Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter describes the process used by GAO for revising GAGAS, summarizes the proposed major changes, discusses proposed effective dates, and provides instructions for submitting comments on the proposed standards."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year (FY) 2012, we found that four federal departments--the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense, and Department of Education--administered 91 programs that supported postsecondary training or education specifically for direct care health professionals. The departments reported obligating about $14.2 billion for these programs in FY 2012 with the majority (78 percent) of funding going to programs that supported graduate medical education--postgraduate internship and residency training for physicians and certain other health professionals. Specifically, two programs administered by HHS's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services--Medicare payments to teaching hospitals for Direct Graduate Medical Education and Medicare payments to teaching hospitals for Indirect Medical Education-- accounted for about 66 percent of total reported health care workforce training funding in FY 2012."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) plans to modernize its current strategic command, control, communications, and computer (C4) capabilities for ballistic missile warning, space control, and air sovereignty/defense missions, focusing on plans to: (1) modernize strategic C4 capabilities; and (2) integrate additional system capabilities for newly planned and assigned missions."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through its policy and guidance, VHA has outlined processes that enable VAMCs to respond to reported adverse events that occur. VHA generally grants individual VAMCs discretion on choosing which process to use. Specifically, VAMCs conduct an initial review to determine how best to respond to an adverse event. According to VHA officials, if the circumstances that led to an adverse event are clear, based on a VAMC's initial review, VAMCs can take immediate corrective action. If the circumstances that led to an adverse event need to be examined further, VAMCs are given discretion to use one or more of the following four processes: (1) root cause analysis, (2) peer review, (3) clinical care review, and (4) administrative investigation board. Because VAMCs generally have discretion in which of these processes they use, different VAMCs that experience similar adverse events may not use the same processes to respond to them. Nonetheless, each process has certain purposes and limitations. For example, some of these processes may be used to examine a clinician's actions as they relate to an adverse event, while others may be used to examine whether a systems or …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As part of its requirement to audit the U.S. government's fiscal year 2001 financial statements, GAO reviewed the general and application computer controls over key financial systems maintained and operated by the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB) on behalf of the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD). GAO found that the 12 FRBs perform fiscal agent services on behalf of the U.S. government, including BPD. Five FRB data centers maintain and operate key BPD financial applications relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt. BPD maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt related to financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations as of September 30, 2001. BPD's internal control, which includes the general and application controls implemented by the FRBs over key BPD systems relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt, provided reasonable assurance that misstatements, losses, or noncompliance material in relation to the Schedule of Federal Debt for fiscal year 2001 would be prevented or detected on a timely basis. A follow-up on the status of the FRB's corrective actions to address vulnerabilities identified in …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on expenditures and revenues of state securities regulatory agencies for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, focusing on: (1) the expenditures and revenues of state securities regulatory agencies; and (2) quantifying the revenues of state securities agencies by types of activity."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO analyzed materials from the American Health Care Association (AHCA) to determine whether any cases reflected the actions of an overly aggressive regulatory process."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1983, the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia; the District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission; and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have partnered to protect and restore the deteriorated Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The partners established the Chesapeake Bay Program (Bay Program) to manage and coordinate a variety of restoration activities and in their most recent agreement, Chesapeake 2000, which was signed in June 2000, they established 102 commitments for the Chesapeake Bay, which were organized under five broad restoration goals to be achieved by 2010. In October 2005, we issued a report in which we reviewed the management, coordination, and reporting mechanisms used by the Bay Program. Our review found that the Bay Program had (1) developed more than 100 measures of restoration but lacked an integrated approach for measuring the progress being made in restoring the bay, (2) reported on individual species and pollutants but lacked independent and credible mechanisms to report on overall bay health, and (3) developed numerous plans for accomplishing its restoration commitments but lacked a comprehensive strategy that could provide a roadmap for accomplishing the goals outlined in Chesapeake 2000, and …

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-07-313G, Financial Audit Manual: Volume Three, Exposure Draft, June 2007. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) maintain the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides direct temporary housing assistance in response to disasters primarily through a combination of travel trailers and manufactured homes and for a period of up to 18 months. In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated much of the housing stock across the Gulf Coast region, leaving thousands of persons in need of temporary housing for lengthy periods. Uncertainty with respect to neighborhood and community recovery and individual and community resistance to the use of travel trailers for extended temporary housing challenged the effectiveness of FEMA's traditional temporary housing options. Recognizing these challenges, Congress, in the Fiscal Year 2006 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, provided for alternative housing pilot programs in the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina and the other hurricanes of the 2005 season, and appropriated $400 million to DHS for this purpose. To implement this provision of law, FEMA announced a competitive grant program--the Alternative Housing Pilot Program (AHPP)--inviting the five Gulf Coast states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) to submit proposals for projects that …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, VA’s SDVOSB program remains vulnerable to fraud and abuse. VA has made inconsistent statements about its progress in verifying firms listed in VetBiz using the new, more-thorough process the agency implemented in response to the 2010 Act. In one communication, VA stated that as of February 2011, all new verifications would use the 2010 Act process going forward. According to the most-recent information provided by VA, there are 6,079 SDVOSBs and veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB) listed in VetBiz. Of these, 3,724 were verified under the more-through process implemented under the 2010 Act, and 2,355—over 38 percent—were verified under the less-rigorous 2006 Act process. The presence of firms that have only been subjected to the less-stringent process that VA previously used represents a continuing vulnerability. In 2011, VA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report finding that VA’s document review process under the 2006 Act “ in many cases was insufficient to establish control and ownership [and] in effect allowed businesses to self-certify as a veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned small business with little supporting documentation.”"

