A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "With the closing of Howard Air Force Base in Panama, the Department of Defense (DOD), the Coast Guard and the Customs Service began searching for alternate sites from which to conduct counterdrug operations close to drug producing zones. The United States has secured 10-year agreements for the use of four such sites. However, each site requires some construction to support a designated mix of aircraft. In response to concerns over the costs to develop and operate these four sites and whether these sites would meet the needs of interagency users, GAO briefed members of the Caucus on International Narcotics Control on (1) the process used to select these sites, (2) the estimated costs to develop and maintain these sites, and (3) issues that might affect operational capabilities at the sites. GAO found that the United States used a reasonable process to locate and secure four sites for its counterdrug efforts in foreign countries. DOD estimated that it would cost about $136.6 million to build airfields at these sites. Several issues might affect the capabilities of these sites, including (1) the unavailability of certain U.S. aircraft to …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Data sharing among federal agencies that run federal benefit and loan programs is important for determining the eligibility of applicants and beneficiaries. A GAO symposium on data sharing highlighted various issues facing federal agencies in their efforts to prevent abuse of federal programs. Symposium speakers focused on the number of program dollars saved by interagency data exchanges. Agencies using computer matching have detected undisclosed income and welfare recipients who receive benefits from more than one state. Improved technologies offer agencies the opportunity to expand their data sharing efforts. Such technologies include computer systems that can communicate directly with other systems and computer networks that can obtain information directly from financial institutions. Symposium speakers agreed that applicants' privacy should be protected when personal information is shared among agencies, but they disagreed about the extent to which data sharing threatens it. Privacy laws and security-related technology provide individuals with some protection against the possible misuse of personal information, but symposium participants differed on whether these protections are adequate."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed several amendments to its 1993 Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU) rule. The CAMU rule currently allows agencies to set aside part of their hazardous waste site to deposit wastes without triggering the requirements of the Recovery Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA's action is in response to a lawsuit alleging that the CAMU rule would allow for the management of wastes in violation of RCRA's land disposal restrictions. The 1993 rule and recently proposed rules governing the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste onsite in CAMUs differ primarily in the requirements for waste treatment and facility design. According to EPA, the proposed rules will increase the time and the costs of site cleanups using CAMUs because it is less flexible than the 1993 rule and adds technical and process requirements. Several state representatives expressed concern that the proposed requirements could be applied to cleanups done under their programs, regardless of whether they were using CAMUs, thereby deterring the progress states have been making in cleaning up sites."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 authorizes Haitian nationals and their dependents to apply to change their status to legal permanent residence. This report, the fourth done in response to the act, contains a breakdown on the numbers of Haitians who applied and the number who were approved as asylum applicants, parolees, children without parents, orphaned children, abandoned children, or as the eligible dependents of these applicants (i.e., spouses, children, and unmarried sons or daughters). The Immigration and Naturalization Service had received a total of 35,257 applications under the act and had approved 263 of these applications. The Executive Office for Immigration Review had 95 applications filed and had approved 65 of them."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A cookie is a short string of text, not a program, that is sent from a web server to a web browser when the browser accesses a web page. GAO reviewed 65 federal web sites to determine: (1) which of the selected federal sites were using cookies, (2) the type of cookies used, and (3) whether the privacy policy disclosed that the site may or does use cookies."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Through the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), Congress has sought to improve federal management and instill a greater focus on results. Congress and the executive branch recognize, however, that performance improvements do not take place merely because a set of management requirements has been put in place. In 1997 and 2000, GAO surveyed agencies' progress towards establishing a focus on results. GAO found that progress has been uneven in building the organizational cultures to create and sustain a focus on results governmentwide. A significantly higher percentage of managers in 2000 than in 1997 reported that their agencies had provided, arranged, or paid for training that would help them accomplish two results-oriented management-related tasks: setting performance goals and implementing the requirements of GPRA. Overall, the survey results show that, in some keys areas, agencies may be losing ground in their efforts towards building organizational cultures that support a focus on results. In GAO's view, the Senate confirmation process must ensure that political nominees have the appropriate management and leadership skills needed to continue to transform federal agencies into high-performing organizations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General (IG) provided training to its staff during fiscal years 1998 and 1999. GAO found that the training is part of a quality control system providing reasonable assurance that staff conform with professional standards. The reported cost of this training was about $630,000 in fiscal year 1998 and about $970,000 in fiscal year 1999. The courses covered topics such as leadership, quality, effectiveness, and performance. The IG plans to include additional management-related and technical training courses for the staff over the next two years and to conduct a skills inventory of the staff to identify any gaps that training can address."