A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Diversity visas provide an immigration opportunity to aliens from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Diversity visa applicants must apply online, be selected by lottery, be interviewed, and be determined to be eligible before obtaining a diversity visa. GAO was asked to review (1) the extent to which the Diversity Visa Program (DV program) is diversifying the U.S. immigrant pool, (2) areas of the DV program that are vulnerable to fraud, (3) whether there are security implications associated with these vulnerabilities, and (4) what steps the Department of State (State) has taken to address the vulnerabilities. We reviewed laws, regulations, and other documentation, and interviewed numerous State officials both at headquarters and in the field."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Nearly three decades after the last order for a new nuclear power reactor in the United States, electric power companies plan to submit 20 applications in the next 18 months to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for licenses to build and operate new reactors. Since 1989, NRC has developed a new license review process that allows a power company to obtain a construction permit and an operating license through a single combined license (COL) based on one of a number of standard reactor designs. NRC expects its new process to enhance the efficiency and predictability of its reviews. GAO reviewed NRC's readiness to evaluate these applications by examining the steps NRC has taken to (1) prepare its workforce and manage its workload and (2) develop its regulatory framework and review process for new reactor activities. GAO reviewed NRC documents for new reactor workforce staffing and training, examined NRC's guidance for the review of license applications, interviewed NRC managers and representatives of nearly all of the COL applicants, and observed NRC's public meetings."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For years, the U.S. government has participated at international air shows, such as those in Paris, France, and Farnborough, United Kingdom, with federal agencies renting exhibit space to present program information, displaying aircraft, or providing assistance to U.S. aerospace companies seeking to showcase their businesses. Hosted by aerospace industry associations and foreign governments, these shows present opportunities for business networking and often serve as forums for announcing billions of dollars in contract awards. While large U.S. aerospace companies are generally well represented at these shows, the ability of small and medium-sized companies to participate is unclear. On the basis of your interest in understanding U.S. government and company involvement at major international air shows, we (1) identified federal agencies' participation as well as their support to U.S. companies at these shows since 2000 and (2) determined what factors affect small and medium-sized U.S. companies' decisions to participate."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government widely uses magnetic tapes for data storage and data recovery. According to allegations made by a magnetic-tape company official, federal agencies are selling used magnetic tapes containing sensitive government data to companies which then resell them to the general public. While this is not an illegal practice, Congress is concerned that magnetic tapes containing sensitive government data have become available to the public in this manner. There is no general legal requirement that the government erase all data on all magnetic tapes before disposing of them. However, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued guidelines that instruct agencies to properly sanitize magnetic tapes with certain kinds of sensitive data before they leave agency control. In its guidelines, NIST defines sanitization as the general process of removing data from storage media, such that there is reasonable assurance that the data may not be easily retrieved and reconstructed."