A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In November 1997, the President called for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) to create an interface that would allow the two agencies to share patient health information. By allowing health care providers to electronically share comprehensive patient information, computer-based patient record's (GCPR) should help VA, DOD, and the Indian Health Service (IHS) to improve the quality of care for their beneficiaries. But without a lead entity, a clear mission, and detailed planning to achieve that mission, it is difficult to monitor progress, identify project risks, and develop appropriate contingency plans to keep the project moving forward and on track. Critical project decisions were not made, and the agencies were not bound by those that were made. The VA and DOD Chief Information Officers' (CIO) action to focus on short-term deliverables and to capitalize on existing technologies is warranted and a step in the right direction. However, until problems with the two agencies' existing systems and issues regarding planning, management, and accountability are resolved, project costs will likely continue to increase and implementation of the larger GCPR effort--and its expected …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the facts surrounding the ability of the Clinton White House to preserve certain electronic mail (e-mail) deemed official government records. GAO found that two malfunctions occurred in the White House e-mail system that prevented official records from being properly recorded in the Automated Records Management System (ARMS). The first problem involved an anomaly with incoming Internet e-mail users of the "Mail2" e-mail server. The second problem surfaced while the contractor was trying the resolve the first problem. During its efforts to determine the cause of the Mail2 e-mail errors, the letter D was deleted from a key piece of software, causing the ARMS scanner to skip e-mail accounts of users with first names beginning with the letter D. The White House began a costly and time-consuming project to recover e-mail records that had not been effectively managed. Several factors contributed to the cost and scope of the tape restoration project, including the contractor's performance of tape management and systems maintenance and legal scrutiny of e-mail malfunctions by external authorities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO audited the financial statements of the Capitol Preservation Fund for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found that the financial statements were presented fairly in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, contained no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding assets) and complied with the provisions of laws and regulations tested."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The negotiations to establish a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would eliminate tariffs and create common trade and investment rules within the 34 democratic nations of the Western Hemisphere, are among the most significant ongoing multilateral trade negotiations for the United States. Two meetings held in April 2001 offer opportunities to inject momentum and set an ambitious pace for the next, more difficult phase of the negotiations. Because of the significance of the FTAA initiative, this report (1) discusses the progress that has been made in the free trade negotiations so far, (2) identifies the challenges that must be overcome to complete a free trade agreement, and (3) discusses the importance of the April meetings of trade ministers and national leaders of participating countries. GAO found that the FTAA negotiations have met the goals and deadlines set by trade ministers. Significant challenges remain, including market access concessions and doubts that key Western Hemisphere leaders will have the political will to embrace the agreement. The April meetings of trade ministers will serve as a transition from the initial proposal phase to the substantive negotiations …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determines the staffing level for its toll-free telephone customer service operations. GAO found that IRS lacks a long-term telephone customer service goal that reflects the needs of taxpayers and the costs and benefits of meeting that goal. Rather, IRS annually determines the level of funding it will seek for its customer service workforce, using its judgment of how to best balance service and compliance activities. IRS then calculates the level of service that funding levels will provide. This approach is inconsistent with the Government Performance and Results Act and the practice of selected public and private call centers that field questions. IRS recognizes the shortcomings of its personnel management and will include performance measures and goals in its 2002 strategic plan. According to IRS officials, the agency also faces challenges in recruiting, training, retaining, and scheduling customer service representatives. IRS is developing a strategy to address each of these issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Army is acquiring a new, state-of-the-art radar countermeasures system--called the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures to help helicopters and other aircraft identify, track, and defeat radar-guided missiles in complex electronic environments where many radar systems could be operating simultaneously. The Army has identified software and hardware modification needed for its new radar countermeasures system. The Army expects that future tests will enable it to determine whether the modified software performs as required before the planned low-rate initial production decision in early 2002. However, the testing of the modified hardware is not scheduled for completion until September 2002. By deferring low-rate initial production decision, the Army would reduce the risk of incurring anticipated costs to retrofit articles if the system does not work as expected."