Financial Audit: Congressional Award Foundation's 1996 and 1995 Financial
Statements (Letter Report, 05/15/97, GAO/AIMD-97-87).

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the Congressional
Award Foundation's financial statements for the fiscal years (FY) ended
September 30, 1996 and 1995, focusing on the Foundation's: (1) internal
controls; and (2) compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

GAO noted that: (1) the financial statements were reliable in all
material respects; (2) the Congressional Award Foundation's management
fairly stated that internal controls in place on September 30, 1996 were
effective in safeguarding assets from material loss, assuring material
compliance with relevant laws and regulations, and assuring that there
were no material misstatements in the financial statements; and (3)
there were no reportable noncompliance with laws and regulations GAO
tested for the FY ended September 30, 1996.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-97-87
     TITLE:  Financial Audit: Congressional Award Foundation's 1996 and 
             1995 Financial Statements
      DATE:  05/15/97
   SUBJECT:  Financial statement audits
             Internal controls
             Financial management
             Accounting procedures
             Foundations (organizations)
             Financial records
             Funds management

             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Report to the Congress

May 1997

FINANCIAL AUDIT - CONGRESSIONAL
AWARD FOUNDATION'S 1996 AND 1995
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

GAO/AIMD-97-87

Congressional Award Foundation

(917771)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV


Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-275453

May 15, 1997

To the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives

This report presents our opinion on the financial statements of the
Congressional Award Foundation for the fiscal years ended September
30, 1996 and 1995.  These financial statements are the responsibility
of the Congressional Award Foundation.  This report also presents (1)
our opinion on the Foundation management's assertions regarding the
effectiveness of its internal controls as of September 30, 1996, and
(2) our evaluation of the Foundation's compliance with laws and
regulations during fiscal year 1996. 

We conducted our audits pursuant to section 8 of the Congressional
Award Act, as amended (2 U.S.C.  807), and in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. 

We are sending copies of this report to the Chairman of the National
Board of Directors, Congressional Award Program; the National
Director, Congressional Award Foundation; the Chairmen and Ranking
Minority Members of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and
the House Committee on Education and the Workforce; and other
interested parties. 

This report was prepared under the direction of Robert W.  Gramling,
Director, Corporate Audits and Standards. 

James F.  Hinchman
Acting Comptroller General
of the United States


Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-275453

To the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives

We have audited the statements of financial position of the
Congressional Award Foundation as of September 30, 1996 and 1995, and
the related statements of activities and statements of cash flows for
the fiscal years then ended.  We found

  the financial statements were reliable in all material respects;

  the Congressional Award Foundation's management fairly stated that
     internal controls in place on September 30, 1996, were effective
     in safeguarding assets from material loss, assuring material
     compliance with relevant laws and regulations, and assuring that
     there were no material misstatements in the financial
     statements; and

  no reportable noncompliance with laws and regulations we tested for
     the fiscal year ended September 30, 1996. 

The following sections provide additional detail concerning our
conclusions and the scope of our audit. 


   OPINION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1

The financial statements and accompanying notes present fairly, in
all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles, the Congressional Award Foundation's financial
position as of September 30, 1996 and 1995, and the results of its
activities and its cash flows for the fiscal years then ended. 


   OPINION ON MANAGEMENT'S
   ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE
   EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL
   CONTROLS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2

We evaluated the Foundation management's assertions about the
effectiveness of its internal controls designed to

  safeguard assets against loss from unauthorized acquisition, use,
     or disposition;

  assure the execution of transactions in accordance with
     management's authority and with selected provisions of those
     laws and regulations that have a direct and material effect on
     the financial statements of the Foundation; and

  properly record, process, and summarize transactions to permit the
     preparation of reliable financial statements and to maintain
     accountability for assets. 

Management of the Congressional Award Foundation fairly stated that
those controls in place on September 30, 1996, provided reasonable
assurance that losses, noncompliance, or misstatements material in
relation to the financial statements would be prevented or detected
on a timely basis.  Management made this assertion based upon
criteria established under the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity
Act of 1982 and the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-123,
Management Accountability and Control. 

Although management's assertion regarding the effectiveness of
internal controls is fairly stated in all material respects based on
the control criteria cited above, we noted certain matters involving
the Foundation's internal accounting controls and its operations. 
These matters, while not significant, will be reported to management
separately, and copies will be provided to the appropriate
congressional committees. 


   COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND
   REGULATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3

Our tests for compliance with selected provisions of laws and
regulations disclosed no instances of noncompliance that would be
reportable under generally accepted government auditing standards. 
However, the objective of our audit was not to provide an opinion on
overall compliance with laws and regulations.  Accordingly, we do not
express such an opinion. 


   OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND
   METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4

The Foundation's management is responsible for

  preparing the Foundation's annual financial statements in
     conformity with generally accepted accounting principles;

  establishing, maintaining, and assessing the Foundation's internal
     control to provide reasonable assurance that the internal
     control objectives mentioned above are met; and

  complying with applicable laws and regulations. 

We are responsible for obtaining reasonable assurance about whether
(1) the financial statements are free of material misstatement and
presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with
generally accepted accounting principles and (2) management's
assertion about the effectiveness of internal controls is fairly
stated, in all material respects, based upon the internal control
criteria used by the Foundation's management in making this
assertion.  We are also responsible for testing compliance with
selected provisions of laws and regulations. 

In order to fulfill these responsibilities, we

  examined, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
     disclosures in the financial statements;

  assessed the accounting principles used and significant estimates
     made by the Foundation's management;

  evaluated the overall presentation of the financial statements;

  obtained an understanding of the Foundation's internal controls
     related to safeguarding assets, compliance with laws and
     regulations, and financial reporting;

  tested relevant internal controls over safeguarding, compliance,
     and financial reporting and evaluated management's assertion
     about the effectiveness of internal controls; and

  tested compliance with selected provisions of the Congressional
     Award Act, as amended. 

We did not evaluate all internal controls relevant to operating
objectives, such as controls relevant to ensuring efficient
operations.  We limited our internal control testing to those
controls necessary to achieve the objectives outlined in our opinion
on management's assertion about the effectiveness of internal
controls.  Because of inherent limitations in any internal control,
losses, noncompliance, or misstatements may nevertheless occur and
not be detected.  We also caution that projecting our evaluation to
future periods is subject to the risk that controls may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of
compliance with controls may deteriorate. 

We conducted our audits from November 5, 1996, to April 11, 1997. 
Our audits were conducted in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. 



   FOUNDATION COMMENTS AND OUR
   EVALUATION
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5

We provided a draft of our report to Congressional Award Foundation
officials for their review and comment.  The Foundation officials
agreed with the contents of our report. 

Jeffrey C.  Steinhoff
Director of Planning and
 Reporting

April 11, 1997


FINANCIAL STATEMENTS


============================================================ Chapter 0

   Statements of Financial
   Position

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

   Statements of Activities

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

   Statements of Cash Flows

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

   Notes to the Financial
   Statements

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)



   (See figure in printed
   edition.)



   (See figure in printed
   edition.)



   (See figure in printed
   edition.)


*** End of document. ***