Mr. Dingell ordered the inquiry by the accounting office, the auditing arm of Congress.

In that case, the administration maintains that the General Accounting Office, Congress's auditing arm, has no authority to have the information.

The General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress, recently put the project's 30-year cost at $118 billion.

Medicare's system for paying for the drugs has long been criticized by watchdog agencies like the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress.

The General Accounting Office, an auditing arm of Congress, says it has found evidence that this is happening.

In a series of reports, the environmental agency's independent auditing arm blames both Federal and state officials for the shortcomings.

"Expectations of rapid growth may simply have been unrealistic," concluded the General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress.

In 1988, the General Accounting Office, an auditing arm of Congress, said the commission was still closing many cases without full investigations.

Those in the Japan-is-different camp got some aid last week from the General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress.

The General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress, said recently that the program had changed so many times it was no longer possible to make meaningful comparisons.