TITLE: B-303145, Department of Defense--Transfer and Use of Defense Emergency Response Funds, December 7, 2005
BNUMBER: B-303145
DATE: December 7, 2005
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B-303145, Department of Defense--Transfer and Use of Defense Emergency Response Funds, December 7, 2005
Matter of: Department of Defense--Transfer and Use of Defense Emergency
Response Funds
File: B-303145
Date: December 7, 2005
DIGEST
1. Generally, agencies are prohibited from transferring funds absent
specific statutory authority. 31 U.S.C. sect. 1532. The Emergency
Supplemental Act, 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-117, div. B, ch. 3, 115 Stat. 2299
(Jan. 10, 2002), and the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further
Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States, Pub.
L. No. 107-206, 116 Stat. 820, 836 (Aug. 2, 2002), provided the Secretary
of Defense the legal authority to transfer funds from the Defense
Emergency Response Fund to other Department of Defense (DOD)
appropriations.
2. Transferred funds are available only for the purposes for which they
are appropriated, unless otherwise provided by law. Funds transferred from
the Defense Emergency Response Fund (DERF) to other DOD appropriations,
however, were available for the purposes of the transferee appropriations
because of the clear language in the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act
for Further Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United
States. It provided that funds transferred from DERF shall be merged with
and be available for the same purposes as the appropriation to which
transferred. Pub. L. No. 107-206, 116 Stat. 820, 836 (Aug. 2, 2002).
3. Based on the information DOD provided, DERF and other appropriation
accounts charged were available for the 20 projects at issue as approved.
As described in the DOD documents provided, the 20 projects were
sufficiently general in nature as to reasonably fall within the scope of
the appropriations charged. However, as described in the DOD documents
provided, some projects funded with Operation and Maintenance
appropriations contemplated tasks that possibly involved construction.
Accordingly, we recommend that DOD review these tasks to determine whether
any tasks associated with the 20 projects involved military construction
for which the charged O&M appropriation was unavailable. If DOD so
determines, it should adjust its appropriation accounts accordingly.
DECISION
We are issuing this decision under 31 U.S.C. sections 712, 717, and 3526,
in response to congressional interest in the Department of Defense's (DOD)
April 21, 2004, testimony concerning its use of approximately $178 million
of appropriated funds for projects that DOD approved in connection with
the global war on terrorism near the end of fiscal year 2002.
Specifically, we address whether DOD's use of these appropriated funds for
certain projects approved near the end of fiscal year 2002 was
unauthorized because the projects supported the subsequent conflict in
Iraq.
In this decision, we provide information from DOD documents about the
relationship among the $178 million cited in DOD's testimony, the related
projects, and their funding sources, and address two legal questions.
First, whether the transfer of funds from DOD's Defense Emergency Response
Fund (DERF)[1] to regular DOD appropriation accounts was authorized?
Second, whether the appropriations funding the projects, either directly
or through transfers, were available for the purposes for which they were
used?
As discussed below, some DOD records indicate that the $178 million cited
in DOD's 2004 testimony relates to an initial DOD approval late in fiscal
year 2002 of funding requirements for 20 projects.[2] Other DOD records,
however, indicate that the actual scope and funding source of some
projects differed from those identified in the initial approval
documentation and the amount of funding for them increased or decreased.
Accordingly, the $178 million does not precisely reflect the funds that
were actually made available for the projects or the amounts actually
obligated or expended on them.
Of the 20 projects, DOD records indicate that 7 projects were funded with
funds directly appropriated to various regular DOD appropriation accounts,
although DOD records indicate that funds had been allocated from DERF for
3 of these 7 projects when DOD initially approved the projects. According
to records DOD provided us, DERF funds were made available for 13
projects.[3] DOD directly cited DERF as the funding source for 4 of the 13
projects and has characterized its funding actions for these projects as a
release but not a transfer of DERF funds. For some of the four projects,
obligations were initially charged against regular DOD appropriation
accounts and adjustments were later made to use DERF to reimburse the
appropriation account previously charged. For 9 of the 13 projects, DOD
transferred DERF funds to the Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
appropriation accounts for the Department of the Army or the Department of
the Air Force and as the projects progressed, obligations for the projects
were charged directly to the applicable O&M account.
Regarding the first legal issue, the general rule is that appropriations
may be transferred between appropriation accounts only to the extent
authorized by law. As mentioned above, for some projects in which DOD
directly cited DERF as the project's funding source, DOD documents also
characterize DERF as reimbursing another DOD appropriation account
previously charged with funding the project. The first appropriations act
that directly appropriated funds to DERF explicitly authorized DERF to
reimburse other DOD accounts for costs incurred after September 11, 2001,
for certain purposes, including providing support to counter international
terrorism and supporting national security. Regarding the DERF funds
transferred to Army and Air Force O&M accounts for nine projects, the
second appropriations act that directly appropriated funds to DERF
explicitly authorized the transfers. The appropriations act did not
require congressional notification before the Secretary of Defense
transferred DERF funds, but the conference report for the act contained
such a directive. The Under Secretary of Defense sent a timely
notification to the chair and ranking members of various congressional
committees.
