Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is a best practices pamphlet discussing the highlights of the knowledge-based approach to improving weapons acquisition. It reviews the manufacturing processes through three phases, (1) technology development, (2) product development, and (3) production."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "At the request of Congress, we have been examining ways the Department of Defense (DOD) can optimize its investment in weapons systems, drawing on lessons learned from the best, mostly commercial, product development efforts. Leading commercial firms we have studied have developed increasingly sophisticated products in less time and at lower cost. Key to their success is their knowledge-based approach to the acquisition of new products. A knowledge-based approach is supported by incentives that encourage realism and candor. This booklet highlights the result of our work to date."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the highlights of GAO's fiscal year 2003 Performance and Accountability report. The Comptroller General is confident that the performance data and financial information in this report are complete and reliable. GAO met or exceeded all but one of its seven key performance measures, and it received a clean opinion from independent auditors on its financial statements. GAO helped the Congress and government leaders achieve a total of $35.4 billion in financial benefits--a $78 return on every dollar that was spent. Its work addressed many of the difficult issues that confront the nation, including diverse and diffuse security threats, changing demographic trends, increasing interdependency, rapidly evolving science and technology changes, a variety of quality-of-life issues, as well as government transformation challenges, and increasing federal budgetary constraints. It is important for the nation and its citizens not only that these issues are made visible, but also that the nation's leaders attend to them. In addition to having an impact on important national issues, GAO has taken major steps internally to be a model federal agency and world-class professional services organization."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has been relying increasingly on computer software to introduce or enhance performance capabilities of major weapon systems. To ensure successful outcomes, software acquisition requires disciplined processes and practices. Without such discipline, weapon programs encounter difficulty in meeting cost and schedule targets. For example, in fiscal year 2003, DOD might have spent as much as $8 billion to rework software because of quality-related issues. GAO was asked to identify the practices used by leading companies to acquire software and to analyze the causes of poor outcomes of selected DOD programs. GAO also was asked to evaluate DOD's efforts to develop programs for improving software acquisition processes and to assess how those efforts compare with leading companies' practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In accordance with 36 U.S.C. 2103, we are responsible for conducting audits of the agencywide financial statements of the American Battle Monuments Commission. We audited the financial statements of the Commission for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, and 2002. The audits were done to determine whether, in all material respects, (1) the Commission's financial statements were reliable, (2) Commission management maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations, and (3) Commission management complied with applicable laws and regulations. The American Battle Monuments Commission was created in 1923 to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of U.S. Armed Forces where they have served overseas since April 6, 1917, and locations within the United States as directed by Congress. The Commission designs, administers, operates, and maintains 24 American military cemeteries on foreign soil and 25 federal memorials, monuments, and markers, 22 of which are on foreign soil. The Commission is also responsible for designing and constructing the national World War II Memorial on the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C., and for maintaining 4 nonfederal memorials with funds provided by those memorials' sponsors."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superceded by GAO-07-1SP, GAO Strategic Plan, 2007-2012, April 2007. GAO presented its strategic plan for serving the Congress for fiscal years 2004 through 2009. In keeping with its commitment to update our plan every 2 years, with each new Congress, this plan describes our proposed goals and strategies for supporting the Congress and the nation in facing the challenges of a rapidly changing world while addressing the nation's large and growing long-term fiscal imbalance. Indeed, even since the last plan, much has changed. Policymakers are therefore increasingly being called on to distinguish wants from needs and to judge what the nation can afford, both now and in the longer term. Policymakers also face a world in which national boundaries are becoming less relevant when addressing a range of economic, security, social, and environmental issues. These broad themes--security, the changing economy, global interconnectedness, an aging and more diverse population, scientific and technological change, concern for quality of life, and evolving governance structures--provide the context for GAO's plan. The broad goals and objectives of the plan have not altered dramatically since the last plan, …

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-03-893G, Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and Development Efforts in the Federal Government (Exposure Draft), July 2003. As part of our ongoing review of agencies' efforts to address their human capital challenges, we saw the need for a framework to serve as a flexible and useful guide in assessing how agencies plan, design, implement, and evaluate effective training and development programs that contribute to improved organizational performance and enhanced employee skills and competencies. This guide was developed in response to that need. GAO has used and will continue to rely on the framework presented in this guide to analyze and report on training and development issues both within specific agencies and programs as well as across the federal government. The framework outlined in this guide summarizes attributes of effective training and development programs and presents related questions concerning the components of the training and development process. This guide is intended to help managers assess an agency's training and development efforts and make it easier to determine what, where, and how improvements may be implemented. Managers and analysts can use the guide to …

