Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Companies, which are the basis of most commercial activities in market-based economies, may be used for illicit as well as legitimate purposes. Because companies can be used to hide activities such as money laundering, some states have been criticized for requiring too little information about companies when they are formed, especially concerning owners. This testimony draws on GAO's April 2006 report Company Formations: Minimal Ownership Information Is Collected and Available (GAO-06-376), which addressed (1) the information states and other parties collect on companies, (2) law enforcement concerns about the role of companies in illicit activities and the information available on owners, and (3) the implications of collecting more ownership information. GAO surveyed all 50 states and the District of Columbia, reviewed state laws, and interviewed a variety of industry, law enforcement, and other government officials."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Presented is GAO's performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2008. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf. The financial information and the data measuring GAO's performance contained in this report are complete and reliable."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's more than 4 million miles of roads are key to the economy, facilitating the movement of goods and people. Although highways are highly durable and can last for decades, they deteriorate from traffic wear and tear, inadequate drainage, construction deficiencies, and weather. Keeping them in good condition requires substantial resources: public entities spent more than $180 billion in 2008 on highways, with about $40 billion coming from the federal government. Despite these outlays, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that these funding levels are insufficient to maintain or improve the condition of the nation's highways through 2028. Further, the major source of federal surface transportation funding--federal motor fuel tax revenues deposited into the Highway Trust Fund--is eroding. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, as of March 2012, to maintain current spending levels and account for inflation from 2013 to 2022, the Highway Trust Fund will require more than $125 billion over what it is expected to take in during that period."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "First, we found that the four changes mandated by the 2009 legislation contributed to improvements in program operations and increased participation: (1) Creation of director and other full-time positions: The creation of a director and other full-time positions for the program resulted in reduced firm certification processing times for petitions. (2) New annual reporting on performance measures: EDA has submitted three annual reports to Congress on these performance measures as a result of the legislation. (3) Inclusion of service sector firms: According to our analysis of EDA data, the inclusion of service sector firms allowed EDA to certify 26 firms not previously eligible for assistance from fiscal years 2009 through 2011. (4) Expansion of the "look-back" period from 12 months to 12, 24, or 36 months: Our analysis of EDA data shows that 32 additional firms participated in the program from fiscal years 2009 through 2011 based on the expansion of the look-back period from 12 months to 12, 24, or 36 months. Prior to the legislative changes, firms were only allowed to compare sales and production data in the most recent 12 months to data from the …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Presented is GAO's performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2003. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf. Importantly, GAO received a clean opinion from independent auditors on our financial statements for the 17th consecutive year. The financial information and the data measuring GAO's performance contained in this report are complete and reliable."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Delphi Corporation (Delphi) was a global supplier of mobile electronics and transportation systems that began as part of the General Motors Corporation (GM) and was spun off as an independent company in 1999. Delphi filed for bankruptcy in 2005, and in July 2009, Delphi's six defined benefit pension plans were terminated and trusteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). In March 2011, GAO issued a report providing a timeline of key events leading to the plans' termination (GAO-11-373R). This report focused, in particular, on events related to the reasons for GM providing retirement benefit supplements to certain Delphi employees, but not to others, and the role of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in those events. GAO was asked to testify on the information gathered on the termination of Delphi's pension plans for this previous report. In preparing that report, GAO relied on publicly available documents--such as bankruptcy filings by GM and Delphi, company reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and press releases--and on documents received from groups with whom we have talked, including Delphi, GM, the Delphi Salaried Retiree Association, PBGC, and Treasury."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2013, GAO reported that (1) peer-reviewed, published research we reviewed did not support whether nonverbal behavioral indicators can be used to reliably identify deception, (2) methodological issues limited the usefulness of DHS's April 2011 SPOT validation study, and (3) variation in referral rates raised questions about the use of indicators. GAO reported that its review of meta-analyses (studies that analyze other studies and synthesize their findings) that included findings from over 400 studies related to detecting deception conducted over the past 60 years, other academic and government studies, and interviews with experts in the field, called into question the use of behavior observation techniques, that is, human observation unaided by technology, as a means for reliably detecting deception. The meta-analyses GAO reviewed collectively found that the ability of human observers to accurately identify deceptive behavior based on behavioral cues or indicators is the same as or slightly better than chance (54 percent). GAO also reported on other studies that do not support the use of behavioral indicators to identify mal-intent or threats to aviation."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures contained in the enclosure to this report, which we agreed to perform, solely to assist the Department of Labor in ascertaining whether the net federal unemployment tax (FUTA) revenue distributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with the Inspector General, we evaluated fiscal year 2003 activity affecting distributions to the UTF."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This letter responds a Congressional request that we provide answers to questions relating to our September 9, 2003, testimony. In that testimony, we discussed the availability of child pornography on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On September 25, 2003, we issued our report on efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to develop a corporate blueprint--commonly called an enterprise architecture--to guide and constrain its information technology (IT) systems modernization. (This report is available on GAO's Web site at www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-959.) We provided the FBI with a draft of this report on August 22, 2003, requesting that comments be provided by September 18. On September 23, the FBI provided us with written comments. However, the comments were not received in time to be analyzed, incorporated, and responded to in the report and still meet our September 25, 2003, reporting commitment to Congress. As discussed with Congress at that time, we did not extend the reporting date in order to include the FBI's comments and instead are transmitting and responding to them in this follow-up correspondence."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration (SBA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development offices share a mission of attending to underserved markets, promoting economic development, and improving the quality of life in America through the promotion of entrepreneurship and community development. In the past, these agencies have had cooperative working relationships to help manage their respective rural loan and economic development programs. At this subcommittee's request, GAO has undertaken a review of potential opportunities for SBA to seek increased collaboration and cooperation with USDA Rural Development (Rural Development), particularly given Rural Development's large and recognizable presence in rural communities. In this testimony, GAO provides preliminary views on (1) mechanisms that SBA and USDA have used to facilitate collaboration with other federal agencies and with each other; (2) the organization of SBA and USDA Rural Development field offices; and (3) the planned approach for GAO's recently initiated evaluation on collaboration between SBA and Rural Development. GAO discussed the contents of this testimony with SBA and USDA officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Today's testimony will focus on (1) the Architect of the Capitol's (AOC) construction progress since the last CVC hearing on September 25, 2007, and (2) the project's expected cost at completion and funding status. Today's remarks are based on our review of schedules and financial reports for the CVC project and related records maintained by AOC and its construction management contractor, Gilbane Building Company; our observations on the progress of work at the CVC construction site; and our discussions with the CVC team (AOC and its major CVC contractors), AOC's Chief Fire Marshal, and representatives from the U.S. Capitol Police. We also reviewed AOC's construction management contractor's periodic schedule assessments, potential change order log, and weekly reports on construction progress. In addition, we reviewed the contract modifications made to date."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, outlays for Medicaid were about $324 billion; about $185 billion was paid by the federal government. Because GAO previously identified abusive and criminal activity associated with government contractors owing billions of dollars in federal taxes, the subcommittee requested GAO expand our work to Medicare and Medicaid providers. Today's testimony covers Medicaid providers who abused the federal tax system from 7 selected states. GAO was asked to (1) determine if Medicaid providers have unpaid federal taxes, and the magnitude of such debts; (2) identify examples of Medicaid providers that have engaged in abusive or related criminal activities; and (3) determine whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the states prevent health care providers with tax problems from enrolling in Medicaid or participating in the continuous levy program to pay federal tax debts. To perform this work, GAO analyzed tax data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Medicaid data from seven selected states and performed investigative activities."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's Forensic Audits and Special Investigations team (FSI), which was created in 2005 as an interdisciplinary team consisting of investigators, auditors, and analysts, conducts covert tests at the request of the Congress to identify vulnerabilities and internal control weaknesses at executive branch agencies. These vulnerabilities and internal control weaknesses include those that could compromise homeland security, affect public safety, or have a financial impact on taxpayer's dollars. FSI conducts covert tests as "red team" operations, meaning that FSI does not notify agencies in advance about the testing. Recently, concerns have arisen as to whether top management at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were negatively impacting the results of red team operations by leaking information to security screeners at the nation's airports in advance of covert testing operations. Consequently, GAO was asked to (1) briefly explain FSI's processes and procedures concerning covert testing and (2) provide examples of covert activities performed"

