Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight (open access)

Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As the United States reviews its plans to secure, stabilize, and rebuild Iraq, GAO has enclosed a series of issue papers for Congressional consideration in developing its oversight agenda for the 110th Congress and analyzing the President's revised strategy for Iraq. These papers are based on the continuing work of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the 67 Iraq-related reports and testimonies we have provided to the Congress since May 2003. Iraq has had three successful elections, adopted a constitution, and installed its first elected government. At the same time, since the initial ground offensive ended in 2003, the costs to secure and stabilize Iraq have grown substantially, as has the level of violence that afflicts Iraqi society. Such violence stems from an insurgency that has grown more complex and lethal over the past 3 and 1/2 years and the Sunni-Shi'a conflict, which escalated dramatically in 2006. This instability complicates meaningful political reconciliation among Iraq's religious and tribal groups, reduces the effectiveness of U.S. and Iraqi reconstruction and capacity-building efforts, and diminishes the hopes and expectations of an Iraqi people without adequate jobs, water, fuel, and …
Date: January 9, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
GAO Forum on Governance and Accountability: Challenges to Restore Public Confidence in U.S. Corporate Governance and Accountability Systems (open access)

GAO Forum on Governance and Accountability: Challenges to Restore Public Confidence in U.S. Corporate Governance and Accountability Systems

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On December 9, 2002, GAO convened a governance and accountability forum to discuss challenges facing regulators, the accounting profession, and boards of directors and management of public companies in effectively implementing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related regulatory actions to improve public confidence in U.S. corporate governance and accountability systems. Major accountability breakdowns recent years, exacerbated in the last 2 years by the unprecedented massive breakdowns and bankruptcy of Enron and WorldCom, have contributed to the decline in investor confidence in U.S. capital markets. The forum focused on the four interrelated areas of corporate governance, the financial reporting model, the accounting profession, and regulation and enforcement that the accountability breakdowns have surfaced as critical areas to be strengthened. Addressing these challenges will involve the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. In general, there must be the proper incentives, transparency, and accountability mechanisms in place to ensure the effectiveness of any system. As a result, these overarching principles were considered in connection with the issues discussed. Forum participants included individuals from federal and state government, the private sector, standards setting and oversight bodies, and a variety of …
Date: January 24, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Journal of Government Auditing, January 2000, Vol. 27, No. 1 (open access)

International Journal of Government Auditing, January 2000, Vol. 27, No. 1

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding: (1) issues concerning auditing in the new century as discussed at the 17th Commonwealth Auditors-General Conference held in Sun City, South Africa in October 1999; (2) efforts to encourage public health services, public works, and technical assistance at the Organization of African Supreme Audit Institutions' 8th General Assembly held in Burkina Faso in October 1999; (3) discussions held by the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions' 9th General Assembly in Paraguay; (4) an audit profile on Sierra Leone; and (5) activities within INTOSAI."
Date: January 1, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Education Research: Education Should Improve Assessments of R&D Centers, Regional Labs, and Comprehensive Centers (open access)

Education Research: Education Should Improve Assessments of R&D Centers, Regional Labs, and Comprehensive Centers

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Research and Development (R&D) Centers, Regional Labs, and Comprehensive Centers support the Department of Education's research agenda to various degrees. Because statutes define different missions and activities for these programs, the amount and focus of the research and other research-based activities they support varies. Education shapes the priorities that guide the research done by the R&D Centers and targets the technical assistance provided by the Comprehensive Centers through requirements in agreements with these entities. However, Education has little control over the activities of the Regional Labs because, unlike most federal education programs, neither federal nor state governments have oversight responsibility for their programs. The R&D Centers, Regional Labs, and Comprehensive Centers reported collaborating and coordinating with each other and Education and cited various factors that have either facilitated or hindered such activities. They said that they were most likely to engage in these activities when they shared a common interest in a specific student population, such as English language learners, or in a specific topic, such as assessment. Current evaluation practices for assessing the R&D Centers, Regional Labs, and Comprehensive Centers have provided only limited information …
Date: January 18, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Justice Department: Better Management Oversight and Internal Controls Needed to Ensure Accuracy of Terrorism-Related Statistics (open access)

Justice Department: Better Management Oversight and Internal Controls Needed to Ensure Accuracy of Terrorism-Related Statistics

