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Financial Management Systems: Additional Efforts Needed to Address Key Causes of Modernization Failures (open access)

Financial Management Systems: Additional Efforts Needed to Address Key Causes of Modernization Failures

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Billions of dollars have been spent governmentwide to modernize financial management systems that have often exceeded budgeted cost, resulted in delays in delivery dates and did not provide the anticipated system functionality when implemented. GAO was asked to identify (1) the key causes for financial management system implementation failures, and (2) the significant governmentwide initiatives currently under way that are intended to address the key causes of financial management system implementation failures. GAO was also asked to provide its views on actions that can be taken to help improve the management and control of agency financial management system modernization efforts."
Date: March 15, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: Key Decisions to Be Made on Future Combat System (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: Key Decisions to Be Made on Future Combat System

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Future Combat System (FCS) is central to Army transformation efforts, comprising 14 integrated weapon systems and an advanced information network. In previous work, GAO found that the elements of a sound business case--firm requirements, mature technologies, a knowledge-based acquisition strategy, a realistic cost estimate, and sufficient funding--were not present. As a result, FCS is considered high risk and in need of special oversight and review. Congress has mandated that the Department of Defense (DOD) decide in early 2009 whether FCS should continue. GAO is required to review the program annually. In this report, GAO analyzes FCS development, including its requirements definition; status of critical technologies, software development, and complementary programs; soundness of its acquisition strategy related to design, production and spin-out of capabilities to current forces; and reasonableness of costs and sufficiency of funding."
Date: March 15, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tactical Aircraft: Air Force Still Needs Business Case to Support F/A-22 Quantities and Increased Capabilities (open access)

Tactical Aircraft: Air Force Still Needs Business Case to Support F/A-22 Quantities and Increased Capabilities

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force is preparing a modernization plan that expands the capabilities of the F/A-22, which was first designed to serve as an air-to-air fighter aircraft with very limited ability to strike targets on the ground. The Air Force now intends to transform it by adding robust air-to-ground capabilities to attack enemy ground threats and by adding onboard intelligence data gathering capabilities. After the recent budget cut, DOD estimates F/A-22 cost at $63.8 billion for 178 aircraft. It has been in development for more than 19 years, a decade longer than originally envisioned. In the face of significant cost and schedule overruns, Congress mandates that GAO annually assess the F/A-22 program. In this report, GAO addresses (1) the Air Force's business case for the F/A-22 modernization plan and (2) the recently completed initial operational test and evaluation."
Date: March 15, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Aviation Security: Systematic Planning Needed to Optimize the Deployment of Checked Baggage Screening Systems (open access)

Aviation Security: Systematic Planning Needed to Optimize the Deployment of Checked Baggage Screening Systems

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Mandated to screen all checked baggage using explosive detection systems at airports by December 31, 2003, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) deployed two types of screening equipment: explosives detection systems (EDS), which use computer-aided tomography X-rays to recognize the characteristics of explosives, and explosives trace detection (ETD) systems, which use chemical analysis to detect traces of explosive material vapors or residues. This report assesses (1) TSA's use of budgeted funds to install EDS and ETD systems and the impact of initially deploying these systems, (2) TSA and airport actions to install EDS machines in-line with baggage conveyor systems, and the federal resources made available for this purpose, and (3) actions taken by TSA to optimally deploy checked baggage screening systems."
Date: March 15, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Relief: Continued Findings of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (open access)

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Relief: Continued Findings of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to respond to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. GAO's previous work identified suspected fraud, waste, and abuse resulting from control weaknesses associated with FEMA's Individuals and Households Program (IHP) and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) purchase card program. Congress asked GAO to follow up on this previous work to determine whether potentially improper and/or fraudulent payments continued to be made. GAO testified on the results of our audit and investigative efforts on December 6, 2006. This report summarizes the results of our follow-up work."
Date: March 15, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Unmanned Aircraft Systems: New DOD Programs Can Learn from Past Efforts to Craft Better and Less Risky Acquisition Strategies (open access)

Unmanned Aircraft Systems: New DOD Programs Can Learn from Past Efforts to Craft Better and Less Risky Acquisition Strategies

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through 2011, the Department of Defense (DOD) plans to spend $20 billion to significantly increase its inventory of unmanned aircraft systems, which are providing new intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike capabilities to U.S. combat forces--including those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite their success on the battlefield, DOD's unmanned aircraft programs have experienced cost and schedule overruns and performance shortfalls. Given the sizable planned investment in these systems, GAO was asked to review DOD's three largest unmanned aircraft programs in terms of cost. Specifically, GAO assessed the Global Hawk and Predator programs' acquisition strategies and identified lessons from these two programs that can be applied to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program, the next generation of unmanned aircraft."
Date: March 15, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Housing Finance: Options to Help Prevent Suspensions of FHA and RHS Loan Guarantee Programs (open access)

