A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) downsized its acquisition workforce by half in the past decade. It now faces serious imbalances in the skills and experience of its remaining workforce and the potential loss of highly specialized knowledge if many of its acquisition specialists retire. DOD created the Acquisition 2005 Task Force to study its civilian acquisition workforce and develop a strategy to replenish personnel losses. In response to a legislative mandate, DOD reported on its plans to implement the task force's recommendations as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002. DOD's report shows that it has made progress in reshaping its acquisition workforce. For example, DOD is working to remove barriers to its strategic planning initiative; continuing to test various human capital innovations; and has begun making significant changes to its acquisition workforce-training program. DOD's report provides information on implementation of the task force's recommendations and their status. However, for many initiatives, DOD did not clearly describe the actions taken or when they occurred, nor did it identify all planned actions and schedules for completing the initiatives."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses management shortcomings at the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) in such areas as strategic planning, organizational alignment, strategic human capital, financial management, and information technology. AOC has demonstrated a commitment to change through ongoing management improvements. It is also revisiting its strategic planning efforts, working with a consultant to implement best practices, and implementing a new financial management system. AOC recognizes that change will not come quickly or easily. AOC must ensure that it has the policies, procedures, and people in place to effectively implement the needed changes. GAO believes that AOC must ensure top leadership commitment to change; identify long-term, mission-critical goals through a re-invigorated strategic planning process tied to serving the Congress; develop annual goals and a system for measuring progress; and establish individual accountability and commensurate authority for achieving results."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administers the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides billions of dollars in federal grants to airports for planning and development projects. The total funds awarded by FAA was consistent with the total amount of AIP funds available for obligation for fiscal years 1996 through 2000. FAA also made available or awarded AIP grant funds in accordance with the statutory formulas and set-asides contained in the authorization acts for the five fiscal years reviewed. In some cases, FAA awarded more funding than required to some airports and projects when it distributed the remaining AIP discretionary funds, which are not subject to statutory formulas or set-asides. GAO also found that small airports received greater amounts than large airports."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The events of September 11 imposed new demands on the federal budget, while pent-up demands from years of fighting deficits remain. In the past, GAO has suggested four broad principles for a budget process. That process should (1) provide information on the long-term impact of decisions, both macro--linking fiscal policy to the long-term economic outlook--and micro--providing recognition of the long-term spending implications of government commitments; (2) provide information and focus on important macro trade-offs--e.g., between investment and consumption; (3) provide information to make informed trade-offs between missions and between the different policy tools of government; and (4) be enforceable, provide for control and accountability, and be transparent, using clear, consistent definitions. New rules and goals will be necessary to ensure fiscal discipline and to focus on long term implications of decisions. The federal government still needs a decision-making framework to evaluate choices between today's and future needs. Amending the current Budget Enforcement Act without setting realistic caps and addressing mandatory programs is unlikely to be successful because the original act used limited actions to achieve a balanced budget. A budget process appropriate for the early 21st century needs …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia Family Act of 2001 was enacted to (1) redesignate the Family Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia as the Family Court of the Superior Court, (2) recruit trained and experienced judges to serve in the Family Court, and (3) promote consistency and efficiency in the assignment of judges to the Family Court and in its consideration of actions and proceedings. GAO found the Superior Court made progress in planning the transition of its Family Division to a Family Court, but some challenges remain. The transition requires the timely completion of a series of interdependent plans to obtain and renovate physical space for the court and its functions. Adequate space may not be available to support the additional judges the Family Court needs. Furthermore, the development of the Integrated Justice Information System will be critical for the Family Court's operational effectiveness, its ability to evaluate its performance, and to meet the judicial goals mandated by the Family Court Act."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal, state, and local governments share responsibility for terrorist attacks. However, local government, including police and fire departments, emergency medical personnel, and public health agencies, is typically the first responder to an incident. The federal government historically has provided leadership, training, and funding assistance. In the aftermath of September 11, for instance, one-quarter of the $40 billion Emergency Response Fund was earmarked for homeland security, including enhancing state and local government preparedness. Because the national security threat is diffuse and the challenge is highly intergovernmental, national policymakers must formulate strategies with a firm understanding of the interests, capacity, and challenges facing those governments. The development of a national strategy will improve national preparedness and enhance partnerships between federal, state, and local governments. The creation of the Office of Homeland Security is an important and potentially significant first step. The Office of Homeland Security's strategic plan should (1) define and clarify the appropriate roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local entities; (2) establish goals and performance measures to guide the nation's preparedness efforts; and (3) carefully choose the most appropriate tools of government to implement the national strategy …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (the Act) required that the Comptroller General of the United States convene a panel of experts to study the policies and procedures governing the transfer of commercial activities for the federal government from government personnel to a federal contractor. The Panel held a total of 11 meetings over the period of May 2001 to March 2002, including three public hearings in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Indiana, and San Antonio, Texas. In these hearings, panelists heard first-hand both about the current process, primarily the cost comparison process conducted under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76, as well as alternatives to that process. Panel staff conducted an extensive amount of additional research, review, and analysis in order to supplement and evaluate the public testimony. This report includes the findings of the Panel as a whole, as well as a written statement from each Panel member as the Panel's report and recommendations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although most federal contracts are awarded through competition, the government also buys unique products and services, including sophisticated weapons systems, for which it cannot always rely on competition to get the best prices and values. Instead, it uses a single source for its procurements. In these cases, contractors and subcontractors provide the government with cost or pricing data supporting their proposed prices and certify that the data submitted are accurate, complete, and current, as required by the Truth in Negotiations Act. This ensures that the government has the data it needs to effectively negotiate with the contractor and avoid paying inflated prices. The government can waive the requirement for certified data in exceptional cases. In these instances, contracting officers use other techniques to arrive at fair and reasonable prices. Using the Department of Defense's (DOD) contract database, GAO found 20 waivers, each valued at more than $5 million, in fiscal year 2000. The total value of these waivers was $4.4 billion. In each case, the contract pricing or waiver documents stated that sufficient information was available to determine the price to be fair and reasonable without …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Service (FSS) and Federal Technology Service (FTS) help agencies to purchase telephone and computer systems, motor vehicles, travel, and everyday supplies valued at more than $30 billion annually. FSS and FTS take different approaches to filling agency customers' requirements but, in the information technology area, they provide similar goods and services and deal with many of the same vendors. Although overlapping programs with similar services would appear to create the potential for inefficiencies, GSA has little hard data with which to assess the situation. GSA has begun to provide more useful information on the performance of FSS and FTS and to identify more efficient operations. If successful, these initiatives also may provide a road map for assessing the performance of other interagency purchasing programs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, concerns have been raised that new courtrooms continue to be built for district judges, even though existing courtrooms appear to be under used. The judiciary wants to maintain its one-judge, one-courtroom policy because of concerns about the effect of shared courtroom space on judicial administration. The judiciary has not, however, determined whether courtroom sharing may be possible among senior judges--the likeliest candidates for such an arrangement because of their reduced caseloads. Some active and senior judges in areas with a courtroom shortage are currently sharing space. Many of these judges oppose courtroom sharing because they believe that it interferes with the courts business and harms the judicial process. The judiciary plans to have some senior judges share space in future courthouse projects. Significant courtroom sharing appears unlikely in the near future, even among senior judges."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns have been raised about the effects of heightened security at two border crossings in Detroit--the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. In the wake of September 11, the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) increased the number and thoroughness of inspections and questioned all bridge and tunnel travelers, leading to truck wait times that exceeded 10 hours. To decrease wait times, Customs and INS extended shifts, curtailed vacations, brought in more staff, and obtained help from the National Guard and local law enforcement. The U.S. and Canadian governments have agreed in principle to a plan to make the border more secure without impeding traffic flow and trade. In addition to increasing personnel and improving technology, officials are considering pre-approval of low-risk traffic and reverse inspections."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) reported that a shortage of spare parts has caused a decline in the military services' readiness, particularly in aviation readiness. In response, Congress provided $1.1 billion in additional funding to purchase spare parts. According to DLA, shortages are a result of aging systems and high operational tempo, which increase the total number of spare parts required. The number of spare parts the military services ordered declined between 1996 and 2000, but the dollar value increased by 18 percent. Further, spare parts purchased were drawn from 70 of 78 stock groups. Defense officials told GAO that military downsizing was the primary reason for the decline and that credit card usage and contractor maintenance support also contributed. The reasons cited for the increase were (1) DLA shifts to a mix of more expensive spare parts and (2) price increases due to inaccurate initial price estimates, long periods between procurements, and substantial changes in the quantity of spare parts purchased."