d03232sp.txt

December 2002
GAO's Agency Protocols
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GAO-03-232SP United States General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548

December 2, 2002
This document contains GAO's Agency Protocols that we are
launching in a pilot phase starting in December 2002. These
protocols are intended to govern the U.S. General Accounting
Office's (GAO) work with executive branch agencies and to provide
clearly defined and transparent policies and practices on how GAO
will interact with agencies in the performance of its work. As you
know, GAO supports the Congress in meeting its constitutional
responsibilities and strives to help improve the performance and
accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the
American people. While GAO's primary client is the Congress, we
seek to maintain constructive working relationships with the
executive branch; conduct our work in a professional, objective,
and nonpartisan manner; and help improve government. In fact, the
vast majority of GAO's recommendations are addressed to executive
branch officials for action. I firmly believe these protocols will
help to ensure the consistency, fairness, and effectiveness of
GAO's interactions with the agencies and thereby enable GAO to
better serve the Congress and the American people.
We provided an opportunity for 28 federal departments, agencies,
and entities (subsequently referred to as agencies), including all
of the agencies with presidentially appointed chief financial
officers and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency,
to comment on a draft of the protocols. The majority of the
agencies that responded appreciated GAO's initiative to develop the
protocols and said that they were comprehensive and provided a
framework for meaningful communication. We received and considered
more than 200 comments, the majority of which we addressed. Many of
the comments sought clarification of what we expected of the
agencies and what they could expect from GAO. For example, we were
asked to clarify communication procedures between GAO and the
agencies associated with meetings, agency comments, and
recommendation follow-up. The protocols have been revised in those
areas to reflect the following:


•
For agencies that designate a central GAO liaison, we
will communicate to the agency liaison when executive-level
meetings are scheduled; provide the liaison with a notification
letter; and coordinate the entrance, exit, and agency comment
meetings with the liaison.


•
To the extent possible, at the entrance conference, GAO
will provide the agency with an estimate of how long the work will
take.


•
To the extent appropriate, GAO staff will hold a closeout
meeting at field locations with agency officials who are
responsible for the operations of the field location and the work's
objectives.


•
The purpose of the exit conference is to confirm that the
critical facts and key information used to formulate GAO's analyses
and findings are current, correct, and complete. This information
may be provided in writing. However, GAO did not revise the
protocols to require that such written material be provided. A
draft of the written report is provided subsequent to the exit
conference when agency comments are solicited.


•
In keeping with GAO's values of being fair and balanced
in its work with all agencies, GAO has articulated its criteria for
determining the amount of time available for agency comments on
GAO's products. In addition, the protocols have been revised to
recognize that in using these criteria, GAO will generally give an
agency from 7 to 30 calendar days to comment on a report. The exact
time will vary, depending on the nature of the engagement and the
needs of the Congress.


• Recommendation follow-up is a shared GAO and agency
responsibility. The revised protocols describe GAO's implementation
of this process in further detail, including how toward the end of
the fiscal year, special attention is directed to the
identification of recommendations that are still open.
In addition to seeking clarification of various operational
issues, some agencies raised questions concerning the statements of
our audit and access authorities cited in the protocols. We
provided additional references in some areas to clarify our
position. However, a few of the issues raised by the agencies are
the subject of litigation (Walker v. Cheney, No. 1:02CV00340,
(D.D.C. filed February 22, 2002)); therefore, we made no changes
pending the outcome of that litigation.
I look forward to pilot testing these protocols from December 2,
2002 and lasting through June 30, 2003. After this phase, we will
make any needed refinements based on feedback received and finalize
the protocols. I, along with members of the GAO team, look forward
to using these protocols to continue to serve the Congress and the
American people while maintaining a professional, constructive
working relationship with the federal departments, agencies, and
other entities that are stakeholders in GAO's work. Questions or
comments about GAO's Agency Protocols may be directed to Mr. Gene
L. Dodaro, Chief Operating Officer, at [phone] or via e-mail
at [email protected].

David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States
Contents
Letter
GAO's Agency Protocols



GAO's Agency Protocols

Preface
This document contains the protocols governing the
U.S. General Accounting Office's (GAO) work at federal
departments, agencies, and entities (subsequently referred to in
this document as agencies). The protocols are the general
principles governing GAO's relationships with federal agencies when
GAO conducts its work (e.g., financial audits, program reviews,
evaluations, analyses, and investigations) at these agencies. They
are intended to enhance GAO's working relationships with agencies
by building on practices that have proved successful in the past
and by establishing a framework that will supersede prior
arrangements with the agencies.
The purpose of these protocols is to set forth clearly defined
and transparent policies and practices on how GAO carries out its
work at these agencies. The protocols identify what the agencies
can expect from GAO and what GAO expects of the agencies. They are
expected to cover most situations that arise during the course of
GAO's work. Furthermore, the protocols will help to ensure the
consistency, fairness, and effectiveness of interactions between
GAO and the agencies with which it works. The protocols reflect the
framework of GAO's engagement and audit activities. These
activities include communication between GAO and the agencies,
interactions during the course of GAO's work, and follow-up on
GAO's recommendations. GAO follows modified protocols in work
leading up to congressional testimony and during investigations of
fraud, abuse, or misconduct conducted by its Office of Special
Investigations. These modified protocols are articulated in the
sections of this document entitled Testimony and Office of Special
Investigations.
These protocols are not applicable to the work GAO conducts in
support of its legal opinions and decisions. GAO's General Counsel
issues legal opinions in response to requests from the Congress and
its committees. GAO also has statutory authority to render
decisions on matters such as bid protests and the availability and
use of appropriated funds. Further information about this work can
be found in Bid Protests at GAO: A Descriptive Guide and Principles

