Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On April 8, 2003, GAO testified before the House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial Management at a hearing on our report on the U.S. government's consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2002. This letter responds to questions related to our testimony from the Subcommittee's Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member and to subsequent questions from the Vice Chairman that the Chairman asked us to answer for the record."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2002 would change the definition of the reserve ratio for the deposit insurance fund, and provide the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with the flexibility to set the fund's designated reserve ratio within a range. Current law requires FDIC to maintain the deposit insurance fund balances at a designated reserve ratio of at least 1.25 percent of estimated insurance deposits. If the reserve ratio falls below that level, FDIC's Board of Directors must set semiannual assessment rates that are sufficient to increase the reserve ratio to the designated reserve ratio within a year, or in accordance with a recapitalization schedule of 15 years or less."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Established in 1934 to enforce the securities laws and protect investors, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the U.S. securities markets. Pursuant to the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002, SEC is required to prepare and submit to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget audited financial statements. GAO agreed, under its audit authority, to perform the audit of SEC's financial statements to determine whether (1) the financial statements are fairly stated, and (2) SEC management maintained effective internal control. GAO also tested SEC's compliance with selected provisions of significant laws and regulations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia Appropriations Act of 2001 provided $250,000 for a contract to study and develop a plan to simplify the compensation systems, schedules, and work rules for DC government employees. The act placed several conditions on the appropriation, one of which was that GAO review the proposed solicitation for the contract to ensure that it adequately addressed all of the elements stipulated in the act. Government officials initially told GAO that they planned to apply the $250,000 payment to existing contracts that were being used in the District's independent effort to reform its classification and compensation systems--and therefore would not carry out the conditions that Congress had set for receipt of the funds. More recently, however, the officials said that they no longer plan to use the funds because doing so would delay the District's reform effort."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) most visible layer of commercial aviation security is the screening of airline passengers at airport checkpoints, where travelers and their carry-on items are screened for explosives and other dangerous items by transportation security officers (TSO). Several revisions made to checkpoint screening procedures have been scrutinized and questioned by the traveling public and Congress in recent years. For this review, GAO evaluated (1) TSA's decisions to modify passenger screening procedures between April 2005 and December 2005 and in response to the alleged August 2006 liquid explosives terrorist plot, and (2) how TSA monitored TSO compliance with passenger screening procedures. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed TSA documents, interviewed TSA officials and aviation security experts, and visited 25 airports of varying sizes and locations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A key challenge in securing our homeland is ensuring that critical information collected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) is shared in a timely manner with federal, state, and local governments and the private sector. It is important that federal networks and associated systems, applications, and data facilitate this vital information sharing. GAO was asked to (1) identify DHS and DOJ networks and Internet-based system applications that support homeland security and (2) determine whether DHS efforts associated with its Homeland Security Information Network are being coordinated with key state and local information-sharing initiatives. GAO assessed the coordination between DHS and two key state and local initiatives of the Regional Information Sharing System program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. government and other experts have reported that Islamic extremism is on the rise and that the spread of Islamic extremism is the pre-eminent threat facing the United States. In addition, various sources alleged that Saudi Arabia is one source that has supported and funded the spread of Islamic extremism globally. GAO was asked to determine (1) what efforts U.S. government agencies are implementing to identify, monitor, and counter support and funding for the global propagation of Islamic extremism, particularly support and funding originating in Saudi Arabia; (2) what U.S. agencies and other entities have reported regarding support and funding for the global propagation of Islamic extremism, particularly any provided by Saudi sources (private entities, individuals, and the Saudi government), as well as sources in other countries; and (3) what efforts the Saudi government has taken to address Islamic extremism. GAO submitted this report to the intelligence agencies, the Departments of Defense (DOD), State, and the Treasury, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for their review and comment. The agencies had no formal comments, and their technical comments were incorporated, as appropriate."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the late 1990s, GAO found that the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac), a federal government-sponsored enterprise, had significant assets in nonmission investments and analyzed its long-term viability. Recently, Congress asked GAO to report on Farmer Mac's (1) financial condition, (2) mission, (3) corporate governance, and (4) oversight provided by the Farm Credit Administration (FCA)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) program is intended to provide federal contracting opportunities to qualified firms. In fiscal year 2008, the Small Business Administration (SBA) reported $6.5 billion in governmentwide sole-source, set-aside, and other SDVOSB contract awards. Given the amount of federal contract dollars being awarded to SDVOSB firms, GAO was asked to determine (1) whether cases of fraud and abuse exist within the SDVOSB program and (2) whether the program has effective fraud prevention controls in place. To identify whether cases exist, GAO reviewed SDVOSB contract awards and protests since 2003 and complaints sent to GAO's fraud hotline. GAO defined case-study firms as one or more affiliated firms that were awarded one or more SDVOSB contracts. To assess fraud prevention controls, GAO reviewed laws and regulations and conducted interviews with SBA and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials. GAO did not attempt to project the extent of fraud and abuse in the program. In addition, GAO did not attempt to assess the overall effectiveness of VA's validation process to prevent or address fraud and abuse in VA SDVOSB contracts."