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Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses (open access)

Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses

This report discusses the current political state of Iran and its relationship with the United States. This report emphasizes in particular the Iranian presidential elections that took place on June 12, 2009; current U.S. efforts under President Obama to forge diplomatic talks with Iran while at the same time urging aggressive action in the way of certain economic and trade sanctions; and how current U.S. efforts under the Obama Administration differ and/or are similar to efforts under the Bush Administration.
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
[Letter from H. K. Ng to Anthony Principi - July 2, 2005] (open access)

[Letter from H. K. Ng to Anthony Principi - July 2, 2005]

Letter from H. K. Ng to Anthony Principi discussing the importance of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) at Walter Reed. In addition, the IAP’s secretariat was housed at AFIP.
Date: July 2, 2005
Creator: Ng, H. K.
Object Type: Letter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Drug Control: U.S. Nonmilitary Assistance to Colombia Is Beginning to Show Intended Results, but Programs Are Not Readily Sustainable (open access)

Drug Control: U.S. Nonmilitary Assistance to Colombia Is Beginning to Show Intended Results, but Programs Are Not Readily Sustainable

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2000, the U.S. government has provided a total of $3.3 billion to Colombia, making it the fifth largest recipient of U.S. assistance. Part of this funding has gone toward nonmilitary assistance to Colombia, including programs to (1) promote legitimate economic alternatives to coca and opium poppy; (2) assist Colombia's vulnerable groups, particularly internally displaced persons; and (3) strengthen the country's democratic, legal, and security institutional capabilities. GAO examined these programs' objectives, reported accomplishments, and identified the factors, if any, that limit project implementation and sustainability. We also examined the challenges faced by Colombia and the United States in continuing to support these programs."
Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Security Administration: More Effort Needed to Assess Consistency of Disability Decisions (open access)

Social Security Administration: More Effort Needed to Assess Consistency of Disability Decisions

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, about 2.5 million people file claims with the Social Security Administration (SSA) for disability benefits. If the claim is denied at the initial level, the claimant may appeal to the hearings level. The hearings level has allowed more than half of all appealed claims, an allowance rate that has raised concerns about the consistency of decisions made at the two levels. To help ensure consistency, SSA began a "process unification" initiative in 1994 and recently announced a new proposal to strengthen its disability programs. This report examines (1) the status of SSA's process unification initiative, (2) SSA's assessments of possible inconsistencies in decisions between adjudication levels, and (3) whether SSA's new proposal incorporates changes to improve consistency in decisions between adjudication levels."
Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Government Auditing Standards: July 2007 Revision (Superseded by GAO-12-331G) (open access)

Government Auditing Standards: July 2007 Revision (Superseded by GAO-12-331G)

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication is superceded by GAO-12-331G, Government Auditing Standards: December 2011 Revision. This is the Government Auditing Standards 2007 version. This document outlines standards that contain requirements for auditor reporting on internal control. This revision supersedes the 2003 revision."
Date: July 2, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Force Structure: Actions Needed to Improve DOD's Ability to Manage, Assess, and Report on Global Defense Posture Initiatives (open access)

Force Structure: Actions Needed to Improve DOD's Ability to Manage, Assess, and Report on Global Defense Posture Initiatives

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In its ongoing global realignment of U.S. forces and installations, the Department of Defense (DOD) plans to reduce the number of troops permanently stationed overseas, consolidate overseas bases, and establish a network of smaller forward locations with limited personnel. Realigning the U.S. overseas posture involves closing obsolete and redundant bases, constructing new facilities costing billions of dollars, and ensuring that other needed infrastructure is in place to support realigned forces and missions. These significant changes to force structure both in the United States and overseas are being implemented to enhance operational efficiencies and ensure access during future contingency operations. DOD requests for overseas military construction projects extend around the world including Europe, the Pacific, Southwest Asia, and Central America. For fiscal year 2010, DOD requested approximately $1.5 billion, or 7 percent, of the regular military construction request for overseas military construction. The Congress has supported the DOD's efforts to reassess and realign its overseas posture to better respond to emerging security challenges, but the Senate Appropriations Committee has expressed concerns about the department's ability to effectively manage and accomplish such an ambitious program as well as the fidelity …
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internal Revenue Service: Status of GAO Financial Audit and Related Financial Management Report Recommendations (open access)

Internal Revenue Service: Status of GAO Financial Audit and Related Financial Management Report Recommendations

