U.S. Comptroller General David Walker spoke candidly about how the government needs to receive a wake-up call and reform its spending to fight against national debt at a presentation Wednesday night in Barsema Hall.

Walker, who is the head of the Government Accountability Office, spoke to a full auditorium of primarily accountancy majors.

“We went from being named the General Accounting Office to the Government Accountability Office because the old name didn’t reflect who we are and what we do. We’re not in the accounting business; we’ve never been in the accounting business,” Walker said. “We are in the business of maximizing government performance and assuring the accountability of the government.”

At the start of his speech, Walker praised NIU’s accountancy program for rising up the national charts and the football team for breaking into the national rankings last season. However, the main theme of his speech dealt with how the national fiscal outlook has not risen but has gotten a lot worse.

President Bill Clinton appointed Walker to his current position in 1998 for a 15-year term.

Walker said he prides himself on being bi-partisan and leading the change in how the government conducts business.

“NIU has a nationally-ranked accounting program which, during the last few years, has increased its rankings and fortunately, we have found a number of people over the years that have seen they can be successful with us,” Walker said.

In his speech, Walker voiced his concern for changing the way the government spends money and said reform is needed.

“No great republic in history has lasted longer than 300 years. We must last longer; we cannot be fiscally irresponsible,” he said.

Walker used Arthur Andersen, a company he worked for, as an example of what happens to a company that has an accountability failure.

“Arthur Andersen went from being a global gold-standard company to gone in two years because of a breach of trust,” he said.

He warned that if a breach of trust occurs, it can result in catastrophic consequences.

Both Brad Burzynski, 35th District Illinois State Senator, and Robert Pritchard, 70th District State Representative, were introduced at the presentation and posed for photos with Walker before the presentation began.

Walker said he hopes students have a better understanding of the true financial condition and the challenges they face in the federal government.

“I really found the presentation informative, and it gave me a new perspective on why I am an accountancy major,” said junior accountancy major Somya Munjal. “It was important to understand that accounting really is a field of integrity.”

The PowerPoint presentation Walker used during his speech is available at www.gao.gov.