Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, the Army and the Marine Corps have taken steps to determine the future usefulness of nonstandard equipment but have not finalized all of the decisions on whether to add such equipment to unit authorization documents. As of November 2011, the Army had reviewed 409 equipment systems through its Capabilities Development for Rapid Transition process, determining that about 11 percent of that equipment is useful for the future and about 37 percent is not needed and should be terminated. The Army has not made a final decision on the future need for the remaining 52 percent of the equipment, which it continues to sustain for current operations primarily through the use of overseas contingency operations funds. The Army has also taken some additional actions to review nonstandard equipment through other forums and reviews which have led to recommendations for some items to be retained for the future. Since 2008, the Marine Corps has reviewed 144 different requests for capabilities to fill gaps identified by commanders. Of these, the Marine Corps has determined that about 63 percent will continue to be needed in the future to meet enduring …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Unemployment rates for workers of all ages have risen dramatically since the start of the recent recession in December 2007, and workers age 55 and over have faced particularly long periods of unemployment. The seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for older workers increased from 3.1 percent in December 2007 to a high of 7.6 percent in February 2010, before it decreased to 6.0 percent in April 2012. As in prior recessions, smaller percentages of workers age 55 and over became unemployed in comparison with younger workers. Some researchers attribute older workers’ lower unemployment rates to the fact that older workers tend to have longer job tenure, and are consequently less likely to be laid off than younger workers."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Information on the overall effectiveness (or impact) of the CDBG and HOME programs is limited. According to HUD officials, the agency has faced challenges in evaluating the impact of CDBG and HOME because, among other things, such an evaluation would have to compare neighborhoods that received program assistance with those that did not. Our previous work has also identified the difficulties of evaluating the impact of block grant programs that do not represent a uniform package of activities or desired outcomes across the country, as well as the common problem of attributing differences in communities’ outcomes to the effect of a program in the absence of controls for other explanations. As a result, few comprehensive studies on the impact of the CDBG and HOME programs exist, but studies that focused on specific activities have generally found that each of the programs has made positive contributions. We identified two studies that attempted to examine the overall impact of the CDBG program on communities, but both studies encountered evaluation challenges due to the program’s design. For example, a 1995 study that HUD considers the most comprehensive evaluation of CDBG suggests …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant’s maintenance of effort (MOE) provisions include specified state spending levels and general requirements on the use of funds. For example, these provisions generally require that each state spend at least 80 percent (75 percent if the state meets certain performance standards) of the amount it spent on welfare and related programs in fiscal year 1994, before TANF was created. If a state does not meet its MOE requirements in any fiscal year, the federal government will reduce dollar-for-dollar the state’s federal TANF grant in the following year. In order to count state spending as MOE, funds must be spent on benefits and services to families with children that have incomes and resources below certain state-defined limits. Such benefits and services must generally further one of TANF’s purposes, which broadly focus on providing financial assistance to needy families; promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; reducing out-of-wedlock births; and encouraging the formation of two-parent families. Within these broad goals, states have significant flexibility to design programs and spend their funds to meet families’ needs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, SSA has reported spending more than $5 billion on the development, modernization, and enhancement of its IT systems and capabilities. SSA officials identified 120 initiatives undertaken from 2001 to 2011 that the agency considered to be key investments in modernization. These comprise a subset of the hundreds of projects and modernization activities SSA undertakes yearly, which vary greatly in level of effort, scope, and cost. These initiatives affected all of the agency’s main program areas:"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The act requires that OMB develop federal government priority goals (crosscutting goals) and a federal government performance plan, which is to be updated annually and released concurrently with the President’s budget. Specifically, it requires OMB, starting with the 2015 budget and in coordination with agencies and in consultation with the Congress, to develop—every 4 years—long-term, outcome-oriented goals for a limited number of crosscutting policy areas and goals for management improvement areas, including: financial management; human capital management; information technology management; procurement and acquisition management; and real property management. The goals are to be updated or revised every 4 years. In addition, OMB is required to develop interim priority goals, starting with the 2013 budget. OMB is also required to provide information on how these federal government priority goals will be achieved in a federal government performance plan."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s prior work has highlighted progress and challenges in various areas related to Border Patrol’s implementation of its 2004 National Strategy, which could provide insights as Border Patrol transitions to its 2012 Strategic Plan. Border Patrol officials stated that the 2012 Strategic Plan will rely on Border Patrol and federal, state, local, tribal, and international partners working together to use a risk-based approach to secure the border, and include the key elements of “Information, Integration, and Rapid Response” to achieve objectives. These elements were similar to those in the 2004 Strategy and GAO’s past work highlighted the progress and challenges the agency faced obtaining information necessary for border security; integrating security operations with partners; and mobilizing a rapid response to security threats. Border Patrol successfully used interagency forums and joint operations to counter threats, but challenges included assessing the benefits of border technology and infrastructure to, among other things, provide information on situational awareness. For example, in May 2010 GAO reported that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had not accounted for the effect of its investment in border fencing