Federal Budget: Opportunities for Oversight and Improved Use of Taxpayer Funds Page: 3 of 48
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- GAO
SAccountability- Integrity- Reliability
Highlights
Highlights of GAO-03-1030T, testimony
before the Committee on Ways and
Means, House of RepresentativesWhy GAO Did This Study
The hearing today deals with the
important congressional obligation
to exercise oversight over the use
of taxpayer funds, recognizing that
waste, fraud, abuse, and
mismanagement are not victimless
activities. When resources are
diverted for inappropriate, illegal,
inefficient, or ineffective purposes,
both taxpayers and legitimate
program beneficiaries are cheated.
Beyond preventing obvious abuse,
government also has an obligation
to modernize its practices and
processes and fundamentally
reexamine and reprioritize its
activities to meet the demands and
needs of today's changing world.
Tackling areas at risk for fraud,
waste, abuse, and mismanagement
will require determination,
persistence, and sustained
attention by both agency managers
and Congressional committees. In
addition, there is a need to
fundamentally review and reassess,
the proper role of the federal
government, how the government
should do business in the future,
and-sometimes--who should do
the government's business in the
21St century. Periodic review of
programs on the mandatory and
discretionary sides of the budget,
as well as tax preferences, can
prompt a healthy reassessment of
our priorities and of the changes
needed in program design,
resources and management to
achieve results. Congressional
support and oversight will be key.
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-1030T.
To view the full product, , click on the link
above. For more information, contact Susan
J. Irving, (202) 512-9142, irvings@gao.gov.FEDERAL BUDGET
Opportunities for Oversight and Improved
Use of Taxpayer FundsWhat GAO Found
This testimony focuses on program reviews, oversight, and stewardship of
taxpayer funds in three tiers: (1) areas vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse,
and mismanagement. For example, payments made to ineligible recipients
drain resources that could otherwise go to the intended beneficiaries of a
program. Everyone should be concerned about the diversion of resources
and subsequent undermining of program integrity. (2) improving the
economy, efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs and activities to
enhance and maintain government performance. (3) fundamental
reassessment and reprioritization of government programs, policies &
activities to meet the challenges of the 21st century, especially in light of the
demographic tidal wave looming on our fiscal horizon.
Each of these tiers is relevant to the areas on which the Committee is
focusing attention as part of this hearing: Social security programs,
Medicare, and tax compliance and preferences.
* The Social Security Administration (SSA) must modernize its disability
programs to bring them in line with the current status of science,
medicine, technology, law, and labor market conditions. GAO placed
federal disability programs on its high-risk list in 2003 to focus attention
on this multi-agency challenge. SSA needs also to ensure the integrity of
its programs, and in particular should give continuing management
attention to problems in the SSI program.
* Medicare is one of the largest and most complex programs in the federal
government, making it highly vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and
mismanagement. GAO designated the Medicare program as a high-risk
area in 1990, and the risk remains. Weaknesses in contractor
performance and agency oversight increase the risks of improper
payments, and-along with difficulties in payment setting-lead to
wasteful spending. Structural reform is also necessary given the
pressures of demographics and rising health care costs.
* Ensuring that taxpayers meet their tax obligations under an increasingly
complex tax code has long presented the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
with daunting challenges. The potential revenue losses and the threat to
voluntary compliance make the collection of unpaid taxes a high-risk
area. Congress and others have been concerned that declines in IRS's
enforcement programs are eroding taxpayers' confidence in the fairness
of our tax system. Further, any reassessment of government's activities
must include tax preferences. These often are not subject to the same
review processes applied to spending programs but, given their growth
and importance, they must be part of any comprehensive approach to
the challenges ahead.United States General Accounting Office
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United States. General Accounting Office. Federal Budget: Opportunities for Oversight and Improved Use of Taxpayer Funds, text, July 17, 2003; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc294799/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.