Statement on the Operations of the General Accounting Office

The Comptroller General reported on the operations of the General Accounting Office (GAO). He stated that GAO should not view itself as merely a reporter of events, but should constantly seek to assure that its work results in more effective operations of Government. Toward this end, GAO will need to improve procedures for following up its recommendations. The Comptroller General stated that, in some cases, GAO takes too much time to carry out its work. In this regard, the longer an assignment takes to complete, the more difficult it is to assure its usefulness in the decisionmaking process. The Comptroller General intends to examine the GAO work process to see if certain procedures can be streamlined. The Comptroller General also stated that, while GAO has been a leader in improving Government financial management activities, it should be doing more to convince officials in the executive branch of the need for improving their financial operations. Additionally, as the Government grows more complex, it is essential for GAO to make use of computers, since there is great potential for improving GAO capacity to do work through their use. The Comptroller General concluded by saying that he fully supported the continued development of GAO as a valuable source of information and analysis to Congress.