Summary

GAO furnished comments to the House Rules Committee on current legislative proposals regarding the reform of congressional oversight of Government programs. The major issues involve the goals of oversight reform, including improvements in program management accountability and in policy-making procedures; budget, legal, organizational, and program entities to be reviewed; the specific review responsibilities of congressional committees, legislative support agencies, and executive agencies; and the scope of oversight reform. Two House bills now pending were analyzed as to the projected effects of their enactment. H.R. 2 calls for specified Government programs to undergo reauthorization at 10-year intervals, the assistance of congressional support agencies in preparing a program inventory for congressional attention, congressional committee plans for periodic program reexaminations, continuous inspection of regulatory programs and ranking of program effectiveness by the executive branch, a listing of tax expenditures coordinated with reviews of Federal programs, and a variety of housekeeping measures. In most respects, H.R. 65 parallels H.R. 2, but it contains certain additional provisions, including annual reporting on program status and publication of an annual catalog of interrelated Federal activities by the Comptroller General.