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Transportation Security Administration's Processes for Designating and Releasing Sensitive Security Information (open access)

Transportation Security Administration's Processes for Designating and Releasing Sensitive Security Information

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, federal agencies have faced the challenge of protecting sensitive information from terrorists and others without a need to know while sharing this information with parties who are determined to have such a need. One form of protection involves identifying and marking such information sensitive but unclassified--information that is generally restricted from public disclosure but not designated as classified national security information. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires that certain information be protected from public disclosure as part of its responsibility for securing all modes of transportation. TSA, through its authority to protect information as sensitive security information (SSI), prohibits the public disclosure of information obtained or developed in the conduct of security activities that, for example, would be detrimental to transportation security. According to TSA, SSI may be generated by TSA, other DHS agencies, airports, aircraft operators, and other regulated parties when they, for example, establish or implement security programs or create documentation to address security requirements. Section 525 of the DHS Appropriations Act, 2007 (Public Law 109-295), required the Secretary of DHS to revise Management …
Date: November 30, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Coins: Benefits and Considerations for Replacing the $1 Note with a $1 Coin (open access)

U.S. Coins: Benefits and Considerations for Replacing the $1 Note with a $1 Coin

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reported in February 2012 that replacing $1 notes with $1 coins could potentially provide $4.4 billion in net benefits to the federal government over 30 years. The overall net benefit was due solely to increased seigniorage and not to reduced production costs. Seigniorage is the difference between the cost of producing coins or notes and their face value; it reduces government borrowing and interest costs, resulting in a financial benefit to the government. GAO’s estimate takes into account processing and production changes that occurred in 2011, including the Federal Reserve’s use of new equipment to determine the quality and authenticity of notes, which has increased the expected life of the note thereby reducing the costs of circulating a note over 30 years. (The $1 note is expected to last 4.7 years and the $1 coin 30 years.) Like all estimates, there are uncertainties surrounding GAO’s estimate, especially since the costs of the replacement occur in the first several years and can be estimated with more certainty than the benefits, which are less certain because they occur further in the future. Moreover, changes to the inputs and assumptions …
Date: November 29, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
GAO's Congressional Protocols (Superseded by GAO-04-310G) (open access)

GAO's Congressional Protocols (Superseded by GAO-04-310G)

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-04-310G, GAO's Congressional Protocols, July 2004. This report has been superseded by GAO-04-310G, GAO's Congressional Protocols July 2004. This document contains the protocols governing GAO's work for Congress. These protocols are intended to provide (1) clearly defined and transparent policies and practices relating to GAO's work and (2) a means of holding GAO accountable for commitments made to Congress and ensuring that GAO is consistent in dealing with all committees and members."
Date: November 3, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Loan Origination and Foreclosed Property Management Processes (open access)

Department of Housing and Urban Development: Loan Origination and Foreclosed Property Management Processes

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO determined: (1) the extent to which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had established adequate loan origination procedures and consistently applied them to determine whether loan applicants comply with the Direct Endorsement (DE) program's statutory, regulatory, and eligibility requirements and have any outstanding delinquent federal debt; and (2) whether HUD's Management and Marketing (M&M) contractors were adequately documenting the actions taken to preserve, protect, and maintain HUD's foreclosed properties."
Date: November 19, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority: Information on Contracting at Washington Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Between 1992 and 1999 (open access)

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority: Information on Contracting at Washington Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Between 1992 and 1999

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As required by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986, GAO must periodically determine whether the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) uses fair practices in determining which vendors win contracts. This correspondence provides information on MWAA's uses contracting practices between 1992 and 1999. GAO found that 2,843 contracts for supplies and services were awarded during this period. The initial award of these contracts was $1.43 billion. Between 1998 and 1999, GAO found that 95 out of 124 large contracts had been awarded using full and open competition. The remaining contracts were awarded on a sole-source basis or by using limited competition."
Date: November 17, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Update on State and Local Revenue Loss From Internet Sales (open access)

Update on State and Local Revenue Loss From Internet Sales

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO examined the Bureau of the Census' estimates of e-commerce in 1999 to determine whether GAO should revise the results of its 2000 report on sales tax issues from e-commerce (GAO/GGD/OCE-00-165). This report uses private-sector forecasts of Internet and total remote sales as the basis for several scenarios illustrating the impact of such sales on state and local sales and use tax revenues. The scenarios show that considerable uncertainty exists about the size of the impacts and how various assumptions about sales, compliance, and other factors contribute to that uncertainty. Census' new e-commerce estimates do not provide a basis for revising the results GAO found in its 2000 report. Census' definition of e-commerce is broader than Internet sales. Because of the way firms provide information on their e-commerce sales to Census, Internet sales cannot be separated from the broader e-commerce sales at a level of detail that allows GAO to compare Census' results with the Internet sales estimates used in its 2000 report."
Date: November 6, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans Administration Procurement: Protests Concerning Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Preferences Sustained (open access)