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, the Department of Justice (DOJ) provides Congress and the public with an annual performance report. These reports serve as an important measure of DOJ's progress related to its strategic goals and objectives, including statistics on its Fiscal Year 2000 Performance Report. We were asked to review the accuracy of DOJ's terrorism-related conviction statistics. Among other objectives, in this report we (1) identify how DOJ develops its terrorism-related conviction statistics and (2) assess whether DOJ has sufficient management oversight and internal controls in place to ensure the accuracy of terrorism-related statistics included in its annual performance reports."
Date: January 17, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Wildland Fire Management: Lack of a Cohesive Strategy Hinders Agencies' Cost-Containment Efforts (open access)

Wildland Fire Management: Lack of a Cohesive Strategy Hinders Agencies' Cost-Containment Efforts

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past two decades, the number of acres burned by wildland fires has increased, often threatening human lives, property, and ecosystems. The cost of responding to wildland fires has also grown, especially as more homes are built in or near wildlands, an area called the wildland-urban interface. Past management practices, including a concerted federal policy in the 20th century of suppressing fires to protect communities and ecosystems, unintentionally resulted in steady accumulation of dense vegetation that can fuel large, intense, and often costly wildland fires. GAO was asked to identify actions that federal wildland fire agencies need to take to help contain federal wildland fire expenditures. GAO has identified these actions in three of its reports addressing fuel reduction and cost-sharing efforts and as part of an ongoing review of federal agencies' efforts to contain wildland fire preparedness and suppression costs for this committee. Specifically, GAO focused on examining agencies' efforts to (1) reduce accumulated fuels and address wildland fire problems, (2) share with nonfederal entities the costs of responding to multijurisdictional fires, and (3) contain the costs of preparing for and responding to wildland fires."
Date: January 30, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Immigration Benefit Fraud: Focused Approach Is Needed to Address Problems (open access)

Immigration Benefit Fraud: Focused Approach Is Needed to Address Problems

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials believe that some aliens are using the benefit application process to carry out illegal activities, such as crimes of violence, narcotics trafficking, and terrorism. The extent of immigration benefit fraud is unknown, but INS officials and others believe that this problem will increase as smugglers and other criminal enterprises use fraud to bring illegal aliens, including criminals, into the United States. INS investigative units in both the service centers and the district offices investigate possible benefit fraud on the basis of information they receive from staff who process benefit applications, other INS units, the public, and law enforcement agencies. Providing immigration benefits in a timely manner may conflict with the goal of preserving the integrity of the legal immigration system. Although INS recognizes the need to balance these competing goals, it has not always succeeded. INS has several performance measures in place to gauge the results of its benefit fraud enforcement activities. However, INS has not established outcome-based performance measures to assess the results of fraud activities. Additionally, INS has not established goals or measurement criteria for the service center …
Date: January 31, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiary Access to Physician Services: Trends in Utilization of Services, 2000 to 2002 (open access)

Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiary Access to Physician Services: Trends in Utilization of Services, 2000 to 2002

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the 1990s, several reforms to Medicare physician fees were implemented to help control spending growth in the traditional Medicare program, known as fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare. Concerns were raised that these reforms might have a negative impact on Medicare beneficiaries' access to physician services, but at the end of the decade, there was little or no evidence of nationwide access problems. In 2002, access concerns were again raised when Medicare physician fees were reduced 5.4 percent. Some policymakers have questioned whether access to physician services may have diminished either nationwide, in certain geographic areas, or for certain beneficiaries needing high-cost services. In October 2003, we briefed the Senate Finance Committee on trends from 2000 to 2002 in (1) Medicare beneficiaries' use of physician services, an indicator of access to these services, and (2) physicians' decisions to "accept assignment," that is, accept Medicare's fee as payment in full. This report addresses the same two objectives and expands on the information provided in our October 2003 briefing."
Date: January 12, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Los Alamos National Laboratory: Information on Security of Classified Data, Nuclear Material Controls, Nuclear and Worker Safety, and Project Management Weaknesses (open access)

Los Alamos National Laboratory: Information on Security of Classified Data, Nuclear Material Controls, Nuclear and Worker Safety, and Project Management Weaknesses