and infrastructure …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "State has an extensive process designed to make the country reports on human rights as comprehensive, objective, and uniform as possible. This process includes annually issuing detailed instructions, consulting and assessing information from multiple sources, and collaboratively and iteratively drafting and reviewing the reports. State issues instructions for preparing the country reports each year, outlining a consistent structure and describing, for example, the topics that should be included in each subsection. The instructions also, among other things, indicate that the country reports should build on the previous year’s reports and specify guidelines for new and updated content. In addition, the instructions state that staff preparing the country reports are to use and assess multiple sources, including host governments, local and international human NGOs, labor unions, and host country media as well as classified information. State officials told us that they also obtain information from business leaders and industry groups, although there is no legal requirement to do so. In general, according to State officials, Foreign Service officers—often on their first or second tour of duty—prepare first drafts of the country reports with the assistance of other embassy personnel, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As discussed in our report, OMB and key federal agencies have made progress on selected action items identified in the IT Reform Plan, but there are several areas where more remains to be done. Of the 10 key action items we reviewed, 3 were completed and the other 7 were partially completed by December 2011. The action items that are behind schedule share a common reason for the delays: the complexity of the initiatives. In all seven of the cases, OMB and the federal agencies are still working on the initiatives. However, OMB and federal agencies have established time frames for completing only two of these initiatives."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Fleet Mix Phase One, which was not cost constrained, indicated that the planned program of record does not fully meet long-term strategic goals and found that, to meet these goals, the Coast Guard requires a fleet that could cost as much as $65 billion to acquire, which is about $40 billion more than the $24.2 billion program of record. Coast Guard officials stated that the analysis supports the continued pursuit of the program of record. However, DHS Program Analysis & Evaluation (PA&E) and OMB officials told us that the analysis has limited utility without cost constraints and trade-offs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, we found the following:"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Among the tribes that responded to our survey (109), none reported that they were exercising TLOA’s new sentencing authority, and, in open-ended responses, many tribes (86 of 90, or 96 percent) reported challenges to exercising this authority due to funding limitations. Tribes were relatively evenly split among those that reported that they have plans to exercise the new authority (36 of 101, or 36 percent); that they did not know the tribe’s plans to exercise the new authority (34 of 101, or 34 percent) because, for instance, the tribal council has not yet made a decision; and that they did not have plans to do so (31 of 101, or 31 percent). In addition, 64 percent of selected tribes (70 of 109) reported implementing at least half of the requirements necessary for exercising the new sentencing authority, but reported challenges in implementing other requirements. Specifically, these tribes most frequently reported implementing the requirement to maintain a record of the criminal proceeding, and least frequently reported providing the defendant a licensed defense attorney. For example, 8 tribes that described challenges to exercising the new sentencing authority reported challenges with …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our work on the outcomes of the CBP round 1 rebid found that the number of bidding suppliers and the number of contracts awarded in the CBP round 1 rebid were very similar to the CBP round 1 and about a third of the 1,011 suppliers that bid in the rebid were awarded at least one CBP contract. CMS made improvements to the bidding process for the CBP round 1 rebid—such as providing additional information about disqualification reasons—and significantly fewer bids were disqualified than in round 1. However, many suppliers still had difficulty meeting bid requirements. Of the bids that were disqualified during the initial bid review, 73 percent were disqualified because suppliers failed to provide the required financial documentation or did not meet CMS’s minimum financial standard threshold for suppliers. The number of bids disqualified for missing financial documentation in the CBP round 1 rebid would have been higher if many suppliers had not benefited from a MIPPA provision that required that CMS provide suppliers the opportunity to be notified of and to submit missing required financial documentation—a process not available during CBP round 1. As a …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During our fiscal year 2011 audit, we identified eight new general information systems control deficiencies related to access controls, configuration management, and segregation of duties. We made nine recommendations to address these control deficiencies. In a separately issued Limited Official Use Only report, we communicated to BPD management detailed information regarding our findings and related recommendations."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Overall, orthopedic IMD admission rates were substantially higher in 2009 compared with 2003, while admission rate patterns among cardiac IMDs were mixed. Admission rates rose for each of the orthopedic IMDs in our study, with knee replacement rates growing 6.7 percent per year. The picture for inpatient cardiac IMD procedures was more mixed; admission rates for dual-chamber pacemakers decreased steadily while rates for AICDs and drug-eluting stents increased through 2006 and generally declined thereafter, in part reflecting a shift of surgeries to the outpatient setting. While the proportion of both orthopedic and cardiac IMD beneficiaries in poor or very poor health grew throughout our period of study, this trend was far more evident for cardiac IMD beneficiaries after 2007."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "PCORI received an unqualified audit opinion on its 2011 and 2010 financial statements. In its audit of PCORI’s financial statements, the IPA found that the financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, and there was no reportable noncompliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations the IPA tested as part of its audit. However, the IPA identified a deficiency in PCORI’s internal control over financial reporting related to PCORI reporting on its receipt of appropriated funds. The IPA determined the deficiency to be significant enough to constitute a material weakness. We found no instances in which the IPA did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards and generally accepted government auditing standards in the conduct of the financial statement audit. In e-mailed comments from PCORI’s Director of Finance, PCORI stated that the identified deficiency in financial reporting related to appropriations received resulted from uncertainty over differences between the federal government’s and PCORI’s fiscal years and cited action taken to adjust its records to correct the deficiency."