Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On June 4, 2003, GAO testified before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs at a hearing entitled "Transforming the Department of Defense Personnel System: Finding the Right Approach." This letter responds to a request that we provide answers to posthearing questions from Senator George V. Voinovich and Senator Thomas R. Carper concerning the proposed Department of Defense (DOD) Human Capital Reform."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the use of the Internet to facilitate the submission and resolution of federal customer complaints, focusing on the: (1) type and extent of web-based complaint mechanisms provided by 32 federal agencies which handle 90 percent of the federal government's contact with the public; and (2) status of two federal efforts to develop central Internet-based gateways: www.consumer.gov and FirstGov."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on whether Ireland is a major transshipment point for international narcotics traffickers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Despite a recent decline in the population that smokes, smoking is considered the leading cause of preventable death in this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 2 million deaths in the 5-year period from 1995 through 1999 were attributable to cigarette smoking. CDC, part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a primary source of information on the health consequences of smoking tobacco. CDC reported its most recent estimates of selected health consequences of cigarette smoking in an April 2002 issue of its publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC reported that, on average, over 440,000 deaths, 5.6 million years of potential life lost, $82 billion in mortality-related productivity losses, and $76 billion in medical expenditures were attributable to cigarette smoking each year from 1995 through 1999. CDC and others tasked with making such estimates face challenges. They build estimates on a set of assumptions and make choices about the data sources and methods used, each of which may have limitations that must be weighed against its advantages. Policymakers at both the state and federal levels have relied on …

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-08-81G, Audit Manual: Volume 1, Exposure Draft, October 2007. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) maintain the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This draft Executive Guide describes fundamental practices and procedures used in the private sector to achieve consistent and accurate physical counts of inventory and related property. It summarizes the principles that have been successfully implemented by companies recognized for their outstanding record of inventory management. It also explains and describes leading practices from which the federal government may be able to draw lessons and ideas. This guide applies to most forms of federal inventory, but some of the discussed practices may not be applicable to various types of bulk, natural resource, and nonturning inventories, such as the Department of Energy's strategic petroleum reserve."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About 75 percent of casualties in current combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are attributed to improvised explosive devices (IED). To mitigate the threat from these weapons, the Department of Defense (DOD) initiated the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program, which uses a tailored acquisition approach to rapidly acquire and field the vehicles. In May 2007, the Secretary of Defense affirmed MRAP as DOD's single most important acquisition program. To date, more than $22 billion has been appropriated to acquire more than 15,000 MRAP vehicles, and about 6,600 of the vehicles have been fielded. In view of the importance of this program and the significant cost involved, Congress asked us to (1) describe DOD's approach for and progress in implementing its strategy for rapidly acquiring and fielding MRAP vehicles, and (2) identify the challenges remaining for the program."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Five years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, concerns continue to be raised about the nation's system for protecting commercial aviation. Past disclosures of terrorists' plans for smuggling liquids onboard aircraft to construct a bomb in flight highlighted the continued need to examine this key aspect of homeland security. One layer of the aviation security system involves the ability of the federal government to respond to actual or potential security threats while a commercial aircraft is in flight. These security threats can include the following: (1) Passengers considered to be security risks to aviation are found to be onboard flights bound for or leaving the United States. (2) Situations develop while the aircraft is in flight--for example, a passenger becomes disruptive or acts suspiciously, a bomb threat is received, or an unidentified package is found onboard the aircraft. (3) A commercial aircraft transmits a signal designed to alert authorities that a hijacking is in process. Procedures for addressing these in-flight security threats involve a wide range of federal agencies and entities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for taking much of the lead in …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On June 9, 2005, GAO testified before the Subcommittee on Railroads, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure at a hearing on "Amtrak Food and Beverage Operations." This letter responds to a Congressional request that we provide answers to questions for the record."