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In its role as the nation's tax collector, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a demanding responsibility in annually collecting trillions of dollars in taxes, processing hundreds of millions of tax and information returns, and enforcing the nation's tax laws. Since its first audit of IRS's financial statements in fiscal year 1992, GAO has identified a number of weaknesses in IRS's financial management operations. In related reports, GAO has recommended corrective action to address those weaknesses. Each year, as part of the annual audit of IRS's financial statements, GAO not only makes recommendations to address any new weaknesses identified but also follows up on the status of weaknesses GAO identified in previous years' audits. The purpose of this report is to (1) assist IRS management in tracking the status of audit recommendations and actions needed to fully address them and (2) demonstrate how the recommendations relate to control activities central to IRS's mission and goals."
Date: July 2, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: A Knowledge-Based Funding Approach Could Improve Major Weapon System Program Outcomes (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: A Knowledge-Based Funding Approach Could Improve Major Weapon System Program Outcomes

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) expects the cost to develop and procure the major weapon systems in its current portfolio to total $1.6 trillion. With increased competition for funding within DOD and across the federal government, effectively managing these acquisitions is critical. Yet DOD programs too often experience poor outcomes--like increased costs and delayed fielding of needed capabilities to the warfighter. In 2006, this Committee mandated that GAO report on DOD's processes for identifying needs and allocating resources for its weapon system programs. In 2007, GAO reported that DOD consistently commits to more programs than it can support. This follow-on report assesses DOD's funding approach, identifies key factors that influence the effectiveness of this approach, and identifies practices that could help improve DOD's approach. To conduct its work, GAO assessed 20 major weapon programs in DOD's current portfolio--5 in detail--and reviewed relevant DOD policy and guidance, prior GAO work, and other relevant literature. GAO also reviewed the practices of selected successful companies."
Date: July 2, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
FTS 2001 Implementation Issues (open access)

FTS 2001 Implementation Issues

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration (GSA) awarded FTS2001 contracts to Sprint and MCI Worldcom to provide long distance telecommunications services to federal agencies. The federal government began the sizable and complex effort of switching from the existing FTS 2000 contracts to FTS2001 in June 1999. Several implementation issues have delayed this transition. One of these issues concerns the billing problems experienced by GSA and its contractors. GAO found that the billing problems often arose from changes in contracts and services. According GSA, these issues also arose from the differences between contractors' commercial billing practices and the government's practices. Because these billing problems were not promptly resolved, they had an adverse effect on the transition progress. GSA is taking steps to resolve current billing problems. It is tracking issues as they arise, and it is now trying to resolve 12 issues still outstanding with Sprint and MCI WorldCom, including the problem of commercial billing. In addition, GSA's Office of Inspector General recently began a review of the FTS2001 billing area, which might also identify ways to prevent future billing problems. Another issue that affected the transition progress concerns the databases …
Date: July 2, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Uranium Enrichment: Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund Is Insufficient to Cover Cleanup Costs (open access)

Uranium Enrichment: Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund Is Insufficient to Cover Cleanup Costs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Decontaminating and decommissioning the nation's uranium enrichment plants, which are contaminated with hazardous materials, will cost billions of dollars and could span decades. In 1992, the Energy Policy Act created the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund (Fund) to pay for the plants' cleanup and to reimburse licensees of active uranium and thorium processing sites for part of their cleanup costs. This report discusses (1) what DOE has done to reduce the cleanup costs authorized by the Fund, and (2) the extent to which the Fund is sufficient to cover authorized activities."
Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and Organizational Transformations (open access)

Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and Organizational Transformations

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Comptroller General convened a forum in September 2002 to identify useful practices and lessons learned from major private and public sector mergers, acquisitions, and organizational transformations. This was done to help federal agencies implement successful transformations of their cultures, as well as the new Department of Homeland Security merge its various originating components into a unified department. There was general agreement on a number of key practices found at the center of successful mergers, acquisitions, and transformations. In this report, we identify the specific implementation steps for the key practices raised at the forum with illustrative private and public sector examples. To identify these implementation steps and examples, we relied primarily on interviews with selected forum participants and other experts about their experiences implementing mergers, acquisitions, and transformations and also conducted a literature review."
Date: July 2, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cost Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Estimating and Managing Program Costs--Exposure Draft (Superseded by GAO-09-3SP) (open access)

Cost Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Estimating and Managing Program Costs--Exposure Draft (Superseded by GAO-09-3SP)