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD officials are seeking to approach strategic communication as a process that leaders, planners, and operators should follow to integrate foreign audience perceptions into policy making, planning, and operations at every level. However, descriptions of strategic communication in several key documents—including the Quadrennial Defense Review and the National Framework for Strategic Communication—characterize it differently. For example, the Quadrennial Defense Review describes strategic communication as the coordination of activities such as information operations and public affairs, among other things. According to DOD officials, these varying descriptions of strategic communication have created confusion within the department. To address this confusion, DOD is drafting an instruction to clarify the steps of the strategic communication process, which DOD officials expect to be completed in late spring or early summer 2012."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s past work has found that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have faced challenges in developing and meeting program requirements when acquiring screening technologies. GAO’s past work has demonstrated that program performance cannot be accurately assessed without valid baseline requirements established at the program start. In June 2010, GAO reported that more than half of the 15 DHS programs GAO reviewed awarded contracts to initiate acquisition activities without component or department approval of documents essential to planning acquisitions, setting operational requirements, or establishing acquisition program baselines. At the program level, in January 2012, GAO reported that TSA did not fully follow DHS acquisition policies when acquiring advanced imaging technology (AIT)—commonly referred to as a full body scanner that identifies objects or anomalies on the outside of the body—which resulted in DHS approving full AIT deployment without full knowledge of TSA’s revised specifications. In July 2011, GAO reported that in 2010 TSA revised its explosive detection systems (EDS) requirements to better address current threats and planned to implement these requirements in a phased approach; however, GAO reported that some number of the …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In its October 2010 report, GAO noted that oil shale development presents the following opportunities for the United States:"

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past several years, GAO has made a number of recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—to increase savings in Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage (MA), which is a private plan alternative to the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program. Open recommendations that could yield billions of dollars in savings remain in many areas, such as the following:"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During our audit of FHFA’s fiscal years 2011 and 2010 financial statements, we identified one internal control issue and a continuing issue related to information systems controls that could adversely affect FHFA’s ability to meet its internal control objectives. We do not consider these issues to represent material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in relation to FHFA’s financial statements. Nonetheless, we believe they warrant management’s attention and action."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The five agencies varied in the extent to which they collected the over 100 land and resources, revenue, and federal land use designation data elements that GAO asked them about. Specifically, all five agencies collected data on four basic data elements, which related to total surface acres managed, total acres managed within each state, the number of special use permits generated for filming activities on federal land, and the number of cultural and historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In contrast, none of them collected information for 33 other data elements, such as the percent of total acres under oil, gas, or coal leases that have surface disturbance or where the surface disturbance has been reclaimed, or information on the potential quantities of oil, gas, and coal resources on federal land. Agency officials cited various reasons why the agencies did not collect certain information, such as believing another federal agency collected it, it was inconsistent with the agency’s mission, or they lacked the authority or resources to do so."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Case processing times under the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) process have increased over time, and measures of servicemember satisfaction have shortcomings. Each year, average processing time for IDES cases has climbed, reaching 394 and 420 days for active and reserve component members in fiscal year 2011—well over established goals of 295 and 305 days, respectively. Also in fiscal year 2011, just 19 percent of active duty servicemembers and 18 percent of guard or reserve members completed the IDES process and received benefits within established goals, down from 32 and 37 percent one year prior. Of the four phases comprising IDES, the medical evaluation board phase increasingly fell short of timeliness goals and, within that phase, the time required for the military’s determination of fitness was especially troubling. During site visits to IDES locations, we consistently heard concerns about timeframes and resources for this phase of the process. With respect to servicemember satisfaction with the IDES process, GAO found shortcomings in how these data are collected and reported, such as unduly limiting who is eligible to receive a survey and computing average satisfaction scores in a manner that …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD is estimating and publishing approximate costs for selected types of internally and externally required reports, but in some cases its approach is not fully consistent with relevant cost estimating best practices and cost accounting standards. Specifically, DOD entities have been directed to use the cost estimating tool to capture marginal costs of activities associated with completing a report or study that would not have been performed otherwise. These costs consist of certain manpower costs (such as the prorated salaries of military and civilian personnel based on the time they spent) and nonlabor costs (such as contract services, travel, or printing). In comparing DOD’s approach to (1) GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide—which states that high-quality, reliable cost estimates should be comprehensive, well documented, and accurate—and (2) relevant accounting standards, we found the following."