Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to prepare a master plan to develop laser technologies for potential weapons applications in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000. In response to this legislation, the High Energy Laser (HEL) Executive Review Panel was formed and issued the HEL Master Plan on March 24, 2000. This plan recommended that DOD implement a new management structure for HEL technologies and increase the funding allocated to HELs to achieve a better balance between large demonstration programs and the enabling science and technology projects. Subsequently, in the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2001, Congress directed the Secretary of Defense to implement the management and organizational structure specified in the Master Plan. Congress asked us to review the extent to which DOD has implemented the recommendations of the HEL Master Plan, by assessing (1) whether DOD has achieved more balance between large demonstration projects and the enabling science and technology base projects; (2) whether the DOD funding process focuses on the most critical HEL issues; and (3) what impact the new management structure has had on the …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2004 and 2003. As part of these audits, we performed a review of the general and application information security controls over key BPD financial systems. As we reported in connection with our audit of the Schedules of Federal Debt for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2004 and 2003, BPD maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control, including general and application information security controls, relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt related to financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations as of September 30, 2004, that provided reasonable assurance that misstatements, losses, or noncompliance material in relation to the Schedule of Federal Debt would be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We found matters involving information security controls that we do not consider to be reportable conditions, but that nevertheless warrant BPD management's attention and action. This report presents the results of our …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 required the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to broadly disseminate information on the program to the millions of Medicare beneficiaries--seniors and people under age 65 with permanent disabilities--who are eligible for a drug discount card. In response, CMS began education and outreach efforts designed to publicize the availability and features of the drug discount cards, provide information to facilitate beneficiary choice, and assist beneficiaries with the enrollment process. Congress asked us to provide information on CMS's efforts because the agency's experience in supporting the drug card program may yield important insights relevant to implementing the new prescription drug benefit that becomes effective in 2006. In this report, we (1) describe CMS's education and outreach efforts in support of the drug card program and review assessments of these efforts by public and private health care research organizations and (2) provide data on enrollment in the drug card program and identify factors that may have limited this enrollment."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has faced serious financial and budgetary problems as well as continuing challenges related to the safety and reliability of its transit services. At the same time, ridership is at an alltime high, and WMATA continues to provide critical services and considerable benefits to the Washington region's economic well-being and to the federal government. This statement is based on preliminary results of our work on WMATA that GAO is performing at the request of the Chairman, House Committee on Government Reform, as well as on GAO's previous review of WMATA and other studies of WMATA's financial condition. It discusses (1) the extent to which WMATA relied on federal funding to build its Metrorail subway system and the federal government's rationale for providing that funding, (2) the extent to which WMATA has relied on other federal funding for capital improvements in recent years, and (3) the current funding challenges that WMATA faces and options that have been proposed to address those challenges."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Improving the economy and efficiency of federal programs has long been a key objective of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). To this end, GAO held a workshop on December 17, 2004, to discuss the use of economic analysis, such as benefit cost or cost effectiveness, for helping to measure the performance of federal programs. The workshop's purpose was to discuss the present state of economic performance measures and identify gaps in their application and the barriers and analytical issues that limit their use in helping assess the performance of federal programs and identify opportunities for the federal government and professional and academic institutions to improve (1) the use of economic performance measures for evaluating federal programs and (2) the general economic principles and guidance on which economic performance analysis is based."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On May 13, 2005, the Department of Defense (DOD) submitted 222 base realignment and closure (BRAC) recommendations, involving an unprecedented 837 BRAC actions, to the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for its review. DOD expects the proposals, if approved, would generate net annual recurring savings of about $5.5 billion beginning in fiscal year 2012 and net savings of nearly $50 billion over a 20-year period, despite an expected cost of over $24 billion to implement the recommendations. The Commission is charged with reviewing these proposals and submitting its own list to the President by September 8, 2005. The Commission requested GAO to provide testimony before the Commission summarizing the results of its report, issued on July 1, 2005, on the 2005 BRAC process. This statement presents GAO views on (1)whether DOD's selection process in developing BRAC actions was logical and reasoned, (2) selected issues regarding the recommendations, and (3) certain challenges associated with implementing the BRAC recommendations, if approved."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) space shuttle program is key to implementing the President's vision for space exploration, which calls for completing the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade. Currently, the space shuttle, which is to be retired after ISS assembly is completed, is the only launch system capable of transporting ISS components. To meet the goals of the President's vision and satisfy ISS's international partners, NASA is examining alternative launch vehicles and ISS configurations. Retiring the space shuttle and, in the larger context, implementing the President's vision, will require NASA to rely on its most important asset--its workforce. Because maintaining a skilled workforce through retirement will be challenging, GAO was asked to discuss the actions NASA has taken to sustain a skilled space shuttle workforce and the challenges it faces in doing so--findings reported on in March 2005 (see GAO, Space Shuttle: Actions Needed to Better Position NASA to Sustain Its Workforce through Retirement, GAO-05-230)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The disastrous hurricanes that have struck the Gulf Coast and Eastern seaboard in recent years--including Katrina, Rita, Ivan, and Isabel--have focused attention on federal flood management efforts. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), established in 1968, provides property owners with some insurance coverage for flood damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for managing the NFIP. This testimony offers information from past GAO work on (1) the financial structure of the NFIP; (2) why the NFIP insures properties for repetitive flood losses and the impact on NFIP resources; and (3) compliance with requirements for mandatory purchase of NFIP policies. The testimony also discusses recommendations from a report GAO is issuing today on FEMA's oversight and management of the NFIP."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States, along with coalition partners and various international organizations, has undertaken a challenging and costly effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq following multiple wars and decades of neglect by the former regime. This enormous effort is taking place in an unstable security environment, concurrent with Iraqi efforts to complete a constitutional framework for establishing a permanent government. The United States' goal is to help the Iraqi government develop a democratic, stable, and prosperous country, at peace with itself and its neighbors, a partner in the war against terrorism, enjoying the benefits of a free society and a market economy. In this testimony, GAO discusses (1) the funding used to rebuild and stabilize Iraq and (2) the challenges that the United States faces in its rebuilding and stabilization efforts. This statement is based on several reports GAO has issued to the Congress over the past three months. In July, we issued two reports on (1) the status of funding and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and (2) the use of private security providers in Iraq. We issued two additional reports in September on (1) U.S. reconstruction efforts in …

