Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal investment in early learning and child care is administered through 45 programs that provide or may support related services to children from birth through age 5, as well as five tax provisions that subsidize private expenditures in this area. Among the 45 programs, 12 have an explicit program purpose of providing early learning or child care services. These programs differ in size, target population, and structure. For example, most of them obligated less than $500 million each in fiscal year 2012, while the largest program, Head Start, obligated approximately $8 billion in that year. The remaining 33 programs identified in GAO's 2012 report permit the use of funds for delivering or supporting early learning or child care services, but this is not their explicit purpose. These programs include multipurpose block grants, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, for which early learning or child care is not a primary purpose but which may nevertheless provide significant funding for child care. They also include programs that may allow funds to be used for early learning or child care, but these are not among their primary goals and …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) specifies several roles for GAO, including conducting bimonthly reviews of selected states' and localities' use of funds made available under the act. This testimony is based on GAO's bimonthly work in California, where the Recovery Act provided more than $85 billion--or about 10 percent of the funds available nationally--for program funding and tax relief. This testimony provides a general overview of: (1) California's use of Recovery Act funds for selected programs, (2) the approaches taken by California agencies to ensure accountability for Recovery Act funds, and (3) the impacts of these funds. This testimony focuses on selected programs that GAO has covered in previous work including the use of Recovery Act funds by the state and two localities' --City of Los Angeles and County of Sacramento, Highway Infrastructure Investment, and the Weatherization Assistance Program. GAO also updated information on three education programs with significant Recovery Act funds being disbursed--the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), and Recovery Act funds for Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, and Part B …

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act) requires agencies to take proactive steps to provide equal opportunity to qualified individuals with disabilities, but their rate of employment with the federal government remains low. GAO was asked to identify barriers to the employment of people with disabilities in the federal workforce and leading practices that could be used to overcome these barriers. On July 20, 2010, GAO convened a forum to identify leading practices that federal agencies could implement within the current legislative context. In preparation for the forum, GAO surveyed a wide range of knowledgeable individuals to identify barriers and leading practices. Forum participants were selected from among respondents (or their representatives) to reflect varying expertise and views concerning the employment of individuals with disabilities. The survey results formed the basis for the initial forum agenda, and were refined by participants to focus on actions they deemed most important. Comments in this report do not necessarily represent the views of any individual participant or the organizations that these participants represent or with which they are affiliated, including GAO."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)--two joint federal-state health care programs for low-income families and children--play a critical role in addressing the health care needs of children. In 2008, more than 36 million children in the United States received health care coverage through Medicaid or CHIP. Like all children, children covered by Medicaid and CHIP may have health care conditions that could warrant care from primary care or specialist providers. At the same time, a significant number of children in Medicaid and CHIP may not be receiving basic preventive care, which these programs generally cover. For example, we reported in 2009 that, on the basis of parents' reports in national surveys, about 40 percent of children in Medicaid and CHIP had not had a well-child checkup over a 2-year period. Many state Medicaid and CHIP programs and other health care purchasers have started initiatives to improve care coordination for children and provide children with access to networks of care. For the purposes of this report, care coordination is broadly defined as a process in which an individual or group helps to arrange a patient's primary and …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To accomplish its mission of protecting about 9,000 federal facilities, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) currently has a budget of about $1 billion, about 1,225 full-time employees, and about 15,000 contract security guards. However, protecting federal facilities and their occupants from a potential terrorist attack or other acts of violence remains a daunting challenge for the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Protective Service. GAO has issued numerous reports on FPS's efforts to protect the General Services Administration's (GSA) facilities. This report (1) recaps the major challenges we reported that FPS faces in protecting federal facilities and discusses FPS's efforts to address them and (2) identifies an additional challenge that FPS faces related to the facility security committees (FSC), which are responsible for addressing security issues at federal facilities. This report is based primarily on our previous work and recent FPS interviews."