Embassy Construction: Better Long-Term Planning will Enhance Program Decision-Making.

摘要

The State Department has determined that about 80 percent of overseas U.S. diplomatic facilities do not have adequate security and may be vulnerable to terrorist attack. In August 1998, after the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were bombed by terrorists, the State Department began a program to replace its vulnerable facilities on an accelerated basis with new, secure embassies and consulates. State selected 10 projects that it believed should be built first. State envisions a 10- to 15-year program costing $15 billion or more for construction projects in more than 180 locations around the world where the existing facilities may be vulnerable. Planning and implementing this program will be a massive and difficult undertaking, requiring that State, other U.S. agencies, and the Congress work together to determine facility needs, priorities, and funding levels. The Congress has appropriated a total of about $1.1 billion for this program for fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001. In response to your concerns regarding the planning and execution of this multibillion dollar program, we (1) determined the status of the 10 priority embassy and consulate construction projects and (2) assessed State's plans for the overall construction program. As you requested, we also identified the steps State is considering to improve the management of its Office of Foreign Buildings Operations, which is responsible for managing the embassy construction program, as well as State's efforts to increase the efficiency of its embassy construction processes. This information is contained in appendix IV.