Presidential Travel: Costs and Accounting for President's 1998 Trips to
China, Chile, and Africa (Letter Report, 09/21/1999, GAO/NSIAD-99-164).
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on
President Clinton's 1998 trips to Africa, Chile, and China, focusing on:
(1) the estimated costs and the nature of the costs of these trips; and
(2) executive branch accounting procedures for such expenses.
GAO noted that: (1) presidential travel to foreign destinations requires
planning, coordination, and logistical and personnel support; (2) the
estimated incremental costs of President Clinton's trips to Africa,
Chile, and China were at least $42.8 million, $10.5 million, and $18.8
million, respectively; (3) the largest of these costs consisted of: (a)
operating expenses of the President's aircraft and other military
passenger and cargo aircraft; (b) travel expenses, including lodging for
the travellers; and (c) telecommunications, vehicle, and other equipment
rentals and procurement in the countries visited; (4) these estimates
exclude: (a) Secret Service expenses, which are classified; (b) regular
salaries and benefits of U.S. government civil and military travellers;
and (c) agency planning expenses that may have been incurred in
preparing to travel; (5) the executive branch does not have a single
system to account for the cost of presidential travel overseas, and the
agencies involved use a variety of means to account for expenses; (6)
the Department of State routinely accounts for travel, equipment rental,
and other costs to support presidential travel; and (7) other agencies
that incurred costs in support of the Africa, Chile, and China trips had
records available on their costs as well.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: NSIAD-99-164
TITLE: Presidential Travel: Costs and Accounting for President's
1998 Trips to China, Chile, and Africa
DATE: 09/21/1999
SUBJECT: Travel costs
International travel
Accounting procedures
Cost analysis
Military aircraft
IDENTIFIER: Africa
Chile
China
KC-135 Aircraft
KC-10 Aircraft
C-17 Aircraft
C-5 Aircraft
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NS99164 A Report to Congressional Requesters
September 1999 PRESIDENTIAL TRAVEL
Costs and Accounting For the President's 1998 Trips to Africa,
Chile, and China
GAO/NSIAD-99-164
GAO/NSIAD-99-164
Letter 3 Appendixes Appendix I Support Provided for the
President's Trip to Africa 20
Appendix II Support Provided for the President's Trip to Chile 23
Appendix III Support Provided for the President's Trip to China 25
Appendix IV Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 27 Appendix V
Comments From the White House 30 Appendix VI Comments From the
Department of State 31 Appendix VII Comments From the Department
of Defense 32 Appendix VIII GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
33
Tables Table 1: Estimated Cost of the President's 1998 Trip to
Africa 9 Table 2: Estimated Cost of the President's 1998 Trip to
Chile 13
Table 3: Estimate of the Cost of the President's 1998 Trip to
China 16 Table 4: Travelers on the Africa Trip 20 Table 5: DOD-
Provided Fixed- Wing Support to the President's Trip to
Africa 21 Table 6: DOD- Provided Rotary- Wing Support to the
President's Trip to
Africa 22 Table 7: Travelers on the Chile Trip 23 Table 8: DOD-
Provided Fixed- Wing Support to the President's Trip to
Chile 24 Table 9: DOD- Provided Rotary- Wing Support to the
President's Trip to
Chile 24 Table 10: Travelers on the China Trip 25 Table 11: DOD-
Provided Fixed- Wing Support to the President's Trip to
China 26 Figures Figure 1: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in
Africa 8
Figure 2: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in Chile 12 Figure
3: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in China 15
Abbreviations
DOD Department of Defense
National Security and International Affairs Division
Lett er
B-282773 September 21, 1999 The Honorable Larry E. Craig The
Honorable Jeff Sessions The Honorable Craig Thomas United States
Senate
At your request, we are providing information related to the (1)
estimated costs and the nature of the costs of President Clinton's
1998 trips to Africa, Chile, and China and (2) executive branch
accounting procedures for such expenses. This information is based
on available agency records.
Results in Brief Presidential travel to foreign destinations
requires planning, coordination, and logistical and personnel
support. The estimated incremental costs of
President Clinton's trips to Africa, Chile, and China were at
least $42.8 million, $10.5 million, and $18.8 million,
respectively. The largest of these costs consisted of (1)
operating expenses of the President's aircraft and other military
passenger and cargo aircraft; (2) travel expenses,
including lodging for the travelers; and (3) telecommunications,
vehicle, and other equipment rentals and procurement in the
countries visited. These estimates exclude (1) Secret Service
expenses, which are classified; (2) regular salaries and benefits
of U. S. government civil and military travelers; and (3) agency
planning expenses that may have been incurred in preparing to
travel.
The executive branch does not have a single system to account for
the cost of presidential travel overseas, and the agencies
involved use a variety of means to account for expenses. The
Department of State routinely accounts for travel, equipment
rental, and other costs to support presidential travel. Other
agencies that incurred costs in support of the
Africa, Chile, and China trips had records available on their
costs as well. Background A series of planning activities precedes
overseas presidential travel. Once a decision is made to visit a
foreign country, White House, Department of
State, Secret Service, and, depending on the trip agenda or
purpose, other federal agency staff begin planning the trip. Staff
from these agencies
generally make at least three trips to the country or countries to
be visited before the President arrives.
