A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To help strengthen aviation security after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Congress expanded the size and mission of the Federal Air Marshal Service (the Service) and located the Service within the newly created Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Between November 2001 and July 1, 2002, the Service grew from fewer than 50 air marshals to thousands, and its mission expanded to include the protection of domestic as well as international flights. In March 2003, the Service, with TSA, merged into the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and in November 2003, it was transferred from TSA and merged into DHS's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). GAO looked at operational and management control issues that emerged during the rapid expansion of the Service, specifically addressing its (1) background check procedures and training; (2) management information, policies, and procedures; and (3) challenges likely to result from its mergers into DHS and ICE."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The aviation industry and business traveler groups have proposed the registered traveler concept as a way to reduce long waits in airport security lines caused by heightened security screening measures implemented after the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition, aviation security experts have advocated this concept as a way to better target security resources to those travelers who might pose greater security risks. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act of November 2001 allows the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to consider developing a registered traveler program as a way to address these two issues. GAO completed this review to inform Congress and TSA of policy and implementation issues related to the concept of a registered traveler program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Financial relationships between individual investigators or their research institutions and private industry have yielded significant results, including treatments for such diseases as AIDS and strokes. However, some collaborations have raised concerns that the focus on financial reward might compromise the integrity of the research and the safety of human research subjects. GAO reviewed five universities with broad policies and procedures on financial conflicts of interest. All five had difficulty providing basic data on individual investigators' financial conflicts of interest in clinical research involving human subjects. The universities acknowledged a need for better coordination of information on investigators' financial relationships, and several universities were developing ways to do so. Policies and procedures at the five universities addressed financial conflicts of interest affecting institutions, including technology transfer activities and financial relationships with small start-up companies that market products developed by the universities. The Department of Health and Human Services has had limited success in promoting the integrity of biomedical research and protecting human subjects. HHS has taken steps to improve its oversight and monitoring and has drafted guidance on financial conflicts of interest, but this guidance does not …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress, the administration, law enforcement officials, and the public have questioned the effectiveness of U.S. visa programs in protecting national security. Some have voiced concern that terrorists or other criminals may exploit one of these programs--the Visa Waiver Program--to enter the United States. The program enables citizens of 28 participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without first obtaining a visa. It was created, in part, to promote the effective use of government resources and to facilitate international travel without threatening U.S. security. GAO was asked to review the Visa Waiver Program, including the process for assessing countries' eligibility to participate in the program. GAO was also asked to determine the implications--specifically those affecting national security, foreign relations, tourism, and State Department resources--of eliminating the program. GAO analysts traveled to several visa waiver countries, including Belgium, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and Uruguay, as well as to Argentina, whose participation in the program was recently revoked."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the experience of six nations--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom--with budget surpluses, focusing on: (1) how they achieved budget surpluses and what their fiscal policies were during periods of surplus; (2) how they addressed long-term budgetary pressures; (3) how they adapted their budget process during a period of surplus; and (4) the lessons these nations learned from their experiences with budget surpluses that might be applicable to the United States."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has struggled to implement a fully integrated financial management system. The lack of such a system has affected the agency's ability to control program costs, raising concerns about the management of its most costly programs, including the space shuttle program and the International Space Station. In April 2000 NASA initiated the Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP)--its third effort to improve the agencywide management of its resources. Implementation is expected by fiscal year 2006 with an estimated life-cycle cost of nearly $1 billion. This report (1) assesses NASA's methodology for preparing the current life-cycle cost estimate for implementing IFMP, (2) determines whether NASA's current schedule is reasonable, and (3) evaluates NASA's processes for ensuring adequate cost contingencies."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spends 90 percent--$13 billion--of its budget on contractors. Yet since 1990, GAO has designated NASA's contract management as a high-risk area--in part because the agency failed to implement a financial management system to provide information needed to make key program decisions. In April 2000, NASA initiated its most recent effort to implement an effective financial management system--the Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP). Three years into the program, GAO found NASA risks building a system that will cost more and do less than planned. As a result, the Congress requested reviews of NASA's IFMP enterprise architecture and financial reporting and program cost and schedule controls."