Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) efforts to implement a National Performance Review (NPR) recommendation to reduce its management-to-staff ratio, focusing on the: (1) progress SSA has made to date in achieving the directive to reduce its management-to-staff ratio, particularly for staff graded GS-12 and above; and (2) steps SSA has taken to reduce the number of supervisory positions."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on issues related to the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) licensing of inventions developed under intramural research projects, focusing on the: (1) extent of and reasons for the differences between the number of research inventions licensed under cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA) compared to inventions licensed under other intramural research projects; and (2) internal controls that ensure proper accountability for royalty income resulting from these licenses."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information regarding work done on the Union Station Redevelopment Project by Park Woodworking, Inc., focusing on the: (1) extent of the government's liability, if any, for costs incurred for which Park was not compensated; (2) extent to which Park was not compensated for the work it did; and (3) actions taken by the Secretary of Transportation and the Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General (IG) in response to complaints received from Park."

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 "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) new rule on the average fuel economy standards for light trucks. GAO noted that: (1) NHTSA interprets section 322 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1999 as requiring it to prescribe the same light truck corporate average fuel economy standard for model year 2001 that applies to model year 2000; (2) accordingly, the rule continues the 20.7 miles per gallon standard for 2001; (3) this is the same interpretation NHTSA has applied for the three preceding model years and Congress has continued to insert the same language in the yearly Appropriations Acts and has not objected to NHTSA's interpretation; and (4) NHTSA complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO addressed congressional concerns regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), focusing on: (1) the management challenges facing the Department of Commerce in its administration of NOAA; (2) whether GAO reviewed the latest available studies of NOAA's fleet and modernization efforts or NOAA's fisheries research acquisition plan; (3) whether GAO examined the cost efficiency or effectiveness of NOAA's ships or compared the costs of NOAA's ships with those of private or other available ships; (4) whether GAO reviewed NOAA's fisheries research ship replacement plans; (5) why replacing the NOAA fleet is entwined with the issue of the NOAA Corps; and (6) whether GAO reviewed NOAA's downsizing of the NOAA Corps."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified weaknesses in the Department of Energy's (DOE) personnel practices."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the planning-related provisions of titles I and II of S. 1320--the Public Lands Planning and Management Improvement Act of 1999, focusing on the: (1) statutory basis for the Forest Service's mission priorities; (2) clarity of the mission statement in S. 1320; and (3) extent to which the bill addresses identified planning deficiencies."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work analyzing the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) 10-year business plan, focusing on: (1) whether the plan objectives address the key issues confronting TVA; (2) major costs that were not included in the plan; (3) whether the goals and assumptions in the plan are achievable or reasonable; and (4) TVA's plans to formally update the plan for significant changes."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to implement the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, focusing on IRS': (1) reorganization processes; (2) performance management system; and (3) systems modernization efforts."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the International Monetary Fund (IMF), focusing on the: (1) conditions IMF negotiates with its borrower countries; and (2) trade policies of borrower countries."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the impact of fraudulent documents on the effectiveness of the employment verification system established by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and efforts to reduce such fraudulent use."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed efforts to reform the administration, structure, and financing of the Medicare program."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed airport funding issues as they apply to smaller airports, focusing on: 1) how much funding has been made available to airports, particularly smaller airports, for their capital development and what are the sources of these funds; (2) comparing airports' plans for future development with current funding levels; and (3) what effect will various proposals to increase or make better use of existing funding have on smaller airports' ability to fulfill their capital development plans."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) new rule on amending the Intermarket Trading System Plan. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule amends the plan governing the operation of the Intermarket Trading System; and (2) SEC complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the utilization of health care assets owned by the Department of Veterans' Affairs and operated by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), focusing on: (1) VHA's hospital utilization; and (2) efforts to implement an asset realignment process."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed Internet securities fraud and regulatory efforts to combat this growing problem, focusing on: (1) information about the incidence and types of securities frauds perpetrated over the Internet; (2) the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) initiatives to combat Internet securities fraud; (3) information on the penalties that have been imposed on individuals found to have committed Internet securities frauds; (4) information from state securities regulators about state efforts to control Internet securities fraud; and (5) potential challenges facing SEC and state regulatory initiatives in combating securities fraud over the Internet."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the costs associated with the year 2000 problem, focusing on: (1) estimated year 2000 costs and agency processes to track costs to date; (2) planned uses of emergency funding; (3) year 2000 costs for fiscal year (FY) 2000 and beyond; (4) agency program and information technology (IT) initiatives delayed by year 2000 activities; and (5) lessons learned from year 2000 efforts that can be applied to other IT activities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the President's recent proposal to reform Medicare."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Energy's (DOE) progress toward the external regulation of nuclear and worker safety at its facilities, focusing on: (1) DOE's changing positions on the desirability of external regulation for its facilities; (2) the disagreement between DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the potential costs and value added of external regulation; and (3) the uncertainties for the future of external regulation in DOE."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the effectiveness of complaint and enforcement practices to protect nursing home residents, and to ensure that homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid comply with federal standards, focusing on the: (1) effectiveness of states' complaint practices in protecting residents; (2) Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) role in establishing standards and conducting oversight of states' complaint practices and in using information about the results of complaint investigations to ensure compliance with nursing home standards; and (3) assessment of HCFA's use of sanction authority for homes that failed to maintain compliance with these standards."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the status of initiatives intended to reform the United Nations (U.N.), focusing on U.N. efforts to: (1) unify and focus its organizational structure; (2) control its budget and institute new budget procedures; (3) improve oversight, program monitoring, and evaluation; and (4) improve its human resources management."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, focusing on: (1) how much and for what purposes federal funding has been provided for the restoration of the South Florida ecosystem; and (2) how well the restoration effort is being coordinated and managed."

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a law enforcement authority may register a parolee who is not required by statute to register as a sex offender, and related questions.