Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses oversight of U.S. assistance programs in Afghanistan. Strengthening the Afghan economy through development assistance efforts is critical to the counterinsurgency strategy and a key part of the U.S Integrated Civilian-Military Campaign Plan for Afghanistan. Since fiscal year 2002, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded over $11.5 billion in support of development assistance programs in Afghanistan. Since 2003, GAO has issued several reports and testimonies related to U.S. security, governance, and development efforts in Afghanistan. In addition to reviewing program planning and implementation, we have focused on efforts to ensure proper management and oversight of the U.S. investment, which are essential to reducing waste, fraud, and abuse. Over the course of this work, we have identified improvements that were needed, as well as many obstacles that have affected success and should be considered in program management and oversight. While drawing on past work relating to U.S. development efforts in Afghanistan, this testimony focuses on findings in our most recent report released yesterday on the USAID's management and oversight of its agricultural programs in Afghanistan. It will address (1) the challenges the United States …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Airports are a vital part of the nation's air transportation system and face many similar challenges. In 2003, the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) was authorized to conduct applied research to help airport operators solve shared challenges that are not addressed by other federal research. As requested, this report addresses (1) the extent to which ACRP's processes reflect criteria for conducting a high-quality research program and (2) ACRP's results to date and their usefulness for the aviation community. GAO reviewed ACRP documentation and compared ACRP processes to criteria previously developed by GAO that can be applied to research programs. These criteria identify three phases of the applied research process and steps to help produce high-quality results. GAO also reviewed ACRP projects and publications and interviewed ACRP stakeholders and airport officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pervasive and sustained computer-based attacks pose a potentially devastating impact to systems and operations and the critical infrastructures they support. Addressing these threats depends on effective partnerships between the government and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure. Federal policy, including the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Infrastructure Protection Plan, calls for a partnership model that includes public and private councils to coordinate policy and information sharing and analysis centers to gather and disseminate information on threats to physical and cyber-related infrastructure. GAO was asked to determine (1) private sector stakeholders' expectations for cyber-related, public-private partnerships and to what extent these expectations are being met and (2) public sector stakeholders' expectations for cyber-related, public-private partnerships and to what extent these expectations are being met. To do this, GAO conducted surveys and interviews of public and private sector officials and analyzed relevant policies and other documents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended, is the largest federal education funding source for kindergarten through grade 12. In fiscal year 2010, Congress appropriated $14.5 billion for Title I grants to school districts to improve educational programs in schools with high concentrations of students from lowincome families. ESEA includes accountability requirements for schools and districts that focus primarily on measuring academic outcomes rather than prescribing exactly how Title I funds are to be spent. ESEA, as amended, includes a mandate that requires GAO determine how selected districts expend Title I funds. In response, GAO addressed (1) how selected school districts spent their Title I funds and (2) what federal mechanisms are in place to oversee how Title I funds are used and what is known about the extent of noncompliance with relevant requirements. To do this, GAO visited a nongeneralizable sample of 12 school districts in 4 states and analyzed their Title I expenditures for the 2008-2009 school year. GAO also reviewed federal and local audit findings for a wider range of states and districts. Districts were selected based on …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Protective Service (FPS), which is within the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), is responsible for protecting the more than 1 million federal employees and members of the public who work in and visit the over 9,000 federal facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA) from a potential terrorist attack or other acts of violence. To accomplish its facility protection mission, FPS has about 1,200 full-time employees and approximately 13,200 contract security guards. FPS has an annual budget of about $1 billion and receives its funding from the revenues and collections of security fees charged to tenant agencies for protective services such as facility security assessments (FSA) and providing contract security guard services. Since 2008, we have issued numerous reports that address major challenges FPS faces in protecting federal facilities. For example, in 2009 and 2010 we reported that FPS had problems completing high-quality FSAs in a timely manner and did not provide adequate oversight of its contract guard program. In September 2007, FPS decided to address the challenges with its legacy security assessment and guard management systems …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Events such as the February 2010 attack on the Internal Revenue Service offices in Texas, and the shooting in the lobby of the Nevada federal courthouse, demonstrate the vulnerabilities of federal facilities and the safety of the federal employees who occupy them. The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is the primary agency responsible for the security of over 9,000 federal government facilities across the country. The fiscal year 2010 DHS appropriations act transferred FPS from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This report addresses (1) the extent to which the FPS transition has been implemented and any remaining related challenges, and (2) the extent to which the transition will help address previously identified challenges to protecting federal facilities. GAO reviewed the 2009 FPS-NPPD transition plan; agreements between FPS, NPPD, and ICE, and best practices for scheduling and cost estimating; and interviewed DHS officials."