Request for Comment on Reporting of Donations to Congress

GAO commented on a congressional request for legislation requiring that federal agencies authorized to accept and use donations of money, property, or personal services annually report the details of each accepted donation to Congress. GAO held that it would not draft legislation requiring federal agencies to report the details of their donations, since: (1) under existing legislation, it had not encountered any difficulty in obtaining access to any information from federal agencies concerning the donations of funds or property; (2) some information concerning donations could be abstracted or obtained from the Department of the Treasury's publications, from the quarterly reports the agencies submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations, or from annual budget estimates and justifications the agencies submitted to Congress; and (3) the agencies indicated that detailed information on donations was available and would be supplied if requested by Congress or its individual members.