Regarding the second legal issue, DOD's position is that the $178 million
was approved for projects that could have been used for other than the
conflict in Iraq. Based on our review of the information DOD provided
about the projects, and the related tasks performed and materials and
services acquired, the 20 projects appear to have involved facilities,
equipment, and services that were sufficiently general in nature to
reasonably fall within the broad scope of the various appropriations
charged. Accordingly, DOD's position is not unreasonable and the nexus
some of the projects had to the eventual conflict in Iraq does not cause
them to fall outside the scope of the appropriations charged. However, as
described in the DOD documents provided, some projects funded with O&M
appropriations contemplated tasks that possibly involved construction. To
the extent O&M appropriations funded construction tasks whose funding
would be limited to construction appropriation accounts, the O&M
appropriations were not available for those tasks. The information DOD
provided was not complete or detailed enough for us to definitively
resolve this matter.[4] Accordingly, we recommend that DOD review these
tasks to determine whether any tasks associated with the 20 projects
involved military construction for which O&M appropriations were
unavailable. To the extent DOD so determines, it should adjust its
appropriation accounts accordingly.[5]
BACKGROUND
On April 21, 2004, the Committee on Armed Services of the United States
House of Representatives conducted a public hearing on Iraq's transition
to sovereignty.[6] During the hearing, committee members asked one of the
witnesses, then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, about a public
report that $750 million was spent for the conflict in Iraq before
Congress had passed a war powers resolution[7] and that the $750 million
had been drawn from various accounts without proper communication with
Congress.[8] The Deputy Secretary acknowledged that in considering what
tasks to fund from appropriations for the response to the September 11,
2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, DOD initially considered
some tasks that could be viewed as specifically for Iraq before enactment
of the Iraq resolution. The Deputy Secretary further testified, however,
that DOD scrubbed out all tasks specifically for Iraq, leaving $178
million for the "global war on terrorism, general application" and tasks
that were "designed to strengthen [DOD's] capabilities in the region or to
support ongoing operations."[9]
After the hearing, congressional interest continued in the tasks Deputy
Secretary Wolfowitz referred to in his testimony, whether DOD had
transferred funds to execute the related projects and, if so, whether
Congress had been consulted to the extent required by law. In light of the
Deputy Secretary's testimony, we limited our inquiry to the $178 million
made available for the associated projects.
In addition to providing information about the relationship among the $178
million cited in DOD's testimony, the related projects, and their funding
sources, our objective was to address two legal questions. First, whether
the transfer of funds from DERF to other DOD appropriation accounts was
authorized? Second, whether the appropriations funding the projects,
either directly or through transfers, were available for the purposes for
which they were used?
DISCUSSION
Appropriations Acts
The Deputy Secretary's testimony generally refers to funds Congress
appropriated in 2001 and 2002 to finance the response to the September 11,
2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The testimony did not,
however, identify the specific appropriation that supported the $178
million that is the subject of this decision. The three appropriation acts
enacted in 2001 and 2002 that funded the President's Emergency Response
Fund (ERF) and DOD's Defense Emergency Response Fund (DERF) are summarized
below.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Congress
established a $40 billion ERF to deal with the attacks' consequences. 2001
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from and Response
to Terrorist Attacks on the United States, Pub. L. No. 107-38, 115 Stat.
220 (Sept. 18, 2001) (2001 Emergency Supplemental). The 2001 Emergency
Supplemental appropriated these
funds to the President and made ERF available for the costs of "providing
support to counter, investigate, or prosecute domestic or international
terrorism," and "supporting national security," among other things. Id.
The Congress gave considerable flexibility to the President by making the
$40 billion available until expended and authorizing the President to
transfer the funds to any authorized federal government activity. Id. The
2001 Emergency Supplemental, however, also provided differing types of
congressional involvement in the availability and use of different
portions of the $40 billion appropriated. It required the President to
consult with the chairmen and ranking minority members of the Committees
on Appropriations before transferring any funds. The 2001 Emergency
Supplemental did not establish any other administrative or legislative
requirements in connection with the Presidential transfer of the first $10
billion of the $40 billion appropriated to ERF.
The 2001 Emergency Supplemental provided for additional congressional
involvement in the President's use of $30 billion of the $40 billion
appropriated to ERF. It provided that $10 billion was not available for
transfer to any agency until 15 days after the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) had submitted to the Appropriations Committees
a proposed allocation and plan for the agency's use of the funds to be
transferred. Id. Regarding the remaining $20 billion, those funds could be
obligated only when enacted in a subsequent emergency appropriations bill.
Id., 115 Stat. 221. The 2001 Emergency Supplemental also required the
President to send an amended budget request proposing an allocation of
funds and OMB to report quarterly on the use of the funds to the
Appropriations Committees. Id.
DERF was a distinct account to support DOD's efforts to respond to, or
protect against, acts or threatened acts of terrorism. Of the $40 billion
the 2001 Emergency Supplemental appropriated to ERF, approximately $15
billion was transferred to DERF. [10] The vast majority of the $15 billion
was administratively transferred pursuant to the President's authority to
transfer provided by the 2001 Emergency Supplemental. The Presidential
transfers from ERF to DERF occurred in a series of transfers totaling $20
billion beginning September 21, 2001, involving accounts throughout
government. [11] In addition to ERF funds administratively transferred,
almost $3.4 billion was statutorily transferred from ERF to DERF.
