Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the lending activity of the National Credit Union Central Liquidity Facility (CLF), focusing on: (1) CLF's lending during October through December 1999; and (2) credit union borrowing from the discount window and the comparison between credit unions' cost of borrowing from CLF to the cost of alternative sources of liquidity."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the variation in Medicare home health use across states. Using home health claims for the first 6 months of 2001 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, GAO compiled statistics on home health users, home health visits, home health episodes, and the percentage of home health users with multiple episodes for each state. A home health episode, the basis for Medicare payment under the prospective payment system, is up to a 60-day period of care during which any number of visits may be provided."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Every year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not collect tens of billions of dollars in delinquent taxes. In 2004, Congress authorized IRS to use private collection agencies (PCA) to help collect some of these debts. To ensure that taxpayers are treated properly and that the program achieves the desired results, IRS contracted with a consulting company to perform a survey of right party contacts--those individuals who confirmed their identity and tax debt to PCAs over the telephone. The consulting company reported overall taxpayer satisfaction ratings from 94 to 96 percent for contacts made from November 2006 through February 2007. At the request of the Chairman, House Committee on Ways and Means, GAO attempted to obtain, for the period September 2006 through February 2007, the number of tax debt cases IRS referred to PCAs, right party contacts who were offered the taxpayer survey, and right party contacts who took the survey. GAO was also asked to report any other key observations related to the PCA program and taxpayer survey. To perform this work, GAO collected information and interviewed officials from IRS, the consulting group that administered the survey, …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) naturalization application processing, focusing on: (1) the disposition of naturalization cases from the Chicago District Office that were lost at the Nebraska Service Center in 1997 or 1998; and (2) determining if INS employee performance appraisals included a dimension pertaining to the courteousness with which staff provide service to customers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Value engineering (VE) is a recognized technique for reducing costs while maintaining or improving productivity and quality. The Department of Defense's (DOD) VE program consists of both government- and contractor-developed cost-reduction projects designed to reduce a system's life-cycle costs. In response to Congress' request, we agreed to provide information on (1) the role the VE program has played in supporting cost reduction in DOD weapons system programs and (2) the alternative measures program managers take to reduce costs and/or incentivize contractors."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO appeared before the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, House Committee on Armed Services on March 19, 2003, to discuss various sourcing and acquisition issues. This letter responds to a request for our views on the following questions for the record."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To avoid flooding in New Orleans after a rain storm, the city's Sewerage and Water Board pumps rainwater from the city into three drainage canals which then flow unrestricted into Lake Pontchartrain. While critical to prevent flooding from rainfall, these canals are vulnerable to storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain during a hurricane, and consequently are lined with floodwalls along both sides to protect storm surge from overtopping the canals and flooding the city. However, during Hurricane Katrina, several breaches occurred in the canal floodwalls allowing significant amounts of water to enter New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain. In its efforts to restore pre-Katrina levels of hurricane protection to New Orleans by the June 1st start of the 2006 hurricane season, in late 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) considered strengthening the drainage canal floodwalls but decided to postpone this effort due to cost and time constraints. Instead, the Corps decided to install three interim closure structures (gates) at the points where the canals meet the lake. These gates would be closed during major storm events to prevent storm surge from entering the canals and potentially breaching the …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Case processing times under the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) process have increased over time, and measures of servicemember satisfaction have shortcomings. Each year, average processing time for IDES cases has climbed, reaching 394 and 420 days for active and reserve component members in fiscal year 2011—well over established goals of 295 and 305 days, respectively. Also in fiscal year 2011, just 19 percent of active duty servicemembers and 18 percent of guard or reserve members completed the IDES process and received benefits within established goals, down from 32 and 37 percent one year prior. Of the four phases comprising IDES, the medical evaluation board phase increasingly fell short of timeliness goals and, within that phase, the time required for the military’s determination of fitness was especially troubling. During site visits to IDES locations, we consistently heard concerns about timeframes and resources for this phase of the process. With respect to servicemember satisfaction with the IDES process, GAO found shortcomings in how these data are collected and reported, such as unduly limiting who is eligible to receive a survey and computing average satisfaction scores in a manner that …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO commented on the proposed revision to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130 regarding the management of information resources in the federal government."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Few issues generate more attention and anxiety among American consumers than the price of gasoline. The most current upsurge in prices is no exception. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average retail price of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States has increased almost every week this year since January 29th and reached an all-time high of $3.21 the week of May 21st. Over this time period, the price has increase $1.05 per gallon and added about $23 billion to consumers' total gasoline bill, or about $167 for each passenger car in the United States. Given the importance of gasoline for the nation's economy, it is essential to understand the market for gasoline and the factors that influence gasoline prices. In this context, this testimony addresses the following questions: (1) what key factors affect the prices of gasoline and (2) what effects have mergers had on market concentration and wholesale gasoline prices?"

