FY 2006 Annual Report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program
(01-JUL-05, GAO-05-780R).					 
                                                                 
Under section 1308 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2001 (Pub. L. 106-398), the Department of Defense	 
(DOD) is to submit an annual report to Congress on its		 
Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program no later than the	 
first Monday in February of each year. The report should include 
a 5-year plan that discusses the amount and purpose of funding	 
needed over the term of the plan and a description of efforts	 
conducted by the United States to ensure that CTR assistance is  
fully accounted for and used for its intended purposes. The act  
requires the Comptroller General to assess this 5-year plan and  
the description of efforts to account for CTR assistance within  
90 days of the report's submission to Congress. The Department	 
submitted its CTR annual report for fiscal year 2006 to Congress 
on February 23, 2005, and we provided our findings to		 
Congressional staff on May 23, 2005. We analyzed the 2006 report 
to determine whether (1) the 5-year plan addresses legislative	 
requirements and presents accurate information, and (2) the	 
accountability section addresses legislative requirements and	 
presents accurate information.					 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-05-780R					        
    ACCNO:   A28799						        
  TITLE:     FY 2006 Annual Report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction
Program 							 
     DATE:   07/01/2005 
  SUBJECT:   Accountability					 
	     Data collection					 
	     Defense operations 				 
	     Federal legislation				 
	     Performance measures				 
	     Policy evaluation					 
	     Program evaluation 				 
	     Reporting requirements				 
	     Data integrity					 
	     Program management 				 
	     DOD Cooperative Threat Reduction Program		 

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GAO-05-780R

United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548

July 1, 2005

The Honorable John Warner
Chairman
The Honorable Carl Levin
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate

The Honorable Duncan L. Hunter
Chairman
The Honorable Ike Skelton
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Armed Services
House of Representatives

Subject: FY 2006 Annual Report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program

Under section 1308 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2001 (Pub. L. 106-398), the Department of Defense (DOD) is to submit
an annual report to Congress on its Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR)
program no later than the first Monday in February of each year. The
report should include a 5-year plan that discusses the amount and purpose
of funding needed over the term of the plan and a description of efforts
conducted by the United States to ensure that CTR assistance is fully
accounted for and used for its intended purposes. The act requires the
Comptroller General to assess this 5-year plan and the description of
efforts to account for CTR assistance within 90 days of the report's
submission to Congress. The Department submitted its CTR annual report for
fiscal year 2006 to Congress on February 23, 2005, and we provided our
findings to your staff on May 23, 2005.1

We analyzed the 2006 report to determine whether (1) the 5-year plan
addresses legislative requirements and presents accurate information, and
(2) the accountability section addresses legislative requirements and
presents accurate information. Enclosed is information provided to your
staff presenting our assessment of the CTR annual report submitted for
fiscal year 2006 (see enclosure).

1We refer to the section of the CTR annual report for fiscal year 2006
titled "Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program Activities and
Assistance" as the 5-year plan and the accountability section. This
section includes both the 5-year plan and the fiscal year 2004 accounting
activities. These sections were consolidated in the FY 2005 report at
GAO's recommendation.

GAO-05-780R Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Annual Report

We found that the 5-year plan addressed the legislative requirements by
setting forth funding information for the term of the plan and stating the
purpose of those funds. We also confirmed with project managers that, for
the eight projects we reviewed in detail, the information provided in the
report was generally accurate. In addition, we examined the source
documents that supported the data in the published report and found that
the published data were generally well supported.

We found that the accountability section addressed three of the four
legislative requirements. It (1) discussed the status of contracts and
services and the methods used to ensure that CTR aid is used for the
purposes intended, (2) determined whether the assistance provided has been
used effectively and efficiently, and (3) described the audits and
examinations planned for the next year. We found that the information in
these sections of the report was generally accurate and complete and
included the concerns raised in project trip reports and audit and
examinations. The report did not comply with section 1308(c)(5) of the
NDAA for FY 2001 (Pub. L. 106-398) however, because it did not provide a
description of the condition and location of CTR-furnished equipment.
Instead, the annual report states that this information is now available
upon request at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), through a new,
centralized database system that tracks CTR equipment.2 When we asked to
review the database, DTRA provided it to us in a timely manner.

In prior years, DOD included the CTR equipment list as an appendix to the
annual report. Since last year's report, DTRA's contractor at the Threat
Reduction Support Center (TRSC)3 has developed a new database that draws
information regarding CTR equipment from a wider variety of sources in
order to address data limitations that were previously reported in last
year's CTR annual report. DOD is loading all equipment data into this new
database to enhance both reporting and tracking capabilities. However,
according to TRSC officials, DOD did not include the equipment list as an
appendix in this year's report because of its voluminous nature.

We performed our work in Washington, D.C., from April 2005 through May
2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

We provided a draft of this report to DOD officials. DOD provided
technical comments, which we have incorporated where appropriate.

2DOD's CTR Logistics Support (CLS) contractor has developed the Electronic
Information Delivery System (EIDS) to track CTR equipment.

3DTRA has contracted with the Science Applications International
Corporation's (SAIC) Threat Reduction Support Center (TRSC). TRSC staff
provide support to CTR program and project managers in the areas of
operations, logistics, engineering, and financial and program management.

We are sending copies of this report to the Honorable Donald Rumsfeld,
Secretary of
Defense, and to interested congressional committees. We also will make
copies
available to others upon request. This report will also be available at no
charge on
the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions regarding this report, please
contact me at
(202) 512-8979 or [email protected]. David Maurer, Josie Sigl, Hynek
Kalkus, and
Beth Hoffman Leon also made key contributions to this report.

Joseph A. Christoff
Director, International Affairs and Trade

Enclosure

                                   Enclosure

                                    (320350)

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