This report discusses some of the commercial and federal radio frequency spectrum policy changes required by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. It also summarizes new policy directions for spectrum management under consideration in the 112th Congress, such as the encouragement of new technologies that use spectrum more efficiently.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), within the Department of Homeland Security, was established to secure the nation's transportation systems, beginning with commercial airports. To meet its mission, TSA has awarded over $8.5 billion in contracts since its creation in 2001. Spending on contracts accounted for 48 percent of TSA's fiscal year 2003 budget. Because of TSA's reliance on contracts to carry out its mission, its acquisition infrastructure-- including oversight, policies and processes, acquisition workforce, and information about its acquisitions--is critical. GAO was asked to review TSA's acquisition infrastructure to assess how well TSA is positioned to carry out its acquisition function."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "An accident at one the nation's commercial nuclear power plants could result in human health and environmental damages. To ensure that funds would be available to settle liability claims in such cases, the Price-Anderson Act requires licensees for these plants to have primary insurance--currently $300 million per site. The act also requires secondary coverage in the form of retrospective premiums to be contributed by all licensees to cover claims that exceed primary insurance. If these premiums are needed, each licensee's payments are limited to $10 million per year and $95.8 million in total for each of its plants. In recent years, limited liability companies have increasingly become licensees of nuclear power plants, raising concerns about whether these companies--by shielding their parent corporations' assets--will have the financial resources to pay their retrospective premiums. GAO was asked to determine (1) the extent to which limited liability companies are the licensees for U.S. commercial nuclear power plants, (2) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) requirements and procedures for ensuring that licensees of nuclear power plants comply with the Price-Anderson Act's liability requirements, and (3) whether and how these procedures differ …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent advances in technologies that rely on the use of the radiofrequency spectrum have turned science fiction of the past into reality. Cellular telephones, wireless computer networks, global positioning system receivers, and other spectrum-dependent technologies are quickly becoming as common to everyday life as radios and televisions. Further, these technologies have become critical to a variety of government missions, including homeland security and strategic warfare. However, with the increased demand, the radio-frequency spectrum--a resource that once seemed unlimited--has become crowded and, in the future, may no longer be able to accommodate all users' needs. As a result, there has been a growing debate among spectrum policy leaders about how to use spectrum more efficiently. To help inform these debates, GAO was asked to look at agencies' investments in spectrum efficient technologies and how the nation's spectrum management system may affect the development and adoption of these technologies."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) reauthorized the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant and made modifications expected to strengthen work requirements for families receiving cash assistance through state TANF programs. Both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and states were required to take steps to implement these changes. Work participation rates, or the proportion of families receiving TANF cash assistance that participated in work activities, are the key performance measure HHS uses to assess state TANF programs. In response to the economic recession that began in 2007, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), provided additional TANF funding to eligible states and made additional modifications to TANF. GAO examined (1) How did DRA affect state TANF programs, including work participation rates? (2) How has the recent economic recession affected state TANF programs? (3) How did the Recovery Act affect state TANF programs? To address these questions, GAO analyzed federal TANF data, as well as relevant federal laws, regulations, and guidance; interviewed HHS officials; surveyed all state TANF administrators; and conducted site visits to meet with state …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal programs created to address the needs of at-risk and delinquent youths, focusing on: (1) identifying at-risk and delinquent youth programs that included mentoring as a type of service; (2) who administers the programs; (3) the objectives of the programs; and (4) the authorizing legislation for the programs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The emergence of peer-to-peer file-sharing applications that allow networks to share computer files among millions of users has changed the way copyrighted materials, including digital music, videos, software, and images can be distributed and has led to a dramatic increase in the incidence of copyright infringement (piracy) of these digital materials. These applications enable direct communication between users, allowing users to access each other's files and share digital music, videos, and software. According to a coalition of intellectual property owners in the entertainment industry, an increasing number of students are using the fast Internet connections offered by college and university networks to infringe copyrights by illegally downloading and sharing massive volumes of copyrighted materials on peer-to-peer networks. GAO was asked to describe (1) the views of major universities on the extent of problems experienced with student use of file-sharing applications as well as the actions that the universities are taking to deal with them and (2) the actions that federal enforcement agencies have taken to address the issue of copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks as well as agency views on any legislative barriers to dealing with …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Within the Department of Justice (DOJ), the 94 U.S. Attorneys Offices represent the United States in criminal and civil matters across the nation. