent agencies invested at least $646 million in telemedicine
projects, with DOD the largest federal investor.  Opportunities to
share lessons learned have been lost due to the lack of a
governmentwide strategy to ensure that maximum benefits are gained
from the numerous federal telemedicine efforts.  Efforts of the Joint
Working Group on Telemedicine to develop a federal inventory--a
critical starting point for coordination--have been hampered by
definitional issues and inconsistent data. 


      INCOME SECURITY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.8


         CHILD CARE
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.8.1

Child Care:  Narrow Subsidy Programs Create Problems for Mothers
Trying to Work (GAO/T-HEHS-95-69, Jan.  31, 1995)

Although child care subsidies can have a dramatic effect on drawing
low income mothers into the workforce, the fragmented nature of child
care funding--with entitlements to some client categories, time
limits on others, and activity limits on still others--produces
unintended gaps in services, which limit the ability of low income
families to become self-sufficient. 


         WELFARE AND RELATED
         PROGRAMS
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.8.2

Welfare Programs:  Opportunities to Consolidate and Increase Program
Efficiencies (GAO/HEHS-95-139, May 31, 1995)

GAO discussed low-income families' participation in multiple welfare
programs; examined program inefficiencies, such as program overlap
and fragmentation; and identified issues to consider in deciding
whether and to what extent to consolidate welfare programs.  Program
areas discussed include employment training, food assistance, and
early childhood programs.  The report observes that little is known
about the effectiveness of many welfare programs. 


         YOUTH PROGRAMS
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.8.3

At-Risk and Delinquent Youth:  Multiple Federal Programs Raise
Efficiency Questions (GAO/HEHS-96-34, Mar.  6, 1996)

GAO identified 131 federal programs serving at-risk or delinquent
youth with total estimated appropriations for fiscal year 1995 of
more than $4 billion.  Many programs provided multiple services and
had multiple target groups, raising questions about the overall
efficiency of federal efforts. 

Multiple Youth Programs (GAO/HEHS-95-60R, Jan.  19, 1995)

For fiscal year 1995, eight federal agencies administered at least 46
programs earmarked for youth development.  This report lists each
program, together with one-page overviews of program authority,
objectives, and target groups. 


      INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.9


         EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.9.1

Promoting Democracy:  Foreign Affairs and Defense Agencies Funds and
Activities--1991 to 1993 (GAO/NSIAD-94-83, Jan.  4, 1994)

GAO developed an inventory of U.S.  government-funded programs aimed
at democratic development.  Because there is no governmentwide
democracy program and no common definition of what constitutes such a
program, the inventory was based on what agencies considered to be
their support of democratic processes. 

Exchange Programs:  Inventory of International Educational, Cultural,
and Training Programs (GAO/NSIAD-93-157BR, June 23, 1993)

GAO inventoried 16 federal agencies with about 75 programs funding
international educational, cultural, and training exchange programs.


         FOREIGN AFFAIRS
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.9.2

Foreign Affairs:  Perspectives on Foreign Affairs Programs and
Structures (GAO/NSIAD-97-6, Nov.  8, 1996)

This report summarizes the views of participants at a GAO-sponsored
1996 conference on foreign affairs issues.  Among other issues,
participants discussed a need for policymakers to understand how
various U.S.  agencies are operating overseas and whether
coordination mechanisms need to be strengthened. 

State Department:  Options for Addressing Possible Budget Reductions
(GAO/NSIAD-96-124, Aug.  29, 1996)

Among options to address budget reductions, GAO discussed lessening
the degree of overlap within the structure of State's bureaus and
other agencies, noting that some decisions could necessitate an
interagency forum or might require legislative approval. 

Former Soviet Union:  Information on U.S.  Bilateral Program Funding
(GAO/NSIAD-96-37, Dec.  15, 1995)

GAO summarized financial information on U.S.  bilateral programs
seeking to help the newly independent states of the former Soviet
Union transition to democratic societies with market economies.  From
fiscal years 1990 through 1994, 23 departments and independent
agencies implemented 215 programs in the former Soviet Union, with 3
agencies implementing the majority of noncredit programs. 


         TRADE
----------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.9.3

National Export Strategy (GAO/NSIAD-96-132R, Mar.  26, 1996)

The Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) is an interagency
coordinating group legislatively mandated to establish governmentwide
priorities for federal export promotion activities and propose an
annual unified federal budget reflecting those priorities.  While
TPCC has made efforts to develop interagency performance measures, it
has yet to create measures sufficiently refined to influence budget
allocation decisions. 

Farm Bill Export Options (GAO/GGD-96-39R, Dec.  15, 1995)

GAO identified options for improving agricultural export assistance
programs within the Department of Agriculture, including improving
coordination among, restructuring, and abolishing some federal export
promotion programs. 

