Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office
Published: 2005-04-19T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: This testimony is in support of the fiscal year 2006 budget request for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). This request is necessary to help us continue to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. We are grateful to the Congress for providing us with the support and resources that have helped us in our quest to be a world-class professional services organization. We believe that investing in GAO produces a sound return and results in substantial benefits to the Congress and the American people. In the years ahead, our support to the Congress will likely prove even more critical because of the pressures created by our nation's current and projected budget deficit and long-term fiscal imbalance. These fiscal pressures will require the Congress to make tough choices regarding what the government should do, how it will do its work, who will help carry out its work in the future, and how government will be financed in the future. We summarized the larger challenges facing the federal government in our recently issued 21st Century Challenges report. In this report, we emphasize the critical need to bring the federal government's programs and policies into line with 21st century realities. Continuing on our current unsustainable fiscal path will gradually erode, if not suddenly damage, our economy, our standard of living, and ultimately our national security. We, therefore, must fundamentally reexamine major spending and tax policies and priorities in an effort to recapture our fiscal flexibility and ensure that our programs and priorities respond to emerging security, social, economic, and environmental changes and challenges in the years ahead. This testimony focuses on GAO's (1) performance and results with the funding Congress provided in fiscal year 2004, (2) streamlining and management improvement efforts under way, and (3) budget request for fiscal year 2006 to support the Congress and serve the American people.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: In summary, the funding we received in fiscal year 2004 allowed us to audit and evaluate a number of major topics of concern to the nation and, in some cases, the world. We also continued to raise concerns about the nation's long-term fiscal imbalance, summarized key health care statistics and published a proposed framework for related reforms, and provided staff support for the 9/11 Commission. In fiscal year 2004, we exceeded or equaled our all-time record for six of our seven key performance indicators while continuing to improve our client and employee feedback results. We documented $44 billion in financial benefits--a return of $95 for every dollar spent, or $13.7 million per employee. In fiscal year 2004, we also recorded 1,197 other benefits that could not be measured in dollar terms including benefits that helped to change laws, to improve services to the public and to promote sound agency and governmentwide management. Also, experts from our staff testified at 217 congressional hearings covering a wide range of important public policy issues during fiscal year 2004. Shortly after the Comptroller General was appointed, he determined that our agency would undertake a transformation effort. This effort is consistent with the elements of House Report (H.Rpt.) 108-577 that focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of operations at legislative branch agencies. Our transformation effort has enabled us to eliminate a management layer, streamline our organization, reduce our overall footprint, and centralize many of our support functions. Currently, over 50 percent of our support staff are contractors, allowing us to devote more of our staff resources to our mission work. We recently surveyed managers of agency support operations and identified additional activities that potentially could be filled through alternative sourcing strategies. In fiscal years 2005 and 2006, we will further assess the feasibility of using alternative sourcing for these activities. In developing our fiscal year 2006 budget, we have taken into consideration the overall federal budget constraints and the committee's desire to lead by example. Accordingly, we are requesting $493.5 million which represents a modest increase of 4 percent over fiscal year 2005. This increase is primarily for mandatory pay costs and price level changes. This budget request will allow us to continue to maximize productivity, operate more effectively and efficiently, and maintain the progress we have made in technology and other areas, but it does not allow us sufficient funding to support a staffing level of 3,269--the staffing level that we requested in previous years. Even as we are tempering our budget request, it needs to be acknowledged that there are increasing demands on GAO's resources. For example, the number of congressional mandates for GAO studies, such as GAO reviews of executive branch and legislative branch operations, has increased more than 15 percent since fiscal year 2000. While we have reduced our planned staffing level for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 in order to keep our request modest, we believe that the staffing level we requested in previous years is a more optimal staffing level for GAO and would allow us to better meet the needs of the Congress and provide the return on investment that both the Congress and the American people expect. We will be seeking Congressional commitment and support to provide the funding needed to rebuild our staffing levels over the next few fiscal years, especially as we approach a point where we may be able to express an opinion on the federal government's consolidated financial statements.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to appear before you today in support of the fiscal year 2006  budget request for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). This  request is necessary to help us continue to support the Congress in  meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the  performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for  the benefit of the American people.
