So this part of our load is increasing. Overall we had 204 reports to committees and individual members in 1969, 321 in 1970, and 163 reports in the first 6 months of 1971.

A second factor that affected our need for additional positions is expansion and growth of Government programs, and congressional efforts to intensify and broaden GAO reviews of programs to better assist the Congress in its oversight responsibilities.

Here we are referring primarily to the Legislative Reorganization Act that went through last year and which I will cover in more detail in a few minutes.

We have found it necessary to request for fiscal year 1972 an increase of 177 average positions over our revised fiscal year 1971 estimate of 4,744, or a total of 4,921 average total staff for fiscal year 1972.

The requested increase of 177 is made up of 162 professional positions and 15 support positions. The increase will be applied primarily to activities involving direct assistance to the Congress and to reviews of growing domestic civil programs.

IMPACT OF CONGRESSIONAL ACTIONS ON GAO PROGRAMS

The general purpose of certain sections of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 was to provide for better use of the General Accounting Office as an arm of the Congress in examining and analyzing the management of existing Federal programs and further increasing our staff assistance to legislative committees during their consideration of proposals or appropriations for new or revised Federal programs. Section 204 directs the Comptroller General to review and analyze the results of Government programs and activities carried on under existing law, including the making of cost-benefit studies, when ordered by either House of Congress, or upon his own initiative, or when requested by any committee of the House or Senate, or joint committee of Congress, having jurisdiction over such programs and activities. Section 204 also directs the Comptroller General to have available in the General Accounting Office employees who are expert in analyzing and conducting cost-benefit studies of Government programs.

On request, these employees are to assist committees analyze costbenefit studies furnished by Federal agencies or conduct cost-benefit studies of programs under their jurisdiction.

Section 231 directs the Comptroller General, at the request of any committee or committee staff, to explain and discuss any report made by the General Accounting Office which would assist in consideration of proposed legislation, including requests for appropriations, or in its review of any program or operation of any Federal agency within its iurisdiction.

There is nothing particularly new here, Mr. Chairman. It has never been spelled out this way in the law, but I don't consider this as a new function or any change in our workload.

We anticipate that these provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 will increase the assistance requested by congressional committees for reviews of existing Federal programs and activities and on proposed legislation.

Other provisions also will result in increased assistance to the Congress, such as section 201 which requires the Comptroller General to

cooperate with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director, Office of Management and Budget, in developing, establishing and maintaining a standardized information and data processing system for budgeting and financial data.

NEW AUDITING FUNCTIONS-U.S. CAPITOL

Also section 451 makes subject to GAO audit those private organizations which perform services in or on the U.S. Capitol Buildings or Grounds. We have been doing some of this as you know at the request of the committee or the Congress.

Mr. ANDREWS. Such as what?

Mr. STAATS. The stationery account, for example. But this will bring all of any commercial-type activity conducted on the Capitol Grounds or in the buildings under our audit.

Mr. ANDREWS. How about the Historical Society that sells books? Mr. STAATS. I believe so.

Mr. KELLER. Any activity that operates in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds.

Mr. ANDREWS. Guide service?

Mr. STAATS. Yes, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. They were put on the Federal payroll under the Reorganization Act?

Mr. STAATS. Yes. Canteens, anything of a commercial nature.

Mr. CASEY. Do you do that automatically or upon request?

Mr. STAATS. Under this we have to do it automatically.

Mr. ANDREWs. Beauty shops?

Mr. KELLER. In the past we have been doing a number of these on request.

Mr. ANDREWS. Now it is mandatory?

Mr. KELLER. Yes, sir.

Mr. ANDREWS. Proceed.

COST ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD AND PROCUREMENT COMMISSION

Mr. STAATS. We expect that two other significant legislative actions will continue to impact directly or indirectly on GAO work. These are the establishment of the Cost Accounting Standards Board, chaired by the Comptroller General, and the establishment of the Commission on Government Procurement of which the Comptroller General is a member.

Nine GAO staff members are presently assigned full time to the Procurement Commission, which as you know was established to review all aspects of Government procurement to study the statutes, policies, and practices followed by executive agencies in procuring facilities, material and services.

AUDIT OF EXCHANGE STABILIZATION FUND

A number of recent legislative acts provide for audits by the General Accounting Office. For example, Public Law 91-599, which authorizes U.S. participation in increases in the resources of certain international financial institutions, requires an audit of the administra

tive expenses of the Exchange Stabilization Fund by the General Accounting Office. GAO had never audited any aspects of the Exchange Stabilization Fund, Mr. Chairman, before. Now we are called upon to audit the administrative aspects of the Fund.

Mr. ANDREWS. Tell us briefly what the Exchange Stabilization Fund is.

Mr. STAATS. The Fund is in the Treasury Department. It originated back in 1934 and is designed to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to buy and sell currencies and gold, and enter into stabilization agreements, in order to stabilize the exchange value of the dollar.

The Fund, aside from the initial funding established back in 1934. is made up of in a sense profits they make on the buying and selling of these currencies. It has never been subject to any audit outside of the Treasury Department itself, and it has been regarded as a confidential fund. Then last year the Congress asked that we audit the administrative costs of the Fund.

OTHER PROGRAMS CONTRIBUTING TO EXPANSION OF ACTIVITIES

Other legislation which increases Federal program levels or creates new programs will require expansion of GAO's auditing and review activities. Public Law 91-230, for example, expands programs of assistance for elementary and secondary education and includes GAO access to records provisions as do the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Clean Air Amendments of 1970, the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970, the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970, and the Emergency Rail Services Act of 1970, to name just a few.

