Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes AIMD-98-21.3.1, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government (Exposure Draft), December 1997. This publication supersedes AIMD-99-21.3.1, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government (Exposure Draft), May 1999. GAO published a guide on internal control standards for executive agency managers as required by the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act. The standards apply equally to program implementation and administration as well as financial operations, and they are intended to help both program and financial managers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on issues related to the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) licensing of inventions developed under intramural research projects, focusing on the: (1) extent of and reasons for the differences between the number of research inventions licensed under cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA) compared to inventions licensed under other intramural research projects; and (2) internal controls that ensure proper accountability for royalty income resulting from these licenses."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Small Business Administration's (SBA) loan origination and debt collection processes, focusing on the extent to which SBA has established: (1) adequate loan origination procedures and consistently obtains the required documents and data necessary for determining whether loan applicants comply with the program's statutory, regulatory, and eligibility requirements and have any outstanding, delinquent federal debt; and (2) a systematic process for identifying and collecting delinquent debts, including a prompt referral of delinquent debts to the Department of the Treasury for offset and cross-servicing programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) anthrax immunization program, focusing on the: (1) need for a six-shot regimen and annual booster shots; (2) long- and short-term safety of the vaccine; (3) efficacy of the vaccine; and (4) extent to which problems the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found in the vaccine production facility in Michigan could compromise the safety, efficacy, and quality of the vaccine."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Board's and the Emergency Gas and Oil Guaranteed Loan Board's new rules on the Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Program and the Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Program. GAO noted that: (1) the rules would establish the procedures for providing guarantees of up to $1 billion in loans for qualified steel and iron ore companies and $500 million in loans for qualified oil and gas companies; (2) both programs will be administered by both Boards; (3) prior to the issuance of the loan guarantee and while any guarantee is outstanding, the company must agree to permit an audit by GAO or its designee, and an independent auditor acceptable to the Boards; (4) audited financial statements are required to be submitted with an application; (5) the final rules have an announced effective date of December 27, 1999; and (6) both the Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Board and the Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Board complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the reasons why a Boeing report entitled Center Wing Fuel Tank Heating Study (also referred to as the Panama Study) dated March 14, 1980, was not provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to aid in its investigation of the 1996 Trans World Airlines (TWA) flight 800 crash until June 1999."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined: (1) the extent to which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had established adequate loan origination procedures and consistently applied them to determine whether loan applicants comply with the Direct Endorsement (DE) program's statutory, regulatory, and eligibility requirements and have any outstanding delinquent federal debt; and (2) whether HUD's Management and Marketing (M&M) contractors were adequately documenting the actions taken to preserve, protect, and maintain HUD's foreclosed properties."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the tax expenses associated with building the Department of Energy's Spallation Neutron Source project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, focusing on whether it would be less expensive to build the project at any of the other participating national laboratories."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the resources and selected accomplishments of five inspectors general for fiscal years 1992 through 1998."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the: (1) extent to which the accuracy of the 1990 census address counts varied by geographic area; and (2) difficulties that the Bureau of the Census faces in building a quality address list."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Transportation's (DOT) performance plan for fiscal year (FY) 2000, focusing on whether the plan provided information on: (1) the desired end results; (2) the results of programs and activities that are expected to lead to end outcomes; and (3) products and services that are typically based on the numbers of activities or products that result from internal effort."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on private sector employer-sponsored disability insurance plans, focusing on the: (1) number of people in the private sector covered by short-term or long-term employer-sponsored disability insurance; (2) number of short- and long-term disability claims filed each year and the number of initial awards; and (3) average processing time for initial short- and long-term disability claims."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on establishing core competencies for budget analysts who work in the federal government. This document identifies and sorts the competencies necessary for budget analysts' work into the following categories: (1) budgeting concepts and process; (2) budget presentation and justification; and (3) general."

A staff study issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on an innovative technique (called the "three-card method") for collecting data on sensitive policy-relevant topics."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication is superseded by AIMD-21.2.6, Direct Loan System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems Under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, April 2000. GAO published a checklist to assist: (1) agencies in implementing and monitoring their direct loan systems; and (2) management and auditors in reviewing their direct loan systems to determine if they are in substantial compliance with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed money laundering in relation to private banking and highlighted some regulatory issues related to the vulnerability of selected offshore jurisdictions to money laundering, focusing on: (1) regulators' oversight of private banking in general; (2) regulators' oversight of private banking in selected offshore jurisdictions; (3) barriers that have hampered regulators' oversight of offshore banking; and (4) future challenges that confront regulators' efforts to combat money laundering in offshore jurisdictions."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its 1998 investigation of alleged illegalities involving Raul Salinas de Gotari, brother of the former President of Mexico, Carlos Salinas de Gotari, and a U.S. bank, Citibank."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) new rule on the regulation of takeovers and security holder communications. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would revise the regulations applicable to takeover transactions (including tender offers, mergers, acquisitions, and similar extraordinary transactions) to permit significantly more communications before the time a mandated disclosure document must be publicly filed with the SEC; (2) in addition, the rule balances the treatment of cash and stock tender offers, simplifies and centralizes disclosure requirements, and eliminates existing regulatory inconsistencies in merger and tender offers; and (3) SEC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new rule on Medicare Program revisions to payment policies under the physician fee schedule for calendar year 2000. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would make several changes affecting Medicare Part B payment; (2) the changes include, among others, implementation of resource-based malpractice insurance relative value units (RVU), refinement of resource-based practice expense RVUs, and payment for physician pathology and independent laboratory services; and (3) HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This document is a supplement to GAO's May 1998 executive guide on information security management. It is intended to help federal managers implement an ongoing information security risk assessment process by providing examples, or case studies, of practical risk assessment procedures that have been successfully adopted by four organizations known for their efforts to implement good risk assessment practices."

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 the lowering of reporting thresholds for certain persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) chemicals. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would lower the reporting thresholds for certain PBTs that are subject to reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990; (2) among other actions, the final rule adds other chemicals to the EPCRA section 313 list of toxic chemicals; and (3) EPA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) new rule on cross-border tender and exchange offers, business combinations, and rights offerings. GAO noted that: (1) the rule contains tender offer and Securities Act registration exemptive rules for cross-border tender and exchange offers, business combinations, and rights offerings relating to the securities of foreign companies; (2) the purpose of the exemptions is to facilitate U.S. investor participation in these types of transactions; and (3) SEC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed federal assessments--user fees, taxes, and other charges--levied on the commercial maritime industry, focusing on: (1) the federal agencies that levied assessments in fiscal year (FY) 1998 compared with FY 1991, the number of assessments levied, and the amounts they collected; (2) who pays the assessments and in which funds they were deposited in fiscal years 1991-1998; (3) new federal assessments that have been recently proposed; and (4) the status of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, and the projected annual balances of the fund."