October 7, 1996

Report on Inspection of the Secretary of Energy's Foreign Travel

Inspectorl General (IG) conduct a thorough examination of all Secretarial foreign travel from 1993 to December 1995 to include the purpose of each trip, the activities of each Federal participant in each trip, the funding of each trip, and claims for reimbursements for expenses by Federal trip participants. The Secretary also requested that the review include an assessment of travel authorization, voucher, traveler reimbursement, and auditing systems employed by the Department to identify steps that could be taken to reduce errors and improve accounting oversight. Additionally, the Secretary requested that the Inspector General conduct a thorough examination of the establishment and filling of the Department’s Ombudsman position.