Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on expenditures and revenues of state securities regulatory agencies for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, focusing on: (1) the expenditures and revenues of state securities regulatory agencies; and (2) quantifying the revenues of state securities agencies by types of activity."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the administration's proposal to ensure solvency of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit Fund, focusing on the impact of the proposal to: (1) extend the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation fees; (2) reverse the effects of National Coal v. Chater; (3) reverse the effects of Dixie Fuel Company v. Social Security Administration; and (4) appropriate federal funds."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, the Department of Defense (DOD) ships inventory worth billions of dollars to locations around the world. DOD has had longstanding difficulty tracking this inventory from origin to destination. GAO reviewed six draft plans developed by the four military services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the U.S. Transportation Command to overcome this problem. The six draft plans have significantly improved on DOD's original plan for tracking inventory. They are, however, inconsistent in content and do not reflect a coordinated, DOD-wide approach to correcting the lack of visibility over inventory being shipped. These draft plans also lack detailed performance measures for monitoring progress and determining the effectiveness of the actions after they are implemented. They do not address how DOD will ensure appropriate coordination among the military services and DOD commands in the implementation of the corrective actions or how DOD will monitor future progress. Lastly, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has not established a deadline for when the plans should be finalized."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new rule on extending wireless telecommunications services to tribal lands. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would provide incentives for wireless telecommunications carriers to serve individuals living on tribal lands; and (2) FCC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on issues relating to the arbitration process in the securities industry, focusing on: (1) whether arbitration forums had implemented recommendations made in GAO's 1992 report and whether the changes were effective; (2) how investors fared in award decisions; and (3) the extent to which investors were paid the amounts awarded by arbitration panels."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the structural problems that exist in the Medicare claims processing system, focusing on: (1) what the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) proposals have been designed or initiated to measure Medicare improper payments; and (2) the status of these proposals and initiatives and how will they enhance HCFA's ability to comprehensively measure improper Medicare payments and the frequency of kickbacks, false claims, and other inappropriate provider practices."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) report on its efforts to adopt management best practices for software development and acquisition, focusing on whether: (1) it satisfied the Senate Committee on Armed Service's directive; and (2) the information included was accurate and complete."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the federal government's food and commodity purchases, focusing on: (1) details about federal agencies' purchases of food and agricultural commodities from fiscal year (FY) 1997 through FY 1999; and (2) information on major regulations that may affect the prices paid by these agencies for these products."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report documents GAO's concurrence with the findings of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) financial management operations. To effectively monitor and evaluate PwC's work, GAO reviewed PwC's methodology for conducting its work, its collection techniques, resulting analysis, and the draft and final reports. Overall, PwC found significant weaknesses in CDC's financial management procedures, operations, systems, and staff. PwC stated that CDC's financial management capabilities has not kept pace with its expanding mission and funding growth. GAO notes that PwC's report provided CDC with both a framework and critical steps for beginning a long-term upgrading effort, and CDC should use this report as a guide."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program standards, focusing on: (1) the impact of increasing CAFE standards on oil consumption, the environment, and automobile safety in the United States; and (2) other issues that affect the CAFE discussion."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on its financial management review of the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) reported allocation of resources for its Refuge Program and New Assistant Regional Manager Positions, focusing on: (1) what systems FWS used to track how allocated funds were spent and to determine the full costs of operating the refuge program; (2) how much funding the service allocated to refuge operations and maintenance and how those funds were used; and (3) the number of new Assistant Regional Director (ARD) positions FWS created and the source of funding for these positions through fiscal year (FY) 2000."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit Fund, focusing on: (1) the status of the Fund's financial position and its financing mechanism; (2) the impact of major court decisions on the assignment of beneficiaries; and (3) significant litigation and its related costs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) task force's recommendations to strengthen the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) programs and facilities, focusing on: (1) the actions ARS has taken to close and consolidate laboratories; (2) the task force report's major recommendations designed to, among other things, improve operational efficiencies; and (3) ARS' reaction to the task force report."