A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To take a more complete and accurate count of the nation's population in the 2000 Census, the Bureau of the Census partnered with other federal agencies, as well as with state, local, and tribal governments; religious, community, and social service organizations; and private businesses. According to the Bureau, about 140,000 organizations participated in the partnership program by assisting in such critical activities as reviewing and updating the Bureau's address list, encouraging people--especially hard-to-count populations--to participate in the census, and recruiting temporary census employees. GAO found that the Bureau spent about $142.9 million on its partnership program, or about two percent of the estimated $6.5 billion the Bureau allocated for the census and an average of about $1.19 for each of the 120 million households that the Bureau estimates are in the nation. The Bureau staffed the partnership program with 594 full-time positions, of which 560 were allocated to the field, while the remaining slots were located in the Bureau's headquarters. Decisions on which organizations to partner with and what events to attend were governed by unwritten guidelines and criteria and were driven by the Bureau's desire …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the validity of the results of a 1998 study of the Canadian lynx. The Forest Service contracted with Dr. John Weaver of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City to help survey the Canadian lynx in the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon. In a March 1999 interim report, Dr. Weaver concluded that the Canadian lynx lives in some forests in Washington and Oregon. In March 2000, the Fish and Wildlife Service placed the lynx on its list of threatened species in the forested portions of 13 states, including Washington and Oregon. Issues have since been raised about whether the study's results were falsified. GAO found no evidence that the study was deliberately falsified."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Chemical pesticides play an important role in providing Americans with an abundant and inexpensive food supply. However, these chemicals can have adverse effects on human health and the environment, and pests continue to develop resistance to them. Sustainable and effective agricultural pest management will require continued development and increased use of alternative pest management strategies, such as integrated pest management (IPM). Some IPM practices yield significant environmental and economic benefits in certain crops, and IPM can lead to better long-term pest management than chemical control alone. However, the federal commitment to IPM has waned over the years. The IPM initiative is missing several key management elements identified in the Government Performance and Results Act. Specifically, no one is effectively in charge of federal IPM efforts; coordination of IPM efforts is lacking among federal agencies and with the private sector; the intended results of these efforts have not been clearly articulated or prioritized; and methods for measuring IPM's environmental and economic results have not been developed. Until these shortcomings are addressed, the full range of potential benefits that IPM can yield for producers, the public, and the …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) advertising contract for Phase III of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. GAO found that the contractor, Ogilvy & Mather, improperly charged the government for some of its labor costs incurred under this contract. Ogivley & Mather submitted time sheets claiming hours that some employees said they did not work on the anti-drug media campaign. In addition, the company made little progress toward restructuring its accounting system to meet government requirements until nearly two years after the contract was awarded. 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. In addition, HHS should have reviewed the appropriateness of the large amount of money that the technical representative recommended be disallowed from the contractor's invoices, or arranged for an audit of the contract. The technical representative appropriately brought allegations of improper billing to the attention of ONDCP management, but ONDCP management did not take prompt action to investigate …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To assist the Committee on International Relations evaluate the extent to which five House Interparliamentary Groups' schedules of receipts, disbursements, and fund balance for 2000 and 1999 appropriately reflected the cash receipts and disbursements and fund balance for those years, GAO reviewed documentation supporting each group's recorded receipt and disbursement transactions and related fund balances for evidence that the transactions were properly authorized and recorded. The schedules, prepared by the treasurer of each group, present for 2000 and 1999 the opening fund balance, total receipts, and disbursements by category, and ending fund balance, on a cash basis, for each of the five groups. GAO also recalculated and compared the recalculated amounts to the reported amounts in each group's 2000 and 1999 schedule."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report provides information on a highly publicized insurance investment scam exposed in May 1999. Martin Frankel, with the assistance of others, allegedly obtained secret control of entities in both the insurance and securities industries. Instead of managing the assets of these companies in a prudent manner, he allegedly diverted them to other accounts he controlled and used them to support the ongoing scam and his lifestyle. The scam was finally exposed after insurance regulators in Mississippi placed three of the Frankel-connected insurers under regulatory supervision. Weaknesses in key insurance regulatory oversight activities, extending over several years, delayed detecting the investment scam. GAO found inadequate tools and measures for assessing the appropriateness of insurance company purchasers, analyzing securities investments, evaluating the appropriateness of asset custodians, verifying insurers' assets, and sharing information within and outside of the insurance industry. In addition, GAO found weaknesses in the support services provided by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a voluntary association of state insurance regulators."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a concern that budget-scoring restrictions were forcing the General Services Administration (GSA) to rely on shorter term leases that increase the costs to the Federal Buildings Fund because their per-square-foot costs are greater than longer term leases. Budget-scorekeeping rules are to be used by the scorekeepers to ensure compliance with budget laws and that legislation are consistent with scorekeeping conventions and that specific legal requirements. The rules are reviewed annually and revised as necessary to achieve those purposes. The way in which budget-scoring rules were implemented affected the lease or lease project term of at least 13 of the 39 federal agency leases GAO reviewed. Since GSA officials do not generally seek comparisons of long-term versus short-term leases in the solicitation process, GAO could not determine the overall monetary impact of budget scoring in the lease term. However, GAO identified three isolated cases that had comparisons of long term versus short-term leases in the solicitation process, and, in each case, the price per net useable square foot was lower with the longer term lease. GSA officials said that while budget scoring affects …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As used in public health and environmental regulations, risk assessment is the systematic, scientific description of potential harmful effects of exposures to hazardous substances or situations. It is a complex but valuable set of tools for federal regulatory agencies to identify issues of potential concern, select regulatory options, and estimate the range of a forthcoming regulation's benefits. However, given the significant yet controversial nature of risk assessments, it is important that policymakers understand how they are conducted, the extent to which risk estimates produced by different agencies and programs are comparable, and the reasons for differences in agencies' risk assessment approaches and results. GAO studied the human health and safety risk assessment procedures of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration. This report describes (1) the agencies' chemical risk assessment activities, (2) the agencies primary procedures for conducting risk assessments, (3) major assumptions or methodological choices in their risk assessment procedures, and (4) the agencies' procedures or policies for characterizing the results of risk assessments."