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although the Department of Education spent millions of dollars to modernize and integrate its nonintegrated financial aid systems during the past 10 years, these efforts have met with limited success. Recently, Education's Office of Student Financial Assistance (SFA) began using a software approach known as middleware to provide users with a more complete and integrated view of information in its many databases. In selecting middleware, SFA has adopted a viable, industry-accepted means for integrating and utilizing its existing data on student loans and grants. To meet its human capital needs, SFA has solicited the help of a private sector "modernization partner" with experience in implementing and managing middleware solutions--particularly in the financial industry--and has also chosen to use a leading middleware software product."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed purchase card activity at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Systems Center and the Navy Public Works Center in San Diego and found significant breakdowns in internal controls over purchase card transactions, including fraudulent, improper, and abusive purchases and theft and misuse of government property. Neither SPAWAR nor the Navy Public Works Center had effective policies for issuing purchase cards, establishing credit limits, and minimizing the federal government's financial exposure. Any employee having supervisory approval could get a card. GAO found that the units did not do credit checks on prospective cardholders. GAO also found that nearly half of SPAWAR's fiscal year 2000 purchase card transactions and more than half of the Navy Public Works Center's transactions were made by employees who did not have documented evidence of timely training. Policies for rebate management were deficient, including a lack of procedures to maximize rebates and ensure that bank calculations of rebates were correct. Management was not effectively using internal reviews and audits to determine whether purchase card internal controls were effectively implemented. These internal control weaknesses allowed purchases that were potentially fraudulent, …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Before Social Security, being old often meant being poor. Today, dependency on public assistance has dropped to a fraction of its Depression-era levels, and poverty rates among the elderly are now lower than for the population as a whole. At the same time, Social Security has become the single largest source of retirement income for more than 90 percent of persons aged 65 and older. Automatic adjustments were introduced in 1972 to reflect increases in the cost of living. Other program changes gradually increased social security coverage to larger portions of the workforce and extended eligibility to family members and disabled workers. Other benefit programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicare, and Medicaid, have also been added over the years. With regard to measuring income adequacy, various measures help examine different aspects of this concept, but no single measure can provide a complete picture. For various subgroups of beneficiaries that have lower lifetime earnings, poverty rates have also declined. Although the Social Security benefit formula favors lower lifetime earners, their lower earnings and work histories can leave them with incomes below the poverty level when …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Some states have taken advantage of the flexibility that Congress built into the Medicaid program by devising schemes that inappropriately boost the federal share of program expenditures. These schemes were adding billions of dollars a year to federal Medicaid costs without the states paying their statutorily specified share of program costs. Moreover, some of the federal funds were being spent for non-Medicaid purposes. After hearing about these financing schemes, Congress passed the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA). In response, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) issued regulations in January 2001 to curtail financing schemes involving excessive payments to local government providers for which a separate upper payment limit did not exist. However, less than a month after the revised upper payment limit regulation became effective, HCFA decided to amend the regulation to shorten the time some states were allowed to comply with it. This reversal resulted in the approval of new financing schemes for several states that had pending proposals mimicking the schemes identified last year. The transition periods were of varying lengths, depending on how long a state …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The components, military services, and agencies of the Department of Defense (DOD) share many risks in their use of globally networked computer systems to perform operational missions. Many reports of vulnerabilities, organized intrusions, and theft related to department systems and networks have underscored weaknesses in DOD systems. In January 1998, DOD responded to these risks by announcing its plans for a Defense-wide Information Assurance Program to promote integrated, comprehensive, and consistent information assurance (IA) practices across the department. Although the program has addressed issues related to DOD's departmental IA goals, established new IA policy, improved communication across the department, and introduced mechanisms for monitoring IA efforts throughout DOD, many IA issues remain unaddressed. Given the high priority that DOD puts on IA, GAO believes the the program should have made progress on more of its implementation plan objectives by this time and gone further with the ones it has begun to address. Top-level DOD management has not carried out oversight commensurate with the program's high-priority role and the program has not received the resources that were judged necessary by DOD when the program was initiated. DOD …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Despite methodological limitations, demonstration studies provide program managers and policymakers with some useful information on the types of Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition service interventions that can have positive results for participants. However, only one recent demonstration study provides any information on the costs associated with implementing various interventions. Given the limited resources available to provide WIC nutrition services, information on the costs to provide effective services could play a critical role in managers' decisions to implement the intervention and policymakers' decisions on funding the intervention."