A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Brand USA's global campaign promotes travel to all 50 states through various television, print, billboard, Internet, and social media advertising activities, and its targeted campaigns conduct similar promotions in selected countries. To select countries for targeted campaigns, Brand USA uses several criteria, including volume of visitors and tourism revenue from the country. Brand USA launched targeted campaigns in 2012 in Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom during each country's peak travel-planning periods, and it plans to launch targeted campaigns in these and additional countries in 2013. Brand USA contracts with overseas firms to plan and coordinate marketing activities in targeted countries. In addition, partners help Brand USA promote travel to specific U.S. destinations and establish a campaign presence outside targeted countries."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was established in 2004 to help developing countries reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth through multiyear compact agreements. As of June 2011, MCC had signed compacts with 23 countries totaling approximately $8.2 billion in assistance. MCC asks countries to develop compacts with a focus on results and effective monitoring and evaluation. MCC sets targets, which may be revised, to measure the compact results. In late 2010, the Cape Verde and Honduras compacts reached the end of the 5-year implementation period. This report, prepared in response to a congressional mandate to review compact results, examines the extent to which MCC has (1) achieved performance targets and sustainability for projects in Cape Verde and Honduras and (2) assessed progress toward the goal of income growth and poverty reduction. GAO analyzed MCC documents and interviewed MCC officials and stakeholders in Washington, D.C., Cape Verde, and Honduras."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Real Estate Assessment Center's (REAC) new physical inspection system for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) public and multifamily housing properties, focusing on whether: (1) REAC's inspection system represents an improvement over HUD's prior inspection systems; and (2) REAC's inspections are reliable."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through the New Starts program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) evaluates and recommends new fixed guideway transit projects for funding using the evaluation criteria identified in law. In August 2007, FTA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), in part, to incorporate certain provisions within the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) into the evaluation process. SAFETEA-LU requires GAO to annually review FTA's New Starts process. This report discusses (1) the information captured by New Starts project justification criteria, (2) challenges FTA faces as it works to improve the New Starts program, and (3) options for evaluating New Starts projects. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed statutes, FTA guidance and regulations governing the New Starts program, and interviewed experts, project sponsors, and Department of Transportation (DOT) officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Space Shuttle Program is currently supported by over 1,500 active suppliers, some of whom are the only known or certified source of a particular material, part or service. The retirement of the Shuttle and transition to planned exploration activities, as called for in the President's Vision for Space Exploration, creates the need for NASA to begin making decisions today about its supplier base needs for the future. GAO was asked to (1) describe NASA's plans and processes for managing its supplier base through the Shuttle's retirement and the transition to the Constellation's exploration activities; (2) address factors that could impact the effectiveness of those plans and processes; and (3) identify any other issues that NASA will likely encounter as the agency transitions to and implements the Constellation Program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, which was created in 2002, funds reforms in the country's lowest-performing schools with the goal of improving student outcomes, such as standardized test scores and graduation rates. Congress greatly increased SIG program funding from $125 million available in fiscal year 2007--the first year the program was funded--to $3.5 billion in fiscal year 2009 for the 2010-11 school year. Three billion dollars of this amount was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). In addition, $546 million was appropriated in both fiscal years 2009 and 2010, and $535 million was appropriated in fiscal year 2011. These funds were provided to states by formula after the Department of Education (Education) approved state SIG grant applications. The funding increases provided by the Recovery Act spurred Education to make substantive changes to the SIG program. For example, the persistently lowest-achieving schools receiving SIG funding must now implement one of four intervention models, each with specific requirements for reform interventions, such as replacing principals or turning over school management to a charter organization or other outside organization. Also, after states …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. agencies and implementing partners participate in various programs with the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) or PIF-owned entities that include home mortgage financing, loan guarantees, and educational initiatives. First, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) along with PIF and other entities have committed to lend $485 million to the Affordable