The first trip, known as a site survey, permits officials to visit
sites at which presidential events may be held. During the second
trip, known as a preadvance visit, officials narrow down the
choice of sites, plan for the events, and make final site
selections. During the third trip, an advance trip taken about 7
days before the President arrives, officials set up needed
equipment at event locations and make final preparations for the
President's arrival. Hereafter, we refer to these trips
collectively as advance trips, and the teams as advance teams.
Certain Agencies Support The Department of Defense (DOD) and some
of the military services All of the President's
support presidential overseas trips. For example, the Air Force's
89th Airlift Foreign Trips Wing at Andrews Air Force Base,
Maryland, flies the President's plane, known as Air Force One, and
certain support aircraft. DOD also transports vehicles and other
equipment to the countries to be visited on its cargo aircraft and
provides aerial refueling when needed. DOD may also deploy
servicemembers to provide other support such as maintenance,
logistics, explosive ordnance disposal, and medical and other
support.
In addition, the White House Military Office sends officials from
the White House Communications Agency to establish and maintain
communications; the White House Mess to prepare some meals for the
President and members of the first family; the White House
Transportation Agency primarily to support security of cargo and
materials on the President's plane and the support planes; the
White House Medical Unit to provide health services, if needed;
and the Marine Corps' Helicopter Squadron One to provide in-
country movement of the President and members of the official
delegation when needed. Staff from these White House support
offices are generally active duty servicemembers, and DOD pays
their travel expenses.
The Department of State provides a variety of support for
presidential travel to foreign destinations. First, State's
Presidential Travel Support Services Office provides
administrative support to White House and State
members of an advance team. This support includes making travel
arrangements, communicating with the embassy in the country to be
visited, and processing travel orders and vouchers required for
White House and some State travelers. In addition, State pays the
travel expenses of most White House and State officials on the
advance trips or on the trip
with the President. The U. S. embassy in the country to be visited
(1) procures in- country support such as lodging,
telecommunications, transportation, and other equipment and (2)
assists White House and State employees in coordinating the agenda
with the host government. The State Department's regional
financial service centers 1 disburse other agencies' funds to pay
the agencies' hotel, telecommunications, and other in- country
expenses. The Secret Service, the U. S. Information Agency, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Customs Service
also generally support all presidential trips. The Secret Service
provides personal security for the President and protectees. The
U. S. Information Agency supports U. S. news media organizations
whose representatives accompany the President. This
support usually consists of organizing press briefings and
arranging for lodging, transportation, telecommunications, and
interpreters. Under agency guidelines, some of the cost of
logistical support for the news media is to be reimbursed to the
government by media organizations. The Immigration and
Naturalization Service and the Customs Service generally send
inspectors to accompany the presidential party and facilitate
reentry into the United States by stamping passports and
collecting import duties from officials, news media
representatives, and any private citizens accompanying the
President.
Other Agency Support for While some agencies participate in all
foreign trips, other federal agencies Presidential Foreign Travel
may participate in or otherwise support certain trips but not
others. This support varies from trip to trip and is somewhat
dependent on the goals and agenda of the planned trip. For
example, if trade relations are a trip agenda item, the
Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture and officials from the U.
S. Trade Representative may accompany the President. Cabinet
1 These centers are located in Paris, France; Bangkok, Thailand;
and Charleston, South Carolina.
secretaries or other agency heads may also take some agency staff
to assist the agency heads in preparing for discussions of issues
with representatives of the host government or to perform other
duties. Agencies whose officials are part of the official
delegation may also, on occasion, have missions of their own to
address while accompanying the President. The Cost of the
Beginning March 22, 1998, through April 2, 1998, the President and
his President's Trip to delegation visited Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda,
South Africa, Botswana, and Senegal. According to the
administration, the purpose of the trip was to Africa
(1) help reshape the way Americans think about Africa; (2) show U.
S. support for emerging democracies; (3) promote U. S. investment,
trade, and economic growth in Africa; (4) promote education; and
(5) promote
conflict resolution and human rights. White House officials stated
that this was the most extensive trip by an American President to
the African continent. They also stated that the President held
summit meetings with the heads of
states of the six countries visited, and cohosted, with Uganda's
President Museveni, a regional summit meeting with the heads of
state or governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,
Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Secretary
General of the Organization of African Unity. In addition, the
President participated in other events that included an open- air
speech to about 500,000 people in
Ghana; visits to schools and housing projects; and meetings with
human rights activists, environmentalists, and survivors of the
Rwandan genocide. He also dedicated the first U. S. Trade Center
on the African continent in Johannesburg, South Africa; signed
agreements; and announced a number of initiatives.
State, White House, Secret Service, and/ or DOD officials were
members of 10 separate advance teams that traveled from January
1998 to March 1998 to prepare for the President's arrival in the
six countries to be visited. According to agency records, the
federal agencies represented on the trip paid for about 1, 300
individuals to travel to Africa as advance team members, to
accompany the President, or to provide other support to his
delegation. 2 (See app. I, table 4 for a breakout by agency of the
travelers.)
Figure 1 shows the six countries the President visited, beginning
with the stop in Ghana.
2 This excludes Secret Service travelers. It also excludes Peace
Corps officials assigned to posts in Africa that incurred local
travel expenses, and nonfederal officials and/ or private citizens
that, according to the Department of State, reimbursed the
government for their travel expenses.
Figure 1: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in Africa
Sengal Ghana
Uganda Rwanda
Botswana South Africa
The estimated incremental cost of the President's trip to Africa
was at least $42.8 million, excluding Secret Service costs, which
are classified. The estimated cost of the Africa trip is shown in
table 1.