Specifically, of the $20 billion that the 2001 Emergency Supplemental
appropriated to ERF but limited its availability for obligation to the
enactment of subsequent emergency appropriations, the Emergency
Supplemental Act, 2002, transferred $3.396 billion from ERF to DERF for
such purposes as increased situational awareness, increased worldwide
posture and offensive counterterrorism.[12]
Section 301 of the Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002, also contained
general provisions applicable to DERF funds. Relevant to the matters
before us, section 301 provides that the amounts in DERF are available for
the purposes set forth in the 2001 Emergency Supplemental, which, as
stated above, included such purposes as providing support to counter,
investigate, or prosecute domestic or international terrorism, and
supporting national security. Pub. L. No. 107-38, 115 Stat. 2299. Section
301 also made DERF available to reimburse other DOD appropriations for
costs incurred on or after September 11, 2001, for the purposes set forth
in the 2001 Emergency Supplemental. Id. Section 301 also authorized the
Secretary of Defense to transfer funds from DERF to any defense
appropriation account, in which case the transferred funds would be merged
with and available for the same purposes as the transferee appropriation.
Id., 115 Stat. 2300. Finally, section 301 required the Secretary of
Defense to quarterly "provide to the Congress a report (in unclassified
and classified form, as needed) specifying the projects and accounts to
which funds provided in the [Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002, to DERF]
are to be transferred." Id.
The documents DOD provided use the term "DERF-1" to describe funds
initially appropriated to ERF by the 2001 Emergency Supplemental and later
made available to DERF. The documents do not distinguish between ERF funds
that the President transferred to DERF as authorized by the 2001 Emergency
Supplemental and the $3.396 billion that the Emergency Supplemental Act,
2002, transferred from ERF to DERF.
In addition to the approximately $15 billion DERF received from transfers
from ERF, DERF also received direct appropriations in fiscal year 2002.
Specifically, the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further
Recovery from and Response to Terrorists Attacks on the United States
(2002 Supplemental) appropriated $11.9 billion to DERF, which would remain
available through fiscal year 2003.[13] Congress appropriated these funds
as a lump sum to DERF as requested by the President with the expectation
that they would be transferred to DOD's regular appropriation accounts for
execution.[14] The documents DOD provided use the term "DERF-2" to refer
to the funds the 2002 Supplemental directly appropriated to DERF.
Projects and Their Funding Sources
We did not conduct an audit or investigation of the funds cited in the
Deputy Secretary's April 21, 2004, testimony or the projects they
financed. Rather, to address the two legal questions presented above, we
sent two development letters to DOD seeking information and supporting
documents on its use of the $178 million cited in the testimony.[15] In
response to our inquiry, DOD identified 20 projects relating to the $178
million cited in the testimony and provided documents containing summary
and detailed project and funding information for the projects. However,
the completeness of the information provided varied significantly by
project. We concluded our factual inquiry when DOD informed us that it was
unable to provide us with all the project obligating documents we
requested.[16]
Of the 20 projects DOD identified as related to the $178 million, DOD
documents indicate that regular DOD appropriation accounts were directly
charged for seven projects. For six of the seven projects, the following
appropriations were charged without utilizing what DOD characterized as
DERF-1 or DERF-2 funds: fiscal year 2002 O&M, Air Force (three projects);
fiscal year 2003 O&M, Marine Corps; fiscal years 2001/2002 and 2002/2003
Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic Aid; and fiscal year 2002 O&M,
Defense-wide. The seventh project was directly charged primarily to fiscal
year 2002, Other Procurement, Army, although about $400,000 was allocated
from DERF-2. DOD's summary response to our inquiry shows an initial
approval amount for these seven projects of almost $27 million of the $178
million. As previously mentioned, the $178 million is an initial approval
amount and the project specific documentation DOD provided us shows that
the funding for some of these projects changed substantially. For example,
for the project involving the Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic
Aid appropriations, DOD's initial approval amount was $11.5 million but
the amount obligated was $5.8 million. For one of the projects involving
the fiscal year 2002 O&M, Air Force appropriation, the initial approval
amount was $2.1 million but the scope of the project changed significantly
and its total cost was only about $624,000.
For four projects, DOD approved and charged DERF-1 funds. As previously
discussed, DOD used DERF-1 to describe funds initially appropriated to ERF
by the 2001 Emergency Supplemental and later made available to DERF. DOD
initially identified regular DOD appropriations for these projects.
Documents DOD provided us show that funding for these projects was changed
from the regular DOD appropriation to DERF-1 either by directly charging
DERF-1 or by using DERF-1 to reimburse the regular appropriation charged.
Either of these approaches to using what DOD characterizes as DERF-1 was
authorized by the Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002.
DOD's summary response to our inquiry shows an initial approval amount for
these four projects of over $43 million of the $178 million. However, as
with some of the seven projects directly charged to regular DOD
appropriations, the project specific documentation DOD provided us shows
that the source and amount of funding for some of the four projects
ultimately charged to DERF-1 changed substantially. For example, DOD's
summary response to our inquiry shows that the initially approved funding
for 1 project was $6.96 million -- about $6.4 million from Air Force
Procurement and $600,000 from Army O&M. The contract for this project was
initially supported with the Air Force funding. The contract was
subsequently amended to shift the funding from Air Force to Army.
