GAO-03-627R FY 2003 Annual Report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program 

United States General Accounting Office 

Washington, DC 20548 

April 8, 2003 

The Honorable John Warner 

Chairman 

The Honorable Carl Levin 

Ranking Minority Member 

Committee on Armed Services 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Duncan Hunter 

Chairman 

The Honorable Ike Skelton 

Ranking Minority Member 

Committee on Armed Services 

House of Representatives 

Subject: FY 2003 Annual Report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program 

 

Under section 1308 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 

(P.L. 106-398), the Department of Defense is to submit an annual report to Congress 

on its Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program no later than the first Monday in 

February of each year. The Department of Defense, however, submitted its CTR 

annual report for fiscal year 2003 to Congress on January 8, 2003, more than 11 

months after the submission date mandated by law. The legislation also requires the 

Comptroller General to provide Congress with an assessment of the report’s 

multiyear plan setting forth the amount and purpose of funding to be provided over 

the 5-year term of the plan and describing the department’s efforts to ensure that CTR 

assistance is accounted for and used as intended. 

As agreed with your staff, we reviewed the fiscal year 2003 annual CTR report and 

compared it with our assessment of the 2002 annual report. As with the 2002 report, 

we analyzed the 2003 report to determine whether it (1) provides a 5-year plan that 

sets forth the funding requirements for the program and includes key federal strategic 

planning elements and (2) describes the methods used to determine whether the 

assistance provided is used for the purposes intended. We also reviewed the 2003 

report to determine if it addresses past open GAO recommendations. We did not 

assess the validity of the data contained in the 2003 annual CTR report because most 

of the information contained in the report was outdated due to its late submission to 

Congress. 

In reviewing the CTR annual report submitted for fiscal year 2002, we found that it 

(1) did not clearly set forth the amount of CTR funding to be provided over the 5-year 
Page 2 GAO-03-627R FY 2003 Annual Report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program 

term of its plan, (2) did not include key federal strategic planning elements in the 

5-year plan, (3) described the procedures CTR officials used to account for the 

assistance provided but in some instances asserted a more rigorous methodology 

than what was actually used, and (4) incorporated some but not all prior GAO 

recommendations.1 

When comparing the 2002 CTR annual report with the 2003 report, we found that the 

Department of Defense had corrected some of the weaknesses we had previously 

identified. Primarily, the 2003 report clearly provides the required funding 

information for each program objective through fiscal year 2007, the 5-year period 

covered by the plan. For fiscal years 2002 through 2007, the Department of Defense 

estimates that it may spend more than $2.3 billion.2

 

However, the 2003 report continues to omit key federal strategic planning elements 

contained in the Government Performance and Results Act. Such planning elements 

could help guide preparation of annual CTR budgets. The current report excludes (1) 

external factors that could impact program goals, (2) annual performance goals that 

are linked to long-term program goals, and (3) evaluation plans that could help 

determine or revise program goals. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency that 

oversees the implementation of the CTR program has begun including such federal 

planning elements in its internal strategic plan. 

The 2003 annual CTR report describes the methods used by the Department of 

Defense to determine whether the assistance provided is used for the purposes 

intended. For example, the report explains the status of CTR-provided equipment and 

contracts, as well as the methods used to ensure the proper use of equipment. The 

2003 annual report accurately describes the procedures used in accounting for CTR 

assistance. 

In compiling the 2003 annual CTR report, the Department of Defense addresses open 

GAO recommendations regarding the program. We found that the current CTR report 

does list CTR-provided services and provide a cumulative listing of assistance as 

recommended in our 2000 report.3

 In addition, the 2003 CTR report incorporates a 

2001 recommendation that the Department of Defense develop criteria for 

conducting audits and examinations of CTR-provided equipment. The 2003 CTR 

report does not address our 2001 recommendation that the Department of Defense 

expand the scope of its CTR audits and examinations from simply taking an inventory 

of equipment to assessing whether CTR-provided assistance is being used efficiently 

and effectively.4

 However, according to the 2003 annual report, the Department of 

Defense will include such an assessment in its 2004 CTR annual report. 

 

1

U.S. General Accounting Office, Cooperative Threat Reduction Annual Report, GAO-03-341R

(Washington, D.C.: Dec. 2, 2002). 

2

Since fiscal year 2001, the CTR program has obligated more than $3.5 billion. 3

U.S. General Accounting Office, Cooperative Threat Reduction: DOD’s 1997-98 Reports on 

Accounting for Assistance Were Late and Incomplete, GAO/NSIAD-00-40 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 15,

2000). 

4

U.S. General Accounting Office, Cooperative Threat Reduction: DOD Has Adequate Oversight of 

Assistance, but Procedural Limitations Remain, GAO-01-694 (Washington, D.C.: June 19, 2001). 
Page 3 GAO-03-627R FY 2003 Annual Report on the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program 

We performed our work in Washington, D.C., from January through April 2003 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

We provided a draft of this report to Department of Defense officials, but they had no 

comments. 

- - - - - 

We are sending copies of this report to the Honorable Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of 

Defense, and to interested congressional committees. The report will also be 

available at no charge on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff have any questions regarding this assessment, please contact me 

at (202) 512-8979. James Shafer, Beth Hoffman León, Hynek Kalkus, Pierre Toureille, 

and Lynn Cothern also made key contributions to this report. 

Joseph A. Christoff 

Director, International Affairs and Trade 

(320180)