Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As part of its work to improve the management and performance of the federal government, GAO monitors progress and continuing challenges in using performance information to inform budgetary choices (performance budgeting). In light of the nation's long-term fiscal imbalance and other 21st century challenges, we have reported that the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and performance budgeting can support needed reexamination of what the federal government does, how it does it, and who does it. GAO remains committed to working with Congress and the Administration to help address these important and complex issues."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Retired Enlisted Association, Incorporated, for fiscal years 2001, 2000, and 1999. GAO did not review the auditors' working papers and did not render an audit opinion. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation do not present fairly, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, the financial position of the corporation or the changes in its net assets or cash flows for 2001, 2000, and 1999."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Conference on Citizenship, for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the administration's National Energy Policy, the Department of Energy (DOE) is promoting nuclear energy to meet increased U.S. energy demand. In 2003, DOE began developing the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, an advanced nuclear reactor that seeks to improve upon the current generation of operating commercial nuclear power plants. DOE intends to demonstrate the plant's commercial application both for generating electricity and for using process heat from the reactor for the production of hydrogen, which then would be used in fuel cells for the transportation sector. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required plant design and construction to be completed by 2021. This testimony, which summarizes a GAO report being issued today (GAO-06-1056), provides information on DOE's (1) progress in meeting its schedule for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant project and (2) approach to ensuring the project's commercial viability. For the report, GAO reviewed DOE's research and development (R&D) plans for the project and the reports of two independent project reviews, observed R&D activities, and interviewed DOE, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and industry representatives."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As the Comptroller General recently testified and as discussed in our latest financial audit report, the Department of Defense's (DOD) financial management deficiencies, taken together, continue to represent the single largest obstacle to achieving an unqualified opinion on the U.S. government's consolidated financial statements. For example, to date, none of the military services has passed the test of an independent financial audit because of pervasive weaknesses in internal control, processes, and fundamentally flawed business systems. Problems with the department's financial management operations go far beyond its accounting and finance processes and systems. The department continues to rely on a reported 4,000 or more fundamentally flawed finance, logistics, personnel, acquisition, and other management information systems to gather the data needed to support day-to-day management decision making and reporting. These systems were not designed to be, but rather evolved into the overly complex and error-prone operation--vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse--that exists today. Further, inefficiencies in DOD's current business operations, such as (1) little standardization across DOD components, (2) multiple systems performing the same tasks, (3) the same data stored in multiple systems, (4) manual entry of the same data …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Federation of Music Clubs, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the District of Columbia's (D.C.) Adolescent Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Prevention Program, focusing on: (1) statistics on the specific schools that are participating in this program; (2) how the schools were selected to participate in the program; (3) the source and amount of funding identified in the D.C. government budget; (4) statistics on sexually transmitted diseases, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS, and pregnancies among D.C. public school students; (5) the policies that govern the distribution of all forms of contraception devices to students in the D.C. Public Schools; and (6) information on policies governing sex education in the D.C. Public Schools."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc., for fiscal year 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. An issue meriting concern and close scrutiny that emerged during our fiscal year 2004 CFS audit was the growing number of Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies that restated certain of their financial statements for fiscal year 2003 to correct errors. Errors in financial statements can result from mathematical mistakes, mistakes in the application of accounting principles, or oversight or misuse of facts that existed at the time the financial statements were prepared. Frequent restatements to correct errors can undermine public trust and confidence in both the entity and all responsible parties. Further, when restatements do occur, it is important that financial statements clearly communicate and readers of the restated financial statements understand that the financial statements originally issued by management in the previous year and the opinion thereon should no longer be …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements for the National Ski Patrol System, Incorporated, for fiscal years 2000 and 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements for the Military Order of the Purple Heart of the United States of America, Incorporated, for fiscal year 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Polish Legion of American Veterans, U.S.A., for fiscal year 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly on a modified cash basis of accounting."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "People are critical to the success of the federal government's overall transformation effort. Yet the government has not transformed, in many cases for decades, how it classifies, compensates, develops, and motivates its employees to achieve maximum results with available resources and existing authorities. This is especially the case with the federal government's top leadership and federal justices and judges. Leading organizations understand that they must often change their culture to successfully transform themselves, and that such a change starts with top leadership. Most importantly, senior leaders who are drivers of continuous improvement are needed to stimulate and support efforts to facilitate change and achieve related transformation efforts for the federal government. At the Chairman's request, we recently reported on executive and judicial pay--Human Capital: Trends in Executive and Judicial Pay (GAO-06-708). This testimony highlights information from that report."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. commercial aviation industry has had an extraordinary safety record in recent years. However, expected increases in air-traffic--including the introduction of new vehicles into the national airspace, such as unmanned vehicles and very light jets--and human resource issues, present challenges that have the potential to strain the existing safety oversight system. GAO's testimony focuses on these questions: (1) How is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ensuring that the areas of highest safety risk are addressed? (2) How is FAA ensuring that its staff maintain the skills and knowledge to consistently carry out the agency's oversight programs? and (3) What are the key safety challenges facing FAA? This statement is based on our recent reports on FAA's inspection oversight programs, industry partnership programs, and enforcement and training programs. It is also based on interviews with FAA and relevant industry officials."