Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the October 2012 and the August 2013 versions of the U.S. Civil-Military Strategic Framework for Afghanistan have similarities, the two versions differ in several aspects. These differences reflect, among other things, the U.S. government's heightened emphasis on the transition, through the end of 2014, of security responsibility for Afghanistan to Afghan security institutions and the Afghan National Security Forces as well as the transition in U.S. policy toward a more traditional diplomatic and development model. Both versions of the framework address four categories of U.S. efforts in support of U.S. national goals in Afghanistan, with security, the first category, as the foundation for the other three categories, or "pillars"--governance, rule of law, and socioeconomic development. Both versions also address the same crosscutting issues. Differences between the two versions include the following:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2013, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) made mixed progress in achieving its acquisition goals to develop, test, and produce elements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). For the first time, MDA conducted an operational flight test that involved warfighters from several combatant commands using multiple BMDS elements simultaneously. The agency also successfully conducted several developmental flight tests that demonstrated key capabilities and modifications made to resolve prior production issues. However, the Aegis BMD and Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) continued to experience testing and development challenges."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Most lobbyists were able to provide documentation to demonstrate compliance with the disclosure requirements of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), as amended by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA). For lobbying disclosure reports (LD-2), GAO estimates that"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "CSP's activities, staff, and funding support strategic planning by individual CMS offices and centers as well as the agency itself. CMS officials told us that CSP assists individual offices and centers in developing strategic plans for their units, leads the agency's senior-level strategic planning meetings, and is helping to develop a centralized approach to monitor the implementation of CMS's agency-wide strategic plan. As of January 2013, CSP had 11 staff and it had $1.9 million in funds obligated for fiscal year 2012. Staff size and funding for CSP's most recent fiscal year represent a decrease compared to prior years, in part because CSP's activities have been narrowed in scope since the office was established in 2010, according to CMS officials. GAO provided a draft of this report to HHS for comment. After its review, HHS indicated that it did not have any comments."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, DOD's Office of the Secretary of Defense directed the Navy to cancel its competitive solicitation for 21 civilian Mi-17s because Russian authorities told DOD in late 2010 that, in accordance with Russian law, they would sell the helicopters only through Rosoboronexport since they were intended for military end use. Specifically, in response to letters written by the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to DOD that it considered the Mi-17s to be military because they were for use by the Afghan Air Force, and therefore could be sold only through Rosoboronexport, the sole entity responsible for Russian military exports."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 requires that GAO annually (1) determine the extent to which lobbyists can demonstrate compliance with disclosure requirements, (2) identify any challenges that lobbyists report to compliance, and (3) describe the resources and authorities available to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (the Office), and the efforts the Office has made to improve its enforcement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 as amended (LDA). This is GAO's fourth report under the mandate. GAO reviewed a stratified random sample of 100 lobbying disclosure reports filed from the fourth quarter of calendar year 2009 through the third quarter of calendar year 2010. GAO also selected two random samples totaling 160 reports of federal political campaign contributions from year-end 2009 and midyear 2010. This methodology allowed GAO to generalize to the population of 55,282 disclosure reports with $5,000 or more in lobbying activity. GAO also met with officials from the Office regarding efforts to focus resources on lobbyists who fail to comply. GAO provided a draft of this report to the Attorney General for review and comment. …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission report recommended that the Army close Kansas and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plants and relocate certain munitions production-related functions from the Kansas and Lone Star Plants to Iowa and Milan (Tennessee) Army Ammunition Plants. As a result of the recommendations, the Army closed the Kansas and Lone Star Plants in 2009 and is in the process of relocating munitions production functions to the Iowa and Milan Plants. The 2005 BRAC recommendations must be completed by September 15, 2011. In addition, in February 2008, the U.S. Army Sustainment Command issued a request for proposals for operating and maintaining both the Iowa and Milan Plants. As part of the proposals, all offerors were to submit optimization plans for the optimum operation, maintenance, and utilization of the plants. In October 2008 the Army awarded a contract to American Ordnance for the operation and maintenance of the Iowa and Milan Plants at no direct cost to the government. Under the contract, American Ordnance will perform (among other things) security and maintenance for the facilities and will perform the actions identified in its Baseline Optimization …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA). This is GAO's third report in response to the LDA's requirement for GAO to annually (1) determine the extent to which lobbyists can demonstrate compliance with the LDA by providing support for information on their registrations and