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes AIMD-10.1.23, Information Technology Investment Management: A Framework for Assessing and Improving Process Maturity (Exposure Draft), May 2000. In 2000, GAO published an exposure draft of Information Technology Investment Management: A Framework for Assessing and Improving Process Maturity (ITIM). Built around the select/control/evaluate approach described in the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996--which establishes statutory requirements for IT management--the framework provides a method for evaluating and assessing how well an agency is selecting and managing its IT resources. The exposure draft reflected current accepted or best practices in IT investment management, as well as the reported experience of federal agencies and other organizations in creating their own investment management processes. This new version updates the exposure draft to take into account comments that GAO has received; GAO's experiences in evaluating several agencies' implementations of investment management processes and the lessons learned by these agencies; and the importance of enterprise architecture (EA) as a critical frame of reference in making IT investment decisions. Using the framework to analyze an agency's IT investment management processes provides: (1) a rigorous, standardized tool for internal and external evaluations of these processes; (2) …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is a supplemental report to GAO-04-534SP. These supplements to GAO's strategic plan provide greater detail on how the agency intends to fulfill its strategic objectives. For each strategic objective, a supplement provides a brief discussion of the significance of each related qualitative performance goal and its potential outcomes and also lists each performance goal's key efforts. The key efforts lay out the work GAO plans to do in fiscal years 2004 and 2005 to help achieve GAO's strategic goals and objectives. GAO will assess whether it achieved the qualitative performance goals at the end of fiscal year 2005."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since its inception in 1985, the Chemical Demilitarization (Chem-Demil) Program has been charged with destroying the nation's large chemical weapons stockpile of over 31,000 tons of agent. The program started destroying the stockpile in 1990. As of March 2004, the program had destroyed over 27 percent of the stockpile. The program has recently reorganized into the Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) to manage seven of the nine sites. There are five sites using incineration to destroy the agent and two bulk agent only sites using neutralization. The Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) Program, in the Department of Defense (DOD), manages two sites using neutralization to destroy agent in weapons. This testimony updates GAO's September 2003 report and October 2003 testimony. As requested, it focuses on the following issues: (1) changes in the status of schedule milestones and costs at the sites, (2) recent developments that impact the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) deadlines, (3) the challenges associated with managing the program, and (4) an update on the status of the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To become a more responsive and dominant combat force, the U.S. Army is changing its strategy from bigger and stronger weapons to faster and more agile ones. The Future Combat Systems (FCS)--which the Army calls the "greatest technology and integration challenge ever undertaken"--is expected to meet the Army's transformational objectives. Forming FCS' backbone is an information network that links 18 systems. Not only is FCS to play a pivotal role in the Army's military operations, FCS and its future iterations are expected to eventually replace all Army forces. For FCS' first developmental increment, the Army has set aside a 5 1/2-year timetable from program start (May 2003) until the initial production decision (November 2008). GAO was asked to testify about FCS' key features, whether the program carries any risks, and, if so, whether there are alternatives for developing FCS capabilities with fewer risks."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) maintain the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1988, radioactive contamination was found in the drinking water wells of residences near the federal government's uranium enrichment plant in Paducah, Kentucky. In response, the Department of Energy (DOE) began a cleanup program. In 2000, GAO reported that DOE faced significant challenges in cleaning up the site and that it was doubtful that the cleanup would be completed as scheduled by 2010 and within the $1.3 billion cost projection. GAO was asked to determine (1) the amount of money DOE has spent on the site, the purposes for which it was spent, and the estimated total costs for the site; (2) the status of DOE cleanup efforts; and (3) the challenges GAO previously identified that continue to be issues for DOE."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were a dramatic reminder of the importance of cultivating a better understanding of the United States and our policies with overseas audiences. U.S. public diplomacy activities include the efforts of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees all nonmilitary U.S. international broadcasting by the Voice of America (VOA) and several other broadcast entities. Such broadcasting helps promote a better understanding of the United States and serves U.S. interests by providing overseas audiences with accurate and objective news about the United States and the world. GAO has issued three reports over the past 4 years examining the organizational, marketing, resource, and performance reporting challenges faced by the Board. Our recommendations to the Board have included the need to address the long-standing issue of overlapping language services (that is, where two services broadcast in the same language to the same audience) and to strengthen the Board's strategic planning and performance by placing a greater emphasis on results. The Board has taken significant steps to respond to these and other recommendations."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Unrelenting growth in health care spending has put pressure on policymakers to seek health care system reforms. The stress comes partly from a wide gap in expectations between what health care Americans want and what the nation can afford and sustain. GAO's Health Care Forum was held on January 13, 2004, to find ways to elevate the nation's understanding of health care cost, access, and quality challenges. Forum attendees included a select group of experts, business leaders, and public officials. The forum's plenary speakers discussed issues associated with health care costs and value, including spending drivers, long-term affordability, and the effect of differences across the country in medical practices. Participants in breakout sessions led by the forum's faculty of experts deliberated on the merits of the various health care reform strategies, including focusing on consumer cost sensitivity, targeting high-cost patients, reducing unwarranted variation in medical practices, and managing technology to control spending growth. GAO has developed a series of questions to evaluate all health care reform proposals, based in part, on the results of this forum."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the General Accounting Office's (GAO) Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2005. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual plan informs the Congress and the American people about what we expect to accomplish on their behalf in the coming fiscal year. It sets forth our plan to make progress toward achieving our strategic goals for serving the Congress and the American people. The plan is based on our strategic plan, which was prepared in consultation with members of the Congress and other key stakeholders and was issued in March 2004."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-04-218G, Acquisition/Financial Systems Interface Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Exposure Draft), December 2003. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires that agencies implement and maintain financial management systems that substantially comply with federal financial management system requirements. These requirements are described in detail in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance and in the Federal Financial Management System Requirements series issued by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP). JFMIP intends for its requirements series to promote understanding of key financial management systems concepts and requirements, to provide a framework for establishing integrated financial management systems that support program and financial managers, and to describe specific requirements of financial management systems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the federal crop insurance program in partnership with insurance companies who share in the risk of loss or gain. In 2002, American Growers Insurance Company (American Growers), at the time, the largest participant in the program, was placed under regulatory control by the state of Nebraska. To ensure that policyholders were protected and that farmers' claims were paid, RMA agreed to fund the dissolution of American Growers. To date, RMA has spent about $40 million. GAO was asked to determine (1) what factors led to the failure of American Growers, (2) whether RMA procedures were adequate to monitor companies' financial condition, and (3) how effectively and efficiently RMA handled the dissolution of American Growers."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "More than a decade after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, there is continued interest in the federal response to the health concerns of Gulf War veterans. Gulf War veterans' reports of unexplained illnesses and possible exposures to various health hazards have prompted numerous federal research projects on Gulf War illnesses. This research has been funded primarily by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Health and Human Services. GAO is reporting on (1) the status of research and investigations on Gulf War illnesses, (2) the efforts that have been made by VA and DOD to monitor cancer incidence among Gulf War veterans, and (3) VA's communication and collaboration with the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, many of the approximately 700,000 U.S. veterans have experienced undiagnosed illnesses. They attribute these illnesses to exposure to chemical warfare (CW) agents in plumes--clouds released from bombing of Iraqi sites. But in 2000, the Department of Defense (DOD) estimated that of the 700,000 veterans, 101,752 troops were potentially exposed. GAO was asked to evaluate the validity of DOD, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and British Ministry of Defense (MOD) conclusions about troops' exposure."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, many of the approximately 700,000 U.S. veterans have experienced undiagnosed illnesses. They attribute these illnesses to exposure to chemical warfare (CW) agents in plumes--clouds released from bombing of Iraqi sites. But in 2000, the Department of Defense (DOD) estimated that of the 700,000 veterans, 101,752 troops were potentially exposed. GAO was asked to evaluate the validity of DOD, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and British Ministry of Defense (MOD) conclusions about troops' exposure."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "More than a decade after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, there is continued interest in the federal response to the health concerns of Gulf War veterans. Gulf War veterans' reports of illnesses and possible exposures to various health hazards have prompted numerous federal research projects on Gulf War illnesses. This research has been funded primarily by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In 1993, the President named the Secretary of VA as the responsible party for coordinating research activities undertaken or funded by the executive branch of the federal government on the health consequences of service in the Gulf War. In 2002, a congressionally mandated federal advisory committee--the VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC)--was established to provide advice on federal Gulf War illnesses research needs and priorities to the Secretary of VA. This statement is based on GAO's report entitled Department of Veterans Affairs: Federal Gulf War Illnesses Research Strategy Needs Reassessment (GAO-04-767). The testimony presents findings about the status of research on Gulf War illnesses and VA's communication and …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. workforce of the 21st century is expected to face a very different set of opportunities and challenges than previous generations. Demographic and economic trends indicate that the size and composition of the labor force, as well as the characteristics of many jobs, are changing in the 21st century. To discuss these changing labor force dynamics and the role of government policies, GAO hosted the "Workforce Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century Forum" on April 22, 2004. The participants were a select group of national leaders and experts on the dynamics of theU.S. workforce. This group included government officials, business and union representatives, and other national experts on workforce issues. As agreed with forum participants, the purpose of the discussion was not to reach consensus but rather to engage in an open, nonattribution-based dialogue."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The emergence of webcasting as a means of transmitting audio and video content over the Internet has led to concerns about copyright protection and the payment of royalties to those who own the recording copyrights. Arriving at an acceptable rate for calculating royalties has been particularly challenging. Under the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002, small commercial webcasters reached an agreement with copyright owners that included the option of paying royalties for the period of October 28, 1998, to December 31, 2004, on the basis of a percentage of their revenues, expenses, a combination of both, or a minimum fee rather than paying the royalty rates set by the Librarian of Congress. During debate on the act, copyright owners raised concerns that small webcasters might have arrangements with other parties, such as advertisers, that could produce revenues or expenses that might not be included in their royalty calculations. In this context, the Congress mandated that GAO, in consultation with the Register of Copyrights, prepare a report on the (1) economic arrangements between small webcasters and third parties and (2) effect of those arrangements on the royalties …