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11 killed thousands of Americans and foreign nationals. The economic toll will also be enormous. Countless jobs and retirement funds are now at risk. Estimates of the losses to the airline industry alone have ranged from $4 billion, according to many analysts, to more than $20 billion, according to some airline officials. Congress has already appropriated $40 billion for emergency responses, including increased transportation security, and Congress is considering financial assistance to the airline industry. GAO believes that the government needs to clearly define the nature of the problem--separating short-term needs from long-term challenges, industry wants from real needs. Although all airlines now face major financial challenges, government assistance cannot overcome the financial difficulty that confronted several carriers before the events of September 11. The government has a range of options to assist the airline industry, from loans and loan guarantees to tax subsidies. The choice and design of the assistance is critical to targeting federal aid to the immediate problems, spreading responsibility among all industry stakeholders, and ensuring accountability to Congress and the American …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Army Corps of Engineers' Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, focusing on: (1) the role of the Corps' Plan in addressing the major water quality concerns in Florida's ecosystem; and (2) modifications that may be needed as the Corps implements the Plan after it has been authorized by Congress."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed food safety expenditures by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), focusing on: (1) the amount of resources available to FSIS and FDA for food safety activities; (2) how these resources were expended by the agencies; and (3) how much the states, territories, and District of Columbia expended on food safety activities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reversed the general decline in its third-party collections for the first time since fiscal year 1995. The fiscal year 2001 increase appears to be largely the result of VA's implementation of a new system, known as the reasonable charges billing system, which allowed VA to move from a flat-rate billing system to one that itemizes charges. However, long-standing problems in VA's revenue operations persist, and VA's collections performance is poor when compared to that of the private sector. VA's attempts at consolidation using either in-house or contractor staff have provided little basis for selecting the best alternative to VA's collections problems. Also, VA's recent 2001 Revenue Cycle Improvement Plan does not call for a comprehensive comparison of alternatives, nor does it focus on net revenues--collections minus operations costs. To collect the most funds for veterans' medical care at the lowest cost, VA needs to develop a business plan and detailed implementation approach that will provide useful data for optimizing net revenues from third-party payments."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Alternative mortgage products (AMPs) can make homes more affordable by allowing borrowers to defer repayment of principal or part of the interest for the first few years of the mortgage. Recent growth in AMP lending has heightened the importance of borrowers' understanding and lenders' management of AMP risks. GAO's report discusses the (1) recent trends in the AMP market, (2) potential AMP risks for borrowers and lenders, (3) extent to which mortgage disclosures discuss AMP risks, and (4) federal and selected state regulatory response to AMP risks. GAO used regulatory and industry data to analyze changes in AMP monthly payments under various scenarios; reviewed available studies; and interviewed relevant federal and state regulators and mortgage industry groups, and consumer groups."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Business income taxes, both corporate and noncorporate, are a significant portion of federal tax revenue. Businesses also play a crucial role in collecting taxes from individuals, through withholding and information reporting. However, the design of the current system of business taxation is widely seen as flawed. It distorts investment decisions, hurting the performance of the economy. Its complexity imposes planning and record keeping costs, facilitates tax shelters, and provides potential cover for those who want to cheat. Not surprisingly, business tax reform is part of the debate about overall tax reform. The debate is occurring at a time when long-range projections show that, without a policy change, the gap between spending and revenues will widen. This testimony reviews the nation's long term fiscal imbalance and what is wrong with the current system of business taxation and provides some principles that ought to guide the debate about business tax reform. This statement is based on previously published GAO work and reviews of relevant literature."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plays a key role in overseeing federal information technology (IT) investments. The Clinger-Cohen Act, among other things, requires OMB to establish processes to analyze, track, and evaluate the risks and results of major capital investments in information systems made by agencies and to report to Congress on the net program performance benefits achieved as a result of these investments. OMB has developed several processes to help carry out its role. For example, OMB began using a Management Watch List several years ago as a means of identifying poorly planned projects based on its evaluation of agencies' funding justifications for major projects, known as exhibit 300s. In addition, in August 2005, OMB established a process for agencies to identify high risk projects and to report on those that are performing poorly. GAO testified last year on the Management Watch List and high risk projects, and on GAO's recommendations to improve these processes. GAO was asked to (1) provide an update on the Management Watch List and high risk projects and (2) identify OMB's efforts to improve the identification and oversight of these …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Six years after the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), concerns persist about health effects experienced by WTC responders and the availability of health care services for those affected. Several federally funded programs provide screening, monitoring, or treatment services to responders. GAO has previously reported on the progress made and implementation problems faced by these WTC health programs, as well as lessons learned from the WTC disaster. This testimony is based on previous GAO work, primarily September 11: HHS Needs to Ensure the Availability of Health Screening and Monitoring for All Responders (GAO-07-892, July 23, 2007). This testimony discusses (1) status of services provided by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) WTC Federal Responder Screening Program, (2) efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to provide services for nonfederal responders residing outside the New York City (NYC) area, and (3) lessons learned from WTC health programs. For the July 2007 report, GAO reviewed program documents and interviewed HHS officials, grantees, and others. In August and September 2007, GAO updated selected information in preparing this testimony."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A safe and secure civil aviation system is critical to the nation's security, physical infrastructure, and economy. Billions of dollars and myriad programs and policies have been devoted to achieving such a system. Although it is not fully known at this time what actually occurred or what all the weaknesses in the nation's aviation security apparatus are that contributed to the horrendous events on September 11, 2001, it is clear that serious weaknesses exist in our aviation security system and that their impact can be far more devastating than previously imagined. As reported last year, GAO's review of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) oversight of air traffic control (ATC) computer systems showed that FAA had not followed some critical aspects of its own security requirements. Specifically, FAA had not ensured that ATC buildings and facilities were secure, that the systems themselves were protected, and that the contractors who use these systems had undergone background checks. Controls for limiting access to secure areas, including aircraft, have not always worked as intended. GAO's special agents used fictitious law enforcement badges and credentials to gain access to secure areas, bypass security …