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which is operated by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is responsible for, among other things, designing nuclear weapons. Over the past decade, we have documented numerous security, safety, and project management weaknesses at NNSA's nuclear weapons complex, including LANL. In particular, LANL has experienced a series of high-profile security incidents that have drawn attention to the laboratory's inability to account for and control classified information and maintain a safe work environment. In July 2004, LANL's director declared a suspension--or stand-down--of laboratory operations to address immediate concerns, including the loss of classified computer disks. During the stand-down, laboratory teams identified more than 3,400 security and safety issues. As a result of systemic management concerns, and the fact that the laboratory contractor--the University of California--did not adequately address these problems, the Department of Energy (DOE) decided in 2003 to allow other organizations to compete for the management contract at LANL. The University of California, which had been the exclusive management and operating contractor since the 1940s, was replaced in June 2006 by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, (LANS). LANS is a consortium of …
Date: January 10, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

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)."
Date: January 23, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Convicted Sex Offenders: Factors That Could Affect the Successful Implementation of Driver's License-Related Processes to Encourage Registration and Enhance Monitoring (open access)

Convicted Sex Offenders: Factors That Could Affect the Successful Implementation of Driver's License-Related Processes to Encourage Registration and Enhance Monitoring

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To enhance public safety, all states have laws requiring convicted sex offenders to register with law enforcement authorities. Because ensuring compliance is a challenge, in part because offenders may move frequently, policy makers are considering a role for motor vehicle agencies. In response to section 636 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (the Walsh Act) and as discussed with congressional committees, this report identifies (1) the various driver's license-related processes that states are using to encourage registration or provide additional monitoring of convicted sex offenders; (2) the level of modifications to states' information technology (IT) capabilities that would be needed, and the key cost factors involved, if a federal law were to require the screening of individuals against the respective state's sex offender registry and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) National Sex Offender Registry before issuing a driver's license; and (3) other factors that could affect successful implementation of this type of screening program. To accomplish these objectives, GAO reviewed state statutes and surveyed motor vehicle and public safety agencies in 26 states. The 26 states reflect regional representation, among …
Date: January 30, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
High-Risk Series: An Update (open access)

High-Risk Series: An Update

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is the world's largest and most complex entity, with about $3 trillion in outlays in fiscal year 2008 funding a broad array of programs and operations. GAO's biennial reports on high-risk areas, done since 1990, are meant to bring focus to specific areas needing added attention. Areas are identified, in some cases, as high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. GAO also identifies high-risk areas needing broad-based transformation to address major economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. In this 2009 update for the 111th Congress, GAO presents the status of high-risk areas listed in 2007 and identifies new high-risk areas warranting attention by Congress and the executive branch. 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."
Date: January 22, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: Departmentwide Direction Is Needed for Implementation of the Anti-tamper Policy (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: Departmentwide Direction Is Needed for Implementation of the Anti-tamper Policy

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) invests billions of dollars on sophisticated weapon systems and technologies. These may be at risk of exploitation when exported, stolen, or lost during combat or routine missions. In an effort to minimize this risk, DOD developed an anti-tamper policy in 1999, calling for DOD components to implement anti-tamper techniques for critical technologies. In March 2004, GAO reported that program managers had difficulties implementing this policy, including identifying critical technologies. This follow-up report (1) describes recent actions DOD has taken to implement its anti-tamper policy and (2) identifies challenges facing program managers. GAO reviewed documentation on actions DOD has taken since 2004 to implement its anti-tamper policy, and interviewed officials from the Anti-Tamper Executive Agent's Office, the military services, other DOD components, and a cross-section of program offices."
Date: January 11, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Department of Homeland Security Needs to Fully Adopt a Knowledge-based Approach to Its Counter-MANPADS Development Program (open access)

The Department of Homeland Security Needs to Fully Adopt a Knowledge-based Approach to Its Counter-MANPADS Development Program

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In late 2002, terrorists fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli airliner departing from Mombasa, Kenya--the first time man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) had been used to attack commercial aircraft in a non-combat zone. Given concerns about the vulnerability of the commercial airline industry and the potential impact of an attack in the United States, the House Committee on Armed Services and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Aviation Subcommittee, requested that we conduct an assessment of the federal government's efforts to address the MANPADS threat against commercial aircraft, including its nature and extent; the Department of Defense's monitoring of Stinger missiles exported to other countries; and U.S. bilateral and multilateral efforts to address international MANPADS proliferation. After we began work on this assessment, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took steps to initiate a 2-year system development and demonstration program for a counter-MANPADS system and awarded the initial contracts in January 2004. On December 4, 2003, we briefed Congress on our views about DHS's approach to developing the system. This report summarizes that information and transmits the portion of the briefing related to DHS's counter-MANPADS development effort. …
Date: January 30, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Youth Illicit Drug Use Prevention: DARE Long-Term Evaluations and Federal Efforts to Identify Effective Programs (open access)

