,,iv #aacth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,,res4 #ede ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,april #g1 #bjad ,mr4 ,renacci 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,conaway1 ,mr4 ,sherman1 and ,mr4 ,murphy of ,florida7 submitted the following resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform ,,resolution ,expressing the sense of the ,house of ,representatives that the ,federal ,government should adopt and use accrual basis generally accepted accounting principles for ,government budgeting1 financial reporting1 and performance evaluation purposes4 ,whereas ,president ,thomas ,jefferson instructed ,secretary of the ,treasury ,albert ,gallatin in #ahjb3 ,if ''' there can be added a simplification of the form of accounts in the ,treasury ,department1 and in the organization of its officers1 so as to bring everything to a single centre1 we might hope to see the finances of the ,union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books1 so that every member of ,congress1 and every man of any mind in the ,union1 should be able to comprehend them1 to investigate abuses1 and consequently to control them42 ,whereas1 in #aidi1 the findings of the first ,hoover ,commission were endorsed by ,president ,harry ,truman1 and the ,commission's recommendations were issued to ,congress in nineteen separate reports1 resulting in the passage of the ,budget and ,accounting ,procedures ,act of #aiej1 giving the ,general ,accounting ,office the authority to make it a requirement that agency accounting systems be maintained on the accrual basis in order to secure ,comptroller ,general approval2 ,whereas1 in #aiee1 the findings of the second ,hoover ,commission ,report were endorsed by ,president ,eisenhower and reported to the ,united ,states ,congress which passed ,public ,law #hd-hfc1 in #aief1 establishing the following3 ,as soon as practicable ''' the head of each executive agency shall1 in accordance with the principles and standards prescribed by the ,comptroller ,general1 cause the accounts of such agency to be maintained on an accrual basis to show the resources1 liabilities1 and costs of operations of such agency with a view to facilitating the preparation of cost-based budgets '''2 ,whereas1 in #aifg1 ,president ,lyndon ,johnson's ,commission on ,budget ,concepts1 a temporary blue ribbon commission headed by the ,secretary of the ,treasury ,david ,kennedy1 recommended that the accrual basis of measuring receipts and expenditures be substituted for the cash basis at as early a date as feasible42 ,whereas1 in #aifi1 ,president ,richard ,nixon reaffirmed the conclusions of ,president ,johnson's ,commission on ,budget ,concepts to make the conversion for the ,federal ,government from the cash basis to the accrual basis of accounting2 ,whereas1 in #aigf1 before the ,committee to ,investigate a ,balanced ,federal ,budget of the ,democratic ,research ,organization on ,implementing ,accrual ,accounting ,within the ,federal ,government1 ,comptroller ,general ,elmer ,staats stated the following3 ,in summary1 accrual accounting in the ,federal ,government has been a legal requirement since #aief4 ,since accrual accounting is fundamental to sound financial management it has always been a basic tenet of our principles and standards4 ,i believe that current economic conditions and the extensive government use of deficit financing have accentuated the need for the ,federal ,government to provide better overall financial reports that show clearly for the benefit of the ,congress and the public the major aspects of its financial position and operations42 ,whereas1 in #aihd1 the ,united ,states ,treasury prepared its own prototype version of the ,united ,states ,government's annual consolidated financial statements with a reconciliation schedule of accrual operation results to the cash basis budget as of ,september #cj1 #aihc and #aihb1 but deviated from accrual accounting by removing1 from the financial statements1 the actuarially computed long-term liability for ,social ,security and ,medicare2 ,whereas1 in ,october #aiij1 a ,memorandum of ,understanding on ,federal ,government ,accounting ,standards among the ,general ,accounting ,office1 the ,department of the ,treasury1 and the ,office of ,management and ,budget established the current ,federal ,accounting ,standards ,advisory ,board to determine accounting standards that are appropriate for the ,united ,states ,government's annual financial statements1 as requested of the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget in the ,chief ,financial ,officers ,act of #aiij2 ,whereas1 in ,november #aiij1 ,president ,george ,h4,w4 ,bush signed the ,chief ,financial ,officers ,act of #aiij1 establishing a ,chief ,financial ,officer for the ,united ,states1 within the ,office of ,management and ,budget1 for each major ,united ,states department and agency1 and requiring the annual financial statements of the ,united ,states ,government to be publicized annually2 ,whereas1 in ,october #aiib1 the ,national ,executive ,committee of the ,association of ,government ,accountants adopted the recommendations of the organization's ,truth in ,budgeting and ,accounting ,blue ,ribbon ,task ,force1 calling for1 among other things1 the use of an accrual basis of accounting1 including realistic treatment of all unrecorded and contingent liabilities2 ,whereas1 in #bjjc1 ,federal ,reserve ,chairman ,alan ,greenspan1 in testimony before ,congress1 stated that the use of accrual-basis accounting for the ,federal ,government would lay out more clearly the true costs and benefits of changes to various taxes and outlay programs and facilitate the development of a broad budget strategy ''' ,in doing so1 these accounts should help shift the national dialogue and consensus toward a more realistic view of the limits of our national resources42 ,whereas1 in #bjji1 the ,american ,institute of ,certified ,public ,accountants1 in a letter to the ,federal ,accounting ,standards ,advisory ,board1 stated that we continue to believe that the social insurance programs ''' are currently executed and publicized as exchange programs and that there should be expense and liability recognition4 7on the accrual basis72 ,whereas the #bjab financial statements for the ,united ,states ,government refer to the accounting system used by the ,department of the ,treasury in preparing annual reports as a modified-cash basis1 not an accrual basis2 ,whereas1 on ,june #be1 #bjab1 the ,governmental ,accounting ,standards ,board1 an organization created to establish and improve standards of ,state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting1 voted to approve statement ,no4 #fh1 ,accounting and ,financial ,reporting for ,pensions1 improving the way ,state and local governments report their pension liabilities and expenses1 and resulting in a more faithful representation of the full impact of these obligations by reporting net pension liabilities on the balance sheet 7providing citizens and other users of these financial reports with a clearer picture of the size and nature of these financial pension obligations72 ,whereas the adoption of ,governmentwide accrual accounting for budgeting and financial reporting would not infringe on the explicit constitutional power of ,congress and its respective committees to appropriate and collect--through taxation1 fees1 and borrowing--,federal funds determined on a cash-flow basis1 necessary for the collection1 disbursement1 and management of the ,united ,states cash resources2 and ,whereas the continuing use of the cash basis of accounting for the compilation of the annual budget substantially understates ,federal expenses and annual budget deficits1 and the use of modified cash-hybrid accrual accounting for the preparation of the ,united ,states ,consolidated ,annual ,financial ,statements does not present fairly1 nor accurately1 the financial condition and results of operation of the consolidated departments and agencies of the ,united ,states3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that the ,house of ,representatives-- 7#a7 agrees to consider legislation to implement accrual basis generally accepted accounting principles for ,united ,states ,government budgeting1 financial reporting1 and performance measures2 7#b7 acknowledges that the use of accrual basis accounting for ,united ,states ,government budgeting1 financial reporting1 and performance measures would provide a more accurate measure of the ,united ,states ,government's finances and their impact on the ,nation's economy2 7#c7 requests the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states to prescribe the manner in which accrual based generally accepted accounting principles can be applied to ,united ,states ,government budgeting1 financial reporting1 and performance measures in the fiscal year following the passage of legislation to implement the reforms outlined in this resolution2 and 7#d7 recognizes the use of accrual accounting standards in the ,federal ,government can assist in management improvement for the agencies and departments of the ,federal ,government--publicizing true costs1 minimizing government waste1 and controlling inefficient spending1 especially on long-term ,government contracts4