Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD's rationale for waiving WSARA's competitive prototyping requirement for CRH addresses one of the two bases provided in the statute; namely that the cost of producing competitive prototypes exceeds the expected life-cycle benefits (in constant dollars) of producing the prototypes. The CRH program's acquisition strategy, which anticipates integrating an existing, in-production and flight-proven aircraft with technologically mature subsystems, is consistent with this rationale. The Air Force believes that any technology risk reduction associated with, or potentially benefitting, the CRH program has already occurred during the efforts to develop these in-production aircraft. This includes any risk reduction that could be achieved through competitive prototyping. In granting the waiver, DOD also found reasonable the Air Force's conclusion that the estimated $725 million cost of conducting competitive prototyping exceeded the maximum expected life-cycle benefits of $12 million. However, the Air Force only evaluated one potential approach to implementing competitive prototyping, which involved funding two contractors for much of the program's system development. This resulted in a high cost estimate for competitive prototyping that is more than 10 times greater than the target unit cost of the helicopter. DOD's policy on economic …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our reviews of open sources published between January 1, 2009 and September 30, 2012 identified a total of 17 foreign firms that were reported to have sold refined petroleum products to Iran during that same time period. Our review of open sources published from January 2012 through September 2012 indicated that only 1 of these 17 firms--Sytrol--was reported to have sold refined petroleum products to Iran during that same time period. In addition, our open source review and communication with firms indicated that 12 of the 17 firms were reported to have stopped selling these products to Iran before September 30, 2012; however, our review did not identify sufficient information to indicate either that the remaining 4 firms had continued to sell or ceased selling refined petroleum products to Iran at some point between January 1, 2012 and September 30, 2012."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States for Fiscal Years 2003 and 2004. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the use of the Internet to facilitate the submission and resolution of federal customer complaints, focusing on the: (1) type and extent of web-based complaint mechanisms provided by 32 federal agencies which handle 90 percent of the federal government's contact with the public; and (2) status of two federal efforts to develop central Internet-based gateways: www.consumer.gov and FirstGov."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2010 to 2012, Education awarded over half ($493 million of $937 million) of Investing in Innovation (i3) grants funds as validation grants, and most awards went to partnerships involving nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit organizations partnering with school consortia accounted for a large portion of i3 funds largely because they have won four ($170 million) of the five scale-up grants that Education made in competitions through 2012."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's review of open sources published between October 1, 2012, and November 7, 2013, identified four foreign firms that were reported to have engaged in commercial activity in Iran's energy sector during this time period, including one previously-unidentified firm--China Oilfield Services Limited. In addition, since the last report issued in December 2012, GAO moved four firms--INA, ONGC Videsh Ltd., Petronet LNG, and Sasol--to the "Withdrawn" category. For eight additional firms that GAO previously identified as reported to have engaged in commercial activity in Iran's energy sector, GAO found insufficient information to indicate that they had either continued or ceased such activity during the specified time period."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States Commission on Civil Rights (Commission) was first established in 1957 as the Commission on Civil Rights. The Commission's life was extended in 1983 and reestablished again in 1994 with its current name. The Commission's purpose is to collect and study information on discrimination or denials of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice in such areas as voting rights, enforcement of federal civil rights laws, and equal opportunity in education, employment, and housing. The Commission has been subject to long-standing congressional concerns over the adequacy of its management practices and procedures, concerns that were reinforced by several GAO reports. In July 1997, we issued a report in which we found broad management problems at the Commission, including limited awareness of how its resources were used. In more recent studies, we found that the Commission lacked good project management and transparency in its contracting procedures and needed improved strategic planning. As a result of these reports and other concerns, we conducted additional work at the Commission. Specifically, Congress asked us to …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From 1945 through 1962, the United States conducted a series of aboveground atomic weapons tests as it built up its Cold War nuclear arsenal. Around this same time period, the United States also conducted underground uranium-mining operations and related activities, which were critical to the production of the atomic weapons. Many people were exposed to radiation resulting from the nuclear weapons development and testing program, and such exposure is presumed to have produced an increased incidence of certain serious diseases, including various types of cancer. To make partial restitution to these individuals, or their eligible surviving beneficiaries, for their hardships associated with the radiation exposure, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was enacted on October 15, 1990. RECA provided that the Attorney General be responsible for processing and adjudicating claims under the act. The Department of Justice (DOJ) established the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program (RECP), which is administered by its Civil Division's Torts Branch. RECP began processing claims in April 1992. RECA has been amended various times, including on July 10, 2000, when the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2000 (RECA Amendments of 2000) were enacted. The …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO performed the agreed-upon procedures Congress requested related to receipt and disbursement processing and related procedures applicable to the Office of Public Records Revolving Fund (the Fund) for fiscal years 2006 and 2007. In summary, the procedures we agreed with Congress to perform related to supporting documentation for Fund-related receipt and disbursement activities processed through the Office of Public Records (OPR) and Senate Disbursing Office (SDO) and reconciliation procedures performed by OPR. We conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate the attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance on performing and reporting on the results of agreed-upon procedures. By specifying the procedures we agreed to perform, OPR, SDO, and the Office of the Secretary of the Senate were responsible for ensuring that the procedures were sufficient to meet Congressional purposes, and we make no representation in that respect. The enclosure contains the agreed-upon procedures we performed and the results we obtained."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Catholic War Veterans of the United States of America, Incorporated for Fiscal Year 2004. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "We reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, for fiscal years 2002, 2001 and 2000. GAO's review disclosed no reportable instances of noncompliance with the financial reporting requirements of the law. