Conaway, Walz: DoD Must Make Auditability a Priority

Washington  –  Monday, a broad bipartisan coalition, led by Reps. Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Tim Walz (D-MN), sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter regarding his commitment to making the Department of Defense (DoD) fully auditable and his strategy to achieve this goal. The Department’s recent advances in better financial management and audit came with Secretary Panetta’s decision to make audit a priority. Secretary Carter’s leadership and dedication to maintaining the audit efforts is imperative to finishing and institutionalizing this effort, and this letter asks Secretary Carter to make the same commitment to audit as have former Secretaries Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta.

“With the last month’s news of the Department of Defense Inspector General retracting the U.S. Marine Corps fiscal year 2012 audit, this letter comes at an important time. The IG’s decision highlights the Department-wide nature of this endeavor: if the Defense Accounting and Finance Service (DFAS) cannot maintain appropriate suspense accounts then that affects the entire Department. While much attention has focused on the service branches – and rightfully so – it cannot be forgotten that the Department agencies, like DFAS, are also a critical piece of the effort. The Secretary’s leadership is needed across all fronts,” said Congressman Conaway. “The Department is entering a new phase – the final push. With less than two full fiscal years left until the September 30, 2017, audit readiness deadline, Secretary Carter’s service comes at a crucial time.”

“Conducting an audit of the Pentagon would help our nation tremendously, and work to find savings by rooting out waste and inefficiencies at the Department of Defense, rather than by reducing troop pay,” Walz, the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress, said. “I’ve been pushing the Department of Defense to continue moving forward with audit readiness for some time now, but words from Congress alone will not ensure its completion: the Secretary’s leadership in this effort is paramount. I look forward to working with him as we move forward in this most important endeavor.”

To read the letter, please click here.