About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

B-202129 1 (1981-06-10)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabkbc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: / 'COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES [ , ..:'.. : / iWASHINGTON D.C. 20548 B-202129 June 10, 1981 -CED1-183 The Honorable John D. Dingell Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: Ov1 Te Zroposed Conrail Private Sector Ownership Act of 1981 pH.R. 355f_? which we understand is being considered by your committee, provides in section 202(a) that the Comptroller General would be a member of the United States Railway Association's Board of Directors. The two other board members would be the Secretary of Transportation and a chairman selected by the outgoing chairman and the other board members. As a member of this Board of Direc- tors, the Comptroller General would participate in a wide range of executive decisions directly affecting Government transportation policies and program expenditures. Under the bill, the Associa- tion would, as in the past, monitor Conrail's activities and per- formance and disburse Federal funds to Conrail. It would also make various determinations on Conrail's compliance with the bill's requirements. Noncompliance could result in Federal funds for Con- rail being terminated. The Comptroller General's participation in executive decisions as an Association board member could create a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest because of the General Accounting Office's responsibilities to review and evaluate both Conrail's and the Association's policies and activities. We have been quite active in this area in the past, having issued 15 re- ports concerning Conrail activities and 6 on Association activi- ties (see enclosure). Under the Government Corporation Control Act (31 U.S.C. 850), we are required to audit Association financial statements. We have consistently opposed legislation giving the Comptroller General executive authority over programs he audits on behalf of the Congress. The conflict inherent in acting under both an executive and audit capacity as to the same issues and transactions is obvious and hardly needs elaboration. Irrespective of our utmost,care the Congress will have effectively lost the ability to obtain fully objective audit and review information from the General Accounting Office on certain transportation matters should the bill remain unchanged. We therefore, strongly (990511)

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most