Draft of an article about Indigenous American powwows that was published in the October 2000 issue of Texas Highways magazine.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Department of Defense's (DOD) Anthrax Vaccine Program. Many questions have been raised about the program since DOD began vaccinating its 2.4 million active duty and reserve members in 1998. A major concern has been the program's effect on the National Guard and Air Force Reserve's retention of trained and experienced personnel. A questionnaire sent to 1,253 randomly selected Guard and Reserve pilots and others revealed that the anthrax immunization was a key reason these individuals left or otherwise changed their military status. Since September 1998, an estimated 25 percent of the pilots and aircrew members of the Guard and Reserve in this population transferred to another unit, left the military, or moved to inactive status."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Office of the National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) contract with Ogilvy & Mather, the lead media campaign contractor for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. GAO reviewed ONDCP investigations into: (1) the facts and circumstances surrounding actions taken by ONDCP after receiving the allegations that Ogilvy may have over-billed the government, and (2) allegations that Ogilvy had provided services unrelated to the contract and had submitted invoices under the contract for those services. The Director of ONDCP, General Barry McCaffrey, knew about the fraud allegations concerning Ogilvy's billing practices. GAO found that Director McCaffrey had a private meeting with Ogilvy's project director after internal ONDCP discussions of the need for an external audit. However, GAO found no evidence that this meeting affected any decision with respect to an external audit of Ogilvy's contract. GAO also found that Ogilvy did not write congressional testimony for ONDCP employees, which would have gone beyond the scope of its contract with ONDCP. Ogilvy did provide ONDCP with figures, research, and documentation for use in responding to congressional inquiries and testimony. Ogilvy did not provide any services to Director …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses challenges associated with building new runways and with ensuring that existing runways are properly maintained. Recent flight delays and cancellations as well as significant media attention have heightened public concern about the need to increase the capacity of the National Airspace System. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 24 of the nation's 50 busiest commercial service airports have proposed, planned, or begun construction on new runways and runway extensions at an estimated cost of $6.5 billion. Airports and FAA face challenges in building new runways and in determining at what point runway pavement conditions warrant repair in order for existing runways to be maintained in the most cost-effective manner. The federal government and the aviation industry are involved in several efforts to balance airports' growth with environmental concerns and to address runway maintenance in a cost-effective way. Additional actions would help minimize some delays associated with adding capacity and problems with preserving existing capacity."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Bureau of the Census' participation in a Los Angeles symposium on the challenges facing the African American community has been criticized. Concerns have been raised about whether the event was being held for political purposes and whether federal funding was inappropriately used. GAO concludes that the Bureau's participation complied with federal regulations prohibiting agencies from using appropriated funds for publicity and propaganda. According to the Bureau, its presence at the symposium was strictly for informational purposes and did not promote the agency. GAO found no evidence that the event had any political connections; the Democratic National Convention, which was held two days later, was not connected to the symposium. The Bureau's decision to partner with the organizers of the event was consistent with its policy to work with any organization that can reach traditionally hard-to-count populations, such as African Americans. The Bureau viewed the symposium as an opportunity to further the goals of its outreach program. The cost to participate in the symposium was nominal, according to Bureau officials. Posters costing about $117, promotional items from its Los Angeles office's inventory, and compensatory time for two employees …

Text about Daingerfield State Park in East Texas that was published in the "When..." section of an October 2000 Texas Highways magazine article.

