A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The House Committee on Armed Services report that accompanies the National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal year 2006 directs GAO to review results of the military disability evaluation system. In response to this mandate, GAO determined: (1) how current DOD policies and guidance for disability determinations compare for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and what policies are specific to reserve component members of the military; (2) what oversight and quality control mechanisms are in place at DOD and these three services of the military to ensure consistent and timely disability decisions for active and reserve component members; and (3) how disability decisions, ratings, and processing times compare for active and reserve component members of the Army, the largest branch of the service, and what factors might explain any differences."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the expenditures of one office of independent counsel and one office of special counsel for the 6 months ended September 30, 2005."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2004, as required by law, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began allowing all commercial airports to apply to use private screeners in lieu of federal screeners as part of its Screening Partnership Program (SPP). GAO's prior work found that airports and potential private screening contractors had concerns about the SPP, including whether they would be liable in the event of a terrorist attack and how roles and responsibilities would be divided among TSA airport staff and private screening contractors. This report addresses TSA's efforts to (1) provide liability protection to private screening contractors and airports and address other SPP stakeholder concerns; (2) achieve cost-savings through the SPP; and (3) establish performance goals and measures for the SPP."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, several high-profile drug safety cases raised concerns about the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ability to manage postmarket drug safety issues. In some cases there have been disagreements within FDA about how to address safety issues. In this report GAO (1) describes FDA's organizational structure and process for postmarket drug safety decision making, (2) assesses the effectiveness of FDA's postmarket drug safety decision-making process, and (3) assesses the steps FDA is taking to improve postmarket drug safety decision making. GAO conducted an organizational review and case studies of four drugs with safety issues: Arava, Baycol, Bextra, and Propulsid."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies face challenges to maintain suppliers capable of meeting current and future mission requirements. Changing security threats, rapidly evolving science and technology, and budget imbalances have created an uncertain acquisition environment. As DOD, Department of Homeland Security, and others seek to fundamentally transform operations, they are giving contractors increased program management responsibilities to develop requirements, design products, and select major system and subsystem contractors. At the same time, the government workforce that manages and oversees these purchases has decreased. An increasingly global and interconnected defense and commercial supplier base also poses significant acquisition challenges. To identify and discuss key supplier issues, GAO sponsored a 1-day forum in October 2005 where defense policy experts from federal agencies, defense industry, nonprofit organizations, and academia shared insights into the current supplier base environment. As agreed with the participants, GAO's goal was to engage in a dialog on a non-attribution basis to reach consensus on the top challenges facing agencies as they seek to manage the supplier base. This report provides highlights of the forum."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Approximately 23,000 nursing homes and intermediate care facilities for people with mental retardation (ICF-MR) receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. Media reports have cited examples of convicted sex offenders residing in long-term care facilities and, in some cases, allegedly abusing other residents. Given concerns about resident safety, GAO was asked to assess (1) the prevalence of sex offenders and others on parole for non-sex offenses living in long-term care facilities and the extent of any abuse they may have caused, (2) the legal requirements for notifying facilities and others when offenders are residents, and (3) the extent to which facilities have different supervision and separation requirements for offenders. GAO analyzed a national database for sex offenders and analyzed state databases in a sample of eight states for sex offenders and parolees."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's military installations and nuclear weapons production facilities have accumulated many types of waste and contamination over the years. The federal government estimated its environmental liability to clean up this waste at $249 billion in fiscal year 2004, representing the federal government's third largest reported liability. It represents a significant future outflow of funds at the same time as many other competing demands for federal dollars, but is currently not auditable. GAO was asked to address (1) the nature and extent of the government's environmental liabilities, (2) the extent to which Energy's and Defense's processes and controls were designed to estimate and report environmental liabilities in accordance with federal accounting standards, and (3) the nature and types of uncertainties that are currently not estimable but could affect the cost of cleanup."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO contracted with Clifton Gunderson LLP to audit the financial statements of the Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for fiscal years 2005 and 2004. Clifton Gunderson LLP found that (1) the financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) the Fund maintained effective internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding assets) and compliance with laws and regulations; and (3) there was no reportable noncompliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations it tested."