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Highlights AGA recognized 19 new CGFMs
who attended the intensive review course at the PDC and then passed all
three CGFM Examinations.
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TOPICS
Special Edition! Live from AGA's 54th Annual Professional Development Conference & Exposition, Orlando, FL AGA's PDC off to a Successful Start in Orlando AGA kicked off its 54th Annual Professional Development Conference & Exposition in Orlando Monday with more than 1,600 government accountability professionals gathered for "Leadership > Preparing Tomorrow's Accountability Professionals." The conference brings together participants from federal, state and local governments, the private sector and academia to discuss issues of common concern. The conference began with a keynote address from Retired Army General Jack Keane, who talked about his 37 years leading American soldiers and his thoughts on the War on Terrorism. "We are in a war of ideals and values," Keane said, comparing the current conflict with World War II, in that Americans are fighting to defeat radicals who "want control and domination of their part of the world." Keane, a recently retired four-star general, said Al Qaeda believes Americans are weak, morally bankrupt and that they lack character. While they cannot defeat us militarily, they seek to destroy us by undermining our confidence in our leaders and hurting our economy, he said. Keane said he believes that the United States did not respond strongly enough to the bombing of the embassies in Africa and other acts of terrorism in the 1990s. That led terrorists to believe they could attack the United States without retaliation. "They came for us, thinking they could have their way with us." Keane was in the Pentagon on Sept. 11th when it was struck by terrorists, and he recounted many stories of heroism on that day. He said the Pentagon was like a battlefield, not only because of the smoke and fire, but also because of the emotional reactions of fear, terror and panic. He said 77 awards were given out for heroism in the Pentagon battlefield. One petite woman put out a fire on one of her colleagues, who did the same for her, and then carried the woman on her back to safety by crawling close to the floor because the smoke was so thick. She broke a window with a PC and then pushed the woman out to safety. The heroine, who will not allow Keane to use her name, did not then jump out. "She had life through that window," Keane said, but instead went back into the smoke to rescue another woman in a nearby office. Although two of the women broke bones, all three survived. Despite the horror of the attack, the vast majority of Pentagon employees returned to work on Sept. 12. "They knew we were at war and they wanted to make a contribution." Keane also spoke of the heroism of a battle with Al Qaeda three weeks later that showed the fighting spirit of American soldiers. Despite being outnumbered 10-to-1, 30 American soldiers fought for 12 hours, they treated the wounded, including Al Qaeda. "The Army has values that reflect the American people." We celebrate and preserve life, he said. Keane then moved on to the war in Iraq. While Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled quickly, he noted that the military did not see the insurgency coming. "We did not plan adequately for it." He said the insurgents are primarily Sunnis, some are from Saddam's former secret police charged with doing the killing at Saddam's bidding. Others are nationalists who oppose American occupation. Others are terrorists. Keane noted that the progress being made in Iraq is too often overlooked by U.S. media. A legitimate government is in place; another election will be held in December; 27 colleges and universities are operating in Iraq; hospitals and schools are operating; marketplaces are teeming with people. He acknowledged that unemployment is high, at 40 percent, and poverty is widespread. "There are major challenges, but there's also steady, steady progress that's being made." He said the soldiers in Iraq are not quitters or complainers. "This conflict is all about the American people," he said. "War is personal," he said, and it is terrifying. "Death is always, always a silent companion." While soldiers do not want to die, they are willing to die for their country. "That devotion should not be taken for granted." A Commitment to Public
Service He credited the men and women in uniform who are serving in harm's way with making it possible for those of us at home to continue working and living in peace. "The most trying of our days pales in comparison to the trying times our men and women in uniform face every day." He noted the enormous contribution the government's financial management work force makes and thanked the AGA attendees for their service. "You're making a difference in the lives of your fellow citizens. Yours is an honorable profession." Platts discussed his committee's work on legislation that would consolidate and streamline the more than one dozen financial management laws enacted over the last 25 years, which now total more than 800 pages of statute. This presents a confusing challenge to those charged with managing the government's business. The Founding Fathers, he said, mandated that a tally of the government's receipts and expenditures be published "regularly." Over the years, Congress has had the best of intentions each time it passed a new law governing federal financial management, but the times have changed, he said. The complexity of today's federal government demands a more disciplined approach and "the time has come for all of us to work together to streamline this process." He singled out the CFO Act of 1990 for making the greatest contribution to federal financial management reform. The act ensured that the presidentially appointed chief financial officer would be more than just a steward, but would serve as a member of the agency's management team. He acknowledged that to be successful, the CFOs rely on a cadre of well-trained financial managers-the very people gathered at AGA's conference. The CFO Act has spurred a movement from data entry to data analysis with the facilitation of analysis being the primary goal. In 1996, the first year that the CFO Act was fully in effect, just six federal agencies achieved timely financial statements with clean audit opinions. Today, nearly every agency achieves both timely statements and clean opinions. However, the committee would like to see more emphasis placed not on the end result, but how we get there, avoiding the need for the heroic year-end efforts to get the clean opinions. "That doesn't help the manager out on the front lines with day-to-day decision-making," Platts said, adding that the clean opinion should always be a consequence of good financial management. Platts pointed to the President's Management Agenda (PMA) as an example of the Bush administration's commitment to this effort. Financial management reform is just one of the five tenants of the PMA, but he said it is the foundation of the entire effort and is critical to determining if the other four areas are successful. All the efforts in the world won't matter, Platt said, until we improve financial management systems. "Congress has to resist the urge to ignore these issues, which should be on the front page every day," Platts said, adding he spends time daily in his York County, Pennsylvania district and hears what taxpayers have to say. "They don't mind paying taxes except when the money is not properly accounted for." He also called for consequences for failure to comply with statutes. There has to be accountability for misconduct, he said. "The more we clean up our act on our own, the more our profession-public service-will gain respect." In encouraging AGA members to contribute their ideas on streamlining federal laws to his committee, Platts said whether you are working in federal, state or local government, "We are all part of the same team." By: Christina M. Camara and Marie S. Force |
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