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Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle: DOD Is Addressing Knowledge Gaps in Its New Acquisition Strategy [Reissued on August 13, 2012] (open access)

Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle: DOD Is Addressing Knowledge Gaps in Its New Acquisition Strategy [Reissued on August 13, 2012]

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has numerous efforts in progress to address the knowledge gaps and data deficiencies identified in the GAO report. Of the seven recommendations GAO made to the Secretary of Defense, two have been completely addressed. While two of GAO’s recommendations have actions underway that are expected to be completed, two recommendations need more action for completion and one has had no action taken."
Date: July 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Force Structure: Assessment of Army Report on Fiscal Year 2011 Progress in Modular Restructuring (open access)

Force Structure: Assessment of Army Report on Fiscal Year 2011 Progress in Modular Restructuring

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Army’s Fiscal Year 2011 Report on the Prioritization of Funds for Equipment Readiness and Strategic Capability, issued in September 2011, the report addressed the requirements of the John Warner NDAA for Fiscal Year 2007 rather than the amended requirements stipulated in the Ike Skelton NDAA for Fiscal Year 2011. The report does include some information that addresses aspects of the updated reporting requirements. For example, the 2011 NDAA requires the Army to include a description of the status of the development of doctrine on how modular combat, functional, and support forces will train, be sustained, and fight. In addressing the old reporting requirements in the 2007 NDAA, the Army’s 2011 report discusses modifications to the modularity plan due to finalization of organizational designs and the need to reprioritize due to the emergence of higher-priority force-protection programs. However, the report does not mention the status of the development of doctrine on how modular combat, functional, and support forces will train, be sustained, and fight, as required by the current law."
Date: March 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOD Financial Management: Improvements Needed in Prompt Payment Monitoring and Reporting (open access)

DOD Financial Management: Improvements Needed in Prompt Payment Monitoring and Reporting

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We found that while DOD has a process in place for monitoring and reporting on late-payment penalties, this process has significant flaws and omissions that result in incomplete and inaccurate data, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the process. Specifically, DOD’s performance measure, or metric, for late-payment penalties did not include about $54 billion of commercial payments subject to the Prompt Payment Act, and DOD did not assess the data for accuracy or completeness. In addition, at the time of our review, DOD was not monitoring or reporting on discounts lost across the department because, DOD officials stated, the metric had consistently met its goal. The deficiencies we found in DOD’s process for monitoring and reporting on late-payment penalties and discounts lost significantly increase the risk to the accuracy and completeness of reported data, thus preventing DOD officials and congressional oversight committees from obtaining the reliable and comprehensive data they need for assessing the extent of any issues concerning late-payment penalties and discounts lost across DOD. According to DOD officials and reports, a major contributor to late-payment penalties incurred and discounts lost was the late receipt of documents necessary …
Date: June 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Burma: UN and U.S. Agencies Assisted Cyclone Victims in Difficult Environment, but Improved U.S. Monitoring Needed (open access)

Burma: UN and U.S. Agencies Assisted Cyclone Victims in Difficult Environment, but Improved U.S. Monitoring Needed

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's impoverished Irrawaddy Delta on May 2, 2008, leaving nearly 140,000 people dead or missing and severely affecting about 2.4 million others, according to the UN. The Burmese military government initially blocked most access to the affected region; however, amid international pressure, it slowly began allowing international aid workers entry into the region. Since 1997, the United States has imposed sanctions to prohibit, among other things, the exportation of financial services to Burma and transactions with Burmese officials. In response to a congressional mandate, GAO (1) described the assistance UN and U.S. agencies have provided in response to Cyclone Nargis, (2) assessed USAID actions to help ensure funds are used as intended and do not benefit sanctioned entities, and (3) described the challenges responders experienced and the lessons learned. GAO reviewed financial and program documents; interviewed U.S., UN, and nongovernmental organization (NGO) officials; and traveled to Thailand and Burma."
Date: July 26, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Critical Infrastructure Protection: Observations on Key Factors in DHS's Implementation of Its Partnership Approach (open access)

