A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Millions of people who live and work near eight Army storage facilities containing 30,000 tons of chemical agents are at risk of exposure from a chemical accident. In 1988, the Army established the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) to assist 10 states with communities near these eight storage facilities. The Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) share the federal government's responsibility for the program's funding and execution. Since its inception, the program has received more than $761 million in funding. One third of this amount has been spent to procure critical items. Because each community has its own site-specific requirements, funding has varied greatly. For example, since the states first received program funding in 1989, Illinois received as little as $6 million, and Alabama received as much as $108 million. GAO found that many of the states have made considerable progress in preparing to respond to chemical emergencies. Three of the 10 states in the CSEPP are fully prepared to respond to an emergency and four others are making progress and are close to being fully prepared. This is a considerable improvement since …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Commerce generates and disseminates important economic information that is of great interest to U.S. businesses, policymakers, and researchers. The dramatic rise in the number and sophistication of cyberattacks on federal information systems is of growing concern. This report provides a general summary of the computer security weaknesses in the unclassified information systems of seven Commerce organizations as well as in the management of the department's information security program. The significant and pervasive weaknesses in the seven Commerce bureaus place the data and operations of these bureaus at serious risk. Sensitive economic, personnel, financial, and business confidential information is exposed, allowing potential intruders to read, copy, modify, or delete these data. Moreover, critical operations could effectively cease in the event of accidental or malicious service disruptions. Poor detection and response capabilities exacerbate the bureaus' vulnerability to intrusions. As demonstrated during GAO's testing, the bureaus' general inability to notice GAO's activities increases the likelihood that intrusions will not be detected in time to prevent or minimize damage. These weaknesses are attributable to the lack of an effective information security program with a lack of centralized …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO tested certain internal controls over federal disbursements processed by the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) in fiscal year 2000. With some exceptions, FMS makes disbursements for all federal agencies through its Regional Financial Centers and Debt Management Operations Center. For fiscal year 2000, FMS reported processing approximately 890 million disbursements totaling more than $1.2 trillion. The centers disburse funds by check, electronic funds transfer (EFT), or Fedwire. FMS reported that these disbursements for fiscal year 2000 included approximately 265 million checks amounting to more than $265 billion, approximately 625 million EFTs amounting to more than $720 billion, and approximately 47,000 Fedwires amounting to more than $275 billion. The centers also process Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system enrollments. FMS reported the federal agencies authorized payments of over $254 billion in fiscal year 2000 using the ASAP system. This report reviews the results of GAO's (1) follow-up work on previously recommended improvements and corrective actions taken to address such recommendations and (2) fiscal year 2000 testing and related recommendations for improving controls over safeguarding assets and processing and documenting delegation and designation of agency …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "International crimes, such as drugs and arms trafficking, terrorism, money laundering, and public corruption, transcend national borders and threaten global security and stability. The National Security Council (NSC) told GAO that international crime and the framework for the U.S. response are under review by the new administration. The extent of International crime is growing, but measuring its true extent is difficult. Several efforts have been made to gauge the threat posed to the United States and other countries by international crime. The 1999 threat assessment was classified, but a published version of the 2000 assessment divided the threat into the following five broad categories: (1) terrorism and drug trafficking; (2) illegal immigration, trafficking of women and children, and environmental crimes; (3) illicit transfer or trafficking of products across international borders; (4) economic trade crimes; and (5) financial crimes. NSC identified 34 federal entities with significant roles in fighting international crime. These included the Department of Justice, Treasury, and State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The efforts to combat public corruption internationally involves two strategies: the elimination of bribes in transnational business activities, such as …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report (1) reviews the usefulness of cooperative agreements as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contractual mechanism, (2) the reasons behind NASA's aggressive and rapid-style management of the X-33 and X-34 programs, (3) the timeliness of NASA's plans to generate adequate program cost estimates for gauging management reserves in the 15-20 percent range, and (4) the influence of the Young report on NASA's management style regarding the restructured X-34 Program. GAO found that the X-33 cooperative agreement limited NASA's exposure to cost growth and allowed industry to embark on such a program at relatively modest investment. To meet the goal set in 1994 by the White House Space Policy, NASA implemented the Reusable Launch Vehicle Program, incorporating a "fast-track" management approach and "new ways of doing business." NASA did not conduct cost estimates before awarding several contracts, thereby increasing the risk that the management reserves might not be sufficient to cover additional contract costs. NASA restructured the plan for the X-34 Program in response to both X-34 Program technical reviews and other internal assessments of NASA programs, including reports on the failed Mars missions, the shuttle …