Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed airport screeners' role in enforcing aviation security, focusing on: (1) the causes of screener performance problems in detecting threat objects; (2) the status of efforts being made by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address these causes; and (3) the screening practices in five other countries as compared with the United States."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As part of its business systems modernization program, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is acquiring a system known as the Custodial Accounting Project (CAP). In September 2000, Congress directed that IRS limit its spending on CAP until IRS provided a compelling business case for investing in this project and started managing CAP as an integrated part of the business systems modernization program. GAO found that IRS has satisfied both of these directives. However, its business case guidance does not explicitly specify cost-effectiveness analyses as a way to economically justify proposed investments and define when and how these analyses should be prepared. As a result, IRS runs the risk of spending time and money developing future business cases for proposed system solutions that, like CAP, cannot be adequately justified on the basis of costs and benefits alone."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia (D.C.) Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is responsible for protecting children at risk of abuse and neglect and ensuring that critical services are provided for them and their families. GAO was asked to discuss the extent to which CFSA has (1) met the requirements of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 and other selected performance criteria, (2) adopted and implemented child protection and foster care placement policies, and (3) enhanced its working relationship with the D.C. Family Court. To address these questions, GAO analyzed data in the District's automated child welfare information system, known as FACES; reviewed laws, regulations, and reports; examined case files; and interviewed officials."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Coast Guard's plans for modernizing its ships, aircraft, and other capital assets needed to carry out its missions, as well as the agency's plans and strategies to fund these needs, focusing on the Coast Guard's progress in: (1) justifying the Deepwater Capability Replacement Project and addressing GAO's concerns about its affordability; and (2) developing strategies and plans for funding its capital needs within a constrained fiscal environment."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its ongoing work and preliminary observations on the biological terrorist threat and some aspects of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) bioterrorism initiative, focusing on: (1) intelligence agencies' judgments about the threat of terrorism; (2) the importance and benefits of threat and risk assessments to provide a sound basis for targeting the nation's investments in combating terrorism; (3) preliminary observations from GAO's ongoing work on the science behind the biological and chemical terrorist threat, with some focus on biological agents; and (4) overall observations on public health initiatives that deal with a new national pharmaceutical stockpile and the basis for selecting items to research, produce, procure, and stockpile for civilian defense against terrorism."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the impact of federal requirements on local school districts, focusing on how some states may not be fully implementing the provisions of federal law that allow local school districts to submit consolidated plans for federal funding."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) funding for activities sponsored by the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial during fiscal years 1999 and 2000 and the sources of this funding."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Following the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, many servicemembers experienced health problems that they attributed to their military service in the Persian Gulf. However, a lack of servicemember health and deployment data hampered subsequent investigations into the nature and causes of these illnesses. Public Law 105-85, enacted in November 1997, required the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a system to assess the medical condition of service members before and after deployments. GAO reported on (1) the Army's and Air Force's compliance with DOD's force health protection and surveillance requirements for servicemembers deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Central Asia and Operation Joint Guardian (OJG) in Kosovo and (2) the status of DOD efforts to correct problems related to the accuracy and completeness of databases reflecting which servicemembers were deployed to certain locations. (Defense Health Care: Quality Assurance Process Needed to Improve Force Health Protection and Surveillance (GAO-03-1041, Sept. 19, 2003)) GAO was asked to testify on its findings regarding the Army's and Air Force's compliance with DOD's force health protection and surveillance policies. For its report, GAO reviewed records for statistical samples of active duty …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 required that GAO review the Department of Defense's (DOD) use of the authority to install telephone lines and any necessary telecommunications equipment in the homes of persons who provide voluntary services for the military. These volunteers, in addition to their other social service activities, provide a link between military units and the families of servicemembers deployed away from home. The legislation required us to submit the results of our review within 2 years after the department issued implementing regulations. The department issued its regulation in March 2002. This report discusses (1) the extent of the military services' use of the authority and (2) the internal controls that have been established to ensure equipment is used only for authorized purposes."