A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, both houses of Congress approved separate legislation to reauthorize the federal-aid highway program to help meet the Nation's surface transportation needs, enhance mobility, and promote economic growth. Both bills also recognized that the Nation faces significant transportation challenges in the future, and each established a National Commission to assess future revenue sources for the Highway Trust Fund and to consider the roles of the various levels of government and the private sector in meeting future surface transportation financing needs. This report (1) updates information on trends in federal, state, and local capital investment in highways; (2) assesses the influence that federal-aid highway grants have had on state and local highway spending; (3) discusses the implications of these trends for the federal-aid highway program; and (4) discusses options for the federal-aid highway program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Conference Report on the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, directed GAO to monitor AOC's progress in implementing recommendations contained in GAO's management review of AOC's operations, issued in January 2003. This is the second status report in which GAO examines the actions taken by AOC to implement selected GAO recommendations. Additionally, the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, mandated GAO to assess AOC's Chief Operating Officer's (COO) action plan. This report provides that assessment."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration (SBA) approved about $8.6 billion in loan guarantees through its 7(a) loan program in fiscal year 2003. SBA must estimate the subsidy cost of this program. Since fiscal year 2003, SBA has been using econometric modeling to estimate the subsidy. This report reviews SBA's estimation methodology and equations, assesses the default and recovery rates the model produced, identifies ways to enhance the estimates' reliability, describes the process for developing the model, and analyzes SBA's data."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has committed to a transformation to increase its focus on national security. The FBI has shifted agent resources to its top priorities of counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cyber crime. Some of these agent resources were shifted away from drug, white-collar, and violent crime enforcement programs. The FBI's drug program has sustained, by far, the largest reduction in FBI agent workforce--about 550 positions, or more than 80 percent of the nonsupervisory field agents who were permanently reprogrammed. In addition, the FBI has had a continuing need to temporarily redirect agents from drug, white-collar, and violent crime enforcement to address counterterrorism-related workload demands. While GAO and other organizations have focused considerable attention on the progress of the FBI's transformation, this report addresses questions about the extent to which the shift in resources has affected federal efforts to combat drug, white-collar, and violent crime and whether other agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the drug enforcement area, are filling gaps created by FBI resource shifts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration (SBA) played a key role in assisting small businesses affected by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by providing over $1 billion in disaster loans to businesses that sustained physical damage or economic injury. Small businesses in the immediate areas of the attacks and others nationwide that suffered related economic injury were eligible to apply for disaster loans. SBA declined or withdrew about half of these loan applications. SBA's disaster loans are direct federal government loans provided at a subsidized interest rate. In response to concerns that more small businesses impacted by September 11 could have benefited from SBA's disaster loans, GAO conducted a review of its Disaster Loan Program. Specifically, GAO addressed the following questions: (1) Are the disaster program policies consistent with the law and the overall mission of SBA's Disaster Loan Program? (2) What were SBA's underwriting policies and criteria for September 11 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and how did they compare with those applied by nonprofit lenders that were active in New York City after September 11? (3) Did SBA correctly apply its policies and procedures in …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Inaccurate social security numbers (SSN) on wage statements contribute to growth in the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Earnings Suspense File, increase the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) workload to ensure that wages are properly identified for those earning them, and burden individuals who must work with SSA and IRS to resolve disputes that may affect their social security benefits and tax obligations. IRS's ability to penalize employers for submitting inaccurate SSNs on wage statements is intended to promote SSN accuracy. Items GAO was asked to describe included: (1) the statutory provisions authorizing IRS to penalize employers who file wage statements with inaccurate SSNs; (2) IRS's program to penalize such employers; and (3) the extent IRS's program meets legislative requirements, the likelihood of any penalties, and any program changes being considered."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Terrorist attacks, both before and after September 11, 2001, have increased congressional concerns regarding the complexity, funding, and oversight of federal programs designed to combat terrorism and ensure homeland security. Hundreds of recommendations have been made by nationally chartered commissions and GAO to further improve our nation's strategic planning and program development in homeland security. GAO was asked to review the reports of selected congressionally chartered commissions and previously issued GAO reports and testimonies in order to identify the strategic recommendations made and organize them both by critical mission area and topic area."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Flood maps identify areas at greatest risk of flooding and provide the foundation for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The maps are used by (1) communities to establish minimum building standards designed to reduce the impact of flooding, (2) FEMA to set insurance rates, and (3) lenders to identify property owners who are required to purchase flood insurance. Nearly 70 percent of all flood maps are more than 10 years old, according to FEMA. In an effort to update its flood maps, FEMA is implementing a $1 billion, 5-year map modernization program. GAO was asked to review the progress of FEMA's map modernization program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the results of our audit of the financial statements of the Senate Health Promotion Revolving Fund (the Fund) as of and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002. This report also contains our opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund's related internal control as of September 30, 2002, and our evaluation of its compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations we tested. We performed this audit at the request of the former Senate Sergeant at Arms."