1/ Distributed with a basic amount of $40,000 to each of the 50 States, D.C., and Puerto Rico and $10,000 to each Outlying Area; the remainder distribute on the basis of total resident population as of July 1981. 2/ Distribution of $17,640,000 (which excludes the mandatory setaside) with a basic amount of $40,000 to each of the 50 States, D. C., and Puerto Rico and $10,000 to each Outlying Area; the remainder distributed on the basis of total resident population as of July 1982. TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1985. SALARIES AND EXPENSES; OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS; AND OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL WITNESSES LINDA COMBS, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT HARRY M. SINGLETON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CIVIL RIGHTS SALLY H. CHRISTENSEN, DIRECTOR, BUDGET SERVICE, OFFICE OF PLAN- THOMAS P. SKELLY, DIRECTOR, BUDGET SYSTEMS DIVISION, OFFICE OF PLANNING, BUDGET AND EVALUATION Mr. NATCHER. We take up next Departmental Management, Salaries and Expenses, including the Office for Civil Rights and also the Office of the Inspector General. We will take them together. We have before the committee Mrs. Combs. Before you start this morning, who do you have with you there at the table? INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Ms. COMBS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to introduce the people at the table with me. To my left, Harry Singleton, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights; Mr. James Thomas, the Inspector General; and Mr. Ralph Ölmo, the Comptroller; and Sally Christensen; and Mr. Thomas P. Skelly, Director, Budget Systems Division, Office of Planning, Budget and Evaluation. SUMMARY STATEMENT In line with the Administration's plan to reduce administrative costs, we are requesting $277.3 million and 4,530 FTEs for 1986. This represents a decrease from 1985 of $21.5 million, and 261 FTES. We feel we are able to achieve these savings, and at the same time provide quality service to the public, because of many major improvements that we have made in the management of the Department, and because we are certainly committed to timely and efficient program delivery services. We are proposing, Mr. Chairman, a consolidation of the S&E, Civil Rights and Inspector General accounts into one appropriation. This would simplify accounting and budgeting activities, and provide more flexibility to the Secretary in managing the Department's resources. We are pleased that the Department has been at the forefront in developing a serious and aggressive internal control program. We also have made important gains in productivity, and we feel we have reduced the number of backlogs in the Department, updat ed our financial management systems, and we have improved cash management. We have been able to reduce administrative expenses through many cross-servicing arrangements with other agencies. We also feel we have been able to reduce the cost of processing administra tive payments, and we are especially pleased with our effort in debt collections. In the future, we plan to focus our attention on other critical areas of the internal management of the Department. We plan more positive service-oriented provision of services to the public. We want to provide more efficient delivery of services, and we want to continue to improve productivity and performance management in the Office. We feel that our budget request represents and reflects our commitment to maintain momentum in the areas I have described and in other areas. Thank you for the opportunity to present our request. [The statement of Ms. Combs follows:] DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Statement by the Deputy Under Secretary for Management on Salaries and Expenses Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I am pleased to appear before you to present our 1986 budget request for Salaries and Expenses. For 1986 we are proposing the merger of the Office for Civil Rights, the Office of the Inspector General and the Salaries and Expenses accounts into a single Salaries and Expenses (S&E) account. For this merged account, we are requesting $277.3 million and full-time equivalent (FTE) employment of 4,530. This is $21.5 million and 261 FTE less than the total 1985 revised level of $298.8 million and 4,791 FTE for all three activities. The budget request of $42.9 million for the Office for Civil Rights and $14.8 million for the Office of the Inspector General will be discussed in separate statements. Proposed Technical Changes By proposing the merger of the Office for Civil Rights and the Office of the Inspector General accounts into a single Salaries and Expenses account, we hope to simplify the Department's account structure in a fashion consistent with its relatively small total employment requirements and improve the Department's flexibility in managing S&E resources. However, integrity of the Inspector General funding would be assured by an appropriation floor we are requesting, in line with a recent report of the Comptroller General. Our display of the Salaries and Expenses request in the 1986 President's Budget identifies five activities: Postsecondary Education; Other Education Programs; Civil Rights; Inspector General; and Executive Direction. The display is intended to show more clearly the costs of major Departmental organizations and functions, in particular, differentiating the needs of program offices from those of staff and supporting offices. In displaying these activities for your information, however, we do not intend that they be the basis for funding limitations within the overall amount appropriated in this account, other than for the Inspector General. The 1985 base includes $300,000 for loan management and audit inspection activities for the College Housing Loans program, $100,000 for loan management of the Higher Education Facilities Loans and Insurance program and $1.5 million for the Guaranteed Student Loan program, previously financed under program accounts. These administrative expenses are more properly financed in an S&E |