The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, establishes the
responsibilities and duties of an IG. The IG Act was amended
throughout the 1980s to increase the number of agencies with statutory
IGs, culminating in 1988 with the establishment of IGs in smaller,
independent agencies. There are now 57 statutory IGs. In brief, the
IG Act of 1978, as amended, grants the OIG the administrative authority
to:
Receive full access to all records and materials available to the Agency;
Determine which audits, investigations,
inspections, and reviews are necessary and issue appropriate
reports;
Issue subpoenas for non-Federal records;
Report directly to the head of the Agency;
Receive employee and other complaints, protect sources, and when necessary, refer matters to the United States Attorney
General;
Hire employees, experts, and consultants and procure necessary equipment and services; and
Obtain assistance from other agencies, including Federal, State, and local governments.
This act requires
ongoing evaluations and reports of the adequacy of the systems of internal
accounting and administrative control of each executive agency.
Congress mandated financial management reform by enacting the Chief Financial Officers
(CFO) Act, which was signed into law November 15, 1990. The act establishes a leadership
structure, provides for long-range planning, requires audited financial statements, and strengthens accountability reporting. The
CFO Act requires that the financial statements be audited, and these
audits are the responsibility of the Inspectors General.
Reports of audits conducted under the CFO Act must be completed by June 30 of the year following the close of the fiscal year for
which the financial statements were prepared.
OMB developed an initiative to accelerate the agency financial
statements reporting date to November 15 for fiscal year 2004.
For fiscal year 2003, OMB required the CFO Act agencies to deliver
their Performance and Accountability Reports, including their audited
financial statements, to OMB by January 30, 2004. To prepare for
meeting the required November 15 accelerated reporting date for
fiscal year 2004, OMB encouraged the CFO Act agencies to accelerate
the issuance of their fiscal year 2003 audited financial statements
to November 15, 2003, or as close to that date as possible. OMB
reported that 8 CFO Act agencies were able to issue their fiscal
year 2003 financial statements with unqualified opinions by mid-November
2003, another 10 CFO Act agencies issued their financial statements
by December 31, 2003, and the remaining 5 CFO Act agencies issued
by the end of January 2004.
The Government Management Reform Act of 1994 (GMRA) calls
for agency financial statements that reflect the results
of agency operations and, beginning with FY 1997, a government-wide
financial
statement that includes results of government-wide operations.
The purposes of GMRA are to provide a more effective, efficient,
and responsive government through a series of management
reforms primarily for Federal human resources and financial management.
The Act requires that all major Federal departments and agencies
prepare a financial statement covering all accounts and associated
activities of each office, bureau, and activity of the agency.
The statement should conform to OMB guidance, and it should
be
audited by the agency Inspector General. The statement should
reflect: the overall financial position of the offices, bureaus,
and activities
covered by the statement, including assets and liabilities
thereof; and results of operations of those offices, bureaus, and
activities.
The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) of
1996 requires, among other things, that agencies implement and
maintain management systems that substantially comply with
Federal financial
management systems requirements. These requirements are detailed
in the Financial Management Systems Requirements series issued
by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP)
and in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance (Circular
A-127
and September 9, 1997 implementation guidance).
OMB's 1997 implementation guidance provides indicators for Chief
Financial Officers and Inspectors General to assist them in determining
whether agency's financial management systems substantially comply
with Federal financial management systems requirements. The annual
assurance statement required pursuant to section 4 of the Federal
Managers' Financial Integrity Act is one of those indicators.
Inspectors General contribute to the achievement of the agency's
objectives and play an important role in helping management evaluate
the effectiveness of control structures.
The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 authorizes and encourages
the consolidation of financial and performance management reports
to Congress and The President. Its purpose is to improve the quality
of agency performance and enhance the coordination and efficiency
on the part of the agencies in reporting their results. The Office
of Inspector General prepares statements that summarize what the
OIG considers to be the most serious management and performance
challenges facing the agency and briefly assesses the agency's
progress in addressing those challenges. IN accordance with the
law, the OIG provides such statement to the agency head at least
30 days before the due date of the report and the agency head may
comment on the IG’s statement, but may not modify the statement.
FISMA directs Federal agencies to conduct annual IT security reviews
and Inspectors General (IGs) to perform annual independent evaluations
of agency programs and systems and report their results to OMB
and Congress. To ensure consistent reporting across the government,
OMB issued FISMA guidance, M-03-19, “Reporting Instructions
for the Federal Information Security Management Act and Updated
Guidance on Quarterly IT Security Reporting”, which included
specific reporting instructions along with quantitative performance
measures to more effectively determine agency status and progress.
This guidance also continued the requirement for agencies to develop
and manage a central plan of action and milestone (POA&M) process
to prioritize and track IT security remediation efforts.
The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2003 amends the Federal
criminal code to authorize qualified law enforcement officers
(including certain qualified retired officers) carrying the
photographic identification
issued by their governmental agency, notwithstanding State
or local laws, to carry a concealed firearm. Provides that
such authorization
shall not supersede State laws that: (1) permit private entities
to prohibit the possession of concealed firearms on their
property; or (2) prohibit the possession of firearms on State
or local government
property. Excludes from the definition of "firearm" any
machine gun, firearm silencer, or destructive device.