Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO performed the procedures contained in the enclosures to this report, which it agreed to perform solely to assist the Department of Transportation's Inspector General in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) and the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013, is supported by the underlying records. GAO was not engaged to perform, and did not perform, an examination, the objective of which would have been to express an opinion on the amount of net excise taxes distributed to the AATF and the HTF during fiscal year 2013. Accordingly, GAO does not express such an opinion. This report is solely for the use of the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation and should not be used by those who have not agreed to the procedures or have not taken responsibility for the sufficiency of the procedures for their purposes."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2013 Sustainable Ranges Report of the Department of Defense (DOD) met the annual statutory reporting requirements for the department to describe its progress in implementing its sustainable ranges plan and any additional actions taken or planned for addressing training constraints caused by limitations on the use of military lands, marine areas, or airspace. DOD's 2013 report provides updates to several elements of the plan that the act required it to include in its annual progress reports, including (1) proposals to enhance training range capabilities and address any shortfalls; (2) goals and milestones for tracking progress in the implementation of its sustainment plan; and (3) projected funding requirements for each of the military services to implement their planned actions. DOD reported that there were no significant changes in range capability or encroachment since 2012. It identified emerging challenges to training range sustainability, and reported on actions being taken to mitigate them. It used goals and milestones in its progress updates, and reported its projected funding requirements for implementing planned actions. Together these elements describe DOD's progress in implementing its comprehensive plan and addressing training constraints at …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds five key grant programs that encourage resident self-sufficiency. In fiscal year 2011, HUD awarded $113 million to the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS), Public Housing FSS, and Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency Service Coordinators (ROSS SC) programs. Public housing agencies (PHA) with HOPE VI grants or designated as Moving to Work (MTW) agencies spent a portion of their funds on activities that encourage self-sufficiency, but the amounts MTW agencies spent are not known for the program as a whole. Additionally, data on resident participation in the five programs were limited. The number of families that participated in the FSS programs and ROSS SC cannot be reliably assessed due to missing start dates, end dates, and annual updates, and a lack of reporting guidance. HOPE VI data on residents' participation does not include information on the elderly or persons with disabilities. Programwide MTW data on participation generally were unavailable. Internal control standards for the federal government state that program managers need operational data to determine whether they are meeting goals for accountability (effective and efficient use of resources). …

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

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As of June 30, 2013, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had obligated $336 million (52 percent) and disbursed $229.5 million (35 percent) of $651 million in funding for Haiti earthquake reconstruction from the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The eight federal agencies GAO reviewed generally developed, but inconsistently implemented, policies and procedures for responding to a data breach involving personally identifiable information (PII) that addressed key practices specified by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The agencies reviewed generally addressed key management and operational practices in their policies and procedures, although three agencies had not fully addressed all key practices. For example, the Department of the Army (Army) had not specified the parameters for offering assistance to affected individuals. In addition, the implementation of key operational practices was inconsistent across the agencies. The Army, VA, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had not documented how risk levels had been determined and the Army had not offered credit monitoring consistently. Further, none of the agencies we reviewed consistently documented the evaluation of incidents and resulting lessons learned. Incomplete guidance from OMB contributed to this inconsistent implementation. As a result, these agencies may not be taking corrective actions consistently to limit the risk to individuals from PII-related data breach incidents."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has made some recent progress gaining important knowledge for its Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) by successfully conducting several important tests. In addition, the agency made substantial improvements to the clarity of its cost and schedule baselines since first reporting them in 2010, and declared the first major deployment of U.S. missile defense in Europe operational in December 2011. MDA also took steps to reduce acquisition risk by decreasing the overlap between technology and product development for two of its programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has considered several courses of action for the placement of the headquarters for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) but decided in early 2013 to keep it in Germany. When AFRICOM was created in 2007, DOD temporarily located its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, with the intent of selecting a permanent location at a later date. DOD's initial goal was to locate the headquarters in Africa, but this was later abandoned in part because of significant projected costs and sensitivities on the part of African countries. Subsequently, in 2008, DOD conducted an analysis that found that several locations in Europe and the United States would be operationally feasible and less expensive than keeping the headquarters in Stuttgart. A final decision, however, was deferred until 2012, when the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office completed its analysis. Subsequent to this analysis, in January 2013, the Secretary of Defense decided to keep AFRICOM's headquarters in Stuttgart. In announcing the decision, the Secretary noted that keeping AFRICOM in Germany would cost more than moving it to the United States but the commander had judged it would be …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In its April 2013 report to Congress, the Department of Defense (DOD) did not provide any new analyses, but provided the results of previous analyses related to the Aerospace Control Alert mission because, according to DOD officials, DOD was not expecting any future changes to the budget or force structure of the mission, including consideration of any basing location alternatives. DOD's April 2013 report summarized the results of three risk assessments that were conducted to support DOD's 2012 decision on which two alert basing locations could be removed from 24-hour alert status with the least amount of risk. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, and the Continental U.S. NORAD Region performed these assessments and all concluded that, given the 2012 DOD decision that two alert basing locations would be removed from 24-hour alert status, the removal of the locations at Duluth, Minnesota, and Langley, Virginia, would provide the least increase in risk. DOD's April 2013 report also summarized a cost savings estimate developed after the decision to remove these basing locations …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Less than 0.1 percent of payments Medicare made in 2011 were for amounts of services that exceeded certain unpublished limits for excess billing and where the claims did not include information from the providers to indicate why the additional services were medically necessary. These limits are set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--as a means to avoid potentially improper payments. To implement these limits, CMS established automated controls in its payment systems called Medically Unlikely Edits (MUE). These MUEs compare the number of certain services billed against limits for the amount of services likely to be provided under normal medical practice to a beneficiary by the same provider on the same day--for example, no more than one of the same operation on each eye. GAO analysis of 2011 claims data found approximately $14 million out of a total of $23.9 billion in Medicare payments for services that exceeded unpublished MUE limits and where the claims did not include information from the providers to indicate why the additional services were medically necessary. As GAO …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Using data agencies had reported to the Small Business Administration (SBA), GAO found that 8 of the 11 agencies participating in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and 4 of the 5 agencies participating in the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program did not consistently comply with spending requirements for fiscal years 2006 to 2011. In calculating their annual spending requirements for these programs, some agencies made improper exclusions from their extramural research and development (R&D) budgets and used differing methodologies. SBA, which oversees the programs, provided guidance in policy directives for agencies on calculating these requirements, but the directives do not provide guidance on calculating the requirements when appropriations are late and spending is delayed, resulting in agencies using differing methodologies. This made it difficult to determine whether agencies' calculations were correct. Without further SBA guidance, agencies will likely continue calculating spending requirements in differing ways."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In brief:"