reports, (2) identify challenges and potential improvements to compliance for registered lobbyists, and (3) describe the efforts the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (the Office) has made to improve its enforcement of the LDA. GAO reviewed a random sample of 134 lobbying disclosure reports filed from the fourth quarter of calendar year 2008 through the third quarter of calendar year 2009. GAO also selected two random samples of federal political campaign contributions reports from year-end 2008 through midyear 2009. GAO sampled 100 reports listing contributions and 100 reports listing no contributions. This methodology allowed GAO to generalize to the population of 53,756 disclosure reports, 10,928 contributions reports, and 22,572 reports with no contributions. GAO also met with officials from the Office regarding efforts to focus resources on lobbyists who …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) military compensation package, which is a myriad of pays and benefits, is an important tool to attract and retain the number and quality of active duty servicemembers it needs to fulfill its mission. Compensation can be appropriate and adequate to attract and retain servicemembers when it is competitive with civilian compensation. However, comparisons between military and civilian compensation present both limitations and challenges. As we noted in 1986, exact compensation comparisons are not possible because no data exist which would allow an exact comparison of military and civilian personnel with the same levels of work experience. Also, nonmonetary considerations complicate military and civilian pay comparisons because their value cannot be quantified. Specifically, military service is unique in that the working conditions for active duty service carry the risk of death and injury during wartime and the potential for frequent, long deployments unlike most civilian jobs. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 required that we conduct a study comparing pay and benefits provided by law to members of the Armed Forces with that of comparably situated private-sector employees to assess how …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) of 2007 amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by doubling the frequency of lobbyists' reporting and increasing criminal and civil penalties. This is GAO's second report in response to the Act's requirement for GAO to annually (1) determine the extent to which lobbyists can demonstrate compliance with the Act by providing support for information on their registrations and reports, (2) describe challenges identified by lobbyists to complying with the Act, and (3) describe the resources and authorities available to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia's efforts to enforce the Act. For this report, GAO placed increased emphasis on written documentation to support disclosure reports. GAO reviewed a random sample of 100 lobbyist disclosure reports filed during the first three quarters of calendar year 2008. GAO also selected a random sample of 100 reports of federal political contributions, filed for the first time, for mid-calendar-year 2008. This methodology allowed GAO to generalize the sample results to the populations of 40,169 lobbying activity disclosure reports and 6,048 reports with contributions filed. GAO met with lobbyists regarding …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of Defense (DOD) and State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have relied extensively on contractors to support troops and civilian personnel and carry out reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. While recognizing the benefits of using contactors, GAO and others have noted the risks and challenges associated with relying on contractors. To help increase contractor oversight, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 directed DOD, State, and USAID to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan that identified a database to track information on contractor personnel and contracts performed in the two countries. In their July 2008 MOU, the agencies designated the Synchronized Pre-Deployment and Operational Tracker database (SPOT) as their system for tracking the required information. GAO's testimony addresses how contractor personnel and contract information can aid agencies in managing contracts and the status of SPOT's implementation. It is drawn from GAO's ongoing and prior contingency contracting work. This work involved meeting with agency officials, including those in Iraq, and reviewing agency documents. GAO obtained agency views on previously unreported information, which the agencies …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "n 2008, the cumulative cost growth in the Department of Defense's portfolio of 96 major defense acquisition programs was $296 billion and the average delay in delivering promised capabilities to the warfighter was 22 months. These poor outcomes mean that other critical defense and national priorities may go unfunded and that warfighters may go without the equipment they need to counter the changing threats that they face. GAO has examined extensively the issues in DOD's weapon system programs from the perspective of best practices in product development, and believes that significant improvements are possible. Because the ability to measure knowledge, processes, and outcomes is critical to achieving these improvements, GAO has used metrics to review the management and health of these programs from within the framework of best practices. This testimony discusses: 1) "knowledge metrics," used to determine how well programs manage technology, design, and manufacturing risks; 2) outcome metrics--concerning cost, schedule, and capability--that serve as "health indicators" of how well programs are being executed in terms of predicted outcomes; and 3) the prerequisites that GAO believes must be met in order for a program's plans and goals …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the potential viability of high speed rail in the United States. Federal and other decision makers have had a renewed interest in how high speed rail might fit into the national transportation system and address increasing mobility constraints on highways and at airports due to congestion. This testimony is based