United States General Accounting Office 

Washington, DC 20548 

October 10, 2003 

The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. 

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary 

House of Representatives 

Subject: 	 Federally Chartered Corporation: Review of the Financial Statement Audit 

Report for the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association for Fiscal Year 2002 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

As requested, we reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the 

Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, a federally chartered corporation, for the fiscal 

year ended September 30, 2002. The corporation’s purpose is to collate, preserve, 

and encourage the study of historical episodes, chronicles, mementos, and events 

pertaining to “The Day of Infamy, 7 December 1941”, and in particular those 

memories and records of patriotic service performed by the heroic Pearl Harbor 

survivors and nonsurvivors. 

Federally chartered corporations are required under 36 U.S.C. §10101 to 

• present the corporation’s assets and liabilities and reasonable detail on the 

corporation’s income and expenses in annual financial statements, and 

• obtain an annual financial audit by an independent public accountant. 

The objective of our review was to determine whether the audit report complied with 

the financial reporting requirements of the law. In carrying out our work, we 

reviewed the corporation’s financial statements and the accompanying notes, 

performed certain analytical procedures related to information presented in the 

financial statements, and reviewed the auditors’ report. We also held limited 

discussions with the corporation’s auditors regarding potential enhancements that 

could be made to the corporation’s financial reporting. However, we did not review 

the auditors’ working papers, and we are not rendering an audit opinion. Our review 

disclosed no reportable instances of noncompliance with the financial reporting 

requirements of the law. 

GAO-04-28R Pearl Harbor Survivors Association 
The audit report included the auditors’ opinion that, with one exception, the financial 


statements of the corporation were presented fairly on a modified cash basis of 


accounting. The exception related to the fact the auditors were not present to 


observe the physical inventory count at September 30, 2002 and the Association’s 


records do not permit adequate retroactive tests of inventory balances. 


We are returning the audit report you sent with your letter. 


Sincerely yours, 


Jeanette M. Franzel 


Director 


Financial Management and Assurance 


w/o Enclosure 


(194334) 


Page 2 GAO-04-28R Pearl Harbor Survivors Association 
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