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Participants identified a range of challenges and opportunities associated with data analytics--which involve a variety of techniques to analyze and interpret data to facilitate decision making--as discussed below."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our past work examining the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) progress and challenges in developing and acquiring new technologies to address homeland security needs. DHS acquisition programs represent hundreds of billions of dollars in life-cycle costs and support a wide range of missions and investments including border surveillance and screening equipment, nuclear detection equipment, and technologies used to screen airline passengers and baggage for explosives, among others. Since its creation in 2003, DHS has spent billions of dollars developing and procuring technologies and other countermeasures to address various threats and to conduct its missions. Within DHS, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) conducts general research and development and oversees the testing and evaluation efforts of DHS components, which are responsible for developing, testing, and acquiring their own technologies. This testimony focuses on the findings of our prior work related to DHS's efforts to acquire and deploy new technologies to address homeland security needs. Our past work has identified three key challenges: (1) developing technology program requirements, (2) conducting and completing testing and evaluation of technologies and (3) incorporating information on costs and benefits in making …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "One of the most devastating aspects of the current financial crisis for homeowners is the prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure, and many homeowners have fallen victim to foreclosure rescue and loan modification schemes. In 2009, the administration created the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), which is led by the Department of Justice (DOJ), to combat these and other financial crimes. This report examines (1) the nature and prevalence of these schemes, (2) federal efforts coordinated to combat these schemes and other major efforts, and (3) factors that may affect federal efforts' success in combating these schemes. To address these objectives, GAO obtained information from federal agencies participating in the FFETF and interviewed representatives of five states with high exposure to potential foreclosures and nonprofit organizations undertaking related activities."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses preventing and addressing government payment errors in the Medicare program. Medicare, which provides health insurance for those aged 65 and older and certain disabled persons, is susceptible to improper payments due to its size and complexity. Because the Medicare program has paid billions of dollars in error each year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--the agency that administers Medicare--conducts a number of activities to reduce improper payments. CMS administers the Medicare program with the help of Medicare claims administration contractors, which are not only responsible for processing and paying approximately 4.5 million claims per day, but for also conducting pre-payment reviews of claims to prevent improper payments before claims are paid, as well as post-payment reviews of claims potentially paid in error. To supplement these and other program integrity efforts, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 directed CMS to conduct a 3-year demonstration project on the use of a new type of contractors---recovery audit contractors (RAC)---in identifying underpayments and overpayments, and recouping overpayments in the Medicare program. The RAC demonstration program began in 2005. Subsequently, the Tax Relief and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Private investment (PI) firms' acquisition of several large nursing home chains led to concerns that the quality of care may have been adversely affected. These concerns may have been in part due to PI firms' business strategies and their lack of financial transparency compared to publicly traded companies. In September 2010, GAO reported on the extent of PI ownership of nursing homes and firms' involvement in the operations of homes they acquired. In this report, GAO examined how nursing homes that were acquired by PI firms changed from before acquisition or differed from other homes in: (1) deficiencies cited on state surveys, (2) nurse staffing levels, and (3) financial performance. GAO identified nursing homes that had been acquired by PI firms from 2004 through 2007 and then used data from CMS's Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting system and Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Cost Reports to compare these PI homes to other forprofit and nonprofit homes. For PIacquired homes, GAO also compared homes for which the operations and real estate were owned by the same firm to those that were not. Because research has shown that other …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), estimated to cost $862 billion over 10 years, is intended to stimulate the economy and create jobs. The Recovery Act provides funds to federal agencies and states, which in turn may award contracts to private companies and other entities to carry out the purposes of the Recovery Act. Contracts using Recovery Act funds are required to be awarded competitively to the maximum extent practicable. GAO was asked to examine the use and oversight of noncompetitive Recovery Act contracts at the federal and state levels. GAO determined (1) the extent that federal contracts were awarded noncompetitively; (2) the reasons five selected federal agencies (the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Health and Human Services; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the Small Business Administration (SBA)) awarded noncompetitive contracts; (3) the oversight these agencies and their inspectors general (IG) provide for Recovery Act contracts; and (4) the level of insight five selected states (California, Colorado, Florida, New York, and Texas) have into the use of noncompetitive Recovery Act contracts."