Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed information the public should have about the Social Security program and the role that the individualized Social Security Statement plays in providing that information, focusing on: (1) basic information about program benefits; (2) the current and projected financial status of the Social Security program; and (3) proposed changes to the program."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) proposed rule on the confidentiality of patient health care information, focusing on: (1) the authoritative basis in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) statute for some of the approaches taken by HHS in the proposed rule; (2) the overall pattern of public responses to the rule among a selected group of 40 organizations representing different constituencies affected by the rule; (3) the views expressed by those organizations with respect to sections of the rule that prompted an especially large volume of comments; and (4) concerns that would require legislative action to address."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed the status of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of the taxpayer protection and rights provisions in title III of its Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998; and (2) determined what, if any, tax administration or other concerns IRS has identified in implementing these provisions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed five foreign countries' efforts to combat terrorism, focusing on: (1) how other governments are organized to combat terrorism; and (2) how they allocate their resources to combat terrorism."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Russian compliance with space station safety requirements, focusing on whether: (1) the Russian-built Zarya and the Service Module comply with safety requirements; (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has approved any waivers of safety requirements; and (3) NASA was due any compensation from the Zarya contractor for items that did not meet safety requirements or had performance problems."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes AIMD-99-45, Executive Guide: Creating Value Through World-Class Financial Management (Exposure Draft), August 1999. GAO published a guide on the financial management practices and improvement efforts of nine leading public and private sector finance organizations to identify the success factors, practices, and outcomes associated with world-class financial management. This executive guide is intended to assist federal agencies in achieving the objectives of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 and subsequent related legislation by providing case studies of 11 practices critical for establishing and maintaining sound financial operations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO responded to congressional questions regarding GAO's testimony on the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint process for federal employees, focusing on: (1) whether minorities are placed in positions that are "dead end employment tracks;" (2) whether GAO studied the Navy's Pilot Dispute Resolution Program, which is used to resolve EEO complaints; (3) whether the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Comprehensive Enforcement Program will be able to measure progress towards its goal of eradicating discrimination in the federal workplace; and (4) the prerequisites to a successful alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program."

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the personnel management policies and practices of the District of Columbia Courts, focusing on whether: (1) D.C. Courts' applicable policies for six basic personnel activities or functions--performance evaluation, competitive and noncompetitive promotions, corrective actions, training, classification, and equal employment opportunity (EEO) policies--were consistent with commonly accepted personnel management principles; and (2) D.C. Courts generally adhered to its policies when implementing the six personnel activities or functions."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's current financial management initiatives, activities, and practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the issues the two have in relation to the Shad-Johnson Jurisdictional Accord, focusing on: (1) the extent to which U.S. securities, foreign futures, and over-the-counter (OTC) markets trade stock-based derivatives that are economically similar to the futures prohibited from trading by the accord; (2) the potential effect of the accord trading prohibitions on derivatives market participants; (3) concerns about calls to repeal the accord trading prohibitions; and (4) jurisdictional and other approaches to addressing these concerns."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program (ATP), focusing on: (1) whether, in the past, ATP had funded projects with research goals that were similar to projects funded by the private sector; and (2) if such cases were identified, whether ATP's award selection process ensures that such research would not be funded in the future."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the General Services Administration's (GSA) estimates of the Federal Technology Service (FTS) 2001 revenues and the implications of allowing other service providers to compete in the FTS 2001 market, focusing on: (1) the percentage of FTS 2001 contracts that are minimum revenue guarantees (MRG); (2) when MRGs are likely to be satisfied; (3) the factors that could significantly alter the estimates of total program revenue and corresponding timeframes for satisfying MRGs; and (4) how competition could affect the estimates."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO commented on the District of Columbia Courts' concerns regarding the proper accounting for certain payments made by the Courts for the Criminal Justice Act (CJA), the Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN), and the Guardianship programs, focusing on whether: (1) prior fiscal year payments made under a continuing resolution should be charged to the defender services appropriation; (2) federal payments and defender services appropriations were available to pay prior years CJA, CCAN, and Guardianship program obligations; and (3) the Courts would violate the Antideficiency Act by continuing to incur obligations for court-appointed attorneys if fiscal year 2000 appropriations are insufficient to pay all fiscal year 2000 obligations for these programs. GAO held that: (1) payments made under the continuing resolution may be properly charged to the defender services appropriation; (2) federal payments and defender services appropriations were available to pay for prior years obligations; and (3) the Courts would not violate the Antideficiency Act by incurring additional obligations after the defender services appropriation was exhausted."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) compliance with three provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, focusing on the requirements for NMFS to: (1) use the best available scientific information for fishery management; (2) take into account the economic importance of fishery resources to fishing communities as it adopts measures to manage fishery resources; and (3) identify essential fish habitat, the adverse impacts on that habitat, and the actions needed to conserve and enhance that habitat and also develop a consultation process designed to protect that habitat from adverse impacts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Essential Air Service (EAS) program, focusing on: (1) how DOT applied criteria to establish which communities would receive subsidized air service; (2) changes in the level of subsidies provided to EAS-eligible communities in fiscal year 1999 relative to that provided in 1995; (3) why the level of subsidies changed between 1995 and 1999; and (4) whether DOT applied any of the increase in program funding to rural air safety projects."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) fire protection program, focusing on: (1) NRC's efforts to improve its oversight of fire protection at nuclear power plants; (2) any potential barriers to the successful implementation of the risk-informed oversight process for fire protection; and (3) the extent to which fire risk assessments consider the possible failure of passive fire barriers and penetration seals and whether the cumulative effect of granting exemptions has increased the risk of fire at nuclear power plants."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on small business bid protests that have been filed in district courts and the United States Court of Federal Claims (COFC) since the Administration Dispute Resolution Act took effect on December 31, 1996, focusing on the: (1) number of bid protest cases filed in the U.S. district courts and COFC between January 1, 1997, and April 30, 1999, that were filed by small businesses, the type of agencies involved, and the amount of the procurement at issue; (2) perceived advantages and disadvantages for small businesses filing bid protest cases in each judicial forum; and (3) characteristics of district court and COFC bid protest cases, particularly those filed by small businesses, that could be used to assess these perceived advantages and disadvantages."