Collection of BRAC related news articles and clippings. Produced for Commission staff review.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of a municipality to lease its oil, gas and mineral property and the terms under which it may do so.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "During World War I, the U.S. Army operated a large research facility to develop and test chemical weapons and explosives in the area that became the Spring Valley neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Buried ordnance, discovered there in 1993, led to the designation by the Department of Defense (DOD) of 61 acres as a formerly used defense site. Through fiscal year 2001, DOD had spent over $50 million to identify and remove hazards at the site. The government entities involved have identified and removed a large number of hazards, but the number remaining is unknown. The health risks influencing cleanup activities at Spring Valley are the possibility of injury or death from exploding or leaking ordnance and containers of chemical warfare agents and potential long-term health problems from exposure to arsenic-contaminated soil. As of April 2002, the U.S. Army estimated that the remaining cleanup activities would cost $7.1 million and take 5 years, but these estimates are unreliable. This testimony summarized a June report (See GAO-02-556)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2003, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a new Circular A-76--which sets forth the government's competitive sourcing process. Determining whether to obtain services in-house or through commercial contracts is an important economic and strategic decision for agencies, and the use of A-76 is expected to grow throughout the federal government. In the past, however, the A-76 process has been difficult to implement, and the impact on the morale of the federal workforce has been profound. Moreover, there have been concerns in both the public and private sectors about the timeliness and fairness of the process and the extent to which there is a "level playing field" for conducting public-private competitions. It was against this backdrop that the Congress enacted legislation mandating a study of the government's competitive sourcing process, which was carried out by the Commercial Activities Panel, which was chaired by the Comptroller General of the United States. This testimony focuses on how the new Circular addresses the Panel's recommendations with regard to providing a better foundation for competitive sourcing decisions, and the challenges agencies may face in implementing the new A-76."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's achievements in fiscal year 2000, its current plans and future challenges, and its budget request for fiscal year 2002. Financial benefits to taxpayers as a result of GAO's work totaled more than $23 billion in fiscal year 2000--a $61 return on every dollar invested in GAO. During fiscal year 2001, GAO continued to focus its work on the major issues facing Congress, such as Social Security, and worked with leaders in the House and the Senate to strengthen congressional oversight. GAO requested a budget of about $430 million in fiscal year 2002. This funding level will allow GAO to maintain a staff of 3,275 full-time equivalent employees. In the coming fiscal year, GAO plans to increasingly emphasize issues that are of significant congressional and public concern and to take steps internally to address its two major management challenges--human capital and information technology."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spent $500 million and the Department of Defense (DOD) spent $240 million for medical and surgical supplies in fiscal year 2001. Since the 1980s, To achieve greater efficiencies through improved acquisition processes and increased sharing of medical resources, VA and DOD signed a memorandum of agreement in 1999 to combine their buying power. VA and DOD saved $170 in 2001 by jointly procuring pharmaceuticals, by agreeing on particular drugs to be purchased, and contracting with the manufacturers for discounts based on their combined larger volume. VA and DOD have not awarded joint national contracts for medical and surgical supplies as envisioned by their memorandum of agreement, and it is unlikely that the two departments will have joint national contracts for supplies anytime soon. However, a few VA and DOD facilities have yielded modest savings through local joint contracting agreements. The lack of progress have made in jointly contracting for medical and surgical supplies has, in part, been the result of their different approaches to standardizing medical and surgical supplies. Other impediments to joint purchasing have been incomplete procurement data and the inability …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Commercial Activities Panel is a congressionally mandated panel to study, and make recommendations for improving, the policies and procedures governing the transfer of commercial activities from government to contractor personnel. The growing controversy surrounding competitions under the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76 to determine whether the government should obtain commercially available goods and services from the public or private sectors led to the establishment of this Panel. In establishing the Panel, several steps were taken to ensure representation from all major stakeholders as well as to ensure a fair and balanced process. To ensure a broad range of views on the Panel, a Federal Register notice was used to seek suggestions for the Panel's composition. As the Panel began its work, it recognized the need for a set of principles for sourcing decisions. These principles provide for an assessment of what does or does not work in the current A-76 process and provide a framework for identifying needed changes. Many of the Panel's recommendations can be accomplished administratively under existing law, and the Panel recommends that they be implemented as soon as practical. The Panel …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's review of the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation efforts to ensure that federal award recipients corrected single audit findings found that required documentation of management decisions and the evaluation of and conclusions on the adequacy of recipient actions to correct single audit findings was lacking. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse received 34,000 single audit reports during calendar year 2000 with six thousand of these containing audit findings. Despite these impressive figures, questions exist about whether (1) all required single audits are performed, (2) federal award recipients are adequately monitoring subrecipent use of federal awards and the correction of single audit findings, and (3) the audits are performed in accordance with government auditing standards."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) processes for monitoring the quality of dialysis facilities for end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress created individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with two goals: (1) to provide a retirement savings vehicle for workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans, and (2) to preserve individuals' savings in employer-sponsored retirement plans when they change jobs or retire. Questions remain about IRAs' effectiveness as a vehicle to facilitate new, or additional, retirement savings. GAO was asked to report on (1) the role of IRAs in retirement savings, (2) the prevalence of employer-sponsored and payroll-deduction IRAs and barriers discouraging employers from offering these IRAs, and (3) changes that are needed to improve IRA information and oversight. GAO reviewed published reports from government and financial industry sources and interviewed retirement and savings experts, small business representatives, IRA providers, and federal agency officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) seeks updated information on the addresses and maps of housing units from state, local, and tribal governments through the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program. This testimony discusses (1) the status of the LUCA program, and (2) the Bureau's response to prior issues raised by GAO as well as new challenges related to the program. The testimony is based on a GAO report issued on June 14, 2007. GAO reviewed LUCA program documents, met with and surveyed participants in the LUCA Dress Rehearsal, and interviewed Bureau officials and local officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Congress and the President need to have reliable, useful and timely financial and performance information to make sound decisions on the current and future direction of vital federal government programs and policies. Unfortunately, except for the 2007 Statement of Social Insurance, GAO was again unable to provide assurance on the reliability of the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government (CFS) due primarily to certain material weaknesses in the federal government's internal control. GAO has reported that unless these weaknesses are adequately addressed, they will, among other things, (1) hamper the federal government's ability to reliably report a significant portion of its assets, liabilities, costs, and other related information; and (2) affect the federal government's ability to reliably measure the full cost as well as the financial and nonfinancial performance of certain programs and activities. This testimony presents the results of GAO's audit of the CFS for fiscal year 2007 and discusses the federal government's long-term fiscal outlook."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Annual appropriations to prepare for and respond to wildland fires have increased substantially over the past decade, in recent years totaling about $3 billion. The Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and four agencies within the Department of the Interior (Interior) are responsible for responding to wildland fires on federal lands. GAO determined what steps federal agencies have taken to (1) address key operational areas that could help contain the costs of preparing for and responding to wildland fires and (2) improve their management of their cost-containment efforts. This testimony is based on GAO's June 2007 report, Wildland Fire Management: Lack of Clear Goals or a Strategy Hinders Federal Agencies' Efforts to Contain the Costs of Fighting Fires (GAO-07-655)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided to Congress, as requested, a statement for the record on Medicare payments for certain drugs provided to patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a condition of permanent kidney failure. Through Medicare's ESRD benefit, patients receive a treatment known as dialysis, which removes excess fluids and toxins from the bloodstream. Patients also receive items and services related to their dialysis treatments, including drugs to treat conditions resulting from the loss of kidney function, such as anemia and low blood calcium. Detailed information on the prudence of bundling payments for all ESRD items and services and a recommendation to establish a bundled payment system as soon as possible are included in our report entitled End-Stage Renal Disease: Bundling Medicare's Payment for Drugs with Payment for All ESRD Services Would Promote Efficiency and Clinical Flexibility. This report, along with a testimony statement, was released at a December 6, 2006, hearing of the full Committee on Ways and Means. Today's statement highlights the information in that report and refers to information other witnesses presented at the hearing."