were included in the bill which would enable the General Accounting Office to go ahead with the work. During consideration of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1955, an amendment was offered on the floor of the Senate to increase the General Accounting Office appropriation by $500,000 to carry out the purposes of section 206. The amendment was rejected. Further information regarding section 206 is set forth in House Report No. 2264 of the 84th Congress. This report was prepared by a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Operations. The subcommittee requested the Comptroller General to make a thorough review of the position of the General Accounting Office with respect to section 206 and to recommend its repeal, modification, or implementation, depending upon which course of action appeared desirable. After conforming to this directive, the General Accounting Office recommended that section 206 be amended to authorize the Comptroller General to conduct examinations of expenditures of public funds by the executive agencies to the extent he deems necessary, or upon request of the chairmen of the Committees on Appropriations or the Committees on Government Operations of the Senate or the House of Representatives. Four bills (H.R. 1171, H.R. 5941, H.R. 6900, and H.R. 6999) were introduced in the 85th Congress to amend section 206. Two of these bills (H.R. 6900 and H.R. 6999) were identical and would have carried out the above recommendations of the Comptroller General. H.R. 6900 was reported favorably (H. Rept. 567, 85th Cong.) by the House Committee on Government Operations but was not acted upon in the House of Representatives. RESTRICTIONS IN APPROPRIATION BILLS Studies by the Comptroller General on useless restrictions in appropriation bills, as required by the Legislative Reorganization Act, were completed and transmitted to Congress in 1949. The Senate Committee on Government Operations requested the Bureau of the Budget, the Department of the Treasury, and the General Accounting Office to draft jointly such legislation as, in their view, the report indicated was necessary. Further action by the committee resulted in amendments to the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946 (Public Law 81-830, Sept. 23, 1950), which placed into permanent law restrictions that had been repeated in various appropriation acts year after year, and eliminated unnecessary provisions of existing laws. A number of restrictions previously appearing in appropriation bills have been eliminated without new legislation. FUNCTIONS OF THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES EXTENDED On the staffing of the Appropriations Committees, it was originally recommended that four qualified staff assistants be assigned to each of the subcommittees on a year-round basis. However, at the insistence of the leaders of the House Committee on Appropriations, a change was made and the Appropriations Committees were authorized by the act to employ whatever staff they considered necessary. The Senate Committee on Appropriations gave considerable attention during 1947-49 to the study of permanent appropriations and a subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations reviewed these items during their 1948 hearings. For many years the Senate Committee on Appropriations had a total of two staff members assisting on all of the appropriation bills. Beginning in 1947, the staff has been increased to a total of 22 staff assistants employed by the committee during the 86th Congress. EVALUATION OF THE 1946 ACT AND PROVISIONS FOR A LEGISLATIVE BUDGET Immediately after its creation under the provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the Senate Committee on Government Operations proceeded to carry out its duties assigned under provisions of section 102 (1) (g) (2) (c) that— such committee shall have the duty of *** evaluating the Hearings were held by the committee in February of 1948 on "Evaluation of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946,” to determine wherein the act had been ineffective in an attempt to strengthen it wherever possible. Following the hearings in April 1948, the committee in its report (S. Rept. 1175, 80th Cong.) commented on congressional fiscal control as follows: The Congress was completely unable to establish a legislative budget in the 1st session of the 80th Congress, but did establish one in the 2d session after creating a subcommittee to do the work. Without a staff, without an appropriation, and without benefit of review of the President's budget, the legislative budget can have little meaning. The method of establishing the legislative budget and the whole matter of fiscal control needs to be overhauled and strengthened. The Senate Committee on Government Operations also held extensive hearings on the "Organization and Operation of the Congress" from June 6 to 27, 1951. At that time, the Congress had had more than 4 years of experience and experimentation with the workings of the act. The hearings were organized to direct testimony to major topics corresponding to the chief objectives of the original act, one of the most important of which was the strengthening of fiscal controls.3 At the conclusion of the hearings the committee submitted to the Congress a summary which contained 16 of the principal recommendations for improvements in the fiscal procedures of the legislative branch, made by Members of Congress and others who testified before the committee. REPORT ON APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPENDITURES, FISCAL YEAR 1948; WORKSHEET FOR FEDERAL BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 1949 In 1947-48 the committee staff made an extensive study of the potential expenditures of the Federal Government based upon appropriations for fiscal year 1948 and budget estimates for fiscal year 1949. 8 * Hearings, "Organization and Operation of the Congress," 82d Cong., p. 674. During 1947 the committee submitted a report on appropriations for fiscal year 1948 (S. Rept. 779, 80th Cong.). Tables set forth in the report reflected all funds available for expenditure during the current fiscal year for all agencies of the Federal Government from any source. This included not only appropriation requests for the current fiscal year, but amounts available for expenditure under permanent appropriations authorized by general legislation, funds accrued under "prior year," "multiple year," and "no year" appropriations, contract authorizations, authority to spend from operating or special funds, and authority granted to borrow funds in previous fiscal years, as well as any such funds which would be carried forward and available for expenditure in the succeeding fiscal year. Data shown in the report was not available in consolidated form in any single Government publication. Figures on appropriations were obtained from the Senate Committee on Appropriations and were verified with Bureau of the Budget summaries. Other available funds were painstakingly accumulated, department by department and agency by agency, and were certified as to their accuracy and completeness by those concerned. Where all or a portion of any fund was expended during fiscal year 1948, the total figure was included. It was the purpose of the report to show the total potential cost of the Government, which included costs shown in the budget and those not shown in the budget, in a simplified form readily understandable by Members of Congress, which constituted a report on proposed expenditures on an annual accrued basis. The report contained a committee recommendation that a pocket size nontechnical summary of the budget be prepared each year to facilitate understanding the Federal budget. It was emphasized that a summary of this type would eliminate the necessity of individuals, organizations, and public officials searching through 1,600 pages of statistics and descriptive data and, furthermore, it would obviate the need for shipping over 5 pounds of bound paper, which the information required could be made available on a summary basis. The 1948 budget document contained 1,626 pages. This deluge of statistics and lack of uniformity in terminology tended to confuse Members of Congress as well as private citizens. The need for a pocket size simplified budget was readily recognized and the following year the Bureau of the Budget released a new booklet entitled "The Federal Budget in Brief" which has been published annually since 1950.