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by VA are sufficient to help support Treasury and …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO and Inspector General (IG) reports have noted that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) efforts to modernize over the last 4 years have been unfocused, conducted in an ad hoc and decentralized manner, and, in certain instances, duplicative. In 2006, USCIS decided to reexamine its modernization effort within the context of an agencywide organizational and business transformation initiative. The agency embarked on a transformation of its business processes and technology aimed at increasing national security and integrity, improving customer service, and achieving operational efficiency. We agreed with this approach and recommended that USCIS employ key practices for successful organizational transformations to better ensure the success of its efforts. USCIS plans to complete its transformation by 2013 at an estimated cost of up to $536 million, mostly funded by fee revenues. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2007 mandated that GAO review USCIS' transformation plans before the agency can obligate $47 million in funding for the transformation. Congress also requested that specific information be included in USCIS' plan: all resources associated with transformation efforts (appropriations and fees), including a detailed breakout of …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America, for the fiscal years ended March 31, 1998 and 1999, focusing on whether the audit reports complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-01-145G, GAO's Congressional Protocols, November 2000. This report supersedes GAO-01-145G, GAO's Congressional Protocols November 2000, and GAO-03-198G, GAO's Congressional Protocols: Addendum I, November 2002. This document contains updated protocols governing GAO's work for the Congress. Since we implemented the original protocols in November 2000, we have monitored their application, and several areas were identified as needing additional clarity to enhance our ability to better serve the Congress. The refinements in this edition reflect feedback from Members of Congress and their staffs since the original implementation and, more specifically, comments received between November 2003 and June 2004 on proposed revisions to the protocols. These protocols continue to provide a means of holding GAO accountable for commitments made to the Congress and ensuring that GAO is consistent in dealing with all committees and Members. In order to address existing and growing workload imbalances and provide more transparency about our decision-making criteria, these revised protocols clarify our authority to conduct work, delineate our priorities for initiating work, and identify the factors we consider before accepting congressional requests for work."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Boy Scouts of America for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Efforts by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to promote sound and uniform regulatory processes across the states are being put to the test as pressure builds from both the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and competitive forces for more efficient and streamlined insurance regulatory processes. One factor affecting the ultimate success of these efforts is the level of confidence state regulators will have in their counterparts' willingness and ability to adequately obtain, assess, and validate information provided by industry applicants in making regulatory decisions. Each state will be required to rely on the actions of regulators in other states to a greater degree than ever before. Whether regulators ultimately achieve uniformity in some areas or even attain reciprocity, continuing weaknesses in some states' regulatory framework can undermine the system. NAIC and state regulators believe that the development of more uniform and streamlined methods for obtaining licensing approval on individuals, products, and insurance companies in multiple states can enhance the ability of insurers to compete with other financial service entities while at the same time maintaining or improving the quality of insurance regulation. Both the timely completion and degree …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Catholic War Veterans of the United States of America, Incorporated for Fiscal Year 2004. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2006, we reported on significant internal control deficiencies related to contractor payments and property accountability associated with the development of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Trilogy information technology (IT) modernization project. In that audit, we found FBI's invoice review and approval process did not provide an adequate basis to verify that goods and services billed were actually received and that amounts billed were appropriate. We also found that FBI relied extensively on Trilogy contractors to purchase and account for Trilogy equipment without controls or data to verify the accuracy and completeness of the contractor records. Additionally, once FBI took possession of the Trilogy equipment, it did not have adequate controls to safeguard those assets. FBI is now acquiring and deploying a new automated case management system, known as Sentinel, to replace the case management system that was to be delivered as part of the Trilogy project. Sentinel is being developed in four phases at an estimated cost of $425 million and is scheduled to be completed in May 2010. Phase 1 of the project was completed in June 2007. In light of the problems we …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2008, the United Nations (UN) began construction associated with its Capital Master Plan (CMP) to renovate its headquarters complex in New York City. As the UN's host country and largest contributor, the United States has a substantial interest in the success of the CMP. In this requested update, GAO reviewed the following key areas: schedule, cost, funding, risk management, procurement, and oversight. To perform this work, GAO reviewed UN documents and met with officials from the CMP office and other UN departments. GAO also reviewed select CMP schedules to assess the extent to which they met best practices for scheduling contained in GAO's Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide. To assess oversight and monitoring, GAO reviewed UN documents and oversight reports and interviewed officials from the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services and officials from the U.S. Department of State (State)."