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2000, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began its Integrated Financial Management program (IFMP), its third attempt at modernizing its financial management processes and systems. In April 2003, GAO reported that NASA's acquisition strategy has increased the risk that the agency will implement a system that will cost more and do less than planned. This report is one of a series of reviews of NASA's acquisition and implementation of IFMP, and focuses on the core financial module's ability to provide the information necessary for external financial reporting."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report documents GAO's concurrence with the findings of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) financial management operations. To effectively monitor and evaluate PwC's work, GAO reviewed PwC's methodology for conducting its work, its collection techniques, resulting analysis, and the draft and final reports. Overall, PwC found significant weaknesses in CDC's financial management procedures, operations, systems, and staff. PwC stated that CDC's financial management capabilities has not kept pace with its expanding mission and funding growth. GAO notes that PwC's report provided CDC with both a framework and critical steps for beginning a long-term upgrading effort, and CDC should use this report as a guide."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Pentagon believes that chemical and biological weapons are likely to be used early in a conflict to disrupt U.S. operations and logistics and to potentially offset the overwhelming conventional warfare capabilities of U.S. forces; however, studies have confirmed that U.S. forces are not fully prepared to defend against chemical or biological weapons and could suffer significant casualties if they are used. A study of Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps divisions showed that recent changes to the system are a step in the right direction to improving chemical and biological defense readiness reporting, but the changes do not require units to report on the condition of their chemical and biological defense equipment; thus, these reports could provide incomplete or misleading information on the status of equipment, a key element in assessing overall unit readiness."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The September 11th attacks affected the scope of activities of many federal agencies, including the Coast Guard. Homeland security, a long-standing but relatively small part of the Coast Guard's duties, took center stage. Still, the Coast Guard remains responsible for many other missions, such as helping stem the flow of drugs and illegal migration, protecting important fishing grounds, and responding to marine pollution. GAO was asked to review the Coast Guard's current efforts and future plans for balancing resource levels among its many missions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, domestic military installations increased their antiterrorism measures to their highest levels. These measures were reduced in the weeks following the attacks, but because of the persistent nature of the threat, the antiterrorism posture at domestic installations remains at a higher than normal level more than 1 year later. The Department of Defense's (DOD) budget request for fiscal year 2003 includes more than $10 billion for combating terrorism activities, which includes a substantial increase in funding for antiterrorism measures to safeguard personnel and strategic issues. The service headquarters GAO reviewed did not use a comprehensive results-oriented management framework to guide their antiterrorism efforts. According to service officials, a comprehensive results-oriented management framework for antiterrorism efforts is not consistently used across all services and commands because DOD does not require it, and service officials indicated that they were reluctant to develop such an approach before the forthcoming DOD-wide antiterrorism strategy was issued. Although the Department has recently restarted its efforts toward developing this strategy, it has not set a specific time frame for its completion. The services and commands are following …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Eight federal agencies now have teams that can respond to a terrorist attack involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons. Each team varies in size, structure, geographical scope, and task. The teams do not duplicate one another. They have unique capabilities and functions, and many have experience dealing with different types of agents and weapons. The type of terrorist incident would determine which team would be most appropriate to respond. GAO found that federal agencies lack a coherent framework to develop and evaluate budget requirements for their response teams because there is no national strategy with clearly defined outcomes. To improve interagency cooperation, federal agencies have participated in several group activities. For example, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Interagency Steering Group, led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is identifying federal response teams that could respond to different terrorist scenarios. Federal, state, and local agencies have also participated in major field exercises that simulated urban terrorist acts. These efforts could go a long way toward improving the operational coordination of federal response teams."

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress responded to the attacks of September 11, 2001, with dramatic funding increases to combat terrorism. Even before these attacks, Congress was concerned about increased funding in this area, and based on findings from a 1997 GAO report, mandated that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report annually on funding to combat terrorism. In this review, GAO was asked to analyze such funding trends, describe difficulties in coordinating combating terrorism budgets, assess data reported to Congress, and describe the executive branch's efforts to maximize the effective use of combating terrorism funds. The review relied on OMB's definition of "combating terrorism" to include both homeland security and overseas combating terrorism missions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) study on whether to set a flammability standard for sofas, chairs, and other upholstered furniture, focusing on the: (1) methodology CPSC used to estimate the magnitude of the fire hazard that the standard would address; and (2) reliability of this methodology for producing sound estimates of the hazard that the standard would address."

