Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1994, Congress enacted the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 103-412, recognizing the federal government's fiduciary responsibilities toward American Indians. The act called for more effective management of the Department of the Interior's (Interior) fiduciary responsibilities, required an annual audit of Indian trust funds, and created the Office of Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) in Interior. In 1996, the Secretary of the Interior ordered the transfer of responsibility for trust fund management, including preparation of the financial statements of the Tribal and Other Trust Funds and Individual Indian Monies Trust Funds (Indian trust funds), from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to OST. Since then, OST has prepared and independent public accountants have audited the financial statements of the Indian trust funds. The auditors have issued qualified audit opinions each year since 1996 because of inadequacies in Interior's trust-related systems, controls, and processes, disagreements between Interior and the trust funds' beneficiaries on amounts owed, and potential claims against the government. Congress expressed concern about deficiencies identified and reported in the Indian trust funds' annual financial statement audits for fiscal years 1996 through …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In March 2005, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported the discovery of a series of e-mail messages written in the late 1990s by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) employees working under a contract with DOE on the Yucca Mountain Project. These e-mails alerted DOE that USGS workers may have falsified records for scientific work on the project and may have been disdainful of the project's quality assurance program and its requirements. In March 2006, we reported that DOE was engaged in a detailed review of these and other project e-mails and was reworking technical documents to ensure the credibility of the USGS's scientific analyses, particularly its conclusions on water infiltration. At Congress' request, we undertook follow-on work to determine the estimated costs incurred in DOE's response, which also included additional management and quality assurance training for project personnel. We briefed Congressional staff on October 23, 2006, on the results of this work. As Congress requested, we also briefed Congressional staff on the estimated cost of completing the Yucca Mountain Project, based on DOE's new schedule for receiving a license and opening the nuclear waste repository by 2017."

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Application of section 103.001(b) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code to a claim filed by one of the Tulia defendants (RQ-0523-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether an open-enrollment charter school is authorized to operate a commissioned police force (RQ-0531-GA)

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Weather-related events in the United States have caused tens of billions of dollars in damages annually over the past decade. A major portion of these losses is borne by private insurers and by two federal insurance programs-- the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which insures properties against flooding, and the Department of Agriculture's Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), which insures crops against drought or other weather disasters. In this testimony, GAO (1) describes how climate change may affect future weather-related losses, (2) provides information on past insured weather-related losses, and (3) determines what major private insurers and federal insurers are doing to prepare for potential increases in such losses. This testimony is based on a report entitled Climate Change: Financial Risks to Federal and Private Insurers in Coming Decades are Potentially Significant (GAO-07-285) being released today."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Commonwelth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a self-governing commonwealth of the United States that administers its own local government functions under its own constitution. CNMI consists of 14 islands in the North Pacific with a total land area about 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C. In recent years, CNMI has experienced serious economic and fiscal challenges, and several indicators point to a fiscal crisis in fiscal year 2006. This testimony highlights the recent economic trends in the CNMI economy, its weakening fiscal condition, and its financial accountability challenges. Our conclusions are based on work performed for our December 2006 report on U.S. insular areas and our February 2007 testimony on CNMI before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which was updated to include audited financial information through fiscal year 2005 and some recent developments in fiscal year 2006 based on information available as of February 2007. Today, we are also including additional information on CNMI's fiscal year 2006 status recently provided to us by CNMI's Secretary of Finance. We conducted our work in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony is given in support of the fiscal year 2008 budget request for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) before the House Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Committee on Appropriations. The requested funding will help us continue our support of the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and will help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO is especially appreciative of the Subcommittee's efforts to help us avoid a furlough of our staff during fiscal year 2007. Had we not received additional funds this year and not taken other cost minimization actions, GAO would have likely been forced to furlough most staff for up to 5 days without pay. At the same time, due to funding shortfalls, we were not able to make pay adjustments retroactive to January 7, 2007. Our testimony today focuses on key efforts that GAO has undertaken to support the Congress, our fiscal year 2006 performance results, our budget request for fiscal year 2008 to support the Congress and serve the American people, and proposed legislative changes."