Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) new rule on federal motor vehicle safety standards and occupant crash protection. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule amends the occupant crash protection standard to require that future air bags be designed to create less risk of serious air bag-induced injuries than current air bags, particularly for small women and young children; (2) NHTSA complied with the applicable requirements with one exception; (3) the final rule has an announced effective date of June 12, 2000; (4) the Congressional Review Act requires major rules to have a 60-day delay in their effective date following publication in the Federal Register or receipt of the rule by Congress, whichever is later; and (5) the rule was not published in the Federal Register until May 12, 2000, which means the final rule will not have the required 60-day delay in the effective date."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) progress in performing planning actions for its loan monitoring system."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed the application of the Federal Claims Collection Act to the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) settlement of overpayment matters with providers; and (2) developed case studies of settlements that may have been improper."

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 the Medicare Choice Program. GAO held that: (1) the final rule responds to comments on a June 26, 1998, interim final rule implementing the Medicare Choice program and revises the interim rule to reflect changes made to the program by the Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999; and (2) 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 legislative requirement, GAO reviewed certain aspects of the Judicial Survivors' Annuities Systems (JSAS), which provides annuities to the surviving spouses and dependent children of deceased federal judges and other judicial officials who participate in JSAS."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Global Hawk Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, focusing on: (1) whether the average unit flyaway price for the 10 Global Hawk production aircraft numbered 11 through 20 will be within the Department of Defense's (DOD) price goal of $10 million each in fiscal year 1994 dollars; (2) the status of the military user demonstration, including the extent to which Global Hawk has demonstrated reconnaissance capabilities; and (3) DOD and Air Force plans to transition to a formal acquisition program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Energy's (DOE) merit review practices, focusing on: (1) what procedures DOE has established for performing merit reviews; and (2) whether DOE could document that it has followed the merit review procedures it has established."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed information on the actions needed to sustain reform initiatives and achieve greater results in the Department of Defense (DOD), focusing on the: (1) effectiveness of the Department's management emphasis and oversight structure in providing sustained direction and emphasis to the program; (2) status of individual reform initiatives and the barriers that could limit their success; and (3) extent to which the Reform Initiative resulted in savings enabling DOD to shift operation and maintenance funds to support weapons modernization."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the development of competition in telecommunications markets, focusing on the: (1) development of competition in local telephone markets and the market strategies employed by new carriers in five states under the 1996 Telecommunications Act; and (2) key issues affecting that development and the enforcement activities of federal and state regulators to address those issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the status of the Bureau of the Census' Be Counted and Questionnaire Assistance Center programs, focusing on the steps the Bureau has taken to address certain shortcomings that the Bureau encountered during the dress rehearsal for the 2000 Census."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO commented on an issue concerning the responsibility of federal departments, agencies, or independent establishments to pay for water and sewer services provided to them by the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA). GAO was also asked to comment on what legal powers are available to the Department of the Treasury to obtain payment from agencies that are delinquent in making deposits into the United States Treasury account to facilitate federal payments to WASA. GAO held that: (1) District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1990 established that the Secretary of the Treasury is to pay the District of Columbia for water services provided to federal agencies and that federal agencies are required to make payments to the United States Treasury account from appropriated funds; and (2) GAO is unaware of any law that grants the Secretary of the Treasury the power to unilaterally transfer from an agency's appropriation to the Treasury any amount the agency was required to but did not deposit into the account."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) use of rapid tests to screen and identify potentially unsafe imported foods before they enter the domestic food supply, focusing on: (1) the rapid tests used to screen foods for pathogens such as bacteria, parasites, and viruses; (2) FDA's use of these tests, particularly at ports of entry; and (3) factors that may limit FDA's expanded use of rapid tests for foodborne pathogens."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) plans to modernize its current strategic command, control, communications, and computer (C4) capabilities for ballistic missile warning, space control, and air sovereignty/defense missions, focusing on plans to: (1) modernize strategic C4 capabilities; and (2) integrate additional system capabilities for newly planned and assigned missions."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its report on how federal requirements affect local school districts, focusing on: (1) the major federal requirements that affect school districts; (2) the issues school districts face in implementing these requirements; and (3) recent initiatives by Congress and the Department of Education to provide flexibility to school districts."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for fiscal year (FY) ended September 30, 1999, is supported by the underlying records."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Commerce's fiscal year (FY) 1999 Annual Program Performance Report and the FY 2000 and FY 2001 plans for selected science-related agencies, focusing on whether: (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Technology Administration (TA) sections of Commerce's FY 1999 performance report and FY 2000 and FY 2001 performance plans told a coherent story in addressing science issues; (2) NOAA's and TA's performance goals, budgetary and full time equivalent (FTE) staffing resource requirements identified in Commerce's FY 2001 performance plan linked, or matched, to those in NOAA's and TA's sections of Commerce's FY 2001 congressional budget submission; and (3) the NOAA and TA sections of Commerce's FY 2001 performance plan addressed the weaknesses that GAO identified in its review of Commerce's FY 2000 performance plan."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the National Academy of Sciences, focusing on whether the audit reports complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Little League Baseball, Incorporated, for the years ended September 30, 1998 and 1999, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Blue Star Mothers of America, Incorporated, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the tax incentives that benefit the petroleum and ethanol industries."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the audit report for the Blinded Veterans Association for the fiscal years ended June 30, 1998 and 1999, focusing on whether the audit report complied with the financial reporting requirements of the law."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed whether the net federal unemployment tax (FUTA) revenue distributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1999, is supported by the underlying records."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) accountability report for fiscal year (FY) 1999 and performance plans for fiscal years 2000 and 2001, focusing on whether the report: (1) conveyed a coherent picture of the Department's science programs; and (2) clearly links to its budget."