Wine seminars in California, sea turtles in Greece, a workplace seminar in Hanoi, Vietnam, and elephant training in Florida
Senator Tom Coburn says since 2000 the U.S. Government has spent nearly $1.5 billion of taxpayer money so its employees could attend conferences in Greece, Hanoi, Vietnam, Hong Kong, California, Florida and Reno, Nevada. That figure will almost certainly go up because the numbers for 2006 aren't complete yet. But Coburn says what astounds him most is "the rate at which this spending has increased---some 70% in 6 years," and he adds spending this kind of money on out-of-town conferences in a day and age when modern technology makes tele-conferencing and simple e-mail communication so fast and efficient, makes no sense.
The Department of Homeland Security had a big problem getting workable trailers to Katrina homeless in New Orleans, but it apparently had no problem sending its employees to conferences. Coburn's staff says in the short 3 years of its existence DHS has seen its spending on conferences increase by 148% from $6,195,275 in 2004 to $15,370,713 so far this year. Since 2004 the huge new bureaucracy has spent $28,630,762 on conferences according to congressional staffers. Last April DHS sent 842 FEMA employees to the National Disaster Medical Service conference in Reno, Nevada at a cost of $1.5 million. Coburn says the first two days were all optional sessions giving the FEMA people plenty of time to enjoy the many pools, casinos, go-kart tracks and restaurants advertised on the conference hotel's website. Last year DHS attended 660 conferences---this year according to coburn they will attend "a whopping 2,217 conferences."
The Department of Commerce which sent 2700 employees to 440 conferences last year sent 31 of them to the international sea turtle symposium in Greece sponsored by the international sea turtle society and the Department of Labor which sent 4900 employees to at least 600 conferences in 2005, sent 4 people to Hanoi, Vietnam for a workforce development conference called, "keys to success in the 21st century."
Usaid which has just 2,500 employees attended 1400 conferences last year.
There is some good news---Coburn says EPA and HHS have both issued internal directives asking managers to consider e-mail and videoconferencing options before attending conferences, consider lower cost locations and hold conferences on an 18 month cycle instead of annually.
But most of the government witnesses at Coburn's afternoon hearing will defend conferences as necessary and add that the amount of money spent on them is a very, very tiny portion of their overall budget. A Coburn staffer told me yesterday he doubts taxpayers would consider it so tiny.
