This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-05-95R entitled 'U.S. Attorney General's Travel Costs for the USA PATRIOT Act Tour and Related Activities' which was released on October 12, 2004. This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this document to Webmaster@gao.gov. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately. Washington, DC 20548: October 12, 2004: The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy: Ranking Minority Member: Committee on the Judiciary: United States Senate: The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.: Ranking Minority Member: Committee on the Judiciary: House of Representatives: Subject: U.S. Attorney General's Travel Costs for the USA PATRIOT Act Tour and Related Activities: In August and September of 2003, the Attorney General of the United States visited a number of cities around the country on what has been termed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as the "USA PATRIOT Act Tour." According to DOJ, the intent of the tour was to (1) educate the public and inform members of Congress about the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and (2) receive input and feedback from state and local law enforcement with respect to information sharing among law enforcement agencies and threats to homeland security. In response to your request, we are providing information on the locations and costs of the U.S. Attorney General's travels known as the USA PATRIOT Act Tour, as well as the locations and costs of a series of trips in September 2003 referred to by DOJ as "Life and Liberty" travel. These latter trips involved a series of speeches regarding crime statistics and other topics, including the importance of the USA PATRIOT Act. We are also providing information on the official positions and office assignments of the DOJ staff that accompanied the U.S. Attorney General on each of these travel visits. Additionally, we are reporting on the purpose and the costs associated with setting up and maintaining the new DOJ Life and Liberty Web site, www.lifeandliberty.gov, and the purposes of meetings or contacts held by U.S. Attorneys with members of Congress and the public on the USA PATRIOT Act in August and September 2003. To obtain this information, we reviewed itineraries, vouchers, and travel documents for the U.S. Attorney General and DOJ staff members who traveled with him, or in advance of his trips, for all PATRIOT Act and Life and Liberty travel. We also collected data on government aircraft flight hours as well as the expenses incurred by United States Attorneys' Offices in connection with the USA PATRIOT Act tour visits. Finally, we obtained data on the purposes of the U.S. Attorneys' meetings with members of Congress and the public during the August and September 2003 time period. We relied on information and data provided by the Department of Justice and did not independently verify the information it provided. On September 8, 2004, we briefed you on the results of our work. This report conveys the information provided during that briefing (see app. I), as well as information that we received from DOJ on additional travel voucher expenses (see app. I) and official positions and office assignments of DOJ staff that accompanied the U.S. Attorney General on USA PATRIOT Act Tour and Life and Liberty travel visits (see app. II). In summary, we found: * The U.S. Attorney General and his staff visited 14 states and 16 cities as part of the USA PATRIOT Act Tour and 13 states and 16 cities as part of the Life and Liberty travel. * According to available DOJ data, total expenses related to the U.S. Attorney General's USA PATRIOT Act Tour, Life and Liberty travel, and the Life and Liberty Web site are $210,976.10. Expenses are reported to include $155,207.51 in travel and related expenses for the U.S. Attorney General and his staff for the USA PATRIOT Act Tour itself, $47,138.15 in travel and related expenses for the U.S. Attorney General and his staff for Life and Liberty travel, and $8,630.44 to develop and maintain the Life and Liberty Web site. * Eighty of 93 U.S. Attorneys reported conducting activities that included meetings with members of Congress and the public concerning the USA PATRIOT Act in August and September 2003. According to a DOJ official, the cost of these meetings was not specifically tracked and could not be reasonably reconstructed. DOJ stated that the funds expended were part of the United States Attorney's (USA's) budget used to conduct any USA business, including press conferences, speeches, etc. Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: We requested comments on this report from the U.S. Attorney General. In written comments dated October 6, 2004, and included in appendix III, the Department of Justice stated that the draft report addressed only one of the two purposes of the tour--sharing information--and should have discussed the other major purpose of the tour--information gathering. We included additional language in the report to reflect the information provided by DOJ. Also, DOJ clarified that the cost of U.S. Attorneys' meetings with members of Congress and the public concerning the USA PATRIOT Act in August and September 2003 was not specifically tracked and could not be reasonably reconstructed. We included additional language in the report to reflect DOJ's clarification of the tracking of this cost. Regarding the draft report's references to expenses incurred by U.S. Attorneys Offices in connection with the Attorney General's USA PATRIOT Act visits, DOJ stated that these figures include money requested from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys to cover expenses incurred with the USA PATRIOT Act visits. DOJ stated that it did not collect information regarding similar expenses incurred for the Life and Liberty travel. We included additional language in the report to describe what these expenses include. We are sending copies of this report to other interested congressional committees and the U.S. Attorney General. We will also make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov. If you or your staff have any questions concerning this report, please contact me at (202) 512-8777 or by e-mail at EkstrandL@gao.gov or John C. Hansen, Assistant Director, at (202) 512-7105, or HansenJ@gao.gov. Key contributors to this report were Vickie Miller, David Alexander, Steven