Washington, D.C. – This week, the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its 2014 independent audit of the Broadcasting Board of Governors financial statements.  The audit notes continued lapses in financial oversight and non-compliance with federal regulations including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Prompt Pay Act.  In July, the House passed H.R. 4490, the United States International Communications Reform Act of 2014, which included section 112(b) citing the findings of the recent OIG audit and requiring BBG to comply with all federal contracting regulations and submit an annual compliance report to Congress.

On the release of the OIG audit, Chairman Royce said:  “The independent audit of the Broadcasting Board of Governors financial statements highlights the deep structural problems of the agency.  Unfortunately, this audit comes after the Government Accountability Office and Office of the Inspector General reported in January that the BBG suffers from a severely dysfunctional organizational structure and a ‘flawed legislative structure and acute internal dissension’.  In testimony before the Committee, former Secretary Clinton called the BBG ‘defunct’.

“We cannot allow the BBG to continue limping along.  Russian propaganda is dominating the information space in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe; we need U.S. international broadcasters to be effective – more now than at any time since the end of the Cold War.  The BBG must be restructured to meet the security challenges we face worldwide.”

Note: Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced H.R. 4490 in April 2014 and it passed the House unanimously by voice vote in July.  The legislation is now in the Senate awaiting action.

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