Commerce's Trade Functions (GAO/GGD-95-195R, June 26, 1995)

GAO commented on how federal trade activities might be consolidated
if the Department of Commerce were abolished.  Commerce plays a
significant role in several international trade functions, including
trade policy-making and negotiating, export promotion, trade
regulation, and trade data collection and analysis.  GAO listed other
agencies that are involved in performing these and other trade
functions. 

Export Promotion:  Initial Assessment of Governmentwide Strategic
Plan (GAO/T-GGD-93-48, Sept.  29, 1993)

TPCC's initial effort to develop a governmentwide strategic plan for
federal export promotion programs presented a status report on
progress to date.  TPCC did not, however, reach consensus on
priorities, nor did TPCC create a unified budget proposal for federal
trade promotion programs, as required under TPCC's legislative
mandate. 

Export Promotion:  Improving Small Businesses' Access to Federal
Programs (GAO/T-GGD-93-22, Apr.  28, 1993)

GAO endorsed in principle a network of "one-stop shops" to improve
the service delivery of export promotion programs.  Under the current
fragmented system, contacting multiple offices can leave companies
confused as to what services are available and may discourage some
from seeking assistance. 

Export Promotion:  Governmentwide Strategy Needed for Federal
Programs (GAO/T-GGD-93-7, Mar.  15, 1993)

While significant funds are devoted to export promotion programs,
these are not allocated on the basis of any governmentwide strategy
or set of priorities.  Consequently, taxpayers do not have reasonable
assurance that their money is being effectively used to emphasize
sectors or programs with the highest potential return.  The Export
Enhancement Act of 1992 incorporated GAO's recommendations for
mandating the TPCC to devise a governmentwide strategic plan and
propose an annual unified federal budget for export promotion. 

Export Promotion:  Federal Approach is Fragmented (GAO/T-GGD-92-68,
Aug.  10, 1992)

In fiscal year 1991, 10 federal agencies offered export promotion
programs, which spent about $2.7 billion.  This system is
characterized by funding imbalances and program inefficiencies.  GAO
recommended that the Secretary of Commerce, as chair of the TPCC,
work with member agencies to develop a strategic plan and ensure that
the budget requests for export promotion programs are consistent with
priorities. 

Export Promotion:  Overall U.S.  Strategy Needed (GAO/T-GGD-92-40,
May 20, 1992)

Ten federal agencies offer export promotion services, in an often
inefficient and sometimes confusing manner.  This testimony describes
specific instances of fragmentation and its consequences to the U.S. 
business community and taxpayers. 

Export Promotion:  U.S.  Programs Lack Coherence (GAO/T-GGD-92-19,
Mar.  4, 1992)

The lack of a governmentwide strategy for a system of export
promotion programs implies that much more might be achieved with
existing resources if they were allocated according to national
priorities and administered by a different agency structure.  TPCC
has had some modest successes in coordinating federal export
promotion efforts, but the government cannot devise a coherent export
promotion strategy one agency at a time. 


      LAW ENFORCEMENT
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix I:3.10


         BORDER INSPECTIONS
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.10.1

Customs Service and INS:  Dual Management Structure for Border
Inspections Should Be Ended (GAO/GGD-93-111, June 30, 1993)

Long-standing coordination problems between the two agencies
responsible for primary inspections at land border points of entry
could best be resolved by ending the dual management structure.  GAO
presented several options for change to prepare the government to
meet the broader challenges posed by changing international business
competition and increasing international migration flows. 


         DRUG CONTROL
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.10.2

Drug Control:  Reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (GAO/T-GGD-97-97, May 1, 1997)

Given the complexity of issues and the fragmentation of national drug
control strategy among more than 50 agencies, GAO endorsed the
continued need for a central planning agency, such as the Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), to coordinate the nation's drug
control efforts.  ONDCP has recently begun a new effort to develop
national drug control performance measures, relying on working groups
consisting of representatives from federal drug control agencies and
state, local, and private organizations.  ONDCP and operational
agency data should be considered together because results achieved by
one agency in reducing the use of drugs may be offset by less
favorable results by another agency. 

Drug Control:  Observations on Elements of the Federal Drug Control
Strategy (GAO/GGD-97-12, Mar.  14, 1997)

This report provides information on ONDCP's development of
national-level measures of drug control performance and assesses the
U.S.  Coast Guard's performance measures for its antidrug activities
in the context of the Results Act. 