Ultimately, a Military Interdepartmental Purchase Request changed the
funding source to DERF-1 for almost $5 million.
Finally, of the 20 projects and $178 million that are the subject of this
decision, DOD approved and used DERF-2 funding for nine projects.[17] The
amount of DERF-2 funding initially approved for these nine projects was
over $108 million. Unlike DERF-1 funding in which either obligations were
directly charged to DERF or DERF was used to reimburse regular DOD
appropriations previously charged with obligations, DERF-2 represents
funds transferred to and merged with regular DOD appropriation accounts.
Seven of the nine projects were financed with DERF-2 funds that DOD
transferred to fiscal year 2002 Army O&M. The other two projects were
financed with DERF-2 funds that DOD transferred to fiscal year 2002 Air
Force O&M. The transfers are discussed below.
Transfer of DERF-2 Funds
The transferred DERF-2 funds that DOD attributed to the nine projects
identified in response to our inquiry were a small part of much larger
transfers DOD executed at the end of fiscal year 2002. The 2002
Supplemental appropriated $11.9 billion to DERF. Of this amount, DOD
transferred $526 million to the fiscal year 2002 Army O&M appropriation.
Memorandum for Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and
Comptroller) from John M. Evans, Director for Operations and Personnel,
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Sept. 6, 2002). DOD also
transferred $543 million to the fiscal year 2002 Air Force O&M
appropriation. Memorandum for Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
(Financial Management and Comptroller) from John M. Evans, Director for
Operations and Personnel, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Sept.
6, 2002).
Of the $526 million transferred to the fiscal year 2002 O&M, Army
appropriation, over $88 million was initially approved for seven of the
projects identified in response to our inquiry. Of the $543 million
transferred to the fiscal year 2002 Air Force O&M appropriation, $20
million was initially approved for 2 of the DOD-identified projects.[18]
These transfers were authorized. A transfer is defined as the shifting of
funds between appropriations.[19] Agencies are prohibited from
transferring funds unless they have statutory authority to do so. 31
U.S.C. sect. 1532. In making appropriations to DERF, Congress explicitly
provided DOD with statutory authority to transfer those funds to regular
DOD appropriation accounts. Specifically, the appropriation to DERF
provided that "the Secretary of Defense may transfer the funds provided
herein only to appropriations for military personnel; operation and
maintenance; procurement; research, development, test and evaluation . . .
." Pub. L. No. 107-206, 116 Stat. at 836.
Thus, the language of the 2002 Supplemental is clear on its face.[20] The
2002 Supplemental authorized the Secretary to transfer funds appropriated
to DERF to O&M, Army, O&M, Air Force, and other regular appropriations
identified in the statute.
Further, the 2002 Supplemental does not require the Secretary to notify
Congress before transferring DERF funds. The conference report on the 2002
Supplemental, however, does contain the following notification directive:
"the conferees agree . . . with the Senate's directive that the Department
of Defense notify the Committees on Appropriations prior to transferring
DERF funds to appropriations accounts."
H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 107-593, at 130 (2002). The Department followed this
directive.[21]
Availability of Funds as to Purpose
The basic rule is that appropriated funds are available only for the
purposes for which they are appropriated. 31 U.S.C. sect. 1301(a).
Agencies, however, have reasonable discretion in determining how to carry
out the objects of an appropriation. "It is a well-settled rule of
statutory construction that where an appropriation is made for a
particular object, by implication it confers authority to incur expenses
which are necessary or proper or incident to the proper execution of the
object." 6 Comp. Gen. 619, 621 (1927). In applying this concept, commonly
known as the "necessary expense doctrine," we consider whether the
expenditure is reasonably related to the purposes that Congress intended
the appropriation to fulfill.[22] Thus, to assess whether DOD had funds
available for the 20 projects, we must consider the authorized purposes of
the appropriations that provided the funding.
Preliminary Issue
As a preliminary matter, we must properly frame the issue. In our opinion,
the issue is not whether given the relationship between the projects and
the conflict in Iraq, the appropriations DOD charged for these projects
were available for the Iraq conflict prior to the October 16, 2002, war
powers resolution. As explained below, this formulation of the issue
assumes a direct and exclusive relationship between the projects and the
Iraq conflict that the record before us does not support.
The Department does not dispute that the projects had utility for the
conflict in Iraq. Rather, DOD asserts that it delayed any projects that
appeared to be exclusive to Iraq and the $178 million it approved late in
fiscal year 2002 was for projects that had general application.
Specifically, Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz testified that the $178 million
was approved for projects "that had application to Iraq if we did Iraq but
they were needed elsewhere." [23] The Deputy Secretary similarly testified
that the $178 million was for the "global war on terrorism, general
application" and tasks that were "designed to strengthen [DOD's]
capabilities in the region or to support ongoing operations."[24]
The more recent DOD response to our inquiry is consistent with the Deputy
Secretary's testimony. We met with DOD officials who asserted that the
projects supported the global war on terrorism. Since the funds were
available for the general purpose of supporting the global war on
terrorism, the funds were used for the purposes for which they were
available. Meeting attended by Susan A. Poling, Managing Associate General
Counsel, GAO; Thomas H. Armstrong, Assistant General Counsel for
Appropriations Law, GAO; F. Abe Dymond, Assistant General Counsel, GAO; E.
