Resource Type

Military Buildup on Guam: Costs and Challenges in Meeting Construction Timelines (open access)

Military Buildup on Guam: Costs and Challenges in Meeting Construction Timelines

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, the bilateral U.S. and Japanese Security Consultative Committee began a series of sustained security consultations to strengthen the U.S.-Japan security alliance by establishing a framework for the future of the U.S. force structure in Japan. The United States and Japan agreed to reduce the U.S. force structure in Japan while maintaining the U.S. force presence in the Pacific theater by relocating units to other areas, including Guam. As part of this effort, called the Defense Policy Review Initiative, about 8,600 Marines and 9,000 dependents were to move from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam by a projected date of 2014, as described in the bilateral agreement. On June 21, 2011, however, United States and Government of Japan officials noted that completion of the Marine relocation will not meet the previously targeted date of 2014, but confirmed their commitment to complete the relocation at the earliest possible date after 2014. 2 The Department of Defense (DOD) also plans to move other military forces and equipment to Guam on different schedules in implementing a new strategic approach in the Pacific as part of its worldwide Integrated Global Presence and Basing …
Date: June 27, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Taxes and Identity Theft: Status of IRS Initiatives to Help Victimized Taxpayers (open access)

Taxes and Identity Theft: Status of IRS Initiatives to Help Victimized Taxpayers

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Identity theft is a serious and growing problem in the United States. Taxpayers are harmed when identity thieves file fraudulent tax documents using stolen names and Social Security numbers. In 2010 alone, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) identified over 245,000 identity theft incidents that affected the tax system. The hundreds of thousands of taxpayers with tax problems caused by identity theft represent a small percentage of the expected 140 million individual returns filed, but for those affected, the problems can be quite serious. GAO was asked to describe, among other things, (1) when IRS detects identity theft based refund and employment fraud, (2) the steps IRS has taken to resolve, detect, and prevent innocent taxpayers' identity theft related problems, and (3) constraints that hinder IRS's ability to address these issues. GAO's testimony is based on its previous work on identity theft. GAO updated its analysis by examining data on identity theft cases and interviewing IRS officials. GAO makes no new recommendations but reports on IRS's efforts to address GAO's earlier recommendation that IRS develop performance measures and collect data suitable for assessing the effectiveness of its identity theft …
Date: May 25, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOD Civilian Personnel: Competency Gap Analyses and Other Actions Needed to Enhance DOD's Strategic Workforce Plans (open access)

DOD Civilian Personnel: Competency Gap Analyses and Other Actions Needed to Enhance DOD's Strategic Workforce Plans

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, strategic human capital management for federal agencies has been on GAO's high-risk list. Although some progress has been made, GAO reported in February 2011 that the area remains on the high-risk list because of the need for agencies, including DOD, to address current and emerging skill gaps that are undermining their ability to fulfill their missions. The Department of Defense (DOD) had about 718,000 civilians as of March 2010, which includes its senior leader and acquisition workforces. DOD has noted that approximately 30 percent of its civilian workforce--and 90 percent of its senior leader workforce--will be eligible to retire by March 31, 2015. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 required (1) DOD to report on plans for its overall civilian, senior leader, and acquisition workforces for 2009 through 2012; (2) DOD to address a series of legislative requirements for each workforce; and (3) GAO to review and report on these plans. DOD has informed GAO that it expects to issue its next set of plans in September 2011. In anticipation of these plans, it is helpful to understand key issues identified during GAO's …
Date: July 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Residential Appraisals: Opportunities to Enhance Oversight of an Evolving Industry (open access)

Residential Appraisals: Opportunities to Enhance Oversight of an Evolving Industry

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our work on residential real estate valuations. Real estate valuations, which encompass appraisals and other value estimation methods, play a critical role in mortgage underwriting by providing evidence that the market value of a property is sufficient to help mitigate losses if the borrower is unable to repay the loan. However, recent turmoil in the mortgage market has raised questions about mortgage underwriting practices, including the quality and credibility of some valuations. An investigation into industry appraisal practices by the New York State Attorney General led to an agreement in 2008 between the Attorney General; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the enterprises); and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates the enterprises. This agreement included the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), which set forth certain appraiser independence requirements for loans sold to the enterprises and took effect in 2009. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Pub. L. No. 111-203) (the Dodd-Frank Act) directed us to study the effectiveness and impact of various valuation methods and the options available for selecting appraisers, as well as the impact of HVCC. This testimony …
Date: July 13, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Security Statements: Observations on SSA's Plans for the Social Security Statement (open access)

Social Security Statements: Observations on SSA's Plans for the Social Security Statement

