From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: GAO@100 - A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work Description: As 2021 marks GAO's 100th anniversary, U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro discusses the agency's history and where we're going. Released: January 2021 [ Gene Dodaro ] Accountability. Reliability. Integrity. These have been guiding American values since the birth of our republic more than 240 years ago. They are also core values for the United States Government Accountability Office or G-A-O. I'm Gene Dodaro, the Comptroller General of the United States and the head of the GAO. Twenty-twenty-one marks the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of GAO. For the past century, GAO has been presenting the facts on government oversight. With nonpartisan work and broad bipartisan support across the Congress, GAO has been demonstrating where the federal government is doing well and where it can improve. GAO has evolved over time to meet Congress' changing information needs. But our mission remains the same. As the independent "congressional watchdog," GAO's strength lies in its credibility. Some people complain there is a lot of "spin" in Washington. But that's not true of GAO. Policymakers can count on our work to be nonpartisan, professional, and fact based. Our reports contribute to informed decision making on legislation and to hundreds of program improvements each year across government. [ Narrator ] The agency got its start with the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. Congress was concerned about the debt from World War One and passed legislation establishing an independent agency the General Accounting Office, to review federal spending. In its early years, GAO mainly reviewed paperwork documenting payments and purchases from agencies across the federal government. After World War II, GAO began to do more comprehensive financial audits. We monitored military spending during the Vietnam War. During the 1960s, we evaluated the Great Society's anti-poverty efforts. In the 1970s, GAO undertook important reviews addressing energy policy, consumer protection, and the environment. During the 1980s, we sounded the alarm about problems in the savings and loan industry. In the 1990s, we designated cybersecurity as a high-risk area across the federal government and in the 2000s, during the Great Recession, GAO played a key role examining the health of the nation's financial institutions and efforts to stimulate the economy. [ Gene Dodaro ] To better reflect our current role in government, we changed our name in 2004 to the Government Accountability Office. Today, we're also best known for our performance audits that examine how well government programs are meeting their objectives. And we look at almost everything the federal government is doing anywhere in the world. [ Narrator ] More recently, we've looked at contemporary issues like the gig economy and opioid addiction. GAO has also established a new science and technology team to meet Congress' growing need for information on cutting edge issues in those areas. We've issued reports on topics such as hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, and infectious disease modeling. GAO is also tracking spending under the $2.6 trillion coronavirus response legislation. And we're assessing the impact of those relief efforts on public health and the economy. [ Gene Dodaro ] The agency also has an international impact through its efforts to help build the capacity of audit organizations in other countries across the globe. [ Narrator ] GAO remains one of the best values in government. Every year, we issue hundreds of reports and we testify before dozens of congressional committees and subcommittees. The financial benefits from our work in fiscal year 2020 totaled 77.6 billion dollars. That's a return of about 114 dollars on every dollar invested in GAO. [ Gene Dodaro ] These comprehensive reviews and recommendations to Congress don't just happen. GAO's greatest asset is our people. Our multi-disciplinary team now includes economists, financial auditors, public policy analysts, attorneys, scientists, and technology specialists. But GAO's reputation as leading employer depends on more than just professional expertise. It also reflects our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as our people values, which emphasize respecting and treating everyone fairly. I'm very proud of GAO's high ratings in the yearly list of the best places to work in the federal government. That includes a number one ranking in support of diversity. I hope you'll join with me in helping GAO observe its centennial. I want to thank every GAO employee, past and present, for all they've done to make GAO a top accountability organization. Today, our agency is well prepared to help Congress tackle the many complicated domestic and international issues facing our great nation. And I have every confidence that GAO's next century of service to Congress and the nation will be as remarkable as the last.