Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its recent reports regarding the operational uncertainties of the status of the 2000 Census, focusing on: (1) achieving the Bureau of the Census' mail response rate objective; (2) collecting accurate and timely data from nonrespondents; and (3) conducting data capture operations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) task force's recommendations to strengthen the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) programs and facilities, focusing on: (1) the actions ARS has taken to close and consolidate laboratories; (2) the task force report's major recommendations designed to, among other things, improve operational efficiencies; and (3) ARS' reaction to the task force report."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO examined the underlying records for the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for fiscal year 2001. GAO (1) did a detailed test of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to AATF, (2) reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly AATF certifications, (3) reviewed the Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service adjustments to AATF for fiscal year 2001, (4) reviewed procedures in the Office of Tax Analysis' process for estimating amounts to be distributed to AATF for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2001, (5) compared net excise tax distributions to AATF during fiscal year 2001 and amounts reported in the financial statements prepared by the Bureau of the Public Debt for AATF and the Federal Aviation Administration's consolidated financial statements, and (6) reviewed key reconciliations of IRS records to Treasury records."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO performed detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) and reviewed key reconciliations of the Internal Revenue Service records to the Department of the Treasury records. GAO found that the net federal unemployment tax revenue distributed to UTF for fiscal year 2001 is supported by the underlying records."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress established a national child support enforcement (CSE) program in 1965 to ensure that noncustodial parents financially support their children. In fiscal year 2000, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) estimated that $84 billion in past-due child support was owed, but never collected. The Social Security Act contains provisions to help child support agencies collect support when noncustodial parents or their income and assets are hard to find. The Act mandates that states enact laws requiring social security numbers (SSNs) on applications for a driver's license. State CSE programs rely on SSNs to locate the addresses, income, and assets of noncustodial parents. Motor vehicle agencies can be a valuable source of SSNs that CSE programs have difficulty obtaining elsewhere. The Act also requires that states suspend, withhold, or restrict the driver's licenses of noncustodial parents delinquent in child support payments. Most motor vehicle agencies that GAO surveyed collect SSNs from all applicants for driver's licenses, but OCSE has taken few steps to promote such collection in states not currently doing so. Although state officials and privacy experts expressed few concerns about motor vehicle agencies collecting …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the efforts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and states to provide effective drug abuse treatment programs, focusing on: (1) activities supported by SAMHSA's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) block grant and Knowledge Development and Application (KDA) grant funds for drug abuse treatment; (2) SAMHSA and state mechanisms for monitoring fund use; and (3) SAMHSA and state efforts to determine the effectiveness of drug abuse treatment supported with SAPT block grant funds."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Endangered Species Act seeks to protect affected species and their habitats from the activities of federal agencies and individual landowners. If a landowner plans to engage in an activity that may harm endangered species or their habitats, the landowner may prepare a Habitat Conservation Plan that may include paying a fee to a third party to ensure that the affected species is protected. GAO reviewed (1) the various types of fee-based mitigation arrangements currently used by the Fish and Wildlife Service, (2) who selects the alternative used to mitigate adverse impacts, (3) the Service's role in setting fees and land exchange ratios, and (4) how the Service ensures that fees are used as intended and that desired mitigation results are achieved. GAO found that (1) eight types of fee-based arrangements are now at the locations GAO visited, seven of which require the landowner to act; (2) the landowner is ultimately responsible for deciding whether to use a fee-based mitigation arrangement after considering its advantages and disadvantages; (3) the Service's level of involvement in setting fees and establishing land exchange ratios varies by project and type of arrangement; …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO audited the Bureau of Public Debt's Schedule of Federal Debt for fiscal years 2001 and 2000. GAO found that (1) the Schedules of Federal Debt were presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles; (2) the Bureau had effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations related to the Schedule of Federal Debt for fiscal year 2001; and (3) there was no reportable noncompliance in fiscal year 2001 with a selected provision of a law GAO tested."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on its financial management review of the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) reported allocation of resources for its Refuge Program and New Assistant Regional Manager Positions, focusing on: (1) what systems FWS used to track how allocated funds were spent and to determine the full costs of operating the refuge program; (2) how much funding the service allocated to refuge operations and maintenance and how those funds were used; and (3) the number of new Assistant Regional Director (ARD) positions FWS created and the source of funding for these positions through fiscal year (FY) 2000."