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. drinking water and wastewater systems encompass thousands of treatment and collection facilities and more than a million miles of pipes and conduits. The estimated cost to repair, replace, or upgrade aging facilities; accommodate the nation's growing population; and meet new water quality standards ranges from $300 billion to $1 trillion over the next 20 years. Although user rates are the major source of facilities' financing, federal and state government agencies also offer financial support. From fiscal years 1991 through 2000, nine federal agencies provided $44 billion for drinking water and wastewater capital improvements. Four agencies--the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce--accounted for about 98 percent of that account. State governments made $25 billion available for water infrastructure programs during the past 10 years."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Several Department of Defense (DOD) components have software and systems process improvement (SPI) programs that are aligned closely to the best practices embodied in the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) IDEAL model and thus provide excellent examples of SPI. Elsewhere in DOD, however, such programs are lacking. Where they do exist, these programs are being credited with producing higher quality software and systems products faster and at less expense, whether managed in a centralized or decentralized fashion. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has an important leadership role to play in expanding SPI across the department. In particular, it can seize opportunities to build upon and leverage the existing base of SPI programs within DOD's components and help ensure that all of its components realize the strategic value (i.e., benefits that exceed costs) that both private and public-sector organizations, including some DOD components, attribute to these programs. Although OSD faces funding choices among competing leadership initiatives, such as its efforts to conduct software acquisition maturity assessments and collect software metrics, these are some of the very tasks that are embedded within an effective SPI program. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report updates the status of corrective measures taken by federal agencies to address internal control weaknesses that could affect the United States' ability to effectively respond to chemical or biological terrorist attacks. GAO, which cited these weaknesses in 1999, found that the agencies have significantly improved accountability over the medical supplies needed to treat victims of chemical or biological terrorism. However, ensuring that supplies are current, accounted for, and readily available depends in large part on successful collaboration with other entities. Until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Office for Emergency Preparedness (OEP) formalize ad hoc arrangements with other entities covering the storage, management, stock rotation, and transporting of supplies, they run the risk that, in the event of a chemical or biological attack, the appropriate supplies will be unavailable. Also, unless the agencies' inventory requirements lists are up-to-date and reflect their own identified needs, the agencies cannot guarantee that they have the supplies on hand to fulfill their mission."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to complete mandated planning activities before developing a loan monitoring system (LMS). In February 2000, GAO testified that SBA had made substantial progress in completing the mandated planning actions and made recommendations on additional steps needed for each action, and for project management and control of LMS. In August 2000, GAO found that SBA had completed its work on only one recommendation. SBA's actions to develop and implement LMS software were not consistent with the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 and SBA's agreement with the House Committee on Small Business not to acquire hardware or software before completing the mandated planning. These actions could result in significant project cost increases and delays."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The use of incorrect or unreliable data and inappropriate assumptions in the Research and Special Program Administration's (RSPA) calculation of the minimum Pipeline Safety Fund (PSF) balance caused RSPA to overstate the necessary minimum balance. Crucial to a reasonable calculation of the PSF minimum balance is an analysis of expected receipts as compared to expected obligations. Until RSPA does this type of analysis, it will be unable to reasonably estimate the required minimum PSF balance. In addition, the timing of the Office of Pipeline Safety's (OPS) cash receipts is affected by OPS' slow data collection and verification process. This process results in delayed billings and likely delays cash receipts, resulting in a larger required minimum PSF balance. OPS' current efforts to implement a new Internet-based data collection and billing system could shorten what is now an extended billing process. Finalizing the operator data on which the fee assessments are based at an earlier date would allow billing to take place shortly after the agency received its appropriation for the fiscal year. Accordingly, fee revenue would likely be available for obligation in a more timely manner and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Small businesses often have serious difficulty finding skilled employees, upgrading the skills of their existing employees, and identifying strategies to meet future workforce needs. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 seeks to address these workforce development issues and give federal training programs a greater employer focus. Although these problems are common throughout the country, small businesses in some areas have joined with business and trade organizations, community colleges, and other public and private groups to form workforce development networks--often referred to as workforce consortia. This new approach offers small businesses access to various workforce development activities in which they might otherwise be unable to participate. Limited information exists on the outcome of workforce consortia at the sites GAO reviewed. There were no systematic efforts to evaluate overall consortium effectiveness, but there were isolated attempts to monitor participation rates and assess the impact of specific activities on job retention and future earnings."