Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003 and 2002. As part of these audits, we performed a review of the general and application computer controls over key BPD financial systems."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In a May 18, 2004 letter, the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security observed that many management and integration challenges remain at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and to strengthen the departmentwide reforms and transformation underway at DHS the Select Committee is considering options such as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) concept to help address these challenges. This letter describes the roles and responsibilities of an effective COO and presents certain options that could serve to strengthen and streamline management functions in a department as large and diverse as DHS. As agreed, we have summarized our reports on the COO concept, organizational transformation, as well as DHS's management and transformation challenges."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, comprised of two subparts, is the primary source of federal funding for services to help families address problems that lead to child abuse and neglect and to prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their families; however, a number of challenges exist that impair states' ability to deliver and track these services. This testimony is based on findings from three reports issued in 2003 and addresses the following: (1) states' use of Title IV-B funds in providing a wide array of services to prevent the occurrence of abuse, neglect, and unnecessary foster care placements, as well as in providing other child welfare services; (2) factors that hinder states' ability to protect children from abuse and neglect; and (3) the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) role in helping states to overcome these challenges. Findings are based on multiple methodologies, including a survey to child welfare directors on states' use of Title IV-B funds; an analysis of nearly 600 exit interview documents completed by staff who severed their employment from 17 state, 40 county, and 19 private child welfare agencies; and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Illegal trafficking in cigarettes can generate enormous profits and is purportedly a multibillion dollar a year enterprise. As cigarette taxes increase, so do the incentives for criminal organizations to smuggle cigarettes into the United States. Cigarette smuggling results in lost tax revenues, undermines government health policy objectives, can attract sophisticated and organized criminal groups, and could be a source of funding for terrorists. Because of these concerns, GAO examined (1) the nature and scope of the problem of smuggled cigarettes entering the United States, including federal tax revenue losses and potential health risks; (2) federal law enforcement agencies'--U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)--efforts to thwart the smuggling of cigarettes into the United States; and (3) legal initiatives being pursued to enhance law enforcement efforts to thwart the smuggling of cigarettes into the United States."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Coast Guard conducts homeland security and search and rescue operations from nearly 200 shoreside stations along the nation's coasts and waterways. After several rescue mishaps that resulted in the deaths of civilians and station personnel, Congress recognized a need to improve performance at stations and appropriated additional funds to increase stations' readiness levels. For fiscal year 2003, the Coast Guard received designated funds of $15.7 million specifically to increase spending for stations' staffing, personal protection equipment (such as life vests and cold weather protection suits), personnel retention, and training needs. Congress directed GAO to determine if the Coast Guard's fiscal year 2003 outlays for stations increased by this amount over fiscal year 2002 expenditure levels. GAO also assessed the adequacy of the processes used by the Coast Guard to account for the expenditure of designated funds."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Despite its significant investment in business systems, the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to have long-standing financial and inventory management problems that prevent it from producing reliable and timely information for making decisions and for accurately reporting on its billions of dollars of inventory. GAO was asked to (1) identify DOD's fiscal year 2004 estimated funding for its business systems, (2) determine if DOD has effective control and accountability over its business systems investments, and (3) determine whether selected business systems will help resolve some of DOD's long-standing problems and whether they are being effectively managed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For decades, the Department of Defense (DOD) has tested and fired munitions on more than 24 million acres of operational ranges. Munition constituents such as lead, trinitrotoluene (TNT), and perchlorate may cause various health effects, including cancer. Concerned about the potential cost to clean up munitions, Congress required DOD to estimate the cost to clean up its operational ranges. Congress asked GAO to determine (1) how DOD identified the location and last use of operational ranges and the basis for DOD's cost estimates for cleaning up those ranges; and (2) DOD's policy to address contaminants linked to the use of munitions on operational ranges and, where contaminants such as perchlorate have been detected, what corrective actions the military services have taken."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged in southern China in November 2002 and spread rapidly along international air routes in early 2003. Asian countries had the most cases (7,782) and deaths (729). SARS challenged Asian health care systems, disrupted Asian economies, and tested the effectiveness of the International Health Regulations. GAO was asked to examine the roles of the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. government, and Asian governments (China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) in responding to SARS; the estimated economic impact of SARS in Asia; and efforts to update the International Health Regulations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Subtitle D of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 allows the Department of Energy (Energy) to help its contractors' employees file state workers' compensation claims for illnesses determined by a panel of physicians to be caused by exposure to toxic substances while employed at an Energy facility. This report examines the effectiveness of the benefit program under Subtitle D and focuses on four key areas: (1) the number, status, and characteristics of claims filed with Energy; (2) the extent to which Energy policies and procedures help employees file timely claims for these state benefits; (3) the extent to which there will be a "willing payer" of workers' compensation benefits, that is, an insurer that--by order from or agreement with Energy--will not contest these claims; and (4) a framework that could be used for evaluating possible options for changing the program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Subtitle D of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 allows the Department