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the scope and efficacy of Medicare's existing rural hospital inpatient payment policies, focusing on the major special payment provisions available to rural hospitals under the prospective payment system (PPS) and to provide information on the inpatient financial performance of these hospitals under PPS."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new rule on hospital inpatient payments and rates and costs of graduate medical education. GAO noted that: (1) the interim rule implements provisions of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance Program Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 relating to Medicare payments to hospitals for inpatient services; (2) these provisions relate to reclassification of hospitals from urban to rural status, reclassification of certain hospitals for purposes of payment during federal fiscal year 2000, critical access hospitals, payments to hospitals excluded from the hospital inpatient prospective payment system, and payments for indirect and direct graduate medical education costs; and (3) HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed two major AmeriCorps programs--AmeriCorps State/National and AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC); (2) compared cost data for NCCC with similar data from the Department of Labor's Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers (CCC) and reasons for any major differences; (3) compared AmeriCorps participant benefits with those afforded entry-level military personnel; and (4) described information available on the results of AmeriCorps programs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the use of personal watercraft and snowmobile use on federal lands, focusing on: (1) the extent to which personal watercraft and snowmobiles are used in federal units that are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the National Park Service (NPS), and the Forest Service; (2) the bases for agency decisions to authorize or prohibit the use of these vehicles; (3) whether restrictions exist on vehicle operations in places where their use is allowed, and how are these restrictions enforced; and (4) the extent to which federal agencies assessed the impact of such use."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Air Force F-22 Raptor production cost estimate, focusing on: (1) the status of cost reduction plans, including some plans not yet implemented, and Air Force procedures for reporting on the plans; and (2) a comparison of the 1999 production cost estimates with the congressional cost limitation."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Transportation Office of Pipeline Safety's (OPS) performance in regulating pipeline safety, focusing on: (1) the extent of major pipeline accidents from 1989 through 1998; (2) OPS' implementation of the 1996 Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act's risk management demonstration program; (3) OPS' inspection and enforcement efforts since the act's implementation; and (4) OPS' responsiveness to recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board and to statutory requirements designed to improve pipeline safety."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since Title IX of the Education Amendments was enacted in 1972, women's participation in higher education academic programs has increased significantly. Women's participation in predominantly male fields such as business, law, and medicine has also increased greatly, although changes in other predominantly male fields, such as engineering and physical science, have been smaller. In some predominantly female fields, including elementary education and nursing, there have been increases in the proportion of men receiving degrees. In the 1995-96 school year, first-year college men and women were about as likely to receive financial aid and received about the same average amounts of grant and loan aid. Men continue to outnumber women on faculties in predominantly male fields at colleges and universities. Women's participation in intercollegiate sports at four-year colleges and universities has increased while men's participation has dropped slightly, although they still participate at a higher rate than do women. On average, in the 1998-99 school year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association member schools spent more per male intercollegiate sports participant than female participant in recruiting, coaches' salaries, and operations. However, they spent more on athletic scholarships for …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Air Force's Expeditionary Aerospace Force Concept."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO evaluated the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) financial management activities to determine if they are sufficient to resolve financial management weaknesses identified through annual financial statement audits and other management-type reviews of HCFA's Medicare activities."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the efforts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and states to provide effective drug abuse treatment programs, focusing on: (1) activities supported by SAMHSA's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) block grant and Knowledge Development and Application (KDA) grant funds for drug abuse treatment; (2) SAMHSA and state mechanisms for monitoring fund use; and (3) SAMHSA and state efforts to determine the effectiveness of drug abuse treatment supported with SAPT block grant funds."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its recent report on how the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decides to establish and expand refuges, focusing on: (1) the financial effect of establishing refuges by means other than appropriations; and (2) differences in the priority-setting processes for acquiring land using the land and water and migratory bird funds."