Scott Castle, Deputy General Counsel (Ethics and Fiscal), DOD; and Roger
Pitkin, Senior Attorney Adviser (Fiscal), DOD (Jan. 13, 2005).
Based on our review of the project information DOD provided, DOD's
position is not unreasonable. Certainly the title or summary description
of some projects approved late in fiscal year 2002 suggests a close nexus
to the subsequent conflict in Iraq. However, we did not identify specific
tasks that were performed, or goods or services that were acquired, before
the October 16, 2002, war powers resolution that DOD could have utilized
only for the Iraq conflict. In any event, the fact that there ultimately
was a conflict in Iraq and these projects furthered DOD's effort in that
conflict does not drive our analysis of whether the appropriations used
for the 20 projects were available for those purposes.
Direct Charge to Regular DOD Appropriations
We turn next to the appropriations that funded the 20 projects. As
discussed above, the $178 million approved for 20 projects came from three
categories of DOD funding. The first category comprises regular DOD
appropriation accounts, which were directly charged for 7 projects. For
this category, we must of course look to the purposes associated with the
each of the appropriations charged.
For 5 of the 7 projects, the regular DOD appropriations accounts directly
charged were fiscal year 2002 O&M appropriations for DOD or one of the
military services. These projects generally involved preparing and
upgrading facilities and equipment. O&M appropriations are generally
understood to be available for the purpose of funding an agency's
day-to-day operations and providing for the maintenance of its equipment
and facilities.[25] This general understanding is reflected in the reports
of the House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committees
on the Department of Defense Appropriation Act, 2002.[26] With respect to
the military in fiscal year 2002, O&M funds are available for operating
and maintaining the Armed Forces, including related DOD support
activities. H.R. Rep. No. 107-298, at 41 (2001). O&M funds provide the
resources required to prepare and conduct combat operations and other
peace time missions. S. Rep. No. 107-109 at 28 (2001). They are also
available to pay for services for maintenance and repairs of equipment and
facilities, the purchase of fuel, supplies and spare parts for weapons and
equipment. Id.
For the sixth and seventh projects, DOD used accounts other than fiscal
year 2002 O&M accounts. The sixth project consisted of purchasing
humanitarian rations to feed civilians in the Central Command's area of
responsibility. DOD funded this project from the fiscal year 2002/2003
Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid appropriation, which was
available "[f]or expenses relating to the Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster,
and Civic Aid programs of the Department of Defense." Pub. L. No. 107-117,
115 Stat. at 2237. The seventh project involved the purchase of satellite
antennas and other satellite communications equipment. It was funded from
the fiscal year 2002 Other Procurement, Army, appropriation, which was
available for such purposes as "communications and electronic equipment."
Pub. L. No. 107-117, 115 Stat. at 2239.
The activities associated with the 7 projects that were funded by the
appropriations described above involved property, equipment, and related
services that appear to be of the type that DOD could reasonably acquire
or perform as part of its normal use of those appropriations. Accordingly,
the goods and services associated with these 7 projects appear to fall
within the scope of the appropriations used to fund them.
DERF-1 Funds
The second category of DOD funding comprises four projects charged to what
DOD characterizes as DERF-1. For this category, we look not only to the
purposes of the Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002, but also to the 2001
Emergency Supplemental. The Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002, transferred
almost $3.4 billion from ERF to DERF and made specific amounts available
for specific purposes, such as $850 million for situational awareness,
$1.495 billion for increased worldwide posture, and $372 million for
offensive counterterrorism. Pub. L. No. 107-117, 115 Stat. 2299. DERF also
received almost $12 billion from ERF in Presidential transfers authorized
by the 2001 Emergency Supplemental. Section 301 of the Emergency
Supplemental Act, 2002, makes clear that DERF is available for the
purposes set forth in the 2001 Emergency Supplemental. Id. These purposes
included providing support to counter, investigate, or prosecute domestic
or international terrorism, and supporting national security. Pub. L.
107-38, 115 Stat. 220. Because DOD did not distinguish between the DERF
funds the President transferred, which would be available for the broad
purposes set forth in the 2001 Emergency Supplemental, and the DERF funds
the Congress legislatively transferred, which would be available in the
amounts and for the purposes Congress legislated in the Emergency
Supplemental Act, 2002, we consider the four projects supported by DERF-1
funding in the context of the purposes of both statutes.
The four DERF-1 projects involved expanding and upgrading facilities,
upgrading and modifying communications equipment, and obtaining
communications services. The 2001 Emergency Supplemental is available for
such purposes as providing support to counter, investigate or prosecute
domestic or international terrorism and supporting national security, and
the Emergency Supplemental Act, 2002, is available for such purposes as
increased situational awareness, increased worldwide posture and offensive
counterterrorism. The four projects are not by their nature inconsistent
with the broad purposes of either of these Acts. Accordingly, the goods
and services associated with these four projects appear to fall within the
scope of the appropriations used to fund them.