Youth Illicit Drug Use Prevention: DARE Long-Term Evaluations and Federal Efforts to Identify Effective Programs

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report contains information on (1) the results of evaluations on the long-term effectiveness of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (DARE) elementary school curriculum in preventing illicit drug use among children and (2) federal efforts to identify programs that are effective in preventing illicit drug use among children."
Date: January 15, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Proposed Revisions to OMB Circular A-76 (open access)

Proposed Revisions to OMB Circular A-76

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report contains GAO's assessment of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) efforts to revise OMB Circular A-76, which prescribes policies and procedures agencies must use when considering the transfer of commercial activities between the public and private sectors. The proposed revision was issued for public comment on November 19, 2002. GAO found the proposed revision consistent in many ways with the sourcing principles and recommendations adopted by the Commercial Activities Panel. There are several areas, however, where the proposed revisions to the Circular are not consistent with the principles or recommendations of the Commercial Activities Panel. Specifically, these include the absence of a link between sourcing policy and agency missions, unnecessarily complicated source selection procedures, certain unrealistic time frames, and insufficient guidance on calculating savings."
Date: January 16, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Inventory: Army Needs to Evaluate Impact of Recent Actions to Improve Demand Forecasts for Spare Parts (open access)

Defense Inventory: Army Needs to Evaluate Impact of Recent Actions to Improve Demand Forecasts for Spare Parts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1990, GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) inventory management as a high-risk area. It is critical that the military services effectively and efficiently manage DOD's secondary inventory to ensure that the warfighter is supplied with the right items at the right time and to maintain good stewardship over the billions of dollars invested in their inventory. GAO reviewed the Army's management of secondary inventory and determined (1) the extent to which on-hand and on-order secondary inventory reflected the amount needed to support current requirements and (2) causes for the Army having secondary inventory that exceeded current requirements or, conversely, for having inventory deficits. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed Army data on secondary inventory (spare parts such as aircraft and tank engines) from fiscal years 2004 through 2007."
Date: January 12, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bank Fees: Federal Banking Regulators Could Better Ensure That Consumers Have Required Disclosure Documents Prior to Opening Checking or Savings Accounts (open access)

Bank Fees: Federal Banking Regulators Could Better Ensure That Consumers Have Required Disclosure Documents Prior to Opening Checking or Savings Accounts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2006, consumers paid over $36 billion in fees associated with checking and savings accounts, raising questions about consumers' awareness of their accounts' terms and conditions. GAO was asked to review (1) trends in the types and amounts of checking and deposit account fees since 2000, (2) how federal banking regulators address such fees in their oversight of depository institutions, and (3) the extent that consumers are able to obtain account terms and conditions and disclosures of fees upon request prior to opening an account. GAO analyzed fee data from private data vendors, publicly available financial data, and information from federal regulators; reviewed federal laws and regulations; and used direct observation techniques at depository institutions nationwide."
Date: January 31, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Highway And Transit Investments: Options for Improving Information on Projects' Benefits and Costs and Increasing Accountability for Results (open access)

Highway And Transit Investments: Options for Improving Information on Projects' Benefits and Costs and Increasing Accountability for Results

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Mobility is critical to the nation's economy. Projections of future passenger and freight travel suggest that increased levels of investment may be needed to maintain the current levels of mobility provided by the nation's highway and transit systems. However, calls for greater investment in transportation come amid growing concerns about fiscal imbalances at all levels of the government. As a result, careful decisions will need to be made to ensure that transportation investments maximize the benefits of each federal dollar invested. In this report GAO identifies (1) the categories of benefits and costs that can be attributed to new highway and transit investments and the challenges in measuring them; (2) how state, local, and regional decision makers consider the benefits and costs of new highway and transit investments when comparing alternatives; (3) the extent to which investments meet their projected outcomes; and (4) options to improve the information available to decision makers. To address these objectives, we convened an expert panel, surveyed state departments of transportation and transit agencies, and conducted site visits to five metropolitan areas that had both a capacity-adding highway project and transit …
Date: January 24, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Trade: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Faces Challenges in Addressing Illegal Textile Transshipment (open access)