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) relies on about 55 million paper-based files to adjudicate applications for immigration status and other benefits. Ensuring the currency and availability of these manual files, referred to as alien files, or A-Files, is a major challenge. To address this challenge, USCIS has initiated efforts, both long and near term, to automate the A-Files. The long-term effort is now being re-examined within the context of a larger USCIS organizational transformation initiative. In the near term, USCIS has begun a digitization program, which it estimates will cost about $190 million over an 8-year period to electronically scan existing paper files and store and share the scanned images. GAO was asked to determine whether USCIS was effectively managing its A-Files automation efforts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, some reports prepared by advocacy groups have raised issues concerning the adequacy of the Park Service's financial resources needed to effectively operate the park units. GAO was asked to identify (1) funding trends for Park Service operations and visitor fees for fiscal years 2001-2005; (2) specific funding trends for 12 selected high visitation park units and how, if at all, the funding trends have affected operations; and (3) recent management initiatives the Park Service has undertaken to address fiscal performance and accountability of park units."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Long-Term Care Security Act required the federal government to offer long-term care insurance to its employees, their families, and others. The act also required GAO to conduct a study of the competitiveness of the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, which began in 2002, compared with individual and group products generally available in the private market. GAO compared the federal program's benefits, premiums, enrollment rates, and enrollee characteristics with other products over a 3-year period. GAO also compared the federal program's early claims experience with initial expectations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a demanding responsibility enforcing securities laws, regulating the securities markets, and protecting investors. In enforcing these laws, SEC issues rules and regulations to provide protection for investors and to help ensure that the securities markets are fair and honest. It relies extensively on computerized systems to support its financial and mission-related operations. Information security controls affect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of sensitive information maintained by SEC. As part of the audit of SEC's fiscal year 2005 financial statements, GAO assessed (1) the status of SEC's actions to correct or mitigate previously reported information security weaknesses and (2) the effectiveness of the commission's information system controls in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its financial and sensitive information."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Wastewater facilities provide essential services to residential, commercial, and industrial users, yet they may possess certain characteristics that terrorists could exploit to impair the wastewater treatment process or to damage surrounding infrastructure. For example, large underground collector sewers could be accessed by terrorists for purposes of placing destructive devices beneath buildings or city streets. GAO was asked to determine (1) what federal statutory authorities and directives govern the protection of wastewater treatment facilities from terrorist attack, (2) what steps critical wastewater facilities have taken since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, (9/11) to ensure that potential vulnerabilities are addressed, and (3) what steps the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have taken to help these facilities in their efforts to address such vulnerabilities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides or pays for veterans' nursing home care in three settings: VA-operated nursing homes, privately owned nursing homes in the community from which VA purchases services, and state veterans' nursing homes. VA supports state veterans' nursing homes in a number of ways, including reimbursement for a portion of the cost of providing nursing home services to veterans, issuance of policy guidance, and oversight of their nursing home operations. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which VA collects information on veterans in state veterans' nursing homes and the type of care they receive, to assess whether VA's reimbursement policy has been applied consistently, and to identify revenue sources such homes use."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Act of 2002, an agency may request authority from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to offer employees voluntary separation incentive payments (buyouts) and voluntary early retirement (early outs) to help reshape its workforce. GAO was asked to identify (1) how many agencies have been granted authority to offer buyouts and early outs and how often agencies used them, (2) how agencies view OPM's role in facilitating the use of these tools, (3) how agencies have used practices associated with effective use of the tools, and (4) what challenges agencies identified, if any, to continued effective use. To respond, GAO reviewed the practices of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, and the Treasury because they were among the most frequent users of these authorities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the last 5 years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has doubled its planned investments in new weapon systems from about $700 billion in 2001 to nearly $1.4 trillion in 2006. While the weapons that DOD develops have no rival in superiority, weapon systems acquisition remains a long-standing high risk area. GAO's reviews over the past 30 years have found consistent problems with weapon acquisitions such as cost increases, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls. In addition, DOD faces several budgetary challenges that underscore the need to deliver its new weapon programs within estimated costs and to obtain the most from these investments. This report provides congressional and DOD decision makers with an independent, knowledge-based assessment of selected defense programs that identifies potential risks and needed actions when a program's projected attainment of knowledge diverges from the best practices. Programs for the assessments were selected based on several factors including, (1) high dollar value, (2) stage in acquisition, and (3) congressional interest. The majority of the 52 programs covered in this report are considered major defense acquisition programs by DOD. This report also highlights higher level issues …

Contains the BRAC Early Birds for March 2006

Final Vote Results for Roll Call

Executive Correspondence – General – BRAC Staff Appreciation Letters

Executive Correspondence – General – Thank You Letters

Executive Correspondence – General – House Committee on Armed Services – Review of 2005 BRAC Commission

BRAC Commission Material – Web Site – E-Library statistics and guidlines

BRAC Commission Material – DFO Memos

Contains the BRAC Early Birds - February 2006