Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) authorized the Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program to increase the transportation options of low-income workers. The act created JARC, in part because, as the act states, two-thirds of all new jobs were located in the suburbs, while three-fourths of welfare recipients lived in rural areas or central cities, and even in metropolitan areas with excellent public transportation systems, less than half of the jobs were accessible by transit. Under JARC, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provides grants to transit agencies, local human service agencies, and others to fill gaps in transportation services for welfare recipients and other low-income individuals. Both houses of Congress have approved separate legislation to reauthorize surface transportation programs including JARC. TEA-21 also required us to provide regular updates on the status of JARC. This letter addresses (1) changes in program funding since fiscal year 1999 and the possible effects of further changes proposed in bills to reauthorize JARC, (2) the possible effects of proposed legislative changes to program coordination requirements, and (3) FTA's 2003 evaluation of the program and plans for future evaluations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) mission is to promote the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the United States airspace system, commonly referred to as the National Airspace System (NAS). To maintain its ability to effectively carry out this mission FAA embarked, in 1981,on a multi-billion dollar effort to modernize its aging air traffic control (ATC) system, the principle technology component of the NAS. Yet the NAS modernization has continued to be plagued by cost increases, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls. To gain insight into how FAA is meeting its management challenges, congressional requesters asked GAO to evaluate FAA's processes for making IT investment management decisions. The objectives of this review included (1) evaluating FAA's capabilities for managing its IT investments and (2) determining what plans, if any, the agency might have for improving these capabilities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In light of GAO's November 2003 report highlighting significant pay problems experienced by Army National Guard soldiers mobilized to active duty in support of the global war on terrorism and homeland security, GAO was asked to determine if controls used to pay mobilized Army Reserve soldiers provided assurance that such payments are accurate and timely. GAO's audit used a case study approach to focus on controls over three key areas: processes, people (human capital), and automated systems."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The number of borrowers consolidating their federal student loans has increased substantially in recent years, with the total amount of loans being consolidated rising from $13 billion in fiscal year 1999 to over $41 billion in fiscal year 2003. This increase in consolidation loan volume and recent interest rate trends have increased the overall estimated long-term cost to the federal government of providing consolidation loans under the Department of Education's (Education) two major student loan programs--the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP). GAO is providing information on (1) the differences that exist between FFELP and FDLP consolidation loans and borrowers, (2) the extent to which borrowers with student loans under one program obtain consolidation loans under the other, and (3) how FFELP and FDLP borrower and loan characteristics and the movement of loans between the two programs are incorporated into Education's budgetary cost estimates for consolidation loans."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past few years, several food recalls, such as for beef and peanut products, have affected schools. It is especially important that recalls affecting schools be carried out efficiently and effectively because young children have a higher risk of complications from food-borne illnesses. GAO was asked to determine how federal agencies (1) notified states and schools about food recalls, (2) advised states and schools about disposal and reimbursement of recalled food, and (3) ensured that recalls were being carried out effectively. To do this, GAO reviewed and analyzed relevant documents and interviewed federal and state officials, as well as officials from 23 school districts that had experience with at least one of four recent cases involving the safety of food in the school lunch program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has continuing interest in commercial activities in U.S. public schools. These include product sales, advertising, market research, and the commercial use of personal data about students (such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers) by schools. To update information about commercial activities in schools, Congress asked us to answer the following questions: (1) Since 2000, what statutes and regulations have states enacted and proposed to govern commercial activities in schools? (2) To what extent have districts developed policies implementing amended provisions of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) in the No Child Left Behind Act on the use of student data for commercial purposes? (3) What guidance has the Department of Education (Education) disseminated? To answer these questions, we researched state laws, surveyed a national sample of school districts, analyzed policies provided by districts, interviewed officials at Education, and examined its guidance. In addition, we updated findings from the districts we visited in 2000."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Last year, employer-sponsored group health plans (EGHP) were responsible for most of the nearly $183 million in outstanding Medicare secondary payer (MSP) debt. MSP debts arise when Medicare inadvertently pays for services that are subsequently determined to be the financial responsibility of another. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers Medicare with the assistance of about 50 contractors that, as part of their duties, are required to recover MSP debt. GAO was asked to determine whether Medicare contractors are appropriately recovering MSP debt. GAO (1) assessed the cost-effectiveness of the current debt recovery system and (2) identified CMS's plans to enhance the recovery process. GAO analyzed workload and budget information and assessed plans to develop a new debt recovery system--the Recovery Management and Accounting System (ReMAS)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To take a more complete and accurate count of the nation's population in the 2000 Census, the Bureau of the Census partnered with other federal agencies, as well as with state, local, and tribal governments; religious, community, and social service organizations; and private businesses. According to the Bureau, about 140,000 organizations participated in the partnership program by assisting in such critical activities as reviewing and updating the Bureau's address list, encouraging people--especially hard-to-count populations--to participate in the census, and recruiting temporary census employees. GAO found that the Bureau spent about $142.9 million on its partnership program, or about two percent of the estimated $6.5 billion the Bureau allocated for the census and an average of about $1.19 for each of the 120 million households that the Bureau estimates are in the nation. The Bureau staffed the partnership program with 594 full-time positions, of which 560 were allocated to the field, while the remaining slots were located in the Bureau's headquarters. Decisions on which organizations to partner with and what events to attend were governed by unwritten guidelines and criteria and were driven by the Bureau's desire …

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1981, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been working to modernize its aging air traffic control (ATC) system. Individual projects have suffered cost increases, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls of large proportions, leading GAO to designate the program a high-risk information technology initiative in 1995. Because the program remains a high risk initiative, GAO was requested to assess FAA's progress in several information technology management areas. This report, one in a series responding to that request, has two objectives: (1) to evaluate FAA's capabilities for developing and acquiring software and systems on its ATC modernization program and (2) to assess the actions FAA has under way to improve these capabilities."

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0130V4 NETC).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0132RV4 NG/AF Leased Space).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0010R PART1).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0010R PART 2).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0053R OSD 4th Est to Belvoir and NNMC).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: JRCF FY09 HSA-0135, DON ISSUES).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0031V2 Revised CPO_2).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0071V3 Media & Pubs to Ft Meade - Scenario3).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0078R Navy Leased and PAX River).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0133V2 Joint Mobilization Sites Revised).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0145V3 MilPers).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0145V3 MilPers no mil reductions).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities COBRA File: HSA 0018V6- P2).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0018V6mk2 no mil reductions-P1).

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse reply to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting updated COBRA data and COBRA runs that exclude military personnel form all Joint Cross Service Headquarters and Support Activities (COBRA File: HSA 0018 V6v6 no mil reductions- adder method).