Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the status of the Bureau of the Census' key census operations, focusing on: (1) whether the Bureau followed GAO's recommendations and adopted an alternate form of contingency planning instead of relying on Congress for a supplemental appropriation; (2) why the census is such a local endeavor; (3) whether the Bureau will be able to translate the high level of public awareness into participation for the 2000 Census; (4) whether partnership specialists will be stretched too thinly to have a successful impact on the 2000 Census; (5) the challenges facing the Bureau in conducting a timely and accurate followup; (6) how the Bureau could intentionally or unintentionally cut corners to get the nonresponse follow-up workload done in a shorter period of time; and (7) the risks that could jeopardize the release of timely data."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the regulatory programs that target specific pollutants or sources of pollution under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, focusing on: (1) examples of emission sources subject to regulation under more than one program authorized by the act; and (2) the status of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to facilitate compliance for such sources."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, focusing on: (1) whether ONDCP provided timely financial reports to Congress; (2) how funds for paid advertising were managed and disbursed; (3) whether ONDCP complied with certain statutory requirements regarding the obligation of funds; (4) what ONDCP has done to develop and implement guidelines for the Campaign in response to program requirements; (5) whether the evaluation designs for phases I, II, and III were appropriate and how well the phases I and II evaluations were implemented; and (6) how effective phases I and II of the Campaign were in influencing group awareness of different types of paid anti-drug media messages and drug attitudes."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO discussed the results of its report on the U.S. government's financial statements for fiscal year (FY) 1999."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the role of testing and evaluation in product development, focusing on: (1) how the conduct of testing and evaluation affects commercial and Department of Defense (DOD) program outcomes; (2) how best commercial testing and evaluation practices compare with DOD's; and (3) what factors account for the differences in these practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed compliance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) with the requirements of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. The assessment covers OMB and CBO reports issued for legislation enacted during the 1st session of the 106th Congress, which ended on November 22, 1999."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the budgetary implications of selected program reforms discussed in its past work but not yet implemented or enacted."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Bureau of Reclamation's operation and maintenance (O&M) of federal water projects, focusing on: (1) how the Bureau defines O&M activities; (2) what latitude the Bureau has in deciding which O&M costs to charge customers; (3) how the Bureau accounts for O&M costs; (4) how the Bureau defines overhead; (5) how the Bureau calculates the O&M costs that it charges to customers; (6) what concerns have been raised by customers about excessive O&M costs and to what extent customers have to review cost and recommend reductions; and (7) how the Bureau's cost practices compare to those of other entities."

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the management and oversight of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Campaign Finance Task Force (CFTF), focusing on: (1) the strained working relationships and trust concerns within CFTF; (2) interagency disagreement over investigative approach; (3) interagency disagreements over the management and analysis of evidence; (4) management changes, staffing fluctuations, and oversight; (5) CFTF prosecutive results and costs; and (6) limitations in the Federal Election Campaign Act that may inhibit prosecutions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) efforts to address personnel security issues, focusing on: (1) the factors that contributed to FAA's failure to adhere to the requirements of its personnel security program, which requires background searches--investigations or checks--of contractor employees commensurate with the risk level of the tasks to be performed; (2) whether FAA's "five layers of system protection" concept is a generally accepted security framework reflective of its security policies and procedures; and (3) the extent of FAA's compliance with the requirements of its personnel security program concerning background searches for FAA and contractor employees at all agency facilities."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the District of Columbia Courts' (DC Courts) fiscal year (FY) 2001 budget request and related issues, focusing on: (1) whether DC Courts' FY 2001 budget was reasonable; (2) what were DC Courts' obligations and payments for FY 1999 operations, including totals charged for the Criminal Justice Act, Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect, and the Guardianship programs; and (3) what are the DC Courts' obligations and payments related to its court operations and defender services to date for FY 2000."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the increasing prices of Marine Corps spare parts, focusing on: (1) changes in the prices of reparable parts compared with the prices of similar items in the private sector and the reasons for the price changes; and (2) the accuracy of prices set by the Marine Corps."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defenses (DOD) health care system in Europe and the Pacific, focusing on: (1) what DOD health care resources are available in Europe and the Pacific and what is their cost; (2) how does DOD integrate host nation care into its military health care system; (3) how does DOD ensure the quality of such care; (4) whether beneficiaries have adequate access to medical care; and (5) whether beneficiaries encounter obstacles when obtaining healthcare."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the status and basis for the Department of Defense's (DOD) defense cooperation initiatives, focusing on the : (1) data and analysis supporting the 47 initiatives; and (2) likelihood that the initiatives will achieve DOD's desired outcomes."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO worked with the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop and report a reliable estimate for the postemployment health care benefits due to military retirees, their dependents, and survivors. To accomplish this, the DOD Office of Actuary has contracted with a private sector firm of actuaries and consultants, Milliman & Robertson. This report provides a non-technical summary of the contractor's findings and includes GAO's recommendation that the changes discussed in the reports be implemented. GAO found that although the analysis prepared by the Office of Actuary does a good job of identifying the factors that affect the military postretirement health care benefits liability and of evaluating the possible impact of those factors, issues still need to be addressed. An additional break out of information is needed in some areas in order for the Office of Actuary to properly analyze their impact on liability. The methodology used was generally reasonable, but some deficiencies still remained."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the amounts of funding available and expended for implementing the states' drinking water programs, focusing on: (1) how the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget requests for the states' implementation of their drinking water programs compare with the amounts authorized and estimated to be needed; (2) how much the states have spent since the passage of the 1996 amendments to implement these programs and how the expenditures compare with the estimated needs; (3) what effects federal funding levels have had, and may have in the future, on the states' ability to implement their programs; and (4) what existing practices have the potential to help the states implement their drinking water programs more effectively and efficiently."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report compares the drug prices paid by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with the prices paid by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). On average, for the sample of drug prices analyzed by GAO, HCFA's prices were higher than those of either DOD or VA."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request GAO compared the Department of Education's Longitudinal Evaluation of School Change and Performance Plan (LESCP) to its previous assessment program, the Prospect Study, focusing on: (1) the purpose of each study and how these purposes relate to the needs of policymakers and educators; (2) the process used to design and implement the studies, including obtaining feedback from review panels and releasing the results to Congress and the public ; and (3) the studies' strengths and limitations in light of their purposes and determine the effect these strengths and limitations have on the conclusions that can be drawn from the data."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) grants for international activities and smart growth, focusing on the: (1) number, dollar amount, and recipients of international and smart growth grants; (2) purposes of and the activities pursuant to the grants; and (3) statutory bases that EPA cites for awarding these grants."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the annual audited financial statements for 24 major departments and agencies of the U.S. government."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO audited the financial statements of the District of Columbia's Highway Trust Fund for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found that the District did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting related to its Highway Trust Fund as of September 30, 1999. Material weaknesses affected accounting for expenditures and computer system general controls."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO audited the expenditures of eight offices of independent counsel (OIC) for the six months ended September 30, 1999."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the federal assistance the United States provides to the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, focusing on the: (1) cost to the United States of providing assistance to Micronesia and the Marshall Islands in accordance with the existing Compact of Free Association from fiscal year (FY) 1987 through FY 1999; (2) funds provided prior to the Compact (earlier than FY 1987) for the effects of nuclear weapons testing to what is now the Marshall Islands; and (3) accuracy and reliability of the data the Department of the Interior uses to monitor and supervise the federal assistance programs."