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 requires federal agencies, including DOJ, to set goals and objectives, measure performance, and report their accomplishments in order to move toward a performance-based environment. Integral to achieving these goals and objectives is strategic human capital management--the marshalling, managing, and maintaining the human capital needed to maximize government performance and achieve accountability. This report describes (1) how DOJ's strategic goals and objectives apply to U.S. Attorneys, (2) DOJ's plans and efforts to develop performance measures that apply to U.S. Attorneys, (3) the processes DOJ uses for monitoring the performance of U.S. Attorneys Offices, and (4) DOJ efforts to move toward strategic human capital management for U.S. Attorneys Offices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Subtitle D of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 allows the Department of Energy (Energy) to help its contractors' employees file state workers' compensation claims for illnesses determined by a panel of physicians to be caused by exposure to toxic substances while employed at an Energy facility. This report examines the effectiveness of the benefit program under Subtitle D and focuses on four key areas: (1) the number, status, and characteristics of claims filed with Energy; (2) the extent to which Energy policies and procedures help employees file timely claims for these state benefits; (3) the extent to which there will be a "willing payer" of workers' compensation benefits, that is, an insurer that--by order from or agreement with Energy--will not contest these claims; and (4) a framework that could be used for evaluating possible options for changing the program."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the Department of the Treasury's decision to change the calculation of the interest rates used since 1980 to determine the investment returns for a number of government trust funds, including Social Security and Medicare, focusing on: (1) how and why Treasury changed its rules for calculating interest rates in 1980 and 1998; (2) the effects of these changes on the unified budget and on the financial status of Social Security and Medicare trust funds; and (3) what other trust funds were affected by Treasury's decision."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For more than a decade, GAO has identified the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) contract management as a high-risk area--in part because of NASA's inability to collect, maintain, and report the full cost of its programs and projects. Lacking this information, NASA has been challenged to manage its programs and control program costs. The scientific and technical expectations inherent in NASA's mission create even greater challenges--especially if meeting those expectations requires NASA to reallocate funding from existing programs to support proposed new efforts. Because cost growth has been a persistent problem in a number of NASA programs, GAO was asked to examine NASA's cost estimating for selected programs, assess NASA's cost-estimating processes and methodologies, and describe any barriers to improving NASA's cost-estimating processes. To conduct GAO's work, GAO analyzed a total of 27 NASA programs--10 of which GAO reviewed in detail."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to Congress' request for information on federal funds provided for fiscal years 2002 through 2009 to selected organizations involved in health-related activities and their affiliates: Advocates for Youth, the Guttmacher Institute, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Population Council, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Specifically, Congress requested that GAO identify the amount of federal funds provided to the selected organizations and their affiliates for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2009 and the sources of these federal funds (for example, family planning grants authorized under Title X of the Public Health Service Act). Congress also asked us to provide information on expenditures of federal funds reported by these organizations and their affiliates. For this report, GAO identified (1) reported obligations and disbursements of federal funds that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided directly to the selected organizations and their affiliates, and (2) expenditures of federal funds reported by organizations and their affiliates in instances in which an organization or an affiliate …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Illegal trafficking in cigarettes can generate enormous profits and is purportedly a multibillion dollar a year enterprise. As cigarette taxes increase, so do the incentives for criminal organizations to smuggle cigarettes into the United States. Cigarette smuggling results in lost tax revenues, undermines government health policy objectives, can attract sophisticated and organized criminal groups, and could be a source of funding for terrorists. Because of these concerns, GAO examined (1) the nature and scope of the problem of smuggled cigarettes entering the United States, including federal tax revenue losses and potential health risks; (2) federal law enforcement agencies'--U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)--efforts to thwart the smuggling of cigarettes into the United States; and (3) legal initiatives being pursued to enhance law enforcement efforts to thwart the smuggling of cigarettes into the United States."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO is required to annually audit the financial statements of the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and FSLIC Resolution Fund (FRF), which are administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). GAO is responsible for obtaining reasonable assurance about whether FDIC's financial statements for DIF and FRF are presented fairly in all material respects, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and whether FDIC maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations. Also, GAO is responsible for testing FDIC's compliance with selected laws and regulations. Created in 1933 to insure bank deposits and promote sound banking practices, FDIC plays an important role in maintaining public confidence in the nation's financial system. In 1989, legislation to reform the federal deposit insurance system created three funds to be administered by FDIC: the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF), which protect bank and savings deposits, and FRF, which was created to close out the business of the former Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. In accordance with subsequent legislation passed in 2006, FDIC merged the BIF and SAIF into …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)--an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--has experienced an expanding workload due to emerging health threats, such as bioterrorism. Strategic planning helps agencies like CDC sustain a workforce with the necessary education, skills, and competencies--human capital--to fulfill their missions. In September 2007, CDC released its Strategic Human Capital Management Plan (CDC Plan). GAO was asked to review CDC's human capital planning. GAO determined (1) whether the CDC Plan was designed to address the human capital challenges CDC faces; (2) the extent to which the CDC Plan is strategically aligned with agency goals, plans, and budget; and (3) the extent to which CDC incorporated GAO's principles for strategic human capital planning. To do so, GAO interviewed officials and analyzed data and documents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides, or pays for, a range of mental health services for veterans. To effectively manage resources and ensure access to eligible veterans, VA needs complete spending and workload information for mental health services. This information is also important for congressional oversight GAO was asked to examine VA's mental health spending and workload. In this report, GAO examined for fiscal year 2009 (1) VA's spending for mental health services and (2) VA's workload for mental health services. GAO examined VA's reporting of mental health spending and workload data for fiscal year 2009 in its fiscal year 2011 congressional budget justification and whether VA reported these data in any other publicly available report. GAO analyzed additional mental health spending and workload data and interviewed VA officials."