of Federal Appropriations Law, Volumes I, II, III, IV, which are
available on GAO's Web site www.gao.gov.
In addition, these protocols are not meant to govern GAO's
relationship with the federal Inspectors General (IG) community.
GAO and agency IGs are all part of the accountability community;
therefore, the relationships between GAO and agency IGs are
considered additional to and separate from these protocols. GAO and
IG interactions are intended to underscore a constructive working
relationship that effectively leverages resources; builds a mutual
knowledge base; and maximizes the oversight of federal programs,
offices, and activities. For example, GAO relies on the work of the
IGs and other auditors to meet the requirements of the Chief
Financial Officers (CFO) Act for audited financial statements.
Through successful working relationships between GAO and the IGs,
agencies have consistently met the CFO requirements. Also, through
the IG's active participation in the Comptroller General's Advisory
Council on Government Auditing Standards, the Domestic Working
Group, and the activities of the Intergovernmental Audit Forums,
GAO and the IGs share information, identify emerging issues, and
achieve broad coordination. Furthermore, at agencies where GAO has
a substantial ongoing audit presence, as a professional courtesy,
GAO meets periodically with representatives of the agency's Office
of Inspector General to (1) coordinate work between GAO and the
Office of Inspector General, (2) achieve efficiencies and minimize
duplication, and (3) identify specific issues that might benefit
from a collaborative effort between GAO and the Office of Inspector
General.
GAO's Mission GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates
federal programs and activities; and provides analyses, options,
recommendations, and other assistance to help the Congress make
effective oversight, policy, and funding decisions. In this
context, GAO works to continuously improve the economy, efficiency,
and effectiveness of the federal government through the conduct of
financial audits, program reviews, evaluations, analyses, legal
opinions, investigations, and other services. GAO's activities are
designed to ensure the executive branch's accountability to the
Congress under the Constitution and the federal government's
accountability to the American people.
GAO supports congressional oversight in several ways. For
example it
• oversees government operations through financial and other
management audits to determine whether public funds are being spent
efficiently, effectively, and in accordance with applicable
laws;


•
evaluates federal policies and the performance of
agencies and programs to determine how well they are
working;


•
analyzes financing for government activities;


•
conducts analyses to assess needed actions and the
implications of proposed actions;


•
conducts investigations to assess whether illegal or
improper activities are occurring; and


•
provides legal opinions to determine whether agencies are
in compliance with laws and regulations.


Further information about the general principles governing GAO's
work for the Congress and GAO's operating plan can be found in
GAO's Congressional Protocols and GAO's Strategic Plan, both of
which are posted on GAO's Web site www.gao.gov.
Sources of GAO's GAO undertakes work through three primary
means:
(1) congressional mandates, (2) congressional requests,


Work
and (3) legal authority allowing GAO to undertake work on its
own initiative that is intended to support the Congress (research
and development work).


GAO's Approach
To effectively support the Congress, GAO must be professional,
objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, and
balanced in all its work. GAO is committed to meeting the highest
level of professional standards while conducting audits,
evaluations, and investigations reflective of its core values of
accountability, integrity, and reliability. GAO performs its audit
and analytical work in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards (GAGAS or the "Yellow Book" standards
which can be found at www.gao.gov). GAO conducts its
investigations-which involve allegations of serious wrongdoing that
may involve potential violations of criminal law-and its testing of
the security of agencies' systems, controls, and property in
accordance with standards established by the President's Council on
Integrity and Efficiency as adapted for GAO's work.


Statutory Responsibilities
Through the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the Congress
established GAO in the legislative branch with the broad role of
investigating "all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement,
and application of public funds" and to "make recommendations
looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures."
Since World War II, the Congress has clarified and expanded that
original charter:


Communication between GAO and Agencies


•
The Government Corporation Control Act of 1945 provides
GAO with the authority to audit the financial transactions of
government corporations.


•
The Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 assigns
GAO the responsibility for establishing accounting standards for
the federal government and for carrying out audits of internal
controls and financial management.


•
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 and the
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 authorize
GAO to conduct program evaluations and analyses of a broad range of
federal activities.


•
The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 and the
Government Management Reform Act of 1994 authorize GAO to audit
agencies' financial statements and annually audit the consolidated
financial statements of the United States.


•
Numerous other laws complement GAO's basic audit and
evaluation authorities, including the Inspector General Act of
1978, providing for GAO-established standards for the audit of
federal programs and activities, and the Competition in Contracting
Act of 1984, providing for GAO's review of protested federal
contracting actions.


