AUDITS.

SEC. 3526. AUDITS. (a) In General.— Section 1313 of the Panama Canal Act of 1979 (22 U.S.C. 3723) is amended— (1) by striking out the heading for the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “audits”; (2) in subsection (a)— (A) by striking out “Financial transactions” and inserting in lieu thereof “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and subject to subsection (d), financial transactions”; (B) by striking out “pursuant to the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 65 et seq.)”; (C) by striking out “audit pursuant to such Act” in the second sentence and inserting in lieu thereof “such audit”; (D) by striking out “An audit pursuant to such Act” in the last sentence and inserting in lieu thereof “Any such audit”; and 110 STAT. 641 (E) by adding at the end the following new sentence: “An audit performed under this section is subject to the requirements of paragraphs (2), (3), and (5) of section 9105(a) of title 31. United States Code.”; (3) in subsection (b), by striking out “The Comptroller General” in the first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof “Subject to subsection (d), the Comptroller General”; and (4) by adding at the end the following new subsections: “(d) At the discretion of the Board provided for in section 1102, the Commission may hire independent auditors to perform, in lieu of the Comptroller General, the audit and reporting functions prescribed in subsections (a) and (b). “(e) In addition to auditing the financial statements of the Commission, the Comptroller General (or the independent auditor if one is employed pursuant to subsection (d)) shall, in accordance with standards for an examination of a financial forecast established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, examine and report on the Commission’s financial forecast that it will be in a position to meet its financial liabilities on December 31, 1999.”. (b) Clerical Amendment.— The item relating to such section in the table of contents in section 1 of such Act is amended to read as follows: “1313. Audits”.