Combating Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Program Execution and EvaluationRecommendation 3.3: The National Director and the Director of OMB shouldjointly create a government-wide database on budget execution of proliferationrelatedprograms, and develop goals and standards to evaluate programs annually.Effective oversight requires transparency. The National Director and the CPC should bemade fully aware of the ways in which programs and activities for which the CPC isresponsible are executed. This is needed to make sure that resources are appropriatelyput to the purposes intended and not siphoned off for other agency uses. This requirescreation of a clear, cross-agency database on budget execution. While it will take time todevelop such a database, the National Director and OMB should require of each agencyparticipating in the CPC an initial annual report on the execution of proliferation-relatedprograms within its budget. These reports would provide a baseline for further refinements,leading to more frequent reporting.Programs in this area should also be carefully evaluated on an annual basis. Under theGovernment Performance and Results Act (GPRA), all agencies—except those in theIntelligence Community—are required to design strategic plans and processes forevaluating program performance. In this case, an evaluation matrix is needed for programsacross agencies.Working with OMB, which has general responsibility for GPRA implementation as well asexperienced staff, the National Director should develop an evaluation proposal. Thisproposal should be discussed with the Vice President and the Council, with the overallgoals of each proliferation-related program made clear and general standards forevaluation set. Determination of goals and standards should be integral to the CPC’sdiscussion of program priorities.The National Director and OMB should then work with each agency to refine those goalsinto specific performance measurements and to set forth annual reporting requirementsfor each agency. The President should consider tasking the Vice President to review theannual reports with the National Director and the OMB Director, and prepare an overallassessment for the President. This assessment should have two purposes: to show (1) theextent to which the agency programs are meeting their assigned goals and (2) how wellthe allocated budgetary resources are being used.22