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In addition to providing health care to over 5 million veterans each year, the Veterans Health Administration, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), funds research on specific health conditions that veterans may experience. One condition that is examined in VA-funded research is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder that can occur after a person is exposed to a life-threatening event. According to VA, experts estimate that up to 30 percent of Vietnam veterans and up to 20 percent of Operation Enduring Freedom veterans and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans have experienced PTSD. Veterans suffering from PTSD may experience problems sleeping, maintaining relationships, and returning to their previous civilian lives. Additionally, studies have shown that many veterans suffering from PTSD are more likely to be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and other diseases. After the Vietnam War, Congress wanted information about the psychological effects of the war on Vietnam veterans to inform the need for PTSD services at VA. Consequently, in 1983, Congress mandated that VA provide for the conduct of a study on PTSD and related postwar psychological problems among Vietnam veterans. VA contracted with an external …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "With the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Post- 9/11 GI Bill), Congress created a comprehensive education benefit program for veterans, service members, and their dependents pursuing postsecondary education. Since implementation, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has provided just over $5.7 billion for the Post-9/11 GI Bill to fund education expenses for about 381,000 veterans, service members, and their dependents through fiscal year 2010, and estimates it will provide almost $8 billion in fiscal year 2011--an amount that would represent about 71 percent of all expected costs for education benefits. From the passage of the law to August 1, 2009, the start of the first semester in which funds were available, VA had about 13 months to implement the program. The Post-9/11 GI Bill program is substantially different from previously authorized VA education benefits or GI Bill programs that characteristically provide monthly payments to eligible claimants. The Post-9/11 GI Bill, by contrast, includes a more complex payment system that channels funds to both students and schools. GAO and VA have reported on various challenges VA faced when implementing the new program, including claims …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The matching of airline passenger information against terrorist watchlist records (watchlist matching) is a frontline defense against acts of terrorism that target the nation's civil aviation system. In general, passengers identified as matches to the No-Fly list are prohibited from boarding commercial flights, while those matched to the Selectee list are required to undergo additional screening. Historically, airline passenger prescreening against watchlist records has been performed by commercial air carriers. As required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has developed an advanced passenger prescreening program--known as Secure Flight--to assume from air carriers the function of matching passenger information against terrorist watchlist records. Since fiscal year 2004, TSA has received $358 million in appropriated funds for the development and implementation of Secure Flight, according to program officials. Also, since fiscal year 2004, GAO has been mandated to assess the development and implementation of the Secure Flight program. We have reported on numerous challenges the program has faced, including those related to protecting passenger privacy, completing performance testing, fully defining and testing security requirements, and establishing …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, GAO found that SSA struggles to effectively administer its Representative Payee Program, despite steps the agency has taken to address its challenges in identifying, selecting, and monitoring representative payees. SSA field office managers in some offices said that due to increasing workloads and staff attrition they sometimes have to perform payee program duties that lower-level staff typically handle. SSA is also encountering increasing numbers of beneficiaries who may not have a suitable payee readily available. In an effort to address this challenge, SSA hosted a webinar to recruit additional payees. However, agency officials said this effort did not produce any new payees. SSA also faces challenges ensuring that payees who are selected are suitable for the task. In response, SSA has implemented a pilot program in its Philadelphia region to screen and bar payee applicants who have been convicted of certain crimes such as robbery and fraud to obtain governmental assistance. SSA said the focus of the pilot is to determine how easily these additional controls can be implemented. GAO also found that SSA faces challenges monitoring payees' use of beneficiaries' SSA funds--a time-consuming process. SSA …

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."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In December 2009, recognizing that the situation in Afghanistan had become more grave since the March 2009 announcement of the U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the administration concluded a 10-week review of the strategy's goals and the methods needed to achieve them. In announcing the results of this review, the President reaffirmed the core strategic goal of disrupting, dismantling, and eventually defeating extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan and preventing them from threatening the United States and its allies in the future. To meet this goal, the President announced his decision to rapidly deploy an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. In addition, he pledged a "surge" of civilian experts to help enhance the capacity of Afghan government institutions and assist in the rehabilitation of key economic sectors. Since the President's December 2009 announcement, about 16,000 of the additional U.S. troops have gradually deployed to Afghanistan--including about 10,000 as of March 2010 and approximately another 6,000 since that time--and the number of U.S. government civilians present in country has grown by about 200. In February 2010, in what senior Department of Defense (DOD) officials have described as the …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget request of $525.1 million seeks an increase of 3.9 percent to maintain staff capacity as well as continue necessary maintenance and improvements to our information technology (IT) and building infrastructure. Additionally, receipts and reimbursements, primarily from program and financial audits, and rental income, totaling $30.9 million are expected in FY 2015."