A letter report 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 management of various year 2000-related end-to-end testing activities, focusing on: (1) the U.S. Space Command's management of its end-to-end test of space control systems essential to major theater war; and (2) what the results of this test show with respect to operational risks and readiness."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the U.S. Transportation Command's (TRANSCOM) year 2000-related end-to-end testing activities, focusing on TRANSCOM's management of its end-to-end test of its ability to plan and execute joint major theater war (MTW) deployment operations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on federal child care funding, focusing on: (1) programs and services funded at the federal and state levels that directly provide early childhood care and education for the general population of low-income children up to age 5; (2) state and local assessments of the relative difficulty low-income parents face in obtaining care for their children; and (3) the collaborative efforts among child care officials and early childhood education officials to address these parents' difficulties."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new rule on Medicare Program revisions to payment policies under the physician fee schedule for calendar year 2000. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would make several changes affecting Medicare Part B payment; (2) the changes include, among others, implementation of resource-based malpractice insurance relative value units (RVU), refinement of resource-based practice expense RVUs, and payment for physician pathology and independent laboratory services; and (3) HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Transportation's (DOT) performance plan for fiscal year (FY) 2000, focusing on whether the plan provided information on: (1) the desired end results; (2) the results of programs and activities that are expected to lead to end outcomes; and (3) products and services that are typically based on the numbers of activities or products that result from internal effort."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report documents GAO's concurrence with the findings of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) financial management operations. To effectively monitor and evaluate PwC's work, GAO reviewed PwC's methodology for conducting its work, its collection techniques, resulting analysis, and the draft and final reports. Overall, PwC found significant weaknesses in CDC's financial management procedures, operations, systems, and staff. PwC stated that CDC's financial management capabilities has not kept pace with its expanding mission and funding growth. GAO notes that PwC's report provided CDC with both a framework and critical steps for beginning a long-term upgrading effort, and CDC should use this report as a guide."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, the Department of Defense (DOD) ships inventory worth billions of dollars to locations around the world. DOD has had longstanding difficulty tracking this inventory from origin to destination. GAO reviewed six draft plans developed by the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to overcome this problem. The six draft plans have significantly improved on DOD's original plan for tracking inventory. They are, however, inconsistent in content and do not reflect a coordinated, DOD-wide approach to correcting the lack of visibility over inventory being shipped. These draft plans also lack detailed performance measures for monitoring progress and determining the effectiveness of the actions after they are implemented. They do not address how DOD will ensure appropriate coordination among the military services and DOD commands in the implementation of the corrective actions or how DOD will monitor future progress. Lastly, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has not established a deadline for when the plans should be finalized."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 required Medicare to change its payment system for ambulance services. In response, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), now called the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), proposed a fee schedule to standardize payments across provider types on the basis of national rates for particular services. Under the act, the fee schedule was to have applied to ambulance services furnished on or after January 1, 2000. HCFA published a proposed rule in September 2000 and has received public comment, but it has not yet issued a final rule. This testimony discusses the unique concerns of rural ambulance providers and the likely effects of the proposed fee schedule on these providers. Many rural ambulance providers face a set of unique challenges in implementing an appropriate payment policy. Rural providers--particularly those serving large geographic areas with low population density--tend to have high per-trip costs compared with urban and suburban providers. The proposed Medicare fee schedule does not sufficiently distinguish the providers serving beneficiaries in the most isolated rural areas and may not appropriately account for the higher costs of low-volume providers."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal research and preparedness activities related to bioterrorism center on detection; the development of vaccines, antibiotics, and antivirals; and the development of performance standards for emergency response equipment. Preparedness activities include (1) increasing federal, state, and local response capabilities; (2) developing response teams; (3) increasing the availability of medical treatments; (4) participating in and sponsoring exercises; (5) aiding victims; and (6) providing support at special events, such as presidential inaugurations and Olympic games. To coordinate their efforts to combat terrorism, federal agencies are developing interagency response plans, participating in various interagency work groups, and entering into formal agreements with other agencies to share resources and capabilities. However, coordination of federal terrorism research, preparedness, and response programs is fragmented, raising concerns about the ability of states and localities to respond to a bioterrorist attack. These concerns include insufficient state and local planning and a lack of hospital participation in training on terrorism and emergency response planning. This testimony summarizes a September 2001 report (GAO-01-915)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of the significance of IRS revenue collections to federal receipts and, in turn, to the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO is required to audit, and Congress's interest in financial management at IRS, GAO audits IRS's financial statements annually to determine whether (1) the financial statements IRS prepares are reliable, (2) IRS management maintained effective internal controls, and (3) IRS complies with selected provisions of significant laws and regulations and its financial systems comply with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of its interest in this area, Congress asked that we address the following questions: (1) To what extent have federal contractors violated federal environmental, labor and employment, antitrust, consumer protection, and tax laws (the areas of law specified in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule)? and (2) What FAR rule implementation issues were identified in our work in response to the first question?"