GAO is committed to maintaining constructive and continuing
communication with agencies and major components within agencies.
These communications will take several forms, including, as facts
and circumstances warrant, meetings between GAO's Comptroller
General or Chief Operating Officer and the heads of agencies or
their designees at the presidential appointee with Senate
confirmation (PAS) level to discuss areas of mutual interest and
concern.
Other forms of communication include periodic meetings with an
agency's leadership and executives and specific communications with
an agency pertaining to planned and ongoing work. Specifically:


•
At least annually, at agencies where GAO has a
substantial ongoing audit presence, GAO senior executives and
leaders responsible for managing and coordinating GAO's work,
generally known as GAO's agency executive liaisons, will meet with
agencydesignated senior executives, such as an Assistant Secretary
for Administration, an Associate Administrator for Management
Systems, or an Assistant Secretary for a particular program. These
executive-level meetings will help build an understanding of key
and emerging issues; provide an opportunity to discuss GAO's short-
and long-term work plans, as well as the general working
relationship between GAO and the agency, including the agency's use
of GAO's work; and facilitate the discussion of issues associated
with particular work. For the agencies that designate a central GAO
liaison, once an executive-level meeting has been scheduled, as a
professional courtesy, GAO will notify the liaison that the meeting
has been scheduled.


•
When GAO initiates work at an agency, the agency can
expect GAO to designate a primary point of contact who will be
available throughout the engagement to respond to the agency's
requests for information on the status of work and to any concerns
about the work's scope or approach. In turn, GAO expects the agency
to designate a point of contact who is knowledgeable about the
agency's relevant programs and organization and is able to
facilitate GAO's ability to complete its work in a timely manner.
Furthermore, the agency-designated central liaison or point of
contact should be able to, among other things, set up necessary
meetings (such


as entrance, exit, and agency comment meetings),
identify and ensure that GAO meets with the
appropriate agency representatives, help resolve
problems, and coordinate agency comments on any
draft product that may result from the work.
In response to inquiries from agencies not involved in a
particular ongoing review, GAO will provide information only about
the objectives, scope, and methodology of the review; the source of
the work (i.e., mandate, name of the congressional requester(s), or
legal authority allowing GAO to undertake work on its own
initiative that is intended to support the Congress); and the
expected completion date, when known. For congressionally requested
work, further information may be shared after consultation with the
congressional requester(s).
Notification of Before beginning any new engagement that
requires GAO to seek information, data, or both, from an
agency,


GAO Work
GAO generally notifies the agency of the work to be undertaken.
However, when GAO conducts an investigation it does not notify the
agency of the work because to do so might jeopardize the
investigation. GAO's modified protocols for investigations are
described in detail in the Office of Special Investigations section
of this document. To the extent practical, the notice to an agency
will identify the


•
engagement subject;


•
engagement's unique identification number (i.e.,
engagement code);


•
source of the work; • objectives or key questions of the
work;


•
agency(ies) and, when possible, anticipated location(s)
to be contacted;


•
estimated start date for the work;




•
time frame for holding entrance conference between GAO
and the agency;


•
GAO team performing the engagement; and


•
GAO points of contact (name, telephone number, fax
number, and e-mail address).


If the objectives of the work to be performed change
significantly or if the location of the work needs to be modified,
GAO will notify the agency-designated central liaison or primary
point of contact of these changes.
GAO will generally provide written notification to the agencies
involved in the work electronically in an agreed-upon format that
protects the files from alteration. GAO will provide the
notification to the agency-designated liaison or agency-designated
point of contact. If an agency has not designated a central
liaison, GAO will provide the notification to the responsible
agency management official. In some instances, GAO may ask an
agency liaison to distribute the notification to the agency's
respective major components. In addition, if applicable, the
notification letter will be accompanied or followed by a notice of
visit form that includes the appropriate security clearance
information.
For certain types of work to be performed at an agency, GAO may
initially provide only telephone or e-mail message notification.
Such work includes
(1) congressional requests for quickly developed testimony based
on new work, (2) work that is to be completed within a short time
frame, and (3) requests for information on the implementation
status of recommendations made in issued reports. GAO's
recommendation follow-up process is discussed in detail in the
Follow-up on GAO Recommendations section of this document. When GAO
notifies an agency of work by telephone or e-mail message, it will
subsequently provide a notification letter in instances


Entrance Conference
when the work is on an issue with widespread national
implication or is resource intensive.
An entrance conference is a meeting that GAO holds with agency
officials at the start of an engagement. GAO anticipates that an
agency will attempt to arrange for its personnel to be available
for an entrance conference no later than 14 calendar days after
receiving a request for a meeting. At the entrance conference, GAO
will discuss the (1) source of the work; (2) roles and
responsibilities of the GAO staff; (3) information needs (e.g.,
data and access to agency officials); (4) key objectives (research
questions); (5) sites where GAO expects to conduct its work, when
known; and (6) need for any precautions to protect the data and
information, such as special clearances. To the extent possible,
GAO also will provide the agency with an estimate of how long the
work will take. During the entrance conference, GAO will also ask
agency officials to designate a key contact to assist, as
applicable, in obtaining temporary office space in agencies where
GAO does not already have office space as well as fax and telephone
equipment needed for GAO to complete its work at the agency. In
addition, GAO staff will request that agency officials identify
knowledgeable agency personnel and discuss the kinds of information
that would be useful to carry out the work's objectives, such as
available studies or electronic files.
The attendance of key agency officials-those responsible for
work related to GAO's key objectives- at the entrance conference
enhances the opportunity for a substantive exchange of information.
If the review includes work at separate agency field locations, or
if requested by the agency, GAO will consider holding additional
entrance conferences when work is begun at field locations.