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security Statement (the statement) is the federal government's main document for communicating with more than 150 million workers about their Social Security benefits. Provided annually, it serves as a key financial literacy tool that can educate the public about Social Security Administration (SSA) program benefits, aid in financial planning, and ensure that workers' earnings records are complete and accurate. The statement is also a key tool for communicating with the public about the long-term financial challenges the Social Security system faces. However, due to budget constraints, SSA chose to suspend mailings of the statement in March 2011. GAO examined (1) the current status of the statement and (2) ways SSA plans to improve the usefulness of the statement. To address these issues, GAO interviewed SSA officials and reviewed agency documents and our prior work on the statement's understandability. GAO also provided a draft of this testimony to SSA for review and comment."
Date: July 8, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tax Administration: Preliminary Information on Selected Foreign Practices That May Provide Useful Insights (open access)

Tax Administration: Preliminary Information on Selected Foreign Practices That May Provide Useful Insights

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and foreign tax administrators face similar issues regardless of the particular provisions of their laws. These issues include, for example, helping taxpayers prepare and file returns, and assuring tax compliance. GAO was asked to describe (1) how foreign tax administrators have approached issues that are similar to those in the U.S. tax system and (2) whether and how the IRS identifies and adopts tax administration practices used elsewhere. To do this, GAO reviewed documents and interviewed six foreign tax administrators as well as tax experts, tax practitioners, taxpayers, and trade group representatives. GAO also examined documents and met with IRS officials. This preliminary information is based on GAO's ongoing work for the Committee to be completed at a later date."
Date: April 12, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security: DHS Could Strengthen Acquisitions and Development of New Technologies (open access)

Homeland Security: DHS Could Strengthen Acquisitions and Development of New Technologies

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our past work examining the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) progress and challenges in developing and acquiring new technologies to address homeland security needs. DHS acquisition programs represent hundreds of billions of dollars in life-cycle costs and support a wide range of missions and investments including border surveillance and screening equipment, nuclear detection equipment, and technologies used to screen airline passengers and baggage for explosives, among others. Since its creation in 2003, DHS has spent billions of dollars developing and procuring technologies and other countermeasures to address various threats and to conduct its missions. Within DHS, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) conducts general research and development and oversees the testing and evaluation efforts of DHS components, which are responsible for developing, testing, and acquiring their own technologies. This testimony focuses on the findings of our prior work related to DHS's efforts to acquire and deploy new technologies to address homeland security needs. Our past work has identified three key challenges: (1) developing technology program requirements, (2) conducting and completing testing and evaluation of technologies and (3) incorporating information on costs and benefits in making …
Date: July 15, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid Program Integrity: Expanded Federal Role Presents Challenges to and Opportunities for Assisting States (open access)

Medicaid Program Integrity: Expanded Federal Role Presents Challenges to and Opportunities for Assisting States

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees Medicaid, estimated that improper payments in the federal-state Medicaid program were $21.9 billion in fiscal year 2011. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 established the Medicaid Integrity Program and gave CMS an expanded role in assisting and improving the effectiveness of state activities to ensure proper payments. Making effective use of this expanded role, however, requires that federal resources are targeted appropriately and do not duplicate state activities. GAO was asked to testify on Medicaid program integrity. GAO's statement focuses on how CMS's expanded role in ensuring Medicaid program integrity (1) poses a challenge because of overlapping state and federal activities regarding provider audits and (2) presents opportunities through oversight to enhance state program integrity efforts. To do this work, GAO reviewed CMS reports and documents on Medicaid program integrity as well as its own and others' reports on this topic. In particular, GAO reviewed CMS reports that documented the results of its state oversight and monitoring activities. GAO also interviewed CMS officials in the agency's Medicaid Integrity Group (MIG), which was established to implement …
Date: December 7, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Department of State's Counternarcotics Performance Management System (open access)

Department of State's Counternarcotics Performance Management System

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our recent reviews of U.S counternarcotics programs in Mexico and Afghanistan highlighted the need to improve the programs' performance measures to track progress. The Department of State (State) received over $1 billion in its fiscal year 2010 appropriation for international counternarcotics assistance programs. The vast majority of this funding--about 90 percent in fiscal year 2010--supports counternarcotics programs in five countries--Mexico, Afghanistan, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is primarily responsible for implementing U.S. assistance programs involving eradication of illicit crops, interdiction of drug trafficking, and drug demand reduction, which represented about 85 percent of State's counternarcotics appropriation in fiscal year 2010. INL implements a large share of its funding through contractors, primarily for aviation support for eradication and interdiction efforts. Congress asked us to review State's performance measures for its counternarcotics programs. On March 10, 2011, we briefed congressional staff on our preliminary findings in which we described State's performance management system, including State's standard indicators for measuring the performance of counternarcotics assistance in recipient countries and requirements for posts to develop project-specific performance measures. Following the briefing, in subsequent …
Date: May 26, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Broadcasting Board of Governors Should Provide Additional Information to Congress Regarding Broadcasting to Cuba (open access)