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In a series of reviews, GAO found that the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) retirement modernization efforts were hindered by weaknesses in key management practices that are essential to successful information technology (IT) modernization projects. For example, in 2005, GAO made recommendations to address weaknesses in the following areas:"

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, GAO's 2013 annual report identifies 31 new areas where agencies may be able to achieve greater efficiency or effectiveness. Within these 31 areas, GAO identifies 81 actions that the executive branch or Congress could take to address the issues GAO identified. Although it may be appropriate for multiple agencies or entities to be involved in the same programmatic or policy area due to the nature or magnitude of the federal effort, GAO's report includes 17 areas of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication where multiple programs and activities may be creating inefficiencies. The report also identifies 14 additional areas where opportunities exist to achieve cost savings or enhance revenue collections."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2010, GAO reported that intellectual property (IP) is an important component of the U.S. economy and IP-related industries contribute a significant percentage to the U.S. gross domestic product. IP-related industries also pay significantly higher wages than other industries and contribute to a higher standard of living in the United States. Ensuring the protection of IP rights encourages the introduction of innovative products and creative works to the public. According to experts and literature GAO reviewed, counterfeiting and piracy have produced a wide range of effects on consumers, industry, government, and the economy as a whole. The U.S. economy as a whole may grow more slowly because of reduced innovation and loss of trade revenue. To the extent that counterfeiting and piracy reduce investments in research and development, companies may hire fewer workers and may contribute less to U.S. economic growth, overall. Furthermore, as GAO reported in June 2012, private sector organizations have experienced data loss or theft, economic loss, computer intrusions, and privacy breaches. For example, in February 2011, media reports stated that computer hackers had broken into and stolen proprietary information worth millions of dollars …

