Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project, focusing on: (1) federal assistance criteria for rural water projects and; (2) potential benefits of rural water projects such as Lewis and Clark."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the status of efforts by the Forest Service to develop a cohesive strategy to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires in national forests in the interior West."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Accurate cost information is crucial for proper program management. Such information is especially important for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Mining Law Administration Program (MLAP) because this program partially funded through mining fees that Congress has earmarked only for mining law administration operations. Some labor costs and several contracts and services were improperly charged to MLAP, causing other subactivities to benefit from funds intended for MLAP operations. Therefore, fewer funds have been available for actual MLAP operations. Although BLM has tried to make correcting adjustments for some of these improper charges, it has not established specific guidance or procedures to prevent improper charging of MLAP funds from recurring. Until additional procedures for MLAP are developed and effectively implemented, Congress and program managers can only place limited reliance on the accuracy of MLAP cost information."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 is one of the most recent in a series of efforts to reform the federal grants management system. The act seeks to improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal financial assistance programs; simplify application and reporting requirements; improve delivery of services to the public; and facilitate greater coordination among those responsible for delivering such services. GAO has a responsibility to evaluate the implementation of this Act by 2005 and will soon begin developing an approach and methodology for the study. This testimony describes the problems fostered by proliferation and fragmentation, which the Act addresses indirectly."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Customs Service's progress in addressing the year 2000 computing problem."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed federal information security, focusing on actions federal agencies can take immediately to strengthen their security programs as well as other actions required to make more fundamental and long-term improvements."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the: (1) impact of the year 2000 challenge on the nation's emergency and state and local law enforcement systems; and (2) Department of Justice (DOJ) and the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion efforts to facilitate remediation and contingency planning and to gauge the year 2000 readiness of these two important sectors."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), focusing on: (1) difficulties in developing WAAS; (2) actions FAA is taking to get the system on track; and (3) next steps for FAA to take to help mitigate future delays in implementing WAAS."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaint process for federal employees and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) role in protecting federal workers from unlawful employment discrimination, focusing on the: (1) rising number of new discrimination cases; (2) data shortcomings that hinder assessment of workplace conflicts; and (3) movement toward a systematic approach to dispute prevention."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the two reviews that it has completed pertaining to case service reporting (CSR) by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), focusing on: (1) what efforts LSC and its grantees have made to correct case reporting problems; and (2) whether these efforts are likely to resolve the case reporting problems that occurred in 1997."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recently, the Small Business Administration's (SBA) auditors withdrew their unqualified audit opinions on SBA's fiscal year 2000 and 2001 financial statements and issued disclaimers of opinion. The auditors also issued a disclaimer of opinion on SBA's fiscal year 2002 financial statements. This turn of events was primarily due to flaws in the way SBA accounted for its loan sales and for the remaining portfolio. There were also several other issues affecting SBA's fiscal year 2002 audit, including key internal control weaknesses and systems that did not substantially comply with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act. The information GAO presents in this testimony, which is discussed in greater detail in our January 2003 report, Small Business Administration: Accounting Anomalies and Limited Operational Data Make Results of Loan Sales Uncertain (GAO-03-87), is intended to assist Congress in assessing the current status of financial accountability at SBA."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the: (1) status of efforts by the Forest Service to become more accountable for what it accomplishes with appropriated funds; and (2) actions still needed for the agency to provide Congress and the public with a better understanding of its performance."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the management and program challenges facing the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its ongoing examination of the safety and efficacy of the anthrax vaccine, focusing on: (1) the short- and long-term safety of the vaccine; (2) the efficacy of the vaccine; and (3) problems the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found in the vaccine production facility in Michigan that could compromise the safety, efficacy, and quality of the vaccine."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the integration of services at one-stop centers provided under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, focusing on: (1) the status of states' efforts to implement WIA and the extent to which TANF services are integrated into the new workforce investment system; (2) the challenges states and localities have encountered in establishing their integrated systems under WIA; and (3) service delivery approaches that show promise in integrating and streamlining services in the one-stop centers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the key elements of partnerships between the federal government and the private sector, focusing on: (1) some of the weaknesses that are making it necessary for agencies to think strategically when managing buildings and facilities; and (2) the key elements and related experiences of the 6 federal partnerships that were created to meet these challenges."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "DOD is in the midst of a major transformation effort including a number of initiatives to transform its forces and improve its business operations. DOD's legislative initiative would provide for major changes in the civiliean and military human capital management, make major adjustments in the DOD acquisition process, affect DOD's organization structure, and change DOD's reporting requirements to Congress, among other things. DOD's proposed National Security Personnel System (NSPS) would provide for wide-ranging changes in DOD's civilian personnel pay and performance management, collective bargaining, rightsizing, and a variety of other human capital areas. The NSPS would enable DOD to develop and implement a consistent DOD-wide civilian personnel system. This testimony provides GAO's preliminary observations on aspects of DOD's legislative proposal to make changes to its civilian personnel system and poses critical questions that need to be considered."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security numbers (SSN), originally created in 1936 to track workers' earnings and eligibility for Social Security benefits is now used for many other purposes by both government and private sectors. The growth in electronic record keeping and the availability of information over the Internet, combined with the rise in identity theft, have heightened public concern about how their SSNs are being used. Federal agencies use SSNs to manage records, verify the eligibility of benefit applicants, collect outstanding debts, and do research and program evaluation. GAO found that federal laws designed to protect SSNs are not being followed consistently, Moreover, courts at all levels of government and offices at the state and county level maintain records that contain SSNs for the purpose of making these records available to the public. Recognizing that these SSNs may be misused, some government entities have taken steps to protect the SSNs from public display. At the same time, however, some government entities are considering making more public records available on the Intranet. Ease of access to electronically available files could encourage more information gathering from public records on a broader scale …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its review of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) strategies and operations in the 1990s, focusing on: (1) the major enforcement strategies, programs, initiatives, and approaches DEA has implemented in the 1990s to carry out its mission; and (2) whether DEA's strategic goals and objectives, programs and initiatives, and performance measures are consistent with the Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Drug Control Strategy."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, focusing on: (1) how much and for what purposes federal funding has been provided for the restoration of the South Florida ecosystem; and (2) how well the restoration effort is being coordinated and managed."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program, focusing on: (1) the Bureau of the Census' operational experience to date in implementing LUCA; and (2) local governments' views of the adequacy of local resources to conduct LUCA and of the quality of materials and assistance the Bureau has provided."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) and its planning activities under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, focusing on: (1) VETS' strategic plan for fiscal years (FY) 1999 through 2004; and (2) VETS' FY 2000 performance plan."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its fiscal year (FY) 1999 financial statement audit of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) management and oversight of the administrative funds associated with the Wildlife Restoration Program and the Sport Fish Restoration Program, focusing on: (1) recapping the results of GAO's July 20, 1999, testimony on the management and oversight of the Federal Aid Program; (2) options to improve the program's use of administrative funds; and (3) providing additional information related to the use of administrative funds identified in GAO's July 1999 testimony."