Broadcasting Board of Governors Should Provide Additional Information to Congress Regarding Broadcasting to Cuba

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""
Date: December 13, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Postal Service: Allocation of Responsibility for Pension Benefits between the Postal Service and the Federal Government (open access)

U.S. Postal Service: Allocation of Responsibility for Pension Benefits between the Postal Service and the Federal Government

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is responsible for administering the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), including the United States Postal Service (USPS) CSRS benefits. Two independent agencies--USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)--have issued reports stating that OPM's current method of allocating responsibility for CSRS benefits allocates a disproportionately large share to USPS. The USPS OIG and the PRC proposed alternate methodologies that they estimate would shift responsibility for from $56 billion to $85 billion in CSRS benefits from USPS to the federal government. GAO's objectives were to comment on (1) whether OPM's current methodology for allocating responsibility for CSRS benefits between USPS and the federal government is consistent with the law, (2) the analysis used by the USPS OIG and PRC to conclude that OPM should refund the CSRS contributions in question, (3) the potential impacts such a refund would have on the CSRS fund and CSRS stakeholders, and (4) the potential impacts that such a refund would have on USPS's financial outlook. GAO reviewed legislation regarding the allocation of responsibility for CSRS benefits and methodologies used in all three reports. …
Date: October 13, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
DHS Research and Development: Science and Technology Directorate's Test and Evaluation and Reorganization Efforts (open access)

DHS Research and Development: Science and Technology Directorate's Test and Evaluation and Reorganization Efforts

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our prior work examining the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Research and Development (R&D) efforts. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 created DHS and, within it, established S&T with the responsibility for conducting national research, development, test and evaluation (T&E) of technology and systems for, among other things, detecting, preventing, protecting against, and responding to terrorist attacks. Since its creation in 2003, DHS, through both S&T and its components, has spent billions of dollars researching and developing technologies used to support a wide range of missions including securing the border, detecting nuclear devices, and screening airline passengers and baggage for explosives, among others. S&T has a wide-ranging mission, which includes conducting basic and applied research of technologies, and overseeing the testing and evaluation of component acquisitions and technologies to ensure that they meet DHS acquisition requirements before implementation in the field. In recent years, we have reported that DHS has experienced challenges in managing its multibillion-dollar technology development and acquisition efforts, including implementing technologies that did not meet intended requirements and were not appropriately tested and evaluated. These problems …
Date: November 17, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Department of State's Report to Congress and U.S. Oversight of Civilian Assistance to Pakistan Can Be Further Enhanced (open access)

Department of State's Report to Congress and U.S. Oversight of Civilian Assistance to Pakistan Can Be Further Enhanced

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the effort to combat terrorism and violent extremism. Taliban, al Qaeda, and other terrorists have used parts of Pakistan to plan and launch attacks on Afghan, U.S., and NATO security forces in Afghanistan, as well as on Pakistani citizens and security forces in Pakistan. Enhancing the effectiveness of civilian assistance to Pakistan is one of the U.S. government's top foreign policy and national security priorities. Foreign assistance is vital to help the government of Pakistan overcome the political, economic, and security challenges that threaten Pakistan's long-term stability. Since 2002, the United States has provided over $18 billion in foreign assistance and reimbursements to Pakistan, about two-thirds of which has been security-related. In October 2009, Congress passed the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, which authorizes up to $1.5 billion a year for development, economic, and democratic assistance (henceforth referred to as "civilian assistance") to Pakistan for fiscal years 2010 through 2014. In the act, Congress declares that the United States requires a balanced, integrated, countrywide strategy to support Pakistan's efforts that does not disproportionately focus on security-related assistance. The act …
Date: February 17, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Warfighter Support: DOD Has Made Progress, but Supply and Distribution Challenges Remain in Afghanistan (open access)

Warfighter Support: DOD Has Made Progress, but Supply and Distribution Challenges Remain in Afghanistan