* Many Federal agencies had adopted practices of not reporting funds which were committed but unexpended, or of transferring or committing the expenditure of appropriated funds which had been allocated by the Congress for specific projects to other agencies for later expenditure. This permitted the transferring agency to discontinue reporting these unexpended balances to the Congress, although the transferee agency continued to have the funds available and unexpended for an indefinite period. Such funds were included in the report under the agency to which reassignments were made, except in those instances where the agency to which the original authorization was made included them in its certification of prior year funds available for expenditures during fiscal year 1948. 4 See comments of the Bureau of the Budget, pt. V, of this report on "The Federal Budget in Brief", p. 138. Following the submission of budget requests for fiscal year 1949, the committee staff consolidated all budget estimates, including carryover and operating funds, into brief summaries in tabulated form reflecting budget items in a condensed, simplified form, often on a single line, under the title "Worksheet for Federal Budget, Fiscal Year 1949." The report attempted to simplify the budget in a brief and concise form, giving all figures, many of which were carried over from previous years and were not included in the budget estimates, or would be carried forward to the succeeding fiscal year. The 1,500 pages of the proposed budget submitted by the President were condensed into a summary of 17 pages, and included fiscal year 1948 appropriations and supplemental requests, and fiscal year 1949 budget estimates, for comparative purposes. RESULTS OF THE COMMITTEE'S STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Results of the study pointed out that potential expenditures far exceeded amounts approved in appropriation bills. For example, in 1948 new appropriations approved totaled $31,880,693,797, while potential expenditures not entirely subject to appropriation review in fiscal year 1948 totaled $6,971,539,282. This latter figure represented 18 percent of the potential cost to the taxpayer. Due to important omissions, especially of "prior year" and "no year" appropriations, it was found that potential expenditures of the Federal Government for fiscal year 1949 would amount to $43,443,118,818, which was $3,774,124,835 more than estimated by the President in his budget message. The study indicated a need for improvements in our budgetary and fiscal systems. To accomplish these improvements the committee made the following recommendations: (1) Budget requests should include all items of expenditure, and should be presented in summary form. (2) It should be required that all receipts be covered into and all disbursements made from the Treasury, within appropriation limits annually established by Congress. Where receipts are to be retained for specific purposes, or exact amounts of allocations cannot be determined on an annual basis, regular accounting procedures should be established for examination and approval by the Congress. (3) Exact types of appropriations to fit all contingencies should be determined and defined by the Congress, and used without exception. Each appropriation should carry a symbol to show the type to which it belongs. (4) Departments or agencies to which specific authorizations are made, and from which funds are reallocated to other agencies for disbursement, should be required to continue to indicate exact balances remaining in the original appropriation until the entire amount is expended or reverts to the Treasury. This study and analysis by the committee staff provided a background for the subsequent consideration of the Hoover Commission recommendations on budgeting and accounting in the Federal Government, particularly in the field of budgeting. Some of the recommendations of the committee and a majority of the Hoover Commission recommendations were subsequently incor porated in the provisions of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, which provided for a revised and modernized budget program, full disclosure of the results of Federal financial operations, and more effective fiscal control. Detailed information concerning the provisions of the 1950 act are found on pages 79-85 of this report. Continuing its study and analysis of the Reorganization Act of 1946, the Committee on Government Operations filed a report in the Senate on March 28, 1950, entitled "Increasing Cost of the Federal Government" (S. Doc. 150, 81st Cong.). The report disclosed that the trend of Government expenditures was rapidly increasing. Senator McClellan, chairman of the committee, emphasized the dangers of a fiscal policy of spending beyond the Government's income by incurring large deficits. For further information on Senate Document 150, see "Balanced Budget," pages 223–229 of this report. RESCISSION OF APPROPRIATIONS In July 1947, the Committee on Government Operations directed the staff to review and analyze monthly Statements of Apportionments and Allotment Accounts, Standard Form 1118, submitted by executive departments and agencies to the General Accounting Office. During the 2d session of the 80th Congress, eight staff memorandums were prepared analyzing these reports. The analysis of these reports revealed that departments and agencies of the Government had over $26 million available in appropriated funds which were excess to their needs. In addition, it was noted that certain duplication and overlapping appeared in the methods for accounting and reporting of public funds by the departments and agencies of the Government. The staff also noted that there were questionable reporting of the status and condition of appropriated funds. A copy of each staff memorandum containing the committee's analysis and recommendation was forwarded to the Committee on Appropriations urging rescission of those funds. The Committee on Appropriations subsequently informed the committee that the appropriations were rescinded in accordance with its recommendations. STUDY OF GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING SYSTEMS, 1947 During the summer of 1947, the staff of the committee on Government Operations also made a study of the accounting and reporting systems in the Federal Government. The study involved examination, analysis, and use of fiscal reports submitted by executive agencies to the General Accounting Office, the Treasury Department, and the Bureau of the Budget, including the varying concept of obligations in these agencies. METHOD OF MAINTAINING ACCOUNTS Section 309 of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 (42 Stat. 25) provides as follows: The Comptroller General shall prescribe the forms, systems, and procedure for administrative appropriation and fund accounting in the several departments and establish |