A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Coast Guard manages a broad $27 billion major acquisition portfolio intended to modernize its ships, aircraft, command and control systems, and other capabilities. GAO has reported extensively on the Coast Guard's significant acquisition challenges, including project challenges in its Deepwater program. GAO's prior work on the Coast Guard acquisition programs identified problems in costs, management, and oversight, but it also recognized several steps the Coast Guard has taken to improve acquisition management. In response to the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, GAO (1) assessed Coast Guard capabilities to manage its major acquisition programs, and (2) determined the extent to which the Coast Guard leverages Department of Defense (DOD) and other agency contracts or expertise to support its major acquisition programs. GAO reviewed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Coast Guard acquisition documents, GAO and DHS Inspector General reports, and selected DOD contracts; and interviewed Coast Guard, DHS, and DOD officials"

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Coast Guard manages a broad major acquisition portfolio. GAO has reported extensively on the Coast Guard's significant challenges with its major acquisition programs, including its Deepwater Program. GAO has also recognized steps the Coast Guard has taken to improve acquisition management. Additionally, GAO has recommended that the Coast Guard complete a review of the Deepwater Program to clarify the mix of assets that are needed to meet mission needs and trade-offs while considering fiscal constraints, because the program had exceeded its $24.2 billion baseline. This testimony updates (1) Coast Guard efforts to manage major acquisitions, (2) challenges programs are facing in the areas of cost and schedule, and (3) the status of the Deepwater fleet mix analysis. This statement is largely based on GAO-11-480, which is being issued today. In that report, GAO recommended that the Coast Guard formalize its database of agreements with the Department of Defense (DOD). The Department of Homeland Security agreed with the recommendation. This statement also draws from prior GAO reports and ongoing work related to Deepwater. GAO reviewed the first phase of the Coast Guard's fleet mix analysis, contract documents, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Securing transportation systems and facilities requires balancing security to address potential threats while facilitating the flow of people and goods that are critical to the U.S. economy and necessary for supporting international commerce. As we have previously reported, these systems and facilities are vulnerable and difficult to secure given their size, easy accessibility, large number of potential targets, and proximity to urban areas. To help enhance the security of these systems and facilities, the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) required the Secretary of Homeland Security to prescribe regulations preventing individuals from having unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA-regulated facilities and vessels unless they both possess a biometric transportation security card and are authorized to be in such an area. MTSA further tasked the Secretary with the responsibility to issue biometric transportation security cards to eligible individuals unless the Secretary determines that an applicant poses a security risk warranting denial of the card. The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program is designed to implement these biometric maritime security card requirements. The program requires maritime workers to undergo a background check to obtain a biometric identification card. …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2010, the Department of Defense (DOD) estimated that corrosion costs the DOD over $22.9 billion annually. Corrosion negatively affects all military assets, including both equipment and infrastructure, and is defined as the unintended destruction or deterioration of a material due to its interaction with the environment. Corrosion also affects military readiness, taking critical systems out of action and creating safety hazards. Congress has enacted several legislative requirements to address the high cost of corrosion on military equipment and infrastructure, including legislation that created the Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight (Corrosion Office) within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. The Corrosion Office is responsible for the prevention and mitigation of corrosion of military equipment and infrastructure and, according to officials, manages funding for DOD-wide corrosion prevention and control (CPC) activities and CPC projects proposed by the Military Departments. Section 2228(e) of Title 10 of the United States Code requires DOD to annually report on CPC funding to Congress. Additionally, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 required each Military Department's corrosion control and prevention executive to …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the findings from our recent work on fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication in federally funded programs that support teacher quality. We recently issued a report addressing fragmentation, overlap, and potential duplication in federal programs that outlined opportunities to reduce potential duplication across a wide range of federal programs, including teacher quality programs. Our recent work on teacher quality programs builds on a long history of work where we identified a number of education programs with similar goals, beneficiaries, and allowable activities that are administered by multiple federal agencies. This work may help inform congressional deliberations over how to prioritize spending given the rapidly building fiscal pressures facing our nation's government. In recent years, the Department of Education (Education) has faced expanded responsibilities that have challenged the department to strategically allocate resources to balance new duties with ongoing ones. For example, we reported the number of grants Education awarded increased from about 14,000 in 2000 to about 21,000 just 2 years later and has since remained around 18,000, even as the number of full-time equivalent staff decreased by 13 percent from fiscal years 2000 to 2009. …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for overseeing medical devices sold in the United States. In general, new devices are subject to FDA review via either the 510(k) premarket notification process, which determines if a device is substantially equivalent to another legally marketed device, or the more stringent premarket approval (PMA) process, which requires the manufacturer to supply evidence providing reasonable assurance that the device is safe and effective. FDA also has broad responsibilities for postmarket surveillance of devices, including oversight of recalls. A recall involves the correction or removal of a product from the market and is an important remedial action that can mitigate the risks associated with a defective or unsafe medical device. In recent years, GAO has identified a wide variety of concerns related to FDA's ability to fulfill its mission of protecting the public health and added FDA's oversight of medical products, including devices, to its list of high-risk areas. This statement provides an update on FDA's actions in response to a recommendation made in GAO's report, Medical Devices: FDA Should Take Steps to Ensure That High-Risk Device Types Are Approved through …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The anthrax attacks of 2001 and a radiation leak after the recent natural disaster in Japan highlighted concerns that the United States is vulnerable to threats from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents, which can cause widespread illness and death. Medical countermeasures--such as drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic devices--can prevent or treat the health effects of exposure, but few are currently available for many of these CBRN agents. GAO was asked to testify on the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) CBRN medical countermeasure development and acquisition activities. This statement focuses on (1) how HHS determines needed CBRN medical countermeasures and priorities for development and acquisition and (2) selected challenges to medical countermeasure development and acquisition. This statement of preliminary findings is based on ongoing work. To do this work, GAO examined relevant laws and presidential directives, analyzed federal agency documents and reports from advisory boards and expert groups, and interviewed officials from HHS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the processes for developing and acquiring CBRN medical countermeasures and the challenges related to those efforts. GAO shared the information in this statement with HHS. …

This presentation is part of the faculty lecture series UNT Speaks Out on Unauthorized Immigration. This presentation discusses immigration in the United States, unauthorized immigration, and policies in place on immigration.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.

Images taken at a North Texas middle school documenting the food on a lunch tray and the remains on the same tray after the meal was consumed. These images are part of a study to document what food students are eating.