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) new rule on milk in New England and other marketing areas. GAO noted that: (1) the rule consolidates the 31 federal milk marketing orders into 11 orders in compliance with the 1996 Farm Bill, which mandated that the federal milk marketing orders be consolidated into between 10 and 14 orders; (2) the rule also sets forth, among other changes, a replacement for the Class I price structure and replaces the basic formula price with a multiple component pricing system; and (3) AMS complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Commodity Credit Corporation's (CCC) Livestock Assistance Program (LAP). GAO noted that: (1) the rule would provide new terms and conditions for LAP authorized in the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1999; (2) in counties that have suffered a 40 percent or greater loss of normal grazing as a result of a natural disaster, LAP will provide emergency feed assistance for losses suffered by livestock producers in calendar year 1998; and (3) CCC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Defense's (DOD) payment problems and how recovery auditing is being used to identify and recover overpayments."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This correspondence discusses financial weaknesses reported in the Department of Education's fiscal year 1999 financial statement audit. A major area needing improvement involves internal controls, which provide the framework for the accomplishment of management objectives, accurate financial reporting, and compliance with laws and regulations. This lack of good internal controls puts Education at risk of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. Corrective actions undertaken by Education in response to the identified weaknesses indicate that it is making progress in working towards financial accountability. These corrective actions include purchasing a new general ledger system, acquiring a software tool to help automate the reconciliation process, improving computer controls, and establishing a process to transfer certain excess Federal Family Education Loan Program funds to the Treasury. The effectiveness of the corrective actions will be determined as part of the fiscal year 2000 financial statement audit."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia Appropriations Act of 2001 provided $250,000 for a contract to study and develop a plan to simplify the compensation systems, schedules, and work rules for DC government employees. The act placed several conditions on the appropriation, one of which was that GAO review the proposed solicitation for the contract to ensure that it adequately addressed all of the elements stipulated in the act. Government officials initially told GAO that they planned to apply the $250,000 payment to existing contracts that were being used in the District's independent effort to reform its classification and compensation systems--and therefore would not carry out the conditions that Congress had set for receipt of the funds. More recently, however, the officials said that they no longer plan to use the funds because doing so would delay the District's reform effort."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia has taken various steps to implement a performance management process, and Congress has continued to provide oversight to strengthen the District's ability to efficiently and effectively deliver results to its taxpayers. This testimony discusses GAO's (1) ongoing review of the District's fiscal year 2000 performance report; (2) report issued in April 2001 on the implementation of the District's new financial management system; and (3) report being issued in May 2001 on the District's decision not to use money that Congress provided to help simplify the District's compensation systems, schedules, and work rules. GAO found that although the fiscal year 2000 report more fully met statutory requirements than did the 1999 report, performance planning, measurement and reporting is still a work in progress in the District. The District continues to face significant challenges in its efforts to put in place a financial management framework that ensures timely and reliable data on the cost of the District's operations. Finally, the District no longer plans to use the $250,000 appropriated by Congress for reform of the District's classification and compensation systems because doing so would delay their …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Defense Security Service's (DSS) personnel security investigations, focusing on the: (1) completeness and timeliness of the agency's investigations; and (2) factors that contributed to the deficiencies GAO found."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) hazardous waste ombudsman was first established within the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response as a result of the 1984 amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Over time, EPA expanded the national ombudsman's jurisdiction to include Superfund and other hazardous waste programs managed by the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, and, by March 1996, EPA had designated ombudsmen in each of its 10 regional offices. Although the national ombudsman's activities ranged from providing information to investigating the merits of complaints, in recent years, the ombudsman played an increasingly prominent role through his investigations of citizen complaints. Pending legislation would reauthorize an office of the ombudsman within EPA. In November 2001, the EPA Administrator announced that the national ombudsman would be relocated from the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and would address concerns across the spectrum of EPA programs. Although there are no federal requirements or standards specific to the operation of ombudsman offices, several professional organizations have published standards of practice relevant to ombudsmen who deal with inquiries from …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on three selected research and development initiatives using the plasma arc technology to treat waste, focusing on comparing the characteristics of the largest of the Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives and both Navy shore and ship initiatives."