Housing Finance: Options to Help Prevent Suspensions of FHA and RHS Loan Guarantee Programs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2004, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service (RHS) guaranteed approximately $136 billion in mortgages for single-family homes, multifamily rental housing, and healthcare facilities under a variety of programs. In past years, both agencies have occasionally had to suspend the issuance of guarantees under some programs when they exhausted the dollar amounts of their commitment authority (which serves as a limit on the volume of new loans that an agency can guarantee) or credit subsidy budget authority (the authority to cover the long-term costs--known as credit subsidy costs--of extending these guarantees) before the end of a fiscal year. These suspensions can be disruptive to homebuyers, developers, and lenders. GAO was asked to determine (1) how often and why FHA and RHS have suspended their loan guarantee programs over the last decade, (2) how these agencies manage and notify Congress of the rate at which the authorities for these programs will be exhausted, and (3) options Congress and the agencies could exercise to help prevent future suspensions and the potential implications of …
Date: March 15, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Joint Strike Fighter: Progress Made and Challenges Remain (open access)

Joint Strike Fighter: Progress Made and Challenges Remain

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program--a multinational acquisition program for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and eight cooperative international partners--is the Department of Defense's (DOD) most expensive aircraft acquisition program. DOD currently estimates it will spend $623 billion to develop, procure, and operate and support the JSF fleet. The JSF aircraft, which includes a variant design for each of the services, represents 90 percent of the remaining planned investment for DOD's major tactical aircraft programs. In fiscal year 2004, the JSF program was rebaselined to address technical challenges, cost increases, and schedule overruns. This report--the third mandated by Congress--describes the program's progress in meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals since rebaselining and identifies various challenges the program will likely face in meeting these goals in the future."
Date: March 15, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Market Regulation: Agencies Engaged in Consolidated Supervision Can Strengthen Performance Measurement and Collaboration (open access)

Financial Market Regulation: Agencies Engaged in Consolidated Supervision Can Strengthen Performance Measurement and Collaboration

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As financial institutions increasingly operate globally and diversify their businesses, entities with an interest in financial stability cite the need for supervisors to oversee the safety and soundness of these institutions on a consolidated basis. Under the Comptroller General's Authority, GAO reviewed the consolidated supervision programs at the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to (1) describe policies and approaches that U.S. consolidated supervisors use to oversee large and small holding companies; (2) review the management of the consolidated supervision programs, including use of program objectives and performance measures; and (3) evaluate how well consolidated supervisors are collaborating with other supervisors and each other in their activities. In conducting this study, GAO reviewed agency policy documents and supervisory reports and interviewed agency and financial institution officials."
Date: March 15, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Economic Models of Cattle Prices: How USDA Can Act to Improve Models to Explain Cattle Prices (open access)

Economic Models of Cattle Prices: How USDA Can Act to Improve Models to Explain Cattle Prices

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns have been raised that the economic models used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. International Trade Commission do not account for all the factors that affect cattle prices and producer incomes. GAO reviewed USDA's livestock model to determine whether it incorporates imports, market concentration, marketing agreements, and forward contracts. In reviewing best modeling practices, GAO's expert panel concluded that domestic cattle demand and supply were the fundamental forces driving cattle prices and producer incomes. The panel identified issues necessary to develop a comprehensive modeling system that predicts cattle prices and producer incomes. The panel recommended the collection of better data to quantify several important factors omitted from the model. The panel also wanted to see a more complete characterization of the supply and demand relationships connecting the cattle producer to the final consumer. The panel's emphasis on a more complete characterization of the cattle and beef industry underscores the idea that the demand for cattle is ultimately driven by consumer demand for beef and other demand and supply forces linking cattle producers to feedlots, meatpackers, and retailers."
Date: March 15, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information Technology: DLA Needs to Strengthen Its Investment Management Capability (open access)

Information Technology: DLA Needs to Strengthen Its Investment Management Capability

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) relies extensively on information technology (IT) to carry out its logistics support mission. This report focuses on DLA's processes for making informed IT investment decisions. Because IT investment management has only recently become an area of management focus and commitment at DLA, the agency's ability to effectively manage IT investments is limited. The first step toward establishing effective investment management is putting in place foundational, project-level control and selection processes. The second step toward effective investment management is to continually assess proposed and ongoing projects as an integrated and competing set of investment options. Accomplishing these two steps requires effective development and implementation of a plan, supported by senior management, which defines and prioritizes investment process improvements. Without a well-defined process improvement plan and controls for implementing it, it is unlikely that the agency will establish a mature investment management capability. As a result, GAO continues to question DLA's ability to make informed and prudent investment decisions in IT."
Date: March 15, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
National Park Service: Federal Taxpayers Could Have Benefited More From Potomac Yard Land Exchange (open access)

