Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General Semiannual Report to the Congress, First Half, October 1, 2011-March 31, 2012.

摘要

This report summarizes work we initiated and completed during this semiannual period on a number of critical departmental activities. Over the past 6 months, our office issued 19 audit and evaluation reports addressing programs overseen by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the Department itself. Looking ahead, we will continue to prioritize our work consistent with the Top Management Challenges Facing the Department report we issued in October 2011. For fiscal year 2012, we identified two new cross-cutting goals that focus on the Presidents initiatives for economic recovery and job creation: (1) promote exports, stimulate economic growth, and create jobs and (2) reduce costs and improve operations to optimize resources in a period of constrained budgets. The remaining three challenges are long-standing departmental concerns: information technology security, acquisitions and contracting, and NOAAs satellite program. We will work closely with the Department and with Congress in the months ahead to meet these and other challenges facing Commerce as it fulfills its complex mission.