Veterans Administration Procurement: Protests Concerning Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Preferences Sustained

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, GAO is required to consider protests filed by interested parties concerning the terms of solicitations or contract awards. In deciding protests, GAO makes a determination of whether the agency's actions complied with procurement statutes and regulations. Aldevera, an SDVOSB concern, argued that two solicitations issued by the Veterans Administration should have been set aside for SDVOSB concerns."
Date: November 30, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Review of OMB Circular A-76 Health Benefit Cost Factor Needed (open access)

Review of OMB Circular A-76 Health Benefit Cost Factor Needed

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Determining whether to obtain required services using government employees or through contracts with the private sector is an important economic and strategic decision for agency managers. In this regard, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 prescribes policies and procedures for use by agencies as they select service providers through competitions among public and private-sector sources. The Circular is intended to ensure that the competitive sourcing process is conducted as fairly as possible, and that the estimated cost of government performance reflects all of the costs of performing the work in house. The purpose of this letter is to convey an issue we identified during the course of an ongoing review of how the costs of health benefits for federal and private-sector employees are reflected in public-private competitions conducted by the Department of Defense."
Date: November 17, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tax Compliance: Some Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Assistance Recipients Have Unpaid Federal Taxes (open access)

Tax Compliance: Some Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Assistance Recipients Have Unpaid Federal Taxes

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since February 2004, we have issued a series of reports detailing how some organizations and individuals, including defense, civilian agency, and General Services Administration (GSA) contractors; tax-exempt (not-for-profit) organizations; and Medicare physicians, abused the federal tax system at the same time they were doing business with or receiving benefits from the federal government. While we performed this work it came to our attention that some organizations and individuals that were recipients of federal grants and other direct assistance were also abusing the tax system. Thus, Congress asked us to perform additional work and report specifically on organizations and individuals that abuse the federal tax system at the same time they receive federal grants or other similar types of federal assistance, known as direct payments for specified use (direct assistance) programs. Based on Congressional request, we completed a forensic audit and related investigations of unpaid federal taxes owed by recipients of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Individuals and Households Program (IHP) following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. IHP is a federal direct assistance program authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), as …
Date: November 16, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Procedures for Updating Arbitrator Disclosure Information (open access)

Procedures for Updating Arbitrator Disclosure Information

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) subsidiary, NASD Dispute Resolution (DR), failed to update its arbitrator disclosure system in a timely manner. As a result, several parties in an arbitration did not receive timely information on their arbitrator. To reduce the potential for further errors, NASD-DRplans to: (1) introduce a form that will allow arbitrators to submit updated information electronically, and (2) centralize processing of the information in itsDepartment of Neutral Management. In 1992 and 1998, NASD-DR also used other measures to ensure that arbitrator background information was current. Because NASD-DR has made these changes and plans to make additional improvements to its procedures for updating arbitrator disclosure information, GAO is not making any further recommendations at this time."
Date: November 9, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Purpose Statute Violation: Veterans Affairs Improperly Funded Certain Cost Comparison Studies with VHA Appropriations (open access)

Purpose Statute Violation: Veterans Affairs Improperly Funded Certain Cost Comparison Studies with VHA Appropriations

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides health care to about 4.7 million veterans primarily through its medical facilities--which include hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, and other health care facilities--and by contracting for care with other healthcare providers. To lower costs, increase access, and improve the quality of care provided to eligible veterans, VA evaluates the efficiency of its medical facilities, which includes performing studies to determine whether increased savings and efficiencies can be obtained from outsourcing certain segments of its operations. We have previously reported that VA would benefit from examining certain aspects of its operations, including its medical and laundry facilities, to determine if operational efficiencies could be achieved through consolidations, competitive sourcing, or both. While VA has the authority to conduct cost comparison studies and, when beneficial, to enter into contracts with commercial providers, VA may only finance cost comparison studies with funds that are legally available for this purpose. Under a provision in Title 38 of the U.S. Code, VA is prohibited by law from using any one of its Veterans Health Administration (VHA) appropriations for medical care, medical and prosthetic research, and medical …
Date: November 30, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Influenza Pandemic: Applying Lessons Learned from the 2004-05 Influenza Vaccine Shortage (open access)