International Trade: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Faces Challenges in Addressing Illegal Textile Transshipment

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. policymakers and industry groups are concerned that some foreign textile and apparel imports are entering the United States fraudulently and displacing U.S. textile and apparel industry workers. Congress mandated GAO to assess U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) system for monitoring and enforcing textile transshipment and make recommendations for improvements, as needed. Therefore, GAO reviewed (1) how CBP identifies potential illegal textile transshipment, (2) how well CBP's textile review process works to prevent illegal textile transshipment, and (3) how effectively CBP uses its in-bond system to monitor foreign textiles transiting the United States."
Date: January 23, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Potential Questions to Elicit Nominees' Views on Agencies' Management Challenges (open access)

Potential Questions to Elicit Nominees' Views on Agencies' Management Challenges

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided a list of potential questions that Senate committees could use to help determine the leadership and management experiences and capabilities of nominees to leadership posts in major executive branch agencies. These questions cover a wide range of management-related issues in different organizations within each agency and, therefore, would not be relevant to all nominees. GAO suggests that these questions be used to prompt informal and formal discussions on management challenges."
Date: January 18, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare: Sponsors' Management of the Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Benefit (open access)

Medicare: Sponsors' Management of the Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Benefit

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) added a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program, which became effective January 1, 2006. To assist Medicare beneficiaries with their prescription drug costs until the new benefit became available, the MMA also required the establishment of a temporary program, the Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card and Transitional Assistance Program, which began in June 2004. The drug card program offers Medicare beneficiaries access to discounts off the retail price of prescription drugs at the point of sale. All Medicare beneficiaries, except those receiving Medicaid drug coverage, were eligible to enroll in the drug card program. Certain low-income beneficiaries without other drug coverage qualified for an additional benefit, a transitional assistance (TA) subsidy that can be applied toward the cost of drugs covered under the drug card program. Drug cards were offered and are managed by private organizations, known as drug card sponsors. General drug cards were available to all eligible beneficiaries living in a card's service area; there are both national and regional general cards. Exclusive and special endorsement drug cards were available to specific beneficiary groups. …
Date: January 13, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Issues Involving the Use of the Futures Markets to Invest in Commodity Indexes (open access)

Issues Involving the Use of the Futures Markets to Invest in Commodity Indexes

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Until mid-2008, prices for a broad range of physical commodities, from crude oil to crops such as wheat, had increased dramatically for several years--raising concerns and leading to a debate over the possible causes. Some market participants and observers have attributed the price increases to fundamental economic factors related to supply and demand. Others have suggested that the price increases resulted from speculation in the futures contracts by hedge funds and investors in commodity indexes. Like stock indexes, commodity indexes track the composite price of a basket of long futures positions in physical commodities. The indexes' investment strategy is passive, remaining the same regardless of whether prices are falling, rising, or flat. Two commonly referenced commodity indexes are the Standard & Poor's Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (S&P GSCI) and Dow Jones-American International Group Commodity Index (DJ-AIGCI), which are based on a broad range of physical commodities, including energy products, agricultural products, and metals. Since around the mid-2000s, pension plans, endowments, and other institutional investors increasingly have used investments in commodity indexes to obtain exposure to commodity prices as an asset class, typically to diversify their portfolios or hedge …
Date: January 30, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Personnel: Strategic Plan Needed to Address Army's Emerging Officer Accession and Retention Challenges (open access)

Military Personnel: Strategic Plan Needed to Address Army's Emerging Officer Accession and Retention Challenges

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Accessing and retaining high-quality officers in the current environment of increasing deployments and armed conflict may be two of the all volunteer force's greatest challenges. The military services use three programs to access officer candidates: (1) military academies, (2) the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), and (3) Officer Candidate Schools (OCS). In addition to accessing new officers, the services must retain enough experienced officers to meet current operational needs and the services' transformation initiatives. GAO was asked to assess the extent to which the services are accessing and retaining the officers required to meet their needs. GAO also identified steps that the Department of Defense (DOD) and the services have taken and the impediments they face in increasing officers' foreign language proficiency. For this report, GAO examined actual accession and retention rates for officers in fiscal years (FYs) 2001, 2003, and 2005 as well as projections for later years. Also, GAO reviewed documents on foreign language training and plans."
Date: January 19, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library