Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The sorrow, loss, anger, and resolve so evident immediately following the September 11, 2001, attacks have been combined in an effort to help assure that our country will never again be caught unprepared. As the 9/11 Commission notes, we are safer today but we are not safe, and much work remains. Although in today's world we can never be 100 percent secure, and we can never do everything everywhere, we concur with the Commission's conclusion that the American people should expect their government to do its very best. GAO's mission is to help the Congress improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO has been actively involved in improving government's performance in the critically important homeland security area both before and after the September 11 attacks. In its request, the House Committee on Government Reform have asked GAO to address two issues: the lack of effective information sharing and analysis and the need for executive branch reorganization in response to the 9/11 Commission recommendations. Further, the Committee has asked GAO to address how to remedy problems in …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) has typically excluded from the census private citizens residing abroad, but included overseas members of the military, federal civilian employees, and their dependents (in the 1990 and 2000 Censuses, these individuals were included in the numbers used for apportioning Congress). The Bureau recently tested the practicality of counting all overseas Americans. GAO was asked to testify on the test's initial results. Our statement is based on our published reports, one of which is being released at today's hearing."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-04-218G, Acquisition/Financial Systems Interface Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Exposure Draft), December 2003. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires that agencies implement and maintain financial management systems that substantially comply with federal financial management system requirements. These requirements are described in detail in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance and in the Federal Financial Management System Requirements series issued by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP). JFMIP intends for its requirements series to promote understanding of key financial management systems concepts and requirements, to provide a framework for establishing integrated financial management systems that support program and financial managers, and to describe specific requirements of financial management systems."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On February 25, 2004, Congress heard testimony at a hearing entitled "The Key to Homeland Security: The New Human Resources System." This report responds to additional questions posed by Senator Akaka and Senator Lautenberg."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the wake of September 11, 2001, Congress enacted the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Title VIII, subtitle F, section 852 of the act provided for a temporary set of emergency procurement flexibilities intended to address the immediate needs for procurement of property (other than real property) or services to be used to defend against or recover from terrorist threats, including nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks. These flexibilities, which expired on November 24, 2003, included (1) increasing the threshold for simplified acquisition procedures in support of humanitarian, peacekeeping, or contingency operations from $100,000 to $200,000 for contracts awarded and performed within the United States and, for contracts awarded and performed, or purchases to be made outside the United States, to $300,000; (2) increasing the micro-purchase threshold from $2,500 to $7,500 to allow agencies the use of purchase cards above the current limit; (3) waiving certain provisions of law and the dollar threshold related to commercial item procurements; and (4) requiring the head of an agency, when appropriate, to use streamlined acquisition authorities and procedures authorized by law for a procurement referred to in section 852. Section 852 …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Approximately 6,600 miles of Alaska's coastline and many of the low-lying areas along the state's rivers are subject to severe flooding and erosion. Most of Alaska's Native villages are located on the coast or on riverbanks. In addition to the many federal and Alaska state agencies that respond to flooding and erosion, Congress established the Denali Commission in 1998 to, among other things, provide economic development services and meet infrastructure needs in rural Alaska communities. This testimony is based on GAO's report, Alaska Native Villages: Most Are Affected by Flooding and Erosion, but Few Qualify for Federal Assistance (GAO-04-142, December 12, 2003). Specifically, GAO identified (1) the number of Alaska Native villages affected by flooding and erosion, (2) the extent to which federal assistance has been provided to those villages, (3) the efforts of nine villages to respond to flooding and erosion, and (4) alternatives that Congress may wish to consider when providing assistance for flooding and erosion."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. government's framework for preventing, detecting, and prosecuting money laundering has been expanding through additional pieces of legislation since its inception in 1970 with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The purpose of the BSA is to prevent financial institutions from being used as intermediaries for the transfer or deposit of money derived from criminal activity and to provide a paper trail for law enforcement agencies in their investigations of possible money laundering. The most recent changes arose in October 2001 with the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, which, among other things, extends antimoney laundering (AML) requirements to other financial service providers previously not covered under the BSA. GAO was asked to testify on its previous work and the ongoing work it is doing for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on the depository institution regulators' BSA examination and enforcement process."