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Last year, GAO reported that the demilitarization liability for excess ammunition was not reflected in the Department of Defense's (DOD) financial statements although required by federal financial accounting standards. The Army, as the single manager for conventional ammunition, calculated a liability of $1.2 billion and prepared a voucher recognizing this amount. Although consistent with GAO's recommendation that DOD include the total liability for demilitarizing excess ammunition in its annual financial statements, this amount does not reflect the full extent of future costs. Specifically, the Army does not recognize a liability for costs associated with the demilitarization of (1) excess ammunition overseas or (2) excess Army-owned war reserve ammunition, excess retail ammunition, and excess ammunition not stored at an Army installation. GAO found that the total liability that should be reflected in fiscal year 2002 financial statements could amount to $3 billion, or $1.8 billion more than the Army's calculation. The Army needs to submit an additional voucher and include in its and DOD's fiscal year 2002 consolidated balance sheets the future liability associated with the demilitarization of excess Army ammunition at overseas and military storage locations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force expeditionary aerospace force concept seeks to spread deployments more evenly across its forces and increase the predictability of deployments. By dual-tasking some fighter squadrons the Air Force could fulfill two requirements as the 2010 Concept envisions. Although significant challenges could impede the ability to maximize these benefits, the Air Force has not specifically analyzed what is needed to implement dual-tasking by 2010. Dual-tasking would result in more efficient use of squadrons and greatly reduce the need to use squadrons for more than one 90-day deployment every 15 months. Dual-tasking would provide theater commanders with the same number of aircraft to meet requirements as under current practice; however, the aircraft would come from fewer squadrons. Because a larger proportion of a squadron's aircraft would be used to meet requirements, and because dual-tasking uses fewer squadrons to meet requirements, the need to repeatedly use the same squadrons would be reduced. The number of squadrons needed for more than one 90-day period over a 15-month period would decline from 26 squadrons to five. More training would be required under dual-tasking. Yet, the Air Force has not …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of the Interior has cut its aviation accident rate in half since 1975--from 18.8 accidents to 8.7 per 100,000 flight hours. The department's lower accident rate can be attributed to the implementation of a standard aviation operating policy and to aviation safety standards that exceed the Federal Aviation Administration's requirements. The Office of Aircraft Services (OAS) has not fully recovered aviation program costs. From fiscal years 1999 to 2000, OAS has charged bureaus about $4 million less than actual costs, representing an undercharge of about two percent. OAS set rates that were based on flight hour projections of actual usage that turned out to be low, and OAS did not include all the cost elements that needed to be considered. Periodic monitoring of the rates and actual costs would ensure that all costs are recovered. OAS has yet to develop a more cost-effective approach for using aircraft. To cut costs, OAS has reduced its staffing levels by 24 percent since 1992."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Last year the United States proposed that the World Bank and other development banks distribute more grants to the world's poorest countries to help ease their long-term debt burdens. The United States recommended that grants replace up to half of all future lending. The proposal has been controversial because of its potential impact on the resources available to poor countries. The World Bank estimates that the proposal could reduce its resources by $100 billion during the next 40 years. A shift of multilateral loans to grants would reduce poor countries' debt burdens and increase their ability to repay future debt. The total financial loss to the World Bank of a 50-percent shift from loans to grants during the next 40 years would be $15.6 billion in present value terms. Financing the proposal through harder terms on the remaining loans to poor countries would reduce and potentially nullify any improvement to their debt sustainability arising from the 50-percent grants proposal. However, if donor contributions to the World Bank were to increase by 1.6 percent a year, which is less than the projected rate of inflation during the …

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The attacks of September 11, 2001, and recent anthrax exposures have heightened long-standing concerns about the proliferation of biological weapons and the United States' ability to quickly respond to such incidents. The United States must identify technologies to protect against biological weapons, such as anthrax, without harming humans. Ionizing radiation has emerged as the leading current technology for mail sanitization. However, ionizing radiation may have adverse effects on mailed material, and it may not be applicable to some types of parcels, boxes, and large packages. In addition, applying ionizing radiation in a mail-processing environment requires radiation and biohazard precautions, such as shielding the radiation source and wearing protective gear."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia school system, with help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), has made considerable progress in fixing roofs, replacing windows, repairing bathrooms, and completing other maintenance work that has been neglected for years. The D.C. school system is now addressing the more complex task of modernizing--either through renovation or through new construction--virtually every public school in the city. In April 1998, the school system entered into an agreement with the Corps for engineering, procurement, and technical assistance. In December 2000, the D.C. Board of Education approved a facility master plan that would modernize 10 schools annually over 10 to 15 years at a cost of $1.3 billion. Historically significant buildings cannot be razed, however, and are costly to redesign. So far, construction costs are running significantly higher than estimated by the facility master plan. The scope of the work has been expanded to recognize community needs for some special facilities. In examining the Washington Gas Light Company's records of quality inspections for the work it managed for the school system, GAO found that 77 percent of all projects lacked evidence of quality inspections. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report examines the progress the District of Columbia has made with its fiscal year 2001 performance accountability report and highlights continuing challenges facing our nation's capital. The District must submit a performance accountability plan with goals for the coming fiscal year and, at the end of the fiscal year, a performance accountability report on the extent to which it achieved these goals. GAO found that the District's Performance Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2001 provided a more complete picture of its performance and made progress in complying with statutory reporting requirements by using a consistent set of goals. This allowed the District to measure and report progress toward the goals in its 2001 performance plan. Specifically, it reported information on the level of performance achieved, the titles of managers and their supervisors responsible for each goal, and described the status of certain court orders. The District has made progress over the last three years in its performance accountability reports and established positive direction for enhancements in court orders, its fiscal year 2003 performance based budgeting pilots, and performance goals and measures."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Allegations of racial profiling at the Department of Energy's (DOE) weapons laboratories raised questions about the equitable treatment of minorities and women in personnel actions at these laboratories. The former secretary of energy reiterated a policy of zero tolerance of discrimination of any kind and said that he expected and required full compliance with both the spirit and letter of all civil rights laws, regulations, and policies. The current secretary has reaffirmed this commitment. In 2000, the percentage of minority employees at each of the laboratories ranged from 19 percent at Lawrence Livermore to 34 percent at Los Alamos. The minority population at the laboratories increased from 1995 to 2000 but not for each minority group at each laboratory. For fiscal years 1998 through 2000, GAO found statistically significant differences in some personnel actions, but not in others, when minority men and women and white women in managerial and professional job categories were compared with white men in these categories. Comparing men and women of same race or ethnicity, GAO found that white, Asian, and Hispanic women earned less than did their male counterparts. GAO found …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts an infrastructure needs assessment every four years to estimate the future capital investment needs of local drinking water systems. In its most recent survey, EPA estimated that nearly $151 billion will be needed during the next 20 years to repair, replace, and upgrade the nation's 55,000 community water systems. The needs assessment survey serves as the basis for EPA's grants to the states under the drinking water revolving fund program. To ensure that it collected valid data to estimate drinking water infrastructure needs EPA conducted site visits to selected systems and had states review supporting documentation. However, EPA cannot tell how closely the estimates reflect actual state-by-state needs because it did not calculate the precision of estimates. GAO found that 31 out of 50 states surveyed established revolving loan funds programs to assist disadvantaged communities. In fiscal years 1991 through 2000, nine federal agencies made available about $44 billion in grants, loans, and loan guarantees for drinking water and wastewater capital improvements."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In exchange for the possibility of dismissed charges or reduced sentences, defendants with substance abuse problems agree to be assigned to drug court programs. In drug courts, judges generally preside over the proceedings; monitor the progress of defendants; and prescribe sanctions and rewards in collaboration with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and treatment providers. Most decisions about drug court operations are left to local jurisdictions. Although programs funded by the Drug Court Program Office (DCPO) must collect and provide performance measurement and outcome data, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not effectively managed this effort because of (1) its inability to readily identify the universe of DCPO-funded drug court programs, including those subject to DCPO's data collection reporting requirements; (2) its inability to accurately determine the number of drug court programs responding to DCPO's semiannual data collection survey; (3) inefficiencies in the administration of DCPO's semiannual data collection effort; (4) the elimination of post-program impact questions from the data collection survey effort; and (5) the lack of use of the Drug Court Clearinghouse. Various administrative and research factors have also hampered DOJ's ability to complete the two-phase National …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The earned income credit (EIC) is a refundable tax credit available to low-income, working taxpayers. Administering the EIC is not an easy task for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). IRS has to balance its efforts to help ensure that all qualified persons claim the credit with its efforts to protect the integrity of the tax system and guard against fraud and other forms of noncompliance associated with EIC. Although IRS made some changes to its correspondence, improved its examiner training, and expanded taxpayer outreach, certain aspects of the recertification process continue to cause problems for taxpayers. Since the inception of the EIC Recertification Program in 1998, IRS has taken steps to improve some of the letters and forms it uses to correspond with taxpayers about the program. However, two standard forms that IRS uses in corresponding with taxpayers as part of the recertification process can lead to unnecessary taxpayer burden. IRS asks taxpayers to submit certain information as part of the process that can be difficult for some EIC claimants to obtain or is inconsistent with what many examiners consider acceptable."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Education has a history of financial management problems, including serious internal control weaknesses, that have affected the Department's ability to provide reliable financial information on its operations. GAO found that significant internal control weaknesses in payment processes and poor physical control over its computer assets led to fraud, improper payments, and lost assets. GAO also identified instances of grant and loan fraud and pervasive control breakdowns and improper payments in other areas, particularly involving purchasing cards."