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Four key considerations related to ELE's availability beyond 2013 include (1) the potential for administrative savings; (2) effects on enrollment of eligible, but not enrolled, children; (3) states' level of interest in using ELE particularly for implementing PPACA; and (4) uncertainty regarding the potential for erroneous excess payments for children enrolled through ELE."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The state and local government sector continues to face near-term and long-term fiscal challenges that grow over time. The fiscal challenges confronting the state and local sector add to the nation’s overall fiscal challenges. The fiscal situation of the state and local government sector has improved in the past year as the sector’s tax receipts have slowly increased in conjunction with the economic recovery. Nonetheless, total tax receipts have only recently returned to the prerecession levels of 2007 and the sector still faces a gap between revenue and spending. The sector faces long-term fiscal challenges that grow over time. The fiscal position of the sector will steadily decline through 2060 absent any policy changes."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) began the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program in 1995 to provide a new generation of launch vehicles to ensure affordable access to space for government satellites. In November 1997, based on commercial forecasts at that time, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) approved maintaining competition between two contractors, and in 1998, DOD competitively awarded “other transaction agreements” to Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the development and the associated launch infrastructure to meet EELV program requirements. In 2005, DOD revised the EELV acquisition strategy to reflect the collapse of the commercial launch market and the ensuing erosion of the industrial base which DOD believed threatened its assured access to space. In acknowledging the government's role as the primary EELV customer, the new strategy maintained assured access to space by funding two product lines of launch vehicles. Shortly afterwards, Boeing and Lockheed Martin announced plans to consolidate their launch operations into a joint venture—United Launch Alliance (ULA). According to DOD, the EELV program was focused on mission success in the ensuing years, until 2010, when DOD officials predicted EELV program costs would …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the 2012 Act) contained several provisions related to implementing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)—a complex, long-term initiative to incrementally modernize and transform the national airspace system (NAS). GAO's recent work on NextGen has highlighted three key implementation issues:"

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the current progress toward implementing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen will impact nearly every aspect of air transportation and will transform the way in which the air transportation system operates today. It will do so, in part, by (1) using satellite-based surveillance as opposed to ground-based radars, (2) using performance-based navigation instead of cumbersome step-by-step procedures, (3) replacing routine voice communications with data transmissions, and (4) organizing and merging the disjointed data that pilots, controllers, airports, airlines, and others currently rely on to operate the system. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been planning and developing NextGen since 2003, and is now implementing near-term (through 2012) and mid-term (through 2018) capabilities. Over the years, concerns have been raised by the Congress and other stakeholders that despite years of effort and billions of dollars spent, FAA has not made sufficient progress in deploying systems and producing benefits. In past reports, we have made a number of recommendations to FAA to address delays in development and acquisitions, improve its processes, and focus on accountability and performance. Others have also made recommendations to FAA …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The President and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have established policies and procedures for coordinating investments in geospatial data, however, in November 2012, GAO reported that governmentwide committees and federal departments and agencies had not effectively implemented them. The committee that was established to promote the coordination of geospatial data nationwide--the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)--had developed and endorsed key standards and had established a clearinghouse of metadata. GAO found that the clearinghouse was not being used by agencies to identify planned geospatial investments to promote coordination and reduce duplication. In addition, the committee had not yet fully planned for or implemented an approach to manage geospatial data as related groups of investments to allow agencies to more effectively plan geospatial data collection efforts and minimize duplicative investments, and its strategic plan was missing key elements."