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Army uses battle effects simulators on training ranges to help prepare its soldiers for realistic combat conditions. The simulators fire pyrotechnic cartridges that simulate the sound, smoke, and flash of shells being fired from or striking targets, such as armored vehicles. Concerns have been raised about the safety of the simulators now being used by the Army and the possibility that U.S. companies may be excluded from full and open competition for new simulators. The Army's existing battle effects simulators have experienced more than 120 documented malfunctions, many of which caused serious injuries, such as third-degree burns, loss of appendages, and lacerations. The Army has tried to make the devices safer and has suspended their use many times. It is also assessing the safety and the effectiveness of a new system from a foreign source. However, it does not plan to assess a U.S. system due to funding limitations. The Army could rely on the Marine Corps' planned type classification of a U.S. produced device to certify another qualified source for future competition."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) response to the House Committee on Government Reform regarding whether it delivered high explosive ammunition to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during the Branch Davidian Incident. The Committee also asked whether GAO would change any of the findings in its April 1999 report based on DOD's response."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) needs assessment of nursing home care in Detroit, Michigan."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S.-funded global health programs have put regulatory and policy requirements in place to help prevent procurement of substandard drugs. USAID, for example, reviews quality assurance information for all drugs before they are procured. Specifically, USAID requires implementing partners to obtain written approval from the agency before purchasing drugs. Through its approval process, USAID determines whether there is sufficient information available to assure that the drug is of acceptable quality. Although USAID’s review process varies for some drugs, the type of information USAID reviews generally includes prior FDA approval of the drug or approval by a comparable stringent regulatory authority, as well as results of prior testing of the drug by an independent laboratory. As an additional quality assurance measure, USAID prequalifies selected wholesalers to procure drugs for U.S.-funded global health programs based on factors such as site visits to the wholesaler’s facility and a review of the wholesaler’s quality assurance practices and procedures. According to CDC officials, CDC requires its implementing partners to follow program-specific quality assurance requirements. For example, CDC’s implementing partners must follow the same requirements as the USAID/PMI program when procuring malaria drugs and as …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Earlier this year, GAO initiated a governmentwide review of the implementation of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990. The Inflation Adjustment Act requires each federal agency to issue a regulation adjusting its covered maximum and minimum civil monetary penalties for inflation by October 23, 1996, and requires them to make necessary adjustments at least once every 4 years thereafter. During the review, the Department of Education's Office of the General Counsel indicated that at least eight of the agency's civil penalties are covered by that act, but the agency had not yet adjusted any of them for inflation."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "State and federal officials are concerned that as Internet cigarette sales continue to grow and as states' cigarette taxes increase, so will the amount of lost state tax revenue due to noncompliance with the Jenkins Act. The act requires any person who sells and ships cigarettes across a state line to a buyer, other than a licensed distributor, to report the sale to the buyer's state tobacco tax administrator. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for enforcing the Jenkins Act, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the primary investigative authority. However, GAO found that DOJ and FBI headquarters officials did not identify any actions taken to enforce the Jenkins Act with respect to Internet cigarette sales. Since 1997, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) has begun three investigations of Internet cigarette vendors for cigarette smuggling that included the investigation of potential Jenkins Act violations. Overall, seven of nine selected states have made some effort to promote Jenkins Act compliance by Internet cigarette vendors by contacting Internet vendors and U.S. Attorneys' Offices, but they produced few results. GAO's Internet search efforts identified 147 website …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "We reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, for fiscal years 2002, 2001 and 2000. GAO's review disclosed no reportable instances of noncompliance with the financial reporting requirements of the law. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed several issues concerning service contracting trends and challenges facing the government. The government has had long-standing difficulties in managing service contracts, and it is clear that agencies are not doing all they can to ensure that they are acquiring services that meet their needs in a timely and cost-effective manner. Agencies have begun efforts to address their strategic human capital needs; however, no agency has completed a strategic human capital management plan for their acquisition workforce. Overall, agencies' plans reflected different levels of attention to human capital, ranging from merely identifying human capital challenges to putting forward solutions to address those challenges, such as by defining actual plans, committing resources, and assigning accountability."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents criminal justice statistics for the District of Columbia and other major cities based on (1) Crime Index data and (2) arrestees' drug testing data. The 1999 Crime Index total rates for these large cities ranged from a high of 10,416 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants in Detroit, Michigan, to a low of 2,944 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants in San Jose, California. For Washington, D.C., the 1999 Crime Index total rate was 8,062 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. According to a recent National Institute of Justice (NIJ) report, 69 percent of the adult males arrested in the District of Columbia in calendar year 1999 tested positive for at least one type of drug. This figure was five percentage points higher than the median rate (64 percent) of the use of any drug among the adult males arrested that year in the 34 urban sites covered by NIJ's report."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The principal role of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is to investigate accidental releases of regulated or extremely hazardous substances to determine the conditions and circumstances that led to the accident and to identify the cause or causes so that similar accidents might be prevented. Accidental releases of these toxic and hazardous chemicals occur frequently and often have serious consequences. CSB reported to Congress that the agency received notification of approximately 900 chemical accidents in calendar year 2007, and that 31 of these accidents were serious or even fatal events that warranted the commitment of CSB investigators. CSB began operating in 1998 as an independent agency created under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The act directs CSB to (1) investigate and report on the cause or probable cause of any accidental chemical releases from stationary sources resulting in a fatality, serious injury, or substantial property damages; (2) make recommendations to reduce the likelihood or consequences of accidental chemical releases and propose corrective measures; and (3) establish regulations for reporting accidental releases. The agency publishes investigative reports and issues safety studies and videos to …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviews the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Former Member of Congress for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the expenditures for the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, focusing on the office's responses to 46 questions grouped into 11 categories."