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although the weapons that the Department of Defense (DOD) develops have no rival in superiority, there still remain ways in which they can be improved. GAO's reviews over the past 20 years have found consistent problems with weapon acquisitions--cost increases, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls--along with underlying causes, such as pressure on managers to promise more than they can deliver. DOD can resolve these problems by using a knowledge-based approach derived from the best practices of successful product developments. GAO's goal for this report is to provide congressional and DOD decision makers with an independent, knowledge-based assessment of selected defense programs that identifies potential risks and offers an opportunity for action when a program's projected attainment of knowledge diverges from the best practice. It can also highlight those programs that employ practices worthy of emulation by other programs. GAO plans to update and issue this report annually."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Grants and contracts constitute over two-thirds of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget. In fiscal year 2003, EPA awarded $3.6 billion in grants directed by Congress, $656 million in grants awarded at its own discretion, and $934 million in contracts. Under the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977, whether EPA should award a grant or a contract depends upon the principal purpose of the award. In this context, GAO was asked to determine (1) the trends over the last 11 years on EPA's expenditures on discretionary grants and contracts and the types of goods and services obtained by each and (2) the extent to which EPA has and follows procedures for deciding when to use grants or contracts."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On May 15, 2003, and again on July 25, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, Subcommittees on Homeland Security, of its intention to reprogram a large amount of funds appropriated to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for fiscal year 2003. In an August 2003 letter, Congress requested that we review the key events leading up to the reprogramming and subsequent revisions as they related to the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS). In particular, we were asked to determine (1) whether senior TSA, DHS, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials were informed of the implications of the FAMS funding reductions prior to submission of the reprogramming notices; (2) the programmatic implications of the funding reductions on the FAMS program; (3) whether it was legally necessary to send an impoundment message to the Congress; and whether the Secretary of Homeland Security had delegated to the Under Secretary for Management the authority to transmit reprogramming notifications to the cognizant Appropriations Subcommittees. Finally, Congress asked us to identify, as appropriate, improvements in budget execution for future consideration. As agreed, we briefed …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the results of our audit of the financial statements of the Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence Revolving Fund (the Fund) for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002. This report also contains our opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund's related internal control as of September 30, 2002, and our evaluation of its compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations we tested. We performed this audit at the request of the former Senate Sergeant at Arms."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1975, the District of Columbia has operated its mental health system under a series of court orders aimed at developing a community-based system of care for District residents with mental illnesses. Placed in receivership from 1997 to 2002, the District regained full control of its mental health system in 2002 but has been ordered to implement a courtapproved plan for developing and implementing a community-based mental health system. Additionally, the District must comply with exit criteria, which must be met in order to end the lawsuit. The court expects that it will take the District 3 to 5 years to implement the courtordered plan and begin measuring performance against the exit criteria, with year 1 beginning in July 2001. GAO was asked to report on the current status of the District's efforts to develop and implement (1) a mental health department with the authority to oversee and deliver services, (2) a comprehensive enrollment and billing system that accesses available funds for federal programs such as Medicaid, (3) a consumer-centered approach to services, and (4) methods to measure the District's performance as required by the court's …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction by 2007, with possible extensions to 2012. The CWC also seeks to reduce the proliferation of these weapons by requiring member states to adopt comprehensive national laws to criminalize CWC-prohibited activities. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) monitors the destruction of chemical weapons and inspects declared commercial facilities in member states. GAO was asked to review (1) member states' efforts to meet key convention requirements, (2) OPCW's efforts in conducting inspections to ensure compliance with the convention, and (3) Russia's efforts to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the expenditures of two offices of independent counsel for the 6 months ended September 30, 2003."