Financial Management: Audit of the Centennial of Flight Commission for Fiscal Year 2003 and though May 19, 2004

The Centennial of Flight Commission (Commission) was created on November 13, 1998, by the Centennial of Flight Commemoration Act (Public Law 105-389, as amended by Public Law 106-68). The purpose of the Commission is to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. The Commission is to provide recommendations and advice to the President, the Congress, and federal agencies on the most effective ways to encourage and promote national and international participation and sponsorships in commemoration of the centennial of powered flight. We are required by the act to audit the financial transactions of the Commission. This report presents the results of our audit of the Commission's financial transactions for fiscal year 2003 and through May 19, 2004, with cumulative information since the Commission's inception. We previously reported the results of our audits on Commission financial transactions for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, 2001, and 2002. This will be our final audit of the Commission because, in accordance with Public Law 105-389, the Commission must issue its final report to the President and the Congress no later than June 30, 2004, after which it has 60 days to terminate its operations. The Commission issued its final report on April 20, 2004, and terminated its operations by June 1, 2004.