Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Boy Scouts of America for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions 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 "This report provides a status of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to implement recommendations GAO made on its audits of IRS's financial statements. In updating the status of these recommendations, GAO included the results of its audit of IRS's financial statements for fiscal year 2001 and 2000."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress appropriated $205 million to the Forest Service for fiscal year 2001 to reduce hazardous accumulated fuels. In an effort to put as much of these appropriated monies on the ground as quickly as possible in fiscal year 2001, the Forest Service identified and funded those hazardous fuel reduction projects for which it had completed the necessary environmental analyses. As of July 2001, the Forest Service had completed the necessary environmental analyses to implement 1,671 hazardous fuel reduction projects in fiscal year 2001. Of those, 20 had been appealed, and none had been litigated. Appellants included environmental groups and individuals."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) spends $5.5 billion a year to maintain the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile through the Stockpile Stewardship Program. Because the United States is no longer designing and building new nuclear weapons, extending the life of each of the nine weapon types in the current stockpile is a key component of this program. However, the criteria used by NNSA for determining when its reporting should begin may prevent Congress from receiving complete information on life extension costs. The current Nuclear Weapon Acquisition Reports (NWAR) are less detailed and comprehensive than the Department of Defense's Selected Acquisition Reports. Finally, the cost data in the NWARs exclude significant costs that are necessary to successfully complete the life-extension efforts."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Agricultural Hall of Fame for fiscal years 2000 and 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions 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 report covering the financial statements of the Aviation Hall of Fame for fiscal years 1999 and 2000. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions 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 "Section 127a, title 10 of the United States Code provides the Department of Defense (DOD) with two options for funding nontraining deployments and operations when Congress has not provided funds in advance. These options involve waiving reimbursements for support services and transferring amounts from other DOD accounts. Section 127a prescribes specific procedures to be followed by DOD when these funding options are used; requires DOD to notify Congress of and report on certain new contingency operations; and states that the Comptroller General of the United States shall from time to time, and when requested by a Committee of Congress, conduct a review to determine whether DOD is complying with the statutory requirements and limitations. GAO found that DOD has complied with the requirements contained in section 127a. Since the current notification and reporting requirements of section 127a were enacted in 1996, DOD has provided congressional notification for four operations, involving Bosnia, Kosovo, hurricane relief in Central America, and East Timor. DOD has rarely used the funding options provided in section 127a. It used the section 127a funding option allowing waiver of reimbursement for units providing support once, for …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2002, GAO testified on the major challenges facing the District of Columbia Public School system faces in modernizing and renovating the District's schools (see GAO-02-628T). The school system, with the assistance of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has made considerable progress in making emergency repairs during the past few years. However, the school system now faces the more complex task of modernizing--either through renovation or through new construction--virtually every public school in the District of Columbia. As a result, the school system must adopt a modernization program that will cost significantly more and take longer to accomplish than originally projected. In addition, the school system faces the challenge of ensuring that sufficient funds are budgeted for asbestos management activities."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has shown that cross-matching or data sharing can be a valuable management and oversight practice. The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) already has the right to access Social Security Administration's (SSA) data. However, such access is subject to SSA's approval--the Code of Federal Regulations provides that "OWCP may verify the earnings reported by the employee through a variety of means, including by not limited to computer matches with the Office of Personnel Management and inquiries to SSA." Prior GAO work has demonstrated the importance of, and potential savings from, checking applicants' and beneficiaries' initial and continuing eligibility for federal benefits by verifying the economic information they provide with independent, third-party sources."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States is bound by five international environmental agreements related to climate change (Framework Convention), desertification (Desertification Convention), the earth's ozone layer (Montreal Protocol), endangered species (CITES), and North American environmental cooperation (North American Agreement). However, the United States fell short of meeting a commitment or pledge in two areas--providing financial assistance to other nations and timely reporting. Agencies use informal means, such as meetings and informal communications, to track their actions to fulfill commitments under the five agreements. GAO found few studies that evaluated the effectiveness of the U.S. actions. These few studies generally concluded that the actions examined had positive effects."