Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Strong productivity gains in the U.S. economy hinge, in part, on transportation networks working efficiently. Continued development and efficient management of the nation's freight transportation system--especially highways and rail lines that connect international gateways and intermodal facilities to retailers, producers, and consumers--are important to sustaining the nation's competitive position in the global economy. However, the increasing congestion on the transportation system poses a threat to the efficient flow of the nation's goods and has strained the system in some locations. Moreover, recent growth in international trade has placed even greater pressures on ports, border crossings, and distribution hubs. Congestion delays that significantly constrain freight mobility in these areas could result in increased economic costs for the nation. The Federal Highway Administration has calculated that delays caused by highway bottlenecks cost the trucking industry alone more than $8 billion a year. Recognizing that freight congestion has been well-defined and studied, Congress asked us to research technologies and projects currently in place or in development that could improve freight mobility, including low-cost approaches. In doing our work, we learned that the National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) is currently conducting …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2002, destroying the terrorist threat and closing safe havens have been key national security goals. The United States has provided Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror, more than $10 billion in funds and assistance. Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas' (FATA) rugged terrain, poor economic conditions, low literacy, underdeveloped infrastructure, and unique legal structure, all add to the complexity of efforts to address the terrorist threat in the FATA. This testimony discusses the (1) progress of U.S. national security goals in the FATA, (2) status of U.S. efforts to develop a comprehensive plan, and (3) oversight of U.S. Coalition Support Funds (CSF) provided to Pakistan. The testimony is based on recent reports on the status of a comprehensive plan (GAO-08-622) and preliminary observations on the use and oversight of U.S. CSF (GAO-08-735R)."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is required by the Government Management Reform Act of 1994 to audit the Consolidated Financial Statements of the U.S. Government (CFS). Certain material weaknesses in financial reporting and other limitations on the scope of our work have continued to result in conditions that have prevented us from expressing an opinion on the federal government's accrual basis consolidated financial statements. To assist us in planning future audits, when we anticipate being able to eventually issue an opinion on the accrual basis consolidated financial statements, we have performed and plan to continue performing selected procedures on certain line items and other areas of interest. The purpose of these procedures is to obtain an understanding of selected federal agencies' accounting and reporting and the audit work being performed in these areas. This letter relates to the fiscal year 2006 accounts payable (A/P) line item. The federal government reported about $58 billion of A/P as of September 30, 2006. Certain federal agencies' auditors reported internal control deficiencies related to A/P. These weaknesses contributed to the CFS material weakness for "Liabilities and Commitments and Contingencies" reported in our …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On January 31, 2008, we testified before Congress' subcommittee at a hearing entitled, "Eliminating Agency Payment Errors." At the hearing, we discussed federal agencies' progress in addressing key requirements of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) and Section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, commonly known as the Recovery Auditing Act. Our review and testimony focused on (1) progress made in agencies' implementation and reporting under IPIA for fiscal year 2007, (2) remaining challenges with IPIA implementation, and (3) agencies' efforts to report recovery auditing information. This report responds to your March 13, 2008, request to provide answers to follow-up questions relating to our January 31, 2008, testimony. (1) What kinds of changes should be made to the Single Audit Act, which already requires recipients to have proper systems of internal control to ensure front-end compliance with Federal requirements that would assist in identification and reduction of improper payments? The FY 2007 Audit Report on the Consolidated Financial Statement indicates that the Federal government's inability to determine the extent to which improper payments occur is one of the major government-wide material …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Disposal of radioactive material continues to be highly controversial. To address part of the disposal problem, in 1980, Congress made the states responsible for disposing of most low-level radioactive waste (LLRW), and allowed them to form regional compacts and to restrict access to disposal facilities from noncompact states. LLRW is an inevitable by-product of nuclear power generation and includes debris and contaminated soils from the decommissioning and cleanup of nuclear facilities, as well as metal and other material exposed to radioactivity. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ranks LLRW according to hazard exposure--classes A, B, C, and greater-than-class C (GTCC). The states are responsible for the first three classes, and the Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for GTCC. Three facilities dispose of the nation's LLRW--in Utah, South Carolina, and Washington State. The testimony addresses (1) LLRW management in the United States and (2) LLRW management in other countries. It is substantially based on two GAO reports: a June 2004 report (GAO-04-604) and a March 2007, report (GAO-07-221) that examined these issues. To prepare this testimony, GAO relied on data from the two reports and updated information on current …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter responds to Congress' September 26, 2008, request that GAO address questions submitted for the record by Members of the Committee related to the September 11, 2008, hearing entitled The Next Generation Air Transportation System: Status and Issues."