A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1996, we have periodically reported on Forest Service financial management problems that we, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of the Inspector General, and other independent auditors have identified. We have designated the Forest Service financial management as a high-risk area since 1999. Because of these longstanding financial management deficiencies, the House Committee on Resource's Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health asked GAO to report on the Forest Service's progress in correcting its financial management problems and on remaining challenges and actions underway to address those challenges."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Women and children refugees, who comprise 80 percent of the estimated 12 million refugees worldwide, are among the world's most vulnerable populations. They are subject to gender-based violence, including physical harm, rape, and unequal access to humanitarian assistance. GAO was asked to (1) assess efforts by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to protect refugees, especially with regard to women and girls; (2) determine what steps U.N. and international organizations have taken to prevent sexual exploitation of refugee women by humanitarian workers; and (3) describe U.S. government efforts to support adequate protection for vulnerable populations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) within the Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for coordinating and ensuring the evaluation of DOT research programs to promote the efficient use of departmental research funds, which in fiscal year 2002 totaled over $1 billion. RSPA is also responsible for conducting multimodal research that cuts across different modes of transportation. The House Committee on Appropriations directed GAO to examine RSPA's coordination and evaluation of research within DOT and the status of its own multimodal research."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Strategic workforce planning helps ensure that agencies have the right people with the right skills in the right positions to carry out the agency mission both in the present and future. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Taxpayer Education and Communication (TEC) unit within its Small Business and Self- Employed Division assists some 45 million small business and self-employed taxpayers. Given the number of taxpayers it is to assist and changes in its priorities and strategies, GAO was asked to determine whether TEC has a workforce plan that conforms to critical elements for what should be in a plan and how it should be developed and implemented."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs provide millions of children with low-cost or free nutritious meals each school day. In school year 1996-97, the Department of Agriculture instituted more stringent requirements for the nutritional content of school meals. GAO was asked to study the school food service revenues and expenses and how they have changed since the requirements went into effect. This report includes information on the sources of revenues available for providing meals, the expenses of producing meals, the revenues compared to expenses, and the approaches that local school food authorities have adopted to manage their school food service finances. It uses data from six selected states. This report does not provide specific information on the expense of producing a reimbursable school lunch or breakfast."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of concerns that not enough students who start college are completing a bachelor's degree, we examined (1) the extent to which students who enroll in a 4-year college complete a bachelor's degree and identify the factors that affect completion; (2) what states and 4-year colleges and universities are doing to foster bachelor's degree completion; and (3) what the Department of Education (Education) is doing to foster degree completion."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, generates radioactive and hazardous wastes in the course of its research dealing with nuclear weapons. The laboratory's new Decontamination and Waste Treatment Facility is a $62 million complex that includes buildings designed for both temporarily storing waste and treating it for off-site disposal. Although construction was completed in 2001, the storage building did not begin operating until September 2002, and the treatment buildings remain unused to this day. GAO was asked to identify the cause of the delay in initiating storage and treatment operations at the facility, the effects of the delay in initiating treatment operations, and the steps taken to ensure that the latest estimated date for initiating treatment operations at the facility can be met."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United Nations (U.N.) estimates that its planned renovation of the seven buildings on the Headquarters complex could cost almost $1.2 billion. As the host country and the largest contributor to the United Nations, the United States has a significant interest in this project. This report (1) assesses the reasonableness of the U.N. process to develop the renovation plans, (2) analyzes the potential cost to the United States, (3) identifies critical milestones before construction can begin, and (4) discusses efforts to monitor and oversee the project."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The October 2001 anthrax attacks, the recent outbreak of the virulent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and increased awareness that terrorist groups may be capable of releasing life-threatening biological agents have prompted efforts to improve our nation's preparedness for, and response to, public health emergencies--including bioterrorism. GAO was asked, among other things, to identify federal agencies information technology (IT) initiatives to support our nation's readiness to deal with bioterrorism. Specifically, we compiled an inventory of such activities, determined the range of these coordination activities with other agencies, and identified the use of health care standards in these efforts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1994, the Agriculture Appropriations Act has prohibited the funding of tobacco export programs and restricted the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) tobacco-related activities. Since 1998, the Commerce, Justice, and State Appropriations Act has placed similar restrictions on the Departments of Commerce and State and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), although it has not prohibited them from addressing foreign discriminatory trade practices. Congressional requesters asked GAO to (1) assess the agencies' guidance on the restrictions to their overseas personnel, (2) describe how the agencies' activities changed in response to the restrictions, and (3) identify the mechanisms that the agencies use to monitor compliance."