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Most of the agencies GAO reviewed for its September 2012 report leveraged a fraction of their buying power. More specifically, in fiscal year 2011, the Departments of Defense (DOD), Homeland Security, Energy, and Veterans Affairs (VA) accounted for 80 percent of the $537 billion in federal procurement spending, but reported managing about 5 percent of that spending, or $25.8 billion, through strategic sourcing efforts. Similarly, GAO found that the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative had only managed a small amount of spending through its four government-wide strategic sourcing initiatives in fiscal year 2011, although it reported achieving significant savings on those efforts. Further, we found that most selected agencies' efforts did not address their highest spending areas, such as services, which may provide opportunities for significant savings."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Before the passage of federal environmental legislation in the 1970s and 1980s, Department of Defense (DOD) activities contaminated millions of acres of soil and water on and near DOD sites. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has certain oversight authorities for cleaning up contaminants on federal property, and has placed 1,620 of the most contaminated sites--including 141 DOD installations--on its National Priorities List (NPL). As of February 2009, after 10 or more years on the NPL, 11 DOD installations had not signed the required interagency agreements (IAG) to guide cleanup with EPA. GAO was asked to examine (1) the status of DOD cleanup of hazardous substances at selected installations that lacked IAGs, and (2) obstacles, if any, to cleanup at these installations. GAO selected and visited three installations, reviewed relevant statutes and agency documents, and interviewed agency officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. insular areas face serious economic and fiscal challenges and rely on federal funding to support their governments and deliver critical services. The Department of the Interior, through its Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), provides about $70 million in grants annually, including technical assistance grants, to increase insular area self-sufficiency. In the past, GAO and others have raised concerns regarding insular areas' internal control weaknesses, which increase the risk of grant fund mismanagement, fraud, and abuse. In March 2010, GAO reported on insular area grants (GAO-10-347); this testimony summarizes that report and focuses on (1) whether previously reported internal control weaknesses have been addressed and, if not, to what extent they are prevalent among OIA grant projects, including technical assistance grant projects, as of March 2010; and (2) the extent to which OIA has taken action to improve the implementation and management grant projects, as of March 2010. For the March 2010 report, GAO reviewed a random sample of 173 OIA grant project files and interviewed OIA and insular area officials. For this testimony, GAO conducted additional analysis for the 49 technical assistance grant projects included in the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has developed efforts to improve the Beneficiary Travel Program, but lack of internal controls may impede their effectiveness. Specifically, VHA has developed multiple efforts to improve the management and oversight of its process for reimbursing veterans' travel expenses for medical appointments, as well as the timeliness and accuracy of payments, including the following:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Adaptive housing assistance grants help eligible service members or veterans adapt or modify a residence to accommodate disabilities sustained through military service. The Veterans' Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of 2006 authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand its existing adaptive housing assistance grants to include eligible individuals temporarily living in a home owned by a family member, known as Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grants. The act also mandated GAO to issue interim and final reports on VA's implementation of TRA. This final report examines (1) the characteristics of TRA grants and grantees and (2) what accounts for low utilization of the program and how to ensure that the program serves its intended recipients. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed VA data and documents and interviewed service members and veterans who both had and had not used the TRA grant."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the briefing presented to congressional staff on June 30, 2011 regarding the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (Zadroga Act). The Zadroga Act requires GAO to report by July 1, 2011, on whether the Clinical Centers of Excellence (CCE) under contract with the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) Administrator have financial systems that allow for the timely submission of health care claims data as envisioned by the act. Beginning on July 1, 2011, the WTCHP is to provide medical services to responders and survivors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks through contracted medical facilities known as CCEs in the New York City/New Jersey metropolitan area and a nationwide network of providers. In addition to providing medical services, the WTCHP is required to collect, report, and analyze data, including health care claims data; perform research on World Trade Center-related health conditions; and establish an outreach program. The Secretary of Health and Human Services designated the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as the WTCHP Administrator. The Administrator is responsible, as specified by the Zadroga Act, for …