A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the potential for duplicative weapons of mass destruction training, focusing on: (1) the principal federal organizations that provide weapons of mass destruction training to first responders; (2) whether the training is well coordinated among federal organizations; and (3) actions being taken to improve the federal government's role in weapons of mass destruction training."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony comments on legislation that would elevate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Cabinet status. Today, EPA's mission, size, and scope of responsibilities place it on a par with many Cabinet departments. The United States is the only major industrial power without a Cabinet-level environmental organization. It is important to consider that (1) environmental policy be given appropriate weight as it cuts across the domestic and foreign policies that other Cabinet departments implement and enforce and (2) the head of the agency is able to deal as an equal with his or her counterparts within the federal government as well as the international community. Conferring Cabinet status on EPA would not in itself change the federal environmental role or policies, but it would clearly have an important symbolic effect. Regardless of its status, however, EPA must respond more effectively to its fundamental management challenges. These challenges include (1) placing the right people with the appropriate skills where they are needed and (2) gaining access to high-quality environmental, natural, and social data on which to base environmental decisions. EPA must have the flexibility to use innovative approaches to …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2002, GAO reported on breakdowns in purchasing controls at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Alaskan Region that resulted in improper and wasteful purchases. Many of the weaknesses were associated with the use of government credit cards--referred to as purchase cards--and raised concerns that similar problems might exist FAA-wide. As a result, GAO was asked to determine whether FAA's purchase card controls reasonably ensured that purchases were proper, at a reasonable cost, and for valid government needs. GAO also assessed whether assets bought with purchase cards were being properly safeguarded and recorded."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the financial management issues facing the Department of Agriculture (USDA), focusing on problems in the areas of: (1) implementing the Federal Credit Reform Act (FCRA) of 1990 and related accounting standards; (2) reconciling its Fund Balance with Treasury accounts; (3) addressing weaknesses in the Forest Service's financial accounting and reporting; (4) correcting certain other material internal control weaknesses; and (5) complying with some key laws and regulations."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the U.S. government's disaster recovery and reconstruction program for countries that have been devastated by hurricanes. GAO found that the Agency for International Development (AID) and other U.S. agencies are using the disaster recovery assistance to bring about economic recovery, improve public health and access to education, provide permanent housing for displaced families, and improve disaster mitigation and preparedness. To achieve these broad objectives, AID is funding infrastructure construction and repair, technical assistance and training, loans for farmers and small businesses, and some commodities. After initial start-up problems, the U.S. disaster recovery and reconstruction program is proceeding, and most activities are scheduled for completion on or before December 31, 2001, as AID and congressional staff had informally agreed. To help ensure that funds are spent as intended, AID has channeled much of the disaster recovery assistance funding through cooperating partners with proven track records, contracted with management and financial services firms to handle disbursement to vulnerable partners, and hired contractors to monitor project quality. Although some activities have not gone as smoothly as planned, the missions have responded to concerns as they arose. The bottom …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "E-government refers to operations that enhance delivery of government information and services. Enterprise architectures provides for successful delivery of e-government applications, which in turn promise improved government performance and accountability. Under the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) leadership, the president's fiscal year 2003 budget proposes 24 e-government initiatives, most involving multiple agencies. These initiatives have laudable goals, including the elimination of redundant, nonintegrated business operations and systems which could save billions of dollars. The success of these initiatives depends in large part on whether they are pursued within the context of enterprise architectures. Approved architectures for most of these initiatives do not currently exist. OMB has been a proponent of enterprise architectures and has recently devoted increased attention to them. However, it can and should play a larger role. The maturity framework and benchmark data about 116 departments, component agencies, and independent agencies GAO reviews in this testimony provide important baseline information against which targeted improvement across the government can be defined and measured."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the benefits of increased federal funding for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and high-speed passenger rail systems. Amtrak made minimal progress in 2000 toward achieving operational self-sufficiency. Although Amtrak is required by law to achieve operational self-sufficiency by the end of 2002, the outlook is not bright. Amtrak reduced its "budget gap" by only $5 million and must achieve an additional $281 million in savings by the end of next year. In addition to the uncertainty over Amtrak's future, this is an opportunity to examine the future of intercity passenger rail. Federal costs are expected to be large. For example, the ultimate cost to build high-speed rail corridors is unknown, but it will certainly be in the many tens of billions of dollars. Much of the funding could be expected to come from the federal government. In deciding the future of intercity passenger rail, it is important for Congress to have realistic assessments of the benefits to the public from this mode of transportation. These assessments would help establish the role, if any, of intercity passenger rail service in the nation's transportation system and …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As more and more of the baby boomers enter retirement age, spending for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security is expected to absorb correspondingly larger shares of federal revenue and crowd out other spending. The aging of the baby boomers will also increase the demand for long-term care and contribute to federal and state budget burdens. The number of disabled elderly who cannot perform daily living activities without assistance is expected to double in the future. Long-term care spending from public and private sources--about $137 billion for persons of all ages in 2000--will rise dramatically as the baby boomers age. Without fundamental financing changes, Medicaid--which pays more than one-third of long-term care expenditures for the elderly--can be expected to remain one of the largest funding sources, straining both federal and state governments."