A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) is responsible for addressing the threat of nuclear smuggling. Radiation detection portal monitors are part of the U.S. defense against such threats. In 2007, Congress required that funds for new advanced spectroscopic portal (ASP) monitors could not be spent until the Secretary of DHS certified that these machines represented a significant increase in operational effectiveness over currently deployed portal monitors. In addition to other tests, DNDO conducted the Phase 3 tests on ASPs to identify areas in which the ASPs needed improvement. GAO was asked to assess (1) the degree to which the Phase 3 test report accurately depicts the test results and (2) the appropriateness of using the Phase 3 test results to determine whether ASPs represent a significant improvement over current radiation detection equipment. GAO also agreed to provide its observations on special tests conducted by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal crop insurance protects producers against losses from natural disasters. In 2004, the crop insurance program provided $47 billion in coverage, at a cost of $3.6 billion, including an estimated $160 million in losses from fraud and abuse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers this program with private insurers. The Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (ARPA) provided new tools to monitor and control abuses, such as having USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) conduct field inspections. GAO assessed, among other things, the (1) effectiveness of USDA's processes to address program fraud and abuse and (2) extent to which the program's design makes it vulnerable to abuse."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Navy Wives Clubs of America for fiscal years ended August 31, 1997, and 1998, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To move passengers and cargo, the Department of Defense (DOD) must supplement its military aircraft with cargo and passenger aircraft from commercial carriers participating in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) program. Carriers participating in CRAF commit their aircraft to DOD to support a range of military operations. In the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress required DOD to sponsor an assessment of CRAF and required GAO to review that assessment. GAO briefed congressional staff on its observations. As discussed with the staff, GAO further analyzed some of the issues identified in its review. This report assesses (1) the extent to which DOD has assessed potential risks to the CRAF program, and (2) the extent to which DOD's management of CRAF supports program objectives. For this engagement, GAO reviewed DOD-sponsored CRAF study reports and interviewed study leadership. GAO also interviewed over 20 of 35 CRAF participating carriers that responded to a request for a meeting, DOD officials, and industry officials."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1978, the Congress passed the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act to ensure that cattle, sheep, hogs, and other animals destined for human consumption are handled and slaughtered humanely. Within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for enforcing the act. Recently, the Congress took additional actions to improve FSIS enforcement. GAO reviewed (1) the frequency and scope of humane handling and slaughter violations, (2) actions to enforce compliance, and (3) the adequacy of existing resources to enforce the act."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the interest earned on federal funds appropriated to the District of Columbia government and its related entities during fiscal years 1995 through 1999."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Education's fiscal year (FY) 1999 performance report and FY 2001 performance plans required by the Government Performance and Results Act."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States controls the export of high performance computers for national security and foreign policy reasons. High performance computers have both civilian and military applications and operate at or above a defined performance threshold (which was formerly measured in millions of theoretical operations per second [MTOPS], but is now measured in Weighted TeraFlops [WT]). The U.S. export control policy currently organizes countries into "tiers," with tier 3 representing a higher level of concern related to U.S. national security interests than tiers 1 and 2. A license is required to export computers above a specific performance level to countries such as China, India, Israel, Pakistan, and Russia. Policy objectives of U.S. computer export controls are to (1) limit the acquisition of highest-end, high performance computer systems by potential adversaries and countries of proliferation concern and (2) ensure that U.S. domestic industries supporting important national security computer capabilities can compete in markets where there are limited security or proliferation risks. Over the last few years, the effectiveness of U.S. export controls in meeting these policy objectives has been challenged by market and technological changes in the computer and microprocessor …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following September 11, 2001, the number of international students coming to the United States dropped for the first time in over 30 years. While enrollments have rebounded, the U.S. image has declined in the Muslim world and elsewhere. To improve global attitudes toward America, the U.S. government funds higher education for international students to facilitate exchanges, promote understanding among peoples in different countries, and build capacity in developing nations. To provide insight on how higher education is used to advance public diplomacy and development assistance goals, we examined (1) the objectives the United States and selected peer governments seek to advance through higher education for international students and the approaches they employ to attract international students, and (2) the characteristics of major U.S. and peer government programs that fund higher education for international students to support public diplomacy and development goals. GAO collected information from the United States, Australia, China, the European Commission, Germany, and the United Kingdom."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), awards grants to fire departments and other organizations for equipment, staffing, and other needs. As of July 2009, FEMA had received about 25,000 and 22,000 applications for its fiscal years 2007 and 2008 fire grant programs, respectively, and had awarded more than 5,000 grants in both years. GAO was congressionally directed to review the application and award process for these grants. This report addresses the (1) extent to which FEMA has met statutory and program requirements for distributing the grant funds; (2) actions FEMA has taken to provide assistance to grant applicants and involve the fire service community in the grant process; and (3) extent to which FEMA has ensured that its grant process is accessible, clear, and consistent with requirements, including its grant guidance. GAO analyzed relevant laws and interviewed 36 randomly selected grant applicants to obtain their views, but the results are not generalizable."