Hearing Of The Subcommittee Agriculture, Rural Development, Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies Of The House Committee On Appropriations - U.S. Department Of Agriculture, Office Of Inspector General Oversight

Statement

First, I want to welcome today's speaker, Phyllis Fong, the Inspector General of
the US Department of Agriculture. As you all know, Ms. Fong is the "senior official
responsible for audits, evaluations, investigations, and law enforcement efforts relating to
USDA's programs and operations," and the go-to official for dealing with questions of
waste and fraud at the agency. As such, today counts among one of the more important
hearings held by this subcommittee. Ms. Fong, thank you for joining us today and for
providing your testimony.

Overall, it seems like OIG is doing a very good job of monitoring the expansive
program areas at USDA. Since the start of fiscal year 2009, the USDA IG has issued
nearly eighty audit reports on topics including ARRA oversight, food safety, organic
products, animal fighting, public safety, and the integrity of numerous payment and loan
programs. We here on the subcommittee rely very heavily on these IG reports to evaluate
the successes and shortcomings of USDA programs.

And some of your findings over the past year have been eye-opening, to say the
least. According to your reports, USDA is falling short in how it carries out a range of
programs -- including producer eligibility for financial support, the organic program and,
perhaps most troubling, one of USDA's most solemn responsibilities, food safety.

On this latter front, IG reports have questioned the integrity of our food safety
enforcement and even the very system we used to evaluate the success of food recalls. In
addition, some long-standing problems -- such as residues of pesticides, heavy metals,
and antibiotics in our meat -- continue to plague our public health and safety. And OIG
has found that there is an across-the-board need to improve program administration, and a
particular problem of coordination involving multi-agency initiatives.

So I hope that today we can talk through some of your findings, and also talk
about ways to ensure that OIG's valuable recommendations are integrated into USDA
operations. Implementation of your recommendations is as important as the studies
themselves, and the Department must work hard to ensure that any systemic problems
afflicting the department are addressed.

At a time of fiscal constraint, when we are working overtime to ensure that every
penny in this coming budget is well-spent, the last thing that we want is to have you take
the time and effort to produce these reports -- and then have your recommendations and
findings collect dust on a shelf somewhere while faulty programs continue.

With that in mind, I wanted to mention the staffing situation at OIG. The Fiscal
Year 2011 budget before us proposes an appropriation of $90.3 million for OIG, a 1.8%,
or $1.6 million dollar increase over last year's level, while the number of full-time
equivalents at OIG will remain steady at the estimated 2010 level of 600.

After conducting some research, I discovered that, over the past thirty years since
OIG was established, the number of FTEs in the office has gone from 970 in 1980 to 550
in 2009, a reduction of 43 percent. That is a lot of manpower to lose, and I want to make
sure, Ms. Fong, that you feel that OIG still has the staff and resources in place to meet its
critical obligations at the agency.

I say this because, as you know, USDA's programs are not only very wide-
ranging but often extremely complex, and the OIG's office is fundamental to the
Department's proper functioning.

With that in mind, Ms. Fong, I appreciate your dedication to the long-term
strength and integrity of the agencies you review. As with previous years, I am sure that
my colleagues and I will express great frustration at times today about problems at the
Department. However, there is a recognition here that you are not the problem, and that
you are testifying today simply to highlight these problem areas.

Thank you for the great work you do and for being here today. Mr. Kingston,
would you like to make an opening statement?

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