The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (the Results Act) requires that all executive branch agencies submit their plans to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by September 30, 1997. Specifically, my statement will focus on the August plan’s compliance with the Act’s requirements and on the extent to which it covered crosscutting program activities, management challenges, and Justice’s capacity to provide reliable performance information. As a result, the August plan includes, to some degree, a discussion on five of the six required elements—a mission statement, goals and objectives, key external factors, a program evaluation component, and strategies to achieve the goals and objectives. The August plan does not include a required discussion of a sixth element—the relationship between Justice’s long-term goals/objectives and its annual performance plans. Over the years, we as well as others, including the Justice Inspector General and the National Performance Review (NPR), have addressed many management challenges that Justice faces in carrying out its mission. Justice’s August strategic plan contains little discussion about its capacity to provide performance information for assessing its progress toward its goals and objectives over the next 5 years.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed the Department of Justice's August 1997 draft strategic plan developed in compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, focusing on the plan's compliance with the Act's requirements and on the extent to which it covered crosscutting program activities, management challenges, and Justice's capacity to provide reliable performance information.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) Justice's plan discusses, to some degree, five of the six required elements--mission statement, goals and objectives, key external factors, a program evaluation component, and strategies to achieve the goals and objectives; (2) the plan does not include a required discussion on the relationship between Justice's long-term goals/objectives and its annual performance plans; (3) the draft plan could better address how Justice plans to: (a) coordinate with other federal, state, and local agencies that perform similar law enforcement functions, such as the Defense and State Departments regarding counter-terrorism; (b) address the many management challenges it faces in carrying out its mission, such as internal control and accounting problems; and (c) increase its capacity to provide performance information for assessing its progress in meeting the goals and objectives over the next 5 years.