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 …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed several issues concerning service contracting trends and challenges facing the government. The government has had long-standing difficulties in managing service contracts, and it is clear that agencies are not doing all they can to ensure that they are acquiring services that meet their needs in a timely and cost-effective manner. Agencies have begun efforts to address their strategic human capital needs; however, no agency has completed a strategic human capital management plan for their acquisition workforce. Overall, agencies' plans reflected different levels of attention to human capital, ranging from merely identifying human capital challenges to putting forward solutions to address those challenges, such as by defining actual plans, committing resources, and assigning accountability."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents criminal justice statistics for the District of Columbia and other major cities based on (1) Crime Index data and (2) arrestees' drug testing data. The 1999 Crime Index total rates for these large cities ranged from a high of 10,416 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants in Detroit, Michigan, to a low of 2,944 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants in San Jose, California. For Washington, D.C., the 1999 Crime Index total rate was 8,062 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. According to a recent National Institute of Justice (NIJ) report, 69 percent of the adult males arrested in the District of Columbia in calendar year 1999 tested positive for at least one type of drug. This figure was five percentage points higher than the median rate (64 percent) of the use of any drug among the adult males arrested that year in the 34 urban sites covered by NIJ's report."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "During its review of the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Command's fiscal year 2001 budget request, GAO found that many information technology systems were being procured and fielded in relatively large quantities--sometimes exceeding 50 percent of the total--during low-rate initial production and before completion of operational testing. The primary purpose of low-rate initial production is to produce enough units for operational testing and evaluation and to establish production capabilities to prepare for full-rate production. Commercial and Department of Defense (DOD) best practices have shown that completing a system's testing before producing significant quantities substantially lowers the risk of costly fixes and retrofits. For major weapons systems, statutory provisions limit the quantities of systems produced during low-rate initial production to the minimum quantity necessary. These statutory provisions also require justification for quantities exceeding 10 percent of total production. Although these provisions do not apply to non-major systems, DOD and Navy acquisition regulations encourage these programs to make use of the low-rate initial production concept. This report reviews (1) information systems being procured and fielded for SPAWAR in large numbers before operational testing, (2) what effects …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) budgets billions of dollars each year to purchase and repair the spare parts needed to maintain its weapons systems and support equipment. The quality of the spare parts can greatly determine if the Department's investment of funds is effective, efficient, and economical. This report examines the Navy's Product Quality Deficiency Reporting Program and the extent to which the program has gathered the data needed for the analysis, correction, and prevention of deficiencies in spare parts. GAO found that data on parts defects identified at the time of installation were underreported. Data on parts that failed after some operation but before their expected design life were not collected as part of this program. In the quality reports GAO reviewed, some key information was omitted on the cause of the parts' failures and some reports did not identify who was responsible for the defects. To a large extent, the program's ineffectiveness can be attributed to lack of management, limited training and incentives to report deficiencies, and competing priorities for the staff resources needed to carry out the program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The military exchange services operate a wide range of retail activities, such as department stores, florist shops, barber and beauty shops, gas stations, and restaurants. Hamburger restaurants represent a major segment of the exchange services' name-brand, fast-food sales. The exchange services use either a direct or an indirect method to operate these restaurants. Under the direct method, the exchange service enters into a franchise agreement with a name-brand company to sell its product on a military installation. As the franchisee, the exchange service builds and operates the restaurant and directly employs and trains the personnel. In turn, the exchange service receives all of the revenues and profits and usually pays the company a licensing fee plus a percentage of the restaurant's sales. Under the indirect method, the exchange service contracts with a name-brand company that, in turn, builds the restaurant and either operates it as a company restaurant or provides a licensed operator. The company or its licensed operator hires, trains, and pays the restaurant personnel and usually pays annual fees and commissions to the exchange service on the basis of restaurant's sales. Under this agreement, …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Agriculture's (USDA) fiscal year 2000 performance report and fiscal year 2002 performance plan have the potential for focusing the department's missions, but these efforts are compromised in several areas. USDA's goals and measures are too general to give insight into what USDA is actually trying to achieve. It is difficult to assess USDA's progress when it uses unrealistic goals to achieve strategic outcomes and when it uses untimely data that has not been consistently verified. In two areas--strategic human capital management and information security--progress in measuring USDA's performance has been frustrated by the lack of goals and measures for identified issues. Finally, by not sharing information about the major management challenges identified by its own Inspector General, USDA's agencies miss the opportunity to develop strategies and plans to respond to these issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1990, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided more than $27 billion in disaster assistance, more than half of which was spent for public assistance