Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Last year, GAO reported that the demilitarization liability for excess ammunition was not reflected in the Department of Defense's (DOD) financial statements although required by federal financial accounting standards. The Army, as the single manager for conventional ammunition, calculated a liability of $1.2 billion and prepared a voucher recognizing this amount. Although consistent with GAO's recommendation that DOD include the total liability for demilitarizing excess ammunition in its annual financial statements, this amount does not reflect the full extent of future costs. Specifically, the Army does not recognize a liability for costs associated with the demilitarization of (1) excess ammunition overseas or (2) excess Army-owned war reserve ammunition, excess retail ammunition, and excess ammunition not stored at an Army installation. GAO found that the total liability that should be reflected in fiscal year 2002 financial statements could amount to $3 billion, or $1.8 billion more than the Army's calculation. The Army needs to submit an additional voucher and include in its and DOD's fiscal year 2002 consolidated balance sheets the future liability associated with the demilitarization of excess Army ammunition at overseas and military storage locations."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Extensive markup language (XML) is a flexible, nonproprietary set of standards designed to facilitate the exchange of information among disparate computer systems using Internet protocols. Although XML's technical standards, such as specifications for tagging, exchanging, and displaying information, have largely been worked out by commercial standards setting organizations and are in use, equally important business standards are not as mature and may complicate near-term implementation. Standards are not yet complete for (1) identifying potential business partners for transactions, (2) exchanging precise technical information about the nature of proposed transactions that partners can agree to, and (3) executing agreed-upon transactions in a formal, legally binding manner. The federal government faces many challenges as it attempts to gain the most from XML's potential. First, no explicit governmentwide strategy for XML adoption has been defined to guide agency implementation efforts and ensure that agency enterprise architectures address XML incorporation. Second, federal agencies have not yet identified and consolidated their needs for effective representation before key standards setting bodies. Third, the government has yet to establish a registry of government-unique XML data structures for systems developers to consult when building …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Justice (DOJ) recovered more than $1.2 billion in health care fraud cases in fiscal year 2001. The False Claims Act bolstered DOJ's recoveries and enabled the government to seek damages and penalties against providers who knowingly submitted fraudulent bills to Medicare, Medicaid, or other government programs. In the late 1990s, industry representatives voiced concerns that DOJ had over zealously pursued hospitals, conducted unwarranted investigations, and demanded large penalties for unintentional errors. In response, DOJ issued guidance that emphasized the importance of using the act in a fair and even-handed manner and introduced new procedures for national initiatives. DOJ requires all U.S. Attorneys' Offices that pursue civil health care fraud to annually certify their compliance with the guidance. DOJ appears to be conducting its three national initiatives consistent with the guidance. U.S. Attorneys' Offices that GAO visited had coordinated their activities with the national initiative working groups and, as the guidance requires, took each hospital's unique circumstances into consideration in resolving these matters. Representatives from the American Hospital Association and the state hospital associations GAO spoke to were generally satisfied that U.S. Attorneys' Offices …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ended the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program and created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to states. TANF emphasizes work and responsibility over dependence on government benefits. It also requires states to maintain a historical level of spending on welfare-related programs. The focus of welfare spending has shifted from monthly cash payments to services. Between fiscal years 1995 and 2000, state expenditures for cash assistance decreased from 71 to 43 percent of total welfare spending. In fiscal year 2000, 26 states used more than half of their TANF and state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures on services other than cash assistance. In fiscal year 1995, no state spent more than 50 percent of its welfare dollars on these services. In addition to providing benefits and services to families included in the welfare caseload, states are also using TANF/MOE funds to provide services to other low-income families. GAO estimates that at least 46 percent more families than counted in TANF caseload reports are receiving services funded, at least, in part, by TANF/MOE funds. The …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 substantially changed the way youth workforce development services are configured and delivered. The act requires states and localities to create a more comprehensive workforce system for development needs. The act promotes partnerships among diverse programs and community representatives through participation on newly created state and local workforce investment boards and youth councils. GAO found that most youth councils nationwide included the required members and nearly all councils were active by July 2000. Local boards competitively chose youth service providers and developed strategies for one-stop centers. Most boards reported that services were provided through contracted service providers rather than one-stop centers. However, local boards had difficulty getting parents and youth to participate on youth councils. Some local areas found it difficult to identify and select youth service providers because of low response to requests for proposals. Getting youth to visit the typically adult-focused one-stop centers was also difficult. Youth councils linked with the education community by including representatives of local school districts and existing school-board career programs in their membership or as youth service providers. Moreover, secondary and postsecondary schools contracted …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Through military base realignment and closures rounds in 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995, the Pentagon significantly reduced its domestic infrastructure and freed up needed dollars for high-priority programs. By the end of last round in fiscal year 2001, the Department of Defense (DOD) had closed or realigned hundreds of bases, generated savings, and transferred unneeded property to other users. The communities surrounding the former bases continue to recover economically from the closures. Congress recently authorized another round of base realignments and closures beginning in 2005. DOD has saved $16.7 billion through fiscal year 2001, and expects to save $6.6 billion in annually in future years. Although DOD plans to transfer nearly all of the 518,500 acres of unneeded base property to federal and nonfederal users, it has completed only some of the transfers. Environmental cleanup is the primary impediment to conveying the remaining property titles. The military services are using early transfer authority and leasing to make property available for reuse sooner. Although successful redevelopment of base property plays a key role in the economic recovery of neighboring communities, broader regional economic growth also is important …