Haughton, Amy Bernstein, and Frances Cook. Sincerely yours, Signed by: Laurie E. Ekstrand, Director: Homeland Security and Justice Issues: [End of section] Appendix I: Briefing Slides: [See PDF for images] [End of slide presentation] [End of section] Appendix II: Department of Justice Staff Accompanying U.S. Attorney General on USA PATRIOT Act and Life and Liberty Travel: Tables 1 and 2 below show the official positions and office assignments of the Department of Justice (DOJ) staff that accompanied the U.S. Attorney General on each of his USA PATRIOT Act Tour and Life and Liberty Tour visits, conducted between August 20, 2003, and September 25, 2003. In addition to these staff, the U.S. Attorney General was accompanied by a security detail for this travel. Table 1: Department of Justice staff accompanying U.S. Attorney General on USA PATRIOT Act Tour: Date: 08/20/03; Destinations: * Washington, DC, to Philadelphia, PA; * Philadelphia, PA, to Cleveland, OH; * Cleveland, OH, to Detroit, MI; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance). Date: 08/21/03; Destinations: * Detroit, MI, to Des Moines, IA; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance); * Special Assistant, Office of Public Affairs (Speech Writer). Date: 08/21/03; Destinations: * Des Moines, IA, to Washington, D.C.; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance); * Special Assistant, Office of Public Affairs (Speech Writer); * Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs. Date: 08/25/03; Destinations: * Washington, DC, to Salt Lake City, UT; * Salt Lake City, UT, to Boise, ID; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Research Assistant, Office of Public Affairs (AG Advance); * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs; * Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General. Date: 08/26/2003; Destinations: * Boise, ID, to Las Vegas, NV; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Research Assistant, Office of Public Affairs (AG Advance); * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs; * Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General; * Special Assistant, Office of Legal Policy (Speech Writer). Date: 08/26/03; Destinations: * Las Vegas, NV, to Washington, D.C.; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Research Assistant, Office of Public Affairs (AG Advance); * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs; * Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General; * Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs. Date: 09/05/03; Destinations: * Washington, DC, to Tampa, FL; * Tampa, FL, to Atlanta, GA; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance); * Senior Advisor, Office of Public Affairs. Date: 09/05/03; Destinations: * Atlanta, GA, to Norfolk, VA; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance); * Senior Advisor, Office of Public Affairs; * Research Assistant, Office of Public Affairs (Public Affairs Advance). Date: 09/06/03; Destinations: * Norfolk, VA, to Raleigh/Durham, NC; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance); * Senior Advisor, Office of Public Affairs. Date: 09/06/03; Destinations: * Raleigh/Durham, NC, to Washington, DC; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance); * Senior Advisor, Office of Public Affairs; * Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs (Public Affairs Advance). Date: 09/08/03; Destinations: * Washington, DC, to Buffalo, NY; * Buffalo, NY, to New Castle, NH; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Director of Scheduling and Advance, Office of the Attorney General. Date: 09/08/03; Destinations: * New Castle, NH, to Boston, MA; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Director of Scheduling and Advance, Office of the Attorney General (AG Advance); * Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs (Public Affairs Advance). Date: 09/09/03; Destinations: * Boston, MA, to New York, NY; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs (Public Affairs Advance); * Assistant to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General (AG Advance); Note: The Director, Office of Public Affairs, and the Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General, met the U.S. Attorney General upon his arrival in New York, NY. The Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, met the U.S. Attorney General at Federal Hall in New York, NY, and accompanied him throughout the rest of the day. Date: 09/09/03; Destinations: * New York, NY, to Washington, D.C.; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General; * Assistant to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney (AG Advance); * Counsel to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Director, Office of Public Affairs. Source: GAO analysis of Department of Justice data. [End of table] Table 2: Department of Justice staff accompanying U.S. Attorney General on Life and Liberty Travel: Date: 09/18/03; Destinations: * Washington, DC, to Louisville, KY; * Louisville, KY, to Memphis, TN; * Memphis, TN, to Little Rock, AR; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Senior Advisor, Office of Public Affairs; * Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy; * Assistant to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General (AG Advance). Date: 09/18/03; 09/19/03; 09/19/03; Destination: * Little Rock, AR, to Minneapolis, MN; Date: 09/19/03; Destination: * Minneapolis, MN, to Omaha, NE; Date: 09/19/03; Destination: * Omaha, NE, to Kansas City, MO; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Senior Advisor, Office of Public Affairs; * Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance). Date: 09/19/03; Destinations: * Kansas City, MO, to Washington, DC; * Attorney General did not return to Washington, DC, with staff; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General; * Advisor to the Attorney General and Dep. White House Liaison; * Senior Advisor, Office of Public Affairs; * Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy; * Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs; Note: The Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison, stayed in Kansas City, MO. Date: 09/22/03; Destinations: * Springfield, MO, to Milwaukee, WI; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs; * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of Attorney General; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison; Note: The Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs, met the U.S. Attorney General upon his arrival in Milwaukee, WI. Date: 09/22/03; Destinations: * Milwaukee, WI, to Cincinnati, OH; * Cincinnati, OH, to Pittsburgh, PA; * Pittsburgh, PA, to Washington, DC; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (AG Advance); * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs. Date: 09/24/03; Destinations: * Washington, DC, to Columbia, SC; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; Note: The Assistant to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, met the U.S. Attorney General upon his arrival in Columbia, SC. Date: 09/24/03; Destinations: * Columbia, SC, to Jacksonville, FL; * Jacksonville, FL, to Tallahassee, FL; * Tallahassee, FL, to New Orleans, LA; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; * Assistant to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General (AG Advance); Note: The Director of Scheduling and Advance, Office of the Attorney General, met the U.S. Attorney General upon his arrival in New Orleans, LA. The Assistant to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, departed from New Orleans, LA, to Washington, D.C. Date: 09/25/03; Destinations: * New Orleans, LA, to Nashville, TN; * Nashville, TN, to Charlotte, NC; * Charlotte, NC, to Washington, DC; DOJ staff accompanying the U.S. Attorney General: * Counselor to the Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General; * Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs; * Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; * Director of Scheduling and Advance, Office of the Attorney General (AG Advance). Source: GAO analysis of Department of Justice data. [End of table] [End of section] Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Justice: U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, D.C. 20530: October 6, 2004: Laurie E. Ekstrand: Director, Homeland Security and Justice: General Accountability Office: 441 G Street, NW: Washington, DC 20548: Dear Ms. Ekstrand: On September 17, 2004, the General Accountability Office (GAO) provided the Department of Justice (DOJ) a copy of its draft report entitled U.S. Attorney General's Travel Costs for the USA PATRIOT Act Tour and Related Activities (GAO-04-1091R/440287) with a request for comments. We appreciate the opportunity to review the draft report. We believe the report inaccurately describes the purpose of what has been described as the USA PATRIOT Act tour. The report addresses only one of the two purposes of the tour-sharing information; the report should discuss the other major purpose of the tour-information gathering. With respect to the former, the letter from Laurie E. Ekstrand to Senator Leahy and Representative Conyers asserts that "[a]ccording to DOJ, the intent of the [USA PATRIOT Act] tour was to educate the public and inform members of Congress about the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act." Likewise, in Appendix I of the report, it is stated that "the U.S. Attorney General conducted a tour intended, according to the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, to educate the public and inform Members of Congress about the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act." These descriptions of purpose are incomplete and, therefore, misleading. Throughout the trips described in this report, the Attorney General not only spoke; he listened. The second purpose of this tour was for the Attorney General to receive input and valuable on-the-ground feedback from state and local law enforcement, both with respect to information sharing among law enforcement agencies as well as with respect to threats to homeland security. This dialogue between the Attorney General and state and local law enforcement occurred at nearly every stop during the Attorney General's travels. The Attorney General's staff took notes to record the input offered by state and local law enforcement and then followed up on these suggestions and concerns afterwards. The GAO's report fails to mention even once this important objective of the Attorney General's travels. The report should describe both purposes of the USA PATRIOT Act tour. On page 2, final bullet before "Agency Comments," change last sentence in paragraph to: "According to a DOJ official, the cost of these meetings was not specifically tracked and could not be reasonably reconstructed. The funds expended were part of each United States Attorney's (USA's) budget used to conduct any USA business, including press conferences, speeches, etc." We did not ask the USAs to go back through every travel voucher and estimate how much they may have spent at any one event on PATRIOT Act matters. When more than one subject of interest to a USA's Office was addressed at an event, it would require making highly subjective estimates to determine what portion of the monies were expended exclusively for PATRIOT Act matters. Under the circumstances, it would be more accurate to say that the exact figures could not be reasonably reconstructed. On page 14, the third box lists expenses incurred by USA Offices in connection with the Attorney General's USA PATRIOT Act visits. These figures include money requested from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys to cover expenses incurred with the USA PATRIOT Act visits. We did not collect information regarding similar expenses incurred for the Life & Liberty travel. On page 19, add to fist bullet the following: "The United States Attorneys may have used funds in their own Office budgets to fund these events as is generally done to pay expenses for press events, speaking engagements, and travel associated with events they attend in their official capacity." USAOs may have tracked them by making certain notations on their travel vouchers; however, we did not ask them to attempt to pull every travel voucher and reconstruct expenses in conjunction with these events. Delete the second bullet. We hope these comments will be beneficial in preparing your final report. If you have any questions concerning the Department's comments in this matter, please feel free to contact Richard P. Theis, Acting Director, Audit Liaison Office, Justice Management Division on (202) 514-0469. Sincerely, Signed by: Paul R. Corts: Assistant Attorney General for Administration: [End of section]