A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1997, the Department of Defense (DOD) initiated the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program, a key element of its effort to transform military operations to be network centric. Using emerging software-defined radio technology, the JTRS program plans to develop and procure hundreds of thousands of radios that give warfighters the capability to access maps and other visual data, communicate via voice and video, and obtain information directly from battlefield sensors. The JTRS program has encountered a number of problems, resulting in significant delays and cost increases. The program is currently estimated to total about $37 billion. Given the criticality of JTRS to DOD's force transformation, Congress directed GAO to continue its ongoing review of the JTRS program. This report (1) assesses whether a recent restructuring puts the program in a better position to succeed and (2) identifies any risks that challenge the successful fielding of JTRS."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In preparing for the 2020 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) has launched several initiatives aimed at organizational transformation, some of which show particular promise. For example, the Bureau is attempting to develop Bureau-wide, or "enterprise," standards, guidance, or tools in areas such as risk management and information technology (IT) investment management to reduce duplicative efforts across the Bureau. Although the Bureau has made progress in these and other areas, if the Bureau is to transform itself to better control costs and deliver an accurate national headcount in 2020, several areas will require continued oversight: cost estimation, integrated long-term planning, and stakeholder involvement. For example, while the Bureau has made progress with long-term planning by implementing some elements of GAO's recommendation that it develop a road map for 2020 planning, it still needs to pull together remaining planning elements, such as milestones for decisions and estimates of cost, into its roadmap."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL) April 2012 study (1) identified general options for meeting the plutonium research needs of NNSA--a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy (DOE)--during the several-year gap created by the deferral of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) nuclear facility and (2) included limited information on costs and health risks. The study noted that the level of plutonium research necessary to support the nuclear weapons life extension programs is affected by the planned schedule of the life extension programs, the number of pits that will be needed under the programs, and the number of pits that will need to be manufactured versus re-used, all of which have uncertainties. According to the April 2012 study, one option for meeting NNSA's plutonium research needs is to relocate analytical chemistry and materials characterization capabilities among facilities at LANL, which will require upgrades costing roughly $480 million to $820 million. A second option is to move capabilities to existing facilities at other sites. The study concluded that no single site could provide all the capabilities that might be …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) incident data cannot be used to reliably identify risks from incidents involving collisions with and spills from tank trucks' bottom lines ("wetlines") because the incidents are not specifically identified in PHMSA's database and the data contain inaccuracies. PHMSA requires carriers to report hazardous material incidents, but the reporting form does not specifically capture wetline incidents. PHMSA officials identify wetline incidents through a resource-intensive process of reviewing carrier-reported incident narratives and other information. However, GAO found that the narratives do not always clearly indicate whether an incident is wetline related and that information about the consequences of incidents, including fatalities, is not always accurate. PHMSA has made efforts to improve its data, such as adding quality checks, but this has not affected how wetline incidents are reported, and inaccuracies remain."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies among welfare recipients, some states have imposed family caps on welfare benefits. One factor that determines the amount of cash benefits a family receives is the family's size--larger families receive more benefits. In states with a family cap policy, however, no additional cash benefits are provided with the birth of another. Twenty-three states have implemented some variation of a family cap, breaking the traditional link between a family's size and the amount of its monthly welfare check. Generally, these states implemented family cap policies as part of their welfare reforms to reduce out-of-wedlock births and to encourage self-sufficiency. During an average month in 2000, 20 of the 23 family cap states reported that about 108,000 families received less in cash benefits than they would have in the absence of state-imposed family cap policies. In an average month, about nine percent of welfare families in these states had their benefits affected by the family cap. A family's welfare benefits are affected by several factors, including earnings and receipt of child support. Therefore, states were unable to report the precise effect of the family …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's work has shown that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through its component agencies, particularly the Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), have made substantial progress in implementing various programs that, collectively, have improved maritime security. In general, GAO's work on maritime security programs falls under four areas: (1) security planning, (2) port facility and vessel security, (3) maritime domain awareness and information sharing, and (4) international supply chain security. DHS has, among other things, developed various maritime security programs and strategies and has implemented and exercised security plans. For example, the Coast Guard has developed Area Maritime Security Plans around the country to identify and coordinate Coast Guard procedures related to prevention, protection, and security response at domestic ports. In addition, to enhance the security of U.S. ports, the Coast Guard has implemented programs to conduct annual inspections of port facilities. To enhance the security of vessels, both CBP and the Coast Guard receive and screen advance information on commercial vessels and their crews before they arrive at U.S. ports and prepare risk assessments based on this information. Further, DHS and its component …