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its recent report on how the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decides to establish and expand refuges, focusing on: (1) the financial effect of establishing refuges by means other than appropriations; and (2) differences in the priority-setting processes for acquiring land using the land and water and migratory bird funds."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on whether the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) established any refuge with migratory bird funds after Congress denied appropriations from land and water funds for a proposed refuge, focusing on: (1) which funds--land and water funds or migratory bird funds--FWS used to establish and expand refuges during this period; (2) how FWS set priorities for acquiring land with these funds; (3) whether FWS followed these priorities in requesting funding for this period; and (4) FWS' use of the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, which provides grants for nonfederal entities to acquire land associated with habitat conservation plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Military Strategy calls for U.S. forces to fight and win two nearly simultaneous major theater wars. Accordingly, the Army calculates its force structure requirements on the basis of this scenario. The strategy also calls for the Army to support operations in a series of concurrent contingencies and assumes that forces thus engaged will be withdrawn and redeployed if war occurs. The Army's difficulty in supporting contingency operations without repeatedly calling on some types of units has raised questions about whether forces structured to meet the two-war scenario can also support multiple peacetime contingency operations. GAO reviewed the Army's force planning process, known as Total Army Analysis 2007, to determine whether the Army's planned force structure will meet its contingency requirements. GAO found that the Army's force structure generally provides the number and types of units required to simultaneously carry out seven illustrative contingency operations requiring Army participation. However, it does not contain the number and types of units needed to meet the needs of five simultaneous contingencies lasting for more than six months and requiring force rotations. If Army forces continue to be called …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Forest Service's ecosystem planning efforts, including the Great Lakes Ecological Assessment, focusing on the: (1) views of the Forest Service, other federal agencies, and GAO on key elements that broad-scale ecosystem based assessments should contain to maximize their value to the forest planning process; (2) extent to which the Forest Service has incorporated these elements into the Great Lakes Ecological Assessment and whether it has integrated the assessment into the forest planning process; and (3) extent to which the Forest Service's proposed planning regulations ensure that future broad-scale assessments contain these elements and are integrated into the forest planning process."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies need to work with other governmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector, both domestically and internationally, to achieve results. By focusing on accountable, results-oriented management, the federal government can use this network to deliver economical, efficient, and effective programs and services to the American people. The administration's plan to use the Executive Branch Management Scorecard to highlight agencies' progress in achieving management and performance improvements outlined in the President's Management Agenda is a promising first step. However, many of the challenges facing the federal government are long-standing and complex and will require sustained attention. Using broad standards, the scorecards in the president's budget grade agencies on the following five governmentwide initiatives: (1) strategic management of human capital, (2) competitive sourcing, (3) improved financial performance, (4) expanded electronic government, and (5) budget and performance integration. These initiatives cannot be addressed in an isolated or piecemeal fashion separate from other management challenges and high-risk areas."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed two major AmeriCorps programs--AmeriCorps State/National and AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC); (2) compared cost data for NCCC with similar data from the Department of Labor's Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers (CCC) and reasons for any major differences; (3) compared AmeriCorps participant benefits with those afforded entry-level military personnel; and (4) described information available on the results of AmeriCorps programs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid must periodically assess the needs of residents in order to develop an appropriate plan of care. Such resident assessments are known as the minimum data set (MDS). According to officials in the 10 states with MDS accuracy review programs in operation as of January 2001, these programs were established to set Medicaid payments and identify quality of care problems. Nine of the 10 states conduct periodic on-site reviews in all or a significant portion of their nursing homes to assess the accuracy of the MDS data. These reviews sample a home's MDS assessments to determine whether the basis for the assessments is adequately documented in residents' medical records. These reviews often include interviews of nursing home personnel familiar with residents and observations of the residents themselves. States with separate MDS review programs identified various approaches to improve MDS accuracy. State officials highlighted the on-site review process itself and provider education activities as their primary approaches. State officials also reported such remedies as requiring nursing homes to prepare a corrective action plan or imposing financial penalties on nursing homes …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a report describing the activities of the Personnel Appeals Board, its Office of General Counsel, and its Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Oversight during the last two fiscal years."