A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Army's study of its master plan for implementing its Workload Performance System, focusing on the: (1) Army's progress in developing and implementing the workload performance system; and (2) extent to which the Army's April 1999 report to the House Committee on National Security addresses an overall master plan for implementing the system, including the system's future applications and funding requirements."

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 "Historically, the proportion of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) disability benefits claims that were approved has been lower for African-Americans than for whites. In 1992, GAO found that racial differences, largely at the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) level, could not be completely explained by factors related to the decision-making process. This report examines how race and other factors influence ALJ decisions and assesses SSA's ability to ensure the accuracy and fairness of ALJ decisions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) multibillion-dollar effort to modernize the nation's air traffic control (ATC) system has resulted in cost, schedule, and performance shortfalls for over two decades and has been on GAO's list of high-risk federal programs since 1995. According to FAA, performance shortfalls were due, in part, to restrictions imposed by federal acquisition and personnel regulations. In response, Congress granted FAA exemptions in 1995 and directed it to develop a new acquisition management system. In this report, GAO compared FAA's AMS with (1) the FAR and (2) commercial best practices for major acquisitions, and (3) examined FAA's implementation of AMS and its progress in resolving problems with major acquisitions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Evaluations of past censuses show that certain groups were undercounted compared to other groups, a problem known as "coverage error." To address this, the Census Bureau included in its 2000 Census design the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Program (A.C.E.) to (1) measure coverage error and (2) use the results to adjust the census, if warranted. However, the Bureau found the A.C.E. results inaccurate and decided not to adjust or plan for adjustment in 2010. Congress asked GAO to determine (1) factors contributing to A.C.E.'s reported failure to accurately estimate census coverage error, and (2) the reliability of the revised coverage error estimates the Bureau subsequently produced. To do this, GAO examined three sets of Bureau research published in March 2001, October 2001, and March 2003 and interviewed Bureau officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A lack of servicemember health and deployment data hampered investigations into the nature and causes of illnesses reported by many servicemembers following the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War. Public Law 105-85, enacted in November 1997, required the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a system to assess the medical condition of servicemembers before and after deployments. Following its September 2003 report examining Army and Air Force compliance with DOD's force health protection and surveillance policies for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Joint Guardian (OJG), GAO was asked in November 2003 to also determine (1) the extent to which the services met DOD's policies for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and, where applicable, compare results with OEF/OJG; and (2) what steps DOD has taken to establish a quality assurance program to ensure that the military services comply with force health protection and surveillance policies."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO was asked to assess the effectiveness of nursing home oversight by considering the effect of a unique Arkansas law that requires county coroners to investigate all nursing home deaths. Coroners refer cases of suspected neglect to the state survey agency and law enforcement entities such as the state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with survey agencies in every state to periodically inspect nursing homes and investigate allegations of poor care or neglect. MFCUs are charged with investigating and prosecuting resident neglect. GAO examined (1) the results of Arkansas coroner investigations, (2) the state survey agency's experience in investigating coroner referrals, and (3) whether weaknesses in state and federal nursing home oversight identified in prior GAO reports were evident in the survey agency's investigation of coroner referrals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Every year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through its Federal Housing Administration (FHA), insures billions of dollars in home mortgage loans made by private lenders. Oversight of lenders has historically been a challenge for HUD. In January 2003, GAO reported that, due in part to poor lender oversight, HUD's single-family mortgage insurance programs remained a high-risk area. This report examines (1) how well HUD follows its guidance when granting lenders direct endorsement authority (the ability to underwrite loans and determine their eligibility for FHA mortgage insurance without HUD's prior review), (2) the extent to which HUD uses a risk-based approach when monitoring FHA lenders, and (3) the extent to which HUD holds accountable lenders that it identifies as not complying with its performance requirements."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Servicemembers who leave the military and file disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may be subject to potentially duplicative physical exams in order to meet requirements of both the Department of Defense's (DOD) military services and VA. To streamline the process for these servicemembers, the military services and VA have attempted to coordinate their physical exam requirements by developing a single separation exam program. In 1998, VA and DOD signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) instructing local units to establish single separation exam programs. This report examines (1) VA's and the military services' efforts to establish single separation exam programs, and (2) the challenges to establishing single separation exam programs. To obtain this information, GAO interviewed VA and military service officials about establishing the program; evaluated existing programs at selected military installations; and visited selected installations that did not have programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Department of Defense (DOD) used nearly 700 aircraft, as well as commercial and leased aircraft, to carry about 3 million troops and 800,000 tons of cargo in support of wartime, peacetime, and humanitarian efforts in 2008. C-5s and C-17s move troops and cargo internationally (strategic airlift) and C-130s are the primary aircraft that moves them within a theater of operation (tactical airlift). Over the next 4 years, DOD plans to spend about $12 billion to modernize and procure airlifters and is currently studying how many it needs. