A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Poor oversight and management of the Department of Defense (DOD) travel card program has led to high delinquency rates costing DOD millions in lost rebates and increased ATM fees. As a result, Congress asked GAO to report on (1) the magnitude, impact, and cause of delinquencies, (2) the types of fraudulent and abusive uses of travel cards, and (3) the effectiveness of internal controls over DOD's travel card program. GAO previously reported on travel card management at the Air Force."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Energy's (DOE) efforts to improve the storage of spent nuclear fuel from its nuclear reactors at DOE's Hanford Site in Washington State, focusing on: (1) its status; (2) what problems might affect achieving cost and schedule estimates; and (3) whether changes have been sufficient to address management weaknesses."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's work has repeatedly shown that mission fragmentation and program overlap are widespread in the federal government. Implementation of federal crosscutting programs is often characterized by numerous individual agency efforts that are implemented with little apparent regard for the presence and efforts of related activities. GAO has in the past offered possible approaches for managing crosscutting programs, and has stated that the Government Performance and Results Act could provide a framework for addressing crosscutting efforts. GAO was asked to examine the actions and plans agencies reported in addressing the crosscutting issues of drug control, family poverty, financial institution regulation, and public health systems. GAO reviewed the fiscal year 2003 performance plans for the major agencies involved in these issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Financial Management Service's (FMS) internal controls over cash receipts collected on behalf of the federal government, focusing on testing the effectiveness of FMS' internal controls over lockbox collections."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on defense transportation, focusing on the: (1) progress in reengineering defense transportation financial management processes; (2) challenges associated with implementing these reengineered processes agencywide; and (3) the extent to which the Department of Defense (DOD) is assessing the infrastructure required to support the reengineered processes."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1996, Congress authorized a test program that permits government buyers to use procedural discretion and flexibility, so that commercial items may be obtained in a simplified manner. This report discusses how federal agencies demonstrated whether the test program produced the desired results and (2) assesses how the authority provided under the test program was being used on selected contracts. GAO found that (1) the Office of Federal Procurement Policy did not collect data to provide a basis for measuring whether the test program produced the desired results and (2) government buyers did not always demonstrate that prices were fair and reasonable for the contracts included in GAO's review. However, OFPP's 1999 survey of procurement executives showed that these executives believed that the program has had a positive impact on the federal procurement process. These executives believed that the authority provided under the test program should be made permanent. However, OFPP's survey did not collect empirical data that would have supported these views."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) has 30 major research, development, production, and environmental cleanup sites around the country that account for three-fourths of DOE's over-$20 billion annual budget. DOE manages these sites largely through contractors, which can be either industrial firms or educational institutions. Since fiscal year 1999, DOE's major contractors have spent $6 billion each year on support-related activities. This amount represents 40 percent of the contractors' total annual costs. DOE's management of support-related costs on a departmentwide basis is limited, consisting mainly of the Chief Financial Officer's (CFO) annual analysis, and departmentwide dissemination, of summary data on these costs. The CFO's analysis includes comparing the most recent data with data for previous years, highlighting trends and potential anomalies. At the DOE field and contractor level, virtually all contractors examined during GAO's review have in recent years implemented initiatives to manage certain support-related costs. Some of these initiatives have resulted in millions of dollars in savings reported by the contractor. To achieve these savings, contractors have sometimes set targets for reducing specific types of support-related costs, such as overhead costs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the: (1) standards and processes under which mergers between local telephone companies are evaluated and approved by governmental bodies; and (2) implementation of this process in the Bell Atlantic-NYNEX merger, and the effects of the merger that can be observed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has questioned whether the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), formerly the Health Care Financing Administration, adequately implemented new payment methods, effectively safeguarded program payments, and adequately oversaw the quality of care provided to beneficiaries. CMS depends on hundreds of information technology (IT) systems to help manage the Medicare program. With year 2000 systems renovations successfully completed, CMS has focused on modernizing its IT systems. The agency's information systems are crucial to carrying out Medicare's core missions of claims processing and payment, program oversight, and administration of participating health plans. Medicare's major systems are aged, however, and many are incompatible with one another. To address these problems, CMS intends to modify, replace, or redesign systems on which key Medicare missions depend. CMS plans