Mortgage and Loan Company (AMAL) to support mortgages for low- and medium-income borrowers in the West Bank. OPIC has committed to lend about $313 million; PIF has committed about $72 million, and two banks account for the balance of the committed lending. However, as of April 2013, OPIC and PIF had not yet disbursed any funds. Second, OPIC and PIF are co-guarantors in a Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF) program in the West Bank, guaranteeing up to $110 million and $50 million in loans, respectively, to nine regional banks to support lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Third, USAID officials stated that, in 2009, USAID provided a U.S. implementing partner $2.1 million for technical assistance and training to enhance the lending practices of participating banks in support of the LGF. Finally, according to USAID, it provided about …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The four countries GAO analyzed--Canada, Germany, Japan, and South Korea--offer a varied mix of programs to support their manufacturing sectors. For example, Canada is shifting emphasis from its primary research and development (R&D) tax credit toward direct support to manufacturers to encourage innovation, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Germany has established applied institutes and clusters of researchers and manufacturers to conduct R&D in priority areas, as well as a national dual training system that combines classroom study with workplace training, and develops national vocational skills standards and credentials in 350 occupations. Japan has implemented science and technology programs--with a major focus on alternative energy projects--as part of a comprehensive manufacturing strategy. South Korea has substantially expanded investments in R&D, including the development of a network of technoparks--regional innovation centers that provide R&D facilities, business incubation, and education and production assistance to industry."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Capital Master Plan (CMP) has made progress, but may not deliver the project’s original scope, faces risks meeting its scheduled completion date, and is projected to be about $430 million over budget as of February 2012. Regarding the project’s scope, the CMP office may not renovate the Library and South Annex—two of the five buildings in its original scope—due to the lack of a workable design solution to address security concerns. Related to schedule, the CMP office expects to complete the CMP in 2014, but reports that previous schedule delays have reduced its ability to respond to unforeseen events without affecting the project’s end date. According to the CMP office, the project’s approximately $430 million in projected cost overruns are due to a number of factors, including about $266 million in direct project costs and over $164 million from scope additions authorized without a corresponding increase in budget by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. The CMP office has proposed financing options that could address a portion of these cost overruns. However, even if approved, an additional member assessment may be needed. One option for …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Criminal cartel activity, such as competitors conspiring to set prices, can harm consumers and the U.S. economy through lack of competition and overcharges. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division's leniency program offers the possibility that the first individual or company that self-reports cartel activity will avoid criminal conviction and penalties. In 2004, the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA) was enacted to encourage such reporting. The 2010 reauthorization mandated that GAO study ACPERA's effect. This report addresses (1) the extent that ACPERA affected DOJ's criminal cartel enforcement, (2) the ways ACPERA has reportedly affected private civil actions, and (3) key stakeholder perspectives on rewards and antiretaliatory protection for whistleblowers reporting criminal antitrust violations. GAO analyzed DOJ data on criminal cartel cases (1993-2010) and interviewed DOJ officials. GAO also interviewed a nongeneralizable sample of plaintiffs' and defense attorneys from 17 civil cases and key stakeholders including other antitrust attorneys selected using a snowball sampling technique whereby GAO identified contacts through referrals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, following the implementation of new document requirements for travelers entering the United States from within the Western Hemisphere, the Department of State (State) received a record number of passport applications. In June 2009 further document requirements are scheduled to go into effect and will likely lead to another surge in passport demand. GAO examined (1) the extent to which State was prepared for the surge in passport demand and how its readiness affected passport operations, (2) State's actions to increase passport production capacity in response to the surge, and (3) State's readiness for near-term surges in demand and its strategy to improve passport operations. GAO interviewed officials from State and the Departments of the Treasury and Homeland Security, conducted site visits, and reviewed data on passport processing times and reports on passport operations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's previous work found problems in security controls over sensitive excess military equipment that resulted in lost and stolen items, some of which were sold to the public, and significant waste and inefficiency in the Department of Defense (DOD) excess property reutilization program. GAO was asked to perform follow-up investigations to determine whether (1) unauthorized parties could obtain sensitive excess military equipment that requires demilitarization (destruction) when no longer needed by DOD and (2) system and process improvements are adequate to prevent sales of new, unused excess items that DOD continues to buy or that are in demand by the military services."