Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 required Medicare to change its payment system for ambulance services. In response, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), now called the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), proposed a fee schedule to standardize payments across provider types on the basis of national rates for particular services. Under the act, the fee schedule was to have applied to ambulance services furnished on or after January 1, 2000. HCFA published a proposed rule in September 2000 and has received public comment, but it has not yet issued a final rule. This testimony discusses the unique concerns of rural ambulance providers and the likely effects of the proposed fee schedule on these providers. Many rural ambulance providers face a set of unique challenges in implementing an appropriate payment policy. Rural providers--particularly those serving large geographic areas with low population density--tend to have high per-trip costs compared with urban and suburban providers. The proposed Medicare fee schedule does not sufficiently distinguish the providers serving beneficiaries in the most isolated rural areas and may not appropriately account for the higher costs of low-volume providers."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal research and preparedness activities related to bioterrorism center on detection; the development of vaccines, antibiotics, and antivirals; and the development of performance standards for emergency response equipment. Preparedness activities include (1) increasing federal, state, and local response capabilities; (2) developing response teams; (3) increasing the availability of medical treatments; (4) participating in and sponsoring exercises; (5) aiding victims; and (6) providing support at special events, such as presidential inaugurations and Olympic games. To coordinate their efforts to combat terrorism, federal agencies are developing interagency response plans, participating in various interagency work groups, and entering into formal agreements with other agencies to share resources and capabilities. However, coordination of federal terrorism research, preparedness, and response programs is fragmented, raising concerns about the ability of states and localities to respond to a bioterrorist attack. These concerns include insufficient state and local planning and a lack of hospital participation in training on terrorism and emergency response planning. This testimony summarizes a September 2001 report (GAO-01-915)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report documents GAO's concurrence with the findings of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) financial management operations. To effectively monitor and evaluate PwC's work, GAO reviewed PwC's methodology for conducting its work, its collection techniques, resulting analysis, and the draft and final reports. Overall, PwC found significant weaknesses in CDC's financial management procedures, operations, systems, and staff. PwC stated that CDC's financial management capabilities has not kept pace with its expanding mission and funding growth. GAO notes that PwC's report provided CDC with both a framework and critical steps for beginning a long-term upgrading effort, and CDC should use this report as a guide."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, the Department of Defense (DOD) ships inventory worth billions of dollars to locations around the world. DOD has had longstanding difficulty tracking this inventory from origin to destination. GAO reviewed six draft plans developed by the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to overcome this problem. The six draft plans have significantly improved on DOD's original plan for tracking inventory. They are, however, inconsistent in content and do not reflect a coordinated, DOD-wide approach to correcting the lack of visibility over inventory being shipped. These draft plans also lack detailed performance measures for monitoring progress and determining the effectiveness of the actions after they are implemented. They do not address how DOD will ensure appropriate coordination among the military services and DOD commands in the implementation of the corrective actions or how DOD will monitor future progress. Lastly, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has not established a deadline for when the plans should be finalized."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of the significance of IRS revenue collections to federal receipts and, in turn, to the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO is required to audit, and Congress's interest in financial management at IRS, GAO audits IRS's financial statements annually to determine whether (1) the financial statements IRS prepares are reliable, (2) IRS management maintained effective internal controls, and (3) IRS complies with selected provisions of significant laws and regulations and its financial systems comply with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of its interest in this area, Congress asked that we address the following questions: (1) To what extent have federal contractors violated federal environmental, labor and employment, antitrust, consumer protection, and tax laws (the areas of law specified in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule)? and (2) What FAR rule implementation issues were identified in our work in response to the first question?"

