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B-202278 1 (1983-04-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabkkw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON D.C. 2548 RELEASED 121779 B-202278 April 18 9 183 The Honorable William Proxmire United States Senate Dear Senator Proxmire: This is in response to your request of February 19, 1981, for our opinion on theilegality of certain support which the Department of Defense iDOD) provided for activities associated with the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan. More par- ticularly, you asked whether there was any specific statutory authority for the military to provide 1,120 service personnel as chauffeurs, personal escorts and social aides, as well as other non-safety and non-medical support, for inaugural activ- ities. You noted that some members of the Presidential Inau- gural Committee were provided with military drivers from mid-November 1980 until the end of January 1981. In addition, you requested any proposals we might have for a statutory remedy, in the event we concluded that there is no specific statutory authority for DOD to provide these kinds of support for Presidential inaugural activities. There is no specific statutory authority for DOD to pro- vide chauffeurs, personal escorts and social aides, as well as other non-safety and non-medical support, for inaugural ac- tivities, nor are many of DOD's inaugural activities covered by more general authorities such as the Economy Act or those which support expenditures for local community relations ac- tivities. The Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies Act does authorize DOD to provide limited assistance, primarily safety and medical in nature, to the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), but DOD itself recognizes that its extensive participa- tion in Presidential inauguration activities is fundamentally a matter of custom rather than being rooted in legal authority. Accordingly, we must conclude that much of the support provided by DOD for 1981 inaugural activities was without pro- per legal authority. At the same time, it must be recognized that Presidential inaugurations are highly symbolic national functions for which DOD support has been provided with the knowledge and approval of members of Congress over the years. Lack of a statutory base for this support has resulted in practices questionable on policy as well as legal grounds. 05_-

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