Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the data, assumptions, and conclusions reached by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on the acquisition of about two million square feet of leased space for the consolidation of PTO activities. This build-to-suit lease, valued at approximately $1.2 billion over its 20-year term, was signed in June 2000. this report responds to allegations and questions from two public interest groups about the PTO lease acquisition. One public interest group alleged that during the procurement process for the lease (1) GSA improperly awarded the lease to an offeror who had not complied with the solicitation's stated requirements, (2) GSA failed to compete the construction of the interior finishes phase of the project as required by law, and (3) GSA used an illegal cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost contract. The second public interest group asked (1) whether the requirements in GSA's Solicitation for Offers for the PTO lease transformed the lease from an operating lease to a capital lease under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-11; (2) whether the new facility will be able to house all PTO employees and contractors throughout the …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Spare parts shortages on the three Air Force systems GAO reviewed have undermined the performance of assigned missions and the economy and efficiency of maintenance activities. Specifically, the Air Force did not meet its mission-capable goals for the E-3 or C-5 aircrafts during fiscal years 1996-2000, nor did it have enough F-100-220 engines to meet peacetime and wartime goals during that period. These shortages may also affect personnel retention. GAO recently reported that the lack of parts and materials to successfully complete daily job requirements was one of six major factors causing job dissatisfaction among military personnel. Item managers at the maintenance facilities often indicated that spare parts shortages were caused by the inventory management system underestimating the need for spare parts and by delays in the Air Force's repair process as a result of the consolidation of repair facilities. Other reasons included difficulties with producing or repairing parts, reliability of spare parts, and contracting issues. The Air Force and the Defense Logistics Agency have planned or begun many initiatives to alleviate shortages of the spare parts for the three systems GAO reviewed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) advertising contract for Phase III of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. The contractor for the advertising portion of the Phase III anti-drug media campaign did not properly charge the government for some of the labor costs incurred under the contract. Ogilvy & Mather's submission of time sheets claiming hours that some employees said they did not work on the anti-drug media campaign was clearly improper. Moreover, Ogilvy should not have been awarded a cost accounting standards (CAS)-covered cost-reimbursement government contract until the company had an adequate cost accounting system to support this type of contract. The government poorly managed aspects of the award and administration of the contract. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should not have awarded this cost-reimbursement contract without determining whether the contractor had an adequate cost accounting system that met CAS standards. In addition, HHS should have reviewed the appropriateness of the large amount of money that the contracting officer's technical representative (COTR) recommended be disallowed from the contractor's invoices or arranged for an audit of the contract. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "During its review of 2001 agency budget justifications, GAO found several capital project funding requests that lacked total project cost information and for which it was not always clear whether requested funding would provide a useful, stand-alone asset. Without this information, Congress cannot consider the full costs of proposed commitments or determine if it is funding an asset that will be useful without additional funding. This report provides several examples of agency capital project funding request information that could be improved."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report assesses the 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. Overall, GAO found that OMB and CBO substantially complied with the act, although some of the required OMB and CBO reports were issued late. GAO's work was done in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began the Customer Account Data Engine (CADE) project to modernize the agency's outdated and inefficient data management system. This report determines (1) the reported status of CADE and IRS' plans for completing the project, (2) whether IRS is managing the relationship between CADE and the agency's enterprise architecture and current systems environment, (3) whether IRS is managing CADE in accordance with its Enterprise Life Cycle (ELC), and (4) whether IRS is ensuring that CADE will satisfy agency business needs. GAO found that IRS was over budget and behind schedule in meeting CADE's next project milestone, which is the completion of the preliminary design. IRS was not effectively managing the relationship between CADE and the enterprise architecture or its current systems environment. IRS had not fully employed several critical management controls that are intended to ensure that CADE is aligned with ELC. IRS had completed or was in the process of completing steps to ensure that CADE will satisfy agency business needs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) submitted its fourth expenditure plan to Congress in March 2001. In the plan, IRS requested $128 million from its systems modernization appropriations account. This report (1) determines whether the plan satisfied the conditions specified in the acts, (2) determines IRS' progress in implementing modernization management controls and capabilities, and (3) provides other observations about the plan and IRS' Business Systems Modernization program. GAO found that IRS' March 2001 expenditure plan satisfies the conditions specified in the appropriations acts. IRS continues to make important progress in implementing modernization management controls and capabilities but has yet to implement a sufficiently defined version of the enterprise architecture to guide and constrain projects or employ rigorous configuration management practices. Acquiring modernized systems before having the requisite management capacity in place increases the risk of cost, schedule, and performance shortfalls."