HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.gao/gaobabayf0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
by V ..
Th COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20548
RELEASED
B-198488 AUGUST 13,1980
The Honorable Mark 0. Hatfield
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
United States Senate 113152
Dear Senator Hatfield:
SUBJECT: (Alleged Unauthorized Use of Appropriated
Moneys by Interior Employee] CED-80-128)
This is in response to your March 24, 1980, letter
requesting our Office to investigate the possible unauthor-
ized use of appropriated funds by the Department of the
Interior's Office of Surface Mining (OSM). In your letter,
you asked that we investigate allegations that OSM misused
appropriated moneys by conducting illegal lobbying activi-
ties to defeat pending legislation in the House of Repre-
sentatives.
You gave us certain documents which suggested to you
that OSM employees might have violated 18 U.S.C. 1913 (a
criminal matter) by engaging in the organization and opera-
tion of lobbying efforts with public interest groups to
detrimentally affect legislation pending before a House
committee. You also said that some of the public interest
groups with which OSM had contact were not registered lobby-
ists as required by Federal law. You specifically asked us
to verify the existence of these and other documents and
information which would be of value in addressing allegations
of unauthorized use of appropriated moneys (a civil matter).
Our review disclosed evidence that OSM employees were
actively involved in trying to defeat S.1403, pending legis-
lation regarding coal mining activities. Most of these
activities, in our opinion, did not constitute unauthorized
use of appropriated moneys. Some information suggests that
there may have been some activities that did constitute
unauthorized use of appropriated moneys. However, other
information indicates there were no such activities. Since
there was conflicting information concerning such activities,
we cannot conclude that any violations of appropriation act
restrictions occurred. With respect to whether 18 U.S.C.
52/ /1 7 (140002)](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaobabayf0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)