Congressional oversight is the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs and policy implementation. This oversight provides the legislative branch with an opportunity to inspect, examine, review and check the executive branch and its agencies. Congressional oversight includes two different features—that which is ongoing throughout the course of a year and that which is done at a specific time in the year in response to the issuance of the President’s budget. For the latter, House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over federal programs are required to submit a views and estimates report—a report containing the committee’s comments or recommendations on budgetary matters within its jurisdiction—to its respective budget committees each year within 6 weeks of the submission of the President’s budget. For example, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s fiscal year 2006 views and estimates report identified a number of aviation- related issues and recommended increased funding over the President’s proposed budget for facilities and equipment to pay for capital improvements designed to increase capacity and reduce aviation gridlock and for airport safety upgrades, including explosive detection systems for airport baggage systems. Ongoing oversight and the specific views and estimates oversight reports can draw information from documents and reports issued by federal departments over the course of the year. Pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and other statutes, federal agencies produce performance, budget, and financial information for internal management purposes and for reporting to Congress which can also be useful to congressional committees to enhance their oversight efforts. GPRA required federal agencies to develop strategic plans with long-term, outcome-oriented goals and objectives, annual goals linked to achieving the long-term goals, and annual reports on the results achieved. The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO) as expanded by the Government Management and Reform Act of 1994 (GMRA) requires annual audited agencywide statements for 24 major federal departments. In the case of FAA, the agency has made available much of the information and analytic resources that Congress needs to conduct its oversight role. As part of DOT, FAA addresses some of the requirements of GPRA through its inclusion in DOT’s Performance and Accountability Report. However, FAA also produces its own strategic plan, unit-specific business plans and performance reports that identify agency priorities, goals, strategies and progress toward these goals and the success of the strategies employed. Collectively, these documents help Congress determine whether FAA’s goals are aligned with congressional goals and whether FAA is achieving them. Linking performance information to FAA’s budgetary resources, such as FAA is beginning to do in its performance-based budget, can also provide Congress the opportunity to oversee the results planned or achieved with budgeted resources and indicate FAA’s priorities for funding. Used together, these agency documents could assist committees in identifying and tracking progress on the issues related to reauthorization and oversight. FAA manages performance through a series of integrated performance documents. FAA’s principal performance reports are: the strategic plan, called the Flight Plan; unit specific business plans; the annual Performance Accountability Report; and quarterly performance reports. The Flight Plan includes the agency’s mission, goals and strategies. In addition, each of FAA’s lines of business has a unit-specific business plan that outlines how its actions will support the goals and measures identified in the Flight Plan. FAA monitors and reports on the Flight Plan’s key performance targets through quarterly and annual performance reports. FAA’s current 5-year strategic plan, or Flight Plan, is designed to outline the agency’s mission, goals and strategies to achieve these goals through 2009, with the overall aim of seeking “to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.” Among other things, GPRA requires agencies to consult with Congress and solicit the input of others as they develop these plans—a good opportunity for congressional committees and staff to influence FAA’s future. According to FAA senior executives, the Flight Plan is the primary document that identifies the agency’s priorities and performance expectations and is the driver of decision making at all levels. As such, the Flight Plan is key for internal agency and congressional oversight purposes. Committees can refer to the plan to determine whether national priorities are appropriately recognized and to raise questions about whether the strategies laid out are likely to lead to success. The Flight Plan identifies four strategic goals (see table 1), each of which are supported by objectives, strategies, initiatives, and performance targets the agency is responsible for achieving. FAA’s Flight Plan can be accessed via its Web site at http://www.faa.gov/about/plans_reports/. Committees could use the strategic plan to identify oversight questions. For example: Do these goals take into account legislative priorities? Are the strategies that support each goal consistent with legislative decisions? How effective are the strategies in achieving these goals? How were the specific initiatives and performance targets for each objective strategy developed? What key factors—external to FAA and beyond its control—exist and how will FAA mitigate or leverage them as appropriate, if they