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-09-3SP, GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs, March 2009. From August 13, 2007 - July 14, 2008, GAO is seeking input and feedback on this Exposure Draft from all interested parties. See page 4 for more information. The U.S. Government Accountability Office is responsible for, among other things, assisting the Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies' stewardship of public funds. To effectively use public funds, the government must meet the demands of today's changing world by employing effective management practices and processes, including the measurement of government program performance. Legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. We developed the Cost Guide in order to establish a consistent methodology, based on best practices, to be used across the federal government for developing and managing its program cost estimates. For the purposes of this guide, a cost estimate is the summation of individual cost elements, using established methods and valid data to estimate the future costs of …
Date: July 2, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
FAA Budget Policies and Practices (open access)

FAA Budget Policies and Practices

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, Congress has raised concerns about cost growth in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) operating budget. Appropriators noted several expenses in FAA's fiscal year 2004 facilities and equipment (F&E) account budget submission that appeared to be ongoing operating expenses. The House and Senate appropriations subcommittee reports on FAA's fiscal year 2004 budget submission highlighted 17 such budget items and recommended that the expenses for these items either be transferred to the operations budget or not receive funding. As a result of these concerns, the Conference Report accompanying the fiscal year 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Act directed us to conduct an audit of FAA's policies and practices for determining whether an expense should be budgeted in its operating accounts or in the capital account. Specifically, this report addresses the following questions: (1) What are FAA's policies for determining whether an expense--including personnel compensation, benefits, travel, and related expenses--belongs in its capital (F&E) or Operations accounts? (2) How did FAA implement its policies for determining whether 17 specific budget line items identified by appropriators belong in its F&E or Operations accounts, including personnel compensation, benefits, travel, and related expenses? …
Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library

Folksonomy

This Tech Talk presentation explores Folksonomy. The author explores some of the more common aspects of folksonomies in the context of Web 2.0.
Date: July 2, 2008
Creator: Alemneh, Daniel Gelaw
Object Type: Presentation
System: The UNT Digital Library
VA Health Care: Adequacy of Resident Supervision Is Not Assured, but Plans Could Improve Oversight (open access)

VA Health Care: Adequacy of Resident Supervision Is Not Assured, but Plans Could Improve Oversight

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides graduate medical education (GME) to as many as one-third of U.S. resident physicians, but oversight responsibilities spread across VA's organizational components and multiple affiliated hospitals and medical schools could allow supervision problems to go undetected or uncorrected. GAO was asked to examine VA's procedures for (1) monitoring VA medical centers' adherence to VA's requirements for resident supervision, (2) using evaluations of supervision by GME accrediting bodies and residents, and (3) using information about resident supervision drawn from VA's programs for monitoring the quality and outcomes of patient care."
Date: July 2, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security: Intergovernmental Coordination and Partnership Will Be Critical to Success (open access)

Homeland Security: Intergovernmental Coordination and Partnership Will Be Critical to Success

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The challenges posed by homeland security exceed the capacity and authority of any one level of government. Protecting the nation against these threats calls for a truly integrated approach, bringing together the resources of all levels of government. The proposed Department of Homeland Security will have a central role in efforts to enhance homeland security. The proposed consolidation of homeland security programs has the potential to reduce fragmentation, improve coordination, and clarify roles and responsibilities. However, formation of a department should not be considered a replacement for the timely issuance of a national homeland security strategy to guide implementation of the complex mission of the department. Appropriate roles and responsibilities within and between the government and private sector need to be clarified. New threats are prompting a reassessment and shifting of long-standing roles and responsibilities, but these shifts are being considered on a piecemeal and ad hoc basis without benefit of an overarching framework and criteria. A national strategy could provide guidance by more systematically identifying the unique capacities and resources at each level of government to enhance homeland security and by providing increased accountability within the intergovernmental …
Date: July 2, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Status of Key Recommendations GAO Has Made to DHS and Its Legacy Agencies (open access)

Status of Key Recommendations GAO Has Made to DHS and Its Legacy Agencies

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government has undertaken numerous actions to enhance the nation's homeland security, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). One of the primary reasons for the establishment of DHS was to unify the vast national network of organizations and institutions involved in efforts to protect our nation. Since it began operations on March 1, 2003, DHS has faced enormous challenges to protect the nation from terrorism while it organizes itself into a coherent and integrated agency. We support Congress by reviewing various government programs and activities to help improve their performance and accountability. When our work identifies a significant need for action by the Congress or an agency, we develop recommended solutions. These recommendations identify actions we believe the department, agency, bureau, or office should implement to ensure government programs operate effectively and efficiently. This report responds to a Congressional request that we provide status information on key recommendations we have made to DHS and its legacy agencies. On June 30, 2004, we briefed Congress on the results of our review. This report transmits information provided …
Date: July 2, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Urban Area Security Initiative: FEMA Lacks Measures to Assess How Regional Collaboration Efforts Build Preparedness Capabilities (open access)