We are grateful to the Congress for providing us with the support and  resources that have helped us in our quest to be a world-class professional  services organization. I am proud of the work we accomplish as we  continue to provide our congressional clients with professional, objective,  fact-based, non-partisan, non-ideological, fair, balanced, and reliable  information in a timely manner regarding how well government programs  and policies are working and, when needed, recommendations to make  government work better. We believe that investing in GAO produces a  sound return and results in substantial benefits to the Congress and the  American people. In the years ahead, our support to the Congress will  likely prove even more critical because of the pressures created by our  nation’s current and projected budget deficit and long-term fiscal  imbalance. These fiscal pressures will require the Congress to make tough  choices regarding what the government should do, how it will do its work,  who will help carry out its work in the future, and how government will be  financed in the future.
We summarized the larger challenges facing the federal government in our  recently issued 21st Century Challenges report. In this report, we  emphasize the critical need to bring the federal government’s programs  and policies into line with 21st century realities. Continuing on our current  unsustainable fiscal path will gradually erode, if not suddenly damage, our  economy, our standard of living, and ultimately our national security. We,  therefore, must fundamentally reexamine major spending and tax policies  and priorities in an effort to recapture our fiscal flexibility and ensure that  our programs and priorities respond to emerging security, social,  economic, and environmental changes and challenges in the years ahead. I  believe that GAO can be of invaluable assistance in helping the Congress  address these challenges.
My testimony today will focus on our (1) performance and results with the  funding you provided us in fiscal year 2004, (2) streamlining and  management improvement efforts under way, and (3) budget request for  fiscal year 2006 to support the Congress and serve the American people.
subsections: section_title: Fiscal Year 2004 Performance and Results
paragraphs: In fiscal year 2004, much of our work examined the effectiveness of the  federal government’s day-to-day operations, such as administering benefits  to the elderly and other needy populations, providing grants and loans to  college students, and collecting taxes from businesses and individuals. Yet,  we remained alert to emerging problems that demanded the attention of  lawmakers and the public. For example, we continued to closely monitor  developments affecting the Iraq war, defense transformation, homeland  security, social security, health care, the U.S. Postal Service, civil service  reform, and the nation’s private pension system. We also informed  policymakers about long-term challenges facing the nation, such as the  federal government’s financial condition and fiscal outlook, new security  threats in the post-cold war world, the aging of America and its impact on  our health care and retirement systems, changing economic conditions,  and the increasing demands on our infrastructure—from highways to  water systems. We provided congressional committees, members, and  staff with up-to-date information in the form of reports, recommendations,  testimonies, briefings, and expert comments on bills, laws, and other legal  matters affecting the federal government. We performed this work in  accordance with the GAO Strategic Plan for serving the Congress,  consistent with our professional standards, and guided by our core values.  See appendix I for our Strategic Plan Framework for serving the Congress  and the nation.
subsections: section_title: Outcomes of Our Work
paragraphs: In fiscal year 2004, our work generated $44 billion in financial benefits,  primarily from recommendations we made to agencies and the Congress  (see fig. 1). Of this amount, about $27 billion resulted from changes to laws  or regulations, $11 billion resulted from agency actions based on our  recommendations to improve services to the public, and $6 billion resulted  from improvements to core business processes, both governmentwide and  at specific agencies, resulting from our work (see fig. 2). Our findings and  recommendations produce measurable financial benefits for the federal  government when the Congress or agencies act on them. The funds that  are saved can then be made available to reduce government expenditures  or be reallocated to other areas. The monetary effect realized can be the  result of changes in    business operations and activities;  the structure of federal programs; or   entitlements, taxes, or user fees.
For example, financial benefits could result if the Congress were able to  reduce its annual cost of operating a federal program or lessen the cost of  a multiyear program or entitlement. Financial benefits could also result  from increases in federal revenues—due to changes in laws, user fees, or  sales—that our work helped to produce. Financial benefits included in our  performance measures are net benefits—that is, estimates of financial  benefits that have been reduced by the costs associated with taking the  action that we recommended. Figure 3 lists several of our major financial  benefits for fiscal year 2004 and briefly describes some of our work  contributing to financial benefits.