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to (1) identify the status of DOD's modernization and acquisition efforts and (2) determine how well DOD is addressing any capability gaps and redundancies. In conducting this work, GAO identified the cost, schedule, and performance of airlift programs, as well as DOD's plan for addressing gaps and redundancies. GAO also discussed mobility study efforts with DOD, Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), and RAND Coporation officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has significantly increased its total committed lending to countries from about $3.5 billion in August 2008 to about $170.4 billion in August 2009, as countries have been severely affected by the global economic crisis. IMF-supported programs are intended to help countries overcome balance-of-payments problems, stabilize their economies, and restore sustainable economic growth. Critics have long-standing concerns that the IMF has an overly austere approach to macroeconomic policy that does not sufficiently heed country viewpoints. To help address these concerns, the IMF recently stated that it has changed its policies, including by increasing its flexibility. GAO was asked to examine (1) the process for designing an IMF-supported program, (2) the IMF-supported programs in four recipient countries, and (3) the extent to which the findings of empirical economic studies are consistent with the IMF's macroeconomic policies. GAO analyzed IMF and recipient country documents; interviewed U.S., IMF, and foreign government officials, conducting fieldwork in four relatively large recipient countries; and analyzed published or widely cited empirical studies. GAO received written comments from the Department of the Treasury, noting its concurrence with the report's conclusions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "State Department's (State) Bureau of Diplomatic Security (Diplomatic Security) is responsible for the protection of people, information, and property at over 400 foreign missions and domestic locations. Diplomatic Security must be prepared to counter threats such as crime, espionage, visa and passport fraud, technological intrusions, political violence, and terrorism. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to assess (1) how Diplomatic Security's mission has evolved since 1998, (2) how its resources have changed over the last 10 years, and (3) the challenges it faces in conducting its missions. GAO analyzed Diplomatic Security data; reviewed relevant documents; and interviewed officials at several domestic facilities and 18 international missions."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On April 20, 2010, an oil spill of national significance in the Gulf of Mexico followed an explosion on the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon (the Deepwater Horizon oil spill). The Deepwater Horizon was leased by BP America Production Company (BP) as part of the Macondo project. 152 days later, on September 19, 2010, BP confirmed the completion of cementing operations to prevent further oil from spilling from the Macondo Prospect well to which the Deepwater Horizon was attached when it exploded. In order to coordinate the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the National Incident Commander established the Deepwater Integrated Services Team (IST) consisting of 18 federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The U.S. Coast Guard's National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) designated two BP subsidiaries--BP Exploration and Production and its guarantor, BP Corporation North America, Inc.--and five other companies as "Responsible Parties" for Deepwater Horizon oil spill related claims. Shortly after the spill, at the direction of NPFC, BP established a facility to receive and process all claims against Responsible Parties. In June 2010, as part of …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Between fiscal years 2009 and 2013, the total number of funded positions--both full-time support and part-time--at the Department of Defense's (DOD) 75 Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve (Reserves) component headquarters grew from about 30,200 to 31,900 positions (about 6 percent overall). Some organizations grew more markedly, among them the National Guard Bureau (17 percent); Army National Guard Directorate (44 percent); Air National Guard Readiness Center (21 percent); and the Office of the Chief of the Army Reserve (45 percent). DOD officials attribute growth to the conversion of contractor workload into civilian positions and increased missions assigned at certain headquarters. Over the same period, staff levels at the National Guard's 54 state Joint Force headquarters remained flat and the Air Force Reserve shrank by 4 percent."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During its audit of the American Battle Monuments Commission’s (the Commission) fiscal year 2012 financial statements, GAO identified two material weaknesses that resulted in ineffective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2012. Specifically, the material weaknesses concern the Commission’s financial reporting process and its monitoring process. Because of these control weaknesses, GAO found significant errors in the Commission’s financial reporting that were not detected by the Commission. The Commission made the necessary adjustments and was able to prepare financial statements that were fairly stated in all material respects by fiscal year-end. However, these material weaknesses increase the risk that a material misstatement of the Commission’s financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. GAO also found that a previously reported significant deficiency concerning foreign payroll processing continued to exist during fiscal year 2012. These material weaknesses and the significant deficiency in internal control warrant the attention of those charged with governance of the Commission."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In its review of guidance and practices related to contract termination liability estimates, the Department of Defense (DOD) found that weapons programs generally received estimates of contract termination liability from contractors;, although there is no comprehensive guidance on how or when programs should require or consider these estimates. DOD plans to include additional language to help ensure that program managers are aware of the need to consider termination liability before contract award and during the life of a contract in its next update of its acquisition management guidance."