From: "Mark A. Smith"
Subject: SNET: $3,400,000,000,000 of taxpayers' money is missing
Date: 1 Apr 1999 07:00:14 -0500
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[The Washington Times]
[Image]
Published in Washington, D.C. 5am -- April 1, 1999
www.washtimes.com
[(see thetext links at the bottom of the page)]
[Image]
$3,400,000,000,000 of taxpayers' money is
missing
------------------------------------------------
By August Gribbin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
------------------------------------------------
[T] he U.S. government can't balance its books
and can't properly explain how it spent
$1.8 trillion last year or account for $1.6
trillion in such assets as parks, buildings,
missile launchers, tanks and paper clips.
That's 1,800,000,000,000 in dollars and
$1,600,000,000,000 worth of things -- a grand
total of $3,400,000,000,000.
The upshot is that, "once again, billions
of taxpayer dollars were lost to waste, fraud
and mismanagement," says Rep. Steve Horn,
California Republican.
Mr. Horn, chairman of the House government
reform and oversight subcommittee on government
management, information and technology, gave
that
-- Continued from Front Page --
assessment yesterday as his subcommittee
reviewed the government's attempt to produce a
Consolidated Financial Statement.
It was the second time in U.S. history
that the government has tried to comply with a
1994 law requiring it to account in a
businesslike way for the revenues, expenditures
and assets of the 24 Cabinet-level departments
and agencies -- a total of 70 agencies with
some 2,000 components.
And for the second time, the statement
failed to meet accounting standards acceptable
to the General Accounting Office, Congress'
investigative arm and the government's official
auditor.
The accounting failure means the
government doesn't employ common business
safeguards to know how much money actually has
been wasted or stolen. Some lawmakers believe
the figure could be in the billions.
In general, the GAO concluded that
"because of the serious deficiencies in the
government's systems, record-keeping,
documentation, financial reporting and
controls, amounts reported in the financial
statements ... do not provide a reliable source
of information for decision-making by the
government or the public."
Mr. Horn calls the accounting performance
"dismal." And Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas
Republican, who has been working for management
reform in the executive branch, said the lack
of reliable information has made him feel "like
a doctor performing surgery with a blindfold
on."
Still, the government's accounting has
improved. Last year, the GAO approved the
audits of just 11 agencies. This year it's
expected to give "unqualified opinions" to 13.
Comptroller General David M. Walker said
that although "major obstacles need to be
overcome ... considerable effort is being made
by agencies ... and steady improvements in
financial accountability are occurring."
G. Edward DeSeve, deputy director for
management of the Office of Management and
Budget, concurred. "The [Clinton]
administration supported and created the bill
to cause these [accounting] requirements and in
time they will provide a tremendous management
tool," he said.
For that to happen, the executive branch
must "properly account for and report billions
of dollars of property, equipment, materials
and supplies," Mr. Walker testified.
It also must correctly estimate the costs
of environmental and nuclear cleanups and
determine the amount of such liabilities as
veterans and health benefits.
The executive branch must bolster "serious
and widespread computer security weaknesses,"
as well as figure out the "full extent" of the
estimated billions of dollars improperly paid
in major programs.
And finally, Mr. Walker said, the
government must "accurately report" a basic
fact for the first time -- the net cost of
running the government.
[Image]
FRONT PAGE | POLITICS | OPINION | INVESTIGATIVE | INTERNATIONAL | BUSINES=
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Copyright =A9 1999 News World Communications, Inc.
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