But they do reflect the point I was making, the increase in programs and new programs which we will, of course, have to audit.

A provision of the Armed Forces appropriation authorization (1970) directed us to make a study of profits made by contractors and subcontractors under defense and certain other Government contracts for which there was no formally advertised competitive bidding.

We have completed our report as you know, Mr. Chairman, but we expect there will be followup work on this, the hearings and so on. As you know, we have been limited in our audit of Internal Revenue Service activities because the Treasury Department has denied GAO access to information regarding tax administration activities.

Recently, however, at the request of the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation, we have, as agent for the committee, begun a study of the handling and collection of taxpayers' delinquent accounts. The purpose of the study is to evaluate procedures and controls used, to identify problem areas, if any, and to make recommendations to the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation if we believe improvements are needed.

In preparing our budget, we have considered, to the extent practicable, the impact of legislative actions, such as those identified, on GAO resource requirements.

I would like to turn now to the major program areas covered by the GAO.

TAXPAYERS' DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS

Mr. ANDREWS. Let me ask you a question about the study you said you have begun on the collection and handling of taxpayers' delinquent accounts.

I read a newspaper story recently about the number of people who were delinquent and the amount they owed, if they owe it, and it was a staggering amount. Have you moved in on that field?

Mr. STAATS. To respond to your question, Mr. Chairman, it is our hope that we can develop and provide for the Joint Committee recommendations and suggestions on improving procedures here which will deal with the problem of handling and collection of taxpayers' delinquent accounts.

We have staff already at work on this study. We will be glad to keep the committee advised with respect to what we come up with. Mr. ANDREWS. I wish you would because this is an area which I think has gotten out of hand. Unquestionably the Internal Revenue Service has the power to collect these taxes. They can impound salary checks, they can send a man to the penitentiary. They don't need any more power. Somebody has been dragging their feet on collecting these taxes if what I read was correct, and you have confirmed in a certain way what we discussed; namely, that big sums of money are due the U.S. Government by delinquent taxpayers.

Mr. STAATS. That is correct.

Mr. EVANS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. ANDREWS. Yes.

Mr. EVANS. It strikes me one problem may be the fact I believe the interest paid on delinquent tax is 6 percent, which is a lot lower than you can get on the prime rate today.

Mr. ANDREWs. I don't think that is what he and I have been talking about. These delinquencies run back over a long period of time, not for the purpose of collecting interest where the interest that they collect are for overpayments. People do that deliberately. Isn't that right?

Mr. STAATS. That used to be the case.

Mr. ANDREWS. Have they stopped that?

Mr. KELLER. Perhaps but following up Mr. Evans' point, I think it is conceivable that some one who has a large amount due and thinks it is a debatable legal point could delay payment quite a while. If he eventually pays he only pays 6-percent interest. If he has to borrow money on the commercial market, the way it has been lately, the interest would be higher than that.

Mr. ANDREWS. You are going into this field now for the first time. to study the handling and collection of taxpayers' delinquent accounts? Mr. STAATS. Yes; for the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue. Taxation.

DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO THE CONGRESS

Mr. STAATS. The GAO staff resources applied to activities involving direct assistance to the Congress have more than tripled from 238 manyears in 1966 to about 724-man-years in 1971. We anticipate that these activities will increase further to 760 man-years in 1972. Nearly 20 percent of our professional staff resources is applied to this work.

This direct assistance work results primarily from specific legislative action by the Congress and requests of congressional committees, and individual Members of the Congress. During fiscal year 1970, we issued 321 reports, covering a wide variety of studies and inquiries requested by committees and individual members. This compares to 204 in 1969. For the first half of fiscal year 1971, we issued 163 reports and at December 31, 1970, we had on hand an additional 117 requests on which our staffs were performing required work.

Audits and reviews requested by committees and individual members and those directed by legislation, of course, constitute the bulk of our direct assistance to the Congress. However, we also provide direct assistance to the Congress through:

Testimony on the results of our audits and reviews of Federal programs and operations and on other matters.

I appeared some 21 times last year, Mr. Chairman, on this, and other members of our staff appeared at other hearings.

Direct assignment of GAO staff to committees.

Reports on bills under consideration by congressional committees and advice in legal, legislative, accounting, and auditing matters.

Advice and assistance on House and Senate financial and administrative operations, including accounting and auditing services provided and request audits of legislative branch activities, including concessionaires.

Liaison activities with congressional committees and individual members provided by the attorneys in our Office of Legislative Liaison and other members of our staff.

Furnishing information to committees, individual Congressmen and their staffs on a wide variety of matters.

Together with representatives of the Library of Congress and the Clerk of the House, we are also providing direct assistance to the House Administration Committee in developing a program for the use of computers by the House of Representatives. The first and second progress reports of the Committee's Working Group on Automatic Data Processing for the House of Representatives were submitted to the House Administration Committee in October 1969 and October 1970.

EXAMPLES OF REQUESTS FOR REVIEWS RECEIVED FROM COMMITTEES

AND INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

Not only has the number of requests from committees and individual members increased, but the magnitude of the work involved in some of these has been substantial. I would like to give you just a few examples.

MILITARY ACTIVITIES

We are continuing our reviews of selected automatic data processing systems as requested by the House Committee on Appropriations. These reviews are concerned with the effectiveness of the Department of Defense's management of the development and installation of these systems and the acquisition of related equipment. Since July 1970, we have issued two reports to the committee-one on the management of automatic data processing systems in the Department of Defense (August 1970) and one on problems in the acquisition of