Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) federal crop insurance program, focusing on whether USDA: (1) has set adequate insurance rates to achieve the legislative requirement of actuarial soundness; (2) appropriately reimburses participating crop insurance companies for their administrative costs; (3) can deliver catastrophic crop insurance at less cost to the government than private insurance companies; and (4) has established methodologies in the revenue insurance plans that set sound premium rates."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Navy's decisions in the early 1970s and early 1980s to lease Sealift Tankers, Maritime Prepositioning Ships, and T-5 replacement tankers, and more recently, Chouest specialized support vessels, focusing on the: (1) basis and support for the Navy's decisions to lease rather than purchase these vessels; (2) concerns that surrounded the decisions; and (3) legislative and regulatory changes that have been implemented that will influence future lease versus purchase decisions."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on: (1) actions taken through the Defense Reform Initiative (DRI) management structure to facilitate achieving the program's objective; and (2) progress the Department of Defense (DOD) made in implementing individual reform initiatives."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO discussed the threat of corruption to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and Customs Service employees along the Southwest Border, focusing on: (1) the extent to which INS and the Customs Service have and comply with policies and procedures for ensuring employee integrity; (2) an identification and comparison of the Departments of Justice's and the Treasury's organizational structures, policies, and procedures for handling allegations of drug-related employee misconduct and whether the policies and procedures are followed; (3) an identification of the types of illegal drug-related activities in which INS and Customs employees on the Southwest Border have been convicted; and (4) the extent to which lessons learned from corruption cases closed in fiscal years 1992 through 1997 have led to changes in policies and procedures for preventing the drug-related corruption of INS and Customs employees."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the: (1) potential costs associated with the compliance and enforcement of a mandatory country-of-origin labeling requirement at the retail level for fresh produce; (2) potential trade issues associated with such a requirement; (3) potential impact of such a requirement on the ability of the federal government and the public to respond to outbreaks of illness caused by contaminated fresh produce; and (4) consumers' views of country-of-origin labeling."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the number of Haitian nationals who have applied and been approved for adjustment of their status to legal permanent residence."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed S.746, the Regulatory Improvement Act of 1999, focusing on: (1) the effectiveness of previous regulatory reform initiatives; (2) agencies' cost-benefit analysis practices and the trigger for the analytical requirements; (3) peer review of agencies' regulatory analyses; and (4) the transparency of the regulatory development and review process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) non-master file (NMF), which IRS established to process taxpayer accounts that cannot be processed on its master file, focusing on: (1) the basic differences between the master file and the NMF; (2) known problems that IRS and taxpayers have been experiencing with the NMF, including the sources of such problems; and (3) recent IRS proposals and actions intended to address these problems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO identified the water utility sector's vulnerability to year 2000 problems, focusing on: (1) the reported status of year 2000 readiness; and (2) activities being undertaken to address this issue."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) compliance with the requirements to maintain capacity and access for veterans with special disabilities, focusing on: (1) the accuracy of the conclusions in VA's fiscal year (FY) 1998 annual capacity report; and (2) challenges facing VA in managing its special disability programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO responded to congressional questions regarding GAO's testimony on the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint process for federal employees, focusing on: (1) whether minorities are placed in positions that are "dead end employment tracks;" (2) whether GAO studied the Navy's Pilot Dispute Resolution Program, which is used to resolve EEO complaints; (3) whether the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Comprehensive Enforcement Program will be able to measure progress towards its goal of eradicating discrimination in the federal workplace; and (4) the prerequisites to a successful alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the role of the Department of Energy's power marketing administrations (PMA), focusing on: (1) how federal legislation and major relevant court cases have, over time, directed the PMAs to give preference to particular customers in purchasing electricity; and (2) the role of preference in the PMAs' electricity sales in light of the restructuring of the electricity industry."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the potential tax benefit individuals could receive as a result of a health insurance tax deduction proposed in H.R. 2990, focusing on: (1) GAO's estimation of both the number of people who would potentially be eligible for a tax deduction under this proposal; and (2) the potential value of such a deduction."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed the status of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of the taxpayer protection and rights provisions in title III of its Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998; and (2) determined what, if any, tax administration or other concerns IRS has identified in implementing these provisions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Annually, over a billion tons of soil erodes from the nation's cropland, and thousands of other acres, including wetlands, are converted to new cropland. Soil erosion reduces the land's productivity and impairs water quality; drained wetlands reduce flood control. Under the 1985 Food Security Act, farmers risk losing federal farm payments if they do not apply conservation practices to reduce erosion or if they drain wetlands. Concerns about soil erosion and wetlands conversions continue, however, as do concerns about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service's implementation of these provisions. GAO reviewed field offices' and headquarters' implementation and enforcement of the 1985 act's conservation compliance provisions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent news articles in over 30 states describe the difficulty many parents have in accessing mental health services for their children, and some parents choose to place their children in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems in order to obtain the services they need. GAO was asked to determine: (1) the number and characteristics of children voluntarily placed in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to receive mental health services, (2) the factors that influence such placements, and (3) promising state and local practices that may reduce the need for child welfare and juvenile justice placements."