Closeout Meeting at Field Locations
In certain cases, GAO's work involves crosscutting
governmentwide reviews at more than one agency, including reviews
on such issues as performance management and budgeting. For
example, GAO's work on how well agencies are incorporating a
results orientation into their budget decisions and resource
allocation process involves all major agencies. For such a
governmentwide review, an entrance conference is generally held
with applicable central agencies, such as the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) or the Office of Personnel Management. If
requested, GAO will consider either including all of the agencies
under the review at a single entrance conference or holding a
separate entrance conference with specific agencies.
Generally, GAO will not hold an entrance conference in those
instances when it is (1) responding to congressional requests for
testimony based on ongoing or recently completed work, (2)
performing work that is to be completed within a short time frame
and is closely related to ongoing work, or (3) updating the
implementation status of recommendations made in issued
reports.
After conducting work at a field location, to the extent
appropriate, GAO staff will hold a closeout meeting with agency
officials who are responsible for the operations of the field
location and have oversight for issues related to the work's
objectives. The purpose of the closeout meeting is to ensure that
GAO staff have been provided with a full understanding of the
information they have gathered at a field location and its
relevance to the engagement's objectives. In deciding on whether or
not a closeout meeting will be held, GAO will consider the
preferences of the agency officials and whether the work has
involved interviews with numerous people, over a significant period
of time, at that particular location.


Exit Conference with Agency
At the closeout meeting GAO staff may discuss the implications
of the information gathered at that field location. Such
discussions may identify additional relevant information and thus
lead to further data gathering at the location. In addition, as
appropriate, the closeout meeting may cover the extent to which
data and documents were made available and access to relevant field
officials was provided. Generally, work undertaken at individual
field locations provides only location-specific information that
needs to be evaluated in the context of findings from other
locations. Therefore, GAO's preliminary conclusions or
recommendations are not discussed at the closeout meeting.
GAO holds an exit conference with an agency after completing its
data collection and analysis. The purpose of the exit conference is
to confirm that the critical facts and key information used to
formulate GAO's analyses and findings are current, correct, and
complete. GAO officials responsible for the completion of the
engagement will participate in the meeting. Agency officials who
have oversight of the issues related to the engagement's objectives
are also expected to attend the meeting. Written material, if
provided, will be used to confirm that the critical facts and key
information used to formulate GAO's analyses and findings are
current, correct, and complete. Observations, preliminary
conclusions, and potential recommendations that flow from the
factual information collected may be discussed but are not provided
in writing.
Agency Comments As required by generally accepted government
auditing standards, GAO provides responsible agency officials and
other directly affected parties with an opportunity to review and
provide comments on a draft of a report before it is issued. The
amount of time available for the
Page 16 GAO-03-232SP GAO's Agency Protocols
agency to comment is determined on a facts-and-circumstances
basis. However, GAO will not seek comments from an agency or
affected party when


(1)
disclosure of an investigation's results could pose risks
to individuals and their confidentiality or



(2)
premature disclosure of information could compromise the
results of the work. GAO follows modified protocols for work
undertaken by its criminal investigators. These modified protocols
are described in the section of this document entitled Office of
Special Investigations.

In keeping with its values of being fair and balanced in all
its work with all the agencies it reviews, GAO, when determining
the amount of time available for comment, will consider (1) the
timing needs of the requester,


(2)
the extent to which substantive discussions have already
been held between GAO and the agency, (3) the length of time spent
on the engagement, and (4) the amount of resources GAO and the
agency have expended to answer the engagement's objectives. Using
these criteria, GAO will generally give an agency from 7 to 30
calendar days to comment on a report unless otherwise required by
law. See 31 U.S.C. §718(a) for a list of financial institutions
that by law must receive 30 days for comment. The exact time will
vary depending on the nature of the engagement and the needs of the
Congress. In rare cases, the Comptroller General may grant an
extension beyond 30 calendar days if the agency shows that an
extension is necessary and will likely result in a more accurate
report. See 31 U.S.C. §718(b).


GAO reserves the right to issue the report to the congressional
requester(s) if the comments are not received within the time
allotted. In such cases, the reason for not including the agency
comments will be stated in the report. GAO will usually not solicit
agency comments if a report summarizes information from a recently
issued GAO report. In addition, testimony statements generally are
not provided to agencies for comment. As previously noted, GAO
follows modified protocols for testimonies, which are described
separately in the section of this document entitled Testimony.
GAO prefers that agencies provide written comments, and GAO is
requesting that the written comments be provided electronically.
However, GAO will accept comments provided in hard copy, orally, or
in an unsigned e-mail message. GAO is requesting that the agencies
provide their written comments electronically in order to comply
with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. This act requires that
persons with disabilities have access to and use of information and
data that are comparable to the access and use provided to persons
without disabilities. See 29 U.S.C. §794d. GAO's goal is to provide
its products in a format that is compatible with assistive
technologies such as text-to-sound screen reader software.
Submitting an electronic file ensures that an agency's comments are
accurately reproduced in GAO's accessible product format. Contact
GAO's Director for Publications and Dissemination, at (202)
512-7055, for specific information about how to electronically
transmit agency comments to GAO. Comments on classified or
restricted reports should be transmitted in the manner agreed to by
GAO and the agency.
GAO expects an agency to provide (1) a single position on GAO's
findings, conclusions, and recommendations-including a resolution
of disparate agency views if necessary-and (2) the rationale for
any disagreement with GAO's draft report. When an agency's
designated senior official provides oral comments, GAO will
summarize these comments and give the designated official an
opportunity to respond to GAO's characterization of the agency's
position. The GAO senior executive official responsible for the
completion of the engagement, along with the staff that
performed