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the 1990s the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dramatically downsized its staff, however, its mission did not decrease. As a consequence, HUD relies more heavily on private contractors, and needs to hold its contractors accountable for results. GAO was asked to determine if HUD has processes and practices in place to effectively oversee contractors, strategically manages its acquisition workforce, and has management information systems that support its acquisition workforce."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed several issues relating to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) workforce and management challenges. These issues are associated with NASA's proposed legislative provisions for additional flexibilities and authorities to help it address its human capital challenge. GAO found that agencies must ensure that their strategic human capital plans are results-oriented and data-driven. This includes developing appropriate information on the number and location of employees and their key competences and skills, as well as data on the profile of the workforce, and performance goals and measures for human capital approaches. NASA's legislative proposal for streamlined demonstration and alternative personnel system authority would provide a mechanism for converting a successful demonstration project, upon approval by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to a permanent alternative personnel system, without the need for special legislation and without any limitation on the number of employees that would be covered by the project as is under current authority. Human capital systems should have appropriate transparency and adequate safeguards in order to help ensure that it is efficient, effective, credible, and equitable."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In light of the increasing significance and potential costs of dealing with transportation in the national park system, we reviewed the Park Service's administration of the Alternative Transportation Program. Specifically, we are reporting on the Park Service's processes for (1) ensuring that alternative transportation projects are needed and cost-effective, and (2) evaluating the performance of the program. It is important to point out that in addressing these issues our work focused on the agency's process for reviewing and approving projects. Accordingly, we did not evaluate whether any specific project was in fact needed and cost-effective. In conducting the work, we examined agency files for a sample of 20 projects--10 planning projects and 10 construction projects--that account for 54 percent of the total program funding for fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2003."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On November 21 and 22, 2002, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will consider the admission of new members to the alliance. To facilitate congressional deliberations on NATO enlargement, the United States Senate mandated in 1998 that GAO review and assess a report that Congress directed the President to provide on countries seeking membership in NATO. The President submitted a classified report to Congress on August 26, 2002. To fulfill its mandate, GAO determined if the report met the Senate's requirements and if the cost estimates were sound."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requested that we review the HOPE VI program. Because of the scope of the request, we agreed with the office of the Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, to provide the information in a series of reports. This first report focuses on the financing of HOPE VI developments. We describe the extent to which grantees have (1) leveraged funds from other sources, particularly other federal sources; (2) leveraged funds specifically for community and supportive services; and (3) complied with HUD's funding limits for developing public housing units and budgeted additional funds not subject to these limits. Because the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 requires HUD to report HOPE VI cost information to Congress, we also discuss the extent to which HUD has complied with this requirement."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As directed in the Fiscal Year 2002 Legislative Branch Appropriations Conference Report and subsequent support letters from interested members of Congress, GAO conducted a pilot program in technology assessment that examined the use of biometric technologies for border control. Biometric technologies are available today and are being used for a variety of applications such as access control and criminal identification and surveillance. GAO considered a number of leading and emerging biometric technologies that could potentially be used for securing the nations borders. The seven leading biometric technologies include facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina recognition, signature recognition, and speaker recognition. To evaluate the effectiveness of biometrics in border control, it is important to recognize that the use of biometric technology would be but one component of the decision to support systems that determine who is allowed to enter the United States and who is not. Biometric technology can play a role in associating a person with travel documents such as visas and passports. When used at a border inspection, the biometric comparison can be used to help decide whether to admit a traveler …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2001, the United States Postal Service reported that it lost about $6.3 million in remittances (cash and checks) to robberies, internal theft, and mishandling. One particular loss--a June 2001 theft of over $3.2 million from a Phoenix, Arizona, postal facility by a Career Service employee--received considerable media attention. Pursuant to the request of the Chairman, House Committee on Government Reform, we agreed to review Service policies and procedures for the security of remittances by addressing the following questions: (1) Does the Service have reasonable physical controls and security to safeguard its remittances? (2) Does the Service have policies for conducting background checks of employees who process remittances? (3) Does the Service provide training to its employees who process remittances?"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The prevalence of opium poppy cultivation and drug trafficking in Afghanistan imperils the stability of its government and threatens to turn the conflict-ridden nation once again into a safe haven for traffickers and terrorists. To combat the drug trade, the U.S. government developed a counternarcotics strategy consisting of five pillars--alternative livelihoods, elimination and eradication, interdiction, law enforcement and justice, and public information. The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2005 directed GAO to examine the use of all fiscal year 2005 funds administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Department of State (State) for Afghan counternarcotics programs. To comply with this mandate, we examined progress under each counternarcotics pillar, challenges faced, and efforts to ensure that funds were used for intended purposes. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed pertinent USAID and State documents and met with cognizant U.S. and international officials in Washington, D.C., and Afghanistan. GAO makes no recommendations in this report. USAID, State, Department of Defense, and Department of Justice were provided a draft of this report, but did not provide formal comments."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In August 2006, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) substantially modified its passenger screening policies based on the alleged transatlantic bomb plot uncovered by British authorities. With the aim of closing security gaps revealed by the alleged plot, the revised policies severely restricted the amount of liquids, gels, and aerosols TSA allowed passengers to bring through the checkpoint. At the Committee's request, GAO tested whether security gaps exist in the passenger screening process. To perform this work, GAO attempted to (1) obtain the instructions and components needed to create devices that a terrorist might use to cause severe damage to an airplane and threaten the safety of passengers and (2) test whether GAO investigators could pass through airport security checkpoints undetected with all the components needed to create the devices. GAO conducted covert testing at a nonrepresentative selection of 19 airports across the country. After concluding its tests, GAO provided TSA with two timely briefings to help it take corrective action. In these briefings, GAO suggested that TSA consider several actions to improve its passenger screening program, including aspects of human capital, processes, and technology. GAO is currently performing …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We are pleased to assist the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch in monitoring progress on the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) project. Our remarks will focus on (1) the Architect of the Capitol's (AOC) construction progress and problems since the Subcommittee's September 21, 2006, hearing and their impact on the project's schedule; and (2) the project's expected cost at completion and funding situation. As part of this discussion, we will address a number of key challenges and risks that continue to face the project as well as actions AOC has recently taken, and plans or needs to take, to meet its currently scheduled completion date."