B-308150, United States Central Command--Cairo Housing, March 9, 2007

B-308150 Mar 09, 2007 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights The Office of Military Cooperation, Cairo, may use its appropriation to fund leases of residential property occupied by personnel of other agencies at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo as part of a housing pool. Such payments are a proper use of an agency's appropriation when they represent the costs attributable to an agency's use of housing in the pool. View Decision B-308150, United States Central Command--Cairo Housing, March 9, 2007 Decision Matter of: United States Central Command—Cairo Housing File: B-308150 Date: March 9, 2007 DIGEST The Office of Military Cooperation, Cairo, may use its appropriation to fund leases of residential property occupied by personnel of other agencies at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo as part of a housing pool. Such payments are a proper use of an agency's appropriation when they represent the costs attributable to an agency's use of housing in the pool. DECISION The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has requested an advance decision under 31 U.S.C. sect. 3529 regarding whether the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC), Cairo, may use its appropriation to fund leases for residences occupied by personnel of other agencies at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, as part of a housing pool. Letter from Colonel James R. Pulliam, Financial Management and Comptroller, CENTCOM, to the Comptroller General of the United States, Aug. 8, 2006 (Pulliam Letter). CENTCOM requests this decision on OMC's behalf because CENTCOM administers OMC's appropriation. Id. We conclude that OMC may use its appropriated funds for this purpose, as they represent the costs attributable to OMC's use of housing in the pool. If OMC did not pay its share of housing costs, OMC would improperly augment its appropriation. Our practice when rendering decisions is to obtain the views of the relevant federal agencies to establish a factual record and to elicit the agencies' legal positions on the matter. GAO, Procedures and Practices for Legal Decisions and Opinions, GAO-06-1064SP (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 2006), available at www.gao.gov/legal.htm. In this regard, the Department of State (State) responded to questions from our office regarding the procedures for assigning housing among the various agencies with personnel at the Cairo embassy and State's views on whether OMC may use its appropriation to fund leases for residences occupied by personnel of other agencies at the Cairo embassy. Letter from Dennis J. Gallagher, Assistant Legal Adviser, Buildings and Acquisitions, State, to Thomas H. Armstrong, Assistant General Counsel for Appropriations Law, GAO, Oct. 6, 2006 (Gallagher Letter). We asked CENTCOM similar questions but received no response. Letter from Thomas H. Armstrong, Assistant General Counsel for Appropriations Law, GAO, to Colonel James R. Pulliam, Financial Management and Comptroller, CENTCOM, Aug. 29, 2006. BACKGROUND OMC is a Department of Defense Security Assistance Organization located at the United States Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Pulliam Letter. Security Assistance consists of a group of programs, established by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act, that transfers military articles and services to friendly foreign governments. Department of Defense Manual 5105.38-M, Security Assistance Management Manual, para. 1.1.1 (Oct. 3, 2003) (SAMM). Security Assistance programs are carried out chiefly by DOD and State. Id. at para. 1.1.2. OMC engages in Foreign Military Sales activities, a major Security Assistance program. Pulliam Letter. Although DOD carries out numerous aspects of Security Assistance, State is responsible for the overall supervision and general direction of the Security Assistance program. SAMM para. 2.2. State determines when DOD will sell military articles to a particular country and determines the size of the budget requests and allocation of funds for military assistance. Id. OMC personnel at an embassy serve under the day-to-day direction of the Chief of Mission, a State official. Id. at para. 2.5.1. OMC receives its funding in the Foreign Military Financing Program appropriation. E.g., Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-5, sect. 20401, 121 Stat. 8, 22 (Feb. 15, 2007). Congress appropriates these funds directly to the President, but they are automatically transferred to DOD. Exec. Order No. 11958, Administration of Arms Export Controls, sect. 3, 42 Fed. Reg. 4311 (Jan. 18, 1977). CENTCOM's request stems from the housing arrangement among the agencies at the Cairo embassy. Housing at U.S. embassies is normally –pooled.— Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual, vol. 15, Overseas Buildings Operations (15 FAM), 231, 261(1) (Apr. 26, 2006). Typically, embassy housing pools consist of numerous leases for residential properties near an embassy.