A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From the passage of the homosexual conduct policy statute, in fiscal year 1994, through fiscal year 2003 the military services separated about 9,500 servicemembers for homosexual conduct. This represents about 0.40 percent of the 2.37 million members separated for all reasons during this period. Questions have been raised about the costs of separating servicemembers for homosexual conduct. Also, in the post-September 11th environment, there has been concern about the separation of servicemembers with critical occupations or important foreign language skills in, for example, Arabic. GAO was asked to determine (1) the military services' annual financial costs from fiscal year 1994 through fiscal year 2003 for certain activities associated with administering the Department of Defense's (DOD) policy on homosexual conduct--e.g., the recruitment and training of servicemembers to replace those separated under the homosexual conduct statute--and (2) the extent to which the policy has resulted in the separation of servicemembers with critical occupations and important foreign language skills. GAO provided DOD with a draft of this report for comment, and DOD provided additional information on separations for homosexual conduct compared with other unprogrammed separations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Education (Education) provides more than $2.5 billion annually to the states for a federal-state vocational rehabilitation (VR) program to help individuals with disabilities become employed. This program is among a large number of federal programs intended to assist people with disabilities. In 2003 GAO placed federal disability programs on its list of high-risk programs because many of these programs have not kept up with scientific advances and economic and social changes. GAO prepared this report under the Comptroller General's authority as part of an effort to assist policy makers in determining how federal disability programs could more effectively meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and addressed it to each committee of jurisdiction. In this report, GAO assesses the (1) extent to which state VR agencies assist individuals in achieving employment, and (2) performance measures and monitoring practices Education uses to manage this decentralized program and achieve legislative goals."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Department of State's (DOS) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by DOS are sufficient to help support Treasury and OMB's …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Numerous federal programs, policies, and activities are supported through the tax code. As described in statute, tax expenditures are reductions in tax liabilities that result from preferential provisions, such as tax exclusions, credits, and deductions. They result in revenue forgone. This report, done under the Comptroller General's authority, is part of an effort to assist Congress in reexamining and transforming the government to meet the many challenges and opportunities that we face in the 21st century. This report describes (1) how tax expenditures have changed over the past three decades in number, size, and in comparison to federal revenue, spending, and the economy, and (2) the amount of progress made since our 1994 recommendations to improve scrutiny of tax expenditures."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Department of Health and Human Services's (HHS) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by HHS are sufficient to help support …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Information Quality Act (IQA) required the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidelines for ensuring the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information disseminated by federal agencies. As part of our long-term examination of the quality of federal information, under the Comptroller General's authority, we reviewed how the act was implemented by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and assessed the transparency of the documentation supporting its Census of Agriculture. NASS is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation's (FCSIC) 2003 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by FCSIC are sufficient to help support Treasury and OMB's …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For many years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has been attempting to modernize its business systems, and GAO has made numerous recommendations to help it do so. To further assist DOD, Congress included provisions in the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 aimed at ensuring that DOD develop a well-defined business enterprise architecture and transition plan by September 30, 2005, as well as establish and implement effective structures and processes for managing information technology (IT) business system investments. In response to the act's mandate, GAO is reporting on DOD's compliance with requirements relating to DOD's architecture, transition plan, budgetary disclosure, and business system review and approval structures and processes. Given GAO's existing recommendations, it is not making additional recommendations at this time. In comments on a draft of this report, DOD recognized that GAO has been a constructive player in its business transformation efforts. While not specifically commenting on most of the report's findings and its conclusions, DOD also said that it disagreed with two points: the level of development for its "As Is" architecture and instances of nonintegration within the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2004, the Secretary of the Air Force approved a permanent waiver of the requirements of the Berry Amendment for 23 commercial derivative aircraft systems, representing more than 1,200 aircraft in the Air Force's inventory. The Berry Amendment generally requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to purchase certain domestically grown or produced items, including specialty metals used in defense systems such as aircraft. Waivers to the Berry Amendment can be granted under certain circumstances. GAO was asked to evaluate the supporting evidence and analysis that the Air Force relied on to waive the Berry Amendment. GAO did not conduct a legal analysis of the waiver."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has increased its efforts to plan for and respond to national emergencies, including acts of terrorism and natural disasters. Additionally, in August 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security announced that military and VA medical facilities were potential terrorist targets. In light of military casualties from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and continued threats of terrorist incidents, Congress asked us to review VA's medical support role in emergency preparedness. Specifically, we agreed to provide information on the following questions: (1) What is VA's role in providing medical support within the U.S. to military personnel in wartime and during national emergencies? (2) What actions has VA taken to improve its internal emergency preparedness to ensure that it is ready to maintain continuity of operations and provision of medical services to veterans? (3) What is VA's role in participating in emergency medical response measures with other federal, state, and local agencies?"