Drug Control:  Long-Standing Problems Hinder U.S.  International
Efforts (GAO/NSIAD-97-75, Feb.  27, 1997)

GAO endorsed ONDCP's efforts to prepare a long-term strategic plan
and suggested an approach to planning and budgeting for drug control
similar to that used in DOD. 

Drug Control:  Reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (GAO/T-GGD-94-7, Oct.  5, 1993)

Given the persistent severity of the drug problem and the large
number of federal, state, and local agencies working on the problem,
GAO saw a continuing need for a central planning agency to provide
leadership and coordination.  GAO recommended that the Congress
reauthorize ONDCP for an additional finite period of time and
suggested that ONDCP be directed to develop additional performance
measures to assess progress in reducing drug use and to incorporate
the measures into annual national drug control strategies. 

Drug Control:  Coordination of Intelligence Activities
(GAO/GGD-93-83BR, Apr.  2, 1993)

GAO described instances of duplication and overlap in the analysis
and reporting of drug intelligence data, listing federal centers
involved in these activities.  The report noted that ONDCP, charged
with managing the nation's war on drugs, establishes priorities and
encourages agency cooperation but does not have the authority to
direct agency intelligence activities. 

Drug Control:  Inadequate Guidance Results in Duplicate Intelligence
Production Efforts (GAO/NSIAD-92-153, Apr.  14, 1992)

GAO cited areas of duplication and overlap and recommended that DOD
develop guidance for DOD organizations involved in antidrug efforts. 

Controlling Drug Abuse:  A Status Report (GAO/GGD-88-39, Mar.  1,
1988)

GAO provided an overview of the drug problem and the federal
response.  The report noted that information about which antidrug
programs worked best was lacking and that fragmented and
uncoordinated antidrug policies and programs remained obstacles to
the success of federal efforts. 

Federal Drug Interdiction Efforts Need Strong Central Oversight
(GAO/GGD-83-52, June 13, 1983)

At the time of this review, authority and responsibility for federal
drug interdiction efforts were split among three agencies in three
executive departments, each with different programs, goals, and
priorities.  Very little information was available that could be used
as a basis for evaluating program results.  Legislation passed in
1972 and 1976 recognized that fragmentation of federal efforts was a
problem and required the President to develop a comprehensive
national drug strategy and appoint a drug abuse policy coordinator. 
However, existing strategies had not defined agencies' roles, and the
drug abuse policy coordinator lacked authority to set priorities in
federal drug efforts. 


         INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.10.3

Federal Law Enforcement:  Information on Certain Agencies' Criminal
Investigative Personnel and Salary Costs (GAO/T-GGD-96-38, Nov.  15,
1995)

Federal Law Enforcement:  Investigative Authority and Personnel at 13
Agencies (GAO/GGD-96-154, Sept.  30, 1996)

Federal Law Enforcement:  Investigative Authority and Personnel at 32
Organizations (GAO/GGD-97-93, July 22, 1997)

In this series, GAO reported on the jurisdictional overlaps among
organizations authorized to investigate suspected criminal violations
of federal law.  GAO noted that the growth of federal law enforcement
activities has been evolutionary, with additional organizations
established in response to new laws and expanding jurisdictions.  In
the September 1996 report, GAO provided information on 13 federal
organizations that employed 700 or more law enforcement investigative
personnel; in the July 1997 report, 32 additional federal
organizations, including 20 inspectors general offices, employing
more than 25 but less than 700 personnel were profiled. 
Collectively, these organizations employed almost 50,000
investigative personnel as of September 30, 1996. 


         TERRORISM AND DRUG
         TRAFFICKING
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.10.4

Drug Trafficking:  Responsibilities for Developing Narcotics
Detection Technologies (GAO/T-NSIAD-97-192, June 25, 1997)

Four agencies--ONDCP, Customs, DOD, and OMB--are primarily
responsible for coordinating or developing narcotics detection
technologies.  ONDCP and Customs have differing views on the need for
various detection technologies--for example, the specific types of
technologies needed along the southwest border.  GAO believes these
differing views should be resolved as ONDCP and Customs work with
other agencies in preparing a long-term technology development plan. 

Terrorism and Drug Trafficking:  Responsibilities for Developing
Explosives and Narcotics Detection Technologies (GAO/NSIAD-97-95,
Apr.  15, 1997)

Four agencies--the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the
National Security Council, the Department of Transportation (DOT),
and OMB--are responsible for overseeing or developing explosives
detection technologies, while other agencies--DOD, ONDCP, Customs,
and OMB--are primarily responsible for coordinating or developing
narcotics detection technologies.  GAO noted that these agencies have
several joint efforts to strengthen development of explosives and
narcotics detection technologies but have not yet agreed to formal
understandings on how to establish standards for explosives detection
systems, profiling and targeting systems, and the deployment of
canine teams at airports.  In addition, the agencies have not agreed
on how to resolve issues related to a joint-use strategy and
liability.  Joint technology development is important because similar
technologies are used to detect explosives and narcotics.  GAO
recommended that the Secretaries of Transportation and the Treasury
establish a memorandum of understanding on how FAA, Customs, the
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Administration, and other agencies are
to work together to address issues surrounding the development of
these technologies.  GAO also suggested that the Congress consider
directing the Secretaries of Transportation and the Treasury to
provide an annual report on all the government's efforts to develop
and field explosives and narcotics detection technology. 