projects, such as repairs of damaged roads, government buildings, utilities, and hospitals. FEMA uses established criteria to determine whether to (1) recommend that the President declare a disaster and (2) once a disaster has been declared, approve and fund Public Assistance projects. In 1999, FEMA published formal criteria for recommending the presidential approval of disaster declarations. These criteria include both minimum financial thresholds and other qualitative measures that FEMA applies in deciding whether to recommend presidential approval. These criteria do not necessarily indicate a state's ability to pay for the damage because they do not consider the substantial differences in states' financial capacities to respond when disasters occur. As a result, federal funds may be provided for some disasters when they are not needed. Problems with applying FEMA's criteria remain. In part, these problems may persist because many of the staff assigned to disaster field offices who make eligibility decisions are temporary and may not have the skills and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The armed services have had problems for years with their ability to adequately test their electronic combat systems. The success of the new Joint Service Electronic Combat Systems Tester Program in providing improved test capability is a positive development. Because the tester has identified many more faults in the F-15C and F/A-18C electronic combat systems than has the current test equipment, existing readiness, logistics, and maintenance problems with such systems could worsen. However, pilots would at least have greater knowledge about the readiness and reliability of their self-protection systems and their need for support from specialized aircraft designed to suppress enemy air defenses. GAO believes that it makes sense for the Air Force and Navy to consider using the new test equipment on their non-fighter aircraft."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The importance of the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is illustrated by the situation in California. Wholesale electricity prices in California rose sharply in May 2000 and have remained high. California also saw disruptions in service this winter and spring. GAO reviewed FERC's outage study and two other studies that examined possible exercise of market power in California's electricity industry. GAO found that FERC's study was not thorough enough to support its conclusion that audited generators were not physically withholding electricity to influence prices. FERC's study largely focused on determining whether or not the outages were caused by actual physical problems, such as leaks in cooling tubes that required maintenance or repairs. Two other studies GAO examined found evidence that electricity generators exercised market power to boost electricity prices in California. These studies sought broader evidence of the exercise of market power in the entire market by comparing wholesale electricity prices to the estimated costs of producing electricity. In doing so, they found that prices were higher than would be expected if the generators were acting competitively. None of the studies was thorough enough to …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since October 1994, the Export-Import Bank of the United States has had statutory authority to provide loans, guarantees, and insurance to help finance U.S. exports of dual-use defense articles and services, provided that these items are nonlethal and meant primarily for civilian use. These dual-use exports include air traffic control systems. The U.S. Export-Import Bank used $153.2 million during fiscal year 1999 to finance three dual-use exports, including transport aircraft and aircraft parts to be used to develop and protect the Amazon region in Brazil and radar systems to be used for vessel and air traffic control in Croatia. End-use monitoring procedures are in place, but no end-use reports have been filed for these dual-use exports because none of the exports has been delivered. In fiscal year 2000, the Bank used $31.2 million to finance five dual-use exports, including transport aircraft parts, vehicles, and construction equipment to be used to protect and develop rural regions in Venezuela. In fiscal year 2001, the Bank used $202.6 million to finance three dual-use exports, including transport aircraft and support systems to be used for pipeline monitoring in Algeria and construction equipment …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) regulates the farm credit system. Administrative expenses, which accounted for about 97 percent of FCA's total operating expenses of $34.5 million in fiscal year 2000, are funded primarily by assessments on the institutions that make up the system, including the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac). This report (1) analyses trends in administrative expenses for fiscal years 1996 through 2000 and (2) compares ways that FCA and other federal financial regulators calculate the assessments they need to fund their operations. GAO found that although FCA's administrative expenditures varied each year between 1996 and 2000, they remained below 1996 levels and stayed within congressionally imposed annual spending limits for each year during 1997 through 2000. Between 1996 and 2000, the agency experienced a decline in administrative spending of around $2 million, or 5.8 percent. Personnel costs were the largest single expense, consistently accounting for more than 80 percent of administrative spending; thus, a 15 percent staff reduction also provided the greatest overall savings. Unlike many government agencies whose operations are funded by taxpayers' money, the federal financial regulators are self-funded agencies that …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This document is a conceptual statement on the objectives of financial reporting by the federal government. It focuses on the uses, user needs, and objectives of such reporting. The objectives are designed to guide the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board in developing accounting standards to enhance the financial information reported by the federal government to (1) demonstrate its accountability, (2) provide useful information, and (3) help internal users of financial information improve the government's management. In addition to guiding the Board, the objectives may serve as useful guidance to others involved in federal financial reporting."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board's recent actions, meetings, and practices."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Conference on Citizenship for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the National Ski Patrol System, Incorporated, for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."