DERF-2 Funds
The third category comprising the nine projects funded by the 2002
Supplemental, which DOD characterizes as DERF-2 funds, presents an issue
that does not arise with the other two categories. The 2002 Supplemental
appropriated almost $12 billion to DERF and authorized the Secretary of
Defense to transfer funds to certain regular DOD appropriation accounts.
Pub. L. No. 107-206, 116 Stat. at 836. The general rule is that
transferred funds are available only for the purposes provided by the act
appropriating the funds. 31 U.S.C. sect. 1532. Section 1532 recognizes,
however, that Congress may provide otherwise by law.
The 2002 Supplemental is just such a law. In addition to authorizing funds
to be transferred, the 2002 Supplemental provided that ". . . any funds
transferred shall be merged with and shall be available for the same
purposes and for the same time period as the appropriation to which
transferred . . . ." 116 Stat. 836.
Because this provision specifies that transferred funds shall be merged
with the appropriation to which they are transferred, the funds DOD
transferred from DERF to the appropriations used to fund 9 projects are
available for the purposes of the appropriations to which they were
transferred. Accordingly, we look to the purposes of those appropriations
to determine whether the appropriations charged were available for the
purposes of the objects identified.
The two appropriation accounts to which DOD transferred DERF funds for the
nine projects were Army and Air Force O&M. The activities associated with
the nine projects that were funded by the O&M appropriations included
transporting and storing of ammunition, materials and rolling stock;
installing and maintaining fuel pumps; establishing or improving
facilities; buying satellite antennas; and leasing electric generators.
As previously discussed, O&M appropriations are available generally for
funding day-to-day operations and providing for the maintenance of its
equipment and facilities. The activities associated with the 9 projects
funded by the O&M appropriations involved property, equipment, and related
services that appear to be of the type that DOD could reasonably acquire
or perform using those appropriations. Accordingly, the goods and services
associated with these 7 projects appear to be sufficiently general in
nature as to reasonably fall within the scope of the appropriations used
to fund them.
Military Construction Issue
With respect to the projects funded with O&M appropriations, either
directly or through the transfer of DERF-2 funds, an additional issue
exists. While the goods and services associated with the projects appear
to be sufficiently general in nature as to reasonably fall within the
scope of the O&M appropriations, some of these projects as described in
the DOD documents provided to us appear to have contemplated tasks that
possibly involved construction.
The military construction statutes limit DOD's use of O&M funds for each
military construction project to $750,000 (or a higher amount if unique
conditions are met);[27] otherwise DOD must use its military construction
appropriations. A military construction project includes "all military
construction work ... necessary to produce a complete and usable facility
or a complete and usable improvement to an existing facility."[28] Under
this statutory definition, military construction includes activities "with
respect to a military installation."[29] Further, these statutes provide a
broad definition of the term "military installation."[30]
In response to our request to DOD to provide project documentation for any
construction associated with these projects and to identify the legal
authority to expend O&M funds for any such construction, DOD provided some
limited project documentation and cited to a February 2003 memorandum from
the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)[31] as reflective of DOD's
legal authority. As explained to us in meetings with representatives of
the DOD Office of General Counsel, this memorandum sets out criteria for
the use of O&M funds consistent with DOD's longstanding legal view that
O&M funds may be used for construction of a temporary nature in support of
certain military operations.[32] In DOD's view, such temporary
construction in the specified operations is not subject to the funding
limitations prescribed by the military construction statutes, 10 U.S.C.
sections 2801, 2802, 2805, 2811. DOD asserts that construction meeting the
criteria set out in the memorandum is not subject to the military
construction statutes because it is not of a "kind carried out with
respect to a military installation" and therefore does not meet the
definition of "military construction." In particular, DOD's view is that
real property used by it on a temporary basis under the specified
circumstances does not fall within the meaning of the term "military
installation," regardless of the inherent permanency of the construction
work. In our meeting with DOD officials, they informed us that, as of the
time DOD approved these projects, DOD had no reasonable expectation of a
long-term interest in the real property associated with the projects.
We have recognized that construction work of a temporary nature may be
funded with DOD's O&M funds in "extremely limited" circumstances.[33] In
particular, in applying the principles derived from our earlier cases
interpreting a longstanding prohibition[34] on using appropriations to
fund contracts for construction of "public improvements,"[35] we have held
that the military construction statutes do not cover the types of work
that are "clearly of a temporary nature" as addressed in those cases.[36]
In reviewing the limited documentation provided by DOD, we were unable to
determine whether the construction components of any of the projects were
of such a temporary nature that the military construction statutes would
not apply. Further, we have not addressed DOD's interpretation of the term
"military installation" for purposes of the analysis in DOD's February
2003 memorandum. In any event, Congress responded unfavorably to DOD's
February 2003 memorandum.[37] Also, Congress has enacted subsequent
legislation that imposed controls over DOD's use of O&M funds for
construction meeting the criteria set out in the memorandum."[38]
To the extent O&M appropriations funded construction tasks whose funding
would be limited to construction appropriation accounts, the O&M
appropriations were not available for those tasks. Accordingly, we
recommend that DOD review these tasks to determine whether any tasks
associated with the 20 projects involved military construction for which
the charged O&M appropriation was unavailable. If DOD so determines, it
should adjust its appropriation accounts accordingly.
