Y4.G 74/9: S.HRG. 104-879 S. Hrg. 104-879 GAO OVERSIGHT AND THE NATIONAL ACADEMY HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MARCH 30, 1995 Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental Affairs 89-838 CC DEPOSITORY | Stanford University U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1998 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS WILLIAM V. ROTH, JR., Delaware, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska JOHN GLENN, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan DAVID PRYOR, Arkansas JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota Franklin G. Polk, Staff Director and Chief Counsel (II) Opening statements: Senator Nunn Prepared statement: Senator Dorgan CONTENTS THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 1995 R. Scott Fosler, President, and Alan K. "Scotty" Campbell, Panel Chair, National Academy of Public Administration, accompanied by Annmarie Hon. Charles A. Bowsher, Comptroller General, U.S. General Accounting Office, accompanied by James F. Hinchman, Special Assistant to the Comp- Study entitled "The Roles, Mission and Operation of the U.S. General Ac- 95 GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE OVERSIGHT AND THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION STUDY THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 1995 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room SD342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. William V. Roth, Jr., Chairman of the Committee, presiding. Present: Senators Roth, Cohen, Grassley, Glenn, Nunn, Levin, Pryor, and Lieberman. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN ROTH Chairman ROTH. The Committee will please be in order. This morning we will be considering "The Roles, Mission and Operation of the U.S. General Accounting Office." That is not only the purpose of the hearing, but the title of a report that was prepared for the Committee last year by the National Academy of Public Administration. Because the report was not available until the end of the session, there was no opportunity to receive testimony from NAPA or GAO on the findings or recommendations of the report. In the interim, GAO has made some progress on some of the recommendations, and we will look forward to hearing about the progress made on that front later this morning from the Comptroller General. As stated in the Executive Summary of the report, "GAO has been a valuable part of the Federal Government for more than 70 years, providing auditing, research and evaluation to government generally and to Congress in particular, which could not be easily and readily replaced.' By the very nature of this Committee's jurisdiction and responsibilities for general oversight of all functions of government, the Governmental Affairs Committee depends heavily on the work of GAO. We call on GAO to perform a variety of audits and evaluations in every facet of government. In that sense, it can be said that the success of this Committee is directly tied to the success of GAO. I want to congratulate Comptroller General Bowsher and the thousands of GAO employees, dedicated men and women, who have been instrumental in performing this critical role. While there may be criticism on particular issues, reports, or actions, I think it needs to be made clear that GAO is a vital link in providing in (1) |