Since being appointed by President Bush, Saul has pushed for more rigorous audits of TSP operations.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that did the performance study free, said the report was not a rigorous audit by its own accountants, but an analysis by its consultants of information provided by America's Promise.

Unlike its counterparts in other states, it does not conduct rigorous audits.

She argues, for example, that the surviving Big Four auditing and accounting firms must eliminate their consulting activities if they are to establish a consistent practice of rigorous and fair audits.

Nor can many departments keep track of their financial risks because they have been slow to implement the more rigorous audit and management practices that are standard in private industry.

In addition, the Transportation Department, which oversees the F.A.A., will decide in the next few weeks whether to order the American carriers to do rigorous audits on the foreign carriers.

The platform emphasized the importance of limiting special interest influence in national politics, and advocates fiscal transparency through rigorous audits and oversight, as well as background checks for elected officials.

To their credit, the Twins and Vikings agreed to rigorous audits by the stadium authority in the process of justifying public financing.

Challenging SFI to back up its claims of 'independence' and 'rigorous audits', the Sierra Club requests in its complaints that Weyerhaeuser's SFI certification be revoked.

Mr. Levy said yesterday that he would like State Comptroller Edward V. Regan to hire a major accounting firm to do a rigorous audit of the Transit Authority.