Critical Infrastructure Protection: Observations on Key Factors in DHS's Implementation of Its Partnership Approach

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's prior work has identified several key factors that are important for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement its partnership approach with industry to protect critical infrastructure. DHS has made some progress in implementing its partnership approach, but has also experienced challenges coordinating with industry partners that own most of the critical infrastructure."
Date: March 26, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Contracting: Opportunities Exist to Increase Competition and Assess Reasons When Only One Offer Is Received (open access)

Federal Contracting: Opportunities Exist to Increase Competition and Assess Reasons When Only One Offer Is Received

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Competition is a critical tool for achieving the best return on the government's investment. While federal agencies are generally required to award contracts on the basis of full and open competition, they are permitted to award noncompetitive contracts in certain situations. Agencies are also required to establish competition advocates to promote competition. GAO assessed (1) trends in noncompetitive contracts and those receiving only one offer when competed; (2) exceptions to and factors affecting competition; (3) whether contracting approaches reflected sound procurement practices; and (4) how agencies are instituting the competition advocate role. GAO reviewed federal procurement data and 107 randomly selected contracts at the departments of Defense, Interior, and Homeland Security (which had among the highest noncompetitive obligations in fiscal year 2008) and interviewed contracting and program officials, competition advocates, and contractors."
Date: July 26, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information Technology: DHS Needs to Enhance Management of Cost and Schedule for Major Investments (open access)

Information Technology: DHS Needs to Enhance Management of Cost and Schedule for Major Investments

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Approximately two-thirds of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) major information technology (IT) investments are meeting their cost and schedule commitments (i.e., goals). Specifically, out of 68 major IT investments in development, 47 were meeting cost and schedule commitments. The remaining 21—which total about $1 billion in spending—had one or more subsidiary projects that were not meeting cost and/or schedule commitments (i.e., they exceeded their goals by at least 10 percent, which is the level at which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) considers projects to be at increased risk of not being able to deliver planned capabilities on time and within budget.)"
Date: September 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Literacy: Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Federal Government's Role (open access)

Financial Literacy: Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Federal Government's Role

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government plays a wide-ranging role in promoting financial literacy. Efforts to improve financial literacy in the United States involve an array of public, nonprofit, and private participants, but among those participants, the federal government is distinctive for its size and reach and for the diversity of its components, which address a wide range of issues and populations. At forums of financial literacy experts that GAO held in 2004 and 2011, participants noted that the federal government can use its “bully pulpit,” convening power, and other tools to draw attention to the issue, and serve as an objective and unbiased source of information about the selection of financial products and services. In prior work, GAO cited a 2009 report by the RAND Corporation in which 20 federal agencies self-identified as having 56 federal financial literacy programs, but GAO’s subsequent analysis found substantial inconsistency in how different agencies defined and counted financial literacy programs. Based on a more consistent set of criteria, GAO identified 16 significant financial literacy programs or activities among 14 federal agencies, as well as 4 housing counseling programs among 3 federally supported entities, in …
Date: April 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Surface Freight Transportation: A Comparison of the Costs of Road, Rail, and Waterways Freight Shipments That Are Not Passed on to Consumers (open access)

Surface Freight Transportation: A Comparison of the Costs of Road, Rail, and Waterways Freight Shipments That Are Not Passed on to Consumers

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Road, rail, and waterway freight transportation is vital to the nation's economy. Government tax, regulatory, and infrastructure investment policies can affect the costs that shippers pass on to their customers. If government policy gives one mode a cost advantage over another, by, for example, not recouping all the costs of that mode's use of infrastructure, then shipping prices and customers' use of freight modes can be distorted, reducing the overall efficiency of the nation's economy. As requested, this report (1) describes how government policies can affect competition and efficiency within the surface freight transportation sector, (2) determines what is known about the extent to which all costs are borne by surface freight customers, and (3) discusses the use of the findings when making future surface freight transportation policy. GAO reviewed the transportation literature and analyzed financial and technical data from the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and the Environmental Protection Agency to make cross-modal comparisons at a national level. Data limitations and assumptions inherent in an aggregate national comparison are noted in the report."
Date: January 26, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
History of the Joint Committee on Reduction of Non-Essential Federal Expenditures (1941- 1974), with Observations on Oversight Today (open access)

