Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a self-assessment checklist to assist agency leaders in designing, implementing, and maintaining an effective human capital strategy. GAO's approach to self-assessment: (1) emphasizes investment in enhancing the value of individual employees and of the agency workforce as a whole; and (2) asks whether the agency has established and clearly defined and communicated a shared vision and aligned its components and systems to support them."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's current financial management initiatives, activities, and practices."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Export-Import Bank's (Eximbank) financing of dual-use exports, focusing on the extent of financing and end uses of dual-use exports approved during fiscal year (FY) 1997."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO commented on the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) plans for operating the Medicare Integrity Program (MIP), focusing on whether: (1) the law authorizing the MIP permits HCFA to assign responsibility for local Medicare coverage policy to the payment safeguard contractors (PSC) who will run the MIP under contract to HCFA; and (2) HCFA's proposed MIP regulations would provide an adequate legal basis for HCFA to conduct local policy-making through PSCs. GAO noted that HCFA reasonably interpreted the law to mean that its PSCs could set local Medicare coverage policy. GAO also noted that the proposed MIP regulations provide an adequate basis for HCFA's action."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Women's Business Center Program, focusing on: (1) a description of the women's business centers, including their funding status, their experiences in raising matching funds, the types of services offered in a women's business center's first and last year of grant funding, and the differences between parent and satellite centers; (2) the extent to which SBA's award criteria predict long-term success or failure of women's business centers; and (3) the Office of Women's Business Ownership's compliance with legislative reporting requirements and the inherent difficulties with obtaining the required data from the women's business centers."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) fiscal year (FY) 2000 budget request, focusing on: (1) whether HUD has the capacity to implement, and adequate justification to support, the new or significantly expanded programs and initiatives included in its budget request; (2) the potential for HUD to use available unexpended balances in some programs to reduce its need for new funding in other programs; and (3) whether HUD adequately justified its use of or requests for funds in the following five areas: (a) disaster assistance; (b) salaries and expenses; (c) Schedule C and non-career Senior Executive Service positions; (d) rural housing and economic development; and (e) international housing initiatives."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on background investigations conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), focusing on: (1) the circumstances that led DEA to consider relinquishing its authority to conduct personnel background investigations; and (2) whether the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) acted in an independent and objective manner in choosing to review DEA and its background investigations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the scientific and practical aspects of a terrorist carrying out large-scale chemical or biological attacks on U.S. soil, focusing on the: (1) technical ease or difficulty for terrorists to acquire, process, improvise, and disseminate certain chemical and biological agents; and (2) extent to which the U.S. government has assessed the threats and risks posed by chemical and biological terrorism in the United States to serve as a basis for planned investments."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on new leased space acquired for the Secret Service's Uniformed Division (SSUD) at 1111 18th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., by the Public Buildings Service (PBS)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on inpatient and residential treatment facilities' use of restraints or seclusion as a means of treating mental patients, focusing on the: (1) dangers of restraint and seclusion, the extent to which restraint and seclusion are used in inpatient and residential treatment facilities for individuals with mental illness or mental retardation, and the number of related injuries and deaths; (2) federal and state policies that govern the use of restraint and seclusion in inpatient or residential treatment facilities for individuals with mental illness or mental retardation; and (3) experiences of states that have instituted regulations and reporting requirements to address the use of restraint and seclusion."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) management of the maintenance of its real properties, focusing on: (1) how the services determine and prioritize maintenance and repair requirements and how they allocate resources to meet their needs; (2) promising practices in facility management that the services could consider; and (3) barriers to implementing promising practices and ways to address them."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the complaint alleging that the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Inspector General (IG), Susan Gaffney, had discriminated against the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations because of his race, focusing on whether: (1) HUD had awarded contracts concerning the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint to outside firms in accordance with applicable government standards; and (2) HUD's actions were justified when it deviated from its standard EEO process by contracting with firms not on the General Services Administration's (GSA) schedule of contractors."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the certification requirements of federal agencies, focusing on: (1) the extent and variety of certification activities in the federal government; (2) the extent to which any policies, procedures, or guidance exist governing these activities, either governmentwide or within selected agencies; and (3) an agency certification practice that could serve as an example or best practice for other agencies."

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) Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) acquisition strategy and management plans, focusing on the: (1) status of the JTRS program, including DOD development plans; and (2) challenges program officials will face in implementing the JTRS acquisition strategy."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the activities of the U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEAC), focusing on: (1) USEAC agencies' efforts to improve coordination among federal agencies and nonfederal export service providers; and (2) the challenges USEAC agencies face in their efforts to better meet the needs of the business community--particularly firms that export services and firms that are not yet ready to export."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) efforts to monitor the activities of Medicare fee-for-service claims administration contractors, focusing on: (1) how deceptive activities became a way of doing business at some of HCFA's Medicare fee-for-service contractors; (2) why HCFA did not detect these activities through its oversight; and (3) weaknesses in HCFA's monitoring process that could allow these types of activities to recur without detection."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed research on the effectiveness of various welfare-to-work approaches, focusing on: (1) the effectiveness of a rapid employment approach, an education-based approach, and a combination of these two approaches in improving employment-related outcomes for welfare recipients and other low-income women with children; and (2) the effect of welfare recipients' educational attainment, including postsecondary education, on the educational attainment of their children."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed states' efforts to implement welfare reform, focusing on: (1) what is known about the effectiveness of various approaches for moving welfare recipients into jobs; (2) how states are implementing welfare reform; (3) the status of those leaving welfare; and (4) the challenges that lie ahead as welfare reform continues to evolve."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) efforts to address the year 2000 computing problem, focusing on: (1) FAA's progress to date; (2) challenges FAA faces in ensuring that its internal systems will work; (3) risks associated with external organizations--airports, airlines, and international entities; and (4) the critical need for business continuity and contingency plans that identify how aviation operations will continue should systems fail."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO compared airlines' contracts of carriage with the Air Transport Association's (ATA) Customer Service Commitment."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Navy's progress in implementing the Pearl Harbor Pilot project, focusing on: (1) the preliminary results of the Pearl Harbor Pilot on improving performance of maintenance activities; (2) the usefulness of the pilot as a model for future consolidations; and (3) issues related to financial and organizational structures for such consolidations."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) new rule on early-season migratory bird hunting. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would establish the early-seasons frameworks from which states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands may select dates and other options available to them for the 1999-2000 migratory bird hunting season; and (2) FWS complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) new rule on migratory bird hunting regulations on certain federal Indian reservations and ceded lands for the 1999-2000 early season. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would prescribe special early-season hunting regulations for certain tribes on federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands; and (2) FWS complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO performed procedures to assist the House Committee on International Relations in evaluating the extent to which five House interparliamentary groups' financial records appropriately reflected their cash receipts and disbursements and fund balance for the years ended December 31, 1997 and 1998."