A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To help measure the quality of the 2000 Census and to possibly adjust for any errors, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) conducted the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.) program. However, after obligating around $207 million for A.C.E. and its predecessor program, Integrated Coverage Measurement (I.C.M.), from fiscal years 1996 through 2001, the Bureau did not use either program to adjust the census numbers. Concerned about the amount of money the Bureau spent on I.C.M. and A.C.E. programs and what was produced in return, the subcommittee asked us to review the objectives and results of the programs, the costs of consultants, and how best to track future coverage measurement activities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The key to a successful census is meticulous planning as it helps ensure greater cost-effectiveness. However, the 2000 and previous censuses have been marked by poor planning, which unnecessarily raised the costs and risks of those efforts. GAO was asked to (1) review the U.S. Census Bureau's (Bureau) current plans for 2010 and whether they might address shortcomings of the 2000 Census, (2) analyze the Bureau's cost estimates, and (3) review the rigor of the Bureau's 2010 planning process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is dramatically changing the way it purchases goods and services by relying more on judgment and initiative versus rigid rules for making purchasing decisions. Congress has enacted a series of reforms to help the government adapt to this environment. GAO was asked to assess strategies agencies are using to ensure that their acquisition workforces are receiving the training needed to operate in a changing business environment. In doing so, GAO looked at the General Services Administration (GSA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of Defense (DOD). GAO also looked at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because it is exempt from federal acquisition laws, giving it greater flexibility and discretion."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO summarized from available research what is known about adverse drug events (ADE), focusing on the: (1) different types and causes of ADEs; (2) evidence on the overall incidence and cost of ADEs in the United States; and (3) measures that have been proposed to reduce the number and severity of ADEs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "We evaluated fiscal year 2002 activity affecting distributors to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "We evaluated fiscal year 2002 activity affecting distributions to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "We evaluated fiscal year 2002 activity affecting distributions to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the appropriateness of a termination of a 1997 request by the Indian Health Services (IHS) for proposals to provide computed tomographic scanning services for the Blackfeet and Crow Service Units in Montana. GAO found no indication that IHS negotiated in bad faith. GAO's Office of Special Investigations had looked into the case in December 1998. GAO determined that the case was not within the scope of ongoing work and referred the case to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). A June 1999 report by the OIG concluded that the allegations were unwarranted."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) plays an important role in supporting the effective functioning of the Congress and its neighboring institutions. With a budget of $426 million, AOC is responsible for the maintenance, renovation, and new construction of all buildings and grounds within the Capitol Hill complex. GAO was mandated by the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2002, to conduct a comprehensive management review of AOC's operations to help identify improvements in strategic planning, organizational alignment, and strategic human capital management to help AOC better achieve its mission and to address long-standing program issues. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed AOC's legislative authority and internal documents, interviewed key AOC officials and senior managers, and conducted employee focus groups."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) plays an important role in supporting the effective functioning of Congress and its neighboring institutions. In January 2003, GAO conducted a comprehensive management review of AOC's operations and made 35 recommendations to help AOC establish a strategic management and accountability framework, improve its management infrastructure and internal control, and address longstanding concerns. In February 2003, the Conference Report mandated GAO to monitor progress being made on the implementation of the 35 management review recommendations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) program, focusing on: (1) the causes and effects of the contractor's delays in delivering acceptable trucks; and (2) the Army's actions to mitigate corrosion problems on FMTV trucks."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the status of the proposed alliances to be formed by the six largest U.S. airlines; (2) the potential beneficial and harmful effects on consumers; and (3) the authority of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to review these alliances and the status of their reviews."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Aviation experts believe that building runways is one key way to address airport capacity issues and prevent delays that can affect the entire U.S. economy, but runway projects are often controversial and time-consuming. GAO was asked to examine how much time airports spend completing runways, what challenges airports and other stakeholders experience during this process, and what airports and other stakeholders have done to address challenges related to runway projects. GAO analyzed the results of surveys from 30 airports on 32 runway projects and visited 5 airports in order to interview numerous runway project stakeholders. The Department of Transportation agreed with GAO's characterization of the challenges associated with building runways and some of the initiatives taken to address these challenges. They did express some concerns related to GAO's analysis of the time airports spent or estimated spending in developing runways, and suggested that GAO acknowledge additional FAA efforts to improve the runway process. We believe that our approach was a reasonable assessment of the amount of time taken to build runways; however, we clarified our discussion about the length of time. We also added information regarding …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over the years, the traveling public, flight attendants, and the medical community have raised questions about how airliner cabin air quality contributes to health effects, such as upper respiratory infections. Interest in cabin air quality grew in 2003 when a small number of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infections may have occurred on board aircraft serving areas that were experiencing outbreaks of the disease. In 2001, a National Research Council report on airliner cabin air quality and associated health effects recommended that additional research be done on the potential health effects of cabin air. GAO reviewed what is known about the health effects of cabin air, the status of actions recommended in the 2001 National Research Council report, and whether available technologies should be required to improve cabin air quality."