A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1906, the Alaska Native Allotment Act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to allot individual Alaska Natives (Native) a homestead of up to 160 acres. The validity of some of Copper Valley Electric Association's (Copper Valley) rights-of-way within Alaska Native allotments is the subject of ongoing dispute; in some cases the allottees assert that Copper Valley's electric lines trespass on their land. The Department of the Interior's (Interior) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are responsible for granting rights-of-way and handling disputes between allotees and holders of rights-of-way. GAO determined (1) the number of conflicts between Native allotments and Copper Valley rights-of-way and the factors that contributed to these conflicts, (2) the extent to which existing remedies have been used to resolve these conflicts, and (3) what legislative alternatives, if any, could be considered to resolve these conflicts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For nearly 40 years, the federal government has played a role in providing early childhood development programs for children of low-income families through Head Start and other programs. Since 1980, the number of states with preschool programs has also significantly increased. While most of these programs have targeted children at risk of school failure, more recently, interest has grown in expanding these limited programs because of the growing concern about children's readiness for school and subsequent achievement. It has also been fueled by new research on early brain development that suggests the importance of early education and by the high rate of mothers in the workforce and their need for early childhood services. In this context, questions have arisen about how the various programs are coordinated and what lessons have been learned from broad-based state preschool efforts. This work focused on four states that have expanded their preschool programs to serve more children. In these states, GAO addressed (1) how prekindergarten programs were designed and funded, (2) the potential implications of these program features for children's participation and other programs that serve four year-olds, and (3) …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2000, the Congress passed the Open-market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications Act (ORBIT Act) to help promote a more competitive global satellite services market. The ORBIT Act called for the full privatization of INTELSAT, a former intergovernmental organization that provided international satellite services. GAO agreed to provide federal officials' and stakeholders' views on (1) whether the privatization steps required by the ORBIT Act have been implemented and whether there were potential inconsistencies between ORBIT Act requirements and U.S. obligations made in international trade agreements; (2) whether access by global satellite companies to non-U.S. markets has improved since the enactment of the ORBIT Act and, if so, to what is this generally attributed; and (3) if any market access problems remain, what role does the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have in addressing those problems under the ORBIT Act."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO was mandated to assess the effectiveness of defense agency performance contracts as management tools. As agreed, GAO also reviewed other tools (performance plans and balanced scorecards) and focused on three defense agencies--the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA). GAO addressed (1) the extent that the defense agencies initially used performance contracts, including whether this tool addressed attributes associated with results-oriented management; (2) defense agencies' efforts to implement performance plans using lessons learned from the initial contracts; and (3) the extent DOD established mechanisms to share lessons learned. GAO reviewed the content of these tools, but not the actual or reported performance. DISA has not yet finalized its scorecard, thus this report discusses only DISA's plans for its scorecard."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Wind-generated electricity--wind power--has the potential to provide electricity to homes and businesses without causing air pollution or depleting nonrenewable resources, unlike electricity generated by fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil). Furthermore, because wind power has no fuel costs--wind power depends on the energy of the wind--its operating costs are lower than the costs for power produced from fossil fuels, although its capital costs are greater. Wind power relies on frequent, strong winds to turn the blades of power-generating turbines. In the United States, a wind turbine with generating capacity of 2 megawatts (MW), placed on a tower situated on a farm, ranch, or other rural land, can generate enough electricity in a year--about 6 million kilowatt hours (kWh)--to serve the needs of 500 to 600 average U.S. households. In addition to environmental benefits, wind power has the potential to contribute significantly to America's growing energy needs while providing economic benefits to farms and communities in rural America. In this connection, the Department of Energy's (DOE) "Wind Powering America" program has set a goal of producing 5 percent of the nation's electricity from wind by 2020. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security Administration's (SSA) Disability Insurance (DI) program is one of the nation's largest cash assistance programs for disabled workers. In fiscal year 2003, the DI program provided about $70 billion in financial assistance to approximately 7.5 million disabled workers, their spouses, and dependent children. This program has grown in recent years and is poised to grow further as the baby boom generation ages. The Senate Committee on Finance asked GAO to (1) determine the amount of overpayments in the DI program, particularly those attributable to earnings or work activity, and (2) identify any vulnerabilities in SSA's processes and policies for verifying earnings that may contribute to work-related overpayments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investing more than a billion dollars over 3 years to modernize its information technology (IT) systems. The modernization is central to the bureau's ongoing efforts to transform the organization. GAO was asked to determine whether the FBI has (1) an integrated plan for modernizing its IT systems and (2) effective policies and procedures governing management of IT human capital, systems acquisition, and investment selection and control."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is caused by an extremely stressful event and can develop after the threat of death or serious injury as in military combat. Experts predict that about 15 percent of servicemembers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will develop PTSD. Efforts by VA to inform new veterans, including Reserve and National Guard members, about the expanded availability of VA health care services could result in an increased demand for VA PTSD services. GAO identified the approaches DOD uses to identify servicemembers at risk for PTSD and examined if VA has the information it needs to determine whether it can meet an increase in demand for PTSD services. GAO visited military bases and VA facilities, reviewed relevant documents, and interviewed DOD and VA officials to determine how DOD identifies servicemembers at risk for PTSD, and what information VA has to estimate demand for VA PTSD services."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over a trillion dollars in income was distributed in tax year 2002 by flow-through entities, such as partnerships, subchapter S corporations, and trusts, to their partners, shareholders, or beneficiaries, respectively. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that from 6 to 15 percent of such income is unreported on individual tax returns. This income is reported to both IRS and to the recipients on a Schedule K-1 (K-1). IRS uses K-1 data in its document-matching program to identify noncompliance and for other purposes. GAO was asked to (1) assess the accuracy of K-1 data, specifically transcription errors and taxpayer identification numbers (TIN); (2) determine whether any limitations in the availability or accuracy of K-1 data have affected IRS's ability to identify noncompliance; and (3) identify the benefits and challenges of increasing e-filing of K-1s."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress enacted the health coverage tax credit (HCTC) in 2002 for certain displaced workers receiving income support through the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program and for certain retirees receiving pensions from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). The HCTC equals 65 percent of the cost of qualified health coverage, which individuals can receive in advance--the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pays the credit to the qualifying health plan and the individual pays the remaining 35 percent--or by filing for the credit in their federal tax return. GAO was asked to review the implementation of the HCTC and examined, among other issues, how many individuals received it and factors influencing participation, and the type and cost of coverage they purchased. GAO obtained data from federal and state agencies and private health plans."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over 335,000 reserve members have been involuntarily called to active duty since September 11, 2001, and the Department of Defense (DOD) expects future reserve usage to remain high. This report is the second in response to a request for GAO to review DOD's mobilization and demobilization process. This review specifically examined the extent to which (1) DOD's implementation of a key mobilization authority and personnel polices affect reserve force availability, (2) the Army was able to execute its mobilization and demobilization plans efficiently, and (3) DOD can manage the health of its mobilized reserve forces."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia's Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is responsible for ensuring the safety and well being of about 3,000 children in its care and ensuring that services are provided to them and their families. In fiscal year 2003, CFSA's total budget was about $200 million. Concerns have been raised about CFSA's supply of caseworkers, the foster care and adoptive homes, and the quality and timeliness of mental health services for foster care children. To help address these issues, the Congress appropriated $14 million in fiscal year 2004 to CFSA, the Department of Mental Health (DMH), and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) specifically for foster care improvement. GAO examined CFSA's (1) strategies for recruiting, retaining, and managing its caseworkers; (2) efforts to license an adequate supply of safe foster and adoptive homes; and (3) efforts to collaborate with DMH and the Family Court to provide timely mental health services to foster care children. GAO also reviewed plans for and use of the federal foster care improvement funds."