Table 1: Estimated Cost of the President's 1998 Trip to Africa
Agency Amount Percent of total
DOD $37, 738, 016 88. 2
Department of State 3, 665, 155 a 8.6
U. S. Information Agency 986,606 2.3
Executive Office of the President 122,235 b 0.3
Department of Commerce 120,101 0.3
Agency for International Development 57,298 0.1
Department of Transportation 53, 896 0.1
Department of Labor 40,430 0.1
Peace Corps 11,977 c Department of the Treasury 7,450 c Department
of Agriculture 1, 071 c Immigration and Naturalization Service 928
c Customs Service 829 c
Total reported to GAO $42, 805,992 d 100
a The State Department paid the travel costs of Members of
Congress that accompanied the President. Where information was
incomplete, we used the amount State obligated to pay for specific
travelers rather than actual amounts in this estimate. b Includes
expenses incurred by the Office of the U. S. Trade Representative.
c Less than 0.1 percent. d Excludes Secret Service costs.
Source: Agencies shown in the table.
DOD Expenses DOD records show that DOD spent about $37. 7 million
in support of the trip. About $32.7 million of the $37.7 million
was spent for passenger and
strategic lift and aerial refueling operations. According to the
U. S. Transportation Command, DOD flew 98 airlift missions using
strategic lift aircraft, including C- 17s and C- 5s, to move
vehicles and other equipment
from various locations in the United States and Europe to Africa
at a cost of about $29.2 million. The Transportation Command's
data shows that DOD also flew 110 aerial refueling missions using
KC- 135 and KC- 10 tanker aircraft at a cost of just over $1
million. The airlift and aerial refueling missions were made to
transport 13 Army and Marine Corps helicopters; to establish at
least four maintenance support teams on Cape Verde and Ascension
Islands and at two locations in South Africa; and to establish
temporary medical evacuation units in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa,
Botswana, and Senegal. The 89th Airlift Wing flew the President's
aircraft and five other aircraft to transport the advance teams or
the official delegation at a reported cost of about $2. 5 million.
The Marine Helicopter Squadron One reported helicopter and related
support costs of about $555,000. (See app. I, tables 5 and 6 for
more information on fixed- wing and rotary- wing airlift and
aerial refueling operations costs.)
In addition to airlift and aerial refueling costs, DOD incurred
costs to deploy troops in support of the Africa trip. DOD
established (1) Joint Task Force Eagle Vista under the command of
an Air Force major general and deployed over 400 servicemembers
representing 4 services from bases in Europe and the United States
and (2) a joint task force headquarters of 30 people. These troops
engaged in a variety of activities, including providing medical
services and aircraft maintenance and erecting temporary aviation
support facilities such as a dome shelter for helicopters. The U.
S. European Command and the service components in Europe estimated
the incremental direct cost of the joint task force to be
$633,369, primarily for travel expenses. The U. S. Atlantic
Command deployed about 190 military personnel from U. S. bases to
provide aircraft maintenance and aviation services at a cost the
Command estimated at over $775,000. DOD explained that the
complexity of the trip, that is, visits
to six countries, and the need to provide some temporary
infrastructure contributed to the cost of its operations. The
State Department disbursed an additional $2.9 million of DOD funds
for other in- country expenses such
as vehicle and equipment rentals, lodging, landing fees, and
transportation. DOD's reported expenses also included about
$200,000 in travel costs for servicemembers assigned to the White
House Military Office or Air Force servicemembers that provided
advance services for the President's plane.
Department of State On the basis of data provided to us by the
State Department and the U. S. Expenses
embassies in the six countries visited, we estimated that State's
incremental direct costs were about $3.7 million. The expenses
were for lodging, vehicle and other equipment rentals,
telecommunications equipment and services, and procurement of
miscellaneous items. The
State Department paid about $1.3 million in travel costs for most
White House and all State staff members traveling to support one
or more advance trips to the six countries visited or to accompany
the President during his trip, and 16 Members of Congress invited
to accompany the President.
Other Support Agency Other agencies participated in and incurred
costs associated with the
Expenses President's trip to Africa. For example, U. S.
Information Agency records
showed that it incurred incremental direct costs of about $1
million for telecommunication and meeting rooms for support of
press operations and for staff travel. The executive branch bills
the news media for logistical support costs, and the cost estimate
of expenses for the U. S. Information
Agency was the net amount after receipt of the reimbursement. The
other agencies' expenses included travel, lodging, and vehicle and
equipment rentals for staff that accompanied the President, agency
heads, or staff that participated in other events. For example,
the Department of Transportation sent staff to work on an aviation
safety and security initiative in Africa and to promote aviation
services between countries in
Africa and the United States. Also, Department of Commerce staff
and the President participated in the opening of a trade center in
South Africa named after the late Secretary of Commerce, Ronald
Brown.
The Cost of the The President and his delegation visited Chile
from April 16, 1998, through President's Trip to
April 20, 1998, to attend the second Summit of the Americas and
hold bilateral meetings with the President of Chile. The Summit of
the Americas Chile was a scheduled meeting of 34 heads of state or
governments from countries in North, Central, and South America.
Agenda items at the
summit included a discussion of the establishment of a Free Trade
Area of the Americas, the promotion of democracy, and the
eradication of poverty in the Americas.
