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Homeland Security: Federal Action Needed to Address Security Challenges at Chemical Facilities (open access)

Homeland Security: Federal Action Needed to Address Security Challenges at Chemical Facilities

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The events of September 11, 2001, triggered a national re-examination of the security of thousands of industrial facilities that use or store hazardous chemicals in quantities that could potentially put large numbers of Americans at risk of serious injury or death in the event of a terrorist-caused chemical release. GAO was asked to examine (1) available information on the threats and risks from terrorism faced by U.S. chemical facilities; (2) federal requirements for security preparedness and safety at facilities; (3) actions taken by federal agencies to assess the vulnerability of the industry; and (4) voluntary actions the chemical industry has taken to address security preparedness, and the challenges it faces in protecting its assets and operations. GAO issued a report on this work in March 2003 (GAO-03-439)."
Date: February 23, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tobacco Settlement: States' Allocations of Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003 Master Settlement Agreement Payments (open access)

Tobacco Settlement: States' Allocations of Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003 Master Settlement Agreement Payments

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) requires four of the nation's largest tobacco companies to make annual payments to states in perpetuity as reimbursement for past health care costs related to tobacco use. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 requires GAO to report annually on the amount of MSA payments states receive and how they allocate these payments for the years 2002 through 2006. This report provides information on (1) the amount of MSA payments that the 46 states party to the MSA received for fiscal year 2002 and the amount these states expect to receive during fiscal year 2003; (2) states' allocations of MSA funds to various program categories for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 and changes in these allocations from prior years; and (3) changes in states' decision-making frameworks for MSA funds since fiscal year 2001. To conduct this study, GAO sent a survey to budget officials in the 46 states party to the MSA. GAO did not independently verify the accuracy of the information provided by the state budget offices."
Date: February 28, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Afghanistan Security: Corrective Actions Are Needed to Address Serious Accountability Concerns about Weapons Provided to Afghan National Security Forces (open access)

Afghanistan Security: Corrective Actions Are Needed to Address Serious Accountability Concerns about Weapons Provided to Afghan National Security Forces

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the GAO report on accountability for small arms and light weapons that the United States has obtained and provided or intends to provide to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)--the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. Given the unstable security conditions in Afghanistan, the risk of loss and theft of these weapons is significant, which makes this hearing particularly timely. This testimony today focuses on (1) the types and quantities of weapons the Department of Defense (Defense) has obtained for ANSF, (2) whether Defense can account for the weapons it obtained for ANSF, and (3) the extent to which ANSF can properly safeguard and account for its weapons and other sensitive equipment."
Date: February 12, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Surface Transportation: Preliminary Observations on Efforts to Restructure Current Program (open access)

Surface Transportation: Preliminary Observations on Efforts to Restructure Current Program

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation has reached a critical juncture with its current surface transportation policies and programs. Demand has outpaced the capacity of the system, resulting in increased congestion. In addition, without significant changes in funding mechanisms, revenue sources, or planned spending, the Highway Trust Fund--the major source of federal highway and transit funding--is projected to incur significant deficits in the years ahead. Furthermore, the nation is on a fiscally unsustainable path. Recognizing many of these challenges and the importance of the transportation system to the nation, Congress established The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission (Commission) to examine current and future needs of the system and recommend needed changes to the surface transportation program, among other things. The Commission issued its report in January 2008. This testimony discusses 1) principles to assess proposals for restructuring the surface transportation program and 2) GAO's preliminary observations on the Commission's recommendations. This statement is based on GAO's ongoing work for the Ranking Member of this Committee, the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Senator DeMint, as well as a body of work GAO has completed over the past …
Date: February 6, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Performance Budgeting: Efforts to Restructure Budgets to Better Align Resources with Performance (open access)

Performance Budgeting: Efforts to Restructure Budgets to Better Align Resources with Performance

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Efforts to better align and integrate budget and performance information raises many issues, including the question of budget structure--should appropriations accounts or congressional budget justifications or both be restructured to tighten the link between resources and performance? If so, how and to what extent? The administration elevated attention to this issue by including budget restructuring as part of the President's Management Agenda in 2001. To provide an overview of the various budget restructuring efforts underway in the federal government, GAO: (1) summarized steps taken by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and nine selected agencies to better align their budgets with performance and to better capture the cost of performance in the budget; (2) discussed the potential implications of these efforts for congressional oversight and executive branch managerial flexibility and accountability; (3) described the experiences and implementation challenges associated with these efforts; and (4) identified lessons learned that can provide insights useful in considering current and future budget restructuring efforts."
Date: February 1, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information Security: Advances and Remaining Challenges to Adoption of Public Key Infrastructure Technology (open access)