Many of the benefits that result from our work cannot be measured in  dollar terms. During fiscal year 2004, we recorded a total of 1,197 other  benefits (see fig. 4). We documented 74 instances where information we  provided to the Congress resulted in statutory or regulatory changes, 570  instances where federal agencies improved services to the public, and 553  instances where agencies improved core business processes or  governmentwide reforms were advanced (see fig. 5). These actions  spanned the full spectrum of national issues, from ensuring the safety of  commercial airline passengers to identifying abusive tax shelters. See  figure 6 for examples of other benefits we claimed as accomplishments in  fiscal year 2004.
section_title: Recommendation Acceptance Rate
paragraphs: At the end of fiscal year 2004, 83 percent of the recommendations we  made in fiscal year 2000 had been implemented (see fig. 7), primarily by  executive branch agencies. Putting these recommendations into practice is  generating tangible benefits for the American people. As figure 8 indicates,  agencies need time to act on our recommendations. Therefore, we assess  recommendations implemented after 4 years, the point at which  experience has shown that, if a recommendation has not been  implemented, it is not likely to be.
section_title: Testimonies That Serve the Congress
paragraphs: During fiscal year 2004, experts from our staff testified at 217  congressional hearings (see fig. 9) covering a wide range of complex  issues. For example, our senior executives testified on the financial  condition of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s single-employer  program, the effects of various proposals to reform Social Security’s  benefit distributions, and enhancing federal accountability through  inspectors general. Nearly half of our testimonies were related to high-risk  areas and programs. See figure 10 for a summary of issues we testified on,  by strategic goal, in fiscal year 2004.
section_title: GAO’s High-Risk Program
paragraphs: Issued to coincide with the start of each new Congress, our high-risk  update lists government programs and functions in need of special  attention or transformation to ensure that the federal government  functions in the most economical, efficient, and effective manner possible.  Our latest report, released in January 2005, presents the status of high-risk  areas identified in 2003 and lists new high-risk areas warranting attention  by the Congress and the administration.
In January 2003, we identified 25 high-risk areas; in July 2003, a twenty- sixth high-risk area was added to the list (see table 1). Since then, progress  has been made in all areas, although the nature and significance of  progress varies by area. Federal departments and agencies, as well as the  Congress, have shown a continuing commitment to addressing these high- risk challenges and have taken various steps to help correct several of  their root causes. GAO has determined that sufficient progress has been  made to remove the high-risk designation from the following three areas:    student financial aid programs,    FAA financial management, and    Forest Service financial management.
Also, four areas related to IRS have been consolidated into two areas.
This year, we designated four new high-risk areas. The first new area is  establishing appropriate and effective information-sharing mechanisms to  improve homeland security. Federal policy creates specific requirements  for information-sharing efforts, including the development of processes  and procedures for collaboration between federal, state, and local  governments and the private sector. This area has received increased  attention, but the federal government still faces formidable challenges  sharing information among stakeholders in an appropriate and timely  manner to minimize risk.
The second and third new high-risk areas are, respectively, DOD’s  approach to business transformation and its personnel security clearance  program. GAO has reported on inefficiencies and inadequate transparency  and accountability across DOD’s major business areas, resulting in billions  of dollars of wasted resources. Senior leaders have shown commitment to  business transformation through individual initiatives in acquisition  reform, business modernization, and financial management, among others,  but little tangible evidence of actual improvement has been seen to date in  DOD’s business operations. DOD needs to take stronger steps to achieve  and sustain business reform on a departmentwide basis. Further, delays by  DOD in completing background investigations and adjudications can  affect the entire government because DOD performs this function for  hundreds of thousands of industry personnel from 22 federal agencies, as  well as its own service members, federal civilian employees, and industry  personnel. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is to assume  DOD’s personnel security investigative function, but this change alone will  not reduce the shortages of investigative personnel.
The fourth high-risk area is management of interagency contracting.  Interagency contracts can leverage the government’s buying power and  provide a simplified and expedited method of procurement. But several  factors can pose risks, including the rapid growth of dollars involved  combined with the limited expertise of some agencies in using these  contracts as well as recent problems related to their management. Various  improvement efforts have been initiated to address interagency  contracting, but improved policies and processes, and their effective  implementation, are needed to ensure that interagency contracting  achieves its full potential in the most effective and efficient manner.
Lasting solutions to high-risk problems offer the potential to save billions  of dollars, dramatically improve service to the American public, strengthen  public confidence and trust in the performance and accountability of our  national government, and ensure the ability of government to deliver on its  promises.
