A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to Hurricane Katrina, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Defense (DOD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) were responsible for 94 percent of the federal funds awarded for relief efforts via contracting as of May 2006. This report, which GAO conducted under the Comptroller General's Authority, describes (1) the amounts that small businesses received from prime contracts with these agencies, (2) the extent of subcontracting, (3) and the extent to which Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) received Department of Transportation funds for Katrina-related projects. In conducting this study, GAO analyzed agency contract data, reviewed federal acquisition regulations, and interviewed agency procurement officials."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding (1) the role of Pakistan's Supreme Audit Institution on promoting good national governance, (2) governance issues at the Asian Supreme Audit Institutions' 8th Triennial Assembly and Symposium, (3) the Caribbean Organization of Institutions' 5th Triennial Congress in St. Kitts and Nevis, (4) an audit profile on the State Audit and Inspection Committee of Mongolia, and (5) activities within INTOSAI."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1996, we have periodically reported on Forest Service financial management problems that we, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of the Inspector General, and other independent auditors have identified. We have designated the Forest Service financial management as a high-risk area since 1999. Because of these longstanding financial management deficiencies, the House Committee on Resource's Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health asked GAO to report on the Forest Service's progress in correcting its financial management problems and on remaining challenges and actions underway to address those challenges."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because the activities of the Congressional side of the Census Monitoring Board (CMBC) ceased to exist on September 30, 2001, CMBC entered into an interagency agreement with the Government Printing Office (GPO) to pay CMBC bills and to provide administrative support services. GAO examined CMBC documents to determine financial cutoff procedures and conducted other audits as necessary. GAO found four CMBC personnel were present at CMBC's former office on October 1, 2001, but performed no substantive government action. More than $14,000 was obligated and paid for telephone, cable, Internet, computer, copier, and water services to be provided after CMBC's statutory termination date. These prepayments were improper and should not have been certified and paid. GPO was requesting reimbursement from vendors for services that were not properly provided. GPO acquired CMBC property and supplies after September 30, 2001. A November 2001 GPO inventory found that some CMBC property had not been returned, was reported stolen, or was missing. The use of government owned property after CMBC termination was not proper, and GPO is seeking the return of some property. GPO was arranging for CMBC records disposal. CMBC internal controls …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. federal government has played an ever-increasing role in providing benefits to individuals injured as a result of exposure to harmful substances. Over the years, it has established several key compensation programs, including the Black Lung Program, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program (RECP), and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP), which GAO has reviewed in prior work. Most recently, the Congress introduced legislation to expand the benefits provided by the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. As these changes are considered, observations about other federal compensation programs may be useful. In that context, GAO's testimony today will focus on four federal compensation programs, including (1) the structure of the programs; (2) the cost of the programs through fiscal year 2004, including initial cost estimates and the actual costs of benefits paid, and administrative costs; and (3) the number of claims filed and factors that affect the length of time it takes to finalize claims and compensate eligible claimants. To address these issues, GAO relied on its 2005 report on four federal compensation programs. As part of that work, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 requires individuals to receive credit counseling before filing for bankruptcy and to take a debtor education course before having debts discharged. Concerns were raised that the new requirements could expose consumers to abusive practices by credit counseling agencies or become barriers to filing for bankruptcy. This testimony is based on GAO's report issued last month, and addresses (1) the process of approving counseling and education providers, (2) the content and results of the counseling and education sessions, (3) the fees charged, and (4) the availability of and challenges to accessing services. To address these issues, GAO reviewed Trustee Program data and application case files, and interviewed a wide range of individuals and groups involved in the bankruptcy process."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the highlights of GAO's fiscal year 2003 Performance and Accountability report. The Comptroller General is confident that the performance data and financial information in this report are complete and reliable. GAO met or exceeded all but one of its seven key performance measures, and it received a clean opinion from independent auditors on its financial statements. GAO helped the Congress and government leaders achieve a total of $35.4 billion in financial benefits--a $78 return on every dollar that was spent. Its work addressed many of the difficult issues that confront the nation, including diverse and diffuse security threats, changing demographic trends, increasing interdependency, rapidly evolving science and technology changes, a variety of quality-of-life issues, as well as government transformation challenges, and increasing federal budgetary constraints. It is important for the nation and its citizens not only that these issues are made visible, but also that the nation's leaders attend to them. In addition to having an impact on important national issues, GAO has taken major steps internally to be a model federal agency and world-class professional services organization."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Effective management of the government's day-to-day operations has been hampered by a lack of necessary data. The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 calls for the modernization of federal financial management systems, including the systematic measurement of performance; the development of cost information; and the integration of program, budget, and financial information. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) encourages agencies to have systems that generate timely, accurate, and useful information with which to make informed decisions and to ensure accountability on an ongoing basis. Auditors for 19 of the 24 CFO Act agencies reported that their agencies' financial management systems did not comply substantially with FFMIA requirements, compared to 21 agencies reported as not being substantially compliant for 1999. The auditors for five CFO Act agencies reported no instances in which the agencies' systems did not substantially comply with FFMIA. These auditors, however, did not definitively state whether the agencies' financial management systems substantially complied with FFMIA. FFMIA requires agencies to prepare remediation plans to overcome financial management systems problems. These plans have improved over the fiscal year 1998 plans; however, further …