to make incremental system improvements while maintaining current functions and accommodating changes mandated by legislation. The agency's IT planning and management processes--intended to increase the likelihood that new systems will be successful and cost-effective--have shortcomings. The agency's blueprint documenting its existing and planned IT environments, also known as its enterprise architecture, is missing essential detail in critical parts, including well-documented business …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Developing fire protection standards and testing products against them are critical to promoting fire safety. Business offices, including federal facilities, experience thousands of fires, more than $100 million in property losses, and dozens of casualties each year. Knowing the number and types of fires in the workplace, as well as their causes, is critical to understanding and reducing fire risks. Some private-sector groups track the number and causes of fires in different types of buildings. Such information is used to manage risk and reduce property damage, injuries, and deaths. However, the federal government collects little information on the fire risks in its facilities. As a result, the federal government cannot provide standards-development organizations with timely information that could be used to develop or revise fire safety standards, testing procedures, and certification decisions. Collecting and analyzing such data would help the government to better protect its employees and would contribute to the production of better standards to protect the public from fire."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeks to apply the law fairly to all taxpayers. Under the continuous levy program, however, taxpayers who receive federal payments are treated differently depending on whether the payments are made by the Federal Management Service (FMS) on behalf of other agencies or directly by the agencies themselves. Delinquent taxpayers receiving payments from FMS generally are subject to continuous levy, while those receiving payments directly from federal agencies are not. Although it may prove impractical to treat similarly all delinquent taxpayers who receive federal payments, progress--and substantial additional revenues--could be achieved in this area. FMS plans to include salaries at the U.S. Postal Service and salaries and retirement payments at the Defense Department (DOD) in the continuous levy program. There are similar plans to include all vendor payments from the Postal Service, DOD, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Discussions among FMS, IRS, and the agencies could ensure that all of these payments all included in the continuous levy program as soon as possible. These discussions could also speed the inclusion of some categories of vendor payments. The continuous levy …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request concerning the privatization in place of select Department of Defense industrial facilities, GAO focused on: (1) determining how contractors are responding to decreasing workloads at these privatized facilities; (2) comparing the cost-effectiveness of the privatization-in-place operations to the former government-run operations; and (3) identifying the impact of privatization on excess capacity in the Department's industrial infrastructure."

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 determined: (1) what efforts the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and its grantees have made to correct problems with case service reporting; and (2) whether these efforts are likely to resolve the case reporting problems that occurred in 1997."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) management of identical repairable parts used by more than one DOD component, focusing on: (1) DOD's progress in correcting problems in the management of identical parts; and (2) opportunities to improve management of these parts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, U.S. employers have complained of shortages of workers with higher-level skills in information technology, the sciences, and other fields. To find workers with these skills, employers often turn to foreign workers who enter the United States with H-1B visas to work in specialty occupations. Despite the recent economic downturn, employers report that they continue to need higher-skilled workers. Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to create a system connecting employment, education, and training services to better match workers to labor market needs. In 1998, Congress passed legislation raising limits on the number of high-skilled workers entering the United States and imposing a $500 fee on employers--which was later raised to $1000--for each foreign worker for whom they applied. Most of the money collected is to be spent on training that improves the skill of U.S. workers. The National Science Foundation (NSF) receives 22 percent of the funds to distribute as scholarship grants to post-secondary schools that distribute the funds as scholarships for low-income students in computer science, engineering, and mathematics degree programs. The grantees operating skill grant programs use the flexibility …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Government Printing Office (GPO) has undertaken the task of transforming itself in response to pressing fiscal and other realities in the 21st century. This report focuses on actions GPO's leaders can take to advance its transformation efforts through strategic human capital management and is a part of GAO's response to a congressional request that GAO conduct a general management review of GPO that focuses on issues related to GPO's management and transformation. GAO plans to address other management topics, including strategic planning and financial management, in a series of reports that may assist GPO in its ongoing transformation efforts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1993, Congress authorized the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program as an alternative