Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed issues related to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) financial situation, focusing on: (1) the Fund's situation regarding quota resources that IMF obtains from its member countries and that is used for most of its financial assistance; (2) the level of resources that the Fund has reported as actually available for lending; and (3) other resources that the Fund potentially has available for conducting its operations, such as resources obtained through borrowing and the Fund's gold holdings."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work on the safety of eggs and egg products, focusing on whether: (1) prevention-based safety practices have been applied on egg farms and at processing plants; (2) implementation of a new federal policy on egg refrigeration will effectively reduce the risks associated with contaminated eggs; (3) federal and state policies and practices on serving eggs to vulnerable populations and dating egg cartons are consistent; and (4) federal egg safety resources are used efficiently and policies are coordinated effectively."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed how the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) protects personally identifiable health information on Medicare beneficiaries, focusing on: (1) HCFA's need for personally identifiable health information to manage the Medicare program; (2) HCFA's policies and practices regarding disclosure of information on Medicare beneficiaries to other organizations; (3) the adequacy of HCFA's safeguards for protecting the confidentiality of electronic information and its monitoring of other organizations that obtain information on Medicare beneficiaries; and (4) the effect on HCFA of state restrictions on the disclosure of confidential health information."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new rule on regional haze regulations. GAO noted that: (1) the rule calls for states to establish goals and emission reduction strategies for improving visibility in all 156 mandatory Class I national parks and wilderness areas; (2) specific provisions are included in the rule allowing nine western states to implement the recommendations of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission within the framework of the national regional haze program; and (3) EPA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the adequacy of the system for ensuring the safety of eggs, focusing on whether: (1) a prevention-based approach to food safety has been applied to egg production and processing; (2) a new federal policy on egg refrigeration will effectively reduce the risks associated with contaminated eggs; (3) federal and state policies on serving eggs to vulnerable populations and dating egg cartons are consistent; and (4) federal egg safety resources are used efficiently and policies are coordinated effectively."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO responded to the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) statements regarding GAO's designation of HUD's programs as a high-risk area."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed states' efforts to reduce participation in the Food Stamp Program, focusing on: (1) the reasons for the recent drop in food stamp participation; and (2) any problems that households with eligible children have experienced in obtaining food stamps."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) base closure accounts and its budget request for base closure activities, focusing on: (1) the opportunities available to offset the fiscal year (FY) 2000 budget request; and (2) certain base realignment and closure (BRAC) funding practices that could make it difficult for Congress to discern DOD's actual funding requirements and priorities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined whether the Customs Service's Office of Investigations (OI) follows its case management policies and procedures. GAO visited two Special Agent in Charge (SAC) offices to determine whether: (1) agents were entering statistics in the case management database; (2) first-line supervisors were reviewing investigative case files quarterly; (3) agents completed reports documenting their opening reports of investigation on time; and (4) the two SAC offices were maintaining and storing their case files appropriately."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO examined the General Services Administration's (GSA) retail packaging products program, focusing on whether: (1) GSA is required by law to set its prices for retail packaging products at levels sufficient to ensure that all selling costs are recovered on each item; and (2) GSA's selling prices for these items do recover all costs."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO presented a guide on its revised government auditing standards to audit officials and others interested in government auditing standards. The standards require auditors to document in the working papers the basis for assessing control risk at the maximum level of assertions that are significantly dependent on computerized systems."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) oversight of its claims administration contractors, focusing on: (1) whether there are weaknesses in HCFA's contractor oversight activities that may make Medicare more vulnerable to fraud, waste, or abuse; and (2) changes in HCFA's contracting authority that may improve its ability to manage its contractors."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This Spanish-language edition of the journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding: (1) the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions' examination of issues related to the independence of national audit offices; (2) the Dutch government's search for a new form of accountability; (3) the preparedness of Zimbabwe's government for the fiscal year 2000; (4) audit profiles of St. Kitts and Nevis; (5) reports in print on auditing; and (6) activities inside INTOSAI."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) distribution of depot maintenance workloads, focusing on: (1) DOD's compliance with the percentage requirement in 10 U.S.C. 2466; (2) comparing the results of DOD's recent report of fiscal year (FY) 1998 workload with prior years' reports; (3) the continuing weaknesses in the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of reported data; and (4) improvements in DOD's guidance, data collection processes, oversight, and opportunities to further improve the quality of future reports."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the fiscal year (FY) 2000 performance plans of the 24 agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act, focusing on the: (1) extent to which the agencies' plans include the three key elements of informative performance plans: (a) clear pictures of intended performance; (b) specific discussions of strategies and resources; and (c) confidence that performance information will be credible; and (2) degree of improvement the FY 2000 performance plans represent over the FY 1999 plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on animal waste management practices, focusing on: (1) waste management practices used in the United States; (2) practices used in other countries; (3) potential new practices based on technologies transferred from other industries; (4) federal financial and technical assistance available to producers for waste management and the processes for obtaining this assistance; and (5) the role of federal agencies in conducting or supporting research to develop new waste management practices, including innovative uses of current practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Department of Defense's (DOD) management and oversight of its animal research programs, focusing on the extent projects funded or performed by DOD utilizing animals: (1) were directed toward military objectives; (2) unnecessarily duplicated other research; and (3) incorporated alternatives that reduced, replaced, or refined the use of animals."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO updated its previous report on the Department of Defense's (DOD) overpayments to contractors and subsequent refunds to the Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS), focusing on: (1) DOD's efforts to identify and recover overpayments made through fiscal year (FY) 1998; and (2) whether 13 contractors were retaining overpayments and how quickly overpayments were refunded."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the timeliness of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) grant award process, focusing on the: (1) the number and dollar value of the agency-requested and congressionally directed grants awarded for fiscal years (FY) 1995-1998; (2) median award time for both types of grants, as measured by the number of days between the date of the fiscal year appropriation and the date of the grant award; and (3) major reasons for lengthy awards."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the status of competition in the subscription television market; (2) the extent to which ownership ties between cable companies and program suppliers may be affecting the development of competition; and (3) key factors that may influence the development of competition in the future."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal oversight of depository institutions' Internet banking activities, focusing on: (1) the risks posed by Internet banking and the extent of any industrywide Internet banking-related problems; (2) the methods used by regulators to track depository institutions' plans to provide Internet banking services; (3) how regulators examined Internet banking activities; and (4) the extent to which regulators examined firms providing Internet banking support services to depository institutions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) the Navy's 1997 antisubmarine warfare (ASW) assessment; (2) the role and funding influence of the Navy's recently established Antisubmarine Warfare Requirements Division; and (3) whether the assessment is supported by rigorous analysis of ASW shortfalls and capabilities and establishes priorities among ASW programs, as directed by congressional conferees on the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) decision to allow the use of personal computer-based aviation training devices (PCATD), focusing on: (1) the process and information FAA used in deciding to approve the use of personal computer devices for 10 hours of instrument training; and (2) what is known about the training effectiveness of these devices and their long-term impact on a pilot's ability to fly safely."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Education's method of calculating a school's student loan default rate, focusing on: (1) whether there has been an increase in the number of borrowers who entered repayment but subsequently received deferments or forbearances; (2) what effect would excluding borrowers whose loans were in deferment or forbearance have on the most recent default rate calculation; and (3) whether additional schools would have exceeded the 25-percent default rate threshold under the alternative method of calculating the default rate."