DHS Inaction Cost Millions, Report Says

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2008— -- The Department of Homeland Security's failure to implement more than 1,000 recommendations made by its own inspector general has cost the government millions of dollars, according to a report released today by the IG's office.

According to the report by DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner, DHS agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Safety Administration have implemented just 27 of more than 1,070 recommendations from audits conducted by his office.

"Our office issued 214 reports with 1,070 recommendations that, according to our records, had not been implemented as of Dec. 31, 2007," the report said. "Of the 1,070 recommendations, 27 were closed in January 2008. The largest number of open recommendations was made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). No other single DHS component accounts for more than 12 percent of unimplemented recommendations."

According to the report, which was completed in February but released earlier this week, the inspector general made 530 recommendations to FEMA, alone, on how the agency could be managed more effectively.

The next agency was the TSA, which had 129 recommendations made by the inspector general, who also made 89 recommendations for Customs and Border Protection.

A spokesman for the DHS said the inspector general's report does not tell the whole story.

"We often agree with the inspector general on his recommendations, but we have been known to disagree as well," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. "The fact that a recommendation is made does not immediately qualify it as a good and workable one. The open recommendations cited in his report represent only about one fourth of the roughly 4,500 recommendations issued to date."

According to the review released today by the IG, a February 2007 report on contracts between FEMA, the Red Cross, and Corporate Lodging Consultants to provide hurricane evacuees with temporary housing, found the program was riddled with problems.

"The American Red Cross and the Consultants did not always follow procedures authorized by FEMA for determining evacuee eligibility or require hotels and motels to follow standard industry protocols," the review said. "Billed room rates were greater than published rates. Definitive proof of occupancy prior to authorizing payments was not required. From our judgmental sample of 3,000 evacuees, we questioned costs of $3.4 million."