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal, state, and local governments share responsibility for terrorist attacks. However, local government, including police and fire departments, emergency medical personnel, and public health agencies, is typically the first responder to an incident. The federal government historically has provided leadership, training, and funding assistance. In the aftermath of September 11, for instance, one-quarter of the $40 billion Emergency Response Fund was earmarked for homeland security, including enhancing state and local government preparedness. Because the national security threat is diffuse and the challenge is highly intergovernmental, national policymakers must formulate strategies with a firm understanding of the interests, capacity, and challenges facing those governments. The development of a national strategy will improve national preparedness and enhance partnerships between federal, state, and local governments. The creation of the Office of Homeland Security is an important and potentially significant first step. The Office of Homeland Security's strategic plan should (1) define and clarify the appropriate roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local entities; (2) establish goals and performance measures to guide the nation's preparedness efforts; and (3) carefully choose the most appropriate tools of government to implement …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Future Farmers of America for fiscal years 2001 and 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions 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 "Section 738 in the fiscal year 2001 Agriculture Appropriation Act prohibits the Department of State from selling residences purchased to house agricultural attaches without approval from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and requires the department to use the proceeds from such sales to purchase residences for these attaches. Legislation currently before Congress would repeal section 738 since it limits the Department of State's authority to implement cost-effective decisions about sales of unneeded overseas property and the use of sales proceeds. Because of section 738's restrictions, State has delayed two property sales valued at nearly $4 million that appear to be in the government's best interests. FAS is concerned that if section 738 is repealed, selling these properties will result in increased costs since it would have to lease housing for attaches who previously lived rent-free in government-owned housing. Although section 738 applies only to residences purchased for agricultural attaches, the Office of Management and Budget and State are concerned that it could lead to fragmented and less cost-effective management of overseas property if other agencies seek similar treatment for their senior representatives. Section 738's restrictions do not appear …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "During GAO's fiscal year 2001 audit on accounting procedures and internal controls at the Congressional Award Foundation it found several internal control weaknesses related to processing transactions, maintaining supporting documents, and required reporting. Specifically, GAO found lack of approval for payments to vendors, inaccurate classification of transactions in the general ledger, lack of supporting documents for adjusting journal entries made by the foundation's accounting firm, incomplete personnel files, and lack of congressional reports for fiscal year 2000. The leadership of the Congressional Award Foundation changed near the end of the fiscal year 2001, and this transition may have contributed to the weaknesses found during GAO's audit. Since this transition, the foundation has established the executive position of the Director of Finance and Administration to oversee daily financial and administrative operations."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In January 2002, GAO issued an amendment to Government Auditing Standards, Amendment No. 3, Independence, which substantially changed the previous standard to better serve the public interest and to maintain a high degree of integrity, objectivity and independence for audits of government entities. GAO has received many inquiries about the new independence standard due to its significant effect on audits of federal entities and funds and on those who have adopted or are otherwise required to use Government Auditing Standards. Accordingly, this document responds to questions related to the independence standard's implementation time frame, underlying concepts, and application in specific nonaudit circumstances."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Despite regulations limiting emissions and improved vehicle and fuel technologies, the air in many cities and towns still does not meet air quality standards. Vehicle emissions contain substances, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds, that degrade air quality and threaten public health and the environment. Vehicles emissions account for about one third to one-half of these pollutants. Epidemiological and other studies have consistently found that breathing emissions containing these compounds contributes to respiratory and other health problems. Vehicle emissions also harm vegetation and cause crop damage. Provisions in the clean air and surface transportation laws have encouraged transportation planners to look for ways to curb harmful emissions, but predominantly in areas that already suffer pollution problems. The Clean Air Act requires planners to demonstrate that their plans and programs will not worsen air quality, but only in areas with current or prior air quality problems. Congress and federal agencies have opportunities to provide more help to transportation planners and communities considering the environmental impacts of their transportation and land use decisions."