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Future demographic trends include a doubling of the nation's retiree population and only modest labor force growth, leading to concerns about retirement income adequacy for future generations. Credible projections of the effects of policy proposals on federal spending and future retirees' income are necessary. Because adequate data is critical to the analysis of retirement income and wealth, GAO was asked to identify data improvements that experts say are a priority for the study of retirement income and wealth, as well as factors limiting efforts to obtain the needed information."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The annual appropriation for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program allows grantees to use up to 20 percent of program funds for planning, management, and administration (collectively referred to as "administration"). Specifically, grantees may use these funds for a range of activities, including general management, oversight, and coordination; fair housing activities; preparing community development plans; and policy planning. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses broad categories, such as "general program administration" and "fair housing activities," to record grantees' administrative expenses. According to HUD's data for the last decade, grantees primarily recorded their administrative expenses under the general program administration category, which includes staff salaries. Grantees GAO interviewed added that they also used administrative funds to cover general administrative costs such as supplies, training, and travel."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In September 2010, as directed by the Travel Promotion Act, the Secretary of Commerce appointed a board of 11 directors to govern CTP. Board members represent private and public sector areas related to travel and tourism—including lodging, city and state convention and visitors’ bureaus, small business, travel distributors, airlines, and others. Subsequently, under the direction of the board, CTP was incorporated in November 2010 as a nonprofit corporation in Washington, D.C. Once incorporated, CTP was able to initiate operating activities such as hiring staff and entering into contracts. Thus, the board conducted a search and hired a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in May 2011. By December 2011, other senior staff positions had been filled. With the CEO in place, CTP began operations and has worked to develop strategic objectives, establish an organizational structure, and plan programmatic activities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has taken some steps to examine its headquarters resources for efficiencies, but additional opportunities for cost savings may exist by further consolidating organizations and centralizing functions. For purposes of the Secretary of Defense’s efficiency initiative, DOD components were asked to focus in particular on headquarters and administrative functions, support activities, and other overhead in their portfolios. DOD’s fiscal year 2012 budget request included several efficiencies related to headquarters organizations or personnel. GAO found that these efficiencies generally fell into two categories: (1) consolidating or eliminating organizations based on geographic proximity or span of control and (2) centralizing overlapping functions and services. The DOD efficiencies that GAO reviewed to reduce headquarters resources are expected by DOD to save about $2.9 billion through fiscal year 2016, less than 2 percent of the $178 billion in savings DOD projected departmentwide. GAO’s work indicates that DOD may be able to find additional efficiencies by further examining opportunities to consolidate organizations or centralize functions at headquarters. DOD may not have identified all areas where reductions in headquarters personnel and operating costs could be achieved because the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) is an Army program that plans for the use of a private-sector contractor to support worldwide contingency operations. Examples of the types of support available include laundry and bath, food service, sanitation, billeting, maintenance, and power generation. LOGCAP has been used extensively to support U.S. forces in recent operations in southwest Asia, with more than $15 billion in estimated work as of January 2005. While we issued two reports on LOGCAP since 1997 that made recommendations to improve the Army's management of the contract, broader issues on coordination of LOGCAP's contract functions were beyond the scope of our earlier work. This report assesses the extent to which the Army is taking action to improve the management and oversight of LOGCAP and whether further opportunities for using this contract effectively exist."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s review of written responses and documentation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that, since enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Secretary of HHS (the Secretary) contacted the Chief Executive Officers of five organizations to solicit support for one outside entity, Enroll America, involved in activities related to PPACA. Specifically, the Secretary requested financial support for Enroll America from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and H&R Block; and nonfinancial support, such as technical assistance, from Ascension Health, Johnson & Johnson, and Kaiser (which consists of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals). GAO’s review of the documentation also found that the Secretary received oral guidance from HHS’s Office of General Counsel in early February 2013 and written guidance on soliciting support for outside entities later in the month, after the contact with RWJF but prior to the four remaining contacts. Among other things, this guidance stated that HHS officials may encourage members of the public to support certain organizations assisting Americans to enroll in coverage under PPACA, pursuant to authority provided under sections 1703 and 1704 …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, based on our work to date, we have found that"

