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GAO-12-787CG: 

Public Service: The Chance to Remake Our World 

By the Honorable Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States: 

Before the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy: 
University of Virginia: 
Charlottesville, Virginia: 

May 20, 2012 

Thank you, Mary [Drach], for that kind introduction. I would also like 
to thank Dean Harding for inviting me to address this year’s 
graduating class of the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. 
My congratulations to each of today’s graduates on your significant 
achievements. It is an honor to be able to share this special day with 
you, your families, and friends. The U.S. Government Accountability 
Office, has a special connection with the University of Virginia; 
first, we’ve been fortunate to have recruited a number of your 
students, both as interns and permanent employees. And secondly, we 
share common values of striving for analytical excellence and the 
highest standards of integrity. 

As you look toward your future, it is important to keep in context not 
only the world in which we live today, but also the one you hope for 
in the future. Great leaders always look ahead even when they are 
confronting serious problems. For example, 80 years ago in May 1932, 
facing the profound challenges of the Great Depression, Franklin 
Roosevelt addressed the graduating class of Oglethorpe University in 
Atlanta. FDR told the graduates, "Yours is not the task of making your 
way in the world, but the task of remaking the world which you will 
find before you." Now is your time to seize that opportunity. 

That generation fought fascism and economic hardship and handed down 
to us an America that today continues to be a land of unique and 
nearly boundless opportunity. With these promising opportunities come 
daunting challenges as the Nation undergoes a period of significant 
change. GAO’s strategic plan for serving the Congress and the country 
highlights key trends affecting the United States and its place in the 
world. These include: 

* evolving security threats; 
* urgent fiscal sustainability and debt challenges; 
* economic recovery and restored job growth; 
* changing dynamics of global interdependence and shifts in power; 
* advances in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; 
* increasing impacts of networks and virtualization; 
* shifting roles in government and governance; and; 
* demographic and societal changes confronting the young and old. 

More than ever, a broad strategic approach is essential to governing 
well. And, frankly, there really isn’t enough long-term thinking in 
our national government. 

But even with a strategic vision, there are in my view five factors to 
turn any vision into reality. Those factors are perspective, 
persistence, preparation, people, and participation. 

By perspective, I mean understanding the big picture and the 
implications of our globalized world. Economics, trade, politics, 
information flows, public health, and many other human activities are 
now linked as never before. The recent financial crisis vividly 
illustrated the extent to which economics, trade, and information 
flows have become inextricably linked. 

Additionally, given the global interconnectivities of financial 
markets and institutions, national reforms and international 
cooperation are both pivotal to addressing the underlying issues that 
contributed to the recent turmoil. Major reforms are underway in the 
United States, and GAO has a major role to play in evaluating their 
progress. Moreover, we are working with other national audit offices 
around the world to increase understanding and cooperation on national 
and international reforms, such as adherence to new institutional 
standards for bank capital requirements. 

Of course, interdependence today goes beyond the global financial 
markets and flows of capital. Food safety is a case in point. Much of 
the seafood, fruits, and vegetables we eat now comes from foreign 
sources. The problem is that the U.S. food safety system was designed 
for domestic production. In the face of rapid shifts in production and 
trade, our regulatory agencies are struggling to protect the public 
from unsafe goods. 

Similarly, in the medical products area, the Food and Drug 
Administration estimates that foreign manufacturers now account for 80 
percent of the ingredients in prescription drugs. That’s why GAO has 
put oversight of food safety and medical products on our high-risk 
list, which includes areas of government in need of broad based 
transformation. 

Another factor that’s essential to achieving a strategic vision is 
persistence, or sustained long-term effort. My experience has been 
that progress in government often needs to be attained through 
incremental change. That’s not a bad thing. With some persistence and 
a willingness to work with others, a series of small steps can lead to 
real and lasting change and pay off in a big way. 

GAO’s high-risk list is a case in point. With the start of each new 
Congress, GAO issues a report on federal areas vulnerable to waste, 
fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or needing broad-based transformation. 
Our latest list presents 30 areas ripe for reform – from the Interior 
Department’s management of oil and gas leases to the Pentagon’s 
acquisition of weapon systems. 

Since we started the high-risk list 20 years ago, more than a third of 
the cited areas have improved enough to be dropped from the list. 
Vital to such progress is sustained congressional attention, priority 
by the Office of Management and Budget on behalf of the President, and 
effective leadership by the federal entities involved. 

A third factor is preparation. I’m talking about planning ahead. At 
GAO, we try to alert policymakers to emerging trends likely to shape 
American society and decisions facing policymakers. 