Information Security: Advances and Remaining Challenges to Adoption of Public Key Infrastructure Technology

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government must overcome several major challenges before public key infrastructure (PKI) technology can be widely and effectively used. These challenges include providing interoperability among agency PKIs, ensuring that PKI implementations can support a potential large scale of users, reducing the cost of building PKI systems, setting policies to maintain trust levels among agencies, and establishing training programs for users at all levels. Although such challenges are difficult to overcome in the near term, the federal government can take steps to better assist agencies develop and implement PKIs that may eventually be interconnected into a federal governmentwide system. The recent effort to develop a Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA) is an excellent first step in this direction, but this effort lacks the context of a well-defined program plan for the government as well as key policy and technical standards. Establishing a federal PKI management framework could facilitate and accelerate participation in the FBCA as well as overall federal adoption of key technology for enabling electronic government."
Date: February 26, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Highway Trust Fund: Overview of Highway Trust Fund Financing (open access)

Highway Trust Fund: Overview of Highway Trust Fund Financing

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century changes the budgetary treatment of programs financed by the Highway Trust Fund. In particular, the act guaranteed annual funding levels for most highway and transit programs and linked highway user tax receipts, such as those from motor fuel and truck tire taxes, to the annual funding levels for highway programs. Revenue aligned budget authority adjustments are made to the annual guaranteed funding level provided in the act as highway account receipt levels change. For the first time, the adjustment for fiscal year 2003 is negative--decreasing the guaranteed level of highway funding by $4.369 billion. GAO found that the amounts distributed to the Highway Trust Fund for the first nine months of fiscal year 2001, as adjusted based on the Internal Revenue Service's certifications, were reasonable and adequately supported based on available information."
Date: February 11, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: Readiness of the Marine Corps' V-22 Aircraft for Full-Rate Production (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: Readiness of the Marine Corps' V-22 Aircraft for Full-Rate Production

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO concludes that the V-22 program is not ready for full-rate production. This conclusion is based on two factors. First, GAO's "best practices" work has identified practices used by successful commercial and defense programs to develop and produce quality products in significantly less time and at lower costs. GAO reviews of major weapons systems have shown that failure to follow these practices results in cost increases, schedule delays, and performance problems. Second, GAO analyzed Department of Defense (DOD) assessments and data on the V-22 program and interviewed DOD officials. As a result of GAO's findings, DOD postponed the full-rate production of the V-22 aircraft until the risks have been mitigated."
Date: February 20, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO helped the Department of Transportation to determine whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund for fiscal year 2001 was supported by the underlying records. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, GAO did its work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants."
Date: February 11, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Catastrophic Disasters: Federal Efforts Help States Prepare for and Respond to Psychological Consequences, but FEMA's Crisis Counseling Program Needs Improvements (open access)

Catastrophic Disasters: Federal Efforts Help States Prepare for and Respond to Psychological Consequences, but FEMA's Crisis Counseling Program Needs Improvements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Catastrophic disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, may result in trauma and other psychological consequences for the people who experience them. The federal government provides states with funding and other support to help them prepare for and respond to disasters. Because of congressional interest in these issues, GAO examined (1) federal agencies' actions to help states prepare for the psychological consequences of catastrophic disasters and (2) states' experiences obtaining and using grants from the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) to respond to the psychological consequences of catastrophic disasters. CCP is a program of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). GAO reviewed documents and interviewed program officials from federal agencies and conducted additional work in six states with experience responding to catastrophic disasters: Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Texas, and Washington."
Date: February 29, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security: Recommendations to Improve Management of Key Border Security Program Need to Be Implemented (open access)

Homeland Security: Recommendations to Improve Management of Key Border Security Program Need to Be Implemented

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program--the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)--to collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers, on selected foreign nationals entering and exiting the United States. US-VISIT uses these identifiers (digital fingerscans and photographs) to screen persons against watch lists and to verify that a visitor is the person who was issued a visa or other travel document. Visitors are also to confirm their departure by having their visas or passports scanned and undergoing fingerscanning at selected air and sea ports of entry (POE). GAO has made many recommendations to improve the program, all of which DHS has agreed to implement. GAO was asked to report on DHS's progress in responding to 18 of these recommendations."
Date: February 14, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electronic Government: Additional OMB Leadership Needed to Optimize Use of New Federal Employee Identification Cards (open access)

Electronic Government: Additional OMB Leadership Needed to Optimize Use of New Federal Employee Identification Cards

