THE FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, FINANCE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 9, 2005 Serial No. 109–3 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house http://www.house.gov/reform U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 99–783 PDF WASHINGTON : 2005 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:41 May 25, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 D:\DOCS\99783.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut HENRY A. WAXMAN, California DAN BURTON, Indiana TOM LANTOS, California ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida MAJOR R. OWENS, New York JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York JOHN L. MICA, Florida PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois CHRIS CANNON, Utah WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee DIANE E. WATSON, California CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland GINNY BROWN-WAITE, Florida BRIAN HIGGINS, New York JON C. PORTER, Nevada ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of KENNY MARCHANT, Texas Columbia LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia ——— PATRICK T. MCHENRY, North Carolina BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania (Independent) VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina MELISSA WOJCIAK, Staff Director DAVID MARIN, Deputy Staff Director ROB BORDEN, Parliamentarian TERESA AUSTIN, Chief Clerk PHIL BARNETT, Minority Chief of Staff/Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, FINANCE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania, Chairman VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York TOM DAVIS, Virginia MAJOR R. OWENS, New York GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee EX OFFICIO HENRY A. WAXMAN, CALIFORNIA MIKE HETTINGER, Staff Director TABETHA MUELLER, Professional Staff Member NATHANIEL BERRY, Clerk ADAM BORDES, Minority Professional Staff Member (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:41 May 25, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 D:\DOCS\99783.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on February 9, 2005 ......................................................................... 1 Statement of: Hammond, Donald V., Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury ......................................................................................................... 71 Martin, Jack, Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Education ........ 62 Walker, David M., Comptroller General, U.S. Government Accountability Office .............................................................................................................. 8 Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Hammond, Donald V., Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury, prepared statement of ................................................................. 74 Martin, Jack, Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Education, prepared statement of ................................................................................... 66 Platts, Hon. Todd Russell, a Representative in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, prepared statement of ...................................................... 3 Porter, Hon. Jon C., a Representative in Congress from the State of Nevada, prepared statement of .................................................................... 101 Towns, Hon. Edolphus, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York, prepared statement of ........................................................... 5 Walker, David M., Comptroller General, U.S. Government Accountability Office: Information concerning credit program costs ......................................... 87 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 12 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:41 May 25, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 D:\DOCS\99783.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:41 May 25, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 D:\DOCS\99783.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 THE FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2005 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, FINANCE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:04 p.m., in room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Todd Russell Platts (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Platts, Towns, Dent, Marchant, West- moreland, Duncan, and Foxx. Staff present: Mike Hettinger, staff director; Dan Daly, counsel; Tabetha Mueller, professional staff member; Jessica Friedman, leg- islative assistant; Nathaniel Berry, clerk; Adam Bordes, minority professional staff member; and Jean Gosa, minority assistant clerk. Mr. PLATTS. A quorum being present, this hearing of the Com- mittee on Government Reform will come to order. As we begin the 109th session, it is great to be serving again with my ranking member, Mr. Towns from New York, as well as our other colleagues on the majority and minority side. I look for- ward to an active and productive 2-year session as we go forward from this hearing of the committee today. As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we owe our citizens no less than full accountability. At the very least, we need to ensure that assets are protected from loss or misuse. Ideally, we need to ensure that every dollar is spent wisely and for its intended purpose. We should also understand fully the cost of the Government’s oper- ations and the implications of our financial commitments. To fulfill these important responsibilities, Congress began requir- ing that the Federal Government would produce audited financial statements beginning in fiscal year 1997. The 2004 financial report of the United States and accompanying audit performed by the Government Accountability Office were released on December 15th of last year. This deadline represents an important milestone. It is a huge improvement over the days not too long ago when agencies took nearly 6 months to close their books. Timely financial informa- tion is necessary for responsible budget decisions, and in times of fiscal constraint, as many Federal agencies are required to do more with less, real time financial data becomes a critically important tool. For the 8th straight year, unfortunately, GAO was unable to pro- vide assurance as to the reliability of the information that (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:41 May 25, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 D:\DOCS\99783.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 2 underlies the Federal Government’s financial statements. As has been the case year after year, GAO reported significant material deficiencies. Additionally, this year a new issue came to light that warrants consideration. Eleven agencies restated their financial in- formation for the previous fiscal year. Frequent restatements can undermine the credibility of our financial reports. During this hearing we will discuss the possible reasons for these restatements and ways that we can improve the process going for- ward to ensure that information is reliable as well as timely. Perhaps the most important benefit of the audit process is learn- ing how to correct systemic weaknesses. We have seen improve- ment since the inception of the Government-wide audit in 1997, but until we can be assured that the reporting information is reliable and GAO can issue a clean opinion, we will not benefit from the full value of this report. The Government Reform Committee has a responsibility to en- sure sound financial management through appropriate oversight, and this hearing will establish the basis for our work in the 109th Congress. Our witnesses today will provide the subcommittee with insight on the audit findings of the consolidated financial statements and discuss areas that need improvement. Today we are pleased to have the Honorable David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States; the Honorable Jack Mar- tin, who will represent the Office of Federal Financial Management at the Office of Management and Budget, and who is CFO at the Department of Education; and Donald Hammond, Fiscal Assistant Secretary at the Department of Treasury. We will certainly look forward to the testimony of each of our witnesses. [The prepared statement of Hon. Todd Russell Platts follows:] VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:41 May 25, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 D:\DOCS\99783.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 3 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:41 May 25, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 D:\DOCS\99783.TXT HGOVREF1 PsN: HGOVREF1 4 Mr. PLATTS. I now yield to our ranking member, the gentleman from New York, for