National Park Service: Federal Taxpayers Could Have Benefited More From Potomac Yard Land Exchange

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Settling 30 years of sometimes acrimonious dispute, the National Park Service completed an exchange of land interests on two vacant parcels of land in Potomac Yard in March 2000. However, the Park Service could have received more than $15 million from the private developer--rather than owing the developer $14 million--if the exchanged interests had been appropriately valued. As a federal agency, the Park Service has a responsibility to protect federal taxpayers' interests when it acquires or conveys land interests. Yet, the Park Service did not do so when it instructed the appraiser to derive a value for development on the Alexandria parcel that was not shown to be reasonably probable, or when it used an appraised value on the Arlington parcel that understated the worth of the Park Service's interests. Consequently, the Park Service gave the developer credit for losses that might not have realistically occurred and did not receive enough credit for allowing the developer to develop the Arlington parcel. However, the transaction is now fully executed--as in similar situations when a government agency pays too much for an item under a contract--it is unlikely …
Date: March 15, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Financial Management: Further Improvements Needed to Establish Adequate Financial Control and Accountability (open access)

Medicare Financial Management: Further Improvements Needed to Establish Adequate Financial Control and Accountability

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO evaluated the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) financial management activities to determine if they are sufficient to resolve financial management weaknesses identified through annual financial statement audits and other management-type reviews of HCFA's Medicare activities."
Date: March 15, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health Information Technology: HHS is Continuing Efforts to Define a National Strategy (open access)

Health Information Technology: HHS is Continuing Efforts to Define a National Strategy

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As GAO and others have reported, the use of information technology (IT) has enormous potential to improve the quality of health care and is critical to improving the performance of the U.S. health care system. Given the federal government's influence in the health care industry, it has been urged over the years to take a leadership role in driving change to improve the quality and effectiveness of medical care, including the adoption of IT. In April 2004, President Bush called for widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records within 10 years; established the position of the National Coordinator for Health IT, who was appointed in May 2004 and released a framework for strategic action two months later. In May 2005, GAO recommended that HHS establish detailed plans and milestones for each phase of the framework and take steps to ensure that those plans are followed and milestones are met. HHS agreed with our recommendation. GAO (1) assessed the progress being made by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since 2005 to develop a national health IT strategy and (2) provided an overview of selected federal agencies' …
Date: March 15, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Infrastructure: Historic Properties within the Department of Defense (open access)

Defense Infrastructure: Historic Properties within the Department of Defense

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the service headquarters provide overall policy guidance and negotiate agreements on the treatment of the military's historic properties. However, most decisions on historic properties are made at the installation level. The installations are responsible for identifying and evaluating properties to determine if they are eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as maintaining all properties that are listed on or have been determined eligible for listing on the National Register. The military lacks complete and reliable data on the number of its historic properties. None of the services have a centralized database that comprehensively identifies all of their respective historic properties. Data is not available on the costs to to maintain or repair historic properties. Cost data GAO examined at several installations showed that, overall, the day-to-day maintenance historic properties was similar to maintenance on non-historic properties."
Date: March 15, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Financial Management: Further Improvements Needed to Establish Adequate Financial Control and Accountability (open access)

Medicare Financial Management: Further Improvements Needed to Establish Adequate Financial Control and Accountability

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its review of the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) financial management activities for Medicare, focusing on challenges HCFA faces in establishing an adequate foundation for control and accountability over the Medicare program's financial operations."
Date: March 15, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Export Controls: Inadequate Justification for Relaxation of Computer Controls Demonstrates Need for Comprehensive Study (open access)

Export Controls: Inadequate Justification for Relaxation of Computer Controls Demonstrates Need for Comprehensive Study

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The President's January 2001 changes in the export control thresholds for high performance computer exports are not adequately justified. Although the President's report recognizes that high performance computing capabilities will become increasingly available to other countries through computer clustering, the report fails to address all military significant uses for computers at the new thresholds and assess the national security impact of such uses. The support for the President's policy proposal for relaxed U.S. computer controls also is not adequate. Although the new policy was based on the conclusion that computer hardware exports can no longer be controlled, the executive branch did not adequately assess alternative control options. GAO identified several implications of the changes to the control thresholds and the proposed change in U.S. computer export control policy related to increased risks for U.S. national security. For example, the inadequacies of the President's justifications demonstrate the need for a comprehensive study of the issues involved. Furthermore, the policy proposal would reduce information that might be useful in detecting patterns of exports to customers engaged in proliferation activities because it would eliminate an annual reporting requirement that provides information …
Date: March 15, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Voluntary Consensus Standards: Agencies' Compliance With the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (open access)