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "When shipments of dangerous goods (hazardous chemical substances that could endanger public safety or the environment, such as flammable liquids or radioactive materials) are not properly packaged and labeled for air transport, they can pose significant threats because there is little room for error when something goes wrong in flight. To better understand the risks posed by improper ("undeclared") air shipments, we assessed what is known about their nature and frequency, what key mechanisms are in place to prevent their occurrence, and what the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Postal Service do to enforce federal regulations for shipping dangerous goods by air."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO investigated: (1) the Indian Health Service (IHS) award of Indian Health Professions Scholarships (graduate scholarships) pursuant to 25 U.S.C. section 1613a of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on mandatory country-of-origin labelling for beef and lamb, focusing on the potential: (1) compliance costs associated with mandatory country-of-origin labelling for fresh and processed beef and lamb; (2) enforcement costs associated with such a requirement; (3) trade issues associated with such a requirement; and (4) benefits of mandatory country-of-origin labelling."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is a best practices pamphlet discussing the highlights of the knowledge-based approach to improving weapons acquisition. It reviews the manufacturing processes through three phases, (1) technology development, (2) product development, and (3) production."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO studied several leading companies in the private sector that have made dramatic changes to their process for acquiring services. GAO found that these changes generally began with a corporate decision to pursue a more strategic approach to acquiring services--from developing a better picture of what the company was actually spending on services to developing new ways of doing business. The Defense Department (DOD), the government's largest purchaser of services, already has some elements in place that are essential to such a strategic approach, such as a commitment by top management to adopting best practices. However, DOD has yet to conduct a comprehensive analysis of its spending on services or thoroughly assess it's current structure, processes, and roles. DOD's size, the range and complexity of the services that it acquires, the capacity of its information and financial systems, and the unique requirements of the federal government are among the factors that DOD will need to consider as it tailors a strategic approach to its diverse needs."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "At the request of Congress, we have been examining ways the Department of Defense (DOD) can optimize its investment in weapons systems, drawing on lessons learned from the best, mostly commercial, product development efforts. Leading commercial firms we have studied have developed increasingly sophisticated products in less time and at lower cost. Key to their success is their knowledge-based approach to the acquisition of new products. A knowledge-based approach is supported by incentives that encourage realism and candor. This booklet highlights the result of our work to date."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the pricing of genetically modified seeds, focusing on the: (1) prices of Roundup Ready soybean seeds and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn seeds in the United States and Argentina; and (2) major reasons for the price differences, if any, between the two countries for these seeds."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2002, the federal government spent nearly $100 billion on capital investments intended to yield long-term benefits for its own operations. Interested in ensuring that good investment decisions are made, the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial Management, House Committee on Government Reform, asked GAO to evaluate agency experiences with the capital planning principles embodied in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Capital Programming Guide and GAO's Executive Guide on leading state, local, and private sector capital investment practices. This report examines selected agencies' implementation of this guidance and OMB's use of long-term capital planning data."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The D.C. Family Court Act (P.L. 107-114) mandated that GAO examine the performance of the D.C. Family Court. GAO addressed the following objectives: (1) What procedures were used to make judicial appointments to the Family Court and what effect did qualification requirements have on appointment timeframes? (2) How timely was the Family Court in meeting established timeframes for transferring and resolving abuse and neglect cases, and what impact did magistrate judges have on the workload of judges and other personnel? (3) What progress has the D.C. Courts made in procuring permanent space? And (4) What progress have the Superior Court and District agencies made in sharing data from their computer systems? To address these objectives, GAO analyzed court data on its timeliness in resolving cases, reviewed the Family Court Act, applicable District laws, and reports required by the act; reviewed documents regarding the Family Court's progress in acquiring permanent space and those related to sharing data from the computer systems of the Superior Court and the District; and interviewed relevant District, Superior Court, and Family Court officials. In commenting on this report, the Superior Court agreed …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The scope of work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has evolved since 1946 from a focus on communicable diseases, like malaria, to a wide and complex range of public health responsibilities. The agency's Office of the Director (OD) faces considerable management challenges to ensure that during public health crises the agency's nonemergency but important public health work continues apace. In 2002, the agency's OD began taking steps aimed at organizational change. GAO has observed elsewhere that major change management initiatives can take at least 5 to 7 years. In this report, GAO examined the extent to which organizational changes have helped balance OD's oversight of CDC's emergent and ongoing public health responsibilities. Specifically, GAO examined OD's (1) executive management structure, (2) approach to overseeing the agency's work, and (3) approach to setting the agency's priorities."