A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been working to acquire the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) system, which is intended to address critical issues in the creation, management, and use of federal electronic records. As required by law, the agency submitted its fiscal year 2006 expenditure plan to the congressional appropriations committees, seeking the release of about $22 million for the development of the system. GAO's objectives in reviewing the expenditure plan were to (1) determine the extent to which the expenditure plan satisfied the legislative conditions specified in the appropriations act; (2) determine the extent to which NARA has implemented GAO's prior recommendations; and (3) provide any other observations about the expenditure plan and the ERA acquisition. We reviewed the expenditure plan and analyzed it against the legislative conditions and assessed NARA's progress in addressing prior recommendations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 mandates that we track, monitor, and evaluate the Attorney General's strategy to deter illegal entry and report our findings to Congress. In response, we have evaluated immigration-related inspections at land border Ports of Entry (POE) and made recommendations regarding (1) the integrity of the inspections process; (2) the efficiency and effectiveness of inspections-related port operations; and (3) the collection, analysis, and use of intelligence information. Due to concern that the public release of our detailed findings could compromise law enforcement operations, our report is restricted to Limited Official Use. This letter is intended to summarize our overall findings and confirm agreement to take action to address vulnerabilities and inefficiencies in the inspections process. Most of our work was conducted before the Department of Justice's Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Department of the Treasury's Customs Service were merged into the newly created Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). However, the issues we address remain relevant as DHS merges the functions previously performed by the two agencies and implements major …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Health care spending varies across the country due to differences in the use and price of health care services. Understanding the reasons for utilization and price variation may contribute to developing methods to control health care spending. This report provides preliminary results from our work on geographic variations in health care spending and prices. Congress asked us to examine geographic variations in health care spending and prices in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). FEHBP is the health insurance program administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for federal civilian employees and retirees, which covered 8.5 million people in 2001. FEHBP contracts with private insurers to provide health benefits. It is the largest private insurance program in the United States. This report summarizes preliminary information provided to you at an interim briefing on July 21, 2004. The enclosed briefing slides highlight the results of our work comparing Milwaukee to other areas of the country. The objectives of the briefing were to (1) compare Milwaukee health care spending per enrollee, hospital inpatient prices, and physician prices with other metropolitan areas, and (2) examine factors identified by stakeholders …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On May 14, 2003, as requested, we briefed Congress on our preliminary views on the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) process initiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). On July 29, 2003, we shared our additional perspectives, which Congressional Staff indicated would be helpful to the Commission as it considers the draft National CARES Plan that VA presented on August 4, 2003. For this reason, we are providing an overview of the approach that we plan to use during our continuing review of CARES."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) science activities, in the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Performance report, focusing on: (1) how fiscal year (FY) 1999 performance report/FY 2001 performance plan addresses FAA's science activities; (2) the extent to which FAA's science activities in the President's FY 2001 budget request are linked to DOT's FY 2001 performance plan; and (3) the extent to which DOT's FY 2001 performance plan addresses weaknesses regarding FAA's science activities."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has provided funding for numerous highway demonstration projects in legislation authorizing surface transportation programs as well as in annual appropriations acts for the Department of Transportation (DOT). In some cases, the projects are identified in the legislation itself. In others, they are identified in committee reports accompanying the legislation. These projects are all designated for specific geographic locations within states and for specific purposes, and funds made available for them generally remain available for them until expended. This report includes information we provided to Congress on July 14, 2004, on unobligated funds no longer needed that could be rescinded from highway demonstration projects and also includes a recommendation to the Secretary of Transportation."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) estimates of its reinvestigation backlog, focusing on: (1) how DOD estimates the backlog; (2) the soundness of DOD's backlog estimates; and (3) DOD's plans to address the backlog problem."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the extent to which inmates in the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and state prison systems had access to personal information through correctional industry work programs; (2) prison safeguards and procedures, statutes and regulations, and proposed legislation that addressed correctional industry work programs involving personal information; (3) the extent to which contracts that provided inmates access to personal information contributed to BOP's and states' correctional industry income; (4) the extent to which BOP and state prison inmates had access to only names and addresses or telephone numbers through correctional industry work programs; and (5) incidents of inmates misusing information obtained through correctional industry work programs, including how safeguards failed and what, if any, changes were made as a result of the incidents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures the pensions of more than 44 million workers in over 30,000 employer-sponsored defined benefit pension plans. In response to growing workloads, PBGC has come to rely heavily on contractors to conduct its work. GAO was asked to report on (1) the role that contracting plays in PBGC's efforts to accomplish its mission, (2) the steps PBGC has taken to improve its acquisition infrastructure and develop a strategic approach to guide its contracting activities, and (3) the steps PBGC has taken to improve its contract oversight processes to ensure accountability. To address these issues, we interviewed PBGC officials and selected contractors, reviewed data on PBGC's contracting activities; identified changes PBGC is making to contracting procedures; and identified strategies PBGC uses to monitor contracts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed states' initiatives to enroll dual eligibles (beneficiaries who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid benefits) into one managed care plan, focusing on: (1) the status and key features of state initiatives focusing on: (1) the status and key features of state initiatives to integrate care for dual-eligible beneficiaries; and (2) factors that have contributed to the length of the waiver negotiation process and implementation time frames."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the procurement practices of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority, focusing on whether: (1) applicable procurement regulations and procedures were followed in awarding and administering selected contracts on behalf of the Authority's former Chief of Management Officer and to Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio and Associates; and (2) the Authority and the District received the goods and services that they contracted and paid for in the contracts that GAO reviewed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Education's grantback account."