Five advance teams of State, White House, Secret Service, and/ or
DOD officials made five trips from November 1997 through April
1998 to prepare for the President's arrival. Advance team members
visited the Chilean
capital of Santiago and at least three other cities to plan for
presidential events at those locations. According to agency
records, the federal agencies represented on the trip paid for
about 600 individuals to travel to Chile as advance team members,
to accompany the President, or to provide other support to his
delegation. 3 (See appendix II, table 7 for a breakout of the
travelers by agency.) Figure 2 shows the cities the President
visited in Chile in 1998.
3 This excludes Secret Service travelers. It also excludes
nonfederal officials and/ or private citizens that, according to
the Department of State, reimbursed the government for their
travel expenses.
Figure 2: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in Chile
Peru Bolivia Paraguay
South Pacific Ocean
Argentina Valparaiso
Santiago
South Atlantic Ocean
The estimated incremental cost of the President's trip to Chile
was at least $10.5 million excluding Secret Service costs. The
estimated cost by agency of the Chile trip is shown in table 2.
Table 2: Estimated Cost of the President's 1998 Trip to Chile
Agency Amount Percent of total
DOD $8, 814, 346 83. 6 Department of State 1, 322, 004 a 12. 5 U.
S. Information Agency 222, 279 2.1 Executive Office of the
President 54, 037 0. 5 Department of Education 26, 421 0. 3 Drug
Enforcement Administration 24, 188 0. 2 Department of Commerce 22,
039 0. 2 Department of Energy 20, 690 0. 2 Department of Justice
13, 194 0. 1 Small Business Administration 11, 450 0. 1 Overseas
Private Investment Corporation 6, 726 0. 1 Agency for
International Development 1, 771 b Immigration and Naturalization
Service 589 b Customs Service 492 b
Total reported to GAO $10,540, 226 c 100 d
a The State Department paid the travel costs of Members of
Congress that accompanied the President. Where information was
incomplete, we used the amount State obligated to pay for specific
travelers rather than actual amounts in this estimate. b Less than
0. 1 percent.
c Excludes Secret Service costs. d May not add due to rounding.
Source: Agencies shown in the table.
DOD Expenses DOD records show about $8. 8 million was spent in
support of this trip. Of the $8. 8 million, about $7. 8 million
was for passenger and strategic lift and aerial refueling support.
The U. S. Transportation Command used C- 5 and C- 141 aircraft for
24 airlift missions to move vehicles and other equipment from
various locations in the United States to Chile at a cost of about
$6. 7 million. The Command's data also shows that KC- 135 tanker
aircraft flew nine aerial refueling missions at a cost of about
$152,000 and that the
89th Airlift Wing flew the President's plane and two others at a
cost of about $948,000. The remaining approximately $1 million in
costs consisted of helicopter support from the Marine Helicopter
Squadron One; travel for DOD staff assigned to the White House
Military Office, Joint Staff, and Air
Force headquarters; and other support. (See app. II, tables 8 and
9, for more information on fixed- and rotary- wing airlift and
aerial refueling costs.) Department of State
On the basis of data provided to us by the State Department and
the U. S. Expenses embassy in Chile, we estimated that State's
incremental direct costs were about $1.3 million to support the
Chile trip. The expenses were for lodging, vehicle rentals and
other transportation services, telecommunications equipment
rentals and services, and a variety of other items. The State
Department paid over $300,000 for most White House and all State
staff members traveling to support one or more of the advance
trips to Chile or to accompany the President during his trip, and
5 Members of Congress invited to accompany the President. Other
Support Agency
Other agencies participated in and incurred costs associated with
the Expenses
President's trip to Chile. For example, the U. S. Information
Agency spent about $222,000 to support the trip. The agency's
support expenses included rentals of rooms for the press and
telecommunications services to support press operations and staff
travel. The executive branch billed the news media for the cost of
logistical support provided to them, and the estimate of expenses
for the U. S. Information Agency was the net amount after
receipt of the reimbursement. The expenses included travel,
lodging, and vehicle and equipment rentals for staff that
accompanied the President, agency heads, or staff that
participated in other events. For example, Department of Education
staff provided support because an education
initiative was an agenda item for the Summit of the Americas. The
Cost of the
The President and his delegation visited China from June 25, 1998,
through President's Trip to
July 3, 1998, to conduct bilateral talks with the President of
China and for other purposes. According to the White House, the
President traveled to China China to build on discussions at the
October 1997 summit held in Washington, D. C., with President
Jiang Zemin. Issues discussed were
security, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
economics and trade, energy and environment, science and
technology, and law
enforcement. Each of the accompanying agencies represented on the
trip had specific missions designed to further the overall agenda
or was tasked to provide logistical support. Eight separate teams
from the State Department, White House, Secret Service, and/ or
DOD made advance trips to Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guilin, and
Hong Kong from April 1998 through June 1998. According to agency
records, the federal agencies represented on the trip paid for
about 500 individuals to travel to China as advance team members,
to accompany the President, or provide other support to his
delegation. 4 (See app. III, table 10 for a breakout by agency of
the travelers.) Figure 3 shows the major locations visited by the
President, beginning with the delegation's stop in Xi'an.
Figure 3: Itinerary of the Official Delegation in China
Beijing Xian
Shanghai Guilin
Hong Kong
The estimated incremental cost of the President's trip to China
was at least $18.8 million, excluding Secret Service costs. The
estimated cost of the China trip by agency is shown in table 3.
