BUDGET REQUEST CRITICAL TO SUSTAINING The resources we are requesting for fiscal year 2002 are critical to addressing our human capital Congressional demand for GAO services continues to increase. For example, as illustrated STANFORD LIBRARIES TS TO refians We have worked hard over the past 3 years with available resources to significantly increase our We are concerned about our ability to continue to increase our productivity levels, sustain our only requested the funding necessary to properly maintain and support this stafrag level zad cover mandatory expenses, including infiacon and compensation costs. However, as ilustrated in the following septic, te tanding G40 received has been sigricatiy less tat we requested and needed to support our sirgeted stating level FTES Requested and Used (Fiscal Years 1999 - 2001) The funds we are requesting are critical to addressing our succession planning challenges and STANFORD LIBRARIES 1 If the funding trend of the past 3 years is continued, we will need to restrict our work to only CONCLUDNG REMARSS Fiscal year 2000 -2 a LEÓS Í KRITEC 206 nice for GAO- a year of great service to be Coogan ac ei rem 2oner. We have made significant progress Bang Ty TED 1 1 r 1 GAO and need to continue these efiors. The resources ve 12 SILK ÍTSCH er 2002 ze cutical to sustaining our high-level of peace ac tcrte Coran. We ze te cation's and possibly the woric's leading to ITIHL mezei a adăponal resources to continue our efforts to frka stanga Guax: ncce TTDIZDon for the rest of the federal government ac 2oL.TEHT ECTS rute sora baction, given GAO's impressive rese ze:221 DSCELLI, races sase for GAO to receive resource allocations ta are nei bose merge froideaches. To do otherwise would send a troubing message o GAO'spiciente Tex. Ei te puctc. We look forward to your continet spor and zorgeser scre cosey with you and your staff this year and in fiscal year 2002 Tis cociades y siemen. I socid be pleased to respond to any questions that the Mesbers of te scopee zey have. FTE LEVELS Mr. TAYLOR. We will go directly to questions, with your agreement. During the past 5 years, we have reduced the GAO personnel more than 25 percent. Your budget request has an increase of 125 FTEs. Please tell the committee why you need such an increase and how will those new FTEs be assigned throughout the agency? Mr. WALKER. First, our head count is roughly 40 percent below what it was in 1992. We are requesting funding at our full targeted level, which is 3,275 FTEs. We are currently about 125 below that number. We would allocate the additional FTEs into the areas that would support our strategic plan, areas where we have the greatest supply and demand imbalances such as health care; education, workforce, and income security; information technology; and financial markets and community investment. Everything that we are doing is being tied back to our strategic plan and to where we are getting the most demand from the Congress. As you know, demand far exceeds supply, so this is one means that can provide more equilibrium in that regard. ASBESTOS ABATEMENT Mr. TAYLOR. On the question of asbestos abatement, I have only been on this subcommittee since 1993, but it seems like the asbestos abatement has been a question for the entire time. Is there any end in sight in the asbestos abatement program? Mr. WALKER. If we can get the funding, the answer is definitely yes. I will turn it over to Dick Brown, who can bring you up to date on where we stand on it. Mr. BROWN. We have completed asbestos removal from almost the entire building. As you may recall, all of the duct work in the GAO building was made of asbestos instead of metal. We had 35 miles of asbestos duct work that carried the air. All of it was removed except for that remaining on the west half of the sixth floor. So we have half of one floor left to go. With the funding that we have requested in 2002, we should be able to complete that floor. Mr. WALKER. As you know, Mr. Chairman, we have seven floors in our building. So this would complete the task. STANFORD LIBRARIES TRUTH IN REGULATING ACT Mr. TAYLOR. Good. You are requesting $5.2 million to fund the Truth in Regulating Act. Would you provide the committee with an idea as to your plan for implementing your responsibilities under this act? Mr. WALKER. Sure. As you know, Mr. Chairman, the Congress last year passed the Truth in Regulating Act, but in order for it to be operational, it also expressly provided that there had to be a separate appropriation to fund those activities. We are engaging in preliminary planning as to what type of skills and knowledge we would need to do that work. Some of these we already have within GAO. We do, however, anticipate that should the Congress decide to fund TIRÁ that we would want to end up adding a few additional staff, including one individual who would be specifically re |