In fiscal year 2004, we issued 218 reports and delivered 96 testimonies  related to our high-risk areas and programs, and our work involving these  areas resulted in financial benefits totaling over $20 billion. This work, for  example, included 13 reports and 10 testimonies examining problems with  DOD’s financial management practices, such as weak internal controls  over travel cards, inadequate management of payments to the Navy’s  telecommunications vendors, and abuses of the federal tax system by  DOD contractors, resulting in $2.7 billion in financial benefits. In addition,  we documented $700 million in financial benefits based on previous work  and produced 7 reports and 4 testimonies focusing on, for example,  improving Social Security Administration and Department of Energy  processes that result in inconsistent disability decisions and inconsistent  benefit outcomes.
section_title: Streamlining and Management Improvement Efforts
paragraphs: Shortly after I was appointed in November 1998, I determined that GAO  should undertake a major transformation effort to better enable it to “lead  by example” and better support the Congress in the 21st century. This  effort is consistent with the House Report 108-577 on the fiscal year 2005  legislative branch appropriation that focuses on improving the efficiency  and effectiveness of operations at legislative branch agencies.
H.Rpt. 108-577 directed GAO to work closely with the head of each  legislative branch agency to identify opportunities for streamlining, cross- servicing and outsourcing, leveraging existing technology, and applying  management principles identified as “best practices” in comparable public  and private sector enterprises. H.R. 108-577 also directed the legislative  branch agencies to be prepared to discuss recommended changes during the  fiscal year 2006 appropriations hearing cycle.
Our agency transformation effort has enabled GAO to become more  results-oriented, partnerial, client-focused, and externally aware, and less  hierarchical, process-oriented, “siloed,” and internally focused. The  transformation resulted in reduced organizational layers, fewer field  offices, the elimination of duplication in several areas, and improved our  overall resource allocation. We began our transformation effort by using  the GAO Strategic Plan as a framework to align our organization and its  resources. On the basis of the strategic plan, we streamlined and realigned  the agency to eliminate a management layer, consolidated 35 issue areas  into 13 teams, and reduced our field offices from 16 to 11. We also  eliminated the position of Regional Manager—a Senior Executive Service  level position—in the individual field offices and consolidated the  remaining field offices into three regions—the eastern region, the central  region, and the western region, each headed by a single senior executive.  Following the realignment of our mission organization and field offices,  GAO’s support organizations were restructured and centralized to  eliminate duplication and to provide human capital, report production and  processing, information systems desk-side support, budget and financial  management, and other services more efficiently to agency staff. This has  resulted in a 14 percent reduction in our support staff since 1998. As  shown in figure 11, these and subsequent measures improved the “shape”  of the agency by decreasing the number of mid-level managers and by  increasing the number of entry level and other staff with the skills and  abilities to accomplish our work.
During my tenure, GAO has outsourced and cross-serviced many  administrative support activities, which has allowed GAO to devote more  of its resources to mission work. In fiscal year 2004, about two-thirds of  our nonhuman capital costs were spent to obtain critical mission support  services for about 165 activities from the private and public sectors  through outsourcing. Outsourcing contracts include a wide range of  mission support activities, including information technology systems  development, maintenance, and support; printing and dissemination of  GAO products; operation and maintenance of the GAO Headquarters  building; information, personnel, and industrial security activities; records  management; operational support; and audit service support. GAO also  meets many of its requirements through cross-servicing arrangements with  other federal agencies. For example, GAO uses the Department of  Agriculture’s National Finance Center to process its personnel/payroll  transactions. Also, GAO uses the legislative branch’s long-distance  telephone contract, which has resulted in continual reductions in long- distance rates. GAO also uses a wide range of contracting arrangements  available in the executive branch for procuring major information  technology (IT) services. GAO also uses the Library of Congress’ Federal  Library and Information Network to procure all of its commercial online  databases.
Currently, as shown in figure 12, over 50 percent of our staff resources in  the support area are contractors, allowing us to devote more of our staff  resources to our mission work. We recently surveyed managers of agency  mission support operations and identified additional activities that  potentially could be filled through alternative sourcing strategies. In fiscal  years 2005 and 2006, we will assess the feasibility of alternative sourcing  for these activities using an acquisition sourcing maturity model and cost- benefit analyses.