History of the Joint Committee on Reduction of Non-Essential Federal Expenditures (1941- 1974), with Observations on Oversight Today

This report traces the history of the joint committee and describes the subject matter of some of its principal work products. The report concludes with some considerations involved with the creation of a committee - the purpose of which is to assist Congress in reducing federal spending - and with a brief examination of committee oversight authority extant in House and Senate committees and of alternative mechanisms for cutting spending.
Date: October 26, 2010
Creator: Koempel, Michael L.; Murray, Justin & Tabit, Brian P.J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Food Aid: Better Agency Collaboration Needed to Assess and Improve Emergency Food Aid Procurement System (open access)

International Food Aid: Better Agency Collaboration Needed to Assess and Improve Emergency Food Aid Procurement System

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly manage international emergency food aid procurement, the agencies disagree about the usefulness of the Web Based Supply Chain Management system (WBSCM) to manage the entire process. WBSCM had significant deficiencies when it was implemented in April 2011, which led USAID to discontinue using it to procure ocean freight for bulk commodities, manage prepositioned or stockpiled commodity inventory, and track food aid shipments. For example, WBSCM was slow and time consuming to use and its process to procure ocean freight for bulk commodities was not compatible with USAID's process to negotiate contracts with ocean freight vendors. USDA currently uses WBSCM to procure food aid commodities, while USAID procures ocean freight using other systems not connected to WBSCM. Since March 2012, USDA has made changes to WBSCM, and USDA officials assert that these changes address some of the problems that led to USAID's decision to discontinue use of the system."
Date: March 26, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice (open access)

Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice

On June 19, 2009, the House voted to impeach U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The impeachment process provides a mechanism for removal of the President, Vice President, and other federal civil officers found to have engaged in "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." This report explains the impeachment process, including its history and the process itself.
Date: April 26, 2010
Creator: Bazan, Elizabeth B. & Henning, Anna C.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geostationary Weather Satellites: Design Progress Made, but Schedule Uncertainty Needs to be Addressed (open access)

Geostationary Weather Satellites: Design Progress Made, but Schedule Uncertainty Needs to be Addressed

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series (GOES-R) program has made progress by completing its early design milestones and is nearing the end of the design phase for its spacecraft, instrument, and ground system components. While the program continues to make progress, recent technical problems with the instruments and spacecraft, as well as a significant modification to the ground project’s development plan, have delayed the completion of key reviews and led to increased complexity for the development of GOES-R. The technical and programmatic challenges experienced by the flight and ground projects have led to a 19-month delay in completing the program’s preliminary design review. Nevertheless, program officials report that its planned launch date of October 2015 for the first satellite has not changed. While the program reports that approximately $1.2 billion is currently in reserve to manage future delays and cost growth, significant portions of development remain for major components. As a result, the program may not be able to ensure that it has adequate resources to cover ongoing challenges as well as unexpected problems for the remaining development of all four satellites."
Date: June 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Missile Defense: Opportunity to Refocus on Strengthening Acquisition Management (open access)

Missile Defense: Opportunity to Refocus on Strengthening Acquisition Management

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""
Date: April 26, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Spectrum Management: FCC's Use and Enforcement of Buildout Requirements (open access)