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Dating back to 1997, numerous reports have highlighted the need for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to better control the growth in its Air Traffic Services operating costs, which account for about $6.5 billion or over 80 percent of FAA's total annual operating costs. In February 2004, FAA established the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) to take over its entire Air Traffic operations and established cost control as a major focus. GAO was asked to determine: (1) What is ATO's financial outlook for its operations? (2) To what extent is ATO taking actions to control its operating costs? (3) What are some options ATO should consider in developing its cost control strategy?"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Department of Defense's (DOD) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by DOD are sufficient to help support Treasury and OMB's …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Department of Education's (Education) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by Education are sufficient to help support Treasury and OMB's …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through an initiative known as AeDib, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is implementing a system in which medical images and other documents that have traditionally been kept in paper folders will be stored in electronic folders, enabling disability offices--including SSA's 144 Office of Hearings and Appeals sites and 54 state disability determination services--to process disability claims electronically. This initiative supports a program that, in 2004, made payments of approximately $113 billion to more than 14 million beneficiaries and their families. In March 2004, GAO recommended that SSA take steps to ensure the successful implementation of the electronic disability system. GAO was asked to assess SSA's status in implementing AeDib and the actions the agency has taken in response to GAO's prior recommendations on this initiative."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Department of Labor's (DOL) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by DOL are sufficient to help support Treasury and OMB's …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) assigned Federal Security Directors (FSD) to oversee security, including the screening of passengers and their baggage, at the nation's more than 440 commercial airports. FSDs must work closely with stakeholders to ensure that airports are adequately protected and prepared in the event of a terrorist attack. This report addresses (1) the roles and responsibilities of FSDs and the clarity of their authority relative to that of other airport stakeholders during security incidents, (2) the extent to which FSDs formed and facilitated partnerships with airport stakeholders, and (3) FSDs' views of key changes TSA made to better support or empower the FSD position."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relies extensively on computerized systems to support its financial and mission-related operations. As part of the audit of SEC's fiscal year 2004 financial statements, GAO assessed the effectiveness of the commission's information system controls in protecting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of its financial and sensitive information."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program--the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)--to collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers, on selected foreign nationals who travel to the United States. By congressional mandate, DHS is to develop and submit for approval an expenditure plan for US-VISIT that satisfies certain conditions, including being reviewed by GAO. Among other things, GAO was asked to determine whether the plan satisfied these conditions and to provide observations on the plan and DHS's program management."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Small Business Administration's (SBA) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by SBA are sufficient to help support Treasury and OMB's …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The number of financial attaches that the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) deploys overseas dropped from approximately 30 in 1981 to 7 at the beginning of fiscal year 2005. Treasury has traditionally used financial attaches to monitor and gather information on international economic and financial developments to help shape U.S. international economic policy and to promote U.S. national interests. These attaches are part of the U.S. mission overseas and are typically stationed in U.S. embassies in key countries. Since at least 1981, however, the number of financial attaches placed overseas has been declining in response to changing conditions. Due to congressional interest in these financial attaches, this report describes (1) the role of financial attaches and (2) the process Treasury uses to determine attache placement. In commenting on this report, Treasury considered our report to be fair and accurate. Both Treasury and the Department of State provided technical comments, which we incorporated where appropriate."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Social Security forms the foundation for our retirement income system, providing critical benefits to millions of Americans. However, the Social Security program is facing significant future financial challenges as a result of profound demographic changes. A wide variety of proposals to reform the program are currently being discussed, including restructuring the program to incorporate individual accounts. When designing a system with individual accounts, there are many options and issues to consider. The choices that have to be made will affect not only participation in the accounts, but also the amount of savings accumulated in the accounts, and the benefit received from the individual accounts. Congress asked GAO to discuss options for the administration of individual accounts, including the major design issues that are raised within the contribution, accumulation, and distribution phases of a retirement savings vehicle."

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 "The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (CARE Act) was enacted in 1990 to respond to the needs of individuals and families living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In fiscal year 2004, over $2 billion in funding was provided through the CARE Act, the majority of which was distributed through Title I grants to eligible metropolitan areas (EMA) and Title II grants to states, the District of Columbia, and territories. Titles I and II use formulas to distribute grants according to a jurisdiction's reported count of AIDS cases. Title II includes grants for state-administered AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP), which provide medications to HIV-infected individuals. GAO was asked to discuss the distribution of funding under the CARE Act. This testimony presents preliminary findings on (1) the impact of CARE Act provisions that distribute funds based upon the number of AIDS cases in metropolitan areas, (2) the impact of CARE Act provisions that limit annual funding decreases, (3) the potential shifts in funding among grantees if HIV case counts were incorporated with the AIDS cases that are currently used in funding formulas, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by NASA are sufficient to help support Treasury …