4 This excludes Secret Service travelers. It also excludes
nonfederal officials and/ or private citizens that, according to
the Department of State, reimbursed the government for their
travel expenses.
Table 3: Estimate of the Cost of the President's 1998 Trip to
China Agency Amount Percent of total
DOD $14,007, 128 74. 4 Department of State 3, 601, 588 a 19. 1 U.
S. Information Agency 983, 835 5.2 Department of the Treasury 70,
517 0. 4 Executive Office of the President 63, 099 b 0.3
Department of Agriculture 57, 250 0. 3 Department of Commerce 39,
098 0. 2 Department of Energy 2, 534 c Peace Corps 2, 254 c
Customs Service 1, 942 c Immigration and Naturalization Service
847 c Total reported to GAO $18,830, 092 d 100 e
a State paid the travel costs of Members of Congress that
accompanied the President. Where information was incomplete, we
used the amount State obligated to pay for specific travelers
rather than actual amounts in this estimate. b Includes expenses
incurred by the Office of the U. S. Trade Representative.
c Less than 0.1 percent. d Excludes Secret Service costs. e May
not add due to rounding.
Source: Agencies shown in the table.
DOD Expenses DOD records show about $14 million was spent in
support of the trip. Of the $14 million, passenger and strategic
lift and aerial refueling operations accounted for about $12.8
million. The Transportation Command's data shows that the Air
Force flew 36 airlift missions using C- 5 and C- 141 aircraft to
move vehicles and other equipment to China at a cost of about
$10.3 million. The data also show that the Air Force flew seven
aerial refueling missions at a cost of just over $79,000 and that
the 89th Airlift Wing flew the President's aircraft plus three
others at a cost of about $2. 5 million. The remaining
approximately $1. 2 million in DOD expenses
were accounted for by deployments or travel of servicemembers to
China to provide other support required during the President's
visit or for other
costs incurred in China by deployed servicemembers. 5 (See app.
III, table 11, for more information on fixed- wing airlift and
aerial refueling costs.) Department of State
On the basis of data provided to us by the State Department and
the U. S. Expenses embassy in Beijing, we estimate that State
spent about $3.6 million. The expenses were for lodging, vehicle
and other equipment rentals, telecommunications equipment and
services, and procurement of miscellaneous items such as aviation
ground handling services. The State
Department paid about $1. 3 million in travel costs for most White
House and all State staff members traveling to support one or more
advance trips to China or to accompany the President, and 6
Members of Congress invited to accompany the President.
Other Support Agency Other agencies participated in and incurred
costs associated with the
Expenses President's trip to China. For example, the U. S.
Information Agency
reported an expenditure of just under $1 million that consisted
primarily of support for press operations and staff travel. The
executive branch billed the news media for the cost of logistical
support provided to them, and the estimate of expenses for the U.
S. Information Agency was the net amount
after receipt of the reimbursement. The other agencies' expenses
included travel, lodging, and transportation or other support for
staff that accompanied the President, agency heads, or staff that
participated in other events. For example, the Department of
Commerce and the U. S.
Trade Representative discussed trade and economic development with
officials of the host government. Agencies Use a Variety The
executive branch does not maintain a single cost accounting system
or of Means to Account
a set of procedures to track all costs of presidential travel.
Nonetheless, the agencies supporting or participating in the three
presidential trips that we for the Cost of reviewed accounted for
their travel or support costs in a variety of ways.
Presidential Travel The State Department and its embassies have
their own procedures for gathering data on the costs they incur in
supporting presidential trips. State's Presidential Travel Support
Services Office collects and maintains 5 According to officials
from the Office of the White House Counsel, the Marine Helicopter
Squadron One did not fly any missions during the China trip.
files that have been organized individually for each presidential
trip. These files contain the travel vouchers of certain White
House and State travelers that participated in one or more of the
advance trips and/ or accompanied the President during his trip.
The embassies that we contacted in Africa, Chile, and China also
maintained files containing such documents as bills for hotels and
equipment rentals and for aircraft servicing contracts. The files
contain sufficient detail to show the amount disbursed by State
for the other agencies' share of the costs of support procured
under these contracts. These records were obtained and summed to
determine the cost
of presidential travel on specific trips. DOD components that
support presidential travel also have information on individual
costs. For example, the U. S. Transportation Command maintains
data that can be used to identify strategic airlift and aerial
refueling
missions that support presidential trips. However, the data system
does not readily account for presidential missions by trip. To
account for the cost of a particular trip, one has to review the
mission dates and itineraries throughout the database to identify
the support. Other DOD components maintain records that while not
specifically designed to account for the cost of presidential
support can be used to identify the cost of a mission that
supported presidential travel. For example, U. S. European Command
officials said that they can account for incremental direct costs
by military operation and thus can determine support costs for a
presidential trip.
Other agencies or DOD components provide an accounting code to the
State Department, which the Department uses to disburse the
agencies' funds electronically for costs incurred. For example,
the Department of the Treasury provided its accounting code to the
U. S. Embassy in Beijing, China, for the cost of hotels and other
expenses that Treasury staff would incur during the trip. The
Treasury Department also limited the amount of funds that State
could obligate. In addition, each of the agencies that
participated in the presidential trips could provide travel
vouchers or other
documents showing costs or obligations incurred. Agency Comments
and
In separate written comments on a draft of this report, the White
House Our Evaluation stated it had no comments, and the Department
of State provided technical comments, which we incorporated as
appropriate (see apps. V and VI). The
Department of Defense stated it found no areas of significant
disagreement (see app. VII). The White House and Department of
Defense provided technical comments, which we incorporated as
appropriate.
