H.R. 3077--The Inspector General Act Amendments of 1985

GAO testified on the provisions of H.R. 3077 that would: (1) establish statutory inspectors general at the Departments of Justice and the Treasury, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); (2) extend the protections and requirements of the Inspector General (IG) Act of 1978 to audit and investigative groups in most executive agencies not currently covered by the act; and (3) ensure uniformity and improve the reliability of inspectors general's semi-annual reports to Congress. GAO noted that Justice and the Treasury are the only two federal departments without statutory inspectors general. GAO found that: (1) the FEMA IG office lacked adequate staffing resources to conduct internal audits and failed to comply with federal audit resolution and follow-up requirements; (2) some agencies had no audit coverage, did not require audit heads to report to the head of the agency, or had no procedures for coordination of the audit; and (3) agencies reported data to Congress that did not reflect the audit resolution process.