Utilizing IT effectively is critical to our productivity, success, and viability.  We have applied IT best management practices to take advantage of a  wide range of available technologies such as Web-based applications and  Web-enabled information access, as well as modern, mobile computing  devices such as notebook computers to facilitate our ability to carry out  our work for the Congress more effectively. We make wide use of third- party reviews of our practices and have scored well in measurement  efforts such as total cost of ownership, customer service, and application  development. In fiscal year 2002, an independent study of GAO’s IT  processes and related costs revealed that, “GAO is delivering superb IT  application support and development services to the business units at 29  percent less than the cost it would take the Government peer group to  deliver.” In confirmation of these findings, in fiscal year 2003, GAO was  one of only three federal agencies to receive the CIO Magazine 100 Award  for excellence in effectively managing IT resources to obtain the most  value for every IT dollar. We were named to the CIO Magazine’s “CIO 100”  for our excellence in managing IT resources in both 2003 and 2004.
Because one of our strategic goals is to maximize our value by serving as a  model agency for the federal government, we adopt best practices that we  have suggested for other agencies, and we hold ourselves to the spirit of  many laws that are applicable only to the executive branch. For example,  we adhere to the best practices for results-oriented management outlined  in the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). We have  strengthened our financial management by centralizing authority in a Chief  Financial Officer with functional responsibilities for financial  management, long-range planning, accountability reporting, and the  preparation of audited financial statements, as directed in the Chief  Financial Officers Act (CFO Act). Also, for the eighteenth consecutive  year, independent auditors gave GAO’s financial statements an unqualified  opinion with no material weaknesses and no major compliance problems.
In the human capital area, we are clearly leading by example in  modernizing our policies and procedures. For example, we have adopted a  range of strategic workforce policies and practices as a result of a  comprehensive workforce planning effort. Among other things, this effort  has resulted in greatly upgrading our workforce capacity in both IT and  health care policy. We also have updated our performance management  and compensation systems and our training to maximize staff  effectiveness and to fully develop the potential of our staff within both  current and expected resource levels.
section_title: GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Request to Support the Congress
paragraphs: We are requesting budget authority of $493.5 million for fiscal year 2006.  This budget request will allow us to continue to maximize productivity,  operate more effectively and efficiently, and maintain the progress we  have made in technology and other areas. However, it does not allow us  sufficient funding to support a staffing level of 3,269—the staffing level  that we requested in previous years. In preparing this request, we  conducted a baseline review of our operating requirements and reduced  them as much as we felt would be prudent. However, with about 80  percent of our budget composed of human capital costs, we needed to  constrain hiring to keep our fiscal year 2006 budget request modest. We  plan to use recently enacted human capital flexibility from the GAO  Human Capital Reform Act of 2004 as a framework to consider such cost  savings options as conducting one or more voluntary early retirement  programs and we also plan to review our total compensation policies and  approaches.
There are increasingly greater demands on GAO’s resources. Since fiscal  year 2000, we have experienced a 30 percent increase in the number of bid  protest filings. We expect this workload to increase over the coming  months because of a recent change in the law that expands the number of  parties who are eligible to file protests. In addition, the number of  congressional mandates for GAO studies, such as our reviews of executive  branch and legislative branch operations, has increased more than 15  percent since fiscal year 2000. While we have reduced our planned staffing  level for fiscal years 2005 and 2006, we believe that the staffing level we  requested in previous years is a more optimal staffing level for GAO and  would allow us to successfully meet the future needs of the Congress and  provide the return on investment that the Congress and the American  people expect. We will be seeking your commitment and support to  provide the funding needed to rebuild our staffing levels over the next few  fiscal years, especially as we approach a point where we may be able to  express an opinion on the federal government’s consolidated financial  statements. Given current and projected deficits and the demands  associated with managing a growing national debt, as well as challenges  facing the Congress to restructure federal programs, reevaluate the role of  government, and ensure accountability of federal agencies, a strong GAO  will result in substantially greater benefits to the Congress and the  American people.
Table 2 summarizes the changes we are requesting in our fiscal year 2006  budget.
Our budget request supports three broad program areas: Human Capital,  Mission Operations, and Mission Support.
In our Human Capital program, to ensure our ability to attract, retain, and  reward high-quality staff and compete with other employers, we provide  competitive salaries and benefits, student loan repayments, and transit  subsidy benefits. We have undertaken reviews of our classification and  compensation systems to consider ways to make them more market-based  and performance-oriented and to take into consideration market data for  comparable positions in organizations with which we compete for talent.  Our rewards and recognition program recognizes significant contributions  by GAO staff to the agency’s accomplishments. As a knowledge-based,  world-class, professional services organization in an environment of  increasingly complex work and accelerating change, we maintain a strong  commitment to staff training and development. We promote a workforce  that continually improves its skills and knowledge.