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2010, the Department of Defense (DOD) spent billions of dollars to move troops and materiel into Afghanistan, a mountainous, land-locked country with poorly developed infrastructure. The increase of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan as of August 2010, along with thousands of civilians and contractors supporting U.S. efforts, have required further development of DOD's already-complex distribution network to support and sustain U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. GAO conducted this review to assess distribution issues in Afghanistan, including (1) DOD's oversight of distribution operations; (2) DOD's performance in providing supplies and equipment; and (3) challenges that have affected DOD's ability to provide supplies and equipment. GAO reviewed joint doctrine and DOD policies on distribution, analyzed DOD delivery data, and interviewed DOD officials in the United States and in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain."
Date: October 7, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Space Station (ISS) - Ongoing Assessments for Life Extension Appear to be Supported (open access)

International Space Station (ISS) - Ongoing Assessments for Life Extension Appear to be Supported

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document is in response to the mandate contained in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Authorization Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-267, Section 503(c)(2), for GAO to provide an evaluation of the accuracy and level of confidence in the findings contained in NASA's assessment of the essential modules, operational systems and components, structural elements, and permanent scientific equipment required to ensure complete, effective, and safe functioning and full scientific utilization of the International Space Station through 2020. We provided to Congress a draft copy of this briefing in meetings with them on April 6 and 7, 2011. We also provided a draft to NASA for comment. NASA agreed with our findings and provided technical comments that we incorporated as appropriate."
Date: April 11, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Reserve Banks: Areas for Improvement in Information Systems Controls (open access)

Federal Reserve Banks: Areas for Improvement in Information Systems Controls

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability 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, 2010 and 2009. As part of these audits, we performed a review of information systems controls over key financial systems maintained and operated by the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB) on behalf of the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) BPD relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt. As we reported in connection with our audit of the Schedules of Federal Debt for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, we concluded that BPD maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt as of September 30, 2010, that provided reasonable assurance that misstatements, losses, or noncompliance material in relation to the Schedule of Federal Debt would be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis. However, we identified information systems deficiencies affecting internal control over financial reporting, which, while we do not consider them to be …
Date: March 31, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Prior Experience and Past Performance as Evaluation Criteria in the Award of Federal Construction Contracts (open access)

Prior Experience and Past Performance as Evaluation Criteria in the Award of Federal Construction Contracts

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the last 10 fiscal years, federal agencies have increased their spending on construction contracts, leading to obligations of almost $54 billion in fiscal year 2010. When awarding contracts, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires agencies to consider firms' performance records to help ensure that taxpayer dollars go to capable contractors. The FAR also provides agencies with broad discretion in deciding how they will consider firms' prior experience, which refers to whether the firms have done similar work before, and past performance, which describes how well they have done that work. As construction firms without prior federal contracting experience seek to gain entry into the federal marketplace, some may regard the consideration of these factors as an impediment. In response to your request for information on the consideration of prior experience and past performance, we reviewed (1) how selected agencies consider prior experience and past performance in awarding construction contracts and (2) the resources available to assist firms in gaining entry to the federal marketplace."
Date: October 18, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transportation Worker Identification Credential: Mailing Credentials to Applicants' Residences Would Not Be Consistent with DHS Policy (open access)

Transportation Worker Identification Credential: Mailing Credentials to Applicants' Residences Would Not Be Consistent with DHS Policy

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Securing transportation systems and facilities requires balancing security to address potential threats while facilitating the flow of people and goods that are critical to the U.S. economy and necessary for supporting international commerce. As we have previously reported, these systems and facilities are vulnerable and difficult to secure given their size, easy accessibility, large number of potential targets, and proximity to urban areas. To help enhance the security of these systems and facilities, the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) required the Secretary of Homeland Security to prescribe regulations preventing individuals from having unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA-regulated facilities and vessels unless they both possess a biometric transportation security card and are authorized to be in such an area. MTSA further tasked the Secretary with the responsibility to issue biometric transportation security cards to eligible individuals unless the Secretary determines that an applicant poses a security risk warranting denial of the card. The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program is designed to implement these biometric maritime security card requirements. The program requires maritime workers to undergo a background check to obtain a biometric identification card. …
Date: April 13, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: Application of Lessons Learned and Best Practices in the Presidential Helicopter Program (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: Application of Lessons Learned and Best Practices in the Presidential Helicopter Program

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In June 2009, following the expenditure of close to $3 billion and a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach of the cost growth threshold, the Department of Defense (DOD) terminated the Navy's VH-71 presidential helicopter acquisition program and contract because of cost growth, schedule delays, and projected system performance. The Presidential Helicopter VXX program is a successor Navy program to the terminated VH-71 program acquisition and has been initiated to develop aircraft to replace the current, aging presidential helicopter fleet. The Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (the Act) directed GAO to review and report annually to the congressional defense committees on the VXX program through 2013. This is the first of the required GAO reports. It discusses (1) major lessons learned from the terminated VH-71 program that should be applied to the follow-on VXX program and (2) the current acquisition approach of the VXX program and sufficiency of the underlying acquisition plans and related documentation."
Date: March 25, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Earned Import Allowance Program for Haiti (open access)