of Energy (Energy) to help its contractors' employees file state workers' compensation claims for illnesses determined by a panel of physicians to be caused by exposure to toxic substances while employed at an Energy facility. Congress mandated that GAO study the effectiveness of the benefit program under Subtitle D. GAO focused on four key areas: (1) the number, status, and characteristics of claims filed with Energy; (2) the extent to which Energy policies and procedures help employees file timely claims for these state benefits; (3) the extent to which there will be a "willing payer" of workers' compensation benefits, that is, an insurer that--by order from or agreement with Energy--will not contest these claims; and (4) a framework that could be used for evaluating possible options for changing the program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The emergence of peer-to-peer file-sharing applications that allow networks to share computer files among millions of users has changed the way copyrighted materials, including digital music, videos, software, and images can be distributed and has led to a dramatic increase in the incidence of copyright infringement (piracy) of these digital materials. These applications enable direct communication between users, allowing users to access each other's files and share digital music, videos, and software. According to a coalition of intellectual property owners in the entertainment industry, an increasing number of students are using the fast Internet connections offered by college and university networks to infringe copyrights by illegally downloading and sharing massive volumes of copyrighted materials on peer-to-peer networks. GAO was asked to describe (1) the views of major universities on the extent of problems experienced with student use of file-sharing applications as well as the actions that the universities are taking to deal with them and (2) the actions that federal enforcement agencies have taken to address the issue of copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks as well as agency views on any legislative barriers to dealing with …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Advances in technology have led to more organizations making information available over the Internet and the World Wide Web rather than through print, significantly changing the nature of printing and information dissemination. Government Printing Office (GPO) management recognizes that the new environment in which it operates requires that the agency modernize and transform itself and the way it does business. To assist in this transformation, GAO has been performing a comprehensive review of government printing and information dissemination and of GPO's operations. In this testimony, GAO summarizes the result of its work to date, for which GAO convened a panel of experts on printing and dissemination (assembled with the help of the National Academy of Sciences) to develop options for GPO to consider in its transformation, and surveyed executive branch customers regarding their practices and preferences for printing and dissemination, as well as on their interactions with GPO. The testimony reports on how changes in the technological environment are presenting challenges to GPO and on its progress in addressing actions that GAO's work indicates could advance its transformation effort."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Traffic crashes are a major cause of death and injury in the United States. In 2002, there were 42,815 fatalities and over 2.9 million injuries on the nation's highways. Crashes on rural roads (roads in areas with populations of less than 5,000) account for over 60 percent of the deaths nationwide, or about 70 deaths each day. Further, the rate of fatalities per vehicle mile traveled on rural roads was over twice the urban fatality rate. GAO identified (1) the factors contributing to rural road fatalities, (2) federal and state efforts to improve safety on the nation's rural roads, and (3) the challenges that may hinder making improvements in rural road safety. GAO obtained information from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and other organizations with knowledge of these issues. In addition, GAO analyzed fatal crash data on rural roads from Department of Transportation databases and visited five states that account for about 20 percent of the nation's rural road mileage. GAO also contacted academic experts and examined legislative proposals for improving rural road safety. We provided copies of a …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the National Capital Region (NCR), comprising jurisdictions including the District of Columbia and surrounding jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia, has been recognized as a significant potential target for terrorism. GAO was asked to report on (1) what federal funds have been allocated to NCR jurisdictions for emergency preparedness; (2) what challenges exist within NCR to organizing and implementing efficient and effective regional preparedness programs; (3) what gaps, if any, remain in the emergency preparedness of NCR; and (4) what has been the role of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in NCR to date."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On March 31, 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an exposure document on a proposed Statement, Share-Based Payment, an Amendment of FASB Statements No. 123 and 95, which addresses the accounting for compensation to employees in the form of equity shares, including stock options. GAO recognizes that this is a complex and controversial issue on which reasonable people can and do disagree. In light of the above, there has been a renewed interest for the Congress to legislate accounting rules for stock options. Notwithstanding our and others' views on the merits of various accounting methods for stock options, GAO believes that the principle of independence, both in fact and in appearance, is essential to the credibility of and confidence in any authoritative standard-setting processes. With respect to the role of FASB in this and other areas, we support its efforts, as the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) designated independent private-sector standard-setting body, to identify issues for consideration, prepare exposure documents, conduct outreach efforts and solicit comments on exposure documents, and consider the resulting comments in finalizing and issuing new accounting standards. This time-tested and proven deliberative …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires agencies to certify the security controls of their information systems and to formally authorize and accept the risk associated with their operation (a process known as accreditation). These processes support requirements of the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA). Further, OMB requires agencies to report the number of systems authorized following certification and accreditation as one of the key FISMA performance measures. In response to the Congressional request, GAO (1) identified existing governmentwide requirements and guidelines for certifying and accrediting information systems, (2) determined the extent to which agencies have reported their systems as certified and accredited, and (3) assessed whether their processes provide consistent, comparable results and adequate information for authorizing officials."