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PART XIII, TITLE 31

CHAPTER 1.-THE NATIONAL BUDGET AND AUDIT

SYSTEM

THE BUDGET

Section 11. President to transmit Budget to Congress; contents thereof.

The President shall transmit to Congress during the first fifteen days of each regular session, the Budget, which shall set forth his Budget message, summary data and text, and supporting detail. The Budget shall set forth in such form and detail as the President may determine

* * June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title II, § 201(a), 42 Stat. 20, amended Sept. 12, 1950, c. 946, Title I, Pt. I, § 102(a), 64 Stat. 832; Aug. 1, 1956, c. 814, § 1(a), 70 Stat. 782; Aug. 25, 1958, Pub.L. 85-759, § 1, 72 Stat. 852.

Section 15. Estimates or requests for appropriations, etc., not to be submitted by department officers or employees except by request.

No estimate or request for an appropriation and no request for an increase in an item of any such estimate or request, and no recommendation as to how the revenue needs of the Government should be met, shall be submitted to Congress or any committee thereof by an officer or employee of any department or establishment, unless at the request of either House of Congress. June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title II, § 206, 42 Stat. 21.

Section 16. Bureau of Budget; Director and Deputy Director; duties; preparation of Budget, etc.

There is created in the Executive Office of the President a bureau to be known as the Bureau of the Budget. * The Bureau, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe, shall prepare the Budget, and any proposed supplemental or deficiency appropriations, and to this end shall have authority to assemble, correlate, revise, reduce, or increase the requests for appropriations of the several departments or establishments. July 31, 1956, c. 804, Title I, §§ 103 (a), 105, 70 Stat. 736.

Section 24. Form and manner of submission of departmental requests; cost-based budgets.

(a) Requests for regular, supplemental, or deficiency appropriations which are submitted to the Bureau by the head of any department or establishment shall be prepared and submitted as the President may determine in accordance with the provisions of section 11 of this title.

(b) The requests of the departments and establishments for appropriations shall, in such manner and at such times as may be determined by the President, be developed from cost-based budgets.

(c) For purposes of administration and operation, such costbased budgets shall be used by all departments and establishments and their subordinate units. Administrative subdivisions of appropriations or funds shall be made on the basis of such cost-based budgets. June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title II, § 216(a), 42 Stat. 23, amended Sept. 12, 1950, c. 946, Title I, pt. I, § 102 (h), 64 Stat. 834; Aug. 1, 1956, c. 814, § 1(b), 70 Stat. 782.

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

Section 41. Creation; control and direction of; certain offices abolished; officers, employees, books, papers, etc., transferred to General Accounting Office; seal thereof.

There is created an establishment of the Government to be known as the General Accounting Office, which shall be independent of the Executive departments and under the control and direction of the Comptroller General of the United States. June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title III, § 301, 42 Stat. 23.

*

Section 43. Same; terms of office; removal from office; retire

ment.

Except as hereinafter provided in this section, the Comptroller General and the Assistant Comptroller General shall hold office for fifteen years. The Comptroller General shall not be eligible for reappointment. The Comptroller General or the Assistant Comptroller General may be removed at any time by joint resolution of Congress after notice and hearing, when, in the judgment of Congress, the Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller General has become permanently incapacitated or has been inefficient, or guilty of neglect of duty, or of malfeasance in office, or of any felony or conduct involving moral turpitude, and for no other cause and in no other manner except by impeachment. Any Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller General removed in the manner provided in this section shall be ineligible for reappointment to that office. When a Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller General attains the age of seventy years, he shall be retired from his office.

Any Comptroller General who shall be so retired for age after serving at least ten years in his office, or who completes his term, shall receive an annuity during the remainder of his life equal to the salary payable for his office at the time of retirement or completion of term, except that the annuity of any Comptroller General

who completes his term shall be reduced by one-fourth of 1 per centum for each full month he is under the age of sixty-five at such completion. Any Comptroller General who becomes permanently disabled from performing his duties shall be retired and shall receive an annuity during the remainder of his life equal to the salary payable for his office at the time of retirement if he has served at least ten years therein or equal to one-half of such salary if he has served less than ten years. The annuities provided for herein shall be paid by the General Accounting Office. No person receiving benefits under this Act shall receive any other retirement benefits under any other law of the United States. (June 10, 1921, ch. 18, title III, § 303, 42 Stat. 23; July 28, 1953, ch. 256, 67 Stat. 229.)