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the United Service Organizations, Incorporated, for years ended December 31, 1997 and 1998, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare--the federal health insurance program that covers the nation's elderly and disabled--annually processes over 1 billion medical claims for services provided to beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), administers the Medicare program with the assistance of its claims administration contractors. These contractors are charged with processing and paying claims that are properly submitted and that are for medically necessary and covered services. The contractors also deny payment for claims considered invalid, incomplete, or otherwise improper. Medicare beneficiaries and providers have the right to appeal denied claims through a multilevel administrative process that includes a decision by an administrative law judge (ALJ). In fiscal year 2004, CMS's contractors denied over 158 million Medicare claims, about 5 million of which resulted in the initiation of appeals. In the same year, about 113,000 denied claims were appealed to ALJs. Two federal agencies--HHS and the Social Security Administration (SSA)--play a role in resolving Medicare appeals, but neither agency manages the entire process. In recent years, the Medicare appeals process has been the subject of widespread concern because of …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A timing difference between cash in- and outflows poses challenges for the Department of the Treasury. Increased volatility of monthly cash flows may lead to unexpected short-term debt issuance and hence increased borrowing. While Social Security payments made at the start of the month will diminish gradually in coming years, start-of month payments to Medicare plan sponsors for Medicare Advantage and Part D benefits are projected to grow. As requested, this report (1) describes how Treasury, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and plan sponsors operate under the current payment schedule; (2) identifies timing options; and (3) describes potential implications for Treasury, CMS, and Medicare. GAO analyzed Treasury cash flows, and interviewed Treasury, CMS officials, and plan sponsor representatives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2000 through 2008, the number of persons employed by federal agencies who perform various law enforcement functions and receive either special pay or enhanced retirement benefits, in the form of a faster-accruing pension, has increased by 55 percent. In addition, as of September 2008, approximately 51,000 personnel were employed in law enforcement-related occupations that could seek enhanced retirement benefits in the future. GAO was asked to conduct a review of the retirement benefits provided to law enforcement personnel. This report addresses (1) the processes used to grant enhanced retirement benefits to federal law enforcement personnel, (2) the rationales and potential costs for extending benefits to additional occupations, and (3) the extent to which federal agencies used human capital tools to retain law enforcement and other related personnel. GAO reviewed relevant laws, regulations, and other documentation, such as agency reports describing the processes used to grant enhanced benefits, and interviewed officials from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because these entities employed approximately 84 percent of all law enforcement …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) within the Department of Commerce manages the federal government's use of the radio frequency spectrum with coordination and policy input from the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC), comprised of 20 federal agencies that use spectrum. In recent years, the use of spectrum in wireless applications has expanded dramatically, leading occasionally to contentious disputes between government and commercial users over access to spectrum. Considering IRAC's key role in spectrum management, Congress asked us to (1) describe the evolution of IRAC and (2) obtain IRAC agency representatives' assessment of IRAC's spectrum coordination and policy advice, role as an advisor, and whether IRAC needs to be reformed."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Growing congestion on our nation's roads results in wasted time and fuel, which adversely affects the economy and the environment. State and local government agencies and private companies disseminate real-time traffic information to help travelers decide whether to use alternative, less congested routes. Legislation enacted in 2005 required the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish the Real-Time System Management Information Program, in order to provide states the capability to monitor traffic and travel conditions on major highways and share that information. As requested, this GAO report addresses, among other things, (1) how the public and private sectors disseminate real-time traffic information to the public, (2) actions DOT has taken to establish the Real-Time System Management Information Program, and (3) experts' views on the need for a nationwide real-time traffic information system and its potential characteristics. To conduct this study, GAO visited sites in California and Florida, which have well-developed traffic information systems; reviewed and analyzed DOT reports and data; and interviewed transportation officials, experts, and other stakeholders. GAO is not making any recommendations at this time because DOT has not finalized the proposed rule it issued in …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government expects to spend about $71 billion for information technology (IT) projects for fiscal year 2009. Given the amount of money at stake, it is critical that these projects be planned and managed effectively to ensure that the public's resources are being invested wisely. This includes ensuring that they receive appropriate selection and oversight reviews. Selection involves identifying and analyzing projects' risks and returns and selecting those that will best support the agency's mission needs; oversight includes reviewing the progress of projects against expectations and taking corrective action when these expectations are not being met. GAO was asked to determine whether (1) federal departments and agencies have guidance on the role of their department-level investment review boards in selecting and overseeing IT projects and (2) these boards are performing reviews of poorly planned and poorly performing projects. In preparing this report, GAO reviewed the guidance of 24 major agencies and requested evidence of department-level board reviews for a sample of 41 projects that were identified as being poorly planned or poorly performing."