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the 1990s the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dramatically downsized its staff, however, its mission did not decrease. As a consequence, HUD relies more heavily on private contractors, and needs to hold its contractors accountable for results. GAO was asked to determine if HUD has processes and practices in place to effectively oversee contractors, strategically manages its acquisition workforce, and has management information systems that support its acquisition workforce."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed several issues relating to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) workforce and management challenges. These issues are associated with NASA's proposed legislative provisions for additional flexibilities and authorities to help it address its human capital challenge. GAO found that agencies must ensure that their strategic human capital plans are results-oriented and data-driven. This includes developing appropriate information on the number and location of employees and their key competences and skills, as well as data on the profile of the workforce, and performance goals and measures for human capital approaches. NASA's legislative proposal for streamlined demonstration and alternative personnel system authority would provide a mechanism for converting a successful demonstration project, upon approval by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to a permanent alternative personnel system, without the need for special legislation and without any limitation on the number of employees that would be covered by the project as is under current authority. Human capital systems should have appropriate transparency and adequate safeguards in order to help ensure that it is efficient, effective, credible, and equitable."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In light of the increasing significance and potential costs of dealing with transportation in the national park system, we reviewed the Park Service's administration of the Alternative Transportation Program. Specifically, we are reporting on the Park Service's processes for (1) ensuring that alternative transportation projects are needed and cost-effective, and (2) evaluating the performance of the program. It is important to point out that in addressing these issues our work focused on the agency's process for reviewing and approving projects. Accordingly, we did not evaluate whether any specific project was in fact needed and cost-effective. In conducting the work, we examined agency files for a sample of 20 projects--10 planning projects and 10 construction projects--that account for 54 percent of the total program funding for fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2003."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On November 21 and 22, 2002, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will consider the admission of new members to the alliance. To facilitate congressional deliberations on NATO enlargement, the United States Senate mandated in 1998 that GAO review and assess a report that Congress directed the President to provide on countries seeking membership in NATO. The President submitted a classified report to Congress on August 26, 2002. To fulfill its mandate, GAO determined if the report met the Senate's requirements and if the cost estimates were sound."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requested that we review the HOPE VI program. Because of the scope of the request, we agreed with the office of the Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, to provide the information in a series of reports. This first report focuses on the financing of HOPE VI developments. We describe the extent to which grantees have (1) leveraged funds from other sources, particularly other federal sources; (2) leveraged funds specifically for community and supportive services; and (3) complied with HUD's funding limits for developing public housing units and budgeted additional funds not subject to these limits. Because the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 requires HUD to report HOPE VI cost information to Congress, we also discuss the extent to which HUD has complied with this requirement."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As directed in the Fiscal Year 2002 Legislative Branch Appropriations Conference Report and subsequent support letters from interested members of Congress, GAO conducted a pilot program in technology assessment that examined the use of biometric technologies for border control. Biometric technologies are available today and are being used for a variety of applications such as access control and criminal identification and surveillance. GAO considered a number of leading and emerging biometric technologies that could potentially be used for securing the nations borders. The seven leading biometric technologies include facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, hand geometry, iris recognition, retina recognition, signature recognition, and speaker recognition. To evaluate the effectiveness of biometrics in border control, it is important to recognize that the use of biometric technology would be but one component of the decision to support systems that determine who is allowed to enter the United States and who is not. Biometric technology can play a role in associating a person with travel documents such as visas and passports. When used at a border inspection, the biometric comparison can be used to help decide whether to admit a traveler …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2001, the United States Postal Service reported that it lost about $6.3 million in remittances (cash and checks) to robberies, internal theft, and mishandling. One particular loss--a June 2001 theft of over $3.2 million from a Phoenix, Arizona, postal facility by a Career Service employee--received considerable media attention. Pursuant to the request of the Chairman, House Committee on Government Reform, we agreed to review Service policies and procedures for the security of remittances by addressing the following questions: (1) Does the Service have reasonable physical controls and security to safeguard its remittances? (2) Does the Service have policies for conducting background checks of employees who process remittances? (3) Does the Service provide training to its employees who process remittances?"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State is in the early stages of a proposed multibillion dollar program to build secure new embassies and consulates around the world. Under the proposed Capital Security Cost-Sharing Program, all agencies with staff assigned to overseas diplomatic missions would share in construction costs. This report describes (1) the rationale for and development of the program, (2) agency concerns about the program, and (3) the influence of the program on agencies' overseas staff levels."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents our opinion on the financial statements of the Congressional Award Foundation for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, and 2002. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Congressional Award Foundation. This report also presents (1) our opinion on the effectiveness of the Foundation's related internal control as of September 30, 2003, and (2) our conclusion on the Foundation's compliance in fiscal year 2003 with selected provisions of laws and regulations we tested. We conducted our audit pursuant to section 8 of the Congressional Award Act, as amended (2 U.S.C. 807), and in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards."

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 2004. 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 18th consecutive year. The financial information and the data measuring GAO's performance contained in this report are complete and reliable."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Research has shown that many Americans lack the knowledge of basic personal economics they need to make informed financial judgments and manage their money effectively. Yet financial literacy is increasingly important in a world where consumers must choose from an array of complicated financial products and services and employees must take on more responsibility for their retirement savings. Title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, known as the Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act, created the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, comprised of 20 federal agencies, and charged it with coordinating federal efforts and developing a national strategy to promote financial literacy. The act also mandated that GAO report on recommendations for improving financial literacy among consumers. To help in developing our work, on July 28, 2004, GAO hosted a forum on the role of the federal government in improving financial literacy. Forum participants included experts in financial literacy and education from federal and state agencies, the financial industry, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. Participants discussed the topics federal efforts should cover, populations that should be targeted, methods of delivering information, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Most taxpayers have their only contact with IRS during the filing season, with tens of millions filing their returns, getting refunds, and seeking assistance by calling or visiting IRS's offices or Web site. GAO was asked to assess IRS's performance in 2004 relative to goals and prior years' performance as well as initiatives or other factors that significantly affected performance for the following areas: (1) the processing of paper and electronic returns, (2) telephone service, (3) walk-in service, and (4) Web site service."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, asked GAO to assist the committee in its oversight of the Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) disability compensation and pension programs. This report examines (1) VBA's determination and justification of claims processing staffing levels, and the role of productivity in such determinations, and (2) VBA's projections of future claims workload and complexity."