Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified 56 contracts and task orders that were active during fiscal year 2010 and the first three quarters of fiscal year 2011 under which contracting offices obligated roughly $35.2 million on Arlington’s behalf. These contracts supported cemetery operations, construction and facility maintenance, and new efforts to enhance information-technology systems for the automation of burial operations. The Army has taken a number of steps since June 2010 at different levels to provide for more effective management and oversight of contracts, establishing new support relationships, formalizing policies and procedures, and increasing the use of dedicated contracting staff to manage and improve its acquisition processes. However, GAO found that ANCP does not maintain complete data on its contracts, responsibilities for contracting support are not yet fully defined, and dedicated contract staffing arrangements still need to be determined. The success of Arlington’s acquisition outcomes will depend on continued management focus from ANCP and its contracting partners to ensure sustained attention to contract management and institutionalize progress made to date. GAO made three recommendations to continue improvements in contract management. The Department of Defense (DOD) partially concurred and noted actions in progress …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Under the leadership of the Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cells program, Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) educated and worked with state leaders to encourage wider deployment of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. Through outreach to state policymakers, legislative leaders, clean energy funds, energy agencies, and public utility commissions, CESA worked to accomplish the following objectives of this project: 1. Provide information and technical assistance to state policy leaders and state renewable energy programs in the development of effective hydrogen fuel cell programs. 2. Identify and foster hydrogen program best practices. 3. Identify and promote strategic opportunities for states and the Department of Energy (DOE) to advance hydrogen technology deployment through partnerships, collaboration, and targeted activities. Over the three years of this project, CESA, with our partner National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), was able to provide credible information on fuel cell policies, finance, and technical assistance to hundreds of state officials and other stakeholders. CESA worked with its membership network to effectively educate state clean energy policymakers, program managers, and decision makers about fuel cell and hydrogen technologies and the efforts by states to advance those technologies. With the assistance of NCSL, CESA gained access to an effective …