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) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants program, focusing on: (1) whether funding amounts awarded for the grants align with EPA's strategic goals, EPA's Office of Research and Development's (ORD) research priorities, and program office priorities; (2) the extent to which the completed focused grants have provided research that is being used by EPA's program offices; and (3) ways in which ORD could enhance its management of the program to help ensure that it meets its objectives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Using several methods of varying precision, mobile industry companies collect location data and use or share that data to provide users with location-based services, offer improved services, and increase revenue through targeted advertising. Location-based services provide consumers access to applications such as real-time navigation aids, access to free or reduced-cost mobile applications, and faster response from emergency services, among other potential benefits. However, the collection and sharing of location data also pose privacy risks. Specifically, privacy advocates said that consumers: (1) are generally unaware of how their location data are shared with and used by third parties; (2) could be subject to increased surveillance when location data are shared with law enforcement; and (3) could be at higher risk of identity theft or threats to personal safety when companies retain location data for long periods or share data with third parties that do not adequately protect them."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About one-third of the nation's adult homeless population are veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Many of these veterans have experienced substance abuse, mental illness, or both. The VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program, which is up for reauthorization, provides transitional housing to help veterans prepare for permanent housing. As requested, GAO reviewed (1) VA homeless veterans estimates and the number of transitional housing beds, (2) the extent of collaboration involved in the provision of GPD and related services, and (3) VA's assessment of GPD program performance. GAO analyzed VA data and methods used for the homeless estimates and performance assessment, and visited selected GPD providers in four states to observe the extent of collaboration."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The termination of the six defined benefit plans that were sponsored by the Delphi Corporation (Delphi) and the provision of benefit protections to some Delphi employees, but not others, culminated from a complex series of events involving Delphi, the General Motors Corporation (GM), various unions, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). When Delphi spun off from GM in 1999, three unions secured an agreement that GM would provide a retirement benefit supplement (referred to as "top-ups") for their members should their pension plans be frozen or terminated and they were to suffer a resulting loss in pension benefits. These three unions were: (1) the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW); (2) the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers, AFL-CIO (IUE); and (3) the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). No other Delphi employees had a similar agreement to receive a top-up, including salaried workers and hourly workers belonging to other unions. Over the course of events that unfolded over the next decade, the agreements with these three unions ultimately were preserved …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The November 2011 memorandum that discussed the management of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program was prepared based primarily on the observations of the former Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD), a division of the Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) within the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD). The memorandum was intended to highlight various challenges that have hindered ISCD efforts to implement the CFATS program. According to the former Director, the challenges facing ISCD included not having a fully developed direction and plan for implementing the program, hiring staff without establishing need, and inconsistent ISCD leadership—factors that the Director believed place the CFATS program at risk. These challenges centered on three main areas: (1) human capital issues, including problems hiring, training, and managing ISCD staff; (2) mission issues, including problems reviewing facility plans to mitigate security vulnerabilities; and (3) administrative issues, including concerns about NPPD and IP not supporting ISCD’s management and administrative functions."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has taken actions to validate the science underlying its behavior-based passenger screening program, the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, program, but more work remains. GAO reported in May 2010 that (1) TSA deployed SPOT before first determining whether there was a scientifically valid basis for using behavior and appearance indicators to reliably identify passengers who may pose a risk; and (2) it is unknown if the SPOT program has ever resulted in the arrest of anyone who is a terrorist, or who was planning to engage in terrorist related activity, although there is other evidence that terrorists have transited through SPOT airports. GAO recommended in May 2010 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) convene an independent panel of experts to review the methodology of the ongoing validation study on the SPOT program to determine whether it is sufficiently comprehensive to validate the program. DHS concurred and subsequently revised its validation study to include an independent expert review. DHS's study, completed in April 2011, found that SPOT was more effective than random screening to varying degrees; however, DHS noted limitations …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As GAO reported in September 2012, nine selected states had made varying degrees of progress in modernizing the information technology (IT) systems supporting their unemployment insurance (UI) programs. Specifically, the states' modernization efforts were at various stages--three were in early phases of defining business needs and requirements, two were in the process of building systems based on identified requirements, two were in a "mixed" phase of having a system that was partly operational and partly in development, and two had systems that were completely operational. The enhancements provided by these systems included supporting web-based technologies with more modern databases and replacing outdated programming languages, among others."