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since May 2000, California's restructured electricity market has experienced rapidly rising prices and uncertain reliability. In response to disruptions in service, or blackouts, the state has taken steps to increase electricity supplies and to reduce demand through conservation. The California Independent System Operator, the agency in charge of balancing electricity supply with demand, expects high prices and disruptions to persist, and perhaps even worsen, in the summer of 2001. This report reviews (1) the condition of California's electricity market, including changes in demand, supply, and prices; (2) the extent to which the Department of Defense (DOD) can help enhance western electricity supplies during the summer of 2001; and (3) available private backup generation resources and any benefits and problems associated with their deployment. GAO found that electricity demand has risen sharply in recent years while supply has not kept up with the demand, causing higher prices. DOD could help augment western electricity supplies by generating an estimated 90 megawatts of electricity and implementing conservation initiatives. The use of private generation is limited because of business and environmental risks."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As the electricity industry restructures, California and the west have witnessed extraordinarily high wholesale prices and sharp limitations on the availability of electricity. In California, high prices have led to financial problems for the state's utilities, power outages, and rate increases. In other Western states, the high prices have also led to rate increases for consumers. This report assesses the outlook for California's electricity supplies this summer. Because of a lack of timely direct access to key information and limitation in other data, GAO was unable to assess likely conditions in California. To make an independent, reliable assessment, GAO would need access to data underlying key supply and demand factors, such as power plant outages and electricity supplies that could be imported into California. Furthermore, forecasts of California's electricity market show stark differences in the expected conditions this summer."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Liquefied petroleum gas (propane) has thousands of uses in homes, farms, and workplaces and is widely available in the United States. Although propane can be stored and handled safely, serious propane-related accidents have resulted in death and the destruction of property. At times, the efforts of local emergency personnel to respond to such accidents have been impeded by lack of hazard and safety information. This report describes (1) relevant revisions to the 1998 version of the code that were published in the 2001 version, as well as the process used to revise the code, (2) the views of key stakeholders about whether the 2001 version of the code provides local emergency response personnel with enough information to prepare for and respond to emergencies involving propane, and (3) the status of state and local government adoption of the 2001 code. The 2001 version of the NFPA code strengthens provisions of previous versions regarding information on the off-site effects of accidental propane releases. According to the nine key stakeholders interviewed by GAO, the 2001 version of the code would make more information available to local emergency response personnel. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Friendly fire incidents, or fratricide, accounted for about 24 percent of U.S. fatalities during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Since then, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the military services have been working to find new ways to avoid friendly fire in joint and coalition operations. Preventing friendly fire is a complex and challenging endeavor. It encompasses the development of new technologies as well as new training, tactics, and warfighting techniques. It involves a range of equipment and systems that have historically not been able to effectively interact as well as various military operations. It is a concern among each of the services as well as U.S. allies. Clearly, it is essential to have a blueprint that ties together these elements and provides a comprehensive map for long-term improvements as well as a management framework that is strong enough to implement the blueprint. Although DOD has taken some concrete steps toward both ends, it needs to strengthen these efforts and ensure that they are supported by the services. Otherwise, it may continue to contend with problems leading to friendly fire incidents."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Credit cards offer clear advantages to college students because they provide an interest free loan until the payment is due and a convenient noncash payment option for both routine transactions and emergencies. If used responsibly, credit cards allow students to build up credit histories that will increase their access to credit in the future. However, if college students have not learned sound financial management skills in high school or from their parents, the disadvantages of credit cards can outweigh the advantages. GAO found that more than one-third of students had credit cards before they entered college, and another 46 percent acquired them during the first year. Except for charges for tuition and fees, their spending patterns resembled those of nonstudents. GAO did not find a uniform response to the controversial issue of on-campus credit card marketing among the universities GAO visited. In response to complaints about aggressive marketing techniques, a few universities have restricted credit card solicitation on campus. The credit card issuers that responded to GAO's inquiries participated actively in the student market, but they did not have a uniform set of policies or practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress appropriates billions of dollars annually to construct buildings and other facilities for military training and operations. Small business have carried out a significant portion of this work. Congress and small business advocates, however, had become concerned that agencies were combining requirements into larger contracts that small businesses could not win. GAO examined the contract bundling of military construction requirements. GAO determined whether (1) overall data on construction contract awards to small businesses indicated that their ability to compete for contracts had been impaired and (2) selected Department of Defense (DOD) contracting offices had combined construction requirements in ways that hampered small businesses' ability to