Justice Department conferences get attention in Congress
Once again this week, there were questions for a federal agency about travel and conference spending, as a Senate GOP budget hawk pressed the Justice Department for answers on why it spent more than $58 million on conferences in Fiscal Year 2012.
And as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) noted in a letter to the Justice Department this week, that type of spending seems to have continued into 2013.
"Last week, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) participated in its annual International Drug Enforcement Conference in Moscow, Russia," Coburn wrote in his letter, as he demanded to know how much the trip cost U.S. taxpayers, saying the DEA evidently leased the Crowne Plaza Hotel and World Trade Center in Moscow - with up to 340 hotel rooms and meeting spaces.
"What is the total cost of the conferences to the United States Government?" Coburn asked as part of a series of questions to DOJ officials.
"Please include all airfare, lodging, leasing, rental, planning, per diem and other costs," he added.
Coburn's letter included a helpful reference to a document on the Department of Justice web site, which lists every DOJ conference from 2012 that cost more than $100,000.
The list of those conferences takes up 28 pages.
The conferences included one in the Northern Mariana Islands where the Justice Department spent more than $105,000 that focused on violence against women - but no federal employees attended (there were 47 people there for the gathering.)
Another $198,358 went to send four DOJ employees to a drug enforcement gathering in Dakar, Senegal.
Thirty DOJ employees spent almost $500,000 for a five day international drug conference in Indonesia.
That was the 2012 version of the event in Moscow which Coburn was requesting more information on the tab for U.S. taxpayers.
One of the events is labeled "Indonesia Court Security," but it takes place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as two DOJ employees took "senior Indonesian police officials" and others to courts and other locations in Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico for $101,691.
Here is just a small sample of the 28 pages of conferences from FY 2012 that cost taxpayers over $100,000 at the Justice Department. You can see the entire document at http://www.justice.gov/jmd/publications/fy2012-conferences-over-100k.pdf
Coburn's letter is at http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=4628445e-3a91-4238-b1d0-904a378ae28d
|
Component |
Event Title |
Location |
Event Start Date |
Event End Date |
DOJ Federal Attendees |
Total Attendees |
Total Cost |
Summary |
|
Bureau of Prisons |
Crisis Management Training |
Lawton, Oklahoma |
4/20/2012 |
4/27/2012 |
375 |
375 |
$112,317 |
Mandatory bi-annual Crisis Management Training (Emergency Preparedness). Provides hands-on training and tests procedures in emergency preparedness for 22 Federal Prisons with in the South Central Region, as well as other National Disasters and events. |
|
Bureau of Prisons |
Crisis Management Training |
Fort Dix, New Jersey |
5/21/2012 |
5/25/2012 |
455 |
467 |
$146,928 |
Provided training on and test procedures for crisis management at the nineteen federal prisons in the Northeast Region. |
|
Bureau of Prisons |
Principles of Leadership Phase II |
Norman, Oklahoma |
6/11/2012 |
6/14/2012 |
117 |
117 |
$158,496 |
Mandatory leadership and development training for agency supervisors to ensure compliance with agency policies and relevant laws and regulations. |
|
Bureau of Prisons |
Principles of Leadership Phase II |
Norman, Oklahoma |
7/23/2012 |
7/26/2012 |
112 |
112 |
$150,513 |
Mandatory leadership and development training for agency supervisors to ensure compliance with agency policies and relevant laws and regulations. |
|
Bureau of Prisons |
Clinical Directors and Health System Administrators, Continuin Education. |
Norman, Oklahoma |
8/27/2012 |
8/31/2012 |
204 |
204 |
$249,881 |
Continuing Education program for Clinical Directors and Health System Administrators with strong focus on clinical and administrative issues and updates in policies and best practices. |
|
Civil Division |
Civil Division Fraud Orientation for New Attorneys |
Washington, District of Columbia |
10/25/2011 |
10/27/2011 |
50 |
100 |
$101,500 |
This conference provides core training for new DOJ and agency attorneys to enable them to pursue False Claims Act litigation effectively. The Justice Department has recovered $13.3 billion in False Claims Act cases since 2009. Such success in combatting fraud would not be possible without a cadre of attorneys knowledgeable in the latest developments and litigation techniques in this complex area of law. |
|
Civil Division |
Civil Division Pharmaceutical and Device Fraud Conference |
Washington, District of Columbia |
5/22/2012 |
5/24/2012 |
199 |
249 |
$163,314 |
