Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On August 29, 2005, and in the ensuing days, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma devastated the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Hurricane Katrina alone affected more than a half million people located within approximately 90,000 square miles spanning Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, ultimately resulted in over 1,600 deaths, and has spawned one of the largest natural disaster relief and recovery operations in U.S. history. Almost 3 years prior to the hurricanes, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) largely in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Homeland Security Act merged 22 disparate agencies and organizations into the new department, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Homeland Security Act generally charged DHS with securing the homeland against terrorist attacks and carrying out the functions of all transferred entities, including acting as a focal point regarding natural and man-made crises and emergency planning. Hurricane Katrina severely tested disaster management at the federal, state, and local levels and revealed weaknesses in the basic elements of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from any catastrophic disaster. Beginning in February …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has performed the agreed-upon procedures solely to assist the Department of Transportation (DOT) in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with DOT, GAO evaluated fiscal year 2008 activity affecting distributions to the AATF."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures described in the enclosure to this letter, which we agreed to perform and with which the Department of Transportation concurred, solely to assist the office in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with the office, we evaluated fiscal year 2008 activity affecting distributions to the HTF. We conducted the engagement in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The procedures we agreed to perform were related to (1) transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the HTF during fiscal year 2008, (2) the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly HTF receipt certifications during fiscal year 2008, (3) the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments to the HTF during fiscal year 2008, (4) the Department of the Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis's (OTA) process for estimating excise tax amounts to be distributed to the HTF for the fourth quarter …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Strong productivity gains in the U.S. economy hinge, in part, on transportation networks working efficiently. Continued development and efficient management of the nation's freight transportation system--especially highways and rail lines that connect international gateways and intermodal facilities to retailers, producers, and consumers--are important to sustaining the nation's competitive position in the global economy. However, the increasing congestion on the transportation system poses a threat to the efficient flow of the nation's goods and has strained the system in some locations. Moreover, recent growth in international trade has placed even greater pressures on ports, border crossings, and distribution hubs. Congestion delays that significantly constrain freight mobility in these areas could result in increased economic costs for the nation. The Federal Highway Administration has calculated that delays caused by highway bottlenecks cost the trucking industry alone more than $8 billion a year. Recognizing that freight congestion has been well-defined and studied, Congress asked us to research technologies and projects currently in place or in development that could improve freight mobility, including low-cost approaches. In doing our work, we learned that the National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) is currently conducting …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, Congress established a program to reduce airport ground emissions at commercial service airports in areas failing to meet or maintain air quality standards. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administers the Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) Program and oversees the program's two sources of funding: Airport Improvement Program (AIP) federal grants or Passenger Facility Charges (PFC), which airports can collect from passengers. Participating airports also receive credits for the emission reductions achieved through VALE projects in accordance with the law and guidance. Airports can use these credits to offset emissions resulting from development projects to comply with federal Clean Air Act requirements. GAO was asked to determine (1) how the VALE program has been implemented, including airport participation levels, types of projects, and program expenditures, and (2) the outcomes attributable to the VALE program. To do this, GAO reviewed FAA data on VALE projects for all nine participating airports; visited two of these airports; obtained information from the remaining seven participating airports and four nonparticipating airports; and interviewed officials from FAA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and airport associations. FAA generally agreed with the report's findings, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While some progress has been made in recent years, agencies urgently need to strengthen basic management capabilities to successfully address current and emerging demands. The incoming administration will face challenges in implementing its policy and program agendas because of shortcomings in agencies' management capabilities. Building and developing the institutional capacity to meet these challenges will require appointing the right people to the right positions. It is vitally important that leadership and management skills, abilities, and experience be among the key criteria the new President uses to select his leadership teams in the agencies. The Senate's interest in leveraging its role in confirmation hearings will send a strong message that nominees should have the requisite skills to deal effectively with the broad array of complex management challenges they will face. This report includes questions for each of 28 major executive branch departments and agencies, and one for each of the following seven major governmentwide management areas: (1) acquisition management, (2) collaboration, (3) financial management, (4) human capital management, (5) information and technology management, (6) results-oriented decision making, and (7) real property management and security."