News release about DART President Roger Snoble receiving the "Public Administrator of the Year" award from the American Society of Public Administrators.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Defense offsets are the full range of industrial and commercial benefits that firms give to foreign governments as conditions for the purchase of military goods and services. They have gained attention because of the potential impact they may have on the economy and national security. In 1984 and 1999, data collection and reporting requirements were levied by Congress to obtain information on the impact of offsets on the U.S. industrial base; the Departments of Commerce, State, and Defense are all required to report to Congress on defense offsets. GAO found that although coordination of data collection is limited, it may not be significant because the agencies collecting offsets cover different time periods or situations. Additional coordination may occur after the National Commission on the Use of Offsets begins its work."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This correspondence discusses financial weaknesses reported in the Department of Education's fiscal year 1999 financial statement audit. A major area needing improvement involves internal controls, which provide the framework for the accomplishment of management objectives, accurate financial reporting, and compliance with laws and regulations. This lack of good internal controls puts Education at risk of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. Corrective actions undertaken by Education in response to the identified weaknesses indicate that it is making progress in working towards financial accountability. These corrective actions include purchasing a new general ledger system, acquiring a software tool to help automate the reconciliation process, improving computer controls, and establishing a process to transfer certain excess Federal Family Education Loan Program funds to the Treasury. The effectiveness of the corrective actions will be determined as part of the fiscal year 2000 financial statement audit."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony focuses on the District of Columbia's progress and challenges in performance management. GAO discusses whether the District: (1) met the 29 performance goals that it scheduled for completion by the end of fiscal year 2000 that Congress chose from the more than 400 performance measures contained in the Mayor's fiscal year 2001 budget request, and (2) provided evidence that the performance data are sufficiently reliable for measuring progress toward goals. Mayor Williams' performance management system contains many--but not all--of the elements used successfully by leading organizations. The District could improve the usefulness of its mandated annual performance plans and reports by ensuring that the District government's most significant performance goals are included in both the annual performance plan and the annual performance report that federal law requires the Mayor to send to Congress every year."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO worked with the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop and report a reliable estimate for the postemployment health care benefits due to military retirees, their dependents, and survivors. To accomplish this, the DOD Office of Actuary has contracted with a private sector firm of actuaries and consultants, Milliman & Robertson. This report provides a non-technical summary of the contractor's findings and includes GAO's recommendation that the changes discussed in the reports be implemented. GAO found that although the analysis prepared by the Office of Actuary does a good job of identifying the factors that affect the military postretirement health care benefits liability and of evaluating the possible impact of those factors, issues still need to be addressed. An additional break out of information is needed in some areas in order for the Office of Actuary to properly analyze their impact on liability. The methodology used was generally reasonable, but some deficiencies still remained."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has been providing assistance to Colombia since the early 1970s to help the Colombian National Police and other law enforcement agencies, the military, and civilian agencies reduce illegal drug production and trafficking. Recognizing that illegal drug activities are a serious problem, the Colombian government announced a counternarcotics plan known as Plan Colombia. This testimony reviews the U.S. counternarcotics efforts in Colombia. Although U.S.-provided assistance has enhanced Colombian counternarcotics capabilities, its usefulness has sometimes been limited because of long-standing problems in planning and implementation. For example, little progress has been made in launching a plan to have Colombia's National Police assume a larger role in managing the aerial eradication program, which requires costly U.S. contractor assistance. The governments of the United States and Colombia face continuing and new financial and management challenges in implementing Plan Colombia. The costs and activities needed to implement the plan are unknown at this time, and it will take years before any significant reduction in the drug trade is seen. Colombia must resolve problems with its political and economic stability and improve its management of counternarcotics funding in order to successfully …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report compares the drug prices paid by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with the prices paid by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). On average, for the sample of drug prices analyzed by GAO, HCFA's prices were higher than those of either DOD or VA."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses what can be accomplished with FirstGov.gov and identifies challenges that should be addressed as it continues to be developed and refined. Under FirstGov, an important and previously unavailable capability--searching the entire government's web pages--was rapidly and successfully put into place. The FirstGov Board of Directors needs to address the following four issues: (1) improving site security, (2) assessing and acting upon information in the Fed-Search database that might facilitate malicious activity, (3) addressing issues regarding private sector sponsorship, and (4) developing plans for the future. An overall management plan for FirstGov.gov would be a useful vehicle for setting expectations about what general functions are likely to be achievable for FirstGov in the near term, how the site will be managed on an ongoing basis, and how progress toward the larger goals set forth in the President's December 1999 memorandum will be measured."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs comprehensive and accurate data to manage its programs more effectively. In reports going back to 1988, GAO has identified many long-standing problems in the agency's efforts to collect and use environmental data. This report summarizes GAO's findings on: (1) EPA's need to set risk-based priorities for its programs, and (2) develop outcome-oriented measures of its programs' results. EPA's ability to assess risks and establish risk-based priorities has been hampered by data quality problems, including critical data gaps, databases that do not operate compatibly with one another, and persistent concerns about the accuracy of the data in many of EPA's data systems. To ensure future success in developing outcome measures, however, EPA will need to make a long-term commitment to overcome major challenges to obtaining the data needed to show the results of environmental programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Disabled American Veterans' for 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the National Safety Council for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the National Ski Patrol System for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the National Tropical Botanical Garden's for 1998 and 1997. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the Naval Sea Cadet Corps for 1998 and 1997. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the Navy Club of the United States of America for fiscal year 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the Paralyzed Veterans of America's for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the Reserve Officers Association's for fiscal year 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion 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 financial statement audit reports for the Women's Army Corps Veterans' Association for fiscal year 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."