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) established a voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit, which is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS relies extensively on contractors to help it carry out its basic mission. Congress appropriated to CMS $1 billion for start-up administrative costs to implement provisions of MMA. Because CMS had discretion on how to use the appropriation, Congress asked GAO to determine (1) how CMS used the $1 billion MMA appropriation, (2) whether CMS's contracting practices and related internal controls were adequate to avoid waste and to prevent or detect improper payments, and (3) whether payments to contractors were properly supported as a valid use of government funds. To address objectives two and three above, our review extended beyond contract amounts paid with MMA funds."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) maintains emergency response capabilities and assets to quickly respond to potential nuclear and radiological threats in the United States. These capabilities are primarily found at DOE's two key emergency response facilities--the Remote Sensing Laboratories at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. These capabilities took on increased significance after the attacks of September 11, 2001, because of heightened concern that terrorists may try to detonate a nuclear or radiological device in a major U.S. city. DOE is not the only federal agency responsible for addressing nuclear and radiological threats. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for preparing the country to prevent and respond to a potential nuclear or radiological attack. This testimony discusses (1) the benefits of using DOE's aerial background radiation surveys to enhance emergency response capabilities and (2) the physical security measures in place at DOE's two key emergency response facilities and whether they are consistent with DOE guidance. It is based on GAO's report on DOE's nuclear and radiological emergency response capabilities, issued in September 2006 (Combating Nuclear Terrorism: Federal Efforts to Respond to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is simultaneously conducting costly military operations and transforming its forces and business practices while it is also competing for resources in an increasingly constrained fiscal environment. As a result, GAO has advocated that DOD adopt a comprehensive threat or risk management approach as a framework for decision making. In its 2001 strategic plan, the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), DOD stated its intent to establish an approach--the risk management framework--to balance priorities against risk over time and monitor results against its strategic goals. GAO was asked to (1) assess the extent to which DOD has implemented the framework, including using it to make investment decisions, and (2) identify the most significant challenges DOD faces in implementing the framework, or a similar approach."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) significantly revised its in-house approach to managing and selling properties that become subject to foreclosure proceedings due to defaults by veterans on mortgages guaranteed by the department. VA contracted this function out to a private firm--Ocwen Financial Corporation (Ocwen)--after determining that doing so would increase the program's efficiency. VA oversees the Ocwen contract, which terminates in 2008, through onsite property inspections and other means. GAO was asked to (1) describe VA's inspection and other oversight findings and (2) evaluate VA's overall contract oversight program to determine whether any lessons can be learned prior to the implementation of the next contract in 2008. Among other steps, GAO reviewed VA inspection reports, accompanied VA staff on visits to three states, interviewed VA and Ocwen officials, and compared VA's procedures to those of other organizations that manage foreclosed properties."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is shepherding a portfolio of major weapon systems valued at about $1.3 trillion. How DOD is managing this investment has been a matter of concern for some time. Since 1990, GAO has designated DOD's weapon system acquisitions as a high-risk area for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. DOD has experienced cost overruns, missed deadlines, performance shortfalls, and persistent management problems. In light of the serious budget pressures facing the nation, such problems are especially troubling. GAO has issued hundreds of reports addressing broad-based issues, such as best practices, as well as reports focusing on individual acquisitions. These reports have included many recommendations. Congress asked GAO to testify on possible problems with and improvements to defense acquisition policy. In doing so, we highlight the risks of conducting business as usual and identify some of the solutions we have found in successful acquisition programs and organizations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "One of the U.S. National Drug Control Strategy's priorities is to disrupt the illicit drug market. To this end, the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security provide ships and aircraft to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs, primarily cocaine, shipped from South America through the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean--an area known as the transit zone. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) oversees the U.S. anti-drug strategy. The Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-South) directs most transit zone operations. We examined U.S. efforts to interdict maritime movements of cocaine. We analyzed the (1) changes in cocaine seizures and disruptions since calendar year 2000, (2) trends in interdiction assets provided since fiscal year 2000, (3) challenges to maintaining transit zone interdiction operations, and (4) performance measures the agencies use to assess their progress."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The electricity industry is in the midst of many changes, collectively referred to as restructuring, evolving from a highly regulated environment to one that places greater reliance on competition. This restructuring is occurring against a backdrop of constraints and challenges, including a shared responsibility for implementing and enforcing local, state, and federal laws affecting the electricity industry and an expected substantial increase in electricity demanded by consumers by 2025, requiring significant investment in new power plants and transmission lines. Furthermore, several recent incidents, including the largest blackout in U.S. history along the East Coast in 2003 and the energy crisis in California and other parts of the West in 2000 and 2001, have drawn attention to the need to examine the operation and direction of the industry. At Congress's request, this report summarizes results of previous GAO work on electricity restructuring, which was conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. In particular, this report provides information on (1) what the federal government has done to restructure the electricity industry and the wholesale markets that it oversees, (2) how electricity markets have changed since restructuring …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State is in the early stages of a proposed multibillion dollar program to build secure new embassies and consulates around the world. Under the proposed Capital Security Cost-Sharing Program, all agencies with staff assigned to overseas diplomatic missions would share in construction costs. This report describes (1) the rationale for and development of the program, (2) agency concerns about the program, and (3) the influence of the program on agencies' overseas staff levels."