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and water utility industry groups, communities will need as much as $1 trillion during the next 20 years to repair, replace, or upgrade aging drinking water and wastewater facilities; accommodate a growing population; and meet new water quality standards. GAO found that the amount of funds obtained from user charges and other local sources of revenue was less than the full cost of providing service--including operation and maintenance, debt service, depreciation, and taxes--for more than a quarter of drinking water utilities and more than 4 out of 10 wastewater utilities in their most recent fiscal year. GAO also found that more than a quarter of utilities lacked plans recommended by utility associations for managing their existing capital assets, but nearly all had plans that identify future capital improvement needs. A privatization agreement's potential to generate profits is the key factor influencing decisions by private companies that enter into such agreements with publicly owned utilities or the governmental entities they serve, according to the companies GAO contacted."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States faces potentially dangerous biological threats that occur naturally or may be the result of a terrorist attack. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is developing two major initiatives to provide early detection and warning of biological threats: the National Biosurveillance Integration Center (NBIC), a center for integrating and coordinating information on biological events of national significance, and the BioWatch program that operates systems used to test the air for biological agents. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 requires DHS to establish a fully operational NBIC by September 30, 2008. This statement discusses the status of DHS's efforts to (1) make NBIC fully operational by the mandated deadline, and (2) improve the BioWatch program's technology. GAO's preliminary observations of these two programs are based on our ongoing work mandated by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 to review U.S. biosurveillance efforts. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed related statutes; federal directives; and DHS planning, development, and implementation documents on these two initiatives. We also interviewed DHS program officials to obtain additional information about NBIC and BioWatch. DHS reviewed …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the performance of the information systems that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses to process tax returns for individual taxpayers, focusing on: (1) IRS' tax processing systems performance in the 2000 filing season as reported by IRS compared to the 1999 filing season; and (2) whether IRS had taken actions to address problems affecting individual taxpayers."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Future Combat System (FCS) has been at the center of the Army's efforts to become a lighter, more agile, and more capable combat force by replacing existing combat systems with a family of manned and unmanned vehicles and systems, linked by an advanced information network. To meet the challenges of FCS's scope and schedule, the Army contracted with Boeing to be lead systems integrator (LSI), to help define, develop, and integrate FCS systems. Earlier this year, the Secretary of Defense proposed restructuring FCS to lower risk and address more near-term needs, shortly before FCS was to undergo a congressionally-mandated review to determine its future. The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Army have already begun to make programmatic and budgetary adjustments to FCS. This statement reviews aspects of FCS that should be considered for inclusion in future efforts, aspects that were problematic and need re-examination, and considerations for shaping future Army ground force modernization. The testimony is drawn from GAO's body of work on FCS management and acquisition strategy, including knowledge gaps, cost, affordability, oversight, and the Army/LSI relationship. GAO has made numerous recommendations aimed at managing FCS …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) paperwork burden, focusing on: (1) the general dimensions of EPA's paperwork requirements and the agency's progress toward reducing the burden that those requirements impose; (2) the process that EPA used to develop paperwork burden-hour estimates for its largest information collections as of September 30, 1998, and gauge the credibility of those estimates; (3) EPA's largest paperwork burden-hour reductions between September 30, 1995, and September 30, 1998, and gauge the credibility of those reductions; and (4) EPA's Reinventing Environmental Information initiative and the agency's new Office of Environmental Information."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Oil for Food program was established by the United Nations and Iraq in 1996 to address concerns about the humanitarian situation after international sanctions were imposed in 1990. The program allowed the Iraqi government to use the proceeds of its oil sales to pay for food, medicine, and infrastructure maintenance. The program appears to have helped the Iraqi people. From 1996 through 2001, the average daily food intake increased from 1,300 to 2,300 calories. From 1997-2002, Iraq sold more than $67 billion of oil through the program and issued $38 billion in letters of credit to purchase commodities. However, over the years numerous allegations have surfaced concerning potential fraud and program mismanagement. GAO (1) reports on its estimates of the illegal revenue acquired by the former Iraqi regime in violation of U.N. sanctions, (2) provides observations on program administration; and (3) describes the current and future challenges in achieving food security."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Employees at the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Region X--which covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington--expressed concern about the Region's equal employment opportunity (EEO) process for employment discrimination complaints. GAO was asked to (1) provide information for fiscal years 1997 through 2001 on the composition of the Region X workforce and for personnel actions such as promotions, awards, and adverse actions by EEO group; (2) describe the EEO complaint process in Region X and any changes to it; (3) assess whether the Region's process is consistent with federal regulations and related guidance; and (4) assess the familiarity with the EEO process of the Region's employees and their attitude toward it."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The recent financial crisis resulted in a wide-ranging federal response that included infusing capital into several major corporations. