June 5, 2001
Thompson Releases
Report on Urgent Federal Government Management Problems Facing
the Bush Administration
Tells OMB Director
Daniels Government is "at the Brink" of Major Program
Failure
Washington - U.S. Senator Fred
Thompson (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee, today released a comprehensive report documenting the
daunting management problems facing the federal government.
Thompson presented the recently compiled report, which includes
his recommendations for addressing those problems, to Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. at
a press conference in Washington.
"For some time now, our
government has been mismanaged to an extent that the average
American would find shocking," Senator Thompson said.
"The federal government’s core management problems have
persisted for years, and, in fact, have grown worse."
Thompson’s report includes an
analysis of the four biggest challenges facing the federal
government:
- Workforce Management
- Financial Management
- Information Technology
Management
- Overlap and Duplication
"We commend Sen. Thompson
and his Committee for pushing the Federal government to be more
efficient and effective. Improving government performance is a
top priority of President Bush, so the problems and suggestions
outlined in this report will be a great resource and road map as
we implement our management reform agenda. It will take the
unremitting attention of both executive and legislative
leadership to make headway against old habits and low
expectations," said OMB Director Daniels.
In addition to a description of
these problems and examples of how they affect the government’s
ability to serve the American people, the report includes an
agency-by-agency appendix that catalogues the most recent
examples of waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the federal
government.
The report also highlights the
"Top Ten" worst examples of mismanagement in the
federal government (page four). Some of the items on the list
include: Boston’s Big Dig, a federal infrastructure project so
mismanaged that its cost has ballooned from over $2 billion to
over $13 billion; the Department of Interior’s total inability
to account for monies it held in trust for Native Americans; and
NASA’s numerous mission failures.
"These management problems
exact a terrible toll on public trust and confidence in the
federal government," Thompson said. "A degree of
public skepticism toward our government is a healthy thing.
Rampant cynicism is not."
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