Procedures for Soliciting Agency Comments
the work, will participate in this meeting. In addition, for
governmentwide work, GAO will generally request that comments be
provided by the agency(ies) with whom the entrance conference was
held.
Consistent with GAO's Congressional Protocols, the congressional
requester(s) will be notified before a draft report is provided to
an agency for comment and will be offered a copy of the draft for
informational purposes when the draft report is provided to the
agency for comment. Furthermore, under 31 U.S.C. §718(b)(2), the
Senate Governmental Affairs and House Government Reform committees
may request copies of any draft report generated under GAO's legal
authority to undertake work on its own initiative (research and
development work) when the draft report is sent to the agency for
comment. GAO will advise these committees when such a draft is sent
to the agency for comment.
GAO does not have classification authority for its products.
Therefore, for those products that contain national security or
sensitive information, GAO will request that the agency perform a
review for this type of information and that the review's results
be communicated in writing to GAO. When a product requires a
classification review, upon written receipt of the results of the
agency's review, GAO will notify the congressional requester(s)
that the agency has completed its classification review. Consistent
with GAO's Congressional Protocols, GAO will then offer the
requester(s) a draft of the product that is with the agency for
comment. Both the agency's classification review and comments on
the product must be completed within the time frame identified in
GAO's letter transmitting the draft product.
GAO transmits most draft reports for comment to agencies
electronically in an agreed-upon format that protects the files
from alteration. GAO will provide the draft report to the
agency-designated liaison or agencydesignated point of contact. If
an agency has not designated a central liaison, GAO will provide
the notification to the responsible agency management official.
Classified or otherwise sensitive draft reports are transmitted
through other means. A transmittal letter accompanies each draft
report to inform recipients of GAO's request for written or oral
comments and the time frame within which the comments are due. The
transmittal letter also states that the draft report is not final;
is therefore subject to change; and must be safeguarded to prevent
its transmittal to unauthorized personnel, alteration, or premature
release.
Draft GAO products are at risk of being prematurely released
once they leave GAO's control. In some limited circumstances, when
there is concern that a draft product may be prematurely released,
GAO will take extra precautions in obtaining agency comments. For
example, GAO may decide not to transmit a draft report
electronically and instead provide limited printed copies of the
draft to the agency. In addition, GAO may determine that the
particular sensitivity of a draft report's information or
recommendations requires restrictive comment procedures. In these
instances, GAO may request that agency officials review the draft
report in the presence of GAO staff and that these officials
provide the agency's consolidated comments at that time. In such
cases, the draft report will be available for review only at a
meeting with GAO staff. Although agency officials may take notes as
they review the draft, at the conclusion of the meeting, all copies
of the draft report will be returned to GAO.


Disposition of Agency Comments
After receiving agency comments, GAO considers their substance,
revises the draft report as appropriate, and indicates in the
issued report whether the agency agreed or disagreed with GAO's
findings, conclusions, and recommendations. If the agency disagrees
with GAO's findings, conclusions, and recommendations, GAO will
accept further explanations from agency officials in support of the
agency's position. However, any available documented evidence
supporting this explanation must be provided simultaneously to
allow for verification if it materially affects the content of the
report. When the agency disagrees with a finding, conclusion, or
recommendation, GAO identifies the disagreement and states its own
position in the issued report. An agency's electronic or hard-copy
written comments are typically reproduced in an appendix to the
issued report. Unsigned e-mail describing an agency's comments will
not be printed in the issued report. However, GAO identifies the
disposition of this e-mail message in the Agency Comments section
of the report, just as it does for oral comments.
On occasion, the congressional client(s) who requested the work
may ask to see the agency's comments before GAO's final report is
issued. Copies of written comments on a draft GAO report may be
shared with the requester(s) if the requester(s) specifically
ask(s) GAO for the comments and GAO has evaluated the comments and
developed its position on them. Comments will not be shared with
anyone else, including congressional staff not associated with the
request, the media, or other external parties, until the report is
released and posted on GAO's Web site www.gao.gov.
Testimony Congressional committee or subcommittee Chairs
frequently request that GAO prepare testimony statements and that
GAO witnesses appear at hearings. GAO is required to follow the
rules of the Senate and the
Page 21 GAO-03-232SP GAO's Agency Protocols
House and relevant committees or subcommittees in connection
with any such testimonies. Accordingly, GAO's Agency Protocols are
modified for these requirements as described in this section. For
example, because most hearing appearances are requested and
statements are delivered within short time frames or are based on
work that is new and quickly developed, ongoing or already
completed, GAO generally does not hold an entrance conference with
agency officials. When agency officials need to be contacted for
information that was not previously obtained or was not part of a
previous review, GAO will notify the agency-designated central
liaison, generally by telephone or e-mail message. If the agency
has not designated a liaison, GAO will provide notification to the
responsible agency management official.
For testimony based on new or ongoing work, regardless of
whether it is a preliminary or a final product, GAO will obtain the
views of agency officials on the information collected from the
agency to