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviews the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Former Member of Congress for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) total military compensation package for active duty members consists of both cash and noncash benefits. Since the late 1990s, Congress and the DOD have increased military cash compensation by increasing basic pay and allowances for housing, among other things. Military members also receive tax breaks, which are a part of their cash compensation. Moreover, active duty personnel are offered substantial noncash benefits, such as retirement, health care, commissaries, and childcare. In some cases, these noncash benefits exceed those available to private-sector personnel. DOD relies heavily on noncash benefits because it views benefits as critical to morale, retention, and the quality of life for service members and their families. To better understand the military compensation system, Congress asked us to provide the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Finance with information on active duty military compensation and its tax treatment. In January 2004, we briefed Congressional staff on our preliminary observations. Because our work identified that the combat zone tax exclusion could impact some service members, Congress asked us to focus our work on military cash compensation and to do …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the federal crop insurance program in partnership with private insurers. In 2006, the program cost $3.5 billion, including millions in losses from fraud, waste, and abuse, according to USDA. The Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 granted RMA authority to renegotiate the terms of RMA's standard reinsurance agreement with companies once over 5 years. This testimony is based on GAO's 2005 report, Crop Insurance: Actions Needed to Reduce Program's Vulnerability to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, and May 2007 testimony, Crop Insurance: Continuing Efforts Are Needed to Improve Program Integrity and Ensure Program Costs Are Reasonable. GAO discusses (1) USDA's processes to address fraud, waste, and abuse; (2) extent the program's design makes it vulnerable to abuse; and (3) reasonableness of underwriting gains and other expenses. USDA agreed with most of GAO's 2005 recommendations to improve program integrity."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the United States Olympic Committee for the year ended December 31, 1997, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site in Washington State stores 56 million gallons of untreated radioactive and hazardous wastes resulting from decades of nuclear weapons production. DOE is constructing facilities at the site to treat these wastes before permanent disposal. As part of meeting health, safety, and other standards, work at the site has sometimes been suspended to address safety or construction quality issues. This report discusses (1) work stoppages from January 2000 through December 2008 and what is known about them, (2) the types of costs associated with work stoppages and who paid for them, and (3) whether more effective regulation or oversight could have prevented the work stoppages. GAO interviewed knowledgeable DOE and contractor officials about these events. When documentation was available, GAO obtained DOE and contractor accident and safety incident reports, internal DOE and independent external evaluations, and costs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society of the United States of America, for fiscal years 2002, 2001, and 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corportation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Jewish War Veterans, U.S.A., National Memorial, Incorporated for Fiscal Years 2005 and 2004. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Dental disease remains a significant problem for children in Medicaid. Although dental services are a mandatory benefit for the 30 million children served by Medicaid, these children often experience elevated levels of dental problems and have difficulty finding dentists to treat them. In testimony before your Subcommittee last September, we reported that children in Medicaid were almost twice as likely to have untreated cavities as children with private insurance and that the percentage of children in Medicaid who received any dental care was far below the Department of Health and Human Service's (HHS) target for low-income children. Concerns about low-income children's poor oral health, inadequate access to dental services, low payment rates for dental services, and insufficient federal and state efforts to address oral health access problems are long-standing. During subcommittee hearings in May 2007 and February 2008, you raised concerns about the effectiveness of federal oversight of state Medicaid dental services by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that oversees Medicaid at the federal level. This testimony is based on our report, released at this hearing, Medicaid: State and Federal Actions Have Been …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The four rail attacks in Europe and Asia since 2004, including the most recent in India, highlight the vulnerability of passenger rail and other surface transportation systems to terrorist attack and demonstrate the need for greater focus on securing these systems. This testimony is based primarily on GAO's September 2005 passenger rail security report and selected recent program updates. Specifically, it addressees (1) the extent to which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has assessed the risks facing the U.S. passenger rail system and developed a strategy based on risk assessments for securing all modes of transportation, including passenger rail, and (2) the actions that federal agencies have taken to enhance the security of the U.S. passenger rail system."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the United States Olympic Committee for Fiscal Years 2001-2003. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2000, the Navy has undertaken a number of initiatives to achieve greater efficiencies and reduce costs. For example, it reduced the workforce requirements for some of its ships and transitioned away from instructor-led training programs to more computer-based training. In June 2010, we reported the Navy lacked a firm analytical basis for some of the reductions it made to ship crew sizes and therefore could not be assured it had appropriately sized its crews to maintain material readiness and accomplish necessary tasks aboard its ships. We also reported the Navy lacked outcome-based performance measures to evaluate the impact of changes to training on trainees' job performance, knowledge, skills, and abilities once they report to their ships and therefore could not fully determine the effectiveness of the training changes it implemented and whether further adjustments were necessary. We recommended the Navy validate the underlying assumptions and standards it uses to calculate workforce requirements and, as necessary, based on this assessment, reevaluate its cruiser and destroyer workload requirements. We also recommended the Navy develop additional metrics to measure the effectiveness of its training. The Navy concurred with our recommendations. …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As part of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, the federal government provided $10 billion in temporary fiscal relief payments to states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. commonwealths and territories (herein referred to as states). Generally, use of these funds is unrestricted in nature; the act authorizes funds to be used to "provide essential government services" and to "cover the costs... of complying with any federal intergovernmental mandate." These funds were intended to provide antirecession fiscal stimulus to the national economy and to help close state budget shortfalls due to the recession that began in March 2001. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), in February 36 states reported facing budget shortfalls with a cumulative budget gap of about $25.7 billion. This report responds to the February 13, 2004, request by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget to provide information to help Congress assess the use of the temporary state fiscal relief payments. Specifically, we are reporting (1) what is known about the potential impacts of unrestricted fiscal relief on the fiscal behavior of states, (2) how …