We plan to allocate funds to our Mission Operations program to conduct  travel and contract for expert advice and assistance.
Travel is critical to accomplishing our mission. Our work covers a wide  range of subjects of congressional interest, plays a key role in  congressional decision making, and can have profound implications and  ramifications for national policy decisions. Our analyses and  recommendations are based on original research, rather than reliance on  third-party source materials. In addition, GAO is subject to professional  standards and core values that uniquely position the agency to support the  Congress in discharging its oversight and other responsibilities under the  Constitution.
We use contracts to obtain expert advice and or assistance not readily  available within GAO, or when expertise is needed within compressed  time frames for a particular project, audit, or engagement. Examples of  contract services include obtaining consultant services, conducting broad- based studies in support of audit efforts, gathering key data on specific  areas of audit interest, and obtaining technical assistance and expertise in  highly specialized areas.
Mission Support programs provide the critical infrastructure we need to  conduct our work. Mission support activities include the following  programs:  Information Technology: Our IT plan provides a road map for ensuring  that IT activities are fully aligned with and enable achievement of our  strategic and business goals. The plan focuses on improved client service,  IT reliability, and security; it promotes effectiveness, efficiency and cost  benefit concepts. In fiscal years 2005 and 2006, we plan to continue to  modernize outdated management information systems to eliminate  redundant tasks, automate repetitive tasks, and increase staff productivity.  We also will continue to modernize or develop systems focusing on how  analysts do their work. For example, we enhanced the Weapons Systems  Database that we created to provide the Congress information to support  budget deliberations.
Building Management: The Building Management program provides  operating funds for the GAO Headquarters building and field office  locations, safety and security programs, and asset management. We  periodically assess building management components to ensure program  economy, efficiency and effectiveness. We are currently 8 percent below  the General Services Administration’s (GSA) median costs for facilities  management. We continue to look for cost-reducing efficiencies in our  utility usage. Our electrical costs are currently 25 percent below GSA’s  median cost. With the pending completion of our perimeter security  enhancements and an automated agency wide access control system, all  major security enhancements will have been completed.
Knowledge Services: As a knowledge-based organization, it is essential for  GAO to gather, analyze, disseminate, and archive information. Our  Knowledge Services program provides the information assets and services  needed to support these efforts. In recent years, we have expanded our  use of electronic media for publications and dissemination; enhanced our  external Web site, resulting in increased public access to GAO products;  and closed our internal print plant and increased the use of external  contractors to print GAO products, increasing the efficiency and cost- effectiveness of our printing operation. Due to recent budget constraints,  we have curtailed some efforts related to archiving paper records. We  currently are implementing an electronic records management system that  will facilitate knowledge transfer, as well as document retrieval and  archival requirements.
Human Capital Operations: In addition, funds will be allocated to Human  Capital Operations and support services to cover outplacement assistance,  employee health and counseling, position management and classification,  administrative support, and transcription and translation services.
section_title: Concluding Remarks
paragraphs: We appreciate your consideration of our budget request for fiscal year  2006 to support the Congress.  GAO is uniquely positioned to help provide  the Congress the timely, objective information it needs to discharge its  constitutional responsibilities, especially in connection with oversight  matters. GAO’s work covers virtually every area in which the federal  government is or may become involved anywhere in the world. In the  years ahead, GAO’s support will prove even more critical because of the  pressures created by our nation’s large and growing long-term fiscal  imbalance.
This concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions  the Members of the Subcommittee may have.
section_title: Image Sources
paragraphs: This section contains credit and copyright information for images and  graphics in this product, as appropriate, when that information was not  listed adjacent to the image or graphic.
Page 6: PhotoDisc (money); Eyewire (monitor and medical symbol).
Page 9: BrandXPictures (flag); PhotoDisc (calculator and Social Security  card).
Page 11: BrandXPictures (flag); Digital Vision (teacher); Dynamic Graphics  (health care).
Page 12: BrandXPictures (flag); Dynamic Graphics (1040 Form); DOD  (soldiers).
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