A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the certification requirements of federal agencies, focusing on: (1) the extent and variety of certification activities in the federal government; (2) the extent to which any policies, procedures, or guidance exist governing these activities, either governmentwide or within selected agencies; and (3) an agency certification practice that could serve as an example or best practice for other agencies."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the health insurance tax credit proposed in H.R. 2261 for individuals who purchased private health insurance, focusing on both the number of people who would potentially be eligible for a tax credit or deduction under this proposal and the potential value of these credits and deductions."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of the financial statement audits of the General Services Administration (GSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Transportation (DOT)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO compared the actual fiscal year (FY) 1998 obligations for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Fossil Energy Research and Development (R&D) Program and the Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program with the estimated obligations that were previously reported."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Women's Business Center Program, focusing on: (1) a description of the women's business centers, including their funding status, their experiences in raising matching funds, the types of services offered in a women's business center's first and last year of grant funding, and the differences between parent and satellite centers; (2) the extent to which SBA's award criteria predict long-term success or failure of women's business centers; and (3) the Office of Women's Business Ownership's compliance with legislative reporting requirements and the inherent difficulties with obtaining the required data from the women's business centers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the internal control requirements in Title 6, "Pay, Leave, and Allowances of the GAO Policy and Procedures Manual for Guidance of Federal Agencies" as they relate to the Air Force's Air Mobility Command's employee time and attendance (T&A) system, focusing on whether: (1) military leave records must be maintained in paper form containing handwritten signatures; and (2) it is permissible to have the supervisor approve staff leave requests on the Air Force's proposed T&A system by using an user identification code or a password in lieu of the electronic signature required in Title 6."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a self-assessment checklist to assist agency leaders in designing, implementing, and maintaining an effective human capital strategy. GAO's approach to self-assessment: (1) emphasizes investment in enhancing the value of individual employees and of the agency workforce as a whole; and (2) asks whether the agency has established and clearly defined and communicated a shared vision and aligned its components and systems to support them."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the internal control requirements in Title 6, "Pay, Leave, and Allowances," of GAO's Policy and Procedures Manual for Guidance of Federal Agencies, as they relate to the Department of Agriculture's Marketing and Regulatory Programs' staff time and attendance (T&A) records, focusing on: (1) if employees are required to sign for their arrival/departure time when recording deviations from their preapproved declared schedule; and (2) in lieu of signing in/out times for deviations to the preapproved work schedule, whether employees could use electronic mail (e-mail) or phone in their actual pay period schedule."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO clarified when it is appropriate for a political appointee to receive a career position in the federal government."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) plans to spend an additional $900 million requested for veterans' medical care and the likelihood of VHA's achieving its proposed management efficiency savings."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the process that the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center (CTAC) uses to fund research and development (R&D) projects."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO examined the Department of Defense's fiscal year (FY) 2000 budget request and prior years' appropriations for selected weapon system procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) approval and oversight of private Medicare accreditation organizations, focusing on: (1) HCFA's criteria for approving accreditation organizations; (2) HCFA's ongoing oversight of accreditation organizations that have been granted deemed status; and (3) recent evaluations of accreditation organizations' performance."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the limitations of the data it obtained during its review of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Women's Business Center Program, focusing on: (1) the problems with the records maintained by the Office of Women's Ownership and the Office of Procurement and Grants Management; and (2) whether the Office of Women's Ownership or the Office of Procurement and Grants Management is responsible for the collection and review of financial status reports."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO compared defense, nondefense, and total discretionary spending under five discretionary spending paths, focusing on: (1) the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates for the congressional budget resolution for fiscal year 2000; (2) the CBO baseline assuming that discretionary spending complies with the statutory caps through 2002 and grows with inflation thereafter (CBO capped baseline); (3) an alternative CBO baseline assuming that discretionary spending grows with inflation after 1999 and with no projection for emergencies; (4) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Mid-Session Review estimate of discretionary spending under the President's budget without the Social Security and Medicare reforms proposed; and (5) the OMB baseline assuming that discretionary spending complies with the statutory caps through 2002 and grows with inflation thereafter (OMB capped baseline)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified weaknesses in the Navy's personnel practices."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the allegations of a conflict of interest for GAO personnel in their examination of a report prepared by Donald T. Bucklin regarding an equal employment opportunity complaint against the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) new rule on migratory bird hunting regulations on certain federal Indian reservations and ceded lands for the 1999-2000 early season. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would prescribe special early-season hunting regulations for certain tribes on federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded lands; and (2) FWS complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO commented on the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) plans for operating the Medicare Integrity Program (MIP), focusing on whether: (1) the law authorizing the MIP permits HCFA to assign responsibility for local Medicare coverage policy to the payment safeguard contractors (PSC) who will run the MIP under contract to HCFA; and (2) HCFA's proposed MIP regulations would provide an adequate legal basis for HCFA to conduct local policy-making through PSCs. GAO noted that HCFA reasonably interpreted the law to mean that its PSCs could set local Medicare coverage policy. GAO also noted that the proposed MIP regulations provide an adequate basis for HCFA's action."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the structural changes undergone by the Polish-American Enterprise Fund and its management company to enable them to operate more like private venture capital companies, focusing on: (1) whether these structural changes were permitted by law; (2) whether the purchase of the Polish Fund's management company by its employees at book value was permitted by law and whether it favored the employees; (3) whether monies earned by Polish Fund management company employees contravened a $150,000 salary cap; and (4) how proceeds from the sale of the Polish Fund's assets will be distributed."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO performed procedures to assist the House Committee on International Relations in evaluating the extent to which five House interparliamentary groups' financial records appropriately reflected their cash receipts and disbursements and fund balance for the years ended December 31, 1997 and 1998."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the availability of blood to meet the nation's requirements, focusing on: (1) recent trends in blood donation and the demand for blood transfusions; (2) the expected effect of a ban on blood from donors who have travelled to the United Kingdom; and (3) the potential effect of policy changes to allow units of blood collected from individuals with hemochromatosis to be distributed."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO compared airlines' contracts of carriage with the Air Transport Association's (ATA) Customer Service Commitment."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on several issues that the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Policy Development and Research is studying in connection with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, focusing on: (1) the number of properties and households that received rental assistance through the program; (2) the characteristics of households that received tenant-based rental assistance, property-based rental assistance, and no rental assistance; and (3) properties in which at least one household received tenant-based rental assistance."