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In terrorists' hands, weapons-grade nuclear material--known as Category I special nuclear material when in specified forms and quantities--can be used to construct an improvised nuclear device capable of producing a nuclear explosion. Responsibility for the security of Category I special nuclear material is divided between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Specifically, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within DOE, are responsible for overseeing physical security at government-owned and contractor-operated sites with Category I special nuclear material. NRC, which is responsible for licensing and overseeing commercially owned facilities with nuclear materials, such as nuclear power plants, is responsible for regulating physical security at those licensees that store and process Category I special nuclear material under contract, primarily for DOE. Because of the risks associated with Category I special nuclear material, both DOE and NRC recognize that effective security programs are essential. The key component in both DOE's and NRC's security programs is each agency's design basis threat (DBT)--classified documents that identify the potential size and capabilities of terrorist threats to special nuclear material. To counter the threat …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has made noteworthy progress on the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program by delivering data from its first satellite--the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP)--to weather forecasters, completing significant instrument development for the next satellite (called JPSS-1), and reducing the program's life cycle cost estimate from $12.9 billion to $11.3 billion by refocusing on weather products. However, key challenges remain. Specifically, S-NPP has not yet achieved full operational capability because the program is behind schedule in validating the readiness of satellite products. Also, the program does not track whether key users are using its products or if the products meet the users' needs. In addition, issues with the JPSS ground system schedules have delayed the delivery of key system capabilities. Until the program addresses these challenges, it may continue to experience delays in delivering actionable S-NPP data to system users and in meeting JPSS-1 development schedules."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how federal web sites would fare when measured against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) fair information principles for commercial web sites. The FTC's fair information principles are: (1) notice; (2) choice; (3) access; and (4) security."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "These new organizations--the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and Office of Financial Research (OFR)--face challenges in achieving their missions. Key FSOC missions--to identify risks and respond to emerging threats to financial stability--are inherently challenging, in part, because risks to financial stability do not develop in precisely the same way in successive crises. Collaboration among FSOC members can also be challenging at times, as almost all of them represent independent agencies that retained existing authorities. OFR faces the challenge of trying to establish and build a world-class research organization while meeting shorter-term goals and responsibilities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have 10 disaster assistance programs that small agricultural producers and businesses that support agriculture can use to recover from natural disasters. These programs serve largely different populations but leave few gaps in the disaster assistance available to most small agricultural producers. Aquaculture and nursery producers could be eligible for six of these programs, but their participation is limited by awareness and eligibility issues."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the primary federal agency for supporting medical research. The Office of the Director (OD) is the central NIH office responsible for setting policy and overseeing NIH's 27 institutes and centers (IC). Allegations involving one institute raised questions about areas of oversight by the OD. In light of these questions, GAO examined (1) how NIH makes extramural research funding decisions and OD monitoring of this process, (2) the design of selected internal controls over NIH's travel and personnel appointment processes, and (3) the design of NIH's new risk management program and the program it is replacing. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed relevant NIH policies, procedures, and supporting documentation. GAO also selected 3 institutes that varied in size for in-depth reviews."

A letter report 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 was asked to review (1) how VHA used miscellaneous obligations during fiscal year 2007, and (2) whether Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policies and procedures were designed to provide adequate controls over their authorization and use. 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."

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) efforts to reduce children's exposure to pesticides by implementing the requirements of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), focusing on the: (1) approach EPA has developed for making decisions about applying the new safety factor; (2) progress that has been made in considering aggregate exposure and cumulative effects; and (3) progress that has been made in reassessing tolerances for pesticide residues."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed information security audits at federal agencies, focusing on: (1) the pervasive weaknesses that continue since the results of a similar analysis 2 years ago; (2) the serious risks that these weaknesses pose; and (3) major common weaknesses that agencies need to address in order to improve their information security programs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program's (SCHIP) efforts to make dental care more available to low-income people, focusing on: (1) factors that explain low dental service use by Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries; and (2) the role of other federal safety-net programs in improving access to dental care."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2003 through 2006, U.S. government agencies have reported significant costs for U.S. stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. In addition, the United States currently has committed about 138,000 military personnel to the U.S.-led Multinational Force in Iraq (MNF-I). Over the past 3 years, worsening security conditions have made it difficult for the United States to achieve its goals in Iraq. In this statement, we discuss (1) the trends in the security environment in Iraq, and (2) progress in developing Iraqi security forces, as reported by the Departments of Defense (DOD) and State. We also present key questions for congressional oversight, including what political, economic, and security conditions must be achieved before the United States can draw down and withdraw? Why have security conditions continued to deteriorate even as Iraq has met political milestones, increased the number of trained and equipped forces, and increasingly assumed the lead for security? If existing U.S. political, economic, and security measures are not reducing violence in Iraq, what additional measures, if any, will the administration propose for stemming the violence?"