For the other agencies participating in the President's trips, we
conducted exit conferences with each agency to discuss how we
arrived at the costs and numbers of travelers attributed to them.
The agency officials concurred with the information as presented.
We also discussed their
accounting processes when accompanying the President on trips to
foreign countries.
Scope and We discuss our scope and methodology in appendix IV.
Methodology
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the
contents of this report earlier, we will not distribute it until
30 days from the date of this letter. At that time, we will send
copies of this report to interested congressional committees; John
Podesta, the President's Chief of Staff, Executive Office of the
President; the Honorable William S. Cohen, the
Secretary of Defense; and the Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, the
Secretary of State. We are also sending copies of this report to
the other agencies that participated in these trips.
Key contacts and contributors on this assignment are listed in
appendix VIII.
Mark E. Gebicke Director, National Security
Preparedness Issues
Appendi xes Support Provided for the President's Trip to
Appendi x I
Africa A number of federal departments or agencies were
represented in the official delegation on the President's trip to
Africa. Table 4 displays the number of official travelers that
each agency reported sending or that reported incurring expenses
on the trip, excluding Secret Service travelers. The table also
excludes non- federal officials or private citizens that,
according to the Department of State, paid their own travel
expenses.
Table 4: Travelers on the Africa Trip Department or agency Number
of travelers
Department of Defense 904 Executive Office of the President 205 a
U. S. Information Agency 103 Department of State 60 b Department
of Transportation 9 Agency for International Development 6
Department of Labor 6 Department of Agriculture 3 Department of
Commerce 3 Customs Service 1 Immigration and Naturalization
Service 1 Department of the Treasury 1
Total 1,302 c
a Includes one official from the Office of the U. S. Trade
Representative. b Includes 16 Members of Congress invited to
accompany the President. c Some official travelers may have spent
part of their time attending to agency business apart from the
President's trip. Others may have been traveling in support of
their cabinet secretary or agency head. This also includes
officials that may have participated in one or more of the advance
trips. This excludes Peace Corps officials that traveled within
Africa and incurred some expenses. Source: The agencies shown in
the table.
DOD provided passenger and strategic airlift and aerial refueling
using fixed- wing and rotary- wing aircraft to support the Africa
trip. Table 5 displays the fixed- wing support for the Africa
trip, and table 6 displays rotary- wing support to the trip.
Table 5: DOD- Provided Fixed- Wing Support to the President's Trip
to Africa Aircraft
Primary Missions
Flight Hourly model a mission flown b hours rate Mission cost
VC- 25A Passengers 1 38.0 $34, 400 $1, 307, 200 C- 137 Passengers
2 77. 5 9,935 769, 963 C- 20B Passengers 1 40. 7 3,348 136, 264 C-
9A Passengers 1 46.5 2, 005 93, 233 C- 9C Passengers 1 48.7 4, 092
199, 280 C- 5 Strategic lift 66 1, 975. 6 12, 605 24, 902, 438 KC-
135 Strategic lift 8 104.4 4, 051 c 422, 924 C- 141 Strategic lift
19 568. 4 5,349 3,040, 372 C- 17 Strategic lift 5 116.4 7, 025
817, 710 KC- 135 Aerial refueling 104 456.9 2, 075 c 948, 068 KC-
10 Aerial refueling 6 35. 8 2,692 96, 374
Total 214 3,508.9 $32, 733, 826
a Civilian aircraft variants of the passenger aircraft shown are
as follows: (1) VC- 25A (Boeing 747), which is the President's
plane, and (2) C- 137 (Boeing 707), C- 20B (Gulfstream III), and
C- 9A and C- 9C (Douglas DC- 9). b A mission may include one or
more flight segments, such as a round trip flight to a foreign
destination
and a return flight to home base. It may also include multiple
flight segments. Also, the number of missions does not necessarily
reflect the number of aircraft used because a given aircraft may
have flown more than one mission. c According to Air Force
officials, the flying hour rates for the KC- 135 aircraft differ
depending on the type of mission due to differences in the
accounting based on the type of mission. Source: Air Mobility
Command and the White House Airlift Operations Office.
Table 6: DOD- Provided Rotary- Wing Support to the President's
Trip to Africa Helicopter model Flight hours Hourly rate Cost
VH- 3D 28.7 $5, 597 $160, 634 UH- 53E 27.3 3, 658 99, 863 VH- 60N
22.1 4, 252 93, 969 CH- 53E 31.0 3, 658 113, 398 UH- 60A 38.9 2,
236 86, 980
Total 148.0 $554, 844
Note: The number of missions flown was not available. Source:
White House Airlift Operations Office.
Support Provided for the President's Trip to
Appendi x II
Chile A number of federal departments or agencies were represented
in the official delegation on the President's trip to Chile. Table
7 displays the number of official travelers that each agency
reported sending on the trip, excluding Secret Service travelers.
The table also excludes nonfederal officials or private citizens
that, according to the Department of State, paid their own travel
expenses.