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The decline in marriage, rise in women's labor force participation, and transition away from defined benefit (DB) plans to defined contribution (DC) plans have resulted in changes in the types of retirement benefits households receive and increased vulnerabilities for some. Since the 1960s, the percentage of unmarried and single-parent families has risen dramatically, especially among low-income, less-educated individuals, and some minorities. At the same time, the percentage of married women entering the labor force has increased. The decline in marriage and rise in women's labor force participation have affected the types of Social Security benefits households receive, with fewer women receiving spousal benefits today than in the past. In addition, the shift away from DB to DC plans has increased financial vulnerabilities for some due to the fact that DC plans typically offer fewer spousal protections. DC plans also place greater responsibility on households to make decisions and manage their pension and financial assets so they have income throughout retirement. As shown in the figure below, despite Social Security's role in reducing poverty among seniors, poverty remains high among certain groups of seniors, such as minorities and unmarried …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In March 2011, we issued our report on the results of our audit of the financial statements of the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Resolution Fund (FRF) as of, and for the years ending December 31, 2010, and 2009, and on the effectiveness of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010. We also reported our conclusions on FDIC's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations. The purpose of this report is to present information on certain internal control and accounting procedure issues we identified during our 2010 audit and to provide our recommended actions to address these issues."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has undertaken various planning efforts to realign its real property portfolio, including the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES), creation of a 5-year capital plan, and its newest effort, the Strategic Capital Investment Planning process (SCIP). Through these efforts, VA has identified numerous real property priorities it believes should be completed if the agency's facilities are to meet veterans' needs for services now and in the future. In January 2011, GAO reported on the extent to which VA's capital planning efforts (1) have resulted in changes to its real property portfolio and (2) follow leading practices and provide information for informed decision making. This statement summarizes the results of this report. To perform the work for the report, GAO reviewed leading capital planning practices and data on VA's real property portfolio and future priorities. GAO also interviewed VA officials and veterans service organizations and visited sites in 5 of VA's 21 veterans integrated service networks."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study (NVVLS). According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), experts estimate that up to 30 percent of Vietnam veterans have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder that can occur after a person is exposed to a life-threatening event. Veterans suffering from PTSD may experience problems sleeping, maintaining relationships, and returning to their previous civilian lives. Additionally, studies have shown that many veterans suffering from PTSD are more likely to be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and other diseases. After the Vietnam War, Congress wanted information about the psychological effects of the war on Vietnam veterans to inform the need for PTSD services at VA. Consequently, in 1983, Congress mandated that VA provide for the conduct of a study on PTSD and related postwar psychological problems among Vietnam veterans. VA contracted with an external entity, the Research Triangle Institute, to conduct the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS). According to VA, the NVVRS was a landmark study and is the only nationally representative study of PTSD in Vietnam veterans. PTSD is an ongoing concern for Vietnam veterans, and today, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law. However, for homeland security and other purposes, the FBI is notified when a firearm or explosives background check involves an individual on the terrorist watchlist. This statement addresses (1) how many checks have resulted in matches with the terrorist watchlist, (2) how the FBI uses information from these checks for counterterrorism purposes, and (3) pending legislation that would give the Attorney General authority to deny certain checks. GAO's testimony is based on products issued in January 2005 and May 2009 and selected updates in March and April 2010. For these updates, GAO reviewed policies and other documentation and interviewed officials at FBI components involved with terrorism-related background checks."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The most severely distressed multiemployer plans have taken significant steps to address their funding problems and, while most plans expected improved financial health, some did not. A survey conducted by a large actuarial and consulting firm serving multiemployer plans suggests that the majority of the most severely underfunded plans--those designated as being in critical status--developed plans to increase employer contributions or reduce certain participant benefits. In some cases, these measures will have significant effects on employers and participants. For example, one plan representative stated that contribution increases had damaged some firms' competitive position in the industry. Similarly, reductions or limitations on certain benefits--such as disability benefits--may create hardships for some older workers, such as those with physically demanding jobs. Most of the 107 surveyed plans expected to emerge from critical status, but about 26 percent did not and instead seek to delay eventual insolvency."