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although the criteria used to rate the bonds of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and other electric utilities are the same, they are weighted differently and, as a result, the basis for TVA's bond rating is more nonfinancial in nature than that for other electric utilities. According to bond analysts, TVA's high bond rating is largely based on the perception that its debt is federally backed because of its ties to the federal government as a wholly owned government corporation and its legislative protections from competition. If these conditions were to change, TVA's bond rating would likely be lowered, which, in turn, would affect the cost of new debt. This would add to its already high interest expense and corresponding financial challenges in a competitive market."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The armed services have had problems for years with their ability to adequately test their electronic combat systems. The success of the new Joint Service Electronic Combat Systems Tester Program in providing improved test capability is a positive development. Because the tester has identified many more faults in the F-15C and F/A-18C electronic combat systems than has the current test equipment, existing readiness, logistics, and maintenance problems with such systems could worsen. However, pilots would at least have greater knowledge about the readiness and reliability of their self-protection systems and their need for support from specialized aircraft designed to suppress enemy air defenses. GAO believes that it makes sense for the Air Force and Navy to consider using the new test equipment on their non-fighter aircraft."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The military's ability to carry out its mission depends on its having adequate supplies of spare parts on hand for maintenance and repairs. Shortages are a key indicator that the billions of dollars being spent on these parts are not being used effectively, efficiently, and economically. Despite additional funding from Congress, the Army still has concerns about spare parts shortages. Spare parts shortages for the Apache, Blackhawk, and Chinook helicopters have harmed operations and lowered morale among maintenance personnel. Cannibalization of parts from one aircraft to another is an inefficient practice that results in double work for the maintenance personnel, masks parts shortages, and lowers morale. Parts were unavailable for various reasons, including higher-than-expected demand for parts, delays in obtaining parts from contractors, and problems with overhaul and maintenance. Another factor contributing to the shortage was the Army's inability to obtain parts for these aging aircraft from the original manufacturers, which sometimes had gone out of business. The Army and the Defense Logistics Agency have efforts planned or underway to improve the availability of aviation spare parts. Once these initiatives are further along, GAO will review …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Telecommunications services are increasingly critical to transforming the way the federal government does business; communicates internally and externally; and interacts with citizens, industry, and state, local, and foreign governments. Electronic government services based on reliable, secure, and cost-effective telecommunications can enable agencies to streamline the way they do business, reduce paperwork and delays, and increase operational efficiencies. It is important that a far-reaching program, such as the FTS2001 program, take full advantage of new services offered by industry; that agencies effectively and efficiently implement these telecommunications services to improve operations; and that the program be successfully implemented to maximize benefits to the taxpayers. Despite progress, the government did not meet its deadlines for transition to FTS2001 and has not yet completed this effort. The government missed its deadline for several reasons, including a lack of sufficient information to effectively oversee and manage this complex transition, slowness in completing all the contract modifications needed to add transition-critical services to the FTS2001 contracts, slowness of some customer agencies to order FTS2001 services, staffing shortfalls and billing problems on the part of FTS2001 contractors, and local exchange carriers' difficulties …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "About one million taxpayers per year, as well as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), incur costs to abate tax assessments created due to tax exemption errors. Avoiding the errors, or correcting them earlier, could reduce the burden on taxpayers of complying with tax laws. IRS has taken one step intended to help taxpayers avoid these errors--revising instructions for claiming exemptions. In another step, aimed at correcting some exemption errors that continue to be made, IRS decided to check name and social security number errors for spousal exemption claims during returns processing. In addition, IRS is considering implementing earlier--during returns processing--checks for dependent exemption errors and taxpayer contacts if the checks do not correct exemption errors. Doing such checks and contacts earlier is worthwhile. Although the cost savings to IRS are unknown, many taxpayers would benefit. However, IRS did not provide GAO with any details or documentation about how or when decisions would be made. Little is known about how to reduce nonexemption errors that lead to assessments being abated. Because more than one million taxpayers were burdened by such assessments, research to reduce the errors is …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the results of GAO's audits of expenditures reported by six offices of independent counsel and one office of special counsel for the six months ending September 30, 2000. GAO found the statements of expenditures for the offices of independent counsel and office of special counsel were presented fairly in all material respects. There were no material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting (including safeguarding of assets) and no reportable noncompliance with the laws and regulations GAO tested."