A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "DOD has increasingly engaged in multiservice and multinational operations. Congress enacted the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, in part, so that DOD's military leaders would be better prepared to plan, support, and conduct joint operations. GAO assessed DOD actions to implement provisions in the law that address the development of officers in joint matters and evaluated impediments affecting DOD's ability to fully respond to the provisions in the act."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created, among other things, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to oversee audits of public companies. A divided Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appointed the first PCAOB on October 25, 2002. Amid allegations that the SEC Chairman withheld relevant information from the other Commissioners concerning the suitability of the newly appointed PCAOB chairman, GAO was asked to examine SEC's selection process; determine whether the SEC Chairman withheld information from other Commissioners; determine what vetting of candidates took place; and identify what actions led to breakdowns in the process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Surveys suggest that as many as two-thirds of American households have donated money to charitable organizations to aid in the response to the September 11 disasters. To provide the public with information on the role of charitable aid in assisting those affected by the attacks, GAO was asked to report on the amount of donations charities raised and distributed, the accountability measures in place to prevent fraud by organizations and individuals, and lessons learned about how to best distribute charitable aid in similar situations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, asked GAO to assist the Committee in its oversight of the Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) efforts to improve compensation and pension claims processing. As part of this effort, GAO assessed (1) whether VBA's key timeliness measure clearly reflects its performance and (2) whether it has adequate data to measure the timeliness of its newly created specialized claims processing teams."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, the Small Business Administration (SBA) conducts a program for developing small businesses that are owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Participants can receive contracts under acquisitions that federal agencies offer to the 8(a) program as well as business development assistance from SBA. A firm that receives a supply contract under the 8(a) program or a small business set aside can be either a manufacturer or a nonmanufacturer of a product. Under SBA's rules, however, a nonmanufacturer who receives one of these contracts must agree to supply the product of a domestic small manufacturer or processor. SBA can waive this requirement when there are no small manufacturers or processors available to supply the product. There are two types of waivers to the nonmanufacturer rule: (1) individual waivers, which apply only to a specific contract and are effective for the life of that contract, and (2) class waivers, which apply to categories of items and continue in effect unless revoked by SBA. Once a waiver of the nonmanufacturer rule is approved, a firm may supply the product of a large manufacturer. …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Protecting the computer systems that support our critical operations and infrastructures has never been more important because of the concern about attacks from individuals and groups with malicious intent, including terrorism. These concerns are well founded for a number of reasons, including the dramatic increases in reported computer security incidents, the ease of obtaining and using hacking tools, the steady advance in the sophistication and effectiveness of attack technology, and the dire warnings of new and more destructive attacks. As with other large organizations, federal agencies rely extensively on computerized systems and electronic data to support their missions. Accordingly, the security of these systems and data is essential to avoiding disruptions in critical operations, as well as to helping prevent data tampering, fraud, and inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information. At the subcommittee's request, GAO discussed its analysis of recent information security audits and evaluations at 24 major federal departments and agencies."

Blank parole data survey containing a series of questions related to the parole population in a particular location, with instructions for filling out the survey.

Blank probation data survey containing a series of questions related to the probationary population in a particular location, with instructions for filling out the survey.

An estimated 14.6% of the U.S. populations lacked health insurance coverage in 2001, up from 14% in 2000. When examined by state, estimates of the percent uninsured ranged from a low of 7.5% in Iowa to a high of 23.5% in Texas. Generally, states in the Midwest and New England have lower rates of uninsured, while states in the Southwestern and Southern portion of the nation have higher shares of their populations without coverage.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a particular community housing development organization is entitled to an exemption from taxation of its real property under section 11.182 of the Tax Code (RQ-0561-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether an adjunct professor employed by a state university is a “schoolteacher” for purposes of article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution (RQ-0564-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a rider tot he appropriation for the Texas Historical Commission authorizes the expenditure of funds for the restoration and preservation of the San Fernando Cathedral (RQ-0565-JC)

