S. Hrg. 110–817 IMPROVING FEDERAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT USING PERFORMANCE INFORMATION HEARING BEFORE THE FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, FEDERAL SERVICES, AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 24, 2008 Available via http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 44–582 PDF WASHINGTON : 2009 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:48 Jun 01, 2009 Jkt 044582 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 P:\DOCS\44582.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman CARL LEVIN, Michigan SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana TOM COBURN, Oklahoma BARACK OBAMA, Illinois PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri JOHN WARNER, Virginia JON TESTER, Montana JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director BRANDON L. MILHORN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, FEDERAL SERVICES, AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman CARL LEVIN, Michigan TOM COBURN, Oklahoma DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska BARACK OBAMA, Illinois GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico JON TESTER, Montana JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire JOHN KILVINGTON, Staff Director KATY FRENCH, Minority Staff Director MONISHA SMITH, Chief Clerk (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:48 Jun 01, 2009 Jkt 044582 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 P:\DOCS\44582.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT C O N T E N T S Opening statement: Page Senator Carper ................................................................................................. 1 WITNESSES THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2008 Hon. Martin O’Malley, Governor of Maryland ...................................................... 4 Bernice Steinhardt, Director for Strategic Issues, U.S. Government Account- ability Office ......................................................................................................... 18 Marcus C. Peacock, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Former Official at U.S. Office of Management and Budget ........ 20 Donald F. Kettl, Director, Fels Institute of Government, and Robert A. Fox Professor of Leadership, University of Pennsylvania ....................................... 23 James Dyer, Chief Financial Officer, and Performance Improvement Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ................................................................ 36 Scott Pace, Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation, and Performance Improvement Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration ..................................................................................................... 38 Daniel Tucker, Performance Improvement Officer, and Deputy Assistant Sec- retary for the Budget, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ........................... 40 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Dyer, James: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 36 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 92 Kettl, Donald F.: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 23 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 86 O’Malley, Hon. Martin: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 49 Pace, Scott: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 38 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 97 Peacock, Marcus C.: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 20 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 84 Steinhardt, Bernice: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 18 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 55 Tucker, Daniel: Testimony .......................................................................................................... 40 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 100 APPENDIX Questions and Responses for the Record from: Governor O’Malley ............................................................................................ 107 Ms. Steinhardt .................................................................................................. 112 Mr. Peacock ....................................................................................................... 117 Mr. Tucker ........................................................................................................ 128 Prepared statement from Robert Shea, Associate Director for Government Performance, Office of Management and Budget .............................................. 131 Charts submitted for the Record by Governor O’Malley ...................................... 136 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:48 Jun 01, 2009 Jkt 044582 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 P:\DOCS\44582.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:48 Jun 01, 2009 Jkt 044582 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 P:\DOCS\44582.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT IMPROVING FEDERAL PROGRAM MANAGE- MENT USING PERFORMANCE INFORMATION THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2008 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, FEDERAL SERVICE, AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:35 p.m., in room SD–342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Thomas R. Carper, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senator Carper. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CARPER Senator CARPER. The Subcommittee will come to order. Governor, welcome. We are delighted that you are here. Thank you so much for taking time to join us. Senator Tom Coburn is the Ranking Republican of this Subcommittee. He will be here shortly. But given all that you have on your plate, Governor O’Malley, we are delighted that you are able to find time to be here and talk about something not only that you are interested in, but you know a whole lot about, and we thank you for your willingness to share your experiences, your perspectives, both as Mayor of Baltimore and now as Chief Executive of the State of Maryland. One of my favorite sayings is ‘‘I would rather see a sermon than hear one,’’ and I think we can look at what you have done, both as mayor and as governor of your State, to actually show us by your own behavior that this works and it is something that may just work for us, as well. In a little less than 6 months from now, we will have a new President standing on the West Portico of the Capitol, preparing to raise his right hand and take an oath to defend our country and Constitution. Our new Chief Executive will face a soaring Federal deficit at home, and security challenges abroad. Those are just a couple of the exceptional challenges that our Federal Government must be prepared to face. No matter who is elected President, whether it is Senator Obama or Senator McCain, we must make sure that person has the information and the tools that they need in order to keep our ship of state headed toward the horizon. And though our politics may differ here in Washington and across the country, I think we can all agree that the strength of our democracy hinges on the ability of our government to deliver (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:48 Jun 01, 2009 Jkt 044582 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\DOCS\44582.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT 2 its promises to the people. We have a responsibility to be judicious stewards of the resources the taxpayers invest in America and en- sure that those resources are managed honestly and that they are managed effectively. Just recently, this Subcommittee heard from a number of wit- nesses, including our former Comptroller General, David Walker, about the dire fiscal situation this country faces, not just this year, not just in this decade, but for decades to come. Over the next two decades, 80 million baby boomers—I am one of them—will become eligible for Social Security and Medicare. Today, these two pro- grams already make up over 40 percent of our government’s total expenses. And as boomers like me start to draw benefits, some ex- perts we have heard from say that the share of these programs could equal