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For many years, GAO has reported that weaknesses in information security are a widespread problem with potentially devastating consequences--such as intrusions by malicious users, compromised networks, and the theft of personally identifiable information. In reports to Congress since 1997, GAO has identified information security as a governmentwide high-risk issue. Concerned by reports of significant vulnerabilities in federal computer systems, Congress passed the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), which permanently authorized and strengthened the information security program, evaluation, and reporting requirements for federal agencies. FISMA also defines responsibilities for ensuring centralized compilation and analysis of incidents that threaten information security and providing timely technical assistance in handling security incidents. In this testimony, GAO discusses the continued weaknesses in information security controls at 24 major federal agencies, the reporting and analysis of security incidents, and efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a cyber threat analysis and warning capability. GAO based its testimony on its previous work in this area as well as agency and congressional reports."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As operations overseas continue, the Department of Defense (DOD) is experiencing a growing demand for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to provide valuable information in support of military operations. While the 2006 Quadrennial Review emphasized the need for the ISR community to improve the integration and management of ISR assets, DOD plans to make significant investments in ISR capabilities for the future. Congress has been interested in DOD's approach for managing and integrating existing assets while acquiring new systems. This testimony addresses preliminary observations based on GAO's ongoing work regarding (1) the status of DOD initiatives intended to improve the management and integration of ISR requirements and challenges DOD faces in implementing its initiatives, (2) DOD's approach to managing current ISR assets to support military operations, and (3) the status of selected ISR programs in development and the potential for synergies between them. GAO's ongoing work included document review, interviews with officials at relevant organizations, observations of some U.S. Central Command operations, and review of 12 airborne ISR development programs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD's space system acquisitions have experienced problems over the past several decades that have driven up costs by hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars, stretched schedules by years, and increased performance risks. DOD has recognized the need to change its approach to developing space systems and is attempting to instill best practices in new efforts. GAO was asked to testify on its findings on space acquisitions problems and steps needed to sustain and expand the use of best practices. In preparing this testimony, GAO relied on its detailed reviews of space programs as well as cross-cutting work on cost estimating and best practices. GAO does not make recommendations in this testimony. However, GAO has made recommendations on steps DOD can take to ensure better outcomes for its space acquisitions programs. These include developing an overall investment strategy for acquisition programs, addressing human capital and other shortfalls in capacity, and revising policies supporting space to incorporate best practices."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1990, GAO has periodically reported on high-risk federal programs that are vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. Two such high-risk areas are managing federal contracts more effectively and assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of federal tax administration. Weaknesses in the tax area continue to expose the federal government to significant losses of tax revenue and increase the burden on compliant taxpayers to fund government activities. Over the last several years, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations requested GAO to investigate Department of Defense (DOD), civilian agency, and General Services Administration (GSA) contractors that abused the federal tax system. Based on that work GAO made recommendations to executive agencies including to improve the controls over levying payments to contractors with tax debt--many of which have been implemented--and referred 122 contractors to IRS for further investigation and prosecution. As requested, this testimony will highlight the key findings from prior testimonies and related reports. This testimony will (1) describe the magnitude of tax debt owed by federal contractors, (2) provide examples of federal contractors involved in abusive and potentially criminal activity related to the federal tax system, and (3) describe …

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Legislature may authorize electronic pull-tab bingo by statute without amending the Texas Constitution.