Voluntary Consensus Standards: Agencies' Compliance With the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed federal agencies' compliance with the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, which directs federal agencies to use voluntary consensus standards, focusing on: (1) the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) activities in carrying out their oversight responsibilities under the act; (2) federal agencies' efforts in reporting their standards activities; and (3) progress made specifically by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in complying with the act."
Date: March 15, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard: Budget Challenges for 2001 and Beyond (open access)

Coast Guard: Budget Challenges for 2001 and Beyond

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the challenges that the Coast Guard faces in its fiscal year 2001 and future budget requests, focusing on: (1) the Coast Guard's progress in justifying and managing its Deepwater Capability Replacement Project; and (2) opportunities for improving the Coast Guard's operating efficiencies."
Date: March 15, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
High Risk Series: GAO's High-Risk Program (open access)

High Risk Series: GAO's High-Risk Program

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO audits and evaluations identify federal programs and operations that in some cases are high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. Increasingly, GAO also has identified high-risk areas that are in need of broad-based transformations to address major economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. Since 1990 with each new Congress, GAO has reported on its high-risk list. GAO's most recent update, in January 2005, presented the 109th Congress with the latest status of existing and new high-risk areas warranting attention by both the Congress and the administration. Lasting solutions to high-risk problems offer the potential to save billions of dollars, dramatically improve service to the American public, strengthen public confidence and trust in the performance and accountability of our national government, and ensure the ability of government to deliver on its promises."
Date: March 15, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tactical Aircraft: F-22 Development and Testing Delays Indicate Need for Limit on Low-Rate Production (open access)

Tactical Aircraft: F-22 Development and Testing Delays Indicate Need for Limit on Low-Rate Production

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force has made progress in developing the F-22, particularly with respect to fulfilling the criteria for awarding a fully funded contract for low-rate initial production. Nevertheless, it lags significantly in flight-testing because of continuing assembly and manufacturing delays, and it is behind schedule in completing nonflying tests that assess the aircraft's structural integrity These delays increase the risk that the Air Force will likely have to extend the test program past the planned completion date or proceed to the next stages of the program without completing all flight-tests. Moreover, the scheduling delays increase the likelihood that costs will not fall within the congressional cap. The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation has indicated that, on the basis of the test program's current status, operational testing cannot be started as scheduled without clearly unacceptable risks and will probably be delayed almost a year. The Director also concluded there was no reason to authorize low-rate production in January 2001 and some justification to delay it. Cost growth in the development program because of manufacturing and design problems and underestimated amounts of labor required to complete scheduled …
Date: March 15, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Water Quality: Key EPA and State Decisions Limited by Inconsistent and Incomplete Data (open access)

Water Quality: Key EPA and State Decisions Limited by Inconsistent and Incomplete Data

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Water Quality Inventory, focusing on whether: (1) the information in EPA's National Water Quality Inventory is reliable and representative of water quality conditions nationwide; and (2) available data are sufficient to allow state officials to make key decisions about activities required by the Clean Water Act, such as identifying waters that do not meet water quality standards and developing strategies to address those waters."
Date: March 15, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: Future Combat Systems Challenges and Prospects for Success (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: Future Combat Systems Challenges and Prospects for Success

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "FCS is the core of Army efforts to create a lighter, more agile, capable force: a $108 billion investment to provide a new generation of 18 manned and unmanned ground vehicles, air vehicles, sensors, and munitions linked by an information network. Although system development and demonstration began in May 2003, the program was restructured in July 2004, including processes to make FCS capabilities available to current forces. GAO has been asked to assess (1) FCS technical and managerial challenges; (2) prospects for delivering FCS within cost and scheduled objectives; and (3) options for proceeding."
Date: March 15, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Audit: Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for Fiscal Years 2001 and 2000 (open access)

Financial Audit: Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for Fiscal Years 2001 and 2000

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO contracted with Clifton Gunderson LLP to audit the financial statements of the Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for fiscal years 2001 and 2000. Clifton Gunderson LLP found that (1) the financial statements were fairly presented in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, (2) the fund maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations, and (3) there was no reportable noncompliance with selected provisions of the laws and regulations it tested."
Date: March 15, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library