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO previously reported that federal contractors abuse the tax system with little consequence. While performing those audits, GAO noted that much of the tax abuse involved contractors not remitting to the government payroll taxes that were withheld from salaries. As a result, GAO was asked to review the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) processes and procedures to prevent and collect unpaid payroll taxes. Specifically, GAO was asked to determine (1) the magnitude of unpaid federal payroll tax debt, (2) the factors affecting IRS's ability to enforce compliance or pursue collections, and (3) whether some businesses with unpaid payroll taxes are engaged in abusive or potentially criminal activities with regard to the federal tax system. To address these objectives GAO analyzed IRS's tax database, performed case study analyses of payroll tax offenders, and interviewed collection officials from IRS and several states."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Mammography, an X-ray procedure that can detect small breast tumors, is an important tool for detecting breast cancer at an early stage and, when coupled with appropriate treatment, can reduce breast cancer deaths. In 2002, GAO reported in Mammography: Capacity Generally Exists to Deliver Services (GAO-02-532) that the capacity to provide mammography services was generally adequate, but that the number of mammography facilities had decreased by 5 percent from 1998 to 2001 and that about one-fourth of counties had no machines. GAO was asked to update its information on facility closures and mammography service capacity. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates mammography quality and maintains a database on mammography facilities and other capacity elements. GAO reviewed FDA data on facility closures and examined reasons for closures in recent years. GAO analyzed changes in the nation's capacity for and use of mammography services using FDA capacity data and National Center for Health Statistics data on service use. GAO also interviewed state and local officials about the effects of the loss or absence of mammography machines on access, including access for medically underserved women, such as those …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. bus rapid transit (BRT) projects we reviewed include features that distinguished BRT from standard bus service and improved riders’ experience. However, few of the projects (5 of 20) used dedicated or semi-dedicated lanes— a feature commonly associated with BRT and included in international systems to reduce travel time and attract riders. Project sponsors and planners explained that decisions on which features to incorporate into BRT projects were influenced by costs, community needs, and the ability to phase in additional features. For example, one project sponsor explained that well-lighted shelters with security cameras and real-time information displays were included to increase passengers’ sense of safety in the evening. Project sponsors told us they plan to incorporate additional features such as off-board fare collection over time."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the USF Transformation Order, FCC adopted new rules to fundamentally change the high-cost program by extending the program to support broadband capable networks. For example, FCC established a $4.5-billion annual program budget for the next 6 years, created new funds—called the Connect America Fund and the Mobility Fund—that will support broadband deployment, and established public interest obligations for the carriers as a condition of receiving funds. Specifically, FCC will require carriers to offer broadband services in their supported service areas, meet certain broadband performance requirements, and report regularly on associated broadband performance measures. FCC also changed its method for distributing funds to carriers to address some of the recognized inefficiencies with the program. According to FCC, these changes will allow it to reduce high-cost support for carriers providing only voice services and make funds available to carriers to offer both voice and broadband services."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State (State) has improved the consistency of its rightsizing approach across overseas posts. However, differences between future staffing levels it projects are appropriate to meet mission needs and actual staffing levels still exist due to unanticipated events and other factors. GAO reported in 2006 that State’s Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing and Innovation (M/PRI) had not been conducting its rightsizing reviews consistently. Some reviews discussed various rightsizing elements, such as outsourcing, while others did not. State has since improved the consistency of its reviews by developing a variety of methodological tools and a standard template which it applies to each post. GAO found that over half of the 144 rightsizing projections analyzed were within 10 percent of actual staffing levels as of December 2011. In contrast, over 40 percent of the posts have staffing level differences of over 10 percent. Unanticipated events and other factors, such as changes in policies, contributed to these differences. For example, according to the management officer in Mozambique, M/PRI projected staffing increases as a result of the President’s program to combat AIDS, but the actual funding level for …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2012, federal agencies reported they had made progress in planning to protect their federal employees during an influenza pandemic. For example:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While the Department of Transportation (DOT) is not required to implement the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) recommendations, DOT and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have taken actions on the 10 FAAC recommendations that GAO reviewed. DOT and FAA officials noted that they continue to work on three recommendations as part of long-term efforts and have ongoing work related to some of the seven recommendations that they believe are addressed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "With annual obligations for goods and services totaling $1.7 billion, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is one of the largest of 23 entities coming into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). INS's procurement organization will continue to acquire goods and services under DHS. GAO was asked to review INS's contracting processes to assess whether INS has an adequate infrastructure to manage its acquisitions and to determine whether INS is following sound contracting policies and procedures in awarding and managing individual contracts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. government is one of the world's largest property owners, with a real estate portfolio of more than 400,000 defense and civilian buildings and more than one-half billion acres of land. Each year, the federal government spends billions of dollars to maintain its buildings. Even so, the General Services Administration (GSA) contends that it needs $4 billion, over and above these expenditures, to maintain its existing inventory. This report identifies the potential benefits to the federal government of entering into public-private partnerships on real property--an arrangement in which the federal government contributes real property and a private entity contributes financial capital and borrowing ability to redevelop or renovate the real property. GAO found that public-private partnership authority could be an important management tool to address problems in deteriorating federal buildings, but further study of how the tool would actually work and its benefits compared to other options is needed. Potential net benefits to the federal government of entering into these public-private partnerships include better space, lower operating costs, and increased revenue without up-front federal capital expenditures if further analysis shows that they would not be …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Capacity problems and other disruptions at the securities and options exchanges have caused processing delays within the U.S. securities markets in recent years. These exchanges and clearing organizations have also been concerned about unwarranted access by hackers and other unauthorized users. To address these issues, the securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) created its automation review policy program in 1989. The program calls for the exchanges and clearing organizations that act as self-regulatory organizations to voluntarily follow SEC guidance and submit to oversight of their information systems. The program includes two key policy statements that provide voluntary guidelines to these organizations, periodic on-site inspections by SEC staff, and independent reviews of systems by internal auditors or external organizations. In addition, self-regulatory organizations are expected to provide SEC with reports of system outages and notices of system modifications. This report reviews SEC's effectiveness in its oversight roles. GAO found that the program reasonably ensures that self-regulatory organizations address capacity, security, and other information systems issues. However, SEC could improve its program oversight by consolidating criteria used by program staff into a comprehensive guide. Overall, SEC's inspections addressed the …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since September 11, 2001, concern has increased that terrorists could smuggle weapons of mass destruction in the 7 million ocean containers that arrive annually at U.S. seaports. In response to this concern, the U.S. Customs Service (Customs) implemented the Container Security Initiative (CSI) to screen for high-risk containers at overseas ports and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) to improve global supply chain security in the private sector. GAO (1) describes the purpose and elements of these new programs, (2) examines Customs' implementation of CSI and C-TPAT during the first year, and (3) assesses the extent to which Customs has focused on factors critical to the programs' long-term success and accountability."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent events have increased concerns about the potential for fraud in Education's student loan programs related to loans for U.S. residents attending foreign schools. In 2002, GAO's Office of Special Investigations created a fictitious foreign school that Education subsequently certified as eligible to participate in the student loan program. GAO investigators subsequently successfully obtained approval for student loans totaling $55,000 on behalf of three fictitious students. Over the past decade, Education's Inspector General has investigated many instances of suspected student loan fraud involving individuals applying for loans for purported attendance at foreign schools. The conference report accompanying the 2001 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act mandated that GAO examine and report on fraud, waste, and abuse with respect to student loans for Americans attending foreign schools."