Table 7: Travelers on the Chile Trip Department or agency Number
of travelers
Department of Defense 193 Department of State 175 a Executive
Office of the President 109 b U. S. Information Agency 67
Department of Justice c 14 Department of Commerce 10 Department of
Education 7 Department of Energy 7 Small Business Administration 5
Overseas Private Investment Corporation 2 Agency for International
Development 1 Customs Service 1 Immigration and Naturalization
Service 1
Total 592 d
a Includes five Members of Congress invited to accompany the
President. b Includes officials from the Office of the U. S. Trade
Representative. c Includes travelers from the Drug Enforcement
Administration. d Some official travelers may have spent part of
their time attending to agency business apart from the President's
trip. Others may have been traveling in support of their cabinet
secretary or agency head. This also includes officials that may
have participated in one or more of the advance trips. Source: The
agencies shown in the table.
DOD provided passenger and strategic airlift and aerial refueling
using fixed- wing and rotary- wing aircraft to support the Chile
trip. Table 8 displays the fixed- wing support for the Chile trip,
and table 9 displays
rotary- wing support for the trip.
Table 8: DOD- Provided Fixed- Wing Support to the President's Trip
to Chile Aircraft
Primary Missions Flight
Mission model a mission flown b hours Hourly rate cost
VC- 25A Passengers 1 18.5 $34, 400 $636, 400 C- 137 Passengers 1
20.0 9, 935 198, 700 C- 9C Passengers 1 27.6 4, 092 112, 939 C-
141 Strategic lift 4 73.5 5, 349 393, 152 C- 5 Strategic lift 20
503.9 12, 605 6, 351, 660 KC- 135 Aerial refueling 9 73. 4 2, 075
152, 305
Total 36 716. 9 $7, 845, 156
a Civilian aircraft variants of the passenger aircraft shown are
as follows: (1) VC- 25A (Boeing 747), which is the President's
plane, and (2) C- 137 (Boeing 707), and C- 9 (Douglas DC- 9). b A
mission may include one or more flight segments, such as a round
trip flight to a foreign destination and a return flight to home
base. It may also include multiple flight segments. Also, the
number of missions does not necessarily reflect the number of
aircraft used because a given aircraft may have flown more than
one mission.
Source: Air Mobility Command and the White House Airlift
Operations Office.
Table 9: DOD- Provided Rotary- Wing Support to the President's
Trip to Chile Helicopter model Flight hours a Hourly rate Cost
VH- 60N 25. 2 $4, 252 $107, 150 CH- 53E 20. 1 3, 658 73, 526
Total 45.3 $180, 676
a The number of missions flown was not available. Source: White
House Airlift Operations Office.
Support Provided for the President's Trip to
Appendi x II I China A number of federal departments or agencies
were represented in the official delegation on the President's
trip to China, excluding the Secret Service. Table 10 displays the
number of official travelers that each agency reported sending on
the trip, excluding Secret Service travelers. The table also
excludes nonfederal officials or private citizens that may have
gone on the trip and who, according to the Department of State,
paid their own travel expenses.
Table 10: Travelers on the China Trip Department or agency Number
of travelers
Executive Office of the President 186 a Department of Defense 123
Department of State 116 b U. S. Information Agency 50 Department
of the Treasury 14 Department of Commerce 9 Department of
Agriculture 6 Peace Corps 2 Department of Energy 2 Customs Service
1 Immigration and Naturalization Service 1
Total 510 c
a Includes officials from the Office of the U. S. Trade
Representative. b Includes six Members of Congress invited to
accompany the President. c Some official travelers may have spent
part of their time attending to agency business apart from the
President's trip. Others may have been traveling in support of
their cabinet secretary or agency head. This also includes
officials that may have participated in one or more of the advance
trips. Source: The agencies shown in the table.
DOD provided passenger and strategic airlift and aerial refueling
using fixed- wing aircraft to support the China trip. Table 11
displays the fixedwing support provided for the China trip.
Officials from the White House Counsel's Office told us that while
some helicopters were sent to China to support the trip, they were
not used.
Table 11: DOD- Provided Fixed- Wing Support to the President's
Trip to China Aircraft
Primary Missions Flight
Mission model a mission flown b hours Hourly rate cost
VC- 25A Passengers 1 39.2 $34, 400 $1, 348, 480 C- 137 Passengers
3 113. 5 9, 935 1, 127, 623 C- 5 Strategic lift 33 808.2 12, 605
10, 187, 361 C- 141 Strategic lift 3 18.3 5, 349 97, 887 KC- 135
Aerial refueling 7 38. 2 2, 075 79, 265
Total 47 1, 017. 4 $12,840, 616
a Civilian aircraft variants of the passenger aircraft shown are
as follows: (1) VC- 25A (Boeing 747), which is the President's
plane, and (2) C- 137 (Boeing 707). b A mission may include one or
more flight segments, such as a round trip flight to a foreign
destination and a return flight to home base. It may also include
multiple flight segments. Also, the number of missions does not
necessarily reflect the number of aircraft used because a given
aircraft may have flown more than one mission.
Source: Air Mobility Command and the 89th Airlift Wing.
Appendi x V I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology The objectives of
our review were to determine (1) the estimated costs and the
nature of the costs of President Clinton's 1998 trips to Africa,
Chile, and China and (2) executive branch accounting procedures
for such expenses.