compete. Overall data on military construction contract awards to small businesses revealed that small businesses are generally continuing to win work and that their ability to compete is not being impaired. The Small Business Administration reviewed and approved of DOD's plan to determine whether the construction work being done could accommodate smaller contractors. Small businesses were able to compete for the remaining contracts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1992, Congress has authorized more than $3 billion for the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program to help Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Georgia secure and eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Concerned about proper oversight of equipment and services provided by the program, Congress required the Department of Defense (DOD) to report annually on whether the assistance was being used as intended. This report reviews (1) whether DOD's oversight procedures produce the necessary information to determine if the threat reduction assistance, including equipment provided and services furnished, is being used as intended and (2) whether DOD can improve its oversight. GAO found that DOD has procedures in place that reasonably ensure that at least 95 percent of the assistance is being used as intended and is adequately accounted for. Because of access restrictions imposed by the Russian government, a limited amount of equipment--less than five percent of the total value of assistance provided--is in locations where access by U.S. personnel is not permitted. DOD can enhance the quality of its program oversight by better targeting and expanding the scope of its formal audit and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the U.S. Custom Service's expenditure plan for its Automated Commercial Environment System (ACE). GAO found that (1) Customs' expenditure plan satisfies the legislative conditions specified in the 2001 Consolidated Appropriations Act, (2) activities described in the plan are consistent with GAO's two open recommendations regarding the need for Customs to justify and make ACE investment decisions incrementally and strengthen ACE software acquisition management, and (3) there are two areas needing improvement. Customs has not adequately justified investing in the International Trade Data System (ITDS) pilot project parallel with, and separate from, planned ITDS efforts under ACE modernization. Also, Customs has defined conflicting roles and responsibilities for its independent verification and validation (IV&V) contractor."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Customs Service's responsibilities include collecting revenue from imports and enforcing U.S. laws and regulations, preventing the smuggling of drugs into the United States, and overseeing export compliance and money laundering issues. Customs recently began a self-inspection program (SIP) to aid in its diverse responsibilities. This report discusses (1) SIP's use as a mechanism for oversight and accountability, (2) problems related to SIP implementation, and (3) improvements and refinements underway to enhance the value of the program. GAO found that SIP is a useful mechanism for managers to identify and correct problems at the local level and to obtain more control over activities that they oversee. Implementation problems included a lack of detailed instructions on how to complete self-inspection worksheets and inadequate worksheet review by responsible officials. Customs is trying to correct deficiencies in key internal control areas."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year the United States produces about 7 billion gallons of fluid drinking milk that generate $22 billion in retail sales. Farmers, cooperatives, wholesale milk processors, and retailers all work to move milk from the dairy farm to the consumer. Each of these entities performs a distinct function in the production, processing, distribution, and sale of milk, and each receives a portion of the retail price of a gallon of milk. Fluid milk prices at the farm-level have fallen sharply, prompting Congress to authorize almost a billion dollars in emergency assistance to dairy farmers in the last three years. Fluid milk prices at the retail level, however, have not experienced a similar decline. Concerns have been raised about this growing price spread between farm and retail milk prices. This report examines (1) factors that influence the price of milk as it moves from the farm to the consumer, (2) the proportionate breakdown of the retail price of a gallon of milk received by farmers, cooperatives, wholesale milk processors, and retailers, (3) how changes in farm and retail milk prices affect the farm-to-retail milk price spread, (4) …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Improper payments are a long-standing problem throughout the government. The Department of Defense (DOD) has been overpaying contractors by hundreds of millions of dollars each year. For fiscal years 1994 through 1999, DOD contractors returned nearly $1.2 billion that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) had mistakenly paid them as a result of errors, such as paying the same invoice twice or misreading invoice amounts. Sometimes, however, the contractors do not promptly respond to government demands that the overpayments be returned. The Debt Management Office was created at the DFAS Columbus Center to deal with contractors that are unresponsive to the government's demands that overpayments be returned. GAO found that the Debt Management Office at DFAS Columbus is not effectively and proactively pursuing collections of debts assigned to it. Specifically, the Office is not (1) taking appropriate action to establish the validity of the debts that it receives for collection, (2) promptly issuing letters demanding payment, (3) actively communicating with contractors or resolving issues related to the debts, and (4) effectively using the Department of the Treasury's centralized debt collection programs to maximize collections and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As of August 1, 1999, the Army's Comanche helicopter program faced significant risks related to cost overruns, scheduling delays, and degraded performance. GAO concluded that proceeding to the next development phase with high levels of uncertainty was not in accordance with best practices followed by successful commercial firms. This report evaluates changes since 1999 in the Comanche's cost, schedule, and performance, and assesses whether the Army will have the knowledge it needs to proceed with its current production plans. GAO found that the Comanche program's total development and production cost estimate