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. government has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in developing the most sophisticated weapon systems and technologies in the world. Yet, U.S. weapons and technologies are vulnerable to exploitation, which can weaken U.S. military advantage, shorten the expected combat life of a system, and erode the U.S. industrial base's technological competitiveness. In an effort to protect U.S. technologies from exploitation, the Department of Defense (DOD) established in 1999 a policy directing each military service to implement anti-tamper techniques, which include software and hardware protective devices. This report reviews DOD's implementation of the anti-tamper policy as required by the Senate report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the wake of September 11, 2001, Congress enacted the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Title VIII, subtitle F, section 852 of the act provided for a temporary set of emergency procurement flexibilities intended to address the immediate needs for procurement of property (other than real property) or services to be used to defend against or recover from terrorist threats, including nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks. These flexibilities, which expired on November 24, 2003, included (1) increasing the threshold for simplified acquisition procedures in support of humanitarian, peacekeeping, or contingency operations from $100,000 to $200,000 for contracts awarded and performed within the United States and, for contracts awarded and performed, or purchases to be made outside the United States, to $300,000; (2) increasing the micro-purchase threshold from $2,500 to $7,500 to allow agencies the use of purchase cards above the current limit; (3) waiving certain provisions of law and the dollar threshold related to commercial item procurements; and (4) requiring the head of an agency, when appropriate, to use streamlined acquisition authorities and procedures authorized by law for a procurement referred to in section 852. Section 852 …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) has been in effect for 10 years. In that context, the subcommittee asked GAO to discuss our recent report, Results- Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results. Our testimony addresses the effectiveness of GPRA in creating a focus on results in the federal government."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has issued several reports pertaining to the Department of Defense's (DOD) architecture and systems modernization efforts which revealed that many of the underlying conditions that contributed to the failure of prior DOD efforts to improve its business systems remain fundamentally unchanged. The Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, House Committee on Armed Services, asked GAO to provide its perspectives on (1) the impact long-standing financial and related business weaknesses continue to have on DOD, (2) the underlying causes of DOD business transformation challenges, and (3) DOD business transformation efforts. In addition, GAO reiterates the key elements to successful reform: (1) an integrated business transformation strategy, (2) sustained leadership and resource control, (3) clear lines of responsibility and accountability, (4) results-oriented performance, (5) appropriate incentives and consequences, (6) an enterprise architecture to guide reform efforts, and (7) effective monitoring and oversight. GAO also offers two suggestions for legislative consideration that are intended to improve the likelihood of meaningful, broad-based financial management and related business reform at DOD."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "After the attacks of September 11, 2001, concerns intensified that terrorists would attempt to smuggle a weapon of mass destruction into the United States. One possible method is to use one of the 7 million cargo containers that arrive at our seaports each year. Addressing the potential threat posed by the movement of oceangoing cargo containers falls to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Since CBP cannot inspect all arriving cargo containers, it uses a targeting strategy, including an Automated Targeting System. This system targets containers for inspection based on perceived level of risk. In this testimony, GAO summarizes its work on (1) whether the development of CBP's targeting strategy is consistent with recognized key risk management and modeling practices and (2) how well the strategy has been implemented at selected seaports."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Ineffective oversight and management of the Department of Defense's (DOD) travel card program, which GAO previously reported on, have led to concerns about airline tickets DOD purchased but did not use and for which it did not claim refunds. GAO was asked to (1) determine whether, and to what extent, airline tickets purchased through the centrally billed accounts were unused and not refunded and (2) determine whether DOD's internal controls provided reasonable assurance that all unused tickets were identified and submitted for refunds."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Information about the financial condition of defined benefit pension plans is provided in two sources: regulatory reports to the government and corporate financial statements. The two sources can often appear to provide contradictory information. For example, when pension asset values declined for most large companies between 2000 and 2002, these companies all continued to report positive returns on pension assets in their financial statement calculations of pension expense. This apparent inconsistency, coupled with disclosures about corporate accounting scandals and news of failing pension plans, has raised questions about the accuracy and transparency of available information about pension plans. GAO was asked to explain and describe (1) key differences between the two publicly available sources of information; (2) the limitations of information about the financial condition of defined benefit plans from these two sources; and (3) recent or proposed changes to pension reporting, including selected approaches to pension reporting used in other countries."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over 50 million low-income adults and children receive health insurance coverage through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Federal law allows states to require beneficiary contributions, such as premiums and cost sharing (coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles), for at least some Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries. GAO was asked to (1) identify and compare states' Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiary contribution requirements for children, (2) identify states' Medicaid beneficiary contribution requirements for adults, and (3) determine the extent to which states' Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiary contribution requirements have changed since 2001. GAO surveyed Medicaid and SCHIP program offices in the 50 states and the District of Columbia about their beneficiary contribution requirements as of August 2003, including their requirements for specific population groups and for six selected services, such as inpatient hospital, physician services, and prescription drugs. For each population group covered, states were asked to indicate the portion of the group charged beneficiary contributions by selecting "all," "most," "some," or "none." GAO also interviewed officials of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the Medicaid and SCHIP statutory requirements for beneficiary contributions."