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Army Corps of Engineers' Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, focusing on: (1) the role of the Corps' Plan in addressing the major water quality concerns in Florida's ecosystem; and (2) modifications that may be needed as the Corps implements the Plan after it has been authorized by Congress."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the District of Columbia's (D.C.) Adolescent Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Prevention Program, focusing on: (1) statistics on the specific schools that are participating in this program; (2) how the schools were selected to participate in the program; (3) the source and amount of funding identified in the D.C. government budget; (4) statistics on sexually transmitted diseases, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS, and pregnancies among D.C. public school students; (5) the policies that govern the distribution of all forms of contraception devices to students in the D.C. Public Schools; and (6) information on policies governing sex education in the D.C. Public Schools."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Defense's (DOD) backlog of overdue personnel security reinvestigations, focusing on: (1) how DOD estimates estimates the backlog; (2) the soundness of DOD's backlog estimates; and (3) DOD's plans to address the backlog problem."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new rule on installment payment financing for Personal Communications Services (PCS) licensees. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would modify the FCC's rules that will apply to Auction No. 35, the next broadband PCS C and F block auction, as well as any subsequent auctions of C and F licenses, including any spectrum made available or reclaimed from bankruptcy proceedings in the future."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed food safety expenditures by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), focusing on: (1) the amount of resources available to FSIS and FDA for food safety activities; (2) how these resources were expended by the agencies; and (3) how much the states, territories, and District of Columbia expended on food safety activities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances' (OPPTS) implementation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), focusing on the: (1) guidance that OPPTS and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) three other major program offices have used during the past 10 years to determine whether their proposed rules could be certified as not having a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (SEISNSE); (2) comparing rate at which OPPTS certified that its substantive proposed rules published during calendar years 1994 through 1999 would not have a SEISNSE with the rates in EPA's other major program offices; and (3) methodology that OPPTS used in the economic analysis for the proposed lead rule and: (a) key aspects of that methodology that may have contributed to the Office's conclusion that the rule would not have a SEISNSE; (b) if so, how OPPTS has changed its economic analysis since publication of the rule; and (c) whether additional data or analysis could have yielded a different conclusion about the rule's impact on small entities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the progress that the securities industry has made toward the implementation of decimal pricing for U.S. stocks, focusing on: (1) what were the specific reasons that the Nasdaq market was not ready for the July 3, 2000, implementation date and how the National Association of Securities Dealers', Inc. (NASD) decimal-trading preparations compared with those of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); (2) how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approached oversight of the securities industry's implementation of decimal trading and how this compared with its year 2000 oversight effort; and (3) what challenges remain regarding implementing decimal trading for the industry."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's Title I program for preschool education, focusing on: (1) the extent to which title I funds are used to support education or developmentally appropriate activities for preschool children, aged birth to 5 years; and (2) what is known about the effectiveness of title I-funded programs for preschool children in preparing them for school."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the progress made by states and localities as they develop new financing, service-delivery, and accountability strategies for child welfare programs, focusing on: (1) the financial and service-delivery changes states and localities have made in their managed care initiatives; (2) how they are measuring the initiatives' outcomes; and (3) what is known about the effect of these changes on children and families."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the importance of congressional oversight and the challenges that face the 21st century."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed financial management issues at the Department of Defense (DOD)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the global infectious disease surveillance framework, (with particular emphasis on its operations in developing countries), focusing on: (1) functions involved in infectious disease surveillance and response framework."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) management of information technology (IT), focusing on five key areas: (1) investment management; (2) architecture; (3) software development and acquisition; (4) information security; and (5) human capital management."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993, focusing on: (1) how the present phase of GPRA implementation will assist Congressional oversight and decisionmaking; and (2) the steps needed to maximize the usefulness of GPRA for Congress and the executive branch."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) efforts to identify its current and future workforce needs, budget for them and manage them strategically."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program's progress in developing small businesses that are owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, focusing on: (1) the extent to which firms are obtaining federal contracts; (2) how SBA tracks the training and assistance provided to firms; and (3) how firms view the program."