To determine the estimated cost and nature of the costs of the
President's 1998 trips to China, Chile, and Africa, we contacted
each agency that was financially responsible for the conduct of
the three trips based on official
delegation lists and Department of State records. To determine the
types of support the Department of Defense (DOD) provided, we
interviewed officials and obtained messages, briefing slides,
planning documents, situation reports, electronic mail, and other
documents from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Office of
the General Counsel); the Joint Staff;
and the Office of the Vice Chief of Staff, Special Air Missions,
U. S. Air Force. To determine the cost of strategic airlift and
tanker support operations, we interviewed officials and obtained
flight records, hourly flying rates, briefing slides, scheduling
documents, excerpts from
command guidance, and other documents from the U. S.
Transportation Command and the Air Force's Air Mobility Command in
Illinois and the Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii. To verify a sample
of data collected from the Transportation and Air Mobility
Commands, we visited air wings that provided significant strategic
lift, the 436th Air Mobility Wing and the 512th
Reserve Wing in Delaware. While there, we interviewed officials
and obtained flight, budget, maintenance, and other records from
the active and reserve wings. To determine the cost to operate the
President's plane and supporting aircraft, we obtained (1) flight
records from the 89th Airlift Wing in Maryland, (2) the flying
hour rate for the President's plane from the
White House Military Office, (3) the operating costs of other
aircraft from the Transportation Command, and (4) certain flying
costs from the Office of the White House Counsel. To determine
other DOD support costs, we obtained the flying hour rates, flight
records, and other information for helicopters used on one or more
of the trips from the U. S. Atlantic Command, the Marine Corps'
Marine Helicopter Squadron One in Virginia, the 101st Aviation
Brigade in Kentucky, the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing in California,
and the 2nd Marine Air Wing in North Carolina. We also obtained
the cost of technical support provided by the 49th Material
Maintenance Squadron in New Mexico. In addition, to determine the
cost of Operation Eagle Vista, we obtained and reviewed
information showing the cost of travel and transportation,
communications, contracts, and other support from the U. S.
European Command, U. S. Air Forces in Europe, Naval Forces-
Europe, or U. S. ArmyEurope. Similarly, we obtained travel
vouchers from the U. S. Pacific
Command to determine the travel costs of 16 officials that
accompanied the President to China. With the assistance of the
Office of the White House Counsel, we also obtained and reviewed
travel cost information from the White House Transportation
Agency, the White House Communications
Agency, and the White House Mess to determine the cost of travel
of DOD officials assigned to these organizations.
To determine the travel cost of White House and Department of
State officials that participated in one or more of the advance
trips and/ or accompanied the President during his trips, we
interviewed officials and obtained documents from the Office of
the White House Counsel and the
Department of State's Presidential Travel Support Services Office.
Specifically, we obtained travel vouchers, staff manuals,
memorandums, and official delegation lists. Where information was
incomplete, we used
the amount State obligated to pay for specific travelers rather
than actual amounts in this estimate. To determine other expenses
incurred by the Department of State, we obtained hotel bills,
equipment rental contracts, travel cost summaries, aircraft
servicing contracts, staff overtime charges, and/ or other
information from the U. S. embassies in (1) Beijing, China; (2)
Santiago, Chile; (3) Kampala, Uganda; (4) Kigali, Rwanda; (5)
Gaborone, Botswana; (6) Dakar, Senegal; (7) Pretoria, South
Africa; and (8) Accra, Ghana. To determine the funds disbursed by
the Department of State for other federal
agencies for in- country expenses related to these trips, we
obtained and reviewed records from each of the eight embassies and
from the Department of State's Office of International Financial
Services.
To determine the cost of travel for officials that accompanied or
otherwise supported the President or a cabinet secretary or agency
head, we reviewed travel vouchers and related travel information
from the Executive Office of the President; the Office of the U.
S. Trade Representative; and the
Departments of State, the Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce,
Transportation, Labor, Justice, Energy, and Education; the Peace
Corps; the U. S. Information Agency; the Immigration and
Naturalization Service; the Customs Service; the Secret Service;
the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Small Business
Administration; the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation; and the Agency for International
Development. We also obtained and reviewed the flying hour rate
and flight record for a Drug Enforcement Agency aircraft used to
transport the Attorney General on a portion of her trip to Chile.
We had to rely on the White House, the
agencies, and the embassies to accurately report their costs and
number of travelers participating in the selected trips. To
determine how the cost of presidential travel is accounted for, we
consulted the Federal Travel Regulations issued by the General
Services Administration, agency staff manuals, and agency
guidance. We also interviewed officials knowledgeable about cost
accounting for presidential
travel in the agencies that supported or participated in the
President's three trips.
We excluded the following costs from our analysis: (1) Secret
Service expenses, which are classified; (2) regular salaries and
benefits of U. S. government civilian and military travelers; and
(3) agency planning expenses that may have been incurred in
preparing to travel. We did not evaluate the need for any element
of support provided on the trips that we reviewed.
We excluded past Presidents' travel costs because the records were
not readily available. Finally, we did not evaluate the underlying
accounting systems or independently verify certain underlying data
such as the flying hour rates used to calculate DOD's flying costs
associated with the trips.
We conducted our review from August 1998 to August 1999 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Appendi x V Comments From the White House
Appendi x VI Comments From the Department of State
Appendi x VII Comments From the Department of Defense
Appendi x VI II
GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments GAO Contacts Mark E.
Gebicke (202) 512- 5140 William M. Solis (202) 512- 8365
Acknowledgments In addition to the contacts named above, Carol R.
Schuster, Brian J. Lepore,
James A. Driggins, and Penny A. Berrier made key contributions to
this report.
GAO United States General Accounting Office
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