A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Office of General Counsel (OGC) procedures do not sufficiently ensure that accredited representatives have good character and knowledge. While GAO's analysis shows that VA follows its procedures for reviewing initial accreditation applications, VA relies on limited self-reported information to determine whether applicants have a criminal history or their character could be called into question, which in turn leaves VA vulnerable to accrediting individuals who may not provide responsible assistance. For example, when GAO conducted additional checks on a non-representative sample of accredited individuals, GAO found that some individuals had histories of bankruptcies or liens, information which could help develop a more complete picture of applicants' character and prompt further inquiry by VA into their background. VA's procedures also do not ensure that representatives have adequate program knowledge. For example, VA's initial training requirements are minimal and VA does not consistently monitor whether representatives meet additional continuing education requirements. As a result, some accredited representatives may not have adequate program knowledge to effectively assist clients with their claims. After being briefed on GAO's findings in May 2013, VA's OGC announced plans …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "All seven U.S. regulatory agencies that GAO contacted reported engaging in a range of international regulatory cooperation activities to fulfill their missions. These activities include the United States and its trading partners developing and using international standards, recognizing each other's regulations as equivalent, and sharing scientific data. U.S. agency officials GAO interviewed said they cooperate with foreign counterparts because many products they regulate originate overseas and because they may gain efficiencies--for example, by sharing resources or avoiding duplicative work. Cooperation can address both existing and avoid future regulatory differences. Officials also explained how cooperative efforts enhance public health and safety, facilitate trade, and support competitiveness of U.S. businesses. Several U.S. interagency processes require or enable interagency collaboration on international cooperation activities. The Regulatory Working Group (RWG), chaired by OMB and the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) are forums that have different responsibilities related to the regulatory and trade aspects of international regulatory cooperation. U.S. regulatory agency officials said the current processes could benefit from better information sharing among agencies on the implementation of international cooperation activities and lessons learned. Without enhancements to current forums, opportunities to …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The department's response to the accounting-for goal established in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 brought into sharp relief longstanding disputes that have not been addressed by top-level leaders, and have been exacerbated by the accounting community's fragmented organizational structure. Leadership from the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Pacific Command have been unable to resolve disputes between community members in areas such as roles and responsibilities and developing a community-wide plan to meet the statutory accounting-for goal. Further, the accounting community is fragmented in that the community members belong to diverse parent organizations under several different chains of command. With accounting community organizations reporting under different lines of authority, no single entity has overarching responsibility for community-wide personnel and other resources."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2013, GAO reported that, since 2007, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD) assigned about 3,500 high-risk chemical facilities to risk-based tiers under its Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, but it has not fully assessed its approach for doing so. The approach ISCD used to assess risk and make decisions to place facilities in final tiers does not consider all of the elements of consequence, threat, and vulnerability associated with a terrorist attack involving certain chemicals. For example, the risk assessment approach is based primarily on consequences arising from human casualties, but does not consider economic consequences, as called for by the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) and the CFATS regulation, nor does it consider vulnerability, consistent with the NIPP. ISCD had taken some actions to examine how its risk assessment approach could be enhanced, including commissioning a panel of experts to assess the current approach and recommend improvements. In April 2013, GAO reported that ISCD needed to incorporate the results of these efforts to help ensure that the revised assessment approach includes all elements of risk. After ISCD has incorporated …