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-04-546G, Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and Development Efforts in the Federal Government, March 2004. This guide introduces a framework, consisting of a set of principles and key questions that federal agencies can use to ensure that their training and development investments are targeted strategically and are not wasted on efforts that are irrelevant, duplicative, or ineffective. Effective training and development programs are an integral part of a learning environment that can enhance the federal government's ability to attract and retain employees with the skills and competencies needed to achieve results for the benefit of the American people. Training and developing new and current staff to fill new roles and work in different waqys will be a crucial part of a federal government's endeavors to meet its transformation challenges. Ways that employees learn and achieve results will also continue to transform how agencies do business and engage employees in further innovation and improvements."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, are estimated to have resulted in insured losses amounting to $32.5 billion. Subsequent to the attacks, insurers largely stopped offering terrorism insurance coverage to commercial property owners, which raised significant concerns about potential negative economic consequences. To help restore confidence and stability in property insurance markets, Congress enacted and the President signed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA). Under TRIA, the federal government assumed significant responsibility for the potential insured financial losses associated with future terrorist attacks. While TRIA, which was reauthorized in 2005 and again in 2007, has been credited with stabilizing markets for commercial property insurance, some building owners, Members of Congress, and other industry participants remain concerned that there may still be gaps in coverage. In particular, they have expressed concerns about the ability of policyholders located in large urban areas that are viewed as being at high risk of attack to obtain terrorism insurance coverage. Under the 2007 statute that reauthorized TRIA coverage, GAO was required to conduct a study …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report provides information on hourly fees paid by the federal government to private attorneys for legal services in fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001. Relevant legal services include federal employee defense, litigative consultation, intellectual property consultation, and asset forfeiture-related services. For these types of services, GAO obtained information on hourly fees paid to private attorneys by the Department of Justice, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. GAO found that the hourly fees paid to private attorneys ranged from $125 to $357, depending on the agency and the type of legal service."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Commuter rail is an important part of the transportation system in many cities and regions in our country, providing more than 420 million passenger trips in 2005. Although several of the largest commuter rail agencies hire their own employees, many agencies contract with other companies, including Amtrak, freight railroads, and private rail operators, to provide services that are critical to running the agencies' trains. These contracted services include providing crews to operate trains (train operations); maintenance of equipment (MOE), including maintenance of train cars and locomotives; dispatching train traffic; and maintenance of way (MOW), which involves maintaining the track, signals, and other track infrastructure. Commuter rail agencies can obtain these services by opening contracts to competition or through noncompetitive negotiations with a service provider. Congress asked us to provide information on the service arrangements between commuter rail agencies and other companies. Accordingly, we addressed the following questions: (1) How many currently active commuter rail service contracts were obtained through competitive and noncompetitive processes? (2) What differences, if any, are there between competitively and noncompetitively negotiated contracts?"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and the Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the fiscal year 2004 CFS, we evaluated the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) financial reporting procedures and related internal control over the process for compiling the CFS, including the management representation letter provided us by Treasury and OMB. Written representation letters from management, required by U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, ordinarily confirm oral representations given to the auditor, indicate and document the continuing appropriateness of those representations, and reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding between management and the auditor. The purpose of this report is to communicate our observations on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) fiscal year 2004 management representation letter. Our objective is to help ensure that future management representation letters submitted by EPA are sufficient to help support Treasury and OMB's …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee asked GAO to present its preliminary findings on the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) disability claims process. This statement discusses (1) the trends in VA compensation claims and appeals, and (2) the steps VA is taking to improve disability claims processing. This testimony is based on ongoing work. GAO's findings are based largely on VA performance data and information obtained from VA documents and through interviews with VA officials. This testimony is also based on past GAO work on this subject, updated as appropriate to reflect VA's current workload and initiatives."