Spectrum Management: FCC's Use and Enforcement of Buildout Requirements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established buildout requirements—which require a licensee to build the necessary infrastructure and put the assigned spectrum to use within a set amount of time—for most wireless services, including cellular and personal communication services. FCC tailors the buildout requirements it sets for a wireless service based on the physical characteristics of the relevant spectrum and comments of stakeholders, among other factors. Therefore, buildout requirements vary across wireless services. For example, a buildout requirement can set the percentage of a license's population or geographic area that must be covered by service or can describe the required level of service in narrative terms rather than numeric benchmarks. Buildout requirements also vary by how much time a licensee has to meet a requirement and whether it has to meet one requirement or multiple requirements in stages."
Date: February 26, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Improved Oversight of State Eligibility Expansions Needed (open access)

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Improved Oversight of State Eligibility Expansions Needed

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2010, GAO estimates that 2.6 percent (473,000) of households that received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would not have been eligible for the program without broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) because their incomes were over the federal SNAP eligibility limits. The characteristics of these households were generally similar to other SNAP households, although they were more likely to work or receive unemployment benefits. BBCE removes asset limits in most states, and while reliable data on participants’ assets are not available, other data suggest few likely had assets over these limits. Although BBCE contributed to recent increases in SNAP participation, other factors, notably the recent recession, had a greater effect."
Date: July 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Postal Service: Information on Workforce Injuries Arising During Mail Delivery (open access)

U.S. Postal Service: Information on Workforce Injuries Arising During Mail Delivery

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States Postal Service's (USPS) mail carriers--who delivered mail to nearly 132 million delivery points nationwide in fiscal year 2012--can be injured while delivering mail in a number of ways, for example by being bitten by a dog or being involved in a vehicle collision. According to USPS officials, there were 32,213 reported injuries in fiscal year 2012, 11,717 (36 percent) of which were related to mail delivery. According to USPS's 2012 data, the most frequently reported cause of injury for routes that are primarily conducted on foot is dog bites, while the most frequently reported cause of injury for delivery on rural routes--which is often conducted in vehicles--is vehicular collisions. Additionally, USPS's data indicate that most injuries that occurred from 2009 through 2012 on mail delivery routes were caused by falls and dog bites. Falls to the ground were among the most common circumstances leading to injury that resulted in either restricted work activity or days away from work, but repetitive motions were the most common cause of long-term occupational illnesses regardless of severity or route type."
Date: September 26, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tactical Aircraft: Comparison of F-22A and Legacy Fighter Modernization Programs (open access)

Tactical Aircraft: Comparison of F-22A and Legacy Fighter Modernization Programs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The F-22A and legacy modernization programs GAO reviewed were rooted in different development strategies. The F-22A began as a single-step program and did not anticipate the need for future modernization, while the legacy programs each began with the expectation that their aircraft would be incrementally upgraded over time. F-22A modernization began in reaction to a major shift in the aircraft’s basic mission, which required the development of new capabilities that had not been planned for as part of the initial development program. In contrast, the legacy modernization programs made planned incremental improvements to existing mission capabilities. All of the modernization programs began at about the same time in development and procurement. The F-22A program is developing and retrofitting new capabilities onto a complex stealth aircraft, which is costly—currently estimated at $9.7 billion total. Legacy modernization programs were less complex, and thus less costly, and incorporated mature technologies onto new production aircraft. Accurately identifying and comparing the total cost of each modernization program is difficult. Each of the programs, including the F-22A, initially managed and funded modernization as a continuation of its baseline program, so modernization costs …
Date: April 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Infrastructure: High-Level Federal Interagency Coordination Is Warranted to Address Transportation Needs beyond the Scope of the Defense Access Roads Program (open access)

Defense Infrastructure: High-Level Federal Interagency Coordination Is Warranted to Address Transportation Needs beyond the Scope of the Defense Access Roads Program

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The unprecedented growth at 26 military installations across the country due to the implementation of several concurrent Department of Defense (DOD) initiatives is expected to stress transportation needs for surrounding communities. The Defense Access Roads program, while small when compared to other transportation funding sources, provides a means for DOD to pay a share of the cost of highway improvements due to unusual and sudden DOD-generated activities. In response to a congressional request to review the program, GAO (1) assessed the use of the program to mitigate transportation needs and (2) identified additional steps that may be necessary to address unmet transportation needs. GAO conducted extensive interviews with 26 growth installations and visited installations and state authorities in Maryland, Texas, and Virginia to discuss transportation issues."
Date: January 26, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
VA and IHS: Further Action Needed to Collaborate on Providing Health Care to Native American Veterans (open access)

