Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Army and Navy Union of the United States of America for fiscal years 1998-2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly on a cash basis of accounting."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Executive Order 12898 made achieving "environmental justice" part of the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies. According to EPA, environmental justice involves fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes. EPA developed guidance for considering environmental justice during the development of rules under the Clean Air Act and other activities. GAO was asked to examine how EPA considered environmental justice during two phases of developing clean air rules: (1) drafting the rule, including activities of the workgroup that considered regulatory options, the economic review of the rule's costs, and making the proposed rule available for public comment, and (2) finalizing the rule, including addressing public comments and revising the economic review. GAO reviewed the three clean air rules described in the next column."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. strategic communication efforts are supported by media and audience research efforts conducted by the State Department (State), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Department of Defense (DOD), and Open Source Center (OSC). GAO examined (1) how research is used to support U.S. strategic communication objectives; and (2) how agencies identify end-user needs, assess end-user satisfaction, and share available research. GAO examined program documents and met with key officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "One of the most devastating aspects of the current financial crisis for homeowners is the prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure, and many homeowners have fallen victim to foreclosure rescue and loan modification schemes. In 2009, the administration created the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), which is led by the Department of Justice (DOJ), to combat these and other financial crimes. This report examines (1) the nature and prevalence of these schemes, (2) federal efforts coordinated to combat these schemes and other major efforts, and (3) factors that may affect federal efforts' success in combating these schemes. To address these objectives, GAO obtained information from federal agencies participating in the FFETF and interviewed representatives of five states with high exposure to potential foreclosures and nonprofit organizations undertaking related activities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Policymakers and researchers have focused on improving the quality of our nation's 3 million teachers to raise the achievement of students in key academic areas, such as reading and mathematics. Given the importance of teacher quality to student achievement and the key role federal and state governments play in supporting teacher quality, GAO's objectives included examining (1) the extent that the U.S. Department of Education (Education) funds and coordinates teacher quality programs, (2) studies that Education conducts on teacher quality and how it provides and coordinates research-related assistance to states and school districts, and (3) challenges to collaboration within states and how Education helps address those challenges. GAO interviewed experts and Education officials, administered surveys to officials at state educational agencies and state agencies for higher education in the fall of 2008, and conducted site visits to three states."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering financial statements statements of the American Gold Star Mothers, Incorporated, for the fiscal years ended June 30, 1998 and 1999, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document has been superseded by GAO-09-232G. This letter transmits the exposure draft of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual (FISCAM) for review and comment. The FISCAM presents a methodology for performing information system (IS) control audits of federal and other governmental entities in accordance with professional standards, and was originally issued in January 1999. We have updated the FISCAM for significant changes affecting IS audits."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), among other things, developed Grants.gov as the central grant identification and application portal for federal grant programs. OMB oversees the initiative and named the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) its managing partner. Grants.gov officials have acknowledged noticeably degraded system performance, and grantees have reported difficulties submitting applications that have in some cases led to late or incomplete submissions and lost opportunities for both grantees and populations served. Through analysis of agency documents, a Web-based survey of federal grant-making officials, and interviews with agency officials and grantee associations, this requested report examines (1) the benefits of Grants.gov and applicant experiences with submitting applications, (2) the governance structure of Grants.gov, and (3) the range of agency policies for processing Grants.gov applications."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 established DOE's loan guarantee program (LGP) for innovative energy projects that should decrease air pollutants or greenhouse gases and that have a reasonable prospect of repayment. For fiscal years 2008 and 2009, Congress authorized the use of borrower fees to pay the costs of loan guarantees through Title XVII's "borrower pays" option, under which DOE will limit loan guarantees to $38.5 billion. Congress mandated that GAO review DOE's progress in implementing the LGP. GAO assessed DOE's progress in (1) issuing final regulations and (2) taking actions to help ensure that the program is managed effectively and to maintain accountability. GAO also assessed how inherent risks due to the nature of the LGP may affect DOE's ability to achieve intended program outcomes. GAO analyzed DOE's regulations, guidance, and program documents and files; reviewed Title XVII; and interviewed DOE officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1978, the Essential Air Service (EAS) program has subsidized air service to eligible