Earned Import Allowance Program for Haiti

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has historically provided assistance to support development in Haiti. Over the last several years, Congress has attempted to promote Haiti's economic development through the use of trade preferences for Haitian products. In 2000, Congress extended preferences under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to allow for duty-free treatment of apparel through the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA). In 2006, Congress passed the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, giving preferential access to U.S. imports of Haitian apparel. In 2008, Congress amended HOPE (now known as HOPE II), expanding trade preference provisions already in place and creating new ones to further support the growth of the apparel industry in Haiti. It was the intent of Congress that HOPE II would help Haiti attract new investment and create jobs while simultaneously providing incentives to encourage the use of inputs manufactured by U.S. companies. Most recently, in an effort to support Haiti's recovery from the devastating earthquake that hit the country in January 2010, Congress passed the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act of 2010, expanding and modifying several trade preference provisions under HOPE II. …
Date: November 30, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program: Additional Improvements to Fraud Prevention Controls Are Needed (open access)

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program: Additional Improvements to Fraud Prevention Controls Are Needed

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report is in response to a request from congressional subcommittees to evaluate the design of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fraud prevention controls within the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) verification program instituted in response to Public Law 111-275. This work is part of our ongoing audit of the SDVOSB program governmentwide, which, in part, assesses the design of the three areas of a fraud prevention framework including preventive controls, detection and monitoring controls, and investigations and prosecutions. We will report the results of the larger audit at a later date.."
Date: October 26, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Management: The Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2012 Corrosion Prevention and Control Budget Request (open access)

Defense Management: The Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2012 Corrosion Prevention and Control Budget Request

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2010, the Department of Defense (DOD) estimated that corrosion costs the DOD over $22.9 billion annually. Corrosion negatively affects all military assets, including both equipment and infrastructure, and is defined as the unintended destruction or deterioration of a material due to its interaction with the environment. Corrosion also affects military readiness, taking critical systems out of action and creating safety hazards. Congress has enacted several legislative requirements to address the high cost of corrosion on military equipment and infrastructure, including legislation that created the Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight (Corrosion Office) within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. The Corrosion Office is responsible for the prevention and mitigation of corrosion of military equipment and infrastructure and, according to officials, manages funding for DOD-wide corrosion prevention and control (CPC) activities and CPC projects proposed by the Military Departments. Section 2228(e) of Title 10 of the United States Code requires DOD to annually report on CPC funding to Congress. Additionally, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 required each Military Department's corrosion control and prevention executive to …
Date: April 13, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Department of Transportation Found That It Improperly Obligated Motor Carrier Grant Funds (open access)

The Department of Transportation Found That It Improperly Obligated Motor Carrier Grant Funds

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) alerted your offices that it might have violated statutory restrictions when obligating funds to states for its Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) program. CVISN awards grants to state offices to support improved information technology exchanges between government agencies and the motor carrier industry to enhance motor carrier safety and other efforts. In 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) provided $25 million annually in contract authority and established funding restrictions for CVISN awards. FMCSA temporarily shut down the CVISN program in May 2010 to determine whether it violated funding restrictions and to prevent exacerbating any problems; it has not determined when it will restart the program. In response to congressional request, this report addresses (1) whether FMCSA complied with statutory requirements when awarding CVISN grants to states and (2) actions that the agency is taking to manage the award of CVISN grants effectively."
Date: May 5, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOD Supply Chain: Preliminary Observations Indicate That Counterfeit Electronic Parts Can Be Found on Internet Purchasing Platforms (open access)

DOD Supply Chain: Preliminary Observations Indicate That Counterfeit Electronic Parts Can Be Found on Internet Purchasing Platforms

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the preliminary observations of our ongoing investigation into the availability of counterfeit military-grade electronic parts on Internet purchasing platforms. Counterfeit parts--generally those whose sources knowingly misrepresent the parts' identity or pedigree--have the potential to seriously disrupt the Department of Defense (DOD) supply chain, delay missions, affect the integrity of weapon systems, and ultimately endanger the lives of our troops. Almost anything is at risk of being counterfeited, from fasteners used on aircraft to electronics used on missile guidance systems. There can be many sources of counterfeit parts as DOD draws from a large network of global suppliers. We recently reported that the increase in counterfeit electronic parts is one of several potential barriers DOD faces in addressing parts quality problems. This testimony summarizes preliminary observations from our ongoing investigation into the purchase and authenticity testing of selected, military-grade electronic parts that may enter the DOD supply chain."
Date: November 8, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library