VA and IHS: Further Action Needed to Collaborate on Providing Health Care to Native American Veterans

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) have developed mechanisms to implement and monitor their memorandum of understanding (MOU); however, the performance metrics developed to assess its implementation do not adequately measure progress made toward its goals. VA and IHS have defined common goals for implementing the MOU and developed strategies to achieve them. They have also created two mechanisms to implement the MOU--12 workgroups with members from both agencies to address the goals of the MOU, and a Joint Implementation Task Force, comprised of VA and IHS officials, to oversee the MOU's implementation. These steps are consistent with practices that GAO has found enhance and sustain agency collaboration. The agencies have also developed three metrics aimed at measuring progress toward the MOU's goals. However, two of the three metrics are inadequate because their connection to any specific MOU goal is not clear and, while they include quantitative measures that tally the number of programs and activities increased or enhanced as a result of the MOU, they lack qualitative measures that would allow the agencies to assess the degree to which …
Date: April 26, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Programs in Japan and South Korea: Background for Congress (open access)

Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Programs in Japan and South Korea: Background for Congress

This report discusses the accelerated vehicle retirement (AVR) programs initiated in 2009 by the United States, Japan, South Korea, and other industrial nations (commonly known in the U.S. as the "cash for clunkers" program). The U.S. program began in June 2009, when President Obama signed the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act. The report discusses how these various AVR programs affected the automobile industries in the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, specifically. Neither Japan nor South Korea imports large numbers of foreign vehicles, a circumstance not much altered by AVR program implementation.
Date: October 26, 2010
Creator: Canis, Bill; Grimmett, Jeanne J.; Platzer, Michaela D. & Yacobucci, Brent D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Supplemental Security Income: Better Management Oversight Needed for Children's Benefits (open access)

Supplemental Security Income: Better Management Oversight Needed for Children's Benefits

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The number of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) child applicants and recipients with mental impairments has increased substantially for more than a decade, even though the Social Security Administration (SSA) denied, on average, 54 percent of such claims from fiscal years 2000 to 2011. Factors such as the rising number of children in poverty and increasing diagnosis of certain mental impairments have likely contributed to this growth. In fiscal year 2011, the most prevalent primary mental impairments among children found medically eligible were (1) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (2) speech and language delay, and (3) autism, with autism claims growing most rapidly since fiscal year 2000. State disability determination services (DDS) examiners also consider the impact of additional, or “secondary,” impairments when making a decision, and when present, these impairments were used to support 55 percent of those cases GAO reviewed that were allowed in fiscal year 2010. However, SSA has not consistently collected those impairment data, limiting its understanding of how all impairments may affect decisions."
Date: June 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Physician Payment: Private-Sector Initiatives Can Help Inform CMS Quality and Efficiency Incentive Efforts (open access)

Medicare Physician Payment: Private-Sector Initiatives Can Help Inform CMS Quality and Efficiency Incentive Efforts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""
Date: December 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Managing For Results: Executive Branch Should More Fully Implement the GPRA Modernization Act to Address Pressing Governance Challenges (open access)

Managing For Results: Executive Branch Should More Fully Implement the GPRA Modernization Act to Address Pressing Governance Challenges

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The — executive branch has taken a number of steps to implement key provisions of the GPRA Modernization Act (the act). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) developed interim cross-agency priority (CAP) goals, and agencies developed agency priority goals (APG). Agency officials reported that their agencies have assigned performance management leadership roles and responsibilities to officials who generally participate in performance management activities, including quarterly performance reviews (QPR) for APGs. Further, OMB developed Performance.gov, a government-wide website, which provides quarterly updates on the CAP goals and APGs."
Date: June 26, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library