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed options for increasing Medicare beneficiaries' access to prescription drugs, focusing on the: (1) factors contributing to the growth in prescription drug spending and efforts to control that growth; and (2) design and implementation issues to be considered regarding proposals to improve seniors' access to affordable prescription drugs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Citing the desire to "ensure that the President's appointees have the opportunity to review any new or pending regulations," the White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr. sent a memorandum to the heads of all executive agencies on January 20, 2001, directing them to (1) not send proposed or final regulations to the Office of the Federal Register, (2) withdraw regulations that had been sent to the Office but not yet published in the Federal Register, and (3) postpone for 60 days the effective date of regulations that had been published in the Federal Register but had not yet taken effect. GAO found that federal agencies delayed the effective dates for 90 of the 371 final rules that were subject to the memorandum. The effective dates for the remaining 281 rules were either not delayed or GAO could find no indication in the Federal Register of a delay."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses entitlement and other mandatory spending programs in light of our nation's long-term fiscal outlook and the challenges it poses for the budget and oversight processes. In our report entitled 21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government, we presented illustrative questions for policy makers to consider as they carry out their responsibilities. These questions look across major areas of the budget and federal operations including discretionary and mandatory spending, and tax policies and programs. We hope that this report, among other things, will be used by various congressional committees as they consider which areas of government need particular attention and reconsideration. Congress will also receive more specific proposals, some of them will be presented within comprehensive agendas. Our report provides examples of the kinds of difficult choices the nation faces with regard to discretionary spending; mandatory spending, including entitlements; as well as tax policies and compliance activities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Reducing aviation noise is important to the efficient operation and expansion of the National Airspace System because community opposition to aviation noise is a major obstacle to airport and runway development. Such development is needed to help address congestion and meet the nation's rapidly growing demand for air travel. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have the primary federal responsibility for research and development (R&D) on aviation noise. FAA focuses on the impacts of aviation noise on communities, while NASA focuses on noise at its source--aircraft engines and airframes. Both FAA and NASA have set noise reduction goals. This congressionally requested report on aviation noise addresses (1) FAA's and NASA's R&D plans for addressing aviation noise and the extent to which they are aligned and (2) FAA's and NASA's noise reduction goals and the likelihood that these goals will be achieved. To conduct its work, GAO reviewed FAA's and NASA's R&D planning documents, coordinating mechanisms, and research plans and interviewed agency officials. In addition, aviation industry representatives reviewed and commented on a draft of this report. A draft was …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Business Systems Modernization (BSM) program is a multibillion-dollar, high-risk, highly complex effort that involves the development and delivery of a number of modernized information systems that are intended to replace the agency's aging business and tax processing systems. As required by law, IRS submitted its fiscal year 2007 expenditure plan, in September 2006, to congressional appropriations committees, requesting $167.3 million from the BSM account. GAO's objectives in reviewing the plan were to (1) determine whether it satisfied the conditions specified in the law, (2) determine IRS's progress in implementing prior GAO recommendations, and (3) provide any other observations about the plan and IRS's BSM program. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed the plan, reviewed related documentation, and interviewed IRS officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO testified before the Senate Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Committee on Appropriations to provide the results of a risk-based analysis of schedule and cost for the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). Our remarks focused on (1) our assessment of the risks associated with the Architect of the Capitol's (AOC) December 2005 schedule, and our estimate of a time frame for opening the project to the public; and (2) the project's costs and funding, including the potential impact of scheduling issues that have arisen since the Subcommittee's November 16, 2005, hearing on the CVC project's schedule and cost."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In August 1997, Congress created the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) with the goal of significantly reducing the number of low-income uninsured children, especially those who lived in families with incomes exceeding Medicaid eligibility requirements. Unlike Medicaid, SCHIP is not an entitlement to services for beneficiaries but a capped allotment to states. Congress provided a fixed amount--approximately $40 billion from fiscal years 1998 through 2007--to states with approved SCHIP plans. Funds are allocated to states annually. Subject to certain exceptions, states have 3 years to use each year's allocation, after which unspent funds may be redistributed to states that have already spent all of that year's allocation. GAO's testimony addresses trends in SCHIP enrollment and the current composition of SCHIP programs across the states, states' spending experiences under SCHIP, and considerations GAO has identified for SCHIP reauthorization. GAO's testimony is based on its prior work, particularly testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on February 1, 2007 (see GAO-07-447T). GAO updated this work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) January 2007 approval of Tennessee's SCHIP program."