affect the achievement of the strategic plan goals? Does the plan include strategies for working with stakeholders (e.g., airlines, local governments or airport authorities)? The agency’s Flight Plan is supported by unit-specific performance plans, called business plans. Each line of business and staff office produces annual business plans that demonstrate strategic alignment with the agency Flight Plan and define core business activities. The business plans are important tools for oversight because they provide a detailed description of the activities and responsibilities of each business line in supporting the Flight Plan. Specifically, the business plans define the Flight Plan’s performance targets, the specific initiatives that support the performance targets—and type of support required of each line of business (e.g., lead responsibility or support responsibility)—outline the key strategic activities in support of those initiatives; and define strategic activity targets to help gauge progress towards achieving the strategic initiative. The business plans can be found on FAA’s external Web site, at http://www.faa.gov/about/plans_reports/business_plan2005/. For example, the Air Traffic Organization’s (ATO) fiscal year 2005 business plan details six strategic initiatives it is employing to help the agency meet its goal to reduce General Aviation (GA) fatal accidents. Each of the strategic initiatives, which indicates whether ATO is the lead business line or is supporting other business lines, includes related strategic activities and activity targets that enable the ATO to further define and measure the degree its performance is contributing to overall agency performance. Table 2 shows an example of one of ATO’s strategic initiatives, activities and activity targets for supporting a Flight Plan goal. Committees can use the business plans to identify oversight questions and additional reports that could be made available to them. For example: How will the information from these reports affect the strategies for reducing accidents? Do the activities being implemented match congressional priorities? FAA annually publishes a detailed account of agency performance, including its audited annual financial statements, in its Annual Performance and Accountability Report (PAR). While this report is not required, FAA believes it is essential to clearly and fairly present and discuss FAA’s finances and performance. GPRA requires agencies to measure performance toward the achievement of their goals and report annually on their progress in program performance reports. If a goal was not met, the report must provide an explanation and present the actions needed to meet any unmet goals in the future. These reports provide important information to agency managers, policy makers, and the public on what each agency accomplished with the resources it was given. FAA’s PAR provides Congress with annual and historical trend information for its key performance goals. For example, under the strategic goal Increased Safety, FAA has a performance target tied to its goal to reduce the number of operational errors. Figure 1 shows the trend in the actual number of operational errors between fiscal year 2002 and fiscal year 2005. FAA exceeded its target number of operational errors in fiscal year 2003 by 38 and again in fiscal year 2004 by 8. Based on this, potential questions for oversight could be: What are the primary causes of operational errors? What changes were put into place between fiscal year 2003 and 2004 to decrease operational errors? How was the target for 2005 set and what efforts will be put into place to meet this target? The financial statements, supplementary information, and notes to the financial statements included in the PAR present historical information, showing the financial activity of the agency for the last 2 fiscal years and the financial position as of the end of each of those years. The five principal financial statements include: consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of net cost, consolidated statements of changes in net position, consolidated statements of budgetary resources, and consolidated statements of financing. The notes to the financial statements present more detailed information about transactions or conditions reflected in these statements. Often the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of the PAR will address the kinds of operating conditions or changes that financial statement analysis discloses. The statement of budgetary resources, which interrelates with the other financial statements, includes key information that is also included in the agency’s budget. This information is subjected to audit scrutiny, providing some assurance of the reliability of related budgetary information. The individual statements and examples of how they can be used for congressional oversight are discussed in appendix III. The independent auditor’s report included in the PAR tells readers whether or not, or to what extent, the information provided in FAA’s financial statements and related notes is, in the opinion of the auditor, fairly stated. This report also includes the auditor’s statements on whether FAA had effective internal control over financial reporting and over compliance with laws and regulations, which would indicate whether financial management issues need more attention. They also report on any identified significant matters of noncompliance with selected provisions of applicable laws and regulations. In effect, the audit report is a report card on how well the agency is managed from a financial perspective.