(1)
validate the accuracy of the data gathered and


(2)
discuss the implications that flow from the data
gathered. The agency's views are generally obtained through a
meeting with the official designated to speak for the agency or
through other means, such as a telephone conference call. The views
of the agency official will be considered in the development of the
testimony statement. If the agency is unable to schedule a meeting
to provide its views within the time frame specified by GAO, the
testimony statement will reflect that GAO was unable to obtain the
agency's views. Generally, when the testimony statement is based on
recently reported work, GAO will not seek agency views.
Additionally, when GAO testifies on investigations it conducts, it
does not obtain testimony statement views because such actions
could jeopardize future proceedings. GAO's modified protocols
related to investigations are explained in greater detail in the
separate section of this document entitled Office of





Disposition of Work
Special Investigations. GAO will distribute its written
testimony statement in accordance with the rules of the Senate or
House, including the applicable committees' or subcommittees'
rules.
Consistent with generally accepted government auditing
standards, GAO prefers using published products to communicate the
final results of its work because they
(1) communicate the results consistently to all interested
parties, (2) make the results available to the public, (3) build a
readily available subject-matter record for future use, and (4)
facilitate follow-up to determine whether appropriate corrective
measures have been taken when needed. However, an oral briefing may
be used, for example, when GAO (1) determines that further work is
not warranted; (2) provides information that is readily available
to the public, such as that in Inspector General reports; or (3)
develops a summary of previously issued GAO products that does not
contain any new findings, conclusions, or recommendations. In these
instances, GAO will notify the agency-designated central liaison or
point of contact that the engagement has been terminated without a
written product.
GAO will provide electronic copies of reports to agencies upon
issuance or release. GAO teams responsible for the engagement will
provide to the agency contact via e-mail the final electronic
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provide the agencies with hard copies of the report, if requested.
In addition to providing copies of the product to the agencies
involved, GAO's goal is to post written products on its Web site
www.gao.gov within 24 hours of release. All congressionally
requested products will have a targeted issue date that is
determined through negotiations between GAO and the requester(s).
However, the congressional requester(s)


Follow-up on GAO Recommendations
may ask GAO to restrict the release of a product for up to 30
calendar days beyond the targeted issuance date. GAO reserves the
right to release any product that has been issued to the
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GAO's recommendations are intended to improve the economy,
efficiency, and effectiveness of an agency's operations and to
improve the accountability of the federal government for the
benefit of the American people. Consequently, GAO monitors
agencies' progress in implementing these recommendations. To
accomplish this monitoring, GAO maintains a database of open
recommendations. As new products with recommendations are released,
their recommendations are incorporated into the database. This
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their record maintenance and monitoring responsibilities.
GAO's goal is to remove all closed recommendations from the
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fiscal year, special attention is directed to this effort. GAO
removes a recommendation from its database after determining that
(1) the agency has implemented the recommendation or has taken
action that in substance meets the intent of the recommendation or
(2) circumstances have changed and the recommendation is no longer
relevant. The open recommendations database is available to the
public on GAO's Web site www.gao.gov. Specific recommendations can
be identified because the database is searchable by agency,
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can use the database to prepare for hearings and budget
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Agencies also have a responsibility to monitor and maintain
accurate records on the status of recommendations. These
requirements are detailed in two OMB Circulars. OMB Circular 50
provides the policies and procedures for use by executive agencies
when considering reports issued by GAO and Inspectors General,
other executive branch audit organizations, and nonfederal auditors
where follow-up is necessary; and OMB Circular A-123 addresses
internal management control systems. Among the requirements
included are that the agency (1) appoint a top-level audit
follow-up official, (2) maintain accurate records on the status of
recommendations, and (3) assign a high priority to following up on
audit recommendations.
Additionally, when GAO issues a report containing
recommendations to the head of an agency, 31 U.S.C. §720 requires
that the agency head submit a written statement of the actions
taken by the agency on GAO's recommendations to the Senate
Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on
Government Reform not later than 60 days after the date of the
report. The agency's statement of action shall also be submitted to
the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations with the first
request for appropriations that is submitted more than 60 days
after the date of the report. If the congressional requester has
asked that the distribution of the report be restricted, as
provided by GAO's Congressional Protocols, the 60-day period will
begin on the date the report is released.