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Aviation Hall of Fame for 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with applicable law, and the audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2005, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the launch of Secure Border Initiative (SBI), a multiyear, multibillion-dollar program aimed at securing U.S. borders and reducing illegal immigration. Elements of SBI are carried out by several organizations within DHS. One component is the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) SBI program office, which is responsible for developing a comprehensive border protection system using people; technology, known as SBInet; and tactical infrastructure (TI)--pedestrian and vehicle fencing; roads; and lighting. Initially, the focus of SBI is on the U.S. southwest border areas, between the ports of entry, that CBP has designated as most in need of enhanced border security because of serious vulnerabilities. In September 2006, CBP awarded a prime contract to the Boeing Company for 3 years, with three additional 1-year options. As the prime contractor, Boeing is responsible for acquiring, deploying, and sustaining selected SBInet technology and tactical infrastructure projects, and for providing supply chain management for selected tactical infrastructure projects. For fiscal years 2005 through 2008, Congress appropriated more than $2.7 billion for the SBI program. For fiscal year 2009, the President's budget includes a …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The L. Mendel Rivers Financial building (Rivers Building) in Charleston, South Carolina, has been vacant since it sustained damage in 1999 from Hurricane Floyd. For several years, the General Services Administration (GSA) has been working with the City of Charleston to negotiate an exchange of the Rivers Building and its site for land and a building to be constructed by the City. This report responds to a Congressional request for information on the progress of GSA's efforts to exchange the Rivers Building with the City of Charleston."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, damaging critical infrastructure, such as oil platforms, pipelines, and refineries; water mains; electric power lines; and cellular phone towers. The infrastructure damage and resulting chaos disrupted government and business functions alike, producing cascading effects far beyond the physical location of the storm. Threats against critical infrastructure are not limited to natural disasters. For example, in 2005, suicide bombers struck London's public transportation system, disrupting the city's transportation and mobile telecommunications infrastructure. In March 2007, we reported that our nation's critical infrastructures and key resources (CIKR)--systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on national security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters--continue to be vulnerable to a wide variety of threats. According to DHS, because the private sector owns approximately 85 percent of the nation's CIKR--banking and financial institutions, telecommunications networks, and energy production and transmission facilities, among others--it is vital that the public and private sectors work together to protect these assets. The Homeland Security Act of …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Marine Corps League for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America for 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy's (DOE) complex of research and nuclear facilities is not inspected or licensed by an independent external regulator, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Instead, DOE and its predecessors have, since 1946, been granted legislative authority to self-regulate nuclear and worker safety in the department's facilities. DOE officials told GAO that (1) the department's current position on external regulation is "neutral" because the Secretary has insufficient information on which to make a decision; (2) another study is needed to develop data on the costs and benefits of making the transition to, and operating under, external regulation, and (3) a realistic implementation plan cannot be developed for the six to nine months DOE estimates the study will take. On the other hand, NRC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) report that they are prepared to begin regulating the department's 10 science laboratories. The cost of upgrading DOE facilities to regulator standards may not be significant for a variety of reasons. First, NRC concluded from its simulations that few changes to DOE facilities are needed to meet it's licensing requirements. Second, NRC stated that …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to congressional questions about GAO's hearing on the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2001. This report discusses the (1) importance of disciplining managers and employees who engage in discriminatory practices, (2) settlement process, and (3) U.S. Postal Service's antidiscrimination programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) assessment of the performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) operations, focusing on whether: (1) ONDCP performs its statutory and regulatory responsibilities in an efficient, effective, and results-oriented manner; (2) ONDCP optimizes human resources in fulfilling its primary objectives of policy, anti-drug program coordination, and compliance; and (3) ONDCP's internal control systems are strategically deployed to enhance business processes throughout the organization."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Legion of Valor of the United States of America, Incorporated, for fiscal year 2000. GAO notes that the statement for the Legion of Valor Museum was not audited. The Legion of Valor Museum represents a significant portion of the financial activity for the Legion of Valor--more than half of the reported revenues and expenses. GAO's review disclosed no other reported instances of noncompliance."