[Comments on Determination To Omit the Examination of Records Clause From Proposed NAS Subcontract]

GAO commented on the Department of Health and Human Services' omission of a Federal Acquisition Regulation clause calling for the examination of certain records by the Comptroller General from a proposed Public Health Service subcontract for epidemiological cancer studies. GAO concurred with the HHS determination that omitting the clause would be in the public interest, since the subcontractor: (1) was uniquely qualified; (2) had a longstanding unwillingness to include the clause in other subcontracts; and (3) would permit an audit by an independent accounting firm.