This conference was dedicated to training attorneys and investigators from DOJ and other agencies in the practice area of pharmaceutical and device fraud, a key component of DOJ’s health care fraud enforcement effort. It is critical that we provide updated and periodic training in this vital area to DOJ attorneys and other law enforcement personnel who support our efforts in fighting fraud. |
|
Criminal Division |
AFMLS/OCDETF Financial Investigations Seminar I (Southwest) |
Los Angeles, California |
2/14/2012 |
2/16/2012 |
84 |
115 |
$128,600 |
The Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS) leads the Department's asset forfeiture and anti-money laundering enforcement efforts. This was a basic seminar. The targeted participants were from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Southwest region, which includes Arizona, California (Central and Southern), New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The objective of this seminar was to apply investigative techniques and methods to unravel the case study’s money laundering scheme, to identify assets for forfeiture, and to make charging and forfeiture decisions. Using videos to illustrate the case study involving a drug enterprise, this practical, innovative, and interactive seminar introduced participants to financial investigations, money laundering, and asset forfeiture. During the seminar, participants analyzed financial documents to establish links among the targets, assets, and the illegal activities. |
|
Component |
Event Title |
Location |
Event Start Date |
Event End Date |
DOJ Federal Attendees |
Total Attendees |
Total Cost |
Summary |
|
Criminal Division |
Distance Learning and Police Standards Study Tour |
Phoenix and Flagstaff, Arizona |
3/16/2012 |
3/28/2012 |
2 |
23 |
$126,787 |
The International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) works with foreign governments to develop professional and transparent law enforcement |
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Criminal Division |
Indonesia Court Security Study Tour: Best Practices in Court Security, Legislation, Practice, and Policy |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
3/16/2012 |
4/1/2012 |
2 |
15 |
$101,691 |
The Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance & Training (OPDAT) assists prosecutors and judicial personnel in other countries develop and sustain effective criminal justice institutions. To fulfill its obligations under an Interagency Agreement (IAA) for Indonesia with the State Department, OPDAT conducted a study tour in Washington, DC and San Juan, PR for senior Indonesian police officials and members of the judiciary responsible for court security. This program examined necessary legislation that courts, police and prosecutors need, as well as the requisite mechanisms used to implement court security, while also guaranteeing freedom of access to the courts and freedom of the press. |
|
Criminal Division |
Asset Forfeiture Chiefs and Experts Conference |
Potomac, Maryland |
4/24/2012 |
4/26/2012 |
186 |
194 |
$279,854 |
The Asset Forfeiture Chiefs and Experts Conference is the seminal conference for senior asset forfeiture practitioners in the Department’s Asset Forfeiture Program. Sponsored annually over the last 20 years, this conference has provided an opportunity for leading asset forfeiture experts and chiefs, including senior forfeiture Assistant United States Attorneys, to convene, discuss, and train on changes and updates in asset forfeiture procedures, case and legislative law, national and regional trends, international developments, Departmental policies, and hot topic issues. In an area of the law that is rapidly changing and growing every year, our practitioners must be kept up-to-date in asset forfeiture law, practices, and policies to ensure uniformity and consistency in our federal practice in all 94 judicial districts. |
|
Criminal Division |
Criminal Investigations Development Study Tour |
Los Angeles, California |
4/28/2012 |
5/5/2012 |
2 |
24 |
$133,022 |
The International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) works with foreign governments to develop professional and transparent law enforcement institutions that protect human rights, combat corruption, and reduce the threat of transnational crime and terrorism. One of its primary means of assistance is to conduct training seminars and conferences for relevant foreign investigative and law enforcement personnel. To fulfill its obligations under an Interagency Agreement (IAA) with the State Department, ICITAP conducted the Criminal Investigations Development Executive Course 2012 to offer the Indonesian delegates extensive exposure to the US law enforcement system. |
Once again this week, there were questions for a federal agency about travel and conference spending, as a Senate GOP budget hawk pressed the Justice Department for answers on why it spent more than $58 million on conferences in Fiscal Year 2012. And as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) noted in ...
