The Human Touch

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

New Directions

Technological innovation, national security, the aging baby boomer generation and the need to hold government accountable for its performance are among the overriding themes that should guide congressional decision making and government management well into the 22nd century, Comptroller General David Walker believes. If he has his way, GAO will play a large role in shaping how Congress thinks about these issues.

Walker, who is nearly two years into his 15-year term, wants the watchdog agency to take a "constructive engagement" approach to its work, whereby GAO not only does its usual audits and investigations but also identifies helpful best practices and benchmarking information. Walker also is positioning GAO to take a broader look at government management. "We're trying to look at more cross-governmental issues because there are more and more issues that are requiring multiple agencies, multiple levels of government and multiple governments to be involved in order to effectively address the challenges," he says.

For example, although the federal government now enjoys a healthy budget surplus, deficits inevitably will recur once the baby boomers begin retiring and receiving federal health and other benefits, putting pressure on a variety of government programs and agencies. "We are trying to help the Congress focus on some of the underlying challenges associated with those demographic trends," Walker says. "It's important that we focus not just on the immediate but on the emerging issues before they become crises."

Think tanks, consulting groups and others can contribute to these debates, but GAO remains the best positioned to study long-range, integrative issues, Walker insists. "There are many people out there who assert that they can do what GAO does," he says. "They assert it, but I don't believe it. We are a wholly owned entity of the Congress, which gives us a competitive advantage. We have certain statutory rights, including the right to gain access to certain types of information." GAO also has a breadth of knowledge unparalleled in other organizations. Perhaps most important, Walker adds, "the Congress listens to what we have to say."