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "There are over 30 police forces currently operating in the District of Columbia, many of which have authority or jurisdiction within the Capitol Hill area. Three of these, the Library of Congress (LOC) Police, the Government Printing Office (GPO) Police, and the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP), are part of the legislative branch. Merging the LOC Police and/or the GPO Police with the USCP is feasible for several reasons. First, although each force has unique responsibilities, their overall missions are similar enough that a merged force could assume both the unique and common responsibilities. Another reason is their common geographic area with overlapping jurisdictions. USCP officials also believe it is possible to merge the other forces into its existing force, and the labor committees of the departments support a merger. Nevertheless, if LOC and/or GPO police were to be merged with the USCP, issues to be addressed include gaining LOC and/or GPO management support, resolving differences in retirement systems, and integrating training and security systems. A merger between the LOC and/or GPO police forces and the USCP would incur significant costs if the intent of a merger is to …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report describes the schedule, cost, and technical status of the 155mm Lightweight Howitzer program. The Army-Marine Corps Lightweight Howitzer Joint Program Office directs this program's development, with a British company as the prime contractor. Since GAO's April 2000 report (See GAO-01-603R), all key milestones have slipped because a 2-year low-rate initial production phase has been added to provide production representative howitzers for operational testing. Correspondingly, the full-rate production decision has slipped from September 2002 to October 2004. Since April 2001, total program cost estimates have increased from $1,209.0 million to $1,365.2 million, principally as the result of the large number of design modifications resulting from developmental testing and restructuring the program to add a low-rate initial production phase. In addition, the costs for the towed artillery digitization increased by $51 million. Technical problems--such as the durability of the optical fire control, bore sight retention, and accuracy--have been addressed through design changes. However, some of these changes have not yet been tested, and the Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity has yet to review test data that the program office believes shows the howitzer has met accuracy …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) submits an annual congressional justification for the funds and number of staff positions requested. For fiscal year 2002, IRS asked for $9.4 billion and 101,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff positions. Congress expressed concerns about the information in IRS's justification and asserted that other types of information and presentations would better help Congress evaluate IRS's budget. In the context of Department of the Treasury and Office of Management and Budget guidance, IRS has the flexibility to present more information than it included in the fiscal year 2002 justification and to display it in different ways. Congressional Justifications typically vary in form and content, reflecting the ongoing relationship between each agency and appropriations subcommittee. The main purpose of Congressional Justifications is to give the subcommittees more details about agency programs and their relationship to appropriation requests than the President's budget documents provide. IRS's fiscal year 2002 justification had a summary section and a section on each of IRS's five appropriations. The summary section explained the foundation of IRS's budget request and summarized the dollars and FTE staff positions being requested for specific appropriations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 required each federal agency to issue a regulation adjusting its covered maximum civil monetary penalties for inflation by October 23, 1996, and to make necessary adjustments at least once every 4 years thereafter. During its review, GAO determined that the National Science Foundation (NSF) had adjusted its maximum civil penalties more than the act permits. First, the NSF adjusted the civil penalties by 10 percent, which increased the penalty for an unintentional violation of the statue from $5,000 to $5,500 and increased the penalty for an intentional violation from $10,000 to $11,000. Second, the rule noted that for violations occurring after December 31, 1997, the maximum civil penalty would be $12,000 for unintentional violations and $23,000 for intentional violations. This second adjustment accounted for all of the changes in the Consumer Price Index between June 1978 and June 1995 that had not been accounted for by the initial 10 percent increase. NSF's second adjustment is inconsistent with the act's requirements."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed an audit report covering the financial statements of the Civil Air Patrol for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. The audit report for 1999 included the auditors' opinion that, with one exception, the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The auditor disclaimed an opinion for fiscal year 1998 because the effect of a pending Air Force investigation was not determinable upon the financial statements."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Fleet Reserve Association for fiscal year 2000 and 2001 and the 3-months period ending December 31, 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports include the auditors' opinions 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 New York City Office of Management and Budget and the New York State Division of Budget estimates of tax revenue losses attributed to the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Both offices estimated that the attacks would reduce anticipated tax revenues to the city and state in both fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The budget offices' estimates of the tax revenue losses have limitations, such as including some of the economic slowdown that was under way at the time of the attacks. Nevertheless, the tax revenue loss estimates for the 2002 fiscal year--$1.6 billion for New York City and $1.6 billion for New York State--appear to reasonably approximate the impact of the attacks on tax revenues. Precisely measuring the effect on economic activity and related tax revenues is inherently difficult. Such measuring requires disentangling the effect of the attacks from the effects of other events. As of June 2002, the federal government had authorized funds of $10.4 billion to New York to partly compensate for the economic losses attributable to the attacks, including $6.4 billion for debris removal and temporary housing assistance. Nonetheless, the specific amount of …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed an audit report covering the financial statement of the Gold Star Wives of America, Inc., for fiscal years 2000 and 2001. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."