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "When GAO originally placed the U.S. Postal Service's (the Service) transformation efforts and long-term outlook on its high-risk list in early 2001, it was to focus urgent attention on the Service's deteriorating financial situation. Aggressive action was needed, particularly in cutting costs, improving productivity, and enhancing financial transparency. GAO testified several times since 2001 that comprehensive postal reform legislation was needed to address the Service's unsustainable business model, which assumed that increasing mail volume would cover rising costs and mitigate rate increases. This outdated model limited its flexibility and incentives needed to realize sufficient cost savings to offset rising costs, declining First-Class Mail volumes, unfunded obligations, and an expanding delivery network. This limitation threatened the Service's ability to achieve its mission of providing affordable, high-quality universal postal services on a self-financing basis. This testimony will focus on (1) why GAO recently removed the Service's transformation efforts and outlook from GAO's high-risk list, (2) the Service's financial condition in fiscal year 2007, (3) the opportunities and challenges facing the Service, and (4) major issues and areas for congressional oversight. This testimony is based on GAO's past work, review of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) paid $19 million to state approving agencies (SAA) to assess whether schools and training programs are of sufficient quality for veterans to receive VA education assistance benefits when attending them. The Departments of Education and Labor also assess education and training programs for various purposes. This testimony describes (1) changes that have occurred in state approving agencies' duties and functions since 1995, (2) the extent to which the SAA approval process overlaps with efforts by the Departments of Education and Labor, and (3) the additional value that SAA approval activities bring to VA education benefit programs. This testimony is based on a March 2007 report (GAO-07-384)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2006, the President called for comprehensive immigration reform that included strengthening control of the country's borders by, among other things, adding 6,000 new agents to the U.S. Border Patrol by the end of December 2008. This unprecedented 48 percent increase over 2 years raises concerns about the ability of the Border Patrol's basic training program to train these new agents. This testimony is based on a recent report for the ranking member of this subcommittee on the content, quality, and cost of the Border Patrol's basic training program for new agents and addresses (1) the extent to which the Border Patrol's basic training program exhibits the attributes of an effective training program and the changes to the program since September 11, 2001; (2) the cost to train a new agent and how this compares to the costs of other similar law enforcement basic training programs; and (3) any plans the Border Patrol has developed or considered to improve the efficiency of its basic training program. To address these issues, GAO reviewed relevant documents; observed classroom training and exercises at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2004, President Bush called for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and implement a strategic plan to guide the nationwide implementation of health information technology (IT). The plan is to recommend methods to ensure the privacy of electronic health information. GAO was asked to summarize its January 2007 report. The report describes the steps HHS is taking to ensure privacy protection as part of its national health IT strategy and identifies challenges associated with protecting electronic health information exchanged within a nationwide health information network."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Increasing wildland fire threats to communities and ecosystems, combined with rising costs of addressing those threats--trends that GAO and others have reported on for many years--have not abated. On average, the acreage burned annually by wildland fires from 2000 to 2005 was 70 percent greater than the acreage burned annually during the 1990s. Annual appropriations to prepare for and respond to wildland fires have also increased substantially over the past decade, totaling about $3 billion in recent years. The Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and four agencies within the Department of the Interior (Interior) are responsible for responding to wildland fires on federal lands. This testimony summarizes several key actions that federal agencies need to complete or take to strengthen their management of the wildland fire program, including the need to (1) develop a long-term, cohesive strategy to reduce fuels and address wildland fire problems and (2) improve the management of their efforts to contain the costs of preparing for and responding to wildland fires. The testimony is based on several previous GAO reports and testimonies addressing wildland fire issues."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Historically, domestic violence, sexual assaults, and stalking incidents have often been ignored by society and treated as private family matters. However, in 1984, Congress passed and the President signed the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to, among other things, help prevent domestic violence and provide shelter and related assistance for victims. Grants funded under the act are administered by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families and are available to states, Indian tribal governments and organizations, state domestic violence coalitions, and public and private nonprofit entities. In response to continued concerns about domestic violence as well as sexual assault and stalking incidents, Congress passed and the President signed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994. VAWA created new federal criminal laws and established additional grant programs within HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for state, local, and Indian tribal governments and nonprofit organizations. These grant programs have various purposes, such as providing funding for direct services including emergency shelter, counseling, and legal services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assaults, and stalking across all segments of the population. …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 seeks to ensure equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, transportation, and other matters. ADA sets minimum standards for the accessibility of public transportation systems. For example, for persons unable to use a fixed-route bus or rail system due to disability, transit systems must provide service within three-quarters of a mile of the fixed-route service and during the same hours as the fixed-route service. In February 2001, the Bush Administration announced the New Freedom Initiative, a comprehensive program intended to extend and enhance efforts begun under ADA to help bring Americans with disabilities into mainstream life. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2005 there were about 40 million noninstitutionalized persons over the age of 5 with one or more disabilities. In August 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act--A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) authorized the New Freedom program, to be administered by the Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This program is designed to support new public transportation services and public transportation alternatives beyond those required by ADA. Congress appropriated $77.2 million for the New …