Section 44. Certain powers and duties transferred to General Accounting Office; conclusiveness of balances certified by Comptroller General.

All powers and duties which on June 30, 1921, were conferred or imposed by law upon the Comptroller of the Treasury or the six auditors of the Treasury Department, and the duties of the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants of the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury relating to keeping the personal ledger accounts of disbursing and collecting officers, shall, so far as not inconsistent with this chapter and sections 71, 471, 581, and 581a of this title, be vested in and imposed upon the General Accounting Office and be exercised without direction from any other officer. The balances certified by the Comptroller General shall be final and conclusive upon the executive branch of the Government. The revision by the Comptroller General of settlements made by the six auditors shall be discontinued, except as to settlements made before July 1, 1921. June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title III, § 304, 42 Stat. 24.

Section 49. Forms, systems, and procedure prescribed by Comptroller General.

The Comptroller General shall prescribe the forms, systems, and procedure for administrative appropriation and fund accounting in the several departments and establishments, and for the administrative examination of fiscal officers' accounts and claims against the United States. June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title III, § 309, 42 Stat. 25.

Section 53. Investigations and reports by Comptroller General.

(a) The Comptroller General shall investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds, and shall make to the President when requested by him, and to Congress at the beginning

of each regular session, a report in writing of the work of the General Accounting Office, containing recommendations concerning the legislation he may deem necessary to facilitate the prompt and accurate rendition and settlement of accounts and concerning such other matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds as he may think advisable. In such regular report, or in special reports at any time when Congress is in session, he shall make recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures.

(b) He shall make such investigations and reports as shall be ordered by either House of Congress or by any committee of either House having jurisdiction over revenue, appropriations, or expenditures. The Comptroller General shall also, at the request of any such committee, direct assistants from his office to furnish the committee such aid and information as it may request.

(c) The Comptroller General shall specially report to Congress every expenditure or contract made by any department or establishment in any year in violation of law.

(d) He shall submit to Congress reports upon the adequacy and effectiveness of the administrative examination of accounts and claims in the respective departments and establishments and upon the adequacy and effectiveness of departmental inspection of the offices and accounts of fiscal officers.

(e) He shall furnish such information relating to expenditures and accounting to the Bureau of the Budget as it may request from time to time. June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title III, § 312, 42 Stat. 25.

Section 54. Information furnished to Comptroller General by departments and establishments.

All departments and establishments shall furnish to the Comptroller General such information regarding the powers, duties, activities, organization, financial transactions, and methods of business of their respective offices as he may from time to time require of them; and the Comptroller General, or any of his assistants or employees, when duly authorized by him, shall, for the purpose of securing such information, have access to and the right to examine any books, documents, papers, or records of any such department or establishment. The authority contained in this section shall not be applicable to expenditures made under the provisions of section 107 of this title. June 10, 1921, c. 18, Title III, § 313, 42 Stat. 26.

CHAPTER 1A.-ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING

Section 66a. Establishment and maintenance of systems-Duties of agency heads; information and controls to be covered.

(a) The head of each executive agency shall establish and maintain systems of accounting and internal control designed to provide

(1) full disclosure of the financial results of the agency's activities;

(2) adequate financial information needed for the agency's management purposes;

(3) effective control over and accountability for all funds, property, and other assets for which the agency is responsible, including appropriate internal audit;

(4) reliable accounting results to serve as the basis for preparation and support of the agency's budget requests, for controlling the execution of its budget, and for providing financial information required by the Bureau of the Budget under section 21 of this title.

(5) suitable integration of the accounting of the agency with the accounting of the Treasury Department in connection with the central accounting and reporting responsibilities imposed on the Secretary of the Treasury by section 66b of this title.

Conformation with standards and requirements
prescribed by Comptroller

(b) The accounting systems of executive agencies shall conform to the principles, standards, and related requirements prescribed by the Comptroller General pursuant to section 66(a) of this title.

Accrual basis

(c) As soon as practicable after August 1, 1956, the head of each executive agency shall, in accordance with principles and standards prescribed by the Comptroller General, cause the accounts of such agency to be maintained on an accrual basis to show the resources, liabilities, and costs of operations of such agency with a view to facilitating the preparation of cost-based budgets as required by section 24 of this title. The accounting system required by this subsection shall include adequate monetary property accounting records as an integral part of the system. Sept. 12, 1950, c. 946, Title I, pt. II, § 113, 64 Stat. 836, as amended Aug. 1, 1956, c. 814, § 2(b), 70 Stat. 783.

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