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare pays hospitals for drugs that beneficiaries receive as part of their treatment in hospital outpatient departments. Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) uses an outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) to pay hospitals fixed, predetermined rates for services. These services include drugs given to beneficiaries in outpatient settings. When OPPS was first developed as directed by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the rates for hospital outpatient services and drugs were based on hospitals' 1996 median costs. However, these rates prompted concerns that payments to hospitals would not reflect the cost of newly introduced pharmaceutical products--drugs, biologicals, and radiopharmaceuticals--used to treat, for example, cancer, rare blood disorders, and other serious conditions. In turn, congressional concerns were raised that beneficiaries might lose access to some of these products if hospitals avoided providing them because of a perceived shortfall in payments. In response to these concerns, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 authorized pass-through payments, which are a way to augment, on a temporary basis, the OPPS payments for newly introduced pharmaceutical products …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the most highly infectious animal disease known: nearly 100 percent of exposed animals become infected with it. Although the United States has not had an outbreak of FMD since 1929, a single outbreak of FMD virus as a result of an accidental or intentional release from a laboratory on the U.S. mainland could have significant consequences for U.S. agriculture. The traditional approach to the disease, once infection is confirmed, is to depopulate infected and potentially infected livestock herds to eradicate the disease. The value of U.S. livestock sales was $140 billion in 2007; about 10 percent of this figure, or approximately $13 billion, was accounted for by export markets. The Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), on a federally owned island off the northern tip of Long Island, New York, is the only facility in the United States that studies the live FMD virus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was responsible for the PIADC from its opening in the 1950s until June 2003, when USDA transferred responsibility for it to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as required by the …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed software change controls at the Department of the Treasury, focusing on: (1) whether key controls as described in agency policies and procedures regarding software change authorization, testing, and approval complied with federal guidance; and (2) the extent to which agencies contracted for year 2000 remediation of mission-critical systems and involved foreign nationals in these efforts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As part of the efforts by the United States to oust Saddam Hussein, a critical element of U.S. policy included funding the Iraqi National Congress as the lead Iraqi opposition coalition. In 1999, the Iraqi National Congress Support Foundation (INCSF) was established to provide an organizational structure for Department of State funding. From March 2000 until September 2003, the Department of State funded several INCSF programs, including television broadcasting. INCSF's broadcasting goals included broadcasts into Iraq focusing on providing the Iraqi people unbiased news and information and updating them on efforts to bring democracy to Iraq. GAO was asked to review (1) the history of the Department of State's funding of INCSF broadcasting activities and (2) the key issues affecting State's funding decisions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Conducting research and development (R&D) on technologies for detecting, preventing, and mitigating terrorist threats is vital to enhancing the security of the nation's transportation system. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress enacted legislation to strengthen homeland security, in part by enhancing R&D. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are the two federal agencies with primary responsibility for transportation security. GAO was asked to assess the transportation security R&D projects that TSA, DHS, and other agencies have funded and assess how TSA and DHS are managing their transportation security R&D programs according to applicable laws and best practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The free flow of information among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies could prove vital to fighting the war on terrorism. State and local law enforcement officials are key stakeholders in the United States' efforts to combat terrorism, and as such, they may require access to classified national security information to help prevent or respond to terrorist attacks. In order to gain access to such information, state and local law enforcement officials generally need federal security clearances. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) grants security clearances and shares classified information with state and local law enforcement officials. Immediately following September 11, 2001, some state and local law enforcement officials expressed frustration with the complexity of the process for obtaining security clearances. Others expressed frustration with the length of time it took to obtain a security clearance. These frustrations exacerbated the general concern among law enforcement stakeholders that the lack of security clearances could impede the flow of critical information from the FBI to the state and local level, from the state and local level to the FBI, and laterally from one state or local agency …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the mid-1990s, the Navy and Marine Corps have studied ways to better protect landing forces. As new operational concepts evolved, the Marine Corps identified requirements for naval surface fire support and the Navy began developing two systems to meet these needs--the Extended Range Munition for existing classes of ships and the future Zumwalt class destroyer. GAO was asked to address (1) whether requirements for fire support have been established and (2) the Navy's progress on the Extended Range Munition, Zumwalt class destroyer, and follow-on systems. GAO also analyzed whether these Navy systems fulfill the requirements and whether gaps remain. To address these objectives GAO analyzed key documents on requirements and programs and held discussions with officials from the Navy and Marine Corps as well as other interested organizations."