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government requires states that receive funds from the Child Care and Development Fund to establish basic health and safety requirements. The federal government also requires states receiving federal funds for child care to have procedures in place to ensure that providers being paid with grant dollars comply with the applicable safety and health requirements. Because of the significant federal role in paying for child care services and congressional concerns about the way in which states ensure the safety and health of children in child care settings, we were asked to follow up on our prior report, Child Care: State Efforts to Enforce Safety and Health Requirements (GAO/HEHS-00-28, Jan. 24, 2000). This report (1) identifies changes in states' licensing and enforcement activities for various types of licensed and nonlicensed providers since 1999, (2) describes the ways child care licensing agencies organize inspection staff and use technology, and (3) provides examples of promising practices in state child care licensing and enforcement activities. To obtain data, we surveyed state licensing officials in 2004 about their 2003 activities, interviewed experts and made site visits to four states--Delaware, Florida, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been working to develop the policies and plans to build the Electronic Records Archives (ERA), a major information system that is intended to preserve and provide access to massive volumes of all types and formats of electronic records. Senate Report 108-146 directed GAO to provide a progress report on NARA's development of the ERA system. Specifically, GAO's objective was to determine the agency's progress in implementing recommendations from previous assessments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The threat posed by infectious diseases has grown. New diseases, unknown in the United States just a decade ago, such as West Nile virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), have emerged. To detect cases of infectious diseases, especially before they develop into widespread outbreaks, local, state, and federal public health officials as well as international organizations conduct disease surveillance. Disease surveillance is the process of reporting, collecting, analyzing, and exchanging information related to cases of infectious diseases. In this report GAO was asked to examine disease surveillance efforts in the United States. Specifically, GAO described (1) how state and federal public health officials conduct surveillance for infectious diseases and (2) initiatives intended to enhance disease surveillance. GAO reviewed documents, such as policy manuals and reports related to disease surveillance, and interviewed officials from selected federal departments and agencies, including the Departments of Defense (DOD), Agriculture (USDA), and Homeland Security (DHS) as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). GAO conducted structured interviews of state public health officials from 11 states."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many individuals familiar with the Food Stamp Program view its rules as unnecessarily complex, creating an administrative burden for participants and caseworkers. In addition many participants receive benefits from other programs that have different program rules, adding to the complexity of accurately determining program benefits and eligibility. The 2002 Farm Bill introduced new options to help simplify the program. This report examines (1) which options states have chosen to implement and why, and (2) what changes local officials reported as a result of using these options. Selected results from GAO's web-based survey of food stamp administrators are provided in an e-supplement to this report, GAO-04-1058SP. Another e-supplement, GAO-04-1059SP, contains results from the local food stamp office surveys."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures the education of the nation's disabled children. As a condition of receiving IDEA funds, states must provide educational and related services that facilitate learning to students with disabilities based on their individual needs. The Department of Education (Education) is responsible for ensuring state compliance with the law. In recent years, questions have been raised about Education's oversight of IDEA. GAO agreed to determine how Education monitors state compliance with IDEA for children aged 3-21, the extent and nature of noncompliance found, and how Education has ensured that noncompliance is resolved once identified. GAO analyzed Education monitoring documents, interviewed state and federal officials, and visited 5 state special education offices."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Food aid cargo must generally be carried on U.S.-flag ships under requirements set by the cargo preference program. Two groups of carriers compete for this cargo: (1) those that participate in the Maritime Security Program and receive an annual government subsidy--generally liners operating on scheduled routes and (2) those that do not--generally carriers operating on a charter basis. Congress directed GAO to study (1) how the cargo preference and Maritime Security programs are designed and who participates;(2) the nature and extent of MSF and non-MSF carrier participation and competition in the food aid program; and (3) how a tonnage limitation on bagged preference cargo for MSF vessels could affect MSF, other U.S.-flag ships, the cargo preference food aid program, and the ports servicing these ships."