Influenza Pandemic: Applying Lessons Learned from the 2004-05 Influenza Vaccine Shortage

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concern has been rising about the nation's preparedness to respond to vaccine shortages that could occur in future annual influenza seasons or during an influenza pandemic--a global influenza outbreak. Although the timing or extent of a future influenza pandemic cannot be predicted, studies suggest that its effect in the United States could be severe, and shortages of vaccine could occur. For the 2004-05 annual influenza season, the nation lost about half its expected influenza vaccine supply when one of two major manufacturers announced in October 2004 that it would not release any vaccine. GAO examined federal, state, and local actions taken in response to the shortage, including lessons learned. The nation's experience during the unexpected 2004-05 vaccine shortfall offers insights into some of the challenges that government entities will face in a pandemic. GAO was asked to provide a statement on lessons learned from the 2004-05 vaccine shortage and their relevance to planning and preparing for similar situations in the future, including an influenza pandemic. This statement is based on a GAO report, Influenza Vaccine: Shortages in 2004-05 Season Underscore Need for Better Preparation (GAO-05-984), …
Date: November 4, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans Affairs: Subcommittee Post-Hearing Questions Concerning the Department's Information Technology Management (open access)

Veterans Affairs: Subcommittee Post-Hearing Questions Concerning the Department's Information Technology Management

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) has made progress in improving its overall management of information technology, including centralization of information technology functions, programs, and funding under the department-level chief information officer (CIO). The department has also made progress in developing an enterprise architecture, improving information security, and managing important information systems initiatives being pursued by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). GAO reviewed (1) whether VA's proposed business and enabling functions provide the management tools necessary to start the process for implementing VA's enterprise architecture; (2) how veterans have benefited from the VETSNET Program; (3) what must be done to assure successful implementation of the Federal Health Information Exchange (FHIE); and (4) whether VA can realistically implement HealtheVet-Vista by the end of 2005. GAO found that the Federal CIO's Council's guidance on enterprise architecture advises organizations to develop a set of controls to help them successfully manage the process of creating, changing, and using an enterprise architecture. Although the enterprise business functions and key enabling functions are essential components of the architecture that VA is developing, they cannot be considered a primary …
Date: November 5, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Malaria Control: U.S. and Multinational Investments and Implementation Challenges (open access)

Global Malaria Control: U.S. and Multinational Investments and Implementation Challenges

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, hundreds of millions of people are sickened with malaria and more than 1 million people die. Over 80 percent of all malaria deaths occur in Africa, most of them in children under the age of 5. This burden continues despite the existence of relatively simple, safe, effective, and inexpensive methods to prevent and treat malaria. The U.S. government supports the efforts of malaria-endemic countries to control malaria, both directly through agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and indirectly through its contributions to multinational organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund) and its participation in the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership. However, concerns have been raised that current global malaria control efforts may not be as effective as they could be. In light of these concerns, Congress asked us to examine U.S. involvement in global efforts to combat malaria. In this report, we (1) describe investments that have been made by the U.S. government to support the implementation of national malaria control programs in malaria-endemic countries, both directly and in partnership with other organizations; and (2) …
Date: November 16, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federally Chartered Corporation: Review of the Financial Statement Audit Report for the Military Order of the World Wars for Fiscal Year 2000 (open access)

Federally Chartered Corporation: Review of the Financial Statement Audit Report for the Military Order of the World Wars for Fiscal Year 2000

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Military Order or the World Wars for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly on a modified cash basis of accounting."
Date: November 30, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mineral Resources: Mineral Volume, Value, and Revenue (open access)

Mineral Resources: Mineral Volume, Value, and Revenue

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, there were nearly 70 different types of leasable minerals extracted from federal lands and waters in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, but their volume cannot be aggregated because they use different units of measure. For example, the volumes of the four most valuable of these minerals--oil, gas, natural gas liquids, and coal--are measured in barrels, million cubic feet (mcf), gallons, and tons, respectively. According to ONRR data, the total value of all leasable minerals extracted from federal and Indian land and sold in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 was $92.3 billion and $98.6 billion, respectively."
Date: November 15, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Laboratory Research: Sales and Use Tax Costs to Build DOE's Spallation Neutron Source Project (open access)

Laboratory Research: Sales and Use Tax Costs to Build DOE's Spallation Neutron Source Project

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the tax expenses associated with building the Department of Energy's Spallation Neutron Source project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, focusing on whether it would be less expensive to build the project at any of the other participating national laboratories."
Date: November 19, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Actions Taken to Implement the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (open access)