Urban Area Security Initiative: FEMA Lacks Measures to Assess How Regional Collaboration Efforts Build Preparedness Capabilities

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allocated about $5 billion for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program to enhance regional preparedness capabilities in the nation's highest risk urban areas (UASI regions). The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers this program. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (9/11 Act) required FEMA to change the size of the geographical areas used to assess UASI regions' risk. The conference report accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2008 directed GAO to assess FEMA's efforts to build regional preparedness through the UASI program, and determine how the 9/11 Act change affected UASI regions. This report addresses (1) the extent to which FEMA assesses how UASI regions' collaborative efforts build preparedness capabilities, and (2) how UASI officials described their collaboration efforts and changes resulting from the 9/11 Act. GAO surveyed all 49 UASI regions that received funding prior to the 9/11 Act change, and visited 6 regions selected based on factors such as length of participation. GAO also reviewed FEMA's grant guidance and monitoring systems."
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY2001-FY2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues (open access)

Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY2001-FY2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues

In February and March 2009, the Obama Administration announced its overall plans to increase troop levels in Afghanistan and decrease troop levels in Iraq for 2009 through 2011. Using several Department of Defense (DOD) data reports, this report describes, analyzes, and estimates deployed troop strength from the 9/11 attacks to FY2012 to provide Congress with a tool to assess current and future DOD war funding requests; implications for the U.S. military presence in the region; and deployment burdens on individual service members and each of the services.
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: Belasco, Amy
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress (open access)

Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress

Trafficking in persons (TIP) for the purposes of exploitation is believed to be one of the most prolific areas of international criminal activity and is of significant concern to the United States and the international community. This report discusses the global and ongoing problem of TIP in detail, as well as anti-TIP programs and U.S. and international efforts to combat TIP.
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: Wyler, Liana Sun; Siskin, Alison & Seelke, Clare Ribando
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
NATO in Afghanistan: A Test of the Transatlantic Alliance (open access)

NATO in Afghanistan: A Test of the Transatlantic Alliance

This report discusses the mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Afghanistan, the purpose of which is to stabilize and reconstruct Afghanistan by combating emerging threats such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This report also discusses how the Obama Administration has made the Afghanistan conflict a policy priority, and what this stance could mean for potential future endeavors.
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: Morelli, Vincent & Belkin, Paul
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Global Financial Crisis: Analysis and Policy Implications (open access)

The Global Financial Crisis: Analysis and Policy Implications

The world has entered a global recession that is causing widespread business contraction, increases in unemployment, and shrinking government revenues. The process for coping with the crisis by countries across the globe has been manifest in four basic phases. The first has been intervention to contain the contagion and restore confidence in the system. The second has been coping with the secondary effects of the crisis, particularly the global recession and flight of capital from countries in emerging markets and elsewhere that have been affected by the crisis. The third phase of this process is to make changes in the financial system to reduce risk and prevent future crises. The fourth phase of the process is dealing with political, social, and security effects of the financial turmoil. The role for Congress in this financial crisis is multifaceted. This report describes this role, as well as the financial crisis in general, in detail.
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ocean Acidification (open access)

Ocean Acidification

With increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, the extent of effects on the ocean and marine resources is an increasing concern. One aspect of this issue is the ongoing process whereby seawater becomes acidified (i.e., ocean acidification) as more CO2 dissolves in it, causing hydrogen ion concentration in seawater to increase. While not yet fully understood, the ecological and economic consequences of ocean acidification could be substantial. Congress is beginning to focus attention on better understanding ocean acidification and determining how this concern might be addressed.
Date: July 2, 2009
Creator: Buck, Eugene H. & Folger, Peter
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hedge Funds: Should They Be Regulated? (open access)

Hedge Funds: Should They Be Regulated?

In view of the growing impact of hedge funds on a variety of financial markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in October 2004 adopted a regulation that requires hedge funds to register as investment advisers, disclose basic information about their operations, and open their books for inspection. The regulation took effect in February 2006, but on June 23, 2006, a court challenge was upheld and the rule was vacated. S. 1402 and H.R. 2586 would reinstate the SEC's authority. H.R. 2683 would require defined benefit pension plans to disclose investments in hedge funds. In December 2006, the SEC proposed raising the "accredited investor" standard - to be permitted to invest in hedge funds, an investor would need $2.5 million in assets, instead of $1 million.
Date: July 2, 2007
Creator: Jickling, Mark
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library