to the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). While the Direct Loan Program was originally mandated to replace FFELP, Congress revised the law allowing both loan programs to continue. Since that time, competition between the programs has been credited with improving borrower benefits and service for schools. The Department of Education's (Education) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) and its contractors administer the Direct Loan Program, and one of its goals is to improve customer service. In light of the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), which authorizes the loan programs, this report examines the extent to which schools participate in the Direct Loan Program, factors that influenced schools' decision to begin--and for some schools end--participation, and steps that FSA has taken to increase the userfriendliness of the program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In a previous report (GAO/AIMD-00-127, May 2000), GAO identified reimbursable project costs that were not being recovered by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation. In this report, GAO reviewed the Bureau of Reclamation's managerial cost accounting and cost recovery practices. The Bureau does not currently identify and distribute all of the costs it incurs to its specific projects and activities. These costs are not distributed because the Bureau considers them nonreimbursable and because its cost accounting system is used to capture costs related to reimbursable purposes such as irrigation, municipal and industrial (M&I) water supply, and power generation. While GAO recognizes that the Bureau does not have the authority to recover certain costs, such as those funded through the Policy and Administration appropriation, all of the costs should nevertheless be distributed to the relevant activities to provide information useful in managerial decision making. Because not all costs are distributed, information on the full cost of projects and activities is not readily available to the Congress, program managers, and others to facilitate decision making and the allocation of the federal government's resources."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's Title I program for preschool education, focusing on: (1) the extent to which title I funds are used to support education or developmentally appropriate activities for preschool children, aged birth to 5 years; and (2) what is known about the effectiveness of title I-funded programs for preschool children in preparing them for school."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has experienced declines in most of its enforcement programs, including declines in audits and in efforts to collect delinquent taxes. Increasing enforcement productivity is one strategy that can help reverse these declines. To this end, IRS is currently planning and has begun implementing enforcement process improvement projects. GAO was asked to assess the extent to which the planning for the projects followed steps consistent with both published GAO guidance and the experiences of private sector and government organizations. Specifically, GAO assessed the extent to which four judgmentally selected projects followed the 20 planning steps."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Through the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), Congress has sought to improve federal management and instill a greater focus on results. Congress and the executive branch recognize, however, that performance improvements do not take place merely because a set of management requirements has been put in place. In 1997 and 2000, GAO surveyed agencies' progress towards establishing a focus on results. GAO found that progress has been uneven in building the organizational cultures to create and sustain a focus on results governmentwide. A significantly higher percentage of managers in 2000 than in 1997 reported that their agencies had provided, arranged, or paid for training that would help them accomplish two results-oriented management-related tasks: setting performance goals and implementing the requirements of GPRA. Overall, the survey results show that, in some keys areas, agencies may be losing ground in their efforts towards building organizational cultures that support a focus on results. In GAO's view, the Senate confirmation process must ensure that political nominees have the appropriate management and leadership skills needed to continue to transform federal agencies into high-performing organizations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Home and community-based settings have become a growing part of states' Medicaid long-term care programs, serving as an alternative to care in institutional settings, such as nursing homes. To cover such services, however, states often obtain waivers from certain federal statutory requirements. GAO was asked to review (1) trends in states' use of Medicaid home and community-based service (HCBS) waivers, particularly for the elderly, (2) state quality assurance approaches, including available data on the quality of care provided to elderly individuals through waivers, and (3) the adequacy of federal oversight of state waivers. GAO is recommending that the Administrator of CMS take steps to (1) better ensure that state quality assurance efforts are adequate to protect the health and welfare of HCBS waiver beneficiaries, and (2) strengthen federal oversight of the growing HCBS waiver programs. Although CMS raised certain concerns about aspects of the report, such as the respective state and federal roles in quality assurance and the potential need for additional federal oversight resources, CMS generally concurred with the recommendations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) information security program, focusing on: (1) whether NASA's mission-critical information systems are vulnerable to unauthorized access; (2) whether NASA is effectively managing information systems security; and (3) what NASA is doing to address the risk of unauthorized access to mission-critical systems."