A key example is our aging population. This very day, over 8,000 baby 
boomers will turn 65, and on average between now and 2029, 10,000 
people a day in the United States will achieve that milestone. GAO’s 
done considerable work on the impact of demographics on Social 
Security, healthcare and other federal programs, and, ultimately, the 
current unsustainable long-term fiscal path of federal finances. 

The recent financial crisis also brought home the need for people to 
prepare for the future —whether it’s saving for college or planning 
for retirement. We at GAO have initiated a multi-pronged strategy to 
address financial literacy issues. Under this effort, we will continue 
to evaluate federal efforts that directly promote financial literacy. 
GAO will also encourage research into various financial literacy 
initiatives to evaluate their relative effectiveness. In addition, we 
will look for opportunities to enhance financial literacy as an 
integral component of regular federal interactions with the public. 
Finally, GAO has recently instituted a program to empower its own 
employees, which includes an internal website with information on 
personal financial matters and links to important information. 

Another area where preparation is key is in dealing with new security 
threats. GAO has issued more than 1,200 reports and testimonies on 
homeland security since 9/11 and has made more than 1,600 
recommendations to strengthen agency operations. On the 10th 
anniversary of 9/11, we issued a major report describing the 
Department of Homeland Security’s progress to date and the work still 
remaining to prevent, defend against, and respond to terrorist attacks 
against the United States. 

Additionally, when it comes to a strategic vision, the importance of 
people cannot be overstated. As Comptroller General, I spend a lot of 
time getting to know our employees and trying to match their strengths 
and interests with GAO’s needs. Having the right person in the right 
job makes a huge difference. That alone probably counts for 75 percent 
of success. 

People come to GAO, and many stay because the work is so interesting. 
Still, you have to create a work environment where people feel that 
they’re learning and growing professionally. It’s also important to 
create and nurture an inclusive environment where diversity is 
cultivated as an organizational strength. 

Last year, GAO placed third among large federal agencies in the 
Partnership for Public Service’s “Best Places to Work” rankings. We 
were number one in diversity. Those rankings matter because they’re 
based on employee job satisfaction and whether our people would 
recommend GAO as a place to work. 

Finally, a strategic vision requires participation. By participation, I’
m really talking about citizen engagement, which can take many forms— 
everything from voter turnout to federal service. Successful 
government depends on public participation. 

I’m here to say that government can and does make a difference in the 
lives of our fellow citizens. 

I joined government back in the early 1970s. Watergate and the Vietnam 
War were on everyone’s minds then. I did not want to sit back and just 
criticize government. I wanted to be part of the solution and help 
improve public trust and confidence in government. 

Today, when public discourse can sometimes be highly polarized, and 
too often people blame government for many problems, it’s helpful to 
remember that dedicated federal employees do make a tremendous 
positive difference in the lives of our citizens. 

And that’s where men and women like all of you come in. Across 
government today, we need leaders with sound values, leaders who can 
think strategically and creatively. They’ll need to work smarter and, 
in some cases, adjust to doing more with less. 

Government managers at the local, state, and federal levels will need 
to take responsibility for developing innovative approaches and 
creative solutions to many of the challenges I’ve mentioned. By being 
proactive, managers can, to a great extent, manage the changes that 
are coming, rather than let those changes manage them. 

Government needs people who can approach problems in new and 
innovative ways and anticipate future possibilities. At a time of 
iPads and on-line tax returns, the census is still taken on paper. We 
need the next Steve Jobs of the world who can think creatively to 
bring that talent to government. This challenge will become more 
urgent in the future as large numbers of federal workers begin to 
retire. 

Today’s problems won’t be solved overnight. But in the past, the 
American people have always come together for the sake of the greater 
good. And their contributions and sacrifices have helped make our 
nation stronger. 

Your school’s namesake, Frank Batten, forged an impressive career in 
communications. He believed in the power of education to transform our 
society, not only the corporate world but also our civic life. As your 
leaders say, the Batten School encourages its graduates “to act 
vigorously, effectively, and ethically on behalf of the common good.” 

In 1932, the same year FDR spoke at Oglethorpe University, Albert 
Einstein was asked for his definition of a successful life. Einstein 
replied, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” 

I know some of you may be heading off to jobs at government agencies, 
or on Capitol Hill, or at non-profits or private firms. Regardless of 
your immediate plans, I’d encourage all of you to consider public 
service at some point in your careers, whether it’s starting out as an 
entry-level employee or joining an agency later on as a mid-career 
manager or a senior executive. Public service is a wonderful way to 
give back to your country and a chance to help remake our world. 

The truth is we can all learn from each other. Government doesn’t have 
all the answers and neither does the private sector. We must take the 
best approaches of each and find solutions to the problems that 
bedevil us today. 

Wherever you’re headed, I hope you will think about how you can use 
your energies to help create a better America. My best wishes to all 
of you for continued success. 

[End of presentation]