Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, Congress directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a comprehensive policy to prevent and respond to sexual assaults involving servicemembers. Though not required to do so, the Coast Guard has established a similar program. This statement addresses the extent to which DOD and the Coast Guard (1) have developed and implemented policies and programs to prevent, respond to, and resolve sexual assault incidents involving servicemembers; (2) have visibility over reports of sexual assault; and (3) exercise oversight over reports of sexual assault. This statement draws on GAO's preliminary observations from an ongoing engagement examining DOD's and the Coast Guard's programs to prevent and respond to sexual assault. In conducting its ongoing work GAO reviewed legislative requirements and DOD and Coast Guard guidance, analyzed sexual assault incident data, and obtained through surveys and interviews the perspective on sexual assault matters of more than 3,900 servicemembers stationed in the United States and overseas. The results of GAO's survey and interviews provide insight into the implementation of the programs but are nongeneralizable. GAO expects to issue its final report in August 2008 and to make a number of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Navy is about to begin construction of the first Zumwalt-class destroyer (DDG 1000) amid considerable uncertainties and a high likelihood of cost and schedule growth. Significant cost growth and schedule delays are persistent problems that continue to compromise the Navy's shipbuilding goals. This testimony focuses on (1) the challenges faced by the DDG 1000 program and (2) the strain such challenges portend for long term shipbuilding plans."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The unified budget deficit--sometimes called the "cash deficit"--and the net operating cost-- sometimes called the "accrual deficit"--are two key measures of the government's annual fiscal position. The cash deficit provides information on the government's current cash flow and borrowing needs. The accrual deficit provides information on the current cost of government-- the amount of resources used to produce goods or deliver services during the fiscal year-- regardless of when cash is used."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States and the international community have stressed that a coordinated response is required to address the global threat from transnational terrorism. Multilateral engagements provide opportunities to foster relationships with traditional and nontraditional partner countries. Partnerships also can raise common awareness of the threat and build the trust necessary to share information that could prevent and detect terrorist acts. GAO convened a forum on April 22, 2008, to advance the dialogue on how partnerships can mitigate the conditions that foster transnational terrorism and to identify potential strategies for overcoming challenges faced in engaging in such partnerships. Participants included representatives from U.S. government agencies, foreign embassies, nongovernmental and multilateral organizations, policy institutes, the private sector, and academia. The forum focused on (1) the partnership efforts and key practices of the U.S. government and its partners, (2) challenges to these efforts and practices, and (3) strategies to overcome the challenges. Comments expressed during the proceedings do not necessarily represent the views of all participants, the organizations they represent, or GAO. Participants reviewed a draft of this summary, and their comments were incorporated, as appropriate."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the 1940s, one mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies has been processing uranium as a source of nuclear material for defense and commercial purposes. A key step in this process is the enrichment of natural uranium, which increases its concentration of uranium-235, the isotope of uranium that undergoes fission to release enormous amounts of energy. Before it can be enriched, natural uranium must be chemically converted into uranium hexafluoride. The enrichment process results in two principal products: (1) enriched uranium hexafluoride, which can be further processed for specific uses, such as nuclear weapons or fuel for nuclear power plants; and (2) leftover "tails" of uranium hexafluoride. These tails are also known as depleted uranium because the material is depleted in uranium-235 compared with natural uranium. Since 1993, uranium enrichment activities at DOE-owned uranium enrichment plants have been performed by the U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC), formerly a wholly owned government corporation that was privatized in 1998. However, DOE still maintains approximately 700,000 metric tons of depleted uranium tails in about 63,000 metal cylinders in storage yards at its Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Capitol Power Plant (CPP), managed by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), provides heating and cooling for the U.S. Capitol and surrounding facilities. This plant, which provides steam and chilled water year-round for about 16 million square feet of space in 24 facilities, consists of 4 main components--the steam plant, the East Refrigeration Plant, the West Refrigeration Plant, and the administration building. In 2003, CPP awarded a construction contract that involved a major effort both to expand the capacity of the plant to meet the growing heating and cooling needs of the U.S. Capitol and to update plant equipment. The centerpiece of this expansion effort is the West Refrigeration Plant Expansion project, a $100.9 million project scheduled for completion in March 2008. For more than a decade, potential overstaffing at CPP has been a principal concern. In 1996, an AOC engineering consultant for CPP asserted that CPP was overstaffed and recommended reducing staff as a way to deliver CPP services more costeffectively. In 2004, in response to a congressional mandate to assess CPP operations and infrastructure, we recommended that AOC update the consultant's 1996 study and examine …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report formally transmits the attached briefing in response to section 1307 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. The act requires the Comptroller General to report on the utilization of explosives detection canine teams to strengthen security and the capacity of the national explosives detection canine team program, which is administered by the Transportation Security Administration."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In October 2001, spores of the deadly bacterium anthrax were found in mail sent to members of the news media and congressional leaders. In all, 22 people were infected with anthrax and 5 people died, including 2 postal workers. The United States Postal Service (Service) took a variety of steps to protect people from biohazards in the mail. For example, the Service began contracting for the irradiation of mail to recipients at the Congress, the White House, and federal agencies with specific ZIP Codes (20201 through 20597) in the Washington, D.C., area (D.C. federal mail). The irradiation process uses either a high-energy electron beam or X-rays to penetrate pieces of mail (mailpieces) and kill harmful organisms, such as anthrax. The Service initially hired two contractors to irradiate the mail, one of which operated between November 2001 and April 2002. The other contractor has been irradiating mail since November 2001. In addition, the Service hired contractors to transport the mail for irradiation and to oversee the current irradiation contractor. Senate Report 110-129, dated July 13, 2007, directed GAO to report on the status of the Service's program for irradiating …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, buildings in the United States account for 68 percent of the nation's total electricity consumption and 39 percent of its total energy consumption. In December 2007, Congress enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to, among other things, increase energy efficiency and the availability of renewable energy in federal buildings. Specifically, the