has increased by almost $4.8 billion. However, areas of high technical risks and unfunded requirements could further increase the program's costs. The program office does not plan to update its April 2000 current estimate to reflect these increases until January 2003. The Comanche's December 2006 full rate production decision date has not changed even though the risks of not meeting this date have increased. The Army continues to face the risk that critical performance requirements may not be met--at least for the helicopters it will initially produce. The Department of Defense (DOD) recently provided $84 …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) issued antiarmor munitions master plans beginning in 1985 and updated the plans annually until 1990. These antiarmor plans focused on the Cold War armored threat and on the weapons that would be needed to prevail in a Central European Scenario. Congress expressed concern that the military continued to develop and procure an increasing number of tank-killing weapons at a time when potential adversaries had smaller numbers of armored forces. Congress told DOD to develop an Antiarmor Munitions Master Plan to identify the projected armor threat and the projected quantity of all antiarmor weapons, with the purpose of identifying and eliminating excess anti armor capability. This report reviews the plan to determine if it provides the data and analysis specified in the Fiscal Year 2000 Defense Appropriations conference report and provides data and analysis needed to support the services' current antiarmor acquisition plans. GAO found that DOD's July 2000 Antiarmor Munitions Master Plan did not provide the data and analysis specified in the Fiscal Year 2000 Defense Appropriations conference report. The plan provided limited data and analysis to support the services' current …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, Congress has provided the military with additional funding to address the shortage of spare parts. This report provides information on how the funding was used and how the Department of Defense (DOD) plans to improve its financial information on spare parts funding. GAO found that the $1.1 billion earmarked for spare parts in the 1999 appropriations act was placed in military services' operation and maintenance accounts. However, DOD did not separately track the use of these funds, which could have been used for other purposes. As a result, DOD plans to annually develop detailed financial management information on spare parts funding uses. Implementation of DOD's plan should increase visibility and accountability for the use of spare parts funds. The plan should also help to determine the extent to which progress is being made in addressing spare parts shortages. Such information, when developed through a reliable and consistent methodology, would also be useful for congressional decision making and oversight. However, DOD does not plan to provide this information to Congress."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Commerce's fiscal year 2000 performance report and fiscal year 2002 performance plan required by the Government Performance and Results Act to assess Commerce's progress on achieving selected key outcomes. Commerce's combined performance report and performance plan is a significant improvement over its fiscal year 1999 performance report and fiscal year 2001 performance plan and addresses the recommendations made in GAO's June 2000 report. Furthermore, the report indicates that Commerce has made progress toward achieving two of the selected key outcomes. However, progress toward achieving the remaining two outcomes is unclear largely because of weaknesses related to measuring performance. Specifically, some of the measures are output-oriented, rather than outcome oriented; some measures have known limitations, which Commerce acknowledges; many of the measures used to assess performance in the past are being discontinued for the future; and Commerce plans to rely on one, narrowly focused measure to demonstrate progress for each performance goal related to these key outcomes. Furthermore, other data exist within the International Trade Administration (ITA) that could support additional measures related to these performance goals."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Defense's (DOD) fiscal year 2000 performance report required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and assesses the Department's progress in achieving selected outcomes that were identified as important mission areas for DOD. GAO found that shortfalls in DOD's current strategies and measures for several outcomes have led to difficulties in assessing performance in areas such as combat readiness, support infrastructure reduction, force structure needs, and the matching of resources to program spending plans. DOD's fiscal year 2002 performance plan, which has yet to be issued, provides DOD with the opportunity to address these shortfalls. On the basis of last year's analysis of DOD's fiscal year 1999 performance report and fiscal year 2001 performance plan, GAO recommended that the Department include more qualitative and quantitative goals and measures in its annual performance plan and report to gauge progress toward achieving mission outcomes. DOD has not as yet fully implemented this recommendation. GAO continues to believe that the Secretary of Defense should adopt this recommendation as it updates its strategic plan and prepares its next annual performance plan. By …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Education's performance report for fiscal year 2000. Specifically, GAO examines Education's progress in achieving selected key outcomes that are important to its mission. Given the lack of performance data, explanations, and strategies to meet unmet goals in the future, it was difficult for GAO to assess progress. The lack of a performance plan also hindered GAO's efforts. Specifically, GAO found that it was difficult to assess Education's progress in achieving the six selected outcomes because of the lack of fiscal year 2000 data for many of its indicators. Consistent with its findings in reviewing Education's performance report from last year, GAO found that Education had no goals or measures for preventing fraud, waste, mismanagement, and error in the student financial assistance programs. Although the Office of Student Financial Assistance has established a target of being removed from GAO's high-risk list, there were no corresponding goals or measures in the department's interim report. However, Education has revised its strategic plan to incorporate an objective of ensuring financial integrity within the department. Like last year's report, GAO found that there was no …