      NATURAL RESOURCES AND
      ENVIRONMENT
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix I:3.11


         FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.11.1

Land Management Agencies:  Major Activities at Selected Units are Not
Common Across Agencies (GAO/RCED-97-141, June 26, 1997)

At six land management agencies, little commonality existed among the
31 different mission-related activities--including cultural and
natural resource management, habitat conservation, and rangeland
management--identified by GAO.  Visitor services, maintenance, and
construction were the most common major activities, being performed
at units of three or more of the six agencies, but most agency
resources were devoted to unique activities related to their specific
missions. 

Forest Service Decision-making:  A Framework for Improving
Performance (GAO/RCED-97-71, Apr.  29, 1997)

In this report examining the Forest Service's decision-making
process, GAO discussed a variety of internal and external causes of
inefficiency and ineffectiveness, including unresolved interagency
issues.  For example, although authorized to plan along
administrative boundaries, such as those defining natural forests and
parks, the agencies are required to analyze environmental concerns
along the boundaries of natural systems, which can lead to
duplicative environmental analyses, increased costs, and less
effective land management decision-making.  GAO also noted that land
management and regulatory agencies do not work together to address
issues that transcend their boundaries and jurisdictions and that
environmental and socioeconomic data gathered by the agencies are
often not comparable and have large gaps. 

Federal Land Management:  Streamlining and Reorganization Issues
(GAO/T-RCED-96-209, June 27, 1996)

GAO's work at four land management agencies--the National Park
Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife
Service within the Department of the Interior, and the Forest Service
within the Department of Agriculture--indicated that streamlining the
existing structure and reorganizing it are not mutually exclusive. 
However, such efforts will require a coordinated approach within and
across agency lines to avoid creating unintended consequences for the
future. 

Ecosystem Management:  Additional Actions Needed to Adequately Test a
Promising Approach (GAO/RCED-94-111, Aug.  16, 1994)

GAO described barriers to the planned governmentwide ecosystem
management concept, including the fact that data needed for ecosystem
management, which are collected independently by various agencies for
different purposes, are often not comparable and insufficient.  A
governmentwide approach to ecosystem management would require
unparalleled coordination among federal agencies as well as
consensus-building among federal and nonfederal parties. 

Forestry Functions:  Unresolved Issues Affect Forest Service and
Bureau of Land Management Organizations in Western Oregon
(GAO/RCED-94-124, May 17, 1994)

Summarizing efforts at the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land
Management to rethink their organizational structures and
relationships, GAO suggested that an agency-by-agency approach to
downsizing and restructuring may not have the potential to achieve
efficiencies that could be derived through a collaborative federal
approach to land management. 


         INTERNATIONAL
         ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.11.2

International Environment:  U.S.  Funding of Environmental Programs
and Activities (GAO/RCED-96-234, Sept.  30, 1996)

At least five federal agencies spent nearly $1 billion from 1993
through 1995 in support of 12 international environmental agreements. 
These agencies exhibited significant differences in both the amount
of their spending and in the purposes for which the money was spent. 


         HAZARDOUS WASTE CLEANUP
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.11.3

Federal Facilities:  Consistent Relative Risk Evaluations Needed for
Prioritizing Cleanups (GAO/RCED-96-150, June 7, 1996)

EPA has designated 154 sites, involving facilities operated by at
least five federal departments, as priorities warranting further
study and possible cleanup.  However, EPA's listing does not fully
and completely identify the most contaminated facilities because,
among other reasons, (1) some federal agencies have not finished
identifying the universe of their contaminated sites or completed the
preliminary assessment of the extent of contamination, and (2) EPA
has not developed evaluation priorities because of the poor quality
of data received from other federal agencies. 


         WATER QUALITY
---------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:3.11.4

Water Quality:  A Catalogue of Related Federal Programs
(GAO/RCED-96-173, June 19, 1996)

GAO identified 72 federal programs and other initiatives in eight
departments and agencies that assist states, municipalities,
individuals, and others in their efforts to improve and/or protect
water quality from various pollution threats. 

*** End of document. ***