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

B-193302 1 (1978-12-06)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadtwl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: DIGEST UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICEI9 ~ '- WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 IN REPLY OFFICEoFGENERALCOUNSEL DE REFERTO: B-193302 The Honorable John L, Burton Member, United States House of Representatives 450 Golden Gate Avenue Box 36024 San Francisco, California 94102 Dear Mr. Burton: By letter dated October 19. 1978, your staff asked us to review an inquiry by United States Army, relating to the authority of this Office to investigate the financial accounting practices of the National Security Agency (NSA). The question to which we have been asked to respond also inquires, * * * whether financial managers are given the laws and regulations to implement the appropriations of Congress. The basic audit authority of the General Accounting Office (GAO), contained in the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, provide the legal basis for our review of NSA activities. These statutes direct GAO to examine and audit activities of each executive branch agency, and they grant'GAO access to these agencies' records and information as necessary to discharge this responsibility. GAO's authority is extensive, encompassing not only financial auditing but also management reviews and evaluations of programs and activities. Broad access to records and information is necessary to accomplish these tasks. However, certain restrictions on GAO audit authority are provided by law, including instances where monies are accounted for solely oncertification by the head of a department or establishment. The NSA is a separately organized agency within the Department of Defense and, for financial administrative convenience, is under the direction of the Secretary of Defense. Because of the sensitive nature of NSA's mission, Congress has enacted several -statutes to safeguard certain of the agency's activities and to enable the Governwent to limit disclosure of those activities to such information as does not interfere with the accomplishment of NSA's cryptologic missions. The Act of May 29, 1959, Pub. L. No. 86-36, § 6, 73 Stat. 63 (1959), l provides, with one exception which is not pertinent that: 2 J, 6 ~

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