Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. Army ground forces have been deployed to the Balkans since December 1995. For these personnel, such a tour of duty involves a significant change in living conditions and separation from family and friends. The Army has spent more than $2 billion to build camps and implement services to sustain deployed personnel. Much of what has been spent contributes to enhancing soldiers' quality of life. GAO examined (1) how the Army defines and views the quality of life of deployed soldiers in the Balkans and (2) the quality of life at three base camps in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. GAO found that the Army (1) defines quality of life as the provision of equitable, adequate, and appropriate living, working, and leisure conditions consistent with available resources and political and military considerations and (2) is providing facilities in keeping with its established quality of life standards. GAO also found that most soldiers were satisfied with the living conditions and recreational facilities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The judiciary is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar courthouse construction program. New courthouses are being built to house new judgeships created because of increasing caseloads and to replace obsolete courthouses occupied by existing judges. For years, there has been a debate about whether district judges could share courtrooms to save taxpayer dollars without compromising judicial administration. In 1997, GAO issued a report calling for better courtroom use data and analysis to enhance facility planning. In response, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) contracted with Ernst & Young to study the judiciary's facilities program in 1999. As part of the study, AOUSC asked Ernst & Young to analyze courtroom utilization, assignment, and sharing by judges. GAO found that the Ernst & Young study did not provide the type of data and analysis that GAO and other research organizations, such as the Rand Institute for Civil Justice and the Federal Judicial Center, have determined would be needed to help resolve the courtroom-sharing issue."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Defense Programs seeks to maintain the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing. This report discusses the Department of Energy's (DOE) management of its National Nuclear Security Administration's Stockpile Stewardship Program, focusing on the program's plans, budgeting, organization, and life extension process. Although the Office of Defense Programs has tried to address some of the challenges facing the Stockpile Stewardship Program, more improvements are needed. The Office of Defense Programs has developed an extensive planning process to improve the management of its Stockpile Stewardship program. So far, however, the plans are missing vital information. The Office has developed a new structure for its fiscal year 2001 budget that can improve the overall management of the Stockpile Stewardship Program. Several external and internal studies have found that the Office of Defense Programs has a dysfunctional organization with unclear lines of authority that lead to a lack of accountability. Finally, one of the nine types of nuclear weapons in the current stockpile has begun the life extension process--a step that will be necessary to keep the …