Email from John McClelland to multiple recipients on August 30, 2007, discussing Stonewall Democrats of Denton County meeting on August 30, 2007 at 7 pm.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Alaska Native corporations (ANC) were created to settle land claims with Alaska Natives and foster economic development. In 1986, legislation passed that allowed ANCs to participate in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program. Since then, Congress has extended special procurement advantages to 8(a) ANC firms, such as the ability to receive sole-source contracts for any dollar amount and to own multiple subsidiaries in the 8(a) program. We were asked to testify on an earlier report where we identified (1) trends in the government's 8(a) contracting with ANC firms, (2) the reasons agencies have awarded 8(a) sole-source contracts to ANC firms and the facts and circumstances behind some of these contracts, and (3) how ANCs are using the 8(a) program. GAO also evaluated SBA's oversight of 8(a) ANC firms. GAO made recommendations aimed at improving SBA's oversight of 8(a) ANC contracting activity and ensuring that procuring agencies properly oversee 8(a) contracts they award to ANC firms. SBA has either taken action or plans to take action on the recommendations. The procuring agencies generally agreed with our recommendation to them. We believe implementation of our recommendations will provide better …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On February 17, 2009, federal law requires all full-power television stations in the United States to cease analog broadcasting and broadcast digital-only transmissions, often referred to as the digital television (DTV) transition. Federal law also requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to create a program that subsidizes consumers' purchases of digital-to-analog converter boxes. After the transition, households with analog sets that rely on over-the-air broadcast signals must take action or they will lose television service, but some households might not be aware of this potential disruption. This testimony provides preliminary information on (1) the consumer education efforts currently underway, (2) education efforts being planned, (3) difficulties with the implementation of consumer education programs, and (4) ongoing GAO work on consumer education and awareness regarding the transition. GAO interviewed officials with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and NTIA. Further, GAO met with a wide variety of industry and other stakeholders involved with the transition, including members of the DTV Transition Coalition--a group of public and private stakeholders, and experts on strategic communications. GAO discussed this testimony with FCC and NTIA officials and incorporated their comments."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's economic vitality and the quality of life of its citizens depend significantly on the security, availability, and dependability of its transportation network. The nation's transportation network presents particularly complex policy challenges, because it encompasses many modes on systems owned, funded, and operated by both the public and the private sectors. As the August collapse of a bridge span in Minneapolis illustrated, policymakers currently face the challenge of maintaining the safety and condition of the transportation network--in a time of increasing fiscal constraint. Addressing these challenges requires a fundamental reexamination and transformation of the nation's transportation policies and programs. This forum brought together government, academic, and transportation industry experts, along with GAO's own transportation specialists. The discussion addressed (1) the appropriate goals for the nation's transportation policy, (2) the role of the federal government in achieving transportation goals, (3) how transportation goals might be financed, and (4) next steps in transforming transportation policy for the 21st century. These highlights do not necessarily represent the views of any one participant or the organizations that these participants represent, including GAO."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The South Florida ecosystem covers about 18,000 square miles, and is home to the Everglades, one of the world's unique environmental resources. Historic efforts to redirect the flow of water through the ecosystem have jeopardized its health and reduced the Everglades to about half of its original size. In 1993, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Committee (WHC) added Everglades National Park (Park) to its List of World Heritage in Danger sites. In 2000, a strategy to restore the ecosystem was set; the effort was expected to take at least 40 years and cost $15.4 billion. It comprises 222 projects, including 60 key projects known as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), to be undertaken by a multiagency partnership. This testimony is based on GAO's May 2007 report, South Florida Ecosystem: Restoration Is Moving Forward, but Is Facing Significant Delays, Implementation Challenges, and Rising Costs, and a review of WHC decision documents relating to the Park's listing. This statement addresses the (1) status of projects implemented (2) status of projects key to improving the health of the Park, (3) project sequencing factors, and (4) …