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many forms of identification (ID) that federal employees and contractors use to access government-controlled buildings and information systems can be easily forged, stolen, or altered to allow unauthorized access. In an effort to increase the quality and security of federal ID and credentialing practices, the President issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) in August 2004, requiring the establishment of a governmentwide standard for secure and reliable forms of ID. The resulting standard is referred to as the personal identity verification (PIV) card. GAO was asked to determine the progress selected agencies have made in (1) implementing the capabilities of the PIV cards to enhance security and (2) achieving interoperability with other agencies. To address these objectives, GAO selected eight agencies that have a range of experience in implementing smart card-based ID systems and analyzed what actions the agencies have taken to implement PIV cards."
Date: February 29, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security: Management of First Responder Grant Programs Has Improved, but Challenges Remain (open access)

Homeland Security: Management of First Responder Grant Programs Has Improved, but Challenges Remain

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP)--originally established in 1998 within the Department of Justice to help state and local first responders acquire specialized training and equipment needed to respond to terrorist incidents--was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security upon its creation in March 2003. After September 11, 2001, the scope and size of ODP's grant programs expanded. For example, from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2003, ODP grants awarded to states and some urban areas grew from about $91 million to about $2.7 billion. This growth raised questions about the ability of ODP and states to ensure that the domestic preparedness grant programs--including statewide and urban area grants--are managed effectively and efficiently. GAO addressed (1) how statewide and urban area grants were administered in fiscal years 2002 and 2003 so that ODP could ensure that grant funds were spent in accordance with grant guidance and state preparedness planning and (2) what time frames Congress and ODP established for awarding and distributing grants, and how time frames affected the grant cycle."
Date: February 2, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Foreign Assistance: USAID and the Department of State Are Beginning to Implement Prohibition on Taxation of Aid (open access)

Foreign Assistance: USAID and the Department of State Are Beginning to Implement Prohibition on Taxation of Aid

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2002, Congress learned that the Palestinian Authority had collected $6.8 million in taxes on U.S. humanitarian assistance meant for the people of the West Bank and Gaza and subsequently learned that some other foreign governments were also taxing U.S. assistance. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) officials estimate that at least several million dollars in taxes are collected annually on U.S. assistance programs, although some of this amount is reimbursed by recipient governments. This situation raised concerns in Congress that U.S. assistance funds for programs to help developing country populations were instead being diverted to the treasuries of foreign governments. In response to these concerns, Congress included a prohibition against such taxation in its Consolidated Appropriations Resolution for fiscal year 2003, and provided for a 200 percent penalty for taxes levied but not reimbursed. This legislation defines "taxes" and "taxation" as value added taxes (VAT) and customs duties imposed on commodities financed with U.S. assistance for programs for which funds are appropriated by the act. This report responds to a requirement in that legislation that we report to the committees on appropriations concerning these provisions. In discussions …
Date: February 20, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Critical Infrastructure Protection: National Plan for Information Systems Protection (open access)

Critical Infrastructure Protection: National Plan for Information Systems Protection

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed national security legal authorities related to infrastructure protection, focusing on the administration's National Plan for Information Systems Protection."
Date: February 11, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bank Secrecy Act: Suspicious Activity Report Use Is Increasing, but FinCEN Needs to Further Develop and Document Its Form Revision Process (open access)

Bank Secrecy Act: Suspicious Activity Report Use Is Increasing, but FinCEN Needs to Further Develop and Document Its Form Revision Process

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To assist law enforcement agencies in their efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes, the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requires financial institutions to file suspicious activity reports (SAR) to inform the federal government of transactions related to possible violations of law or regulation. Depository institutions have been concerned about the resources required to file SARs and the extent to which SARs are used. GAO was asked to examine (1) factors affecting the number of SARs filed, (2) actions agencies have taken to improve the usefulness of SARs, (3) federal agencies' use of SARs, and (4) the effectiveness of the process used to revise SAR forms. GAO reviewed laws and agency documents; analyzed SAR filings; and interviewed representatives from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), law enforcement agencies, bank regulators, and depository institutions."
Date: February 27, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hurricane Katrina: Allocation and Use of $2 Billion for Medicaid and Other Health Care Needs (open access)

Hurricane Katrina: Allocation and Use of $2 Billion for Medicaid and Other Health Care Needs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2006, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) appropriated $2 billion for certain health care costs related to Hurricane Katrina through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was charged with allocating the $2 billion in funding to states directly affected by the hurricane or that hosted evacuees. GAO performed this work under the Comptroller General's statutory authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative. In this report, GAO examined: (1) how CMS allocated the DRA funds to states, (2) the extent to which states have used DRA funds, and (3) whether selected states--Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas--anticipate the need for additional funds after DRA funds are expended. To conduct this review, GAO reviewed CMS's allocations of DRA funds to all eligible states, focusing in particular on the four selected states that had the highest initial allocation (released by CMS on March 29, 2006). GAO obtained data from Medicaid offices in the four selected states regarding their experiences enrolling individuals, providing services, and submitting claims; collected state Medicaid enrollment data; and analyzed DRA expenditure …
Date: February 28, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Contract Management: The Air Force Should Improve How It Purchases AWACS Spare Parts (open access)

