[Funds Appropriated for Appropriation Accounts of the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation by FY 1982]

GAO was informally advised that the Department of the Treasury had relied on the language in a 1972 GAO ruling when it withdrew undisbursed balances, including sums previously obligated, from appropriation accounts established under authority of fiscal year 1982 continuing resolutions for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Treasury advised that it was required by the 1972 ruling to take this action when an annual appropriation act does not provide sufficient funds to cover obligations incurred under a continuing resolution. GAO reviewed the 1972 ruling and concluded that the obligated balances remaining in the accounts at the time of the enactment of the agencies' annual appropriation acts should not have been withdrawn. To the extent that an annual appropriation act does not provide sufficient funding for an appropriation account to cover obligations validly incurred under the terms of a continuing resolution, the funds made available by the resolution remain available to pay these obligations. Accordingly, Treasury is required to restore the applicable accounts established under the authority of the continuing resolution to a level sufficient to liquidate the unliquidated obligations validly incurred by USDA and NHTSA.