The Hill - House Gets Clean Bill of Health on Financial Statements

News Article

By Debbie Siegelbaum

The House has received passing marks in an audit of its financial statements for the first time in three years.

On Tuesday, the Committee on House Administration released an annual Inspector General audit that gave the House received an unqualified, or clean, opinion on both its financial statements and internal controls over financial reporting.

"I am pleased the House received a clean opinion on its 2011 financial audit," wrote committee Chairman Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) in a statement.

Lungren and Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.), the Administration Committee's ranking member, praised Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Strodel for the success of the audit, which follows less successful ones under his predecessor, Dan Beard.

"This clean opinion is a direct result of Chief Administrative Officer Dan Strodel's ability to restore the House's good financial standing through the successful implementation of a comprehensive internal controls program and a new financial management system," Lungren and Brady said in the statement.

Both of the IG's negative findings in fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010 occurred during Beard's tenure. Beard resigned as chief administrative officer in July 2010 after the release of an unfavorable IG report on the House's Office of Payroll and Benefits and Office of Financial Counseling.

Following Beard's resignation, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) nominated Strodel to the position of CAO. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) later upheld the nomination in a show of bipartisan support.

The Office of the CAO is responsible for overseeing human resources, financial services and other House support functions.

Last May, Inspector General Theresa Grafenstine told the House Administration subcommittee on Oversight she found significant "material weaknesses" within the CAO under Beard's leadership, including a lack of an internal controls program and a lack of control over information security.

But Grafenstine reported significant improvements in the CAO under Strodel's leadership to that point -- positive strides that have continued to today, according to Lungren.

"In 2009 and 2010, as a result of poor internal controls over financial reporting, the House received an adverse opinion," he wrote Tuesday. "However, since taking over as Chief Administrative Officer, Dan Strodel has taken swift corrective action to reverse these deficiencies and return the House's good financial standing.

"I commend Mr. Strodel for his dedication to restoring the level of financial accountability that American taxpayers deserve," Lungren concluded.

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