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1998, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21St Century funded a series of highway safety programs. These safety programs, administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), increased funding to the states to improve highway safety through activities designed to encourage, among other things, the use of seat belts and child passenger seats and to prevent drinking and driving. The states implement these activities through a "performance-based" approach under which they establish highway safety goals and initiate projects to help reach those goals. NHTSA reviews the goals and provides oversight to the state highway safety programs. GAO was asked to provide trend data on highway safety, determine how much highway safety funding was provided and how the states used the funds, and review NHTSA's oversight of highway safety programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to certain requirements of the Haitain Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 that authorized certain Haitian nationals and their dependents to apply to adjust their status to legal permanent residence. Section 902(k) of the act requires the Comptroller General to report every 6 months on the number of Haitian nationals who have applied and been approved to adjust their status to legal permanent residence. The reports are to contain a breakdown of the number of Haitians who applied and the number who were approved as asylum applicants, parolees, children without parents, orphaned children, or abandoned children; or as the eligible dependents of these applicants, including spouses, children, and unmarried sons or daughters. Reports are to be provided until all applications have been finally adjudicated."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Critical infrastructure protection (CIP) activities that are called for in federal policy and law are intended to enhance the security of the cyber and physical public and private infrastructures that are essential to our nation's security, economic security, and public health and safety. As our reliance on these infrastructures increases, so do the potential threats and attacks that could disrupt critical systems and operations. Effective information-sharing partnerships between industry sectors and government can contribute to CIP efforts. Federal policy has encouraged the voluntary creation of Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) to facilitate the private sector's participation in CIP by serving as mechanisms for gathering and analyzing information and sharing it among the infrastructure sectors and between the private sector and government. This testimony discusses the management and operational structures used by ISACs, federal efforts to interact with and support the ISACs, and challenges to and successful practices for ISACs' establishment, operation, and partnerships with the federal government."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Discrimination in housing on the basis of race, sex, family status, and other grounds is illegal in the United States. Each year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) and related agencies carry out enforcement activities for several thousand complaints of housing discrimination. The timeliness and effectiveness of the enforcement process have been continuing concerns. GAO describes the stages and practices of the fair housing enforcement process, looks at recent trends, and identifies factors that may influence the length and thoroughness of the process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Fiscal Year 2003 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to assess whether general and flag officer authorizations were sufficient to meet all requirements. GAO's objectives were to determine whether DOD (1) fully disclosed the results of its study in its March 2003 report to Congress and explained the rationale for any recommendations, (2) used an established methodology to meet the objectives of its study, and (3) incorporated lessons learned from a GAO review of DOD's 1997 general and flag officer study. The 2003 act also directed DOD to review legislation affecting general and flag officer management. DOD included the results of its review in the March 2003 report, making several recommendations. GAO plans a separate review of these issues and recommendations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since fiscal year 1997, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has relied primarily on its 21 health care networks to allocate resources to its medical centers. VA headquarters also directly allocates some resources to the medical centers. In addition, medical centers collect resources from third-party insurance payments and other sources. VA provides general guidance to\ networks for resource allocation to medical centers, but permits variation in networks' allocation methodologies. Representatives from veterans groups and others have expressed concerns regarding resource allocations to medical centers in Network 9 (Nashville) known as the Mid South Healthcare Network. GAO was asked to report for fiscal year 2002 (1) the amount of resources medical centers in the network received and the source of those resources and (2) the basis on which medical centers in the network received these resources. GAO was also asked to supplement findings for fiscal year 2002 with information for fiscal years 1997 through 2003."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Serious concerns exist regarding the risk management practices and the federal oversight of the housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSE)--Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System (FHLBank System), which had combined obligations of $4.6 trillion as of year-end 2003. In 2003, Freddie Mac disclosed significant accounting irregularities. In 2004, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) cited Fannie Mae for accounting irregularities and earnings manipulation. Fannie Mae has to restate its financial statements for 2001-2004 and OFHEO has required the GSE to develop a capital restoration plan. Also in 2004, the FHLBanks of Chicago and Seattle entered into written agreements with their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), to implement changes to enhance their risk management. To assist Congress in its housing GSE oversight, this testimony provides information on GSEs' missions and risks, the current regulatory structure, and proposed regulatory reforms."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Strategic human capital is the centerpiece of agencies' efforts to transform into high-performing organizations poised to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Congress, recognizing that the federal human capital management systems designed in the past are outmoded, has provided agencies with exemptions from the old rules and new flexibilities to more strategically manage their workforce. Congress has already granted statutory exemptions and new authorities affecting more than 1.2 million civilian federal employees. The momentum is building to continue to reform the policies, processes, and systems that govern federal human capital management. Congress is interested in taking stock of how agencies have implemented the new flexibilities they have been granted, especially as it considers the future steps to be taken to achieve human capital reform. At the request of Congress, this statement provides an update of GAO's work on the progress agencies have made in implementing these flexibilities to better accomplish their missions and achieve their goals. In addition, it provides information on GAO's experiences with human capital reform and also highlights a set of consistent principles, criteria, and processes that can help to guide future reforms, whether …