You also project that this program will increase computer costs by $365,000. As best I can figure you will be increasing staff by only 4 percent to deal with this program but increasing your computer budget by 10 percent because of this added burden. Can you explain the discrepancy?

Answer. This new responsibility demands a much different approach to data than our existing budget and estimating responsibilities. To produce quality estimates on the impact of Federal legislation on State and local governments, we must expand our data availability to obtain regional and local cost factors. A network must be established to retrieve this data quickly in order to provide timely estimates. Variance analysis must be performed to focus on the degree of impact from region to region or from one level of Government to another.

In addition, much of the fiscal year 1983 computer cost for this function is one time startup costs.

SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

Senator MATTINGLY. I appreciate your testimony. You are excused, unless you have some other comments on how you are going to get your budget down. If you come up with any ideas between now and markup, I sure would appreciate it. I know you have great needs over there. I am just trying to protect the people on the outside. I intend to do that. So any way you can find, go back, I know you are down to the muscle now, but if you can find any fat over there, we would sure appreciate your communicating with us.

Thank you very much.

Dr. RIVLIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator MATTINGLY. We will now recess until 1 p.m., today.

[Whereupon, at 10:15 a.m., the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 1 p.m. this same day.]

(AFTERNOON Session, 1 p.m., Monday, May 10, 1982)

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES A. BOWSHER, COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

ACCOMPANIED BY:

MILTON J. SOCOLAR, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL AND GENERAL COUNSEL

RICHARD L. BROWN, CONTROLLER

PREPARED STATEMENT

Senator MATTINGLY. The subcommittee will come to order.

This afternoon we will hear from the General Accounting Office on their request for fiscal year 1983 and the 1982 supplemental appropriations. We welcome you, Mr. Bowsher. If you would like, you can read your entire statement, or hopefully, you will condense it. It has been given to us. We can go to questions.

Your entire prepared statement will be inserted in the record at this point.

[The statement follows:]

(155)

STATEMENT OF CHARLES A. BOWSHER

I am pleased to be here today to discuss GAO's budget request for FY 1983. The "Justification of Estimates for FY 83," which you already have, describes our request in detail.

This is my first opportunity to discuss with you GAO's resource needs. I look forward to a positive, constructive relationship with the Subcommittee during my tenure as Comptroller General. Since taking office in October 1981, I have been meeting with staff to familiarize myself with how GAO goes about doing its work. That effort has helped me crystalize some issues and problems that I want to address during my first several years as Comptroller General. There is no doubt that GAO's most important role is to provide timely assistance to the Congress on relevant issues. I have been impressed with the willingness of the GAO staff to do whatever is necessary to provide the Congress useful information. But I have also been impressed by the speed of events and the needs of Congress for information. I want us to do a better job of getting the Congress information when it needs it. I want, therefore, to explore different ways to present our information to meet this objective.

I want GAO to continue to be the Congress' greatest asset

in its efforts to achieve better economy and efficiency in Federal operations.

GAO is the one Federal agency with full

time, Governmentwide responsibility to help Congress find ways to reduce Federal spending and make Government work better. GAO's record shows that it has consistently made recommendations which have saved the Government many times its appropriation.

For example, action taken by the Congress and the executive branch in fiscal year 1981 on GAO recommendations saved the Government about $8.5 billion. About $7.6 billion in savings resulted from congressional actions on GAO recommendations,

while another $890 million resulted from executive branch actions. GAO's fiscal year 1981 appropriation was about

$220 million.

Last fiscal year GAO issued 578 reports containing about 2,500 recommendations to the Congress and the heads of executive agencies. To date, about 70 percent of these recommendations have already influenced improved Government operations. Over the last 5 years (FY 77-81), congressional and agency actions on GAO recommendations which can be quantified saved $24 for each dollar appropriated to GAO. We will continue to make sure the Congress gets its money's worth out of GAO.

PROGRAM EMPHASIS

To do so, we must explore new ways and develop new initiatives. In that regard, during the past year we have:

--Established a special defense budget task force to
closely monitor how the Defense Department spends
the additional monies appropriated to it by the
Congress. Both Senate and House Committees have
asked GAO for extensive additional information to
assist them in looking more closely at defense activi-
ties and the defense budget.

--Established a multiyear plan for auditing the new
block grant programs passed by the Congress.
Since the States are to be provided much greater
flexibility than they had under categorical grants,
determinations relating to their accountability
will have to be carefully considered and a uniform
conception of audit responsibilities will have to
be developed. We have had discussions with

numerous congressional staff about our block grant
audit activities so we can be most responsive to their

information needs.

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