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's recent work on U.S. nonproliferation programs and comments on S. 673--a bill to establish an interagency committee to review and coordinate such programs. GAO found that the U.S. programs have achieved some success, but more needs to be done to keep nuclear weapons, materials, and technologies out of the hands of terrorists and countries of concern. Furthermore, questions exist about how to sustain the security improvements being made. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of State programs to employ weapons scientists face difficulty in conclusively demonstrating that they are preventing the spread of weapons-related knowledge and expertise. With respect to S. 673, there is some debate among officials about the need for more coordination of U.S. nonproliferation programs. On the basis of the findings of two independent commissions that recently examined these programs, GAO believes that more coordination would be helpful and that the legislation could serve as a vehicle to share information and best practices for addressing problems GAO identified. S. 673 could be strengthened by mandating development of an overarching strategic plan that clearly identifies overall goals, time frames for …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, House Committee on Government Reform, requested that GAO respond to follow-up questions subsequent to a hearing on "Human Capital Succession Planning.""

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred responsibility for certain port inspections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to the newly created Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Specifically, the act transferred the responsibility for inspecting passengers, baggage, cargo, and mail entering the country in airplanes, ships, trucks, and railcars for prohibited agricultural materials that may serve as carriers of foreign pests and diseases. USDA estimates that these biological invaders cost the American economy tens of billions of dollars annually in lower crop values, eradication programs, and emergency payments to farmers. Beginning in March 2003, more than 1,800 agriculture specialists who had formerly reported to USDA became CBP employees, as CBP incorporated the protection of U.S. agriculture into its primary antiterrorism mission. In addition to protecting U.S. agriculture, CBP's mission is to detect and prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States, interdict illegal drugs and other contraband, and apprehend individuals who are attempting to enter the United States illegally. Responding to congressional concerns that the transfer of agricultural inspections to CBP could shift …

US Air Force presentation of recommendation and methodology of original DoD Secretary of Defense recommendations for closure and realignment(5/12/05). Includes questions from Commissioners to Witnesses.

Typed notes from phone call with Ed Oakley concerning ordinance changes in Oak Lawn.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Sarah Eagar House, in San Antonio, Texas. The materials include the original application and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Fourth United States Army Headquarters Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in San Antonio, Texas. The materials include the original application and photograph.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Validity under article I section 8, of the Texas Constitution of article 5196, V.T.C.S., which requires a corporation to give a discharged employee a statement of reasons for the termination (RQ-1747)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of a district judge to appoint a district attorney pro tem under article 2.07 of the Code of Criminal Procedure where there is an assistant district attorney in place (RQ-2141)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Jurisdiction of the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists over individuals who have voluntarily requested and been granted certification and licensure but whose employment makes them exempt (RQ-2077)