CONCLUSION
Regarding the first legal issue, the 2002 Supplemental that directly
appropriated funds to DERF explicitly provided authority for their
transfer to Army and Air Force O&M accounts for 10 projects. The 2002
Supplemental did not require congressional notification before the
Secretary of Defense transferred DERF funds, but the conference report for
the act contained such a directive. The Under Secretary of Defense sent a
timely notification to the chair and ranking members of various
congressional committees.
Regarding the second legal issue, based on the information DOD provided,
DERF and other appropriation accounts charged were available for the 20
projects as approved. As described in the DOD documents provided, the 20
projects were sufficiently general in nature as to reasonably fall within
the scope of the appropriations charged. However, as described in the DOD
documents provided, some projects funded with O&M appropriations
contemplated tasks that possibly involved construction. Accordingly, we
recommend that DOD review these tasks to determine whether any tasks
associated with the 20 projects involved military construction for which
the charged O&M appropriation was unavailable. If DOD so determines, it
should adjust its appropriation accounts accordingly.
/signed/
Anthony H. Gamboa
General Counsel
------------------------
[1] DERF was a distinct account to support DOD's efforts to respond to, or
protect against, acts or threatened acts of terrorism. It received
appropriations made directly to it and transfers from appropriations made
to the President.
[2] DOD classified some of the records it provided us. Accordingly, we
refer to the projects only at a high level of generality throughout this
decision.
[3] One project received the vast majority of its funds from a regular DOD
appropriation account and an insignificant amount from DERF. We categorize
this project for ease of presentation as having been funded from a regular
DOD appropriation. See infra note 17.
[4] We were unable to determine if the actual amounts charged for all the
projects were proper because the documentation necessary to do so was not
available to us. We requested DOD to provide us with copies of
documentation to support all project obligations. DOD, however, told us
that it was unable to obtain all the obligation documents and that it was
unlikely that the documents existed or could be retrieved. DOD also
pointed to the difficulty in retrieving documents from a theater of war.
Meeting attended by Susan A. Poling, Managing Associate General Counsel,
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); Thomas H. Armstrong,
Assistant General Counsel, GAO; F. Abe Dymond, Assistant General Counsel,
GAO; E. Scott Castle, Deputy General Counsel (Ethics and Fiscal), DOD; and
Roger Pitkin, Senior Attorney Adviser (Fiscal), DOD (Jan. 13, 2005).
[5] This recommendation is made pursuant to 31 U.S.C. sect. 720.
Accordingly, DOD should report to the Senate Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs, the House Committee on Government
Reform, and the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations on actions
taken in response to this recommendation.
[6] Hearing on Iraq's Transition to Sovereignty: Hearing before the House
Committee on Armed Services, 108th Cong., 2d Sess. (Apr. 21, 2004),
hearing transcript available at
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/security/has112000.000/has112000_0htm
(last visited Sept. 14, 2005).
[7] Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of
2002, Pub. L. No. 107-243, 116 Stat. 1498 (Oct. 16, 2002).
[8] Hearing on Iraq's Transition to Sovereignty, at 67 (statement by Rep.
Spratt); at 118 (statement by Rep. Meehan).
[9] Hearing on Iraq's Transition to Sovereignty, at 67-68 (statement by
Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz). See also the statement by Deputy Secretary
Wolfowitz: "[the $178 million was for things that] had application to Iraq
if we did Iraq, but they were needed elsewhere. What we took off of that
list were those things that were exclusively Iraq preparatory." Id. at
118. Mr. Wolfowitz also testified that after the October approval of the
Iraq resolution, funds were soon made available to support Iraq
preparatory tasks, including many of those that had been previously
identified but scrubbed. Id. at 68.
[10] GAO, Defense Budget: Tracking of Emergency Response Funds for the War
on Terrorism, GAO-03-346 (Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2003).
[11] Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House, Sept. 21, 2001
(transmitting initial transfers of $5.1 billion from ERF to other
appropriation accounts). See also, e.g., Letter from the President to the
Speaker of the House, Nov. 9, 2001 (transmitting transfers of $9.3 billion
from ERF to other appropriation accounts). These and similar letters,
together with enclosures from the Director of OMB, were in furtherance of
the congressional notification requirements in the 2001 Emergency
Supplemental regarding Presidential transfers from ERF to other
appropriation accounts of the first $20 billion that the 2001 Emergency
Supplemental appropriated.
[12] Department of Defense and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act
for Recovery from and Response to Terrorists Attacks on the United States,
2002, Pub. L. No. 107-117, div. B, ch. 3, 115 Stat. 2230, 2299 (Jan. 10,
2002). As provided by the 2001 Emergency Supplemental, this act made the
second $20 billion that the 2001 Emergency Supplemental had appropriated
available for obligation in response to the President's submission of an
emergency request. Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House,
Oct. 17, 2001 (transmitting emergency funding requests totaling $20
billion).
