A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Travel documents are often used fraudulently in attempts to enter the United States. The integrity of U.S. passports and visas depends on the combination of well-designed security features and solid issuance and inspection processes. GAO was asked to examine (1) the features of U.S. passports and visas and how information on the features is shared; (2) the integrity of the issuance process for these documents; and (3) how these documents are inspected at U.S. ports of entry. We reviewed documents such as studies, alerts, and training materials. We met with officials from the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, and U.S. Government Printing Office, and with officials at seven passport offices, nine U.S. ports of entry, two U.S. consulates in Mexico, and two Border Crossing Card production facilities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's critical infrastructure sectors--such as public health, energy, water, and transportation--rely on computerized information and systems to provide services to the public. To fulfill the requirement for a comprehensive plan, including cyber aspects, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a national plan in June 2006 for the sectors to use as a road map to enhance the protection of critical infrastructure. Lead federal agencies, referred to as sector-specific agencies, are responsible for coordinating critical infrastructure protection efforts, such as the development of plans that are specific to each sector. In this context, GAO was asked to determine if these sector-specific plans address key aspects of cyber security, including cyber assets, key vulnerabilities, vulnerability reduction efforts, and recovery plans. To accomplish this, GAO analyzed each sector-specific plan against criteria that were developed on the basis of DHS guidance."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1995, GAO first designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) business systems modernization program as "high-risk," and continues to do so today. In 2004, Congress passed legislation reflecting prior GAO recommendations that DOD adopt a corporate approach to information technology (IT) business systems investment management, including tiered accountability for business systems at the department and component levels. To support GAO's legislative mandate to review DOD's efforts, GAO assessed whether the investment management approach of one of DOD's components--the Department of the Navy--is consistent with leading investment management best practices. In doing so, GAO applied its IT Investment Management (ITIM) framework and associated methodology, focusing on the stages related to the investment management provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. and international experts raised concerns that unsecured radiological sources were vulnerable to theft and posed a significant security threat to the United States and the international community. Radioactive material is encapsulated or sealed in metal to prevent its dispersal and is commonly called a sealed radiological source. Sealed radiological sources are used worldwide for many legitimate purposes, such as medical, industrial, and agricultural applications. However, the total number of these sources in use worldwide is unknown because many countries do not systematically account for them. It is estimated that thousands of these sources have been lost, stolen, or abandoned--commonly referred to as orphan sources. If certain types of these sources were obtained by terrorists, they could be used to produce a simple and crude, but potentially dangerous, weapon--known as a radiological dispersion device, or dirty bomb. In 2001, a congressional report directed DOE to use a portion of its fiscal year 2002 supplemental appropriation to address the threat posed by dirty bombs. In response to the congressional requirement, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) established the Radiological …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Sentinel program is intended to replace and expand on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) failed Virtual Case File (VCF) project and thereby meet the bureau's pressing need for a modern, automated capability to support its field agents and intelligence analysts' investigative case management and information sharing requirements. Because of the FBI's experience with VCF and the importance of Sentinel to the bureau's mission operations, GAO was asked to conduct a series of reviews on the FBI's management of Sentinel. This review focuses on the FBI's (1) use of effective practices for acquiring Sentinel and (2) basis for reliably estimating Sentinel's schedule and costs. To address its objectives, GAO researched relevant best practices, reviewed FBI policies and procedures, program plans and other program documents, and interviewed appropriate program officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress authorized the Mentor-Protege Program to boost the participation of small disadvantaged businesses as subcontractors and suppliers under Department of Defense (DOD) and other contracts. The program provides incentives to major defense contractors (mentors) to help small disadvantaged businesses (proteges) strengthen their ability to compete for contracts. GAO administered a Web-based survey to determine whether former proteges believe the program enhanced their business development; examined the accuracy of the Mentor-Protege Program Office's annual reporting to Congress; determined whether DOD reported on the progress of former proteges and their contributions to small business goals; and, identified how program funds have been obligated and used."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal officials, Congress, and the public have long voiced concerns about safety at the nation's nuclear weapons laboratories: Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia. The laboratories are overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), while contractors carry out the majority of the work. A recent change to oversight policy would result in NNSA's relying more on contractors' own management controls, including those for assuring safety. This report discusses (1) the recent history of safety problems at the laboratories and contributing factors, (2) steps taken to improve safety, and (3) challenges that remain to effective management and oversight of safety. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed almost 100 reports and investigations and interviewed key federal and laboratory officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "An outbreak of pandemic flu would require close cooperation between the public and private sectors to ensure the protection of our nation's critical infrastructure, such as drinking water and electricity. Because over 85 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, it is vital that both sectors effectively coordinate to successfully protect these assets. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for coordinating a national protection strategy and government and private sector councils have been created as a collaborating tool. GAO was asked to assess how the federal and private sectors are working together at a national level to protect the nation's critical infrastructure in the event of a pandemic, the challenges they face, and opportunities for addressing these challenges. GAO reviewed 5 of the 17 critical infrastructure sectors. These 5 sectors are energy (electricity), food and agriculture, telecommunications, transportation (highway and motor carrier), and water."