Office of Special Investigations
Because agency personnel serve as the primary source of
information on the status of recommendations, GAO requests that the
agency also provide it with a copy of the agency's statement of
action to serve as preliminary information on the status of open
recommendations. GAO will follow up by discussing the status of
recommendations with cognizant agency officials; obtaining copies
of agency documents supporting the recommendations' implementation;
and performing sufficient work to verify that the recommended
actions are being taken and, to the extent possible, that the
desired results are being achieved.
The Office of Special Investigations (OSI) is a specialized unit
within GAO that is staffed by criminal investigators. OSI's mission
is to improve the performance and ensure the accountability of
government by conducting oversight investigations concerning
allegations of serious wrongdoing that may involve potential
violations of criminal law. When OSI investigations disclose
potential violations of law, the information is referred to the
appropriate law enforcement agency, such as the Office of Inspector
General or the Department of Justice. OSI investigations typically
focus on allegations of corruption, fraud, misconduct, contract and
procurement improprieties, conflicts of interest, and ethics
violations in federal programs or activities.
OSI also engages in proactive operations that test the security
of agencies' systems, controls, and property. These operations are
coordinated with appropriate authorities, such as the Department of
Justice. OSI will inform the agency of any serious security issues
discovered during these operations shortly after the operations
have been completed and before any of the related findings are made
public. In addition, OSI's work involves law enforcement-related
issues or programs.
OSI also utilizes GAO's FraudNET, an automated system that
affords the public an opportunity to report allegations of fraud,
waste, abuse, and mismanagement of federal funds. Typically, OSI
refers this information to the appropriate agency's Office of
Inspector General or another law enforcement agency for action. GAO
expects to receive a report from the agency on the results of the
action.
OSI conducts its investigations and other work in accordance
with the standards established by the President's Council on
Integrity and Efficiency as adapted for GAO's work. In accordance
with these standards, all OSI work is conducted by personnel who
collectively possess the required knowledge, skills, and abilities
to perform it and who exercise due professional care (e.g.,
thoroughness, appropriate use of investigative techniques,
impartiality, objectivity, protection of individual rights, and
timeliness) in the performance of their work. OSI seeks evidence of
wrongdoing either in conjunction with or independently of audits
and evaluations. It focuses on physical, testimonial, documentary,
and analytical evidence that is relevant, material, and admissible
in criminal and civil proceedings. To ensure admissibility in
subsequent judicial proceedings, OSI performs its work in
accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution,
statutes, and court decisions applicable to obtaining evidence in
criminal and civil cases.
Like GAO's other units, OSI expects that an agency will promptly
comply with requests for access to its records and to agency
personnel directly involved with the matter under investigation.
Furthermore, there should be no interference with an investigator's
ability to obtain relevant information concerning an investigative
matter. When OSI becomes aware of an ongoing executive branch
investigation pertaining to a matter OSI is currently
investigating, OSI will coordinate its work with the law
enforcement agency involved.


Access to Agency Information
Investigations by their very nature do not support the use of
entrance or exit conferences. Nor do the standards of the
President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency require these
conferences. Revealing information at the start of an investigation
may lead to the destruction or concealment of evidence, thus
jeopardizing the investigation. However, in investigations that
will result in a public report or testimony, OSI will brief agency
officials after the investigation has been completed and before the
information is made public. On occasion, OSI works jointly with
other GAO units or independently on compliance or evaluation
issues. In those cases, the provisions of GAO's standard agency
protocols are applicable.
The Congress relies on GAO to examine virtually every federal
program, activity, and policy, as well as institutions that rely on
federal funds. Generally accepted government auditing standards
make GAO analysts and financial auditors responsible for planning,
conducting, and reporting their work in a timely manner without
internal or external impairments to the work. These standards
require that analysts and financial auditors promptly obtain
sufficient, competent, and relevant evidence to afford a reasonable
basis for any related findings and conclusions. Therefore, prompt
access to all records and other information associated with these
activities is needed for the effective and efficient performance of
GAO's work. While for the most part, agencies have provided GAO
with requested information within agreed-upon time frames, the
following sections describe the steps GAO is authorized to follow
if it believes it is experiencing unreasonable delays in obtaining
the requested access.

Handling and Disclosing Information
The Congress has given GAO broad statutory rights of access to a
wide range of federal agency documents. The basic access authority
is established in 31 U.S.C. §716(a), which requires each agency to
give GAO "information the Comptroller General requires about the
duties, powers, activities, organization, and financial
transactions of the agency." GAO is also authorized to inspect an
agency's records to secure the required information. This authority
includes access to inter- and intra-agency memorandums and
electronic files as well as sensitive information, including
business-confidential or proprietary data. While the Freedom of
Information Act, the Trade Secrets Act, and other statutes may
generally protect certain categories of information from disclosure
by an agency to the public, this protection does not justify
withholding the information from GAO. GAO has a statutory right to
access predecisional and deliberative documents unless the
President or the Director of OMB certifies that certain standards
are met under 31 U.S.C. §716(d)(1)(C), as added by the General
Accounting Office Act of 1980. (For further information see Senate
Report No. 96-570, Feb. 8, 1980, pp. 6-8.) Aside from the general
access statute, various forms of special legislation govern GAO's
access to certain types of agency records and information, such as
tax, social security, financial institution, and employee benefit
plan records and information. In addition, under certain
circumstances, GAO has the authority to access information from
other entities receiving federal funds, such as the District of
Columbia, state and local governments, and private sector
contractors.
GAO secures all information obtained during the course of its
work. When GAO needs access to classified, proprietary, or
otherwise sensitive information, it will comply with all applicable
statutory requirements, including obtaining the necessary security
and other clearances for assigned GAO staff. Under 31 U.S.C.
§716(e), GAO is obligated to give the information the


