GAO Role as Watchdog for Official House Allowances and Acceptance of Gifts by Members of Congress and the GAO Position on S.495

GAO maintains a professional staff at the Capitol to audit the various revolving funds and other activities of the House and Senate and the activities of private organizations doing business on the Capitol grounds. The staff also reviews legislative branch activities at the request of Congressional Members. Legislation such as S.495, which would place custodial and administrative responsibilities in the GAO, is inconsistent with GAO's basic responsibilities for monitoring, auditing and evaluating administration. Executive agency heads and Members of Congress should be responsible for the administration of financial disclosure requirements of their agencies and themselves. There are also wide areas of potential conflict of a non financial nature that should be noted. Any disclosure system for either branch should properly balance conflict-of-interest and public disclosure concerns against the rights of individuals to privacy. Achieving the balance will require: (a) careful judgments as to which employees should be included; (b) limitation of routine disclosure to those who "need to know;" and (c) disclosure requirements structured to preclude their use by criminals. In a report entitled, "Proposals to Strengthen the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966," recommendations were made that Congress include reference to the Act in the Congressional Handbook as a reminder and amend the Act to clarify and tighten it to ensure adequate disclosure and provide sanctions for noncompliance. Revisions were suggested for State Department regulations and procedures.