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Sealed radioactive sources, radioactive material encapsulated in stainless steel or other metal, are used worldwide in medicine, industry, and research. These sealed sources pose a threat to national security because terrorists could use them to make "dirty bombs." GAO was asked to determine (1) the number of sealed sources worldwide and how many have been reported lost, stolen, or abandoned; (2) the controls, both legislative and regulatory, used by countries that possess sealed sources; and (3) the assistance provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) and other U.S. federal agencies to strengthen other countries' control over sealed sources and the extent to which these efforts are believed to be effectively implemented."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Historically, the Forest Service has not been able to provide Congress or the public with a clear understanding of what the Forest Service's 30,000 employees accomplish with the approximately $5 billion the agency receives every year. Since 1990, GAO has reported 7 times on performance accountability weaknesses at the Forest Service, including its inability to systematically link planning, budgeting, and results reporting. This report reviews the recent progress the Forest Service has made in resolving previously identified performance accountability problems and identifies key challenges the Forest Service must overcome to resolve these problems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Improving the federal hiring process is critical, as the number of new hires is expected to increase substantially. Federal agencies are responsible for their hiring processes, but must generally comply with applicable Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rules and regulations. Congressional requesters asked GAO to identify federal hiring obstacles, provide examples of innovative hiring practices, and identify opportunities for improvement. To address these issues, GAO interviewed the human resources directors in 24 largest departments and agencies, analyzed the hiring practices of five federal executive branch agencies, and reviewed OPM's role in the hiring process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies are increasingly asked to demonstrate results, but many programs lack credible performance information and the capacity to rigorously evaluate program results. To assist agency efforts to provide credible information, GAO examined the experiences of five agencies that demonstrated evaluation capacity in their performance reports: the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Coast Guard, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The nation confronts profound challenges resulting from a variety of factors, including changing security threats, dramatic shifts in demographic patterns, the multidimensional processes of globalization, and the accelerating pace of technological change. These are all coming together in an era of diminishing public resources. The nation's leaders and concerned citizens require better knowledge of what is happening and where we are going to support improved public choices. The United States could potentially benefit from developing a set of key national indicators to help assess our nation's position and progress. On February 27, 2003, GAO, in cooperation with the National Academies, hosted a forum on key national indicators. The purpose of the forum was to have a rich and meaningful dialogue on whether and how to develop a set of key national indicators for the United States. The forum brought together a diverse group of national leaders to discuss the following: How are the world's leading democracies measuring national performance? What might the United States do to improve its approach and why? What are important areas to measure in assessing U.S. national performance? How might new U.S. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "About $1 trillion in income was distributed in 2001 by flow-through entities such as partnerships and trusts. These entities do not pay taxes on flow-through income. They report it to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on a Schedule K-1 and their partners or beneficiaries pay any tax. Concerned about underreporting, IRS began matching the flow-through income reported on Schedule K-1s with that reported on individuals' returns. In 2002, IRS began sending notices to taxpayers about suspected noncompliance. After complaints that many notices were going to compliant taxpayers, IRS stopped sending notices. Concerned about the burden, Congress asked GAO to, among other things, (1) describe the burden caused by the notices and IRS's rationale for stopping them, (2) assess IRS's management of the program, and (3) describe the steps IRS will take to address any problems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government has a long-term commitment to helping states construct, improve, and repair roads and bridges to meet the nation's mobility needs. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) expects to provide states about $20 billion for highway construction projects in fiscal year 2003. State departments of transportation are primarily responsible for initiating and completing projects. Many federal and state agencies with environmental responsibilities (called resource agencies) help ensure that environmental issues are considered. The environmental review of a federally funded highway project can take from several days to several years. GAO is reporting on the (1) activities involved in the environmental reviews of federally funded highway projects and (2) stakeholders' views on the aspects of environmental review, if any, that unduly add time to gaining environmental approval. GAO obtained stakeholder views from 16 transportation improvement and 12 environmental officials from a variety of federal, state, and private organizations with responsibilities for or interests in constructing federally funded highways. The Department of Transportation had no comments on a draft of this report. Other agencies provided either technical comments or did not respond to our request for comments."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Coordination of federal programs to combat terrorism overseas became even more critical as a result of the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. In response to these attacks, the federal government has taken unprecedented political, diplomatic, legal, law enforcement, financial, military, and intelligence actions to combat terrorism abroad. Among these actions is the publication of a series of new national strategies to combat terrorism. Congress asked that we develop baseline information identifying and describing federal programs and activities to combat terrorism overseas. This report describes the interagency framework and policies for planning and coordinating federal efforts to counter international terrorism. It identifies the relationships between and among the new national strategies to combat terrorism. It also describes the federal programs and activities governmentwide to detect and prevent terrorism, disrupt and destroy terrorist organizations, and respond to terrorist incidents overseas. Finally, it provides detailed matrices of selected departments' programs and activities to combat terrorism overseas. We briefed Congress previously on the preliminary results of our work and issued an interim report on Combating Terrorism: Department of State Programs to Combat Terrorism Abroad. This …