Obtaining Access to Information
same level of confidentiality and protection required of the
agency. Because of its statutory access authority, GAO generally
does not sign a nondisclosure or other agreement as a condition of
gaining access to sensitive or proprietary data to which it is
entitled.
While GAO is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, its
disclosure policy follows the spirit of the act consistent with
GAO's duties and responsibilities to the Congress. It is GAO's
policy not to provide records to the public that originated in
another agency or a nonfederal organization. Instead, GAO refers
those who request such records to the originating organization.
Further information on the public availability of the documents and
data that form GAO's workpapers can be found in 4 C.F.R. part
81.
GAO will grant congressional Members, upon their written
request, access to its workpapers at the GAO site or will provide
copies of selected workpapers only after a product that results
from the workpapers in question has been made publicly available.
This access is subject to legal and privacy considerations, such as
those concerning taxpayer return information, protected banking
information, grand jury information, and credit card account
information listed in travel vouchers.
GAO's work involves different collection approaches to meet the
evidence requirements of the generally accepted government auditing
standards. Such evidence falls into four categories:


•
physical evidence (e.g., the results of direct inspection
or observation);


•
documentary evidence (e.g., information created by and
for an agency, such as letters, memorandums, contracts, management
and accounting records, and




Resolving Disputes Over Access
other documents in various formats, including
electronic databases);


•
testimonial evidence (e.g., the results of face-to-face,
telephone, or written inquiries, interviews, and questionnaires);
and


•
analytical evidence (developed by or for GAO through
computations, data comparisons, and other analyses).


GAO expects that an agency will promptly comply with its
requests for access to the agency's records so that it can obtain
all categories of needed evidence. Such access generally includes
the ability to make and retain copies of the evidence. GAO also
expects that it will receive full and timely access to agency
officials who have stewardship over the requested records; to
agency employees who are responsible for the programs, issues,
events, operations, and other factors covered by such records; and
contractor personnel supporting such programs, issues, events, and
operations. In addition, GAO expects that it will have access to
the agency's facilities and other relevant locations. GAO will
endeavor to conduct work related to requests for information with
minimal interruption to the agency's operations.
Timely access to information is in the best interests of both
GAO and the agencies. GAO needs to efficiently use the time
available to complete its work to minimize the impact on the agency
being reviewed and to meet the time frames of the congressional
requester(s). Therefore, GAO expects that an agency's leadership
and internal procedures will recognize the importance of and
support prompt responses to GAO's requests for information. For the
most part, agencies have provided GAO with requested information
within agreed-upon time frames. However, if GAO believes it is
experiencing unreasonable delays in obtaining requested access, GAO
officials will contact the agency's leadership for resolution and
notify the congressional requester(s) of the work affected, as
appropriate. Consistent with GAO's reporting standards, when there
is difficulty in obtaining timely access to information that
adversely affects either the completion of an engagement, its
scope, or both, GAO's product will reflect that GAO had this
difficulty. In addition, unreasonable delays in gaining access to
an agency's information can reduce the time available for the
agency to provide its views or comments on GAO's work.
To ensure GAO's access to information maintained by federal
agencies, the Congress provided in 31 U.S.C. §716(b) for
enforcement actions to compel the production of a record. First,
the Comptroller General sends a written request to the agency head
for the record that has not been made available to GAO within a
reasonable time after an initial request. The agency head then has
20 calendar days to respond, either by providing the record for
inspection or by explaining why it is being withheld. If the agency
head does not provide the record, the Comptroller General may file
a report describing the access issues with the President, the
Director of OMB, the Attorney General, the agency head, and the
Congress. If the agency head does not provide the record within 20
calendar days of the report's filing, the statute authorizes the
Comptroller General to bring a civil action in federal district
court to enforce GAO's access rights. If the Comptroller General is
successful in this action, the court will issue an order directing
the agency head to produce the record.
Extremely limited exceptions to the authority are established in
31 U.S.C. §716(b) for a civil enforcement action to compel access
to a record. The most notable exception is if the President or the
Director of OMB certifies that (1) the record could be withheld
under either of two Freedom of Information Act exemptions in 5
U.S.C. §552(b)(5) (deliberative process) and (b)(7) (law
enforcement records) and (2) disclosure could reasonably be
expected to impair substantially the operations of the government-a
requirement that, as the legislative history of Section 716 makes
clear, presents a very high standard for an agency to meet. As
previously noted, the fact that materials may be exempt from public
disclosure does not justify withholding them from GAO. Moreover,
GAO's statutory right of access to an agency's records is not
diminished by the certification provisions of the legislation.
Rather, the certification simply allows the President or the
Director of OMB to preclude the Comptroller General from seeking a
judicial remedy in certain limited situations. In the event there
is a certification, generally accepted government auditing
standards require that the limitations to GAO's access to records
be identified in the product and that the audit findings be
adjusted accordingly.
Press Policy GAO does not initiate press conferences, but senior
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