Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During the course of a recent engagement reviewing noncompetitive contracting, we found that departments and agencies in the Department of Defense (DOD) are not submitting complete information, as required, to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OASD[PA]), which then posts the information on its Web site as a public announcement. President Obama has emphasized transparency and openness in how the government spends taxpayer dollars. We are bringing this issue to the attention of the Defense Department's Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy due to its responsibility for acquisition and procurement policy matters in DOD. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires contracting officers to make information on a contract action over a certain dollar amount publicly available on the same day the contract is awarded. The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) further specifies that for contract actions over $5.5 million, departments and agencies are to submit certain information to the OASD(PA) by the close of business the day before the date of the proposed award, including, "as a minimum" (1) contract data, for example, contract number, face value of the action and total cumulative …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past several years, federal agencies have rapidly adopted the use of wireless technologies for their information systems. In a 2005 report, GAO recommended that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in its role overseeing governmentwide information security, take several steps to help agencies better secure their wireless networks. GAO was asked to update its prior report by (1) identifying leading practices and state-of-the-art technologies for deploying and monitoring secure wireless networks and (2) assessing agency efforts to secure wireless networks, including their vulnerability to attack. To do so, GAO reviewed publications, guidance, and other documentation and interviewed subject matter experts in wireless security. GAO also analyzed policies and plans and interviewed agency officials on wireless security at 24 major federal agencies and conducted additional detailed testing at these 5 agencies: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has a demanding responsibility enforcing banking laws, regulating financial institutions, and protecting depositors. Because of the importance of its work, the corporation must employ strong information security controls to ensure that its information systems are adequately protected from inadvertent misuse, fraud, and improper disclosure. As part of its audit of the 2009 financial statements of the Deposit Insurance Fund and the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation Resolution Fund administrated by FDIC, GAO assessed (1) the effectiveness of FDIC's controls in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its financial systems and information and (2) the progress FDIC has made in mitigating previously reported information security weaknesses. To perform the audit, GAO examined security policies, procedures, reports, and other documents; tested controls over key financial applications; and interviewed key FDIC personnel."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report formally transmits the briefing highlighting differences in the oversight of long-term care hospitals (LTCH), other types of hospitals, and nursing homes. This report is a partial response to a congressional request letter and was used to brief congressional staff on November 29, 2010. We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and to The Joint Commission (TJC)--an accrediting organization that oversees the majority of LTCHs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In June 2010, we issued our report on the results of our audit of the financial statements of the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and the FSLIC Resolution Fund (FRF) as of, and for the years ending December 31, 2009, and 2008, and on the effectiveness of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009. We also reported our conclusions on FDIC's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations. During our 2009 financial audit, we identified several control deficiencies over FDIC's process for deriving and reporting estimates of losses to the DIF from financial institution resolution transactions involving loss-sharing agreements. These deficiencies led to misstatements in the draft DIF financial statements, which were ultimately corrected through adjustments to achieve fair presentation in the final financial statements. Although the net adjustments were not material to the DIF's financial statements, the nature of the control deficiencies we identified were such that a reasonable possibility existed that a material misstatement of the DIF's financial statements would not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis. Thus, these control deficiencies collectively represented …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) required GAO to study children's access to dental care. GAO assessed (1) the extent to which dentists participate in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and federal efforts to help families find participating dentists; (2) data on access for Medicaid and CHIP children in different states and in managed care; (3) federal efforts to improve access in underserved areas; and (4) how states and other countries have used mid-level dental providers to improve children's access. To do this, GAO (1) examined state reported dentist participation and the Department of Health and Human Services's (HHS) Insure Kids Now Web site for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and called a non-representative sample of dentists in four states; (2) reviewed national data on provision of Medicaid dental services and use of managed care; (3) interviewed HHS officials and assessed certain HHS dental programs; and (4) interviewed officials in eight states and four countries on the use of mid-level and other dental providers."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Demand for public transportation in the United States reached record highs in 2008 and rose in the decade prior to 2008. Increased demand for public transportation can create opportunities and challenges for communities working to meet demand, improve service, and maintain transit systems, while operating within budgetary constraints. Transit agencies rely on a variety of funding sources, including federal, state, and local entities, and other sources, such as fares. The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit Administration administers federal grant programs transit agencies can use to help meet ridership demand, such as for purchasing buses and modernizing rail systems. As requested, this report addresses (1) trends in transit ridership and services from 1998 through 2008, (2) challenges, if any, transit agencies faced during this period to address increased ridership and actions they took in response, and (3) factors that might affect future ridership demand and the ability of transit agencies to meet that demand. GAO analyzed data from the National Transit Database on transit ridership (i.e., passenger miles traveled), service (i.e., vehicle revenue miles), costs, and revenues; conducted interviews with 15 transit agencies operating heavy …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recognizing the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, Congress enacted the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (SADA) in 2007. This law supports U.S. states' and investment companies' decisions to divest from companies with certain business ties to Sudan. It also seeks to prohibit federal contracting with these companies. This testimony (1) identifies actions that U.S. state fund managers and investment companies took regarding Sudan-related assets, (2) describes the factors that these entities considered in determining whether and how to divest, and (3) determines whether the U.S. government has contracted with companies identified as having certain Sudan-related business operations and assesses compliance with SADA's federal contract prohibition provision. This testimony is based on a GAO report (GAO-10-742), for which GAO surveyed states, analyzed investment data, assessed federal contracts, and interviewed government officials."