Summary:
What GAO Found
GAO found that the policies and procedures for the Senate Commission on Art’s (Commission) operations and oversight and the Library of Congress’s (Library) operations and reporting were sufficiently documented and adequately designed and consistent with applicable federal internal control standards to help ensure that the Senate Preservation Fund’s (Fund) receipts, disbursements, and investments would be authorized in advance, promptly and accurately accounted for, and supported. For fiscal years 2013 and 2014, the Fund’s recorded transactions consisted of a total of 110 investment and operating-related disbursement transactions. There were no operating-related receipt transactions during this period. GAO found that 101 of the 110 investment and operating-related disbursement transactions were executed in accordance with the Commission’s and the Library’s policies and procedures, and that all transactions were in compliance with applicable laws that GAO deemed significant to the objectives of its audit. In addition, the Commission and the Library followed their respective oversight and reporting policies and procedures over the activity that occurred during the period.
GAO provided a draft of this report to the Chief Financial Officer of the Library of Congress and the Secretary of the Senate. The Library’s Chief Financial Officer provided comments in an e-mail on May 27, 2015, in which she concurred with the draft report’s findings and conclusions. In addition, the Secretary of the Senate provided oral comments on June 5, 2015, in which she concurred with the draft report’s findings and conclusions.
Why GAO Did This Study
In September 2003, the Fund was established within the Department of the Treasury. The Fund is available to the Commission to fund activities related to acquiring works of art, historical objects, documents, and materials relating to historical matters, or exhibits in the Capitol and Senate office buildings. The Library provides financial management and disbursing services and support to the Commission. GAO is required to audit the Fund and report the results to the Commission.
GAO’s objectives were to determine to what extent (1) the Commission’s and the Library’s policies and procedures were documented and designed to help ensure that the Fund’s recorded transactions would be authorized in advance, promptly and accurately accounted for, and supported, and (2) the Commission and the Library executed Fund transactions for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 in accordance with these policies, procedures, and applicable laws.
For more information, contact J. Lawrence Malenich at (202) 512-9399 or malenichj@gao.gov.
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