GAO finds Bush Gets Hundreds of Thousands in Travel Funds from HHS without Required Documentation

Highlights from GAO Report GAO-03-791R dated 7/11/03

"Regarding amounts billed to HHS for events attended by President William J. Clinton, HHS provided a schedule that included events attended by the former President from April 21, 1997, to September 29, 2000. This schedule showed that President Clinton attended 37 events and that HHS was charged about $101,0004 for these events. HHS also provided other information that made reference to 20 potential events attended by President Clinton. However, HHS could not determine if these events occurred. We had planned, as requested, to use the data regarding President Clinton’s attendance at events to draw certain comparisons between the current and prior administrations.  However, HHS’s uncertainty about the potential events discussed above, as well as the fact that HHS was not able to provide us with assurances that it has records for all events attended by President Clinton, led us to conclude that making such comparisons would not be appropriate.

2 HHS officials reported that no additional agreements were established from January 31, 2003, through

May 29, 2003, for the White House to charge HHS for events attended by the President.

3 According to HHS officials, there is often a significant time lag between the occurrence of the event

and the billing from the White House.

Conclusion and Recommendations

While HHS maintains summary information on events billed by the White House, such as the total amount charged for events, the offices billed for the events, and the relevant subject matter of each event, records that adequately describe the charges to ensure proper accountability were not maintained. Agreements between the White House and HHS do not currently require that HHS receive copies of invoices or other itemized statements as support for the final charges billed to HHS nor do the draft operating procedures that HHS is developing to direct its staff in managing information related to events charged by the White House.  We are therefore recommending that the Secretary of Health and Human Services direct the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management to establish and institute procedures to ensure that HHS obtains adequate documentation from the White House, including itemized statements that explain and support the propriety of charges made by the White House against HHS appropriations, and • issue a policy on how such documentation will be maintained and managed to

ensure that it is readily available for examination."