Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government currently relies heavily on the individual income tax and payroll taxes for about 80 percent of its total annual revenue. Long-range projections show that without some form of policy change, the gap between revenues and spending will increasingly widen. The debate about the future tax system is partly about whether the goals for the nation's tax system can be best achieved by reforming the current income tax so that it has a broader base and flatter rate schedule, or switching to some form of consumption tax. This testimony reviews the revenue contribution of the current individual income tax as well as its complexity, economic efficiency, equity, and taxpayer compliance issues; discusses some common dimensions to compare tax proposals; and draws some conclusions for tax reform. This statement is based on previously published GAO work and reviews of relevant literature."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD incorporated results-oriented management practices into the planning and development of the four ongoing DSO improvement efforts. Additionally, it appears that DOD is incorporating those practices into its planning for the fifth effort—strategic network optimization—which is still under development. On the basis of our assessment of DOD’s key planning documents and other information for the process improvement, surface optimization, air optimization, and supply alignment efforts, we found that DOD addressed the six characteristics found in the framework. For example, DOD identified the main purpose of the improvement efforts, their scope, and the resources needed to execute individual efforts. Preliminary observations of DOD's planning for strategic network optimization indicate that agency officials are also incorporating results-oriented management practices for this effort. For example, DOD has developed a mission statement and established mechanisms to coordinate with stakeholders. However, because planning is still underway for strategic network optimization, we were unable to fully assess the extent to which DOD has used result-oriented management practices to develop and implement this improvement effort. For example, DOD has not yet decided how to implement the effort nor developed specific performance measures to assess progress."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 2008, agencies spent over $300 billion on contracts which include award fees. While many agencies use award fee contracts, over 95 percent of the government's spending using this contract type in fiscal year 2008 occurred at five: the departments of Defense (DOD), Energy (DOE), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In December 2007, the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Federal Procurement Policy issued guidance to chief acquisition officers and procurement executives across the government that echoed several recommendations we made in 2005 on the use of award fees and emphasized positive practices to be implemented by all agencies. GAO's statement today is based on our May 29, 2009, report, Federal Contracting: Guidance on Award Fees Has Led to Better Practices But is Not Consistently Applied (GAO-09-630). Like the report, this statement addresses how agencies are implementing OMB's guidance. Specifically, we (1) identified the actions agencies have taken to revise or develop policies and guidance to reflect OMB guidance on using award fees, (2) determined the extent to …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2006, about 18,000 undervotes were reported in Sarasota County in the race for Florida's 13th Congressional District. Following the contesting of the election results in the House of Representatives, the Task Force met and unanimously voted to seek GAO's assistance in determining whether the voting systems contributed to the large undervote in Sarasota County. On June 14, 2007, we met with the Task Force and agreed upon an engagement plan, which included the following review objectives: (1) What voting systems and equipment were used in Sarasota County and what processes governed their use? (2) What was the scope of the undervote in Sarasota County in the general election? (3) To what extent were tests conducted on the voting systems in Sarasota County prior to the general election and what were the results of those tests? and (4) Considering the tests that were conducted on the voting systems from Sarasota County after the general election, are additional tests needed to determine whether the voting systems contributed to the undervote? In our meetings with Sarasota County, we learned the entire process of configuring the election, running the election, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Iran's economy and government are reliant on revenues from its oil and gas industry. According to the 2011 Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, oil accounts for approximately 80 percent of Iran's exports, and, according to the International Monetary Fund, Iran's 2009 oil revenues were about 66 percent of the Government of Iran's revenues. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), Iran ranks among the top three holders of proven oil and natural gas reserves in the world, and is one of the largest exporters of crude oil in the world. While Iran continues to produce significant amounts of crude oil, its peak production occurred in 1978 and has not been matched since then because of a high rate of natural decline in mature oil fields, limited investment, and sanctions. IHS Global Insight found that the oil sector will require approximately $25 billion in annual investments to maintain existing production and considerably more to develop and enhance recovery techniques that would lift Iran's daily output to 5.8 million barrels by 2015. While Department of State (State) officials state that sanctions have an impact on Iran, the Iranian government continues …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the regulatory efforts to identify and mitigate risks to U.S. depository institutions' operations introduced by the growth in the use of Internet banking systems, focusing on: (1) the risks posed by Internet banking and the extent of any industrywide Internet banking problems; (2) how the five U.S. financial regulators track institutions' plans to provide Internet banking services; (3) how regulators have begun to examine Internet banking activities; and (4) the extent to which regulators have examined firms providing Internet banking support services to institutions."