GAO's Walker Pitches 2005 Budget

Washington (April 27, 2004) -- In testimony before a House subcommittee, Comptroller General David M. Walker justified the fiscal 2005 budget request of $480 million for the General Accounting Office, stating that the funding would help the investigative arm of Congress continue in its quest to become “a world-class service organization.”
 
The 2005 budget is a 4.9 percent increase from its fiscal 2004 funding.
 
Walker said that the GAO’s 2004 budget allowed the organization to “conduct work that addressed many difficult issues confronting the nation.”
 
Among the GAO’s 2004 actions were:
• Helped strengthen the technology systems at the Internal Revenue Service;
• Strengthened the U.S. visa process as an anti-terrorism tool;
• Enhanced the quality of care in nursing homes;
• Improved compliance with food-safety programs; and,
• Performed analyses that culminated in a reform of retirement for U.S. postal workers.
 
Walker told lawmakers that the GAO has generated a $78 return for every dollar appropriated to the agency.
 
-- WebCPA staff