Actions Taken to Implement the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On August 29, 2005, and in the ensuing days, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma devastated the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Hurricane Katrina alone affected more than a half million people located within approximately 90,000 square miles spanning Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, ultimately resulted in over 1,600 deaths, and has spawned one of the largest natural disaster relief and recovery operations in U.S. history. Almost 3 years prior to the hurricanes, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) largely in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Homeland Security Act merged 22 disparate agencies and organizations into the new department, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Homeland Security Act generally charged DHS with securing the homeland against terrorist attacks and carrying out the functions of all transferred entities, including acting as a focal point regarding natural and man-made crises and emergency planning. Hurricane Katrina severely tested disaster management at the federal, state, and local levels and revealed weaknesses in the basic elements of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from any catastrophic disaster. Beginning in February …
Date: November 21, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Next Generation Air Transportation System: Linking Test Facilities Can Help Leverage Resources and Improve Technology Transfer Efforts (open access)

Next Generation Air Transportation System: Linking Test Facilities Can Help Leverage Resources and Improve Technology Transfer Efforts

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the use of test facilities as a means of leveraging public, private, and academic resources to deliver technologies for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen will affect nearly every aspect of air transportation and will transform the way in which the air transportation system operates today. It is a complex undertaking that requires new technologies--including new integrated ground and aircraft systems--as well as new procedures, processes, and supporting infrastructure. The result will be an air transportation system that relies on satellite-based surveillance and navigation, data communications, and improved collaborative decision making. Transforming the nation's air transportation system affects and involves the activities and missions of several federal agencies, though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the lead implementer. In addition, NextGen was designed and planned to be developed in collaboration with aviation stakeholders--airlines and other airspace users, air traffic controllers, and avionics, aircraft, and automation systems manufacturers--in order to facilitate coordinated research activities, transfer technologies from FAA and partner agencies to the private sector, and take advantage of research and technology developed by the private sector that could meet NextGen needs, as appropriate. …
Date: November 7, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Personnel: DOD Needs to Strengthen the Annual Review and Certification of Military Personnel Obligations (open access)

Military Personnel: DOD Needs to Strengthen the Annual Review and Certification of Military Personnel Obligations

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, Congress appropriates billions of dollars to pay and support U.S. military personnel at home and overseas. In fiscal year 2003, military personnel (MILPERS) appropriations amounted to more than $109 billion. Once the funds are appropriated, the military services are responsible for ensuring that the funds are properly obligated and disbursed. Their end-of-the-fiscal-year review is critical to the next year's budget formulation process because the services use the obligations for the most recent fiscal year completed as a point of reference in developing their new budgets, and Congress uses this information as a point of comparison in its review of the new budget requests. In our prior work for the House and Senate appropriation and authorization committees, reviewing the services' budget justifications, we found that although the services were conducting annual reviews and certifications, the services did not review transactions by matching obligations to individual disbursements in all of the years that disbursements can occur, as required by the Department of Defense (DOD) Financial Management Regulation. We also found that the services disbursed some obligations for purposes other than those reported in their budget submission, but their …
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Employees' Compensation Act: Analysis of Proposed Changes on USPS Beneficiaries (open access)

Federal Employees' Compensation Act: Analysis of Proposed Changes on USPS Beneficiaries

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""
Date: November 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Postal Service Actions to Improve Its Financial Reporting (open access)

U.S. Postal Service Actions to Improve Its Financial Reporting

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past 2 years, we have been raising concerns and have made recommendations regarding the lack of sufficient and timely periodic information on the U.S. Postal Service's financial condition and outlook available to the public between publications of its audited year-end financial statements. This report responds to a request that we provide periodic updates on several key areas related to the Service's financial outlook, including improvements in financial and performance reporting. Specifically, this report discusses actions taken by the Service to address our past recommendations to provide sufficient, more timely, and accessible financial reports as well as our assessment of the Service's responses."
Date: November 13, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Fiscal Year 2009 Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Fiscal Year 2009 Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures described in this letter, which we agreed to perform and with which the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation concurred, solely to assist the Inspector General's office in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with the Inspector General's office, we evaluated fiscal year 2009 activity affecting excise tax distributions to the AATF."
Date: November 5, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Inspectors General: Information on Resources and Selected Accomplishments of Five Inspectors Generals (open access)

Inspectors General: Information on Resources and Selected Accomplishments of Five Inspectors Generals

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the resources and selected accomplishments of five inspectors general for fiscal years 1992 through 1998."
Date: November 19, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library