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The President's budget request for the Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Health Program has increased steadily in recent years. For example, from fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2009, the budget request for the program increased from about $17.6 billion to about $23.6 billion, an increase of about 34 percent. DOD has attributed a majority of this increase to growth in medical care, dental care, and pharmaceuticals provided in the private sector to active duty personnel and other eligible beneficiaries. These private sector expenses are funded through the Defense Health Program's Private Sector Care Budget Activity Group (BAG). From fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2009, the budget request for this BAG increased by about 36 percent--from about $9.0 billion to almost $12.2 billion. The Conference Report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations bill directed us to review the President's fiscal year 2009 budget request for the Defense Health Program's Private Sector Care BAG. To do this, we reviewed (1) DOD's justification for the request for the Private Sector Care BAG, including the underlying estimates and the extent to which DOD considered historical information; and …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003 and 2002. As part of these audits, we performed a review of the general and application computer controls over key BPD financial systems."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report is in response to section 352 of Public Law 111-84, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. The statute requires the Comptroller General to conduct an assessment of the ground combat uniforms and camouflage utility uniforms currently in use in the Department of Defense and provide the results to the congressional defense committees not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the act."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2000 elections in Maine and Arizona were the first in the nation's history where candidates seeking state legislative seats had the option to fully fund their campaigns with public moneys. In 2003, GAO reviewed the public financing programs in Maine and Arizona and found the programs' goals were to (1) increase electoral competition; (2) increase voter choice; (3) curb increases in campaign costs; (4) reduce interest group influence; and (5) increase voter participation. GAO reported that while the number of candidates who participated in the programs increased from 2000 to 2002, it was too soon to determine the extent to which these five goals of the programs were being met. Senate Report 110-129 directed GAO to update its 2003 report. This report: (1) provides data on candidate participation and (2) describes changes in five goals of Maine's and Arizona's programs in the 2000 through 2008 elections and the extent to which changes could be attributed to the programs. To address its objectives, GAO analyzed available data about candidate participation, election outcomes, and campaign spending for the 1996 through 2008 legislative elections in both states, reviewed …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The military departments--the Army, Navy, and Air Force--generally use competition and fixed-price contracts when contracting for medical professionals. These practices can provide lower prices or reduced risk for the government. The military departments use a number of contract arrangements, including contracts awarded to multiple health care staffing companies, for health care professionals. Military department analyses indicate that multiple-award contracts result in lower prices compared to other contract arrangements."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Despite its significant investment in business systems, the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to have long-standing financial and inventory management problems that prevent it from producing reliable and timely information for making decisions and for accurately reporting on its billions of dollars of inventory. GAO was asked to (1) identify DOD's fiscal year 2004 estimated funding for its business systems, (2) determine if DOD has effective control and accountability over its business systems investments, and (3) determine whether selected business systems will help resolve some of DOD's long-standing problems and whether they are being effectively managed."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 (the 2006 Act) requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to give priority to veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB and SDVOSB) when awarding contracts to small businesses. The 2006 Act also requires GAO to conduct a 3-year study of VA's implementation of the act. GAO evaluated (1) the extent to which VA met its prime contracting goals for VOSBs and SDVOSBs in fiscal years 2007-2009; (2) VA's progress in implementing procedures to verify the ownership, control, and status of VOSBs and SDVOSBs in its mandated database; and (3) VA's progress in establishing a review mechanism of prime contractors' subcontracts with VOSBs and SDVOSBs. GAO obtained and analyzed data on VA's prime and subcontracting accomplishments, and reviewed a sample of verified businesses to identify any deficiencies in VA's verification program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Traffic crashes are a major cause of death and injury in the United States. In 2002, there were 42,815 fatalities and over 2.9 million injuries on the nation's highways. Crashes on rural roads (roads in areas with populations of less than 5,000) account for over 60 percent of the deaths nationwide, or about 70 deaths each day. Further, the rate of fatalities per vehicle mile traveled on rural roads was over twice the urban fatality rate. GAO identified (1) the factors contributing to rural road fatalities, (2) federal and state efforts to improve safety on the nation's rural roads, and (3) the challenges that may hinder making improvements in rural road safety. GAO obtained information from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and other organizations with knowledge of these issues. In addition, GAO analyzed fatal crash data on rural roads from Department of Transportation databases and visited five states that account for about 20 percent of the nation's rural road mileage. GAO also contacted academic experts and examined legislative proposals for improving rural road safety. We provided copies of a …