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

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of the Army, Homeland Security, the Interior, and Veterans Affairs used reverse auctions to acquire predominantly commercial items and services--primarily for information technology products and medical equipment and supplies--although the mix of products and services varied among agencies. Most--but not all--of the auctions resulted in contracts with relatively small dollar value awards--typically $150,000 or less--and a high rate of awards to small businesses. The four agencies steadily increased their use of reverse auctions from fiscal years 2008 through 2012, with about $828 million in contract awards in 2012 alone. GAO was not able to analyze data from a fifth agency, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), because it collected only summary level information during fiscal year 2012. DLA guidance states that the reverse auction pricing tool should be used for all competitive purchases over $150,000."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found the Air Force, the military branch responsible for Global Positioning System (GPS) acquisition, in its report on Lower Cost Solutions for Providing Global Positioning System Capability, broadly addressed all four congressional requirements--system capability, implementation approaches, technical and programmatic risks, and estimated costs--for each option presented for the space segment. GPS consists of three segments--space, ground control, and user equipment--but the study only addressed the space segment, which accounts for the largest share of total GPS costs--more than half--in the Air Force's current budget. The Air Force identified and assessed nine options for future GPS space segments, ranging in cost from $13 billion to $25 billion from fiscal year 2013 through 2030. The report assessed each option based on a constellation or collection of 30 total satellites instead of 24, which is the Air Force's baseline GPS requirement for accuracy. This increase in total satellites raises an issue with the constellation size the Air Force intends to support in the future. Air Force officials stated that the cost analyses supporting the nine options were high-level cost estimates. Although this may be expected given the time …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This statement today highlights the key findings of a report GAO released yesterday on the TWIC program that addressed the extent to which the results from the TWIC reader pilot were sufficiently complete, accurate, and reliable for informing Congress and the TWIC card reader rule. For the report, among other things, GAO assessed the methods used to collect and analyze pilot data since the inception of the pilot in August 2008. GAO analyzed and compared the pilot data with the TWIC reader pilot report submitted to Congress to determine whether the findings in the report are based on sufficiently complete, accurate, and reliable data. Additionally, we interviewed officials at DHS, TSA, and USCG with responsibilities for overseeing the TWIC program, as well as pilot officials responsible for coordinating pilot efforts with TSA and the independent test agent (responsible for planning, evaluating, and reporting on all test events), about TWIC reader pilot testing approaches, results, and challenges."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy made progress in the past year in establishing a sound VXX business case that reflects a rational balance between requirements, costs and schedule. In 2012, the Navy completed an updated Analysis of Alternatives (AOA) based on refined requirements and an acquisition approach that would leverage mature technologies from outside the program onto an in-production commercial or military airframe--allowing the program to begin in the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Department of Defense's (DOD) acquisition process. The 2012 AOA reflected additional trade-offs made among cost, schedule, risk, and performance. Some key performance requirements changed from the terminated VH-71 program to the VXX."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Reserving practices and capital requirements for the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (Fund) of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) differ in key respects from those for private mortgage insurers (PMI). These differences stem from the distinct environments in which FHA and PMIs operate, including the particular accounting principles and statutory provisions that they must follow. For example, statutory accounting principles (developed to meet the needs of insurance regulators in assessing financial condition) require PMIs to establish several reserve components, including a reserve for estimated losses expected in the near term on loans that are delinquent (loss reserve). In contrast, generally accepted accounting principles for federal entities (developed to align financial statement reporting with federal budget requirements) require FHA to reserve for the present value of estimated losses for all outstanding loans net of anticipated revenues (liability for loan guarantees). For both FHA and PMIs, capital requirements are expressed as comparisons of risk to capital, but the calculations measure risk and capital differently. Like FHA, PMIs have struggled to meet their capital requirements in recent years."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has invested more than $63 million in 88 projects in fiscal years 2005 through 2010 to demonstrate new technology or methods addressing equipment-related corrosion. DOD's Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight (Corrosion Office) has collected a majority of required final and follow-on reports on the results of equipment-related corrosion projects and is taking steps to obtain outstanding reports. As of May 2013, GAO found project managers had submitted final reports for 55 of the 88 projects (about 63 percent) funded in fiscal years 2005 through 2010 and submitted follow-on reports for 27 of the 41 projects (about 66 percent) funded from 2005 through 2007."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) rail-safety oversight framework relies on inspections to ensure railroads comply with federal safety regulations. FRA inspects railroad infrastructure and operations, identifies safety defects, and may, if warranted, cite the railroads for violations of federal safety regulations. The agency estimates that its inspectors have the ability to annually inspect less than 1 percent of the railroad activities covered in regulation. As a result, railroads have the primary responsibility for safety of the railroad system. To formulate regulations, FRA instituted the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, a forum for FRA, the railroads, rail labor organizations, and other stakeholders to arrive at a consensus on proposed rules. Thirty states partner with FRA in providing FRA-certified railroad safety inspectors who are also authorized to enforce federal safety regulations. Finally, many railroads have additional safety programs, rules, and technologies to ensure safety beyond the required federal standards."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified a number of proposed options for adjusting product terms and conditions to help improve the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) long-term viability. FHA has raised the premiums that it charges borrowers several times in recent years and has taken steps to tighten its underwriting standards--for example, by setting a minimum required credit score. Some mortgage market observers have argued that further changes such as revising underwriting standards to focus on borrowers' residual income, requiring higher down payments, or reducing seller concessions (that is, funds sellers provide to buyers to help pay for closing costs) could help FHA better manage credit risk. However, such changes would entail trade-offs. For instance, some said that raising down-payment requirements would improve loan performance, but others said that this move would delay homeownership for many borrowers. Similarly, raising premiums could potentially increase revenue, but this potential would be constrained if it caused volume to decline. Further, low-risk borrowers with fewer down-payment constraints could choose less costly loans from other sources, leaving FHA with more high-risk borrowers. These changes could have a direct effect on the availability of credit for borrowers."