Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the status of key 2000 census-taking operations, focusing on: (1) the mail response rate and the implications it has for timely and accurate completion of the Bureau of the Census' nonresponse follow-up workload; (2) update/leave procedure, which is used to count people in certain small towns and rural areas; (3) Service-Based Enumeration, used to count persons with no usual residence; and (4) Questionnaire Assistance Centers, which are designed to help people, especially those with limited English skills, complete their census forms."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the data, assumptions, and conclusions reached by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on the acquisition of about two million square feet of leased space for the consolidation of PTO activities. This build-to-suit lease, valued at approximately $1.2 billion over its 20-year term, was signed in June 2000. this report responds to allegations and questions from two public interest groups about the PTO lease acquisition. One public interest group alleged that during the procurement process for the lease (1) GSA improperly awarded the lease to an offeror who had not complied with the solicitation's stated requirements, (2) GSA failed to compete the construction of the interior finishes phase of the project as required by law, and (3) GSA used an illegal cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost contract. The second public interest group asked (1) whether the requirements in GSA's Solicitation for Offers for the PTO lease transformed the lease from an operating lease to a capital lease under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-11; (2) whether the new facility will be able to house all PTO employees and contractors throughout the …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses challenges associated with building new runways and with ensuring that existing runways are properly maintained. Recent flight delays and cancellations as well as significant media attention have heightened public concern about the need to increase the capacity of the National Airspace System. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 24 of the nation's 50 busiest commercial service airports have proposed, planned, or begun construction on new runways and runway extensions at an estimated cost of $6.5 billion. Airports and FAA face challenges in building new runways and in determining at what point runway pavement conditions warrant repair in order for existing runways to be maintained in the most cost-effective manner. The federal government and the aviation industry are involved in several efforts to balance airports' growth with environmental concerns and to address runway maintenance in a cost-effective way. Additional actions would help minimize some delays associated with adding capacity and problems with preserving existing capacity."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "It has been 2 years since the attacks of September 11,2001, exposed vulnerabilities in the nation's aviation system. Since then, billions of dollars have been spent on a wide range of initiatives designed to enhance the security of commercial aviation. However, vulnerabilities in aviation security continue to exist. As a result, questions have been raised regarding the effectiveness of established initiatives in protecting commercial aircraft from threat objects, and whether additional measures are needed to further enhance security. Accordingly, GAO was asked to describe the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) efforts to (1) measure the effectiveness of its aviation security initiatives, particularly its passenger screening program; (2) implement a risk management approach to prioritize efforts and focus resources; and (3) address key challenges to further enhance aviation security."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued flight restrictions to prevent flights over certain areas, to include stadiums, in response to increased concerns about the threat posed by terrorists using aircraft as a weapon. Beginning in December 2001, FAA's Air Traffic Division Director of Air Traffic Services, and later the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), implemented processes to allow certain pilots and aircraft to operate over these events by waiving flight restrictions. However, in February 2003, Congress passed legislation that for 1 year prevented aerial advertising pilots from flying near stadium airspace during certain sporting events by suspending the waiver process. In January 2004, Congress passed legislation continuing this restriction indefinitely. In the event that the restriction on waivers for aerial advertising near stadiums is repealed, the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, asked that we (1) describe the results of FAA and TSA threat assessments conducted relevant to aerial advertising operations and (2) identify FAA's and TSA's processes for mitigating the identified threat, determine whether established processes were followed, and identify factors that may limit their effectiveness."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses on the efforts of federal agencies to prepare for the consequences of a bioterrorist attack. GAO found that federal agencies are participating in research and preparedness activities, from improving the detection of biological agents to developing a national stockpile of pharmaceuticals to treat victims of disasters. Federal agencies also have several efforts underway to coordinate these activities on a formal and informal basis, such as interagency work groups. Despite these efforts however, coordination between agencies remains fragmented. GAO also found emerging concerns about the preparedness of state and local jurisdictions, including insufficient state and local planning for response to terrorist events, inadequate public health infrastructure, a lack of hospital participation in training on terrorism and emergency response planning, insufficient capabilities for treating mass casualties, and the timely availability of medical teams and resources in an emergency. This testimony summarizes a September 2001 report (GAO-01-915)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia Superior Court has made progress in planning the transition of its Family Division to a Family Court, but some challenges remain. The Superior Court's transition plan addresses most, but not all, of the required elements outlined in the District of Columbia Family Court Act of 2001. Significantly, the completion of the transition hinges on timely completion of a complex series of interdependent