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "International trade in wildlife is a multibillion-dollar industry that, in some cases, has taken species to the brink of extinction. To address the problem, several countries, including the United States, created an international treaty--the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora--that took effect in 1975. The United States also has domestic laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, that protect species. The protections provided by the Convention and domestic laws can differ. For example, in some cases, U.S. laws afford more stringent protections to species than the Convention does; such stricter protections can prevent U.S. interests from participating in trade that is permitted by the Convention. The Convention's member countries meet periodically to discuss implementation of the Convention and are scheduled next to meet in Thailand in October 2004. In anticipation of this meeting, GAO was asked to report on (1) how implementation of the Convention has changed over the years, (2) U.S. funding and other resources spent on Convention-related activities, and (3) the relationship between the Convention and some domestic laws. The Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "American Indians and Alaska Natives generally face worse economic conditions than the rest of the U.S. population. The Economic Development Administration (EDA) within the Department of Commerce provides grants to distressed communities, including to American Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities, to generate employment and stimulate economic growth. Because data on how these EDA grants helped tribes was not publicly available, GAO analyzed all EDA grants made to Indian tribes from 1993-2002 and determined what economic development resulted. Tribes also enter into self-governance and other contracting arrangements with two federal agencies--the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service--to assume the management of individual services, including law enforcement, education, social services, and road maintenance. GAO also analyzed the relationship between changes in tribes' economic profile and the extent to which they had self-governance or contracting arrangements to perform their own services. BIA and EDA provided comments on a draft of this report. BIA generally agreed with GAO's conclusions. EDA took issue with GAO's characterization of the relative success of EDA grant programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For the past 7 years, since the first audit of the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government (CFS), certain material weaknesses in internal control and financial reporting have resulted in conditions that have prevented GAO from expressing an opinion on the CFS. Specifically, GAO has reported that the federal government did not have adequate systems, controls, and procedures to properly prepare the CFS. In October 2003, GAO reported on weaknesses identified during the fiscal year 2002 audit regarding financial reporting procedures and internal control over the process for preparing the CFS. The purpose of this report is to (1) discuss additional weaknesses identified during the fiscal year 2003 audit, (2) recommend improvements to address those weaknesses, and (3) provide the status of corrective actions to address the 129 open recommendations contained in the October 2003 report."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The DD(X) destroyer--a surface ship intended to expand the Navy's littoral warfare capabilities--depends on the development of a number of new technologies to meet its requirements. The Navy intends to authorize detailed design and construction of the first ship in March 2005. GAO's past work has shown that developing advanced systems that rely heavily on new technologies requires a disciplined, knowledge-based approach to ensure cost, schedule, and performance targets are met. Best practices show, for example, that a program should not be launched before critical technologies are sufficiently matured--that is, the technology has been demonstrated in its intended environment--and that a design should be stabilized by the critical design review. Given the complexity of the DD(X) system and the number of new technologies involved, GAO was asked to describe the Navy's acquisition strategy for DD(X) and how it relates to best practices, and how efforts to mature critical technologies are proceeding."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Costs for overseas posts' administrative support services have risen nearly 30 percent since fiscal year 2001, reaching about $1 billion in 2003. These costs are distributed among 50 agencies through the International Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS) system, which was designed to reduce costs and provide quality services in a simple, transparent, and equitable manner. Since ICASS was implemented in 1998, its performance has not been systematically reviewed. GAO was asked to examine (1) whether ICASS has led to efficient delivery of administrative services and (2) whether ICASS is an effective mechanism for providing quality services."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has expanded the number of low-income and minority serving institutions eligible for grants under Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act and nearly doubled funding for these grants in the last 5 years to about $432 million in fiscal year 2004. Institutions eligible for funding under Titles III and V include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native Serving Institutions, Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and other postsecondary institutions that serve low-income students. Given the recent expansion, we examined these programs to determine (1) how institutions used their Title III and Title V grants and the benefits they received from using these grant funds, (2) what objectives and strategies the Department of Education (Education) has developed for Title III and Title V programs, and (3) to what extent Education monitors and provides assistance to Title III and Title V institutions."