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-01-371G, Guaranteed Loan System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems Under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, March 2001. GAO published a checklist that reflects the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's (JFMIP) revised Guaranteed Loan System Requirements (March 2000) to assist: (1) agencies in implementing and monitoring their guaranteed loan systems; and (2) managers and auditors in reviewing their guaranteed loan systems to determine if they substantially comply with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In accordance with 36 U.S.C. 2103, GAO is responsible for conducting audits of the agencywide financial statements of the American Battle Monuments Commission (the Commission). GAO audited the financial statements of the Commission for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2005, and 2004. The audits were done to determine whether, in all material respects, (1) the Commission's financial statements were reliable, and (2) Commission management maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations. Also, GAO tested Commission management's compliance with selected laws and regulations. The Commission was created in 1923 to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of U.S. Armed Forces where they have served overseas since April 6, 1917, and at locations within the United States as directed by Congress. The Commission designs, administers, operates, and maintains 24 American military cemeteries on foreign soil and 25 federal memorials, monuments, and markers, 22 of which are on foreign soil. The Commission was also responsible for designing and constructing the national World War II Memorial on the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C., and for maintaining six nonfederal memorials with funds provided by those …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare fee schedule payments for durable medical equipment (DME) that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates as class III devices, those that pose the greatest potential risk, increased by 215 percent from 2001 through 2004. From 2004 through 2006, and for 2008, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) provided for a payment update for class III DME equal to the increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U). For 2007, MMA requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine the payment update. MMA also requires that other DME receive a 0 percent update from 2004 through 2008. MMA directed GAO to report on an appropriate payment update for 2007 and 2008 for class III DME. In this report, GAO (1) examined whether class III devices have unique premarketing costs and (2) determined how the fee schedule rate-setting methodology accounts for the premarketing costs of such devices."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has undertaken a body of work to address federal, state, and local preparations for, response to, and recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This correspondence contains GAO's preliminary findings."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO presented the United States government's 1999 financial report. The report includes: (1) audited financial statements that cover the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; and (2) GAO's audit of the financial report."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the American Battle Monuments Commission for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found that (1) the consolidating financial statements for fiscal year 2000 and comparative consolidated totals for fiscal year 1999 are presented fairly in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) although internal controls should be improved, the Commission had effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations as of September 30, 2000; and (3) there are no reportable instances of noncompliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations GAO tested. However, GAO noticed three deficiencies in internal controls over information technology systems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) has hundreds of millions of dollars of funded work that its working capital fund activities did not complete before the end of the fiscal year. Reducing the amount of workload carryover at fiscal year-end is a key factor in the effective management of Department of Defense (DOD) resources and in minimizing the "banking" of funds for work to be performed in subsequent years. GAO was asked to analyze SPAWAR's carryover balances. GAO assessed the accuracy of the budgeted amounts, the accuracy of the reported actual carryover balance, and the reliability of underlying financial data on which reported actual carryover is based."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Efforts to better align and integrate budget and performance information raises many issues, including the question of budget structure--should appropriations accounts or congressional budget justifications or both be restructured to tighten the link between resources and performance? If so, how and to what extent? The administration elevated attention to this issue by including budget restructuring as part of the President's Management Agenda in 2001. To provide an overview of the various budget restructuring efforts underway in the federal government, GAO: (1) summarized steps taken by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and nine selected agencies to better align their budgets with performance and to better capture the cost of performance in the budget; (2) discussed the potential implications of these efforts for congressional oversight and executive branch managerial flexibility and accountability; (3) described the experiences and implementation challenges associated with these efforts; and (4) identified lessons learned that can provide insights useful in considering current and future budget restructuring efforts."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is an insert to GAO's publication, Serving the Congress and the Nation, describing the role, functions, and responsibilities of GAO's Education, Workforce, and Income Security team."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding (1) the symposium of INTOSAI Development Initiative Training Specialists in Oslo, Norway from June 3-9, 2001; (2) the Arab Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions' (ARABOSAI) 8th Triennial General Assembly in Rabat, Morocco from April 24-27, 2001; (3) an audit profile of the Board of Audit and the Inspection of the Republic of Korea; and (4) activities within INTOSAI."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) within the Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for coordinating and ensuring the evaluation of DOT research programs to promote the efficient use of departmental research funds, which in fiscal year 2002 totaled over $1 billion. RSPA is also responsible for conducting multimodal research that cuts across different modes of transportation. The House Committee on Appropriations directed GAO to examine RSPA's coordination and evaluation of research within DOT and the status of its own multimodal research."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report, part of GAO's performance and accountability series, discusses the major management challenges and program risks facing the Department of the Treasury. The primary challenges facing Treasury include (1) modernizing the Internal Revenue Service's tax administration systems; (2) improving Customs Service's regulation of commercial trade; (3) achieving sound financial management; (4) improving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' performance measures; and (5) improving the management of Treasury's asset forfeiture program."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board's recent actions, meetings, and practices."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes AIMD-21.2.7, Guaranteed Loan System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems Under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Exposure Draft), August 2000. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act requires agencies to implement and maintain financial management systems that substantially comply with federal financial management system requirements. These requirements are detailed in the guidance issued by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program and the Office of Management and Budget. GAO issued a checklist that reflects the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's Revised Guaranteed Loan System Requirements to help (1) agencies implement and monitor their guaranteed loan systems and (2) managers and auditors review agency guaranteed loan systems to determine if they substantially comply with act. This checklist is not required to be used to assess guaranteed loan systems. Rather, it is provided as a tool for use by experienced staff and is one in a series of documents GAO has issued to help agencies improve or maintain effective operations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the federal crop insurance program in partnership with insurance companies who share in the risk of loss or gain. In 2002, American Growers Insurance Company (American Growers), at the time, the largest participant in the program, was placed under regulatory control by the state of Nebraska. To ensure that policyholders were protected and that farmers' claims were paid, RMA agreed to fund the dissolution of American Growers. To date, RMA has spent about $40 million. GAO was asked to determine (1) what factors led to the failure of American Growers, (2) whether RMA procedures were adequate to monitor companies' financial condition, and (3) how effectively and efficiently RMA handled the dissolution of American Growers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Export-Import Bank's financing of dual-use exports during fiscal years 1998-2000."