WASHINGTON – Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee delivered the following opening statement at a hearing on the state of the Department of Defense Audit:
Rep. Rogers remarks as prepared for delivery:
The DoD is the largest federal agency with nearly 3 million servicemembers and civilian employees.
It has annual budget of over $700 billion and more than $3 trillion worth of assets under its management.
Maintaining financial control over this behemoth is critical to ensure taxpayer accountability and to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse.
Unfortunately, we don’t know if that’s the case because DoD has yet to pass an audit.
Progress is being made, but the Department still has a long way to go.
The 2020 audit continued to highlight obsolete financial management systems, poor inventory controls, and cybersecurity weaknesses as major challenges.
It likely won’t be until the end of this decade before the Department has the proper systems, procedures, and controls in place to pass an audit.
I think that’s unacceptable.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on what can be done to expedite that timeline and how this Committee can be helpful in that effort.