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recently, the administration submitted a proposal for reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the excise taxes that fund most of its budget. FAA's current authorization expires in 6 months. The proposal calls for major changes to FAA's funding and budget structure that are intended to address concerns about the long-term revenue adequacy, equity, and efficiency of FAA's current funding structure and to provide a more stable, reliable basis for funding a new air traffic control system that FAA is developing (at an estimated cost of $15 billion to 22 billion through 2025) to meet forecasted increases in air travel demand. The proposal would introduce cost-based charges for commercial users of air traffic control services, eliminate many current taxes, substantially raise fuel taxes for general aviation users, charge commercial and general aviation users a fuel tax to pay primarily for airport capital improvements, modify FAA's budget accounts to align with specific FAA activities, and link the portion of FAA's budget that comes from the Treasury's General Fund with public benefits FAA provides. This statement offers GAO's observations on the proposed changes in FAA's (1) funding and (2) budget …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Labor and IGs from employing departments and agencies have consistently reported similar FECA program management challenges, such as oversight and information technology, and have linked these to increased program costs through improper payments. For example, one IG reported in 2007 that its department could not appropriately manage its long-term rolls and contain improper payments because staff assigned to this task spent no more than 10 percent of their time managing cases. Additionally, citing ongoing program weaknesses—mostly related to oversight—IGs have reported avoidable costs at employing departments and agencies, which one department reported were as high as $41 million in 2011. Above and beyond the actions departments and agencies can take to address these challenges, some IGs have also reported that legislative reform is necessary to better manage the program. In an effort to alleviate the impact of management challenges, IGs collectively made over 200 recommendations since 1994, mainly to improve FECA’s oversight, and most of these recommendations have been implemented."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States is the largest provider of food aid in the world, accounting for over half of all global food aid supplies intended to alleviate hunger. Since the 2002 reauthorization of the Farm Bill, Congress has appropriated an average of $2 billion per year for U.S. food aid programs, which delivered an average of 4 million metric tons of agricultural commodities per year. Despite growing demand for food aid, rising business and transportation costs have contributed to a 43-percent decline in average tonnages delivered over the last 5 years. For the largest U.S. food aid program, these costs represent approximately 65 percent of total food aid expenditures, highlighting the need to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of food aid. To inform Congress as it reauthorizes the 2007 Farm Bill, GAO examined some key challenges to the (1) efficiency of delivery and (2) effective monitoring of U.S. food aid."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On February 17th, Chairman Lieberman and Senator Warner introduced S. 2129, entitled “Reforming and Consolidating Government Act of 2012”, a bill renewing the Presidential authority to propose government organizational changes and obtain congressional approval through an expedited process. From 1932 to 1984, Congress provided the President with some form of reorganization authority. S. 2129 renews most of the statutory framework as it existed before the authority lapsed in 1984. However, S. 2129 proposes noteworthy changes, both in terms of eliminating restrictions on the scope of a President’s plan and placing additional requirements on such plans."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the past 2 years, notable progress has been made in the vast majority of areas that were on GAO's 2011 High Risk List. Congress passed several laws and took oversight actions to help address high-risk areas. Top administration officials at the Office of Management and Budget and the individual agencies have continued to show their commitment to ensuring that high-risk areas receive attention and action. Additional progress is both possible and needed in all the high-risk areas on GAO's 2013 list."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Advances in information technology make it easier than ever for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies to obtain and process information about citizens and residents in many ways and for many purposes. The demands of the war on terror also drive agencies to extract as much value as possible from the information available to them, adding to the potential for compromising privacy. Recognizing that securing the homeland and protecting the privacy rights of individuals are both important goals, the Congress has asked GAO to perform several reviews of DHS programs and their privacy implications over the past several years. For this hearing, GAO was asked to testify on key privacy challenges facing DHS. To address this issue, GAO identified and summarized issues raised in its previous reports on privacy and assessed recent governmentwide privacy guidance."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has reported on limitations in the management of U.S. low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). LLRW ranges from very low-activity to higher-activity waste. To identify potential approaches to overcome these limitations, GAO was asked to examine the extent to which other countries have (1) LLRW inventory databases, (2) timely removal of higher-activity LLRW from waste generator sites, (3) disposition options for all LLRW, and (4) requirements that LLRW generators have financial reserves to cover waste disposition costs, as well as any other approaches that might improve U.S. LLRW management. GAO primarily relied on a survey of 18 countries representing leading LLRW generators to identify their management approaches and to compare them with U.S. survey results and with approaches suggested by LLRW generators, disposal operators, and regulators in the United States."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a supercooled liquid form of natural gas. U.S. LNG imports are projected to increase to about 17 percent of natural gas supplies by 2030, from about 3 percent today. To meet this increase, energy companies have submitted 32 applications for new terminals. If a terrorist attack on an LNG tanker caused a spill, potential hazards, such as fire, asphyxiation, and explosions, could result. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently funded a study to conduct small- and large-scale experiments to refine and validate models that calculate how heat from large LNG fires would affect the public. This testimony is based on GAO's recently released report, Maritime Security: Public Safety Consequences of a Terrorist Attack on a Tanker Carrying Liquefied Natural Gas Need Clarification (GAO-07-316). To prepare this report, GAO examined the results of six recent unclassified studies on the effects of an LNG spill and convened a panel of 19 experts to identify areas of agreement on the consequences of a terrorist attack on an LNG tanker."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, we found the following:"