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures contained in this report, which we agreed to perform and with which the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Transportation concurred, solely to assist that office in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, is supported by the underlying records. We evaluated fiscal year 2004 activity affecting distributions to the AATF. The adequacy of the procedures to meet the IG's objectives is the IG's responsibility, and we make no representation in that respect. The procedures we agreed to perform were (1) detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the AATF, (2) review of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly AATF certifications, (3) review of the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments to the AATF for fiscal year 2004, (4) review of IRS's precertification1 of receipts for the second and third quarters of fiscal year 2004, (5) review of certain procedures of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis' (OTA) estimation procedures affecting excise tax distributions …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We assisted the Department of Labor in ascertaining whether the net federal unemployment tax (FUTA) revenue distributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, is supported by the underlying records. We evaluated fiscal year 2004 activity affecting distributions to the UTF. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance for performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures. The procedures we agreed to perform include (1) detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the UTF and (2) review of key reconciliations of the Internal Revenue Service records to the Department of the Treasury records."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We assisted the Department of Transportation (DOT) in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with DOT, we evaluated fiscal year 2004 activity affecting distributions to the HTF. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance for performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the Congress enacted the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (Stabilization Act) that provided, among other things, $5 billion in emergency assistance to compensate the nation's air carriers for losses incurred as a result of the attacks. Pursuant to a previous congressional request, we monitored the Department of Transportation's (DOT) progress in administering the emergency assistance program. As a result of our work, we reported on the payment process DOT employed to administer the program, details on the losses claimed by the air carriers, and the payments disbursed under the program. Now, Section 824 of the Vision 100 Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act requires that we report on the criteria and procedures used by DOT to compensate air carriers under the Stabilization Act emergency assistance program with a particular focus on whether it is appropriate to compensate air carriers for the decrease in value (asset impairment) of their aircraft after September 11, 2001, and to ensure that comparable air carriers receive comparable percentages of the maximum compensation payable. DOT published its criteria and procedures …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The security of U.S. commercial aviation is a long-standing concern, and substantial efforts have been undertaken to strengthen it. One such effort is the development of a new Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) to identify passengers requiring additional security attention. The development of CAPPS II has raised a number of issues, including whether individuals may be inappropriately targeted for additional screening and whether data accessed by the system may compromise passengers' privacy. GAO was asked to summarize the results of its previous report that looked at (1) the development status and plans for CAPPS II; (2) the status of CAPPS II in addressing key developmental, operational, and public acceptance issues; and (3) additional challenges that could impede the successful implementation of the system."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Securing commercial aviation is a daunting task--with hundreds of airports and thousands of flights daily carrying millions of passengers and pieces of baggage. In an effort to strengthen the security of commercial aviation, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created and charged with making numerous enhancements to aviation security, including federalizing passenger and baggage screening and screening checked baggage using explosive detection systems. To assess the progress of passenger and baggage screening operations, GAO was asked to describe TSA's efforts to (1) hire and deploy passenger and baggage screeners, (2) train the screening workforce, (3) measure screener performance in detecting threat objects, and (4) leverage and deploy screening equipment and technologies."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "One of the primary functions of any security system is the control of people moving into or out of protected areas, such as physical buildings, information systems, and our national border. Technologies called biometrics can automate the identification of people by one or more of their distinct physical or behavioral characteristics. The term biometrics covers a wide range of technologies that can be used to verify identity by measuring and analyzing human characteristics--relying on attributes of the individual instead of things the individual may have or know. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, laws have been passed that require a more extensive use of biometric technologies in the federal government. In 2002, GAO conducted a technology assessment on the use of biometrics for border security. GAO was asked to testify about the issues that it raised in the report, the current state of the technology, and the application of biometrics to 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 "The security of the nation's commercial aviation system has been a long-standing concern. Following the events of September 11, 2001, Congress enacted numerous aviation security improvements designed to strengthen aviation security, including the development of a passenger prescreening system and the federalization of airport screeners. Despite these changes, challenges continue to face the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) efforts to improve aviation security. GAO was asked to summarize the results of previous and ongoing aviation security work. These include: (1) the development of CAPPS II to assist in identifying high-risk passengers, (2) the management of passenger and baggage screening programs, (3) the operations of the Federal Air Marshal Service, and (4) other aviations security related efforts, such as cargo, that remain a concern."