None

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States is the most mobile nation on the planet. Constructing, improving, and repairing roads and bridges is fundamental to meeting the nation's mobility needs to facilitate commerce, national defense, and pleasure use and to promote economic growth. Therefore, it is important that highway projects using federal financial support are completed in as timely a manner as possible. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and based on its professional judgment, it typically takes from 9 to 19 years to plan, gain approval for, and construct a new, major federally funded highway project that has significant environmental impacts. However, these projects constitute only 3 percent of all federally funded projects, according to FHWA. Officials in federal and state agencies and other knowledgeable organizations indicate that delivering larger, more complex or controversial projects may take longer to complete than is typical for most highway projects. In addition to needing more time because of their size and complexity, they often take longer to complete because they must comply with more federal and state requirements and because of the public interest that they may generate. Federal and state agencies have …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses efforts to link resources to results--also known as "performance budgeting." During the past decade, Congress and several administrations have put in place a structure for increasing the focus on and accountability for government performance. Federal agencies have been working to carry out the Government Performance Act, which requires the development of periodic strategic and annual performance plans and reports. Absent structural change in a number of major entitlement programs, budgetary flexibility will continue to decline and eventually disappear--while demands for new federal resources to address such emerging challenges as homeland security and other issues become more compelling and pressing. Given the country's longer-range fiscal imbalance, there is also a need to broaden the measures and focus of the federal budget process to accommodate these goals. The nation's fiscal challenges escalate rapidly just beyond the 10-year budget projection period. As a result, new metrics and mechanisms are needed to better highlight the longer-term implications of existing programs and proposed new fiscal commitments. Furthermore, in order to address emerging challenges, it is necessary to address both retirement and health programs encumbering the nation's fiscal future, in addition …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) nonprofit research corporations, which receive funds primarily from non-VA sources to conduct medical research at VA facilities. Since VA's nonprofit corporations were first established, there has been limited oversight of their operations and contributions to VA research. Nonprofit corporations support VA's research environment by funding a portion of the department's research needs, such as laboratory equipment and improvements to infrastructure, and by providing flexible personnel and contracting arrangements to respond to investigators' needs. To detect conflict of interest, investigators on research projects administered by VA's nonprofit corporations are subject to federal statutes and regulations applicable to federal employees concerning conduct and conflicts of interest and may be required to disclose their financial interests. Institutional conflicts of interest are unlikely to occur in VA's nonprofit research corporations because they cannot own stock, have an equity interest in private companies, or obtain intellectual property rights. VA has delegated responsibility for monitoring and overseeing the activities of nonprofit corporations to the directors of VA medical centers; however, VA headquarters does not oversee and monitor corporations' financial activities and ensure that identified deficiencies are …

This report provides an overview of postsecondary education (institutions and students), an overview of the Higher Education Act (HEA) with a focus on its most significant programs and provisions, and a discussion of major issues that have been, or may be, of interest to the Congress during the HEA reauthorization process.

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 …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The 6,900 Home Health Agencies (HHAs) that serve Medicare beneficiaries must meet federal requirements, known as conditions of participation (COP), to ensure that they have the appropriate staff, are following the plan of care specified by a physician, maintain medical records to document the care provided, and periodically reassess each patient's condition. Although nationwide surveys done at HHAs since 1998 have identified a small proportion of agencies with serious deficiencies, the extent of the problem may be understated, and dangerous situations affecting home health patients may occur more often than documented. Shortcomings in the survey process and inconsistencies in state surveys make it difficult to assess the quality of care delivered and may mask potential problems. The ability to lodge complaints about an HHA and have them resolved promptly is important to protecting patient health and safety. HHA oversight by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been too limited to identify the problems GAO found in the survey process. CMS does not review state compliance with requirements for conducting HHA surveys, such as whether HHAs with COP-level deficiencies are surveyed annually rather than …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures billions of dollars in multifamily housing mortgage loans to help construct, rehabilitate, purchase, and refinance apartments and health care facilities. However, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lacks assurances that the lenders approved for the Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) program always meet all of HUD's qualifications. HUD's guidance requires prospective lenders to submit documents showing that they are financially sound, have a satisfactory lending record, and have qualified underwriters. GAO found that HUD did not always comply with, or effectively implement, controls and procedures for reviewing and monitoring MAP lenders' underwriting of loans. Before issuing a loan, field staff are required to conduct and document reviews of lenders' mortgage insurance applications and associated loan exhibits to ensure compliance with HUD underwriting requirements. However, staff did not always properly document their reviews. HUD has held some lenders accountable for specific violations of program requirements but is unable to systematically identify lenders that exhibit patterns of noncompliance. To hold lenders accountable for specific violations or for patterns of noncompliance, HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing can suspend or terminate …

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 weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Compliance agreements between the Department of Energy (DOE) and its regulators specify cleanup activities and milestones that DOE has agreed to achieve. The 70 compliance agreements at DOE sites vary, but can be divided into three main types. These are: (1) agreements specifically required by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to address cleanup of federal sites on EPA's national priorities list or by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 to address the management of mixed radioactive and hazardous waste at DOE facilities; (2) court-ordered agreements resulting from lawsuits initiated primarily by states; and (3) other agreements, including state administrative orders enforcing state hazardous waste management laws. DOE reported completing about 80 percent of its milestones by the time originally scheduled in the agreements. The cost of complying with these agreements is not specifically identified in the DOE budget submitted to Congress. Individual DOE sites develop annual compliance cost estimates as part of their budget requests. However, DOE headquarters officials adjust those individual site estimates to reflect national priorities and to reconcile various competing demands. Compliance agreements are site-specific and are not …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) developed strategies in the 1990s to control illegal immigration across U.S. borders and to address enforcement priorities within the country. In 1994, INS's Border Patrol issued a strategy to deter illegal entry through "prevention through deterrence;" that is, to raise the risk of being apprehended for illegal aliens to where they would consider it futile to try to enter. The plan called for targeting resources in a phased approach, starting in areas with the greatest illegal activity. In 1999, INS issued its Interior Enforcement Strategy to focus resources on areas that would have the greatest impact on reducing the size and annual growth of the illegal resident population. The strategy established the following five areas: (1) identify and remove criminal aliens and minimize recidivism; (2) deter, dismantle, and diminish smuggling or trafficking of aliens; (3) respond to community reports and complaints about illegal immigration; (4) minimize immigration benefit fraud and other document abuse; and (5) block and remove employers' access to undocumented workers. For these to be effective, INS needs better data to determine staff needs, reliable information technology, clear and consistent …