communities that would otherwise not have scheduled service. The cost of this program has risen as the number of communities being served and subsidies to air carriers have increased. At the same time, the number of carriers providing EAS service has declined. Given continuing concerns over the EAS program's long-term prospects, GAO was asked to review the program. GAO reviewed (1) the characteristics and current status of the EAS program, (2) factors affecting the program's ability to provide air service, (3) options for revising the program, and (4) tools for assessing the program, the options for its revision, and the program's performance. GAO interviewed stakeholders and reviewed the results of an expert panel convened by GAO, Department of Transportation (DOT) data and program documentation, and potential methodologies for assessing federal programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As of the most recent agency data submitted in September 2011, 24 agencies identified almost 2,900 total centers, established plans to close 1,186 of them by 2015, and estimated they would realize over $2.4 billion in cost savings in doing so. However, while the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) required agencies to complete missing elements in their data center inventories and plans by the end of September 2011, only 3 agencies submitted complete inventories and only 1 agency submitted a complete plan. For example, in their inventories, 17 agencies do not provide full information on their information technology facilities and energy usage, and 8 provide only partial information on their servers. Further, in their consolidation plans, 13 agencies do not provide a full master program schedule and 21 agencies do not fully report their expected cost savings. Officials from several agencies reported that some of this information was unavailable at certain facilities or that the information was still being developed. In a prior report, GAO recommended that agencies complete the missing elements from their inventories and plans. Until these inventories and plans are complete, agencies …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States and many of its trading partners have enacted laws to remedy the unfair trade practices of other countries and foreign companies that cause injury to domestic industries. U.S. law authorizes the imposition of additional duties on importers to remedy these unfair trade practices. Specifically, antidumping (AD) duties are imposed on imports that are "dumped" in the United States (i.e., sales in the U.S. market at less than the market price in the item's home market) and countervailing (CV) duties are imposed on imports that are subsidized by foreign governments. Importers are responsible for paying all duties, taxes, and fees on products when they are brought into the United States (including AD/CV duties). Importers can be located either domestically or overseas. Since fiscal year 2001, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which is responsible for collecting import duties, has been unable to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in AD/CV duties. In March 2008, we reported that over $600 million in AD/CV duties were uncollected. Our analysis revealed four key factors contributing to uncollected AD/CV duties: (1) the retrospective component of the U.S. AD/CV duty system, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has defined a vision for its new information technology (IT) governance process, which includes a tiered oversight structure that defines distinct roles and responsibilities throughout the department. The new governance framework and the associated policies and procedures are generally consistent with recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance and with best practices for managing projects and portfolios identified in GAO’s IT Investment Management framework, with two practices partially addressed and seven others fully addressed. For example, consistent with OMB guidance calling for the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to play a significant role in overseeing programs, DHS’s draft procedures require that lower-level boards overseeing IT programs include the DHS CIO, a component CIO, or a designated executive representative from a CIO office. In addition, consistent with practices identified in GAO’s IT Investment Management framework, DHS’s draft procedures identify key performance indicators for gauging portfolio performance. However, DHS’s policies and procedures have not yet been finalized, because, according to officials, the focus has been on piloting the new governance process. While it is important to conduct pilots to test processes and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides rehabilitation services to legally blind veterans. These services are intended to help them acquire the skills necessary to become more independent. Almost all of VA's rehabilitation services for legally blind veterans are provided at Blind Rehabilitation Centers (BRC), an inpatient program. VA reported that the average length of time a veteran waited to be admitted to a BRC increased from 168 to 210 days from fiscal years 1999 through 2003. GAO was asked to examine the accuracy of veterans' wait times for admission to BRCs. GAO's objective was to determine whether the average wait times for veterans seeking admission to BRCs reported by VA were accurate. GAO reviewed VA policies and procedures for determining the average length of time veterans wait to be admitted to a BRC. GAO also visited 5 of VA's 10 BRCs to evaluate the reliability of the data used to calculate wait times."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, the Department of State (State) reported that some foreign diplomats may be abusing the household workers they brought to the United States on A-3 or G-5 visas. GAO was asked to (1) determine the number of A-3 or G-5 visa holders who have alleged abuse by foreign diplomats with immunity since 2000, (2) review the U.S. government's process for investigating these allegations, and (3) assess how State ensures that its policies for issuing A-3 and G-5 visas are implemented correctly and consistently. GAO analyzed documents, interviewed officials, and conducted fieldwork at four consular posts that issue large numbers of A-3 or G-5 visas."