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, resulted in fundamental changes in the way the United States screens airport passengers and their property. One of the most significant changes was the shift from using private screeners to using federal screeners at all but five commercial airports in the United States. These five airports are part of a pilot program, where private screeners perform screening functions. The mission of the Private Screening Pilot Program, as defined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), is to test the effectiveness of increased operational flexibility at the airport level that contractors may provide. GAO was asked to describe (1) the challenges and limitations of the private screening pilot program, (2) the operational flexibilities TSA has provided to the private screening companies, and (3) the performance of private and federal screeners in detecting threat objects. This testimony is based on our prior and ongoing work on TSA airport passenger and baggage screeners."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is a best practices pamphlet discussing the highlights of the knowledge-based approach to improving weapons acquisition. It reviews the manufacturing processes through three phases, (1) technology development, (2) product development, and (3) production."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "At the request of Congress, we have been examining ways the Department of Defense (DOD) can optimize its investment in weapons systems, drawing on lessons learned from the best, mostly commercial, product development efforts. Leading commercial firms we have studied have developed increasingly sophisticated products in less time and at lower cost. Key to their success is their knowledge-based approach to the acquisition of new products. A knowledge-based approach is supported by incentives that encourage realism and candor. This booklet highlights the result of our work to date."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has long held the position that financial regulators can benefit from improved information sharing. As regulators are faced with the challenges of overseeing a myriad of financial products, along with the individuals and organizations that develop and sell them, information sharing among regulators serves as a key defense against fraud and market abuses. However, our system of financial regulation is fragmented and, in many cases, isolated among numerous federal and state financial regulators overseeing the securities, insurance, and banking industries. While there has been a greater effort to improve communication in recent years, the routine sharing of information between the regulators of the three major financial industries--securities, insurance, and banking--continues to be a source of concern. At Congress' request, we have issued reports and testimonies in recent years discussing the benefits of improved sharing of criminal and regulatory information and the consequences of failing to adequately share such information. This report focuses on three areas where greater attention is needed to improve information-sharing capabilities among financial services regulators. First, we highlight the need for insurance regulators to have more consistent access to the Federal Bureau of Investigation …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Strategy for Homeland Security calls for preventing foreign terrorists from entering our country and using all legal means to identify; halt; and where appropriate, prosecute or bring immigration or other civil charges against terrorists in the United States. GAO reported in June 2003 that the visa revocation process needed to be strengthened as an antiterrorism tool and recommended that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in conjunction with the Departments of State (State) and Justice, develop specific policies and procedures to ensure that appropriate agencies are notified of revocations based on terrorism grounds and take proper actions. GAO examined whether weaknesses in the visa revocation process identified in our June 2003 report were addressed."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year thousands of international science students and scholars apply for visas to enter the United States to participate in education and exchange programs. They offer our country diversity and intellectual knowledge and are an economic resource. At the same time, the United States has important national security interests in screening these individuals when they apply for a visa. At a House Committee on Science hearing in March 2003, witnesses raised concern about the length of time it takes for science students and scholars to obtain a visa and about losing top international students to other countries due to visa delays. GAO reviewed 1) how long it takes a science student or scholar from another country to obtain a visa and the factors contributing to the length of time, and 2) what measures are under way to improve the process and decrease the number of pending cases."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. government has made a concerted effort to strengthen border security by enhancing visa issuance policies and procedures, as well as expanding screening of the millions of foreign visitors who enter the United States annually. Consistent with the 9/11 Commission report that recommends a biometric entry-exit screening system for travelers, the Department of State's biometric program complements the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program--a governmentwide program to better control and monitor the entry, visa status, and exit of visitors. GAO was asked to present the findings of its report on State's Biometric Visa Program, as well as discuss other aspects of visa processing and border security that require coordinated, joint actions by State and DHS."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On May 15, 2003, and again on July 25, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, Subcommittees on Homeland Security, of its intention to reprogram a large amount of funds appropriated to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for fiscal year 2003. In an August 2003 letter, Congress requested that we review the key events leading up to the reprogramming and subsequent revisions as they related to the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS). In particular, we were asked to determine (1) whether senior TSA, DHS, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials were informed of the implications of the FAMS funding reductions prior to submission of the reprogramming notices; (2) the programmatic implications of the funding reductions on the FAMS program; (3) whether it was legally necessary to send an impoundment message to the Congress; and whether the Secretary of Homeland Security had delegated to the Under Secretary for Management the authority to transmit reprogramming notifications to the cognizant Appropriations Subcommittees. Finally, Congress asked us to identify, as appropriate, improvements in budget execution for future consideration. As agreed, we briefed …