plans intended to obtain and renovate physical space to house the court and its functions. All required space may not be available, as currently planned, to support the additional judges the Family Court needs to perform its work in accordance with the act, making it uncertain as to when the court can fully complete its transition. Although not required as part of its transition plan efforts, the Superior Court has begun to coordinate its activities with social services agencies in the District. However, the court and agencies face challenges in achieving coordinated services in the longer term. Finally, the development and application of the District of Columbia Courts' Integrated Justice Information System will be critical for the Family Court to be able …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) March 2000 climate change report, focusing on: (1) the agency's climate change programs for fiscal year (FY) 2001; (2) the programs' goals, strategies, and procedures to verify and validate performance information; (3) EPA's justification for requested funding increases; and (4) how the programs are justified independently of the Kyoto Protocol agreement."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report provides information on the legal requirements for recognizing and recording obligations under the Defense Health Program (DHP), specifically focusing on (1) the legal basis for obligations incurred by TRICARE Management Activity for, among other services, medical services provided directly by the Department of Defense (DOD) to beneficiaries as well as medical services provided by civilian contractors who subsequently bill DHP for those services, (2) the legal basis for obligations for costs of change orders or other negotiated settlements, and (3) whether the Antideficiency Act applies to DHP obligations and expenditures. GAO held that (1) DOD 's practices in obligating funds are consistent with federal regulations, (2) DOD should record obligations for change orders against the appropriation current at the time the services are rendered, and (3) DOD may enter into obligations in excess of available resources, but it must obtain appropriations sufficient to liquidate those obligations."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's analysis of security audits at federal agencies. The widespread interconnectivity of computers poses significant risks to federal computer systems and the operations and the infrastructures they support. GAO's evaluations show that federal computer systems are riddled with weaknesses that continue to put critical operations and assets at risk. GAO found weaknesses in following six areas: (1) security program management, (2) access controls, (3) software development and change controls, (4) segregation of duties, (5) operating systems controls, and (6) service continuity. Weaknesses in these areas place a broad range of critical operations and assets at risk for fraud, misuse, and disruption. Federal agencies have tried to address these problems, and many have good remedial efforts underway. However, these efforts will not be fully effective and lasting unless they are supported by a strong agencywide security management framework. Establishing such a management framework requires that agencies take a comprehensive approach that involves both (1) senior agency program managers who understand which aspects of their missions are the most critical and sensitive and (2) technical experts who know the agencies' systems and can suggest appropriate technical security …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the funding requirements for the technical assistance that the Natural Resources Conservation Service provides to the Conservation Reserve Program, focusing on: (1) the nature and costs of the Conservation Service's technical assistance; (2) the reasons the Conservation Service suspended its technical assistance for the program; (3) budgetary authorities and other statutory requirements that constrain the Conservation Service's performance of technical assistance for the program; and (4) the potential to use contractors to provide this assistance in lieu of the Conservation Service."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The testimony discusses debt collection efforts by two major components at the Department of Agriculture--the Rural Housing Service (RHS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 requires agencies to (1) notify the Department of the Treasury of debts more than 180 days delinquent for the purposes of administrative offset against any amounts that might otherwise be due and (2) refer such debts to Treasury for centralized collection. To facilitate collection, agencies can administratively garnish the wages of delinquent debtors throughout government. GAO found that agencies are excluding most reported debt more than 180 days delinquent from referral requirements. To more fully realize the benefits of debt collection, agencies need to improve their implementation of the act. The Financial Management Service is making steady progress in collecting delinquent federal non-tax debt through the Treasury Offset Program--a mandatory governmentwide debt collection program that compares delinquent debtor debt to federal payment data. Agriculture and other agencies still have not used administrative wage garnishment to collect delinquent non-tax debt even though experts have testified that it can be an extremely powerful tool for debt collection. If …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed census data to better clarify the relationship between the Census Bureau's data collection workload and the time and work force needed to complete it. These factors--used to calculate productivity--are some of the largest drivers of census costs, and the Bureau developed its budget for the 2000 Census using a model that contained key assumptions about expected workload and enumerator productivity. GAO was unable to calculate productivity levels for the 2000 census or most of the earlier censuses examined because data was largely unavailable, incomplete, or not comparable. Moreover, definitional differences in how the Bureau counted the number of enumerators who worked on the census, and variations in census-taking methodologies, limited the comparability of productivity data from one census to the next."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This document focuses on the Department of Defense's (DOD) kinetic energy anti-satellite (KE-ASAT) program. GAO found the program is in a state of disarray. Problem areas include funding, limited management, and poor record keeping. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence had recommended that DOD complete the existing contracts, place the weapon system in storage, and pursue no further development of the program. If DOD decides to continue the program, however, considerable work will be needed to make the system ready for operational testing. Furthermore, DOD will need to strengthen its internal and financial controls to ensure that government resources are used in compliance with government regulations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Last year, GAO reported that the demilitarization liability for excess ammunition was not reflected in the Department of Defense's (DOD) financial statements although required by federal financial accounting standards. The Army, as the single manager for conventional ammunition, calculated a liability of $1.2 billion and prepared a voucher recognizing this amount. Although consistent with GAO's recommendation that DOD include the total liability for demilitarizing excess ammunition in its annual financial statements, this amount does not reflect the full extent of future costs. Specifically, the Army does not recognize a liability for costs associated with the demilitarization of (1) excess ammunition overseas or (2) excess Army-owned war reserve ammunition, excess retail ammunition, and excess ammunition not stored at an Army installation. GAO found that the total liability that should be reflected in fiscal year 2002 financial statements could amount to $3 billion, or $1.8 billion more than the Army's calculation. The Army needs to submit an additional voucher and include in its and DOD's fiscal year 2002 consolidated balance sheets the future liability associated with the demilitarization of excess Army ammunition at overseas and military storage locations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews whether the DC government had the authority to use $18 million from the Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority for severance payments during fiscal year 2000. GAO concludes that the District lacked the authority to use the $18 million in Section 157 funding for the fiscal year 2000 workforce reduction. District officials told GAO that they believed that they had the Financial Authority's approval to use 157 funding and, consequently, spent $14.3 million during fiscal year 2000 on workforce reduction activities. However, the District could not document that the Financial Authority had certified compliance with the requirements of Section 157 to authorize the use of the funds. The Financial Authority maintains that it did not approve the use of the funds by the District and had denied in writing the District's request for reimbursement for severance payments. The District accounted for the workforce reduction costs during fiscal year 2000 as if it had access to the Section 157 funding. The District concluded that, had the Section 157 funding been unavailable, one agency would have ended fiscal year 2000 with an operating deficit and two agencies …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Nationwide, underground storage tanks (UST) containing petroleum and other hazardous substances are leaking, thereby contaminating the soil and water, and posing health risks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which implements the UST program with the states, required tank owners to install leak detection and prevention equipment by the end of 1993 and 1998 respectively. The Congress asked GAO to determine to what extent (1) tanks comply with the requirements, (2) EPA and the states are inspecting tanks and enforcing requirements, (3) upgraded tanks still leak, and (4) EPA and states are cleaning up these leaks. In response, GAO conducted a survey of all states in 2000 and issued a report on its findings in May 2001. This testimony is based on that report, as well as updated information on program performance since that time."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new rule on the implementation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would: (a) establish a minimum set of system security and integrity requirements that all telecommunications carriers must follow to ensure compliance with section 105 of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act and section 229(b) and (c) of the Communications Act; and (b) require that telecommunications carriers ensure that any interception of communications or access to call-identifying information effected within its switching premises can be activated only in accordance with a court order or other lawful authorization and with the affirmative intervention of an individual officer or employee of the carrier, designated as a 24-hour a day point of contact available to law enforcement officials; and (2) FCC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Long-standing problems with excess and underutilized real property, deteriorating facilities, unreliable real property data, and costly space challenges are shared by several agencies. These factors have multibillion-dollar cost implications and can seriously jeopardize agencies' missions. Federal agencies face many challenges securing real property due to the threat of terrorism. This testimony discusses long-standing, complex problems in the federal real property area and what actions are needed to address them."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of Executive Order 12612 on federalism, focusing on: (1) how often the preambles to covered agencies' final rules issued between April 1, 1996, and December 31, 1998, mentioned Executive Order 12612 and how often they indicated that the agencies had conducted federalism assessments under the order; (2) what selected agencies have done to implement the requirements of Executive Order 12612; and (3) what the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has done to oversee federal agencies' implementation of Executive Order 12612 in the rulemaking process."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the American Gold Star Mothers, Incorporated, for the fiscal years 2002 and 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance, and the audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements 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 reports covering the financial statements of the American National Theater and Academy, for the fiscal years 2001 and 2000. 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."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Aviation Hall of Fame for fiscal years 2001 and 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinion 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 Boy Scouts of America for fiscal year 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."