Memo of Conference Call with Ventura County reps to discuss BRAC recommendations affecting point Mugu

Presentation - Installation overview, DLA ICP Overview Installation Master Plan, Changes as a Result of BRAC and Summary

Community Input - Point Paper - WHY THE AFRL SENSORS R&D FUNCTIONS SHOULD REMAIN AT ROME LABORATORY

Presentation Critical Air: Guarding the Northeast- Otis Air National Guard

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS: Memorandum dtd 07/08/04 for the Chairman of the Infrastructure Steering Group from Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Ronald Orr and AF Vice Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley regarding the proposed draft Transformational Options for BRAC 2005 Attached are comments on the proposed set of transformational options.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS: Memorandum dtd 09/17/04 for the Chairman of the Infrastructure Steering Group from Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Nelson Gibbs and AF Vice Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley regarding the proposed draft Transformational Options for BRAC 2005. Attached is the draft list of options along with comments for review.

E-mail describes tenants that could possibly replace the MDA as clients in this leased space located at 5611 Columbia Pike, Falls Church, VA.

Collection of BRAC related news articles and clippings. Produced for Commission staff review.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS:Memorandum dtd 07/14/04 for the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition Technology and Logistics) from AF Vice Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley regarding the Infrastructure Steering Group (ISG) Service Imperatives List and enclosing an attachment commenting on the more specific content of the imperatives.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS: Memorandum dtd 04/11/05 from Infrastructure Steering Group (ISG) Chairman Michael Wynn for ISG group members, chairmen Joint Cross-Service Groups regarding Integrating and Finalizing Candidate Recommendations and enclosing a list of steps that each Military Department and JCSG must take to consolidate related candidate recommendations and finalize independent recommendations under its purview, as well as prepare final presentations and candidate recommendation packages that reflect these efforts. These include all candidate recommendations except Reserve/Guard recommendations, which are being integrated separately by the services.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS: Memorandum dtd 04/07/05 for the ASD (AT&L)(BRAC) from Col. Christopher Kapellas, Chief, Air Force BRAC Division regarding MAJCOM Capacity Analysis Briefing Slides and enclosing copies of the MAJCOM Phase II Capacity Analysis Briefings presented to the Base Closure Executive Group in August 2004.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS: Memorandum dtd 04/07/05 for the ASD (AT&L)(BRAC) from Col. Christopher Kapellas, Chief, Air Force BRAC Division regarding MAJCOM Military Value Analysis and enclosing copies of the MAJCOM MCI Scores and the MCI Questions by Mission, Criterion and Attributes, which was briefed to the Base Closure Executive Group.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS: Memorandum dtd 06/10/04 from Infrastructure Steering Group (ISG) Chairman Michael Wynn to ISG group members regarding Military Value Principles and Imperatives and enclosing draft principles to guide the development and organization of ISG members’ draft imperatives.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS:Memorandum dtd 06/30/04 from Infrastructure Steering Group (ISG) Chairman Michael Wynn to ISG group members regarding Military Value Principles and enclosing draft BRAC principles for concurrence.

DISREGARD RESTRICTIONS HEADERS AND FOOTERS: Memorandum dtd 05/04/05 for the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition Technology and Logistics) from Commander NORAD and USNORTHCOM, Admiral Timothy Keating regarding the review of BRAC Recommendations.