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. military has long used contractors to provide supplies and services to deployed U.S. forces as well as for post-conflict support. The Department of Defense's (DOD) use of contractors has grown significantly to the extent that the force in Iraq is composed of approximately 143,000 military personnel and 149,000 DOD contractor personnel. Congress,GAO, and others have frequently reported on or expressed concerns about the long-standing challenges that DOD faces when managing operational contract support. These challenges include a failure to adequately plan for the use of contractors, poorly defined or changing requirements, a lack of deployable contracting personnel with contingency contracting experience, and difficulties in coordinating contracts and contractor management across military services in joint contingency environments. Furthermore, as we have previously reported, DOD has not provided a sufficient number of trained contract oversight and management personnel in contingency operations, and visibility of contracting activities and contractors has been limited. As we have testified, problems associated with DOD's inability to overcome these challenges have resulted in higher costs, schedule delays, unmet goals, and negative operational impacts. To respond to these concerns, Congress enacted an amendment …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS)--which consists of two kinds of motorized vehicles, a 120-mm mortar, an ammunition trailer, and fire direction equipment--is being developed to meet the United States Marine Corps' need for a weapon system that can be carried inside the MV-22 Osprey to support assault operations. The Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity (MCOTEA), the independent test agency for the Marines, conducted initial operational testing and evaluation of the EFSS from May to July 2007, and reported in September 2007, among other things, that it experienced several safety, performance, reliability, and mechanical problems. We briefed Congress on these and other issues related to the EFSS in September 2007. Subsequently, at congressional request, the Marine Corps delayed full-rate production of the EFSS until after GAO reported on the system. In December 2007, we issued our report, which described the system's safety, performance, reliability, and mechanical problems. MCOTEA retested the system in February and March 2008, focusing on determining whether the problems identified in 2007 were resolved. It reported its analysis of the test results in May 2008. In October 2008, Congress asked us to provide …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft play key roles in transporting weapons and other cargo. Since September 2001, these aircraft have delivered over 2.4 million tons of cargo to staging and operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet determining the number and mix to meet current and future airlift requirements has become increasingly challenging given distinct differences between the two aircraft. While the C-5 can carry more cargo, the newer C-17 is more flexible since it can deliver to forward-deployed bases and has a higher mission capable rate. GAO was asked to identify the impact C-5 modernization cost increases have had on the mix of aircraft; assess the current C-5 modernization cost estimate; and identify C-17 production plans and issues related to production line shutdown. To conduct its work, GAO reviewed options DOD considered to meet its current and future strategic airlift requirements, and evaluated C-5 modernization and C-17 production line shut down cost estimates."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter formally transmits the attached briefing in response to Senate Report No. 110-77, which accompanied the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-181). The Senate Report requires GAO to review DOD's plans for the development of language and cultural awareness capabilities and to report to the congressional defense committees by December 31, 2008. On November 24, 2008, we provided the briefing to staff of congressional committees to satisfy this mandate. We plan to complete our work and issue a final report at a later date."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is one of the largest procurement spending agencies in the federal government. In fiscal year 2007, DHS obligated about $12 billion for a wide range of goods and services to meet complex mission needs. Like other federal agencies, DHS has faced challenges in building and sustaining a capable workforce to support its acquisitions. GAO was asked to identify and assess DHS's efforts to build and sustain an effective acquisition workforce and determine the extent to which DHS has planned strategically for the acquisition workforce. To conduct the work, GAO collected and reviewed data and interviewed officials from the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), DHS's nine procurement offices, and nine program offices, and reviewed in detail workforce information and data for acquisition support contracts from selected offices."