Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) procedures and guidelines require that program and project managers review and apply lessons learned from the past throughout a program's or project's life cycle. Managers must also document and submit any significant lessons learned in a timely manner. NASA's principal mechanism for collecting and sharing lessons learned from programs, projects, and missions agency wide is the Lessons Learned Information System. The goal of the system is to prevent NASA from having to "relearn" the lessons of the past. NASA also shares lessons learned through revisions to its policies and guidance. Furthermore, lessons learned from a mishap or operational event are captured in procedure and process documents. GAO surveyed all of NASA's program and project managers to obtain their perspectives on NASA's mechanisms to ensure that past lessons learned from mission failures are being applied. GAO found fundamental weaknesses in the collection and sharing of lessons learned in NASA by program and project managers as well as in the system. Although some lessons learning does take place, lessons are not routinely identified, collected, or shared by program and project managers. In addition, …

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 "The airline industry's losses from the terrorist attacks will total at least $5 billion through December 2001. Even so, carrier-by-carrier losses are likely to vary significantly from the formula-derived allocations of $5 billion. Therefore, some carriers may experience losses higher than their individual formula amount, while others' losses may be lower."

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 "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 …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses (1) the relationship between Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits of taxpayers and other programs IRS uses to ensure that taxpayers' returns are accurate and (2) how IRS is managing the increased workload in two of its programs--offers-in-compromise and innocent spouse claims. IRS audited more than 600,000 taxpayers in fiscal year 2000, either face-to-face or through the mail. IRS has several programs that use computerized screening procedures to review all tax returns to detect certain types of errors. These programs result in millions of contacts with taxpayers to inform them of adjustments IRS made to their liabilities, seek explanations for errors IRS believes were made, or ask taxpayers to check whether they erred on their returns. The programs vary in their similarity to audits; some of the programs are most similar to audits that IRS conducts through the mail. The programs that IRS uses to detect errors on tax returns rely completely on information that taxpayers report on the tax returns and that IRS receives from third parties. Therefore, audits remain an important tax enforcement tool. Several factors suggest that IRS may be gaining better management …

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 "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 "This report compares prices for prescription drugs purchased using drug discount cards with prices available at local pharmacies or over the Internet. Using a list of 17 widely prescribed drugs, GAO documents prices from (1) five companies that administer large drug discount card programs, (2) five Internet pharmacies, and (3) several retail pharmacies in four different areas."

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 …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether, under the Psychologists’ Licensing Act, chapter 501 of the Occupations Code, the Board of Examiners of Psychologists may investigate the activity or service of a person who is licensed by the Board if the activity or service is performed within the scope of the person’s employment by an “exempt facility,” and related questions; reconsidering Attorney General Opinion JM-1247 (1990) (RQ-0213-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether article 6573b of the Revised Civil Statutes is applicable to service contract providers required to register with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under article 9034, Revised Civil Statutes (RQ-0261-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county clerk must file stamp an instrument immediately upon its delivery and acceptance for filing, and related questions (RQ-0264-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Structural Pest Control Board may regulate contract language, and related question (RQ-0272-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a governmental body may prohibit the holder of a concealed handgun license from carrying a handgun onto property owned or controlled by the respective unit of government (RQ-0248-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Legality of contract award by the City of San Antonio (RQ-0268-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the board of the Bryan-College Station Economic Development Corporation is subject to the Open Meetings Act (RQ-0274-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board has authority to spend appropriated funds to inform the general public of its activities and accomplishments and of the opportunities it provides (RQ-0292-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the City of Anson is a home-rule municipality (RQ-0295-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether Government Code section 551.125 permits absent members of a governmmental body to participate in a meeting by telephone conference call when a quorum of the governmental body has convened in one location, and related questions (RQ-0297-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county commissioner may serve as a voluntary fire fighter(RQ-0335-JC).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Collection of payments assessed by a public improvement district (RQ-0336-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether section 573.012 of the Health and Safety Code authorizes a municipal peace officer to execute an emergency-detention warrant (RQ-0345-JC)

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."