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) bears sole responsibility for eight DOD-specific high-risk areas and shares responsibility for six governmentwide high-risk areas. These high-risk areas reflect the pervasive weaknesses that cut across all of DOD's major business operations. Several of the high-risk areas are inter-related, including, but not limited to, financial management, business systems modernization, and DOD's overall approach to business transformation. Billions of dollars provided to DOD are wasted each year because of ineffective performance and inadequate accountability. DOD has taken some positive steps to successfully transform its business operations and address these high-risk areas, but huge challenges remain. This testimony discusses (1) pervasive, long-standing financial and business management weaknesses that affect DOD's efficiency; (2) some examples that highlight a need for improved business systems development and implementation oversight; (3) DOD's key initiatives to improve financial management, related business processes, and systems; and (4) actions needed to enhance the success of DOD's financial and business transformation efforts."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Economic, medical, technological, and social changes have increased opportunities for persons with disabilities to live with greater independence and more fully participate in the workforce. In addition, social and legal changes have promoted the goal of greater inclusion of persons with disabilities in the mainstream of society. However, GAO's reviews of the largest federal disability programs indicate that such programs have not evolved in line with these larger societal changes and, therefore, are poorly positioned to provide meaningful and timely support for persons with disabilities. Furthermore, program enrollment and costs for the largest federal disability programs have been growing and are poised to grow even more rapidly in the future. For these reasons, GAO added modernizing federal disability to its high-risk areas in January 2003. GAO convened this forum to address some of the key issues related to modernizing federal disability policy. The forum brought together a diverse array of experts, including employers; advocate groups, researchers, and academia; and federal officials. Comments expressed do not necessarily represent the views of any individual participant or the organizations they represent, including GAO. However, GAO does make some concluding …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed Indian self-determination contracting, focusing on the extent of, and reasons for, increases in contract support costs over the last several years and four alternatives for funding these costs."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses information security controls over computer systems at the Department of Commerce. Dramatic increases in computer interconnectivity, especially in the use of the Internet, are revolutionizing the way the government, the nation, and much of the world communicate and conduct business. However, this widespread interconnectivity also poses significant risks to the nation's computer systems and to the critical operations and infrastructures they support. This testimony provides information on the effectiveness of Commerce's (1) logical access controls and other information system controls over its computerized data, (2) incident detection and response capabilities, and (3) information security management program and related procedures."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked us to estimate the effect on Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990 (CARE Act) funding to urban areas if a certain stop-loss provision is enacted. The CARE Act, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services's (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), was enacted to address the needs of jurisdictions, health care providers, and people with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). In December 2006, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006 (RWTMA) reauthorized CARE Act programs for fiscal years 2007 through 2009. In July 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3293, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 2010, which contains a stop-loss provision covering CARE Act funding for urban areas that receive funding under the CARE Act. This bill has not been passed by the Senate. Under the CARE Act, funding for urban areas--Eligible Metropolitan Areas (EMA) and Transitional Grant Areas (TGA)--is primarily provided through three categories of grants: (1) formula grants that are awarded based on the case counts of people with HIV/AIDS in an urban area; …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO conducted a comprehensive review of the report prepared by Donald T. Bucklin of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), focusing on identifying inaccurate statements found in the Bucklin Report. The Bucklin Report was prepared to assist HUD in its defense against an equal employment opportunity complaint filed by HUD's Deputy Assistant Inspector General."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified weaknesses in the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) personnel practices."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), focusing on: (1) how ATP determines that a delay in a project's progress would be a serious national economic concern; and (2) the number of ATP applications that have been rejected since July 1997 because a delay in progress would not be a serious national economic concern or because the applicants could probably find funding elsewhere."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The sorrow, loss, anger, and resolve so evident immediately following the September 11, 2001, attacks have been combined in an effort to help assure that our country will never again be caught unprepared. As the 9/11 Commission notes, we are safer today but we are not safe, and much work remains. Although in today's world we can never be 100 percent secure, and we can never do everything everywhere, we concur with the Commission's conclusion that the American people should expect their government to do its very best. GAO's mission is to help the Congress improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO has been actively involved in improving government's performance in the critically important homeland security area both before and after the September 11 attacks. In its request, the House Committee on Government Reform have asked GAO to address two issues: the lack of effective information sharing and analysis and the need for executive branch reorganization in response to the 9/11 Commission recommendations. Further, the Committee has asked GAO to address how to remedy problems in …