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obligated about $12 billion for acquisitions to support homeland security missions. DHS's major investments include Coast Guard ships and aircraft; border surveillance and screening equipment; nuclear detection equipment; and systems to track finances and human resources. In part to provide insight into the cost, schedule, and performance of these acquisitions, DHS established an investment review process in 2003. However, concerns have been raised about how well the process has been implemented--particularly for large investments. GAO was asked to (1) evaluate DHS's implementation of the investment review process, and (2) assess DHS's integration of the investment review and budget processes to ensure major investments fulfill mission needs. GAO reviewed relevant documents, including those for 57 DHS major investments (investments with a value of at least $50 million)--48 of which required department-level review through the second quarter of fiscal year 2008; and interviewed DHS headquarters and component officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Competition between federal and private organizations to provide services--referred to as "competitive sourcing"--can be one way to help achieve greater efficiency in government. Under guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), competitive sourcing has been implemented at various executive branch agencies over the years. As required under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 and directed by House Report 110-231, this report examines the use of competitive sourcing at the Department of Labor (DOL). Specifically, GAO examined the comprehensiveness and reliability of DOL's performance and cost assessments in accordance with OMB and DOL guidance as well as the impact of competitive sourcing on certain DOL workers. To address these issues, GAO reviewed relevant statutes, guidance, reports and personnel actions; and interviewed OMB and DOL officials and 60 DOL staff, grouped by role, in four locations."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Gasoline prices are volatile and have increased greatly over the last several years, before dropping again recently. The national average of regular grade retail gasoline prices increased from about $2.24 the week of January 2, 2006, to a peak of $4.11 the week of July 14, 2008, an increase of almost 84 percent, before dropping to about $2.40 the week of November 3, 2008. High fuel prices have focused attention on conservation. Congress previously used a national speed limit as an approach to conserve fuel when, in 1974, it provided for a national 55 mile per hour (mph) speed limit to reduce gasoline consumption in response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo. The law prohibited federal funding of certain highway projects in any state with a maximum speed limit in excess of 55 mph. In 1987, Congress allowed states to raise the maximum speed limit to 65 mph on rural interstate routes. In 1995, the 55 mph speed limit was repealed. Since then, states have been free to set speed limits without the loss of federal highway funds. Congress expressed interest in obtaining information on using a national …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have stewardship contracting authority, which allows the agencies to trade goods--such as timber--for services (e.g., thinning forests or rangelands) that the agencies would otherwise pay for with appropriated dollars, and to enter into stewardship contracts lasting up to 10 years. The authority is set to expire in 2013. GAO was asked to determine, among other things, (1) the extent to which the agencies are using stewardship contracting and (2) what successes and challenges the agencies have experienced in using it. In doing so, GAO assessed agency data, reviewed project files, and visited projects in numerous locations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO is required to audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government. Due to the significance of the federal debt held by the public to the governmentwide financial statements, GAO audits the Bureau of the Public Debt's (BPD) Schedules of Federal Debt annually. The audit of these schedules is done to determine whether, in all material respects, (1) the schedules are reliable and (2) BPD management maintained effective internal control relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt. Further, GAO tests compliance with a significant provision of law related to the Schedule of Federal Debt (statutory debt limit). Federal debt managed by BPD consists of Treasury securities held by the public and by certain federal government accounts, referred to as intragovernmental debt holdings. The level of debt held by the public primarily reflects how much of the nation's wealth has been absorbed by the federal government to finance prior federal spending in excess of federal revenues. Intragovernmental debt holdings represent balances of Treasury securities held by federal government accounts, primarily federal trust funds such as Social Security, that typically have an obligation to invest their excess …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of the significance of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collections to overall federal receipts and, in turn, to the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO is required to audit, and Congress's interest in financial management at IRS, GAO audits IRS's financial statements annually to determine whether (1) the financial statements are fairly stated, and (2) IRS management maintained effective internal control. GAO also tests IRS's compliance with selected provisions of significant laws and regulations and its financial systems' compliance with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Established in 1934 to enforce the securities laws and protect investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the U.S. securities markets. Pursuant to the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002, SEC is required to prepare and submit to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget audited financial statements. GAO agreed, under its audit authority, to perform the audit of SEC's financial statements. GAO's audit determined whether, in all material respects, (1) SEC's fiscal year 2008 financial statements were reliable and (2) SEC's management maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations. GAO also tested SEC's compliance with selected laws and regulations."