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We are grateful to the Congress for providing us with the support and resources that have helped us in our quest to be a world-class professional services organization. We are proud of the work we accomplish as we continue to provide our congressional clients with professional, objective, fact-based, non-partisan, non-ideological, fair, balanced, and reliable information in a timely manner regarding how well government programs and policies are working and, when needed, recommendations to make government work better. We believe that investing in GAO produces a sound return and results in substantial benefits to the Congress and the American people. In the years ahead, our support to the Congress will likely prove even more critical because of the pressures created by our nation's current and projected budget deficit and long-term fiscal imbalance. These fiscal pressures will require the Congress to make tough choices regarding what the government should do, how it will do its work, who will help carry out its work in the future, and how government will be financed in the future. We summarized the larger challenges facing the federal government in our recently issued 21st Century …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to one report, at the end of 2006, about 92 million U.S. adults used the Internet on a typical day. As public use of the Internet grew from the mid-1990s onward, Internet access became a potential target for state and local taxation. In 1998, Congress imposed a moratorium temporarily preventing state and local governments from imposing new taxes on Internet access. Existing state and local taxes were grandfathered. In amending the moratorium in 2004, Congress required GAO to study its impact on state and local government revenues. The objectives of the resulting 2006 report were to determine the scope of the moratorium and its impact, if any, on state and local revenues. This testimony is based on that report (GAO-06-273)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the factors that complicate small businesses' efforts to comply with the tax laws and the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to provide better service to small businesses and self-employed taxpayers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) has been investigating Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a possible repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste. In February, the Secretary of Energy endorsed the Yucca Mountain site, and the President recommended that Congress approve the site. If the site is approved, DOE must apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for authorization to build a repository. If the site is not approved for a license application, or if NRC denies a construction license, the administration and Congress will have to consider other options. GAO concludes that DOE is unprepared to submit an acceptable license application to NRC within the statutory deadlines if the site is approved. On the basis of a reassessment done by DOE's managing contractor in September 2001, GAO believes that DOE would not have enough time to obtain a license from NRC and build and open the repository by 2010. DOE lacks a reliable estimate of when, and at what cost, a license application can be submitted or a repository can be opened."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Preventive health care services can extend lives and promote the well being of the nation's seniors. Medicare now covers 10 preventive services--three types of immunizations and seven types of screenings--and legislation has been introduced to cover additional services. However, not all beneficiaries avail themselves of Medicare's preventive services. Some may simply choose not to use them, but others may be unaware that these services are covered by Medicare. Although the use of Medicare preventive service is growing, it varies from service to service and by state, ethnic group, income, and level of education. To ensure that preventive services are delivered to those who need them, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sponsors activities to increase their use. CMS now funds interventions to increase the use of three services--breast cancer screening and immunizations against the flu and pneumonia--in each state. CMS also pays for interventions to increase use of services by minorities and low-income beneficiaries with low usage rates. CMS is evaluating the effectiveness of current efforts and expects to have the evaluation results later in 2002."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "At the federal level the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking to better protect human subjects in biomedical research by enhancing the visibility of its human subjects protection activities, improving its monitoring of compliance with relevant regulations by institutions and investigators, and strengthening enforcement of those regulations. HHS has also issued new guidance and is collecting information to improve oversight and monitoring at the institutional level. HHS activities directed at the investigator level consist largely of educational efforts to heighten investigators' awareness of and compliance with ethical policies and practices in conducting research. Overall, HHS' actions appear promising, but GAO has some concerns about the pace and scope of HHS' efforts to ensure the safety and protection of participants in clinical trials."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the potential need to consolidate homeless assistance programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), focusing on the: (1) different program requirements for HUD's four Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act programs--the Emergency Shelter Grants Program, the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter Plus Care Program, and the Section 8 Single-Room Occupancy Program; (2) coordination and administrative challenges that the four programs pose; and (3) actions that HUD has taken to overcome these challenges."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For federal fiscal year 2004, state and local child protective services staff determined that an estimated 872,000 children have been victims of abuse or neglect. Title IV-B subparts 1 and 2 authorize a wide array of child welfare services with some restrictions on states' use of funds. This testimony discusses: (1) how states used Title IV-B dollars to serve families under subparts 1 and 2; (2) the extent that federal oversight ensured state compliance with spending requirements under subpart 1; and (3) what the research said about the effectiveness of service states have provided to families using Title IV-B funds. This testimony was primarily based on a 2003 report (GAO-03-956)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report examines whether the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had significant problems with overpayments to its contractors. GAO did not find that NASA had a significant or systemic problem with overpayments or underpayments during fiscal year 2001. The controls that NASA put in place to prevent and detect payment errors appeared to be properly designed."

Congress established the Census Monitoring Board to observe and monitor all aspects of the preparation and implementation of the 2000 decennial census. After the completion of the 200 census, many thoughtful parties continue a sincere debate over the implementation of statistical adjustment as a means of increasing the accuracy of the census and for its use in redistricting and the allocation of government funds and services. On March 1, 2001, the Census Bureau's Executive Steering Committee overseeing the post-census evaluation phase, the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.), recommended against adjusting the count. Reasonable people, including leading statisticians, have reviewed the statistical adjustment methodology and have raised legitimate questions. This report attempts to put that methodology into perspective and add to what will be further debate and discussion on how all of us as shareholders can continue to work together to ensure the most accurate census possible.

Due one jacket Capt. H. K. Redway.

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a lease-purchase agreement between a country and an appraisal district is governed by section 292.001 or chapter 263 and section 272.001 of the Local Government Code (ID# 38711)

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a volunteer fire department may withdraw from the statewide volunteer fire fighters' pension system if the department does not intend to transfer its assets and liabilities from the pension system to another pension plan (ID# 38628)

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the holder of a special parking permit for the disabled is entitled to free parking in airport parking lots and garages (ID# 36957)