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) purchasing and pricing of commercially available spare parts, focusing on: (1) a comparative analysis between the purchasing and pricing practices of selected commercial passenger and freight airline companies and the practices of DOD; and (2) how airlines and DOD ensure that they are obtaining reasonable prices when buying commercial items from sole-source suppliers."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) spends millions of dollars each year to acquire information technology (IT) services through the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS). However, DOD has not been taking steps critical to ensuring that it gets the best services at the best prices. GAO's review of 22 DOD orders revealed that 17 of them were placed without seeking competitive quotes. GSA's established procedures require that agencies seek competitive quotes to ensure that the government gets the best price for IT services. Many DOD contracting officers were unaware of this requirement and placed orders under FSS contracts without seeking quotes from multiple contractors. The Federal Acquisition Regulation covering FSS contracts does not provide clear guidance to contracting officers on these special ordering procedures."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) use different provisions to calculate pay for officers. Fundamental differences in how work is scheduled and how hours are counted also result in pay differences. For overtime, Sunday, and holiday work, Customs officers are generally paid for hours worked, whereas INS officers are often paid on the basis of minimum periods of time worked. Night pay is also fundamentally different. Foreign language awards and the inclusion of overtime pay in calculating retirement benefits are other examples of pay provisions that apply to Customs officers but not to INS officers. Because Customs and INS schedule work differently, it is difficult to compare the two systems and to analyze the effects of differences on officers' pay."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although the current economic situation and the challenges of combating terrorism will cause federal deficits in the short term, the budget may again return to surpluses. Surpluses will be needed in the future to prepare for the retirement and health care needs of the baby boom era. GAO studied five nations--Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom-- whose recent experiences with debt management in times of surpluses might be relevant to the United States. The countries GAO studied experienced both budget surpluses and deficits from 1988 through 2000. Recent budget surpluses contributed to falling public debt levels in absolute terms and as a share of the economy in these countries. Whether government debt is increasing or decreasing, debt managers' objectives are (1) to ensure that the government's financing needs are met, (2) to minimize the government's cost of financing, (3) to promote efficient markets, and (4) to keep risk at an acceptable level. However, tradeoffs among these objectives are not always compatible. During budget deficits, a primary consideration is making government securities more attractive to potential investors. On the other hand, periods of surpluses …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) investment in new weapon systems is expected to exceed $1 trillion from fiscal years 2003 to 2009. To reduce the risk of cost and schedule overruns, DOD revamped its acquisition policy in May 2003. The policy provides detailed guidance on how weapon systems acquisitions should be managed. The Senate report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 required GAO to determine whether DOD's policy supports knowledge-based, evolutionary acquisitions and whether the policy provides the necessary controls for DOD to ensure successful outcomes, such as meeting cost and schedule goals. The report also required GAO to assess whether the policy is responsive to certain requirements in the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 concerning DOD's management of the acquisition process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Some military commands are raising concerns about price increases for weapon system parts. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) provides these parts and related services to the military, Department of Defense agencies, and other government entities. GAO found that the majority of DLA's weapon system spare parts experienced a relatively low annual price change--less than 5 percent--from 1989 through 1998. However, the prices for some parts are increasing. Most of the extreme price increases are due to inaccurate price estimates, outdated prices, or changes in quantities purchased. This could affect some military units' ability to buy needed spare parts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For some time, there has been concern over the increases in the prices of weapon systems spare parts and the adverse impact higher prices have had on military readiness. Prices for aviation spare parts managed by the Navy increased at an annual rate of 12 percent from 1994 to 1999. Several factors have contributed to price increases. First, the cost of repairing an item has generally gone up over time. Second, the surcharge that is charged to customers has also increased over time. The Navy has tried to alleviate customer concerns about high surcharge rates by moving certain overhead costs from the surcharge to repair costs. But this approach simply moved the overhead costs instead of reducing them. Still, the Navy understands the need to control spare parts prices and plans to further investigate the underlying causes of the increases."

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 management of various year 2000-related end-to-end testing activities, focusing on: (1) the U.S. Space Command's management of its end-to-end test of space control systems essential to major theater war; and (2) what the results of this test show with respect to operational risks and readiness."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the U.S. Transportation Command's (TRANSCOM) year 2000-related end-to-end testing activities, focusing on TRANSCOM's management of its end-to-end test of its ability to plan and execute joint major theater war (MTW) deployment operations."