A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Consolidated Appropriations Resolution of 2003 Conference Report mandated that GAO review the Office of Compliance (OOC), an independent legislative branch agency created by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA). OOC, a 15-person office with about $2 million in expenditures during fiscal year 2003, administers and enforces various CAA provisions related to fair employment and occupational safety and health among certain legislative branch agencies. OOC's current Executive Director has been in place since April 2001 and its General Counsel joined the Office in June 2003. The mandate directed GAO to assess the OOC's overall effectiveness and efficiency and to make recommendations, as appropriate."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Bush administration developed and published seven national strategies that relate, in part or in whole, to combating terrorism and homeland security. These were National Security Strategy of the United States of America; National Strategy for Homeland Security; National Strategy for Combating Terrorism; National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction; National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets; National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace; and the 2002 National Money Laundering Strategy. In view of heightened concerns about terrorism and homeland security, GAO was asked to identify and define the desirable characteristics of an effective national strategy and to evaluate whether the national strategies related to terrorism address those characteristics. The purpose of this testimony is to report on GAO's findings on this matter."