Helping government help itself.

• Author: Ferling, Rhona L.
• Position: Eliminating waste in government spending - From FEI

"Management isn't about guessing; it's about knowing," says Vice President Al Gore in his National Performance Review recommendations. FEI couldn't agree more. After helping to bring the Chief Financial Officers Act to fruition, FEI is actively pursuing its implementation as the nation's best hope of combating government waste and mismanagement and bringing a measure of accountability to the federal government.

The CFO Act, passed by Congress in 1990, created CFO positions in 23 federal agencies. By appointing financial executives to these agencies, Congress hoped to apply the internal-control and accountability concepts developed in private industry to reduce waste and financial mismanagement in the federal government. The act designated an Office of Management and Budget deputy director as the government's chief financial management officer and as the chairman of a CFO Council to improve financial management. The Office of Federal Financial Management will be responsible for establishing federal financial-management policies and monitoring agency audits.

In early September, the National Performance Review, headed by Vice President Al Gore, published its recommendations for making the CFO Act a reality. These recommendations were partly a response to FEI's sharp criticism of the Clinton (and Bush) Administration's previously glacial pace in implementing the act's directives. To date, only four government-agency CFOs have been appointed and confirmed: Bonnie R. Cohen, Department of the Interior; Mark Catlett, Department of Veterans' Affairs; Susan Tierney, Department of Energy; and Kenneth Apfel, Department of Health and Human Services.

But these executives won't be able to devote all of their time to getting the agencies back on their financial feet, because all four also double as assistant secretaries in their respective departments. FEI has expressed concern that agency CFOs can't be effective if they must also perform other duties. It also has cautioned against the dangers of turning the position into a political reward. The institute has asserted that financially overhauling the federal bureaucracy will benefit all taxpayers, both corporate and individual -- an aim that cannot be accomplished with halfhearted measures.

To ensure that the administration addresses these concerns, FEI has sought out the print media to publicize its positions, an effort highlighted by the publication of an opinion piece by FEI President Norman Roy in the...