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) has been the primary vehicle for most of these actions. As a result of actions and others, the government is a shareholder in the American International Group (AIG), Citigroup Inc. (Citi), Chrysler Group LLC (Chrysler), and General Motors Company (GM), among others. As market conditions have become less volatile, the government has been considering how best to manage these investments and ultimately divest them. This testimony discusses (1) the government's approach to past crisis and challenges unique to the current crisis; (2) the principles guiding the Department of the Treasury's implementation of its authorities and mechanisms for managing its investments; and (3) preliminary views from GAO's ongoing work with the Special Inspector General for TARP on the federal government's monitoring and management of its investments. This statement builds on GAO's work since the 1970s on providing government assistance to large corporations and more recent work on oversight of the assistance and investments provided under TARP. In its November 2009 report, GAO recommended that Treasury …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For fiscal year 2002, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will pay $25 billion in cash disability benefits to 3.3 million disabled veterans and their families. Veterans who are dissatisfied with VA's 57 regional offices' decisions may file appeals with VA's Board of Veteran's Appeals. In about half of such appeals, the Board has either granted the benefits denied or returned the cases to regional offices for rework. Additionally, VA reported an accuracy rate of less than 70 percent for regional office disability decisions when it tested a new quality assurance program in fiscal year 1998. When the Board itself denies benefits, veterans may appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. In over half of these appeals, the Court has either granted the benefits denied by the Board or returned the decisions to the Board for rework. In fiscal year 1998, the Board of Veteran's Appeals established a quantitative evaluation program to score its decisionmaking accuracy and collect data to improve decisionmaking. The accuracy measure used by the Board understates its true accuracy rate because the calculations include certain deficiencies, such as errors …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Army has issued soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan personal body armor, comprising an outer protective vest and ceramic plate inserts. GAO observed Preliminary Design Model testing of new plate designs, which resulted in the Army's awarding contracts in September 2008 valued at a total of over $8 billion to vendors of the designs that passed that testing. Between November and December 2008, the Army conducted further testing, called First Article Testing, on these designs. GAO is reporting on the degree to which the Army followed its established testing protocols during these two tests. GAO did not provide an expert ballistics evaluation of the results of testing. GAO, using a structured, GAO-developed data collection instrument, observed both tests at the Army's Aberdeen Test Center, analyzed data, and interviewed agency and industry officials to evaluate observed deviations from testing protocols. However, independent ballistics testing expertise is needed to determine the full effect of these deviations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since its inception in 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has faced numerous human capital challenges related to recruiting, retaining, and managing its workforce of nearly 171,000 employees. As requested, this report analyzes DHS's attrition, efforts to recruit and retain staff, use of external employees, and compliance with certain provisions of the Vacancies Reform Act, which requires agencies to report to Congress and the Comptroller General vacancies in certain presidentially-appointed positions requiring Senate confirmation. To conduct its work, GAO surveyed human capital personnel from DHS and its component agencies; analyzed federal personnel data files, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) human capital documentation, and relevant legislation; and interviewed key DHS officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations affected 62 percent of the flying units in the Air National Guard (ANG) with 14 units losing their flying mission, and others converting from one type of aircraft to another, or increasing or decreasing assigned aircraft. To implement the recommendations, ANG must relocate hundreds of aircraft and retrain or recruit about 15,000 personnel by 2011. In this report, GAO addresses the status of efforts to implement the ANG BRAC actions. GAO's objectives were to determine (1) the process to provide replacement missions to units losing flying missions, (2) the progress and challenges in implementing the BRAC actions, and (3) changes to the cost and savings estimates. This report, prepared under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, is one in a series of reports related to 2005 BRAC recommendations. GAO conducted its work at the Air Force, ANG headquarters, and in 11 states affected by BRAC 2005"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1990s, growth in the use of the Internet has revolutionized the way that our nation communicates and conducts business. While the Internet was originally developed by the Department of Defense, the vast majority of its infrastructure is currently owned and operated by the private sector. Federal policy recognizes the need to prepare for debilitating Internet disruptions and tasks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with developing an integrated public/private plan for Internet recovery. GAO was asked to (1) identify examples of major disruptions to the Internet, (2) identify the primary laws and regulations governing recovery of the Internet in the event of a major disruption, (3) evaluate DHS plans for facilitating recovery from Internet disruptions, and (4) assess challenges to such efforts."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO appeared before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Armed Services on September 18, 2007, to discuss the benefits and medical care for federal civilian and U.S. government contract employees deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. This report responds to Congress' request that GAO provide answers to questions for the record from the hearing. The questions are (1) What are the congressional requirements for medical tracking of deployed military servicemembers and civilians? and (2) What work has GAO conducted on this topic?"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Section 502 of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 required us to report to the appropriate congressional committees by December 31, 2009, regarding the Department of Defense's (DOD) progress in implementing GAO's audit recommendations. From fiscal years 2001 through 2008, we issued 743 reports to DOD or its components that included 3,099 recommendations. By law, agencies, including DOD, are required to submit written statements to Congress explaining actions taken in response to recommendations we have made. We follow up on the implementation status of each recommendation at least annually after report issuance to determine whether DOD has instituted sufficient corrective actions. This report, which responds to this mandate, contains the results of our analysis on the implementation status of the 3,099 recommendations."