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Presented is GAO's performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2008. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf. The financial information and the data measuring GAO's performance contained in this report are complete and reliable."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency that administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), estimates that subsidized properties--those that receive discounted premium rates that do not fully reflect the properties' actual flood risk--experience as much as five times the flood damage as properties that do not qualify for subsidized rates. Almost one in every four residential policies has subsidized rates that are on average 35-40 percent of the full-risk rate. Unprecedented losses from the 2005 hurricane season and NFIP's periodic need to borrow from the Department of the Treasury to pay flood insurance claims has raised concerns about the impact that subsidized premium rates have on the longterm financial solvency of NFIP. GAO designated NFIP as high-risk in March 2006; as of June 2008, NFIP's debt stood at $17.4 billion. This report (1) provides information on NFIP's inventory of subsidized properties and (2) examines NFIP's current approach to subsidized properties and the advantages and disadvantages of options for reducing the costs associated with these properties. To do this work, GAO analyzed data on policies and claims and collected available …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Amid ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army embarked in 2004 on a plan to create a modular, brigade-based force that would be equally capable as its divisional predecessor in part because it would have advanced equipment and specialized personnel. GAO has previously reported that restructuring and rebuilding the Army will require billions of dollars for equipment and take years to complete. For this report, GAO assessed the extent to which the Army has (1) developed a plan to link funding with results and (2) evaluated its modular force designs. GAO analyzed Army equipment and personnel data, key Army reports, planning documents, performance metrics, testing plans, and funding requests. GAO also visited Army Training and Doctrine Command, including selected Army proponents and schools; Army Reserve Command; and the National Guard Bureau."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID)Cuba Program provides assistance to support human rights and promote nonviolent democratic change in Cuba. From 1996 through 2008, the program awarded $83 million in grants to nongovernmental organizations and universities. In 2006, GAO found weaknesses in program oversight that increased the risk of grantees' improperly using grant funds and failing to comply with U.S. laws. In 2008, misuse of grant funds at organizations with the program's two largest grants was detected. GAO was asked to examine (1) actions that USAID has taken since 2006, or plans to take, to improve its award and oversight of the Cuba Program's grants and (2) actions that USAID has taken in response to the recently detected misuses of grant funds. GAO analyzed USAID and grantee records, conducted limited reviews at five grantees, and interviewed agency and grantee officials."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In January 2006, the Secretary of State announced major changes in the U.S. government's process for directing and managing foreign assistance programs in a reorganization and revision of operational procedures commonly known as the F Process. These changes were intended to ensure the effective use of U.S. foreign assistance to meet broad U.S. foreign policy objectives and more fully align programs carried out by the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). To administer the F Process, the Secretary created the new Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance (State/F) with a Director of Foreign Assistance (DFA), who carries the rank of Deputy Secretary of State and also serves concurrently as USAID Administrator. To support State and USAID planning, budgeting, and reporting of foreign assistance under these reforms, State/F developed two new data information systems, the Foreign Assistance Coordination and Tracking System (FACTS) and FACTS Info. FACTS, which State/F began to develop in mid-2006, is a database used to collect foreign assistance planning and reporting data, including plans for implementing current-year appropriated budgets and performance planning and reporting data. FACTS Info, which State/F …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Genetically engineered (GE) crops--including crops engineered to resist pests or tolerate herbicides--are widespread in the United States and around the world. Taking direction from the 1986 Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate GE crops to ensure that they are safe. The unauthorized mixing of some GE crops with non-GE crops has caused controversy and financial harm. GAO examined (1) unauthorized releases of GE crops, (2) coordination among the three agencies, and (3) additional actions they have proposed to improve oversight. GAO gathered data from agencies and stakeholders; used criteria from prior GAO work to assess coordination; and reviewed agency proposals."