on our report issued March 19, 2009, entitled High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing Financial and Other Challenges and Establishing a Clear Federal Role. In preparing the report, we reviewed federal legislation; interviewed federal, state, local, and private sector officials, as well as U.S. project sponsors; and reviewed high speed rail development in France, Japan, and Spain. More detailed information on our scope and methodology appears in the March 19, 2009, report. We conducted our work in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. This statement focuses on (1) the factors affecting the economic viability of high speed rail projects, including difficulties in determining the economic viability of proposed projects; (2) the challenges in developing and financing high speed rail systems; and (3) the federal role in the potential development of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is in the process of implementing its new human capital system for managing civilian personnel--the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). Key components of NSPS include compensation, classification, and performance management. Implementation of NSPS could have far-reaching implications, not just for DOD, but for civil service reform across the federal government. As of February 2009, about 205,000 civilian employees were under NSPS. Based on GAO's prior work reviewing performance management in the public sector, GAO developed an initial list of safeguards that NSPS should include to ensure it is fair, effective, and credible. In 2008, Congress directed GAO to evaluate, among other things, the extent DOD implemented accountability mechanisms, including those in 5 U.S.C. section 9902(b)(7) and other internal safeguards in NSPS. This statement is based on GAO's September 2008 report, which determined (1) the extent to which DOD has implemented internal safeguards to ensure NSPS was fair, effective, and credible; and (2) how DOD civilians perceive NSPS and what actions DOD has taken to address these perceptions. For that report, GAO analyzed relevant documents and employee survey results; interviewed appropriate officials; and conducted …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our nation's wildland fire problems have worsened in the past decade. The Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and four agencies within the Department of the Interior (Interior) are responsible for managing fires on federal lands. Federal appropriations to these agencies for wildland fire management have more than doubled since the late 1990s, averaging $2.9 billion annually in recent years. Rising wildland fire costs have challenged the agencies to meet their land management responsibilities. This testimony, based on previous GAO reports, discusses (1) the budgetary and programmatic effects of the increasing cost of fire management activities and (2) steps the agencies could take to help contain wildland fire expenditures and steps they could take, and Congress could consider, to reduce the need to transfer funds from other programs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Funded at $8 billion to nearly $10 billion per year, the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) effort to develop and field a Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) is the largest research and development program in the Department of Defense (DOD). The program has been managed in 2-year increments, known as blocks. Block 2006, the second BMDS block, was completed in December 2007. By law, GAO annually assesses MDA's progress. This testimony is based on GAO's March 2008 report that addressed MDA's progress in (1) meeting Block 2006 goals for fielding assets, completing work within estimated cost, conducting tests, and demonstrating the performance of the overall system in the field, and (2) making managerial improvements to transparency, accountability, and oversight. GAO reviewed the assets fielded; contractor cost, schedule, and performance; and tests completed during 2007. GAO also reviewed pertinent sections of the U.S. Code, acquisition policy, and the charter of a new missile defense board."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is simultaneously implementing a number of force realignments that contribute to personnel growth at military installations throughout the United States. DOD plans to execute over 800 actions from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round, which entail relocating over 123,000 personnel. Concurrent with its BRAC 2005 actions, DOD is also implementing or planning to implement other extensive worldwide transformation initiatives, which include relocating about 50,000 soldiers primarily from Europe and Korea to the United States; transforming the Army's force structure from an organization based on divisions to more rapidly deployable, brigade-based units (known as Army modularity); and increasing its active duty end strength by 92,000, all of which will affect DOD's facilities infrastructure. These force realignments will result in dramatic growth at some DOD installations across the United States. Based on data provided by the services, the DOD Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) had identified, as of January 2008, 20 locations where expected growth as a result of force realignments in fiscal years 2006 through 2012 will adversely affect surrounding communities. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 mandated that …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. federal government has played an ever-increasing role in providing benefits to individuals injured as a result of exposure to harmful substances. Over the years, it has established several key compensation programs, including the Black Lung Program, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program (RECP), and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP), which GAO has reviewed in prior work. Most recently, the Congress introduced legislation to expand the benefits provided by the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. As these changes are considered, observations about other federal compensation programs may be useful. In that context, GAO's testimony today will focus on four federal compensation programs, including (1) the structure of the programs; (2) the cost of the programs through fiscal year 2004, including initial cost estimates and the actual costs of benefits paid, and administrative costs; and (3) the number of claims filed and factors that affect the length of time it takes to finalize claims and compensate eligible claimants. To address these issues, GAO relied on its 2005 report on four federal compensation programs. As part of that work, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "With health care spending increasing in the United States, you enacted legislation effective in 2004 establishing tax advantaged health savings accounts (HSA) to be coupled with high-deductible health insurance plans. HSA-eligible high-deductible health plans typically have lower premiums than traditional health plans and HSAs allow account holders to accumulate tax-free savings to pay for medical expenses. The novel structure of HSA-eligible plans coupled with HSAs has raised questions about who selects them and how they use the accounts. Proponents contend that the low premiums of HSA-eligible plans and the tax-free savings potential of HSAs appeal to many consumers, while the high deductibles encourage them to be more astute health care consumers. However, some critics are concerned that HSA-eligible plans may attract enrollees who seek lower premiums but lack the resources to contribute to an HSA, and wealthy enrollees who may seek to use the HSA primarily to accumulate tax-advantaged savings rather than pay for medical expenses. In a 2006 report, GAO described individuals' early experiences with HSA-eligible plans and HSAs and certain characteristics of HSA account holders. You asked us to update certain information from that report with …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On November 16, 2007, we issued our report on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) fiscal years 2007 and 2006 financial statements and on SEC's internal control as of September 30, 2007. We also reported on the results of our tests of SEC's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations during fiscal year 2007. The purpose of this report is to present areas of SEC's internal controls identified during our fiscal year 2007 audit that could be improved. This report contains 14 recommendations to SEC to improve these internal controls and procedures. These recommendations are in addition to those we already provided to SEC as a result of our prior audits of SEC's financial statements."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Military physicians and other health care professionals are needed to support operational forces during war or other military conflicts and to maintain the well-being of the forces during nonoperational periods. These professionals also provide health care services to military retirees and dependents. The Department of Defense (DOD) acquires its health care professionals primarily through two programs--the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program and the Financial Assistance Program--with which it recruits and trains military health care providers who fill medical specialty positions. These programs offer participants reimbursement for tuition, books, fees, other education expenses, and a stipend, which is a fixed amount of money given to the participants on a monthly basis, in return for an active duty service obligation. Recruiting and retaining highly qualified health care professionals, however, is becoming more challenging for each of the military services. The added stresses of repeated deployments and the general perceptions of war, along with the potential for health care providers to earn significantly more money outside of DOD, have caused some professionals to choose to separate themselves from military service, even after DOD has paid for all or part of …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many of the approximately 100,000 people who did not evacuate before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005 lacked access to a vehicle. In the aftermath of the storm, questions were raised about how well federal, state, and local governments were prepared to evacuate such transportation-disadvantaged populations. Hurricane Katrina, which ultimately resulted in over 1,300 deaths, also demonstrated difficulties for evacuating hospital patients and nursing home residents and raised questions about the role of the federal government in assisting in such evacuations. While responding to disasters and managing evacuations is largely a state and local responsibility, the federal government can provide assistance when state and local governments are overwhelmed. The federal government also provides grants and technical assistance for disaster preparedness. In January 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the National Response Framework (NRF)--replacing the National Response Plan. Its annexes detail the roles and responsibilities of local, state, and federal agencies during emergencies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), within DHS, is the lead coordinating agency for federal emergency assistance. The NRF details the responsibilities of supporting federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOT), …

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document provides guidance to auditors and audit organizations in implementing the continuing professional education requirements prescribed by the 2003 revision of Government Auditing Standards."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1990, Congress established an investor visa category, referred to as EB-5, whereby immigrants are granted conditional residence and after 2 years, permanent residence status in the United States if they invest in a commercial enterprise that will benefit the U.S. economy and create at least 10 full-time jobs. The Basic Pilot Program Extension and Expansion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-156) mandates that GAO provide certain information regarding the EB-5 employment category. In response to the mandate, this report provides information on immigrant participation, including the number of participants, their countries of origin, and the number who sought U.S. citizenship. Also, this report includes information about the types of business established and where they were established."