[13] Pub. L. No. 107-206, 116 Stat. 820, 836 (Aug. 2, 2002). Of the $11.9
billion appropriated, only $11.3 billion was placed in DERF because $602
million would be available to DERF only after the President designated
that amount as an emergency requirement in a new budget request. 116 Stat.
837. See also GAO-03-346 at 18.
[14] H.R. Rep. No. 107-480, at 14 (May 20, 2002); S. Rep. No. 107-156, at
40-41 (May 29, 2002).
[15] Letters from Susan A. Poling, Managing Associate General Counsel,
GAO, to William J. Haynes, General Counsel, DOD, June 1, 2004, and Sept.
14, 2004.
[16] Supra note 4.
[17] We included a project approved with about $8 million of Army
Procurement funds and $400,000 of DERF-2 funds in the previous discussion
of the seven projects charged directly to regular DOD appropriations.
Accordingly, we do not include that project or its funding here for ease
of presentation.
[18] Documentation linking specific transferred funds to these projects is
not available. DOD does not, nor is it required to, account for such
linkage.
[19] GAO, A Glossary of Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process,
GAO-05-734SP (Washington, D.C.: September 2005), at 95.
[20] See also H.R. Rep. No. 107-480, at 14 (2002) ("As requested by the
President, the Committee has provided the majority of funding for Defense
Department activities in the Defense Emergency Response Fund. The
Committee directs the Department of Defense to transfer funds appropriated
in the DERF to the Department's normal appropriations accounts for
execution . . . .")
[21] See, e.g., letters from Dov S. Zakheim, Under Secretary of Defense,
to Robert Byrd, Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Bill Young,
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Daniel K.
Inouye, Chairman, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Jerry
Lewis, Chairman, House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on
Defense, Aug. 28, 2002.
[22] E.g., B-303170, Apr. 22, 2005; 63 Comp. Gen. 422, 427-428 (1984). The
other two prongs of the necessary expense doctrine's three-part test are
that the expenditure must not be prohibited by law and that the
expenditure must not be otherwise provided for. Id. The latter prong may
be implicated here, as reflected in the discussion below under the heading
Military Construction Issue.
[23] Hearing on Iraq's Transition to Sovereignty, at 118.
[24] Hearing on Iraq's Transition to Sovereignty, at 67-68.
[25] See, e.g., B-303170, Apr. 22, 2005: Justification of Operation and
Maintenance, Army Estimates for Fiscal Year 2002, at 1.
[26] Department of Defense and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for
Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States Act,
2002, Pub. L. No. 107-117, div. A, 115 Stat. 2230 (Jan. 10, 2002).
[27] 10 U.S.C. sect. 2805(c).
[28] 10 U.S.C. sect. 2801(b). See, e.g., B-234326 (Dec. 24, 1991)
(acquisition of 12 trailers is a single military construction project
because the 12 trailers were "interrelated" and constituted a "complete
and usable facility").
[29] 10 U.S.C. sect. 2801(a) (defining "military construction" to include
"any construction, development, conversion, or extension of any kind
carried out with respect to a military installation, whether to satisfy
temporary or permanent requirements").
[30] 10 U.S.C. sect. 2801(c)(2) (defining "military installation" to mean
"a base, camp, post, station, yard, center, or other activity under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary of a military department or, in the case of
an activity in a foreign country, under the operational control of the
Secretary of a military department or the Secretary of Defense, without
regard to the duration of operational control").
[31] Memorandum from Dov S. Zakheim, Under Secretary of Defense
(Comptroller), to Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management
and Comptroller), Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management
and Comptroller), Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial
Management and Comptroller, Comptrollers, Defense Agencies, Availability
of Operations and Maintenance Appropriations for Construction, Feb. 27,
2003.
[32] Specifically, DOD states that it has been a long-standing practice to
use O&M funds for construction if:
"(1) There is a properly documented determination that the construction is
necessary to meet an urgent military operational requirement of a
temporary nature, while U.S. Armed Forces are participating in armed
conflict or contingency operations, as defined under 10 U.S.C. sect.
101(a)(13);
(2) The construction will not be carried out at a military installation,
as defined under 10 U.S.C. sect. 2801, or at a location where the U.S. is
reasonably expected to have a long-term interest or presence; and,
(3) The United States has no intention to use the construction after the
operational requirement has been satisfied and the nature of the
construction is the minimum necessary to meet the temporary operational
need."
Id.
[33] 63 Comp. Gen. 422, 435 (1984).
[34] Codified at 42 U.S.C. sect. 12.
[35] See 42 Comp. Gen. 212, 214-15 (1962).
[36] 63 Comp. Gen. 422, 435 (1984).
[37] H.R. Conf. Rpt. No. 108-76, at 90 (Apr. 12, 2003) ("DOD argues that
long-standing practice enables it to utilize [its] legal construct under
certain circumstances despite its effect of vitiating and/or amending the
underlying statute . . . . The conferees disagree with [DOD's]
pronouncement, which effectively obviates the law and turns an alleged
practice into de facto law.")
[38] See Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003, Pub. L.
No. 108-11, sect. 1901(d), 117 Stat. 559, 587 (Apr. 16, 2003); Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations Act for the Reconstruction of Iraq and
Afghanistan, 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-106, sect. 1302, 117 Stat. 1209, 1221
(Nov. 6, 2003).