act established new energy-related requirements and standards for federal buildings and for the agencies that oversee them. For example, it required the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish an Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings to coordinate green building information and activities within GSA and with other federal agencies. The act also required GAO to report to Congress on the implementation of certain provisions contained in EISA by October 31, 2008, and October 31, 2009. As determined in consultation with Congressional offices, this report fulfills the 2008 requirement by addressing the status of GSA's implementation of selected EISA requirements related to high-performance federal green buildings. We selected GSA as the focus of our initial report because GSA is responsible for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is accountable for how its agencies and grantees spend hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and is responsible for safeguarding those funds against improper payments and recouping those funds when improper payments occur. The Congress enacted the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) and section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, commonly known as the Recovery Auditing Act, to address these issues. GAO was asked to testify on agencies' efforts to eliminate and recover improper payments. Specifically, GAO focused on (1) progress made in agencies' implementation and reporting under IPIA for fiscal year 2007, (2) major challenges that continue to hinder full reporting of improper payment information, and (3) agencies' efforts to report on recovery auditing and recoup contract overpayments. This testimony is based in part on a recently issued report (GAO-08-377R) in addition to a further review and analysis of improper payment and recovery auditing information reported in agencies' fiscal year 2007 performance and accountability reports (PAR) or annual reports. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided technical comments which GAO incorporated as appropriate."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government spends billons of dollars on information technology (IT) projects each year. Consequently, it is important that projects be managed effectively to ensure that public resources are wisely invested. To this end, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which plays a key role in overseeing the federal government's IT investments, identifies major projects that are poorly planned by placing them on a Management Watch List and requires agencies to identify high-risk projects that are performing poorly (i.e., have performance shortfalls). Having accurate and transparent project cost and schedule information is also essential to effective oversight. At times, changes to this information--called a rebaselining-- are made to reflect changed development circumstances. These changes can be done for valid reasons, but can also be used to mask cost overruns and schedule delays. GAO has previously testified on the Management Watch List and high risk projects. GAO was asked to (1) provide an update on these projects, (2) identify OMB's efforts to improve the identification and oversight of these projects, and (3) summarize the results of GAO's IT project rebaselining report being released today. In preparing this testimony, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been using miscellaneous obligations for over 60 years to record estimates of obligations to be incurred at a later time. The large percentage of procurements recorded as miscellaneous obligations in fiscal year 2007 raised questions about whether proper controls were in place over the authorization and use of billions of dollars. GAO's testimony provides preliminary findings related to (1) how VHA used miscellaneous obligations during fiscal year 2007, and (2) whether the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) policies and procedures were designed to provide adequate controls over their authorization and use. GAO recently provided its related draft report to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for review and comment and plans to issue its final report as a follow-up to this testimony. GAO obtained and analyzed available VHA data on miscellaneous obligations, reviewed VA policies and procedures, and reviewed a nongeneralizable sample of 42 miscellaneous obligations at three case study locations. GAO's related draft report includes four recommendations to strengthen internal controls governing the authorization and use of miscellaneous obligations, in compliance with applicable federal appropriations law and internal control standards."

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document has been superseded by GAO-09-232G. This letter transmits the exposure draft of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual (FISCAM) for review and comment. The FISCAM presents a methodology for performing information system (IS) control audits of federal and other governmental entities in accordance with professional standards, and was originally issued in January 1999. We have updated the FISCAM for significant changes affecting IS audits."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A significantly greater proportion of African American children are in foster care than children of other races and ethnicities relative to their share of the general population. Given this situation, GAO was asked to analyze the (1) major factors influencing their proportion in foster care, (2) strategies states and localities have implemented that appear promising, and (3) ways in which federal policies may have influenced the proportion of African American children in foster care. This testimony is based on a GAO report issued in July 2007 (GAO-07-816), which included a nationwide survey; a review of research and policies; state site visits; analyses of child welfare data; and interviews with researchers, HHS officials, and other experts. It includes updates where possible."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Voting is fundamental to our democratic system, and federal law generally requires polling places for federal elections to be accessible to older voters and voters with physical disabilities. Following reports of problems encountered in the close 2000 presidential election with respect to voter registration lists, absentee ballots, ballot counting, and antiquated voting systems, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) was enacted. Among other provisions, HAVA includes requirements for the accessibility of voting systems, effective January 1, 2006. In the past, GAO has published several reports on issues related to voting access for older voters. Our prior work, including on-site inspections of a national sample of polling places in election year 2000, a comprehensive review of the election system in 2004, and a review of transportation issues facing seniors, has identified a number of potential barriers to voting for older Americans, as well as accommodations and progress in a number of areas. Drawing from prior work, GAO's testimony will focus on (1) a variety of factors that affect the ability of older voters to travel to polling places, cast their votes in the voting room, or avail …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In June 2007, GAO received information from a whistleblower through GAO's FraudNET hotline alleging millions of dollars in lost and stolen property and gross mismanagement of property at Indian Health Service (IHS), an operating division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). GAO was asked to conduct a forensic audit and related investigations to (1) determine whether GAO could substantiate the allegation of lost and stolen property at IHS and identify examples of wasteful purchases and (2) identify the key causes of any loss, theft, or waste. GAO analyzed IHS property records from fiscal years 2004 to 2007, conducted a full physical inventory at IHS headquarters, and statistically tested inventory of information technology (IT) equipment at seven IHS field locations in 2007 and 2008. GAO also examined IHS policies, conducted interviews with IHS officials, and assessed the security of property."