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) created a voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit as part of the Medicare program, and appropriated up to $500 million for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to fund the start-up administrative costs in meeting its responsibilities to implement MMA. SSA was given a great deal of discretion in how to use the funds and the act provided little detail on how the funds were to be spent. You asked us to review SSA's costs for implementing MMA to determine (1) how the MMA funds were expended, (2) what procedures SSA has in place over the use of those funds, and (3) how SSA complied with those procedures related to contractor and vendor payments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program known as U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) to collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers, on certain foreign nationals who travel to the United States. By congressional mandate, DHS is to develop and submit an expenditure plan for US-VISIT that satisfies certain conditions, including being reviewed by GAO. GAO reviewed the plan to (1) determine if the plan satisfied these conditions, (2) follow up on certain recommendations related to the program, and (3) provide any other observations. To address the mandate, GAO assessed plans and related documentation against federal guidelines and industry standards and interviewed the appropriate DHS officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In light of the fact that Department of Defense (DOD) health care spending more than doubled from 2000 to 2005 and continues to escalate, DOD proposed increasing the share of health care costs paid by TRICARE beneficiaries, under a proposal known as Sustain the Benefit. DOD estimated that if the proposal had been implemented in fiscal year 2007, savings would amount to over $11 billion through fiscal year 2011. As required by the National Defense Authorization Act for 2007, GAO evaluated (1) the likelihood that DOD would achieve its estimated savings from the proposed enrollment fee and deductible increases for retirees and dependents under age 65, (2) the likelihood that DOD would achieve its estimated savings from the proposed pharmacy co-payment increases for all beneficiaries except active duty personnel, and (3) the factors identified by DOD as contributing to increased TRICARE spending from 2000 to 2005. To conduct its work, GAO examined DOD analyses and interviewed DOD officials. GAO also analyzed data on many aspects of health care costs in general and interviewed health economists."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For decades, the United States has tried to impede nuclear proliferation networks that provide equipment to nuclear weapons development programs in countries such as Pakistan and Iran. GAO was asked to examine U.S. efforts to counter nuclear proliferation networks, specifically the (1) status of U.S. efforts to strengthen multilateral controls, (2) impact of U.S. assistance to help other countries improve their legal and regulatory controls, and (3) impact of U.S. efforts to strengthen its enforcement activities. GAO's findings focused on seven countries where network activities reportedly occurred."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers programs that provide educational resources to veterans, service members, reservists, and eligible family members of veterans. Under an initiative that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) began in 1999, called The Education Expert System (TEES), VA is moving its education benefits claims processing systems to new technology platforms and replacing the current systems with a new system that is to add more automated processes and eliminate most human intervention. GAO was requested to (1) report on the results of TEES development to date and identify the remaining work to complete the project, (2) identify VBA's plans for completing and implementing TEES, and (3) assess the feasibility of developing and deploying TEES before the completion of VBA's Finance and Accounting System. To accomplish these objectives, GAO analyzed relevant documentation, interviewed program and project officials, and observed processing systems at VA regional offices."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 authorized up to $15 billion of allocation authority under the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) to stimulate investment in low-income communities. The act mandated that GAO report on the program to Congress by January 31, 2004, 2007, and 2010. Two subsequent laws authorized an additional $1 billion in NMTC authority for certain qualified investments and extended the program for 1 year with an additional $3.5 billion of authority. This report (1) describes the status of the NMTC program, (2) profiles NMTC program participants, (3) assesses the credit's effectiveness in attracting investment by participating investors, and (4) assesses IRS and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund compliance monitoring efforts. To conduct the analysis, GAO surveyed NMTC investors, conducted statistical analysis, and interviewed IRS and CDFI Fund officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Department of Defense's (DOD) TRICARE health program, hospitals that treat primarily children--designated by DOD as children's hospitals--are paid differently from other types of civilian hospitals through a children's hospital differential payment. Representatives of children's hospitals state that payments for children's hospital services do not fully recognize the higher complexity of children's hospital patients. Acknowledging concerns over payments for children's hospital services, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 directed GAO to study DOD's current system of payments to children's hospitals. This report examines (1) the effect of the differential on TRICARE's base payments to children's hospitals, (2) differences in diagnosis and complexity between TRICARE pediatric patients at children's hospitals and those at other hospitals, (3) the extent to which TRICARE payment differences across hospitals reflect differences in patient complexity, and (4) recent trends in TRICARE pediatric patients' use of children's hospital services. To do this, GAO analyzed pertinent TRICARE claims data for fiscal years 2003 through 2006 and interviewed relevant DOD officials and representatives of children's hospitals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) created a prescription drug benefit for beneficiaries, called Medicare Part D, beginning in January 2006. The MMA resulted in options for sponsors of employment-based prescription drug benefits, such as a federal subsidy payment--the retiree drug subsidy (RDS)--when sponsors provide benefits meeting certain MMA requirements to Medicare-eligible retirees. The MMA required GAO to conduct two studies on trends in employment-based retiree health coverage and the MMA options available to sponsors. The first study, Retiree Health Benefits: Options for Employment-Based Prescription Drug Benefits under the Medicare Modernization Act (GAO-05-205), was published February 14, 2005. In this second study, GAO determined which MMA prescription drug coverage options sponsors selected, the