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Effective controls over information systems are essential to ensuring the protection of financial and personnel information and the security and reliability of bank examination data maintained by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). As part of our calendar year 2003 financial statement audits of three FDIC Funds, GAO assessed the effectiveness of the corporation's general controls on its information systems. Our assessment included follow up on the progress that FDIC has made in correcting or mitigating computer security weaknesses identified in our audits for calendar years 2001 and 2002."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its role as the nation's tax collector, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a demanding responsibility in collecting taxes, processing tax returns, and enforcing the nation's tax laws. Since GAO's first audit of IRS's financial statements in fiscal year 1992, a number of weaknesses in IRS's financial management operations have been identified. In related reports, GAO has recommended corrective action to address those weaknesses. Each year as part of the annual audit of IRS's financial statements, GAO not only makes recommendations to address any new weaknesses identified but also follows up on the open weaknesses GAO identified in previous years' audits. The purpose of this report is to assist IRS management in tracking the status of audit recommendations and actions needed to address them."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act, which took effect October 1, 2003, requires agencies to repay discrimination settlements and judgments paid on their behalf. The No FEAR Act is similar to the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) of 1978, which holds agencies accountable for payment in contract disputes. Under both laws, federal agencies must reimburse the Judgment Fund, which is administered by the Treasury Department. Before the No FEAR Act, agencies did not have to repay the fund. The No FEAR Act requires GAO to review the financial impact on Treasury of administering that law and CDA. Based on this requirement, this report provides information on (1) Treasury's estimates of its costs to process discrimination claim payments and CDA payments in fiscal year 2003 and its costs to process and seek reimbursement for claim payments under lawsuits covered by the No FEAR Act beginning in fiscal year 2004, (2) differences in claims processing and reimbursement efforts under CDA and the No FEAR Act, and (3) the extent of federal agency compliance with CDA's reimbursement requirements and Treasury's view of how effective its …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare spending for power wheelchairs, one of the program's most expensive items of durable medical equipment (DME), rose 450 percent from 1999 through 2003, while overall Medicare spending rose by about 11 percent for the same period, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This spending growth has raised concerns that Medicare made improper payments and has payment rates that are out of line with market prices. In May 2003, the Department of Justice indicted power wheelchair suppliers in Texas alleged to have fraudulently billed Medicare. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) contains provisions regarding DME, such as changing payment setting methods. GAO was asked to examine (1) steps taken by CMS and its contractors to identify and respond to improper payments for power wheelchairs and (2) how MMA will affect CMS's ability to set payment rates for DME. To examine these issues, GAO analyzed claims data reports for CMS's four DME regions, reviewed applicable legislation, regulations, and CMS and contractor documents, and interviewed CMS and contractor officials, DME suppliers and manufacturers, DME industry representatives, and beneficiary advocacy groups. GAO …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent U.S. combat operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq benefited from new Department of Defense (DOD) strategies and technologies, such as improvements in force networks and increased use of precision weapons, designed to address changes in the security environment resulting from the continuing terrorist threat and the advent of the information age. Based on the authority of the Comptroller General, GAO reviewed these conflicts, with a focus on bombing operations, to gain insight into the changes being implemented by DOD. This report focuses on (1) assessing the impact on operational effectiveness of improvements in force networks and in the use of precision weapons and (2) identifying key barriers to continued progress."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In light of the recent mobilizations associated with the war on terrorism, GAO was asked to determine if controls used to pay mobilized Army Guard personnel provided assurance that such pays were accurate and timely. This testimony focuses on the pay experiences of Army Guard soldiers at selected case study units and deficiencies with respect to controls over processes, human capital, and automated systems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For more than a decade, GAO has identified the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) contract management as a high-risk area--in part because of NASA's inability to collect, maintain, and report the full cost of its programs and projects. Lacking this information, NASA has been challenged to manage its programs and control program costs. The scientific and technical expectations inherent in NASA's mission create even greater challenges--especially if meeting those expectations requires NASA to reallocate funding from existing programs to support proposed new efforts. Because cost growth has been a persistent problem in a number of NASA programs, GAO was asked to examine NASA's cost estimating for selected programs, assess NASA's cost-estimating processes and methodologies, and describe any barriers to improving NASA's cost-estimating processes. To conduct GAO's work, GAO analyzed a total of 27 NASA programs--10 of which GAO reviewed in detail."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "An accident at one the nation's commercial nuclear power plants could result in human health and environmental damages. To ensure that funds would be available to settle liability claims in such cases, the Price-Anderson Act requires licensees for these plants to have primary insurance--currently $300 million per site. The act also requires secondary coverage in the form of retrospective premiums to be contributed by all licensees to cover claims that exceed primary insurance. If these premiums are needed, each licensee's payments are limited to $10 million per year and $95.8 million in total for each of its plants. In recent years, limited liability companies have increasingly become licensees of nuclear power plants, raising concerns about whether these companies--by shielding their parent corporations' assets--will have the financial resources to pay their retrospective premiums. GAO was asked to determine (1) the extent to which limited liability companies are the licensees for U.S. commercial nuclear power plants, (2) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) requirements and procedures for ensuring that licensees of nuclear power plants comply with the Price-Anderson Act's liability requirements, and (3) whether and how these procedures differ …