Contract Management: The Air Force Should Improve How It Purchases AWACS Spare Parts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past several years, the Air Force has negotiated and awarded more than $23 million in contracts to the Boeing Corporation for the purchase of certain spare parts for its Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Since they first became operational in March 1977, AWACS aircraft have provided U.S. and allied defense forces with the ability to detect, identify, and track airborne threats. In March 2003, GAO received allegations that the Air Force was overpaying Boeing for AWACS spare parts. This report provides the findings of GAO's review into these allegations. Specifically, GAO identified spare parts price increases and determined whether the Air Force obtained and evaluated sufficient information to ensure the prices were fair and reasonable. GAO also determined the extent to which competition was used to purchase the spare parts."
Date: February 15, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Estimated Adjusted Medicaid Funding Allocations Related to the Proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (open access)

Estimated Adjusted Medicaid Funding Allocations Related to the Proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked GAO to estimate the state allocations that would likely occur if an across-the-board percentage point increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) replaced Section 5001 of the proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, while maintaining the same funding level that the Congressional Budget Office estimated for this section. This correspondence responds to your request for state-by-state, quarter-by-quarter estimates of the Medicaid funding states would receive with such an across-the-board increase."
Date: February 5, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Health: Increased TRICARE Eligibility for Reservists Presents Educational Challenges (open access)

Military Health: Increased TRICARE Eligibility for Reservists Presents Educational Challenges

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, the number of reservists mobilized for active duty has increased dramatically. Congress has expanded reservists' and their dependents' eligibility for TRICARE, the Department of Defense's (DOD) health insurance program. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2004 directed GAO to examine the health insurance coverage of reservists and their dependents. This report (1) identifies the extent to which reservists have civilian health insurance, (2) examines DOD's efforts to educate reservists and their dependents about TRICARE, and (3) describes reservists' level of satisfaction with TRICARE and the types of problems reservists and their dependents experienced when using it. To do this, GAO relied on interviews with DOD and DOD's survey data. GAO also administered a survey of TRICARE benefit assistance coordinators."
Date: February 12, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Excluded Parties List System: Suspended and Debarred Businesses and Individuals Improperly Receive Federal Funds (open access)

Excluded Parties List System: Suspended and Debarred Businesses and Individuals Improperly Receive Federal Funds

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To protect the government's interests, any agency can exclude (i.e., debar or suspend) parties from receiving federal contracts or assistance for a range of offenses. Exclusions of companies or individuals from federal contracts or other funding are listed in the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), a Web-based system maintained by GSA. Recent allegations indicate that excluded parties have been able to receive federal contracts. As a result, GAO was asked (1) to determine whether these allegations could be substantiated and (2) to identify the key causes of any improper awards and other payments detected. GAO investigated parties that were excluded for offenses such as fraud, theft, and violations of federal statutes and received awards in excess of $1,000."
Date: February 25, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Child Care: State Requirements for Background Checks (open access)

Child Care: State Requirements for Background Checks

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information for each state about the background checks it requires to be conducted on its regulated child care providers."
Date: February 28, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bank Secrecy Act: Increased Use of Exemption Provisions Could Reduce Currency Transaction Reporting While Maintaining Usefulness to Law Enforcement Efforts (open access)

Bank Secrecy Act: Increased Use of Exemption Provisions Could Reduce Currency Transaction Reporting While Maintaining Usefulness to Law Enforcement Efforts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To aid law enforcement efforts against financial crimes, under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) depository institutions must file the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) currency transaction report (CTR) form on their customers' cash transactions of more than $10,000. While FinCEN's regulations allow institutions to exempt certain customers, over 15 million CTRs were filed in 2006. Public Law 109-351 directed GAO to report on (1) the usefulness of CTRs to law enforcement; (2) depository institutions' costs of meeting CTR requirements; and (3) ways to encourage use of exemptions to avoid unnecessary CTRs. Among other things, GAO obtained data from FinCEN on CTRs and exemptions from 2004 to 2006, surveyed 115 state and local law enforcement agencies and 680 depository institutions, held structured interviews with officials of federal agencies and depository institutions, and reviewed relevant laws and regulations."
Date: February 21, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Responses to Questions Concerning Long-Term Capital Management and Related Events (open access)

Responses to Questions Concerning Long-Term Capital Management and Related Events

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information concerning Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), its near failure, and its subsequent recapitalization in September 1998."
Date: February 23, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library