GAO gets good reviews for quality

The government's watchdog has watchdogs of its own, and today two of them gave good reviews of the Government Accountability Office's internal quality assurance systems.Two teams of auditors -- one international and the other working for KPMG -- issued "clean opinions" on GAO’s quality assurance systems.A clean opinion means the teams found no significant issues that need remediation. GAO is required to undergo the audits every three years."I am pleased by the vote of confidence in GAO's quality assurance practices," said Gene Dodaro, acting comptroller general at the agency. "GAO is known for providing lawmakers and agency heads with timely, reliable information on government operations. The two peer reviews confirm that this reputation is well deserved."The Auditor General of Canada, GAO's counterpart north of the border, led the international peer review team. That office and KPMG conducted the previous reviews in 2004, which also resulted in clean opinions.