factors they considered in selecting these options, and the effect these decisions may have on the provision of employment-based health benefits for retirees. GAO identified options that sponsors selected using data from employer benefit surveys and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that administers Medicare. To obtain sponsors' views about the factors they considered and the effects of their decisions, GAO also interviewed …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), which created a Part D outpatient prescription drug benefit that enables Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in competing private drug coverage plans. The benefit also offers a subsidy administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to assist certain low-income Medicare beneficiaries with out-of-pocket costs. GAO was asked to review (1) SSA's progress in identifying and soliciting applications from individuals potentially eligible for the subsidy; (2) SSA's processes for making eligibility determinations, resolving appeals, and redetermining beneficiaries' eligibility; and (3) how the subsidy has affected SSA's workload and operations. To conduct this study, GAO reviewed the law, assessed subsidy data, and interviewed SSA and other officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns have been raised about the Department of Education's (Education) role in overseeing the lenders and schools that participate in the largest of the federal government's student loan programs, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). GAO was asked to analyze Education's use of its oversight, guidance, and enforcement authorities under FFELP. To do this, GAO reviewed departmental documents and federal laws, regulations, and cases and interviewed officials from Education and the student loan industry."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has been working to improve its personal property program since the mid-1990s to fix long-standing problems, such as excessive loss or damage to servicemembers' property and poor quality of service from moving companies. DOD plans to replace its current program with Families First, a program that promises to offer servicemembers an improved claims process and quality of service. GAO was mandated to (1) assess the steps DOD has taken to achieve the goals and benefits of the Families First program; (2) evaluate the growth in costs of the program, including the costs for a new information management system, since GAO's last assessment in 2003; and (3) assess the extent to which DOD faces management challenges--such as staffing--in implementing Families First. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed DOD's program, funding and staffing data, and interviewed personal property officials and stakeholders."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's audits and evaluations identify federal programs and operations that, in some cases, are high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. In recent years, GAO also has identified high-risk areas to focus on the need for broad-based transformations to address major economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. Since 1990, GAO has periodically reported on government operations it has designated as high risk. In this 2007 update for the 110th Congress, GAO presents the status of high-risk areas identified in 2005 and new high-risk areas warranting attention by Congress and the executive branch. Lasting solutions to high-risk problems offer the potential to save billions of dollars, dramatically improve service to the public, strengthen confidence and trust in the performance and accountability of the U.S. government, and ensure the ability of government to deliver on its promises."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The South Florida ecosystem covers about 18,000 square miles and is home to the Everglades, a national resource. Over the past 100 years, efforts to manage the flow of water through the ecosystem have jeopardized its health. In 2000, a strategy to restore the ecosystem was set; restoration was expected to take at least 40 years and cost $15.4 billion. The restoration comprises hundreds of projects, including 60 key projects known as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), to be undertaken by a partnership of federal, state, local, and tribal governments. Given the size and complexity of the restoration, GAO was asked to report on the (1) status of project implementation and expected benefits, (2) factors that determine project sequencing, (3) amount of funding provided for the effort and extent that costs have increased, and (4) primary mathematical models that guide the restoration."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina caused several breaches in the floodwalls along three drainage canals in New Orleans, contributing to catastrophic flooding. To restore the pre-Katrina level of hurricane-related flood protection, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) decided to acquire several large-capacity pumping systems. During the process of acquiring, testing, and installing the pumping systems, issues with the pump contract and operation of the pumping systems came to light, including several identified in a Corps Independent Team Report (ITR). GAO was asked to evaluate the Corps' efforts to (1) develop contract specifications and award the contract, (2) address pumping system performance issues, (3) document contract modifications, and (4) reconcile contract payments. GAO reviewed contract and testing documents, observed the operation of the pumping system, and interviewed officials from the Corps, its consultants and contractors, and the ITR team."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1995, GAO first designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) business systems modernization program as "high-risk" and continues to do so today. In 2004, Congress passed legislation reflecting prior GAO recommendations that DOD adopt a corporate approach to information technology (IT) business systems investment management including tiered accountability for business systems at the department and component levels. To support GAO's legislative mandate to review DOD's efforts, GAO assessed whether the investment management approach of one of DOD's components--the Department of the Air Force (Air Force)--is consistent with leading investment management best practices. In doing so, GAO applied its IT Investment Management (ITIM) framework and associated methodology, focusing on the stages related to the investment management provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces the nation's environmental laws through its Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA). OECA sets overall enforcement policies and through its 10 regions oversees state agencies authorized to implement environmental programs consistent with federal requirements. GAO was asked to (1) identify trends in federal resources to regions and states for enforcement between 1997 and 2006, and determine regions' and states' views on the adequacy of these resources; (2) determine EPA's progress in improving priority setting and enforcement planning with states; and (3) examine EPA's efforts to improve oversight of states' enforcement programs and identify additional actions EPA could take to ensure more consistent state performance and oversight. GAO examined information from all 10 regions and 10 authorized states, among other things."