November 15, 2004
HP-538
Performance & Accountability Report FY 2004
On behalf of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, I am pleased to present
our Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 Performance and Accountability Report. This
report provides clear information on Treasury's operations,accomplishments
and challenges over the past year. Treasury aids national prosperity by
developing policies that stimulate economic growth and job creation as well as maintaining public trust and confidence in our economic and financial
systems.
In FY 2004, Treasury focused on its core missions of economy and finance. In FY 2004, Treasury worked to implement the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 as well as other tax relief efforts. Treasury moved forward with improvements in our core functions in the areas of domestic and international economies, banking oversight, tax law compliance, cash and debt management, and the production of coins
and currency. We also continue to work on streamlining our nation's regulatory framework to ensure the integrity of the financial sector and promote the growth of financial services worldwide.
Treasury is making the nation safer by detecting, disrupting and dismantling the financial sources of terrorism. During this year we created the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), a new office that centralizes policy-making and coordinates Treasury's efforts to eradicate terrorist funding and protect the integrity of financial systems. This office also fights financial crime, enforces economic sanctions against
rogue nations, and assists in the ongoing search for Iraqi assets.
Regarding the management and reporting of finances, Treasury has again received an unqualified opinion on our financial statements. This accomplishment demonstrates the accuracy and reliability of the information presented. Treasury also met most of its performance targets for the year, and I have determined that the enclosed performance data are reliable and complete. During FY 2004, we continued our emphasis on
ensuring that Treasury has strong internal controls in place to minimize the risk of waste, fraud, and erroneous payments. We also intensified our efforts to identify and reduce improper payments across Treasury and continued our progress toward addressing material management control weaknesses.
As we look ahead, Treasury will continue its work to generate economic growth, increase the number of jobs for our citizens, and keep our financial systems strong and secure. Treasury will develop and implement strategies to find and eliminate sources of funding for terrorists and to detect and pursue financial criminals. Finally, for our customers, America's taxpayers, Treasury will continue to work very hard to provide excellent
service, efficiency and value.
Sincerely,
John W. Snow
Secretary of the Treasury
REPORTS