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "District officials have recently reported both a budget gap and a more permanent structural imbalance between costs and revenue raising capacity. They maintain that the structural imbalance largely stems from the federal government's presence and restrictions on the District's tax base. Accordingly, at various times District officials have asked the Congress for additional funds and other measures to enhance revenues. In a preliminary September 2002 report, GAO concluded that the District had not provided sufficient data and analysis to discern whether, or to what extent, it is facing a structural imbalance. At that time, GAO also agreed to perform a more comprehensive analysis and was asked to (1) determine whether, or to what extent, the District faces a structural imbalance between its revenue capacity and its public service responsibilities, (2) identify any significant constraints on the District's revenue capacity, (3) discuss factors beyond the control of District officials that influence the District's spending in key program areas as well as factors within its control, such as management problems, and (4) report on the District's deferred infrastructure projects and outstanding debt service and related expenses that might …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent operations in Afghanistan demonstrated the dangers of providing air support close to troops on the ground. Such close air support requires timely, well-practiced procedures and communication between ground and air elements. While most close air support operations in Afghanistan were successful, "friendly fire" incidents have resulted from mistakes made while conducting the mission. At the request of the Ranking Minority Members of the Subcommittees on Total Force and Readiness, House Committee on Armed Services, GAO reviewed Department of Defense (DOD) efforts to provide adequate close air support training, as well as efforts to enhance the equipment used to support this mission."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2000 and 2002, Maine and Arizona held the nation's first elections under voluntary programs that offered full state funding for political candidates who ran for legislative and certain statewide offices. The goals of these programs, passed as ballot initiatives by citizens in these states, included increasing electoral competition and curbing increases in the cost of campaigns. Congress has considered legislation for public financing of congressional elections nearly every session since 1956, although no law has been enacted. In the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (P.L. 107-155 (2002)), Congress mandated that GAO study the results of the unique public financing programs in Maine and Arizona. For the 2000 and 2002 elections in Maine and Arizona, this report provides: (1) statistics on the number of candidates who chose to campaign with public funds and the number who were elected; and (2) observations, based on limited data, regarding the extent to which the goals of the public funding programs were met."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "From 1992 through 2001, more than 50,000 people were killed in crashes involving large commercial trucks. Although more than 6,800 of these fatalities were truck occupants, approximately 40,000 were passengers in other vehicles and more than 4,000 were nonmotorists. The Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) conducts a number of truck safety programs, including the Share the Road Safely program, whose goal is to educate the public about driving safely around large trucks. GAO examined (1) whether the program's initiatives are linked to this goal and (2) how FMCSA evaluates its Share the Road Safely program. GAO recommends that the Department of Transportation (DOT) ensure that the Share the Road Safely program initiatives are directly linked to the program's goal and establish a systematic"

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The weapons the Department of Defense (DOD) develops have no rival in superiority. How they are developed can be improved, without sacrificing the superiority of the outcome. GAO's reviews over the past 20 years have found consistent problems with weapon investments--cost increases, schedule delays and performance shortfalls--along with underlying causes, such as pressure on managers to promise more than they can deliver. The best practices of successful product developments offer a knowledge-based approach DOD can use to improve the way it develops new weapons. This report is new for GAO, and draws on its work in best practices for product development. GAO's goal for this report is to provide congressional and DOD decision makers with an independent, knowledge-based assessment of defense programs that identifies potential risks, and offers an opportunity for action when a program's projected attainment of knowledge diverges from the best practice. It can also highlight those programs that employ practices worthy of emulation by other programs. GAO plans to update and issue this report annually to the congressional defense committees."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Changes in the Department of Defense's (DOD) mission can lead to changes in inventory requirements, which, in turn, determine the size of DOD's inventory. Since 1990, GAO has identified DOD's management of inventory as a high-risk area because levels of inventory were too high and management systems and procedures were ineffective. Furthermore, DOD has attributed readiness problems to parts shortages. In this report, GAO (1) provides information on changes in and make up of the department's inventory and (2) analyzes changes in inventory requirements, focusing on the Navy."