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) farm loan programs, which are run by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). GAO (1) provides an overview of the financial condition of FSA's farm loan portfolio as of September 30, 2000 and (2) explains its decision to remove the farm programs from its high-risk list. GAO found that FSA had more than $16.6 billion in outstanding farm loans as of September 30, 2000; direct loans accounted for slightly more than half of this amount and guaranteed loans for slightly less than half. Of the $16.6 billion, about $2.1 billion was owed by borrowers who were delinquent on repaying their FSA loans. Most (87 percent) of the $2.1 billion was owed on direct farm loans. Although the total amount due on the problem loans remains high, this financial position reflects improvement in FSA's direct loan portfolio in recent years as well as a continuation of a relatively healthy guaranteed loan portfolio. In January 2001, GAO removed FSA's farm loan programs from its high-risk list. Several actions taken by Congress and USDA, many of which GAO recommended, have significantly improved the operation …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Farmers receive about $15 billion annually in federal payments to help produce major crops, such as corn, cotton, rice, and wheat. The Farm Program Payments Integrity Act of 1987 (1987 Act) limits payments to individuals and entities--such as corporations and partnerships--that are "actively engaged in farming." This testimony is based on GAO's report, Farm Program Payments: USDA Needs to Strengthen Regulations and Oversight to Better Ensure Recipients Do Not Circumvent Payment Limitations (GAO-04-407, April 30, 2004). Specifically, GAO (1) determined how well USDA's regulations limit payments and (2) assessed USDA's oversight of the 1987 Act."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed federal acquisition issues, focusing on: (1) the changing acquisition environment; (2) recent reform efforts; and (3) current and future challenges in this area."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "No government should waste its taxpayers' money, whether we are operating during a period of budget surpluses or deficits. Further, it is important for everyone to recognize that fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement are not victimless activities. Resources are not unlimited, and when they are diverted for inappropriate, illegal, inefficient, or ineffective purposes, both taxpayers and legitimate program beneficiaries are cheated. Both the Administration and the Congress have an obligation to safeguard benefits for those that deserve them and avoid abuse of taxpayer funds by preventing such diversions. Beyond preventing obvious abuse, government also has an obligation to modernize its priorities, practices, and processes so that it can meet the demands and needs of today's changing world. More broadly, the federal government must reexamine the entire range of policies and programs--entitlements, discretionary, and tax incentives--in the context of the 21st century."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a Congressional request that we provide information on expenditures of federal funds by several organizations and their affiliates--the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Population Council, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Advocates for Youth, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)--all of which are involved in health-related activities. Specifically, we identified (1) fiscal year 2001 expenditures of federal funds that supported the domestic health-related activities of the organizations, the federal agencies that provided the funds, and the congressional committees with jurisdiction over legislation authorizing or appropriating the federal funds, and (2) fiscal year 2001 expenditures of federal funds that supported the international health-related activities of the organizations, the federal agencies that provided the funds, and the congressional committees with jurisdiction over legislation authorizing or appropriating the federal funds. This information updates our November 13, 2001, report that provided expenditure information for fiscal years 1999 and 2000."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Association of Counties contends that rural roads do not receive the level of funding needed to make these roads safer. Rural local roads, which account for more than half of the 8.2 million miles of roadways in the United States, had the highest rate of fatalities per vehicle mile traveled of all types of roadways--over six times that of urban interstates. This report reviews federal highway funding on a state-by-state basis for fiscal years 1992 through 2000 by individual federal highway program and type of roadway. GAO found that about 59 percent of all federal highway funds available to states during fiscal years 1992 through 2000 were spent on urban roads; the rest went to rural roads. Although only about 40 percent of all vehicle miles were traveled on rural roads, about 60 percent of the traffic accident fatalities in 1999 took place on rural roads. The four largest federal highway aid programs that provided funding were the Surface Transportation, National Highway System, Interstate Maintenance, and Bridge Replacement Programs."