A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "From 1993 through 2002, the Department of Defense (DOD) delivered over $150 billion in services and defense articles, including classified and controlled items, to foreign countries through foreign military sales programs administered by the military. Foreign countries may request items using blanket orders, which are for a specific dollar value and are used to simplify supply actions on certain types of items. GAO was asked to review whether the Navy's key internal controls restricted blanket orders for (1) classified spare parts and (2) controlled items sold to foreign countries. Also, GAO was asked to determine if periodic tests were conducted to ensure that the Navy's system is working as intended."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Fruits and vegetables are a critical source of nutrients and other substances that help protect against chronic diseases. Yet fewer than one in four Americans consumes the 5 to 9 daily servings of fruits and vegetables recommended by the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Fruit and vegetable consumption by the general public as a whole has increased by about half a serving under key federal nutritional policy, guidance, and educational programs, as shown by the national consumption data compiled by federal agencies. But key federal food assistance programs have had mixed effects on fruit and vegetables consumption, as shown by national consumption data. However, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption is not a primary focus of these programs, which are intended to reduce hunger and support agriculture. A number of actions the federal government could take to encourage more Americans to consume the recommended daily servings have been identified. These include expanding nutrition education efforts, such as the 5 A Day Program; modifying the special supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children to allow participants to choose from more of those fruits and vegetables; expanding the …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) Future Years Defense Program (FYDP), focusing on: (1) whether savings in DOD's fiscal year (FY) 1999-2003 FYDP were the result of DOD's Defense Reform Initiatives (DRI); (2) the extent to which savings and personnel reductions from competitive sourcing in the 1999-2003 FYDP were based on ongoing or planned studies of functions specifically identified under the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76, and what percentage of the current costs of performing those functions were included from the projected savings from these studies; and (3) whether DOD components outsourced activities that included inherently governmental functions, without allowing civilian employees to compete under Circular A-76 procedures, or without following the study and notification requirements of 10 U.S.C. 2461."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on: (1) whether the excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year (FY) ended September 30, 1999, is supported by the underlying records; and (2) FY 1999 AATF activity."

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 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."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Despite efforts by the international community to reduce the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, AIDS is now the fourth leading cause of death in the world and the primary cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), funded in part by the United States, is one important international effort against the disease. UNAIDS was established by the United Nations (U.N.) in 1996 to provide coordinated U.N. action and to lead and promote an expanded global response to the worldwide epidemic. This report (1) assesses UNAIDS' progress, especially at the country level, toward increasing the coordination and commitment of the U.N. and global community; (2) assesses UNAIDS' progress in providing technical assistance and information and in developing a monitoring and evaluation plan to measure results; and (3) identifies factors that may have affected UNAIDS' progress. GAO found that UNAIDS has made progress in increasing U.N. coordination and enhancing the global response to the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic, but its country-level efforts need to be strengthened. UNAIDS has provided financial and technical support to about 50 HIV/AIDS technical networks worldwide, but has …

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."

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."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the various schemes used to defraud the Medicare and Medicaid programs and private insurance companies and how the proposed legislation contained in H.R. 3461 and S.1231 could strenghten federal and state health care programs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The six states reviewed had in place a variety of protections, established prior to the economic downturn, to assist unemployed individuals in maintaining health insurance coverage: State-mandated continuation coverage, which required small businesses to extend their group health coverage to former employees and their families who choose to pay for it. Guaranteed conversion, which required insurers to allow eligible individuals to convert their group coverage to individual health insurance policies. Guaranteed issue, which required insurers to offer coverage to those who did not have access to group coverage or public insurance. High-risk pools, state-created associations that offered comprehensive health insurance benefits to individuals with acute or chronic health conditions. However, individuals usually bore the full cost of the premiums, which was usually higher than their premium cost under employer-sponsored plans. For individuals who relied on unemployment benefits as their principal income, premiums absorbed a significant share of the benefit."

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The High-Speed Rail Investment Act of 2001 would allow the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to issue up to $12 billion in "tax credit bonds" over 10 years, primarily for capital improvement projects designated high-speed rail corridors and on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. This report reviews the (1) cost of the bond-financing mechanism and alternatives to the U.S. Treasury, (2) degree to which bond proceeds would meet the capital needs of federally designated high-speed rail corridors, and (3) extent of the federal oversight role. GAO found that the estimated tax credit for Amtrak bonds would cost the U.S. Treasury between $16.6 billion and $19.1 billion (in nominal dollars) over 30 years. The overall capital needs of fully developed federally designed high-speed rail corridors are unknown because these initiatives are in various stages of planning, but preliminary estimates by Amtrak puts the capital costs for fully developed high-speed rail corridors and its Northeast Corridor at between $50 billion and $70 billion over 20 years.The proposed legislation would require the Secretary of the Treasury to report annually on whether the amount of money in the trust account is sufficient …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on student loan trustee arrangements, focusing on the: (1) number and cost of trustee arrangements and their shared characteristics; (2) benefits and protections afforded the federal government through use of trustee arrangements; and (3) effect of trustee arrangements on market participation and the availability of student loans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Many in Congress, as well as many transportation experts, believe more money needs to be spent to keep up with the country's surface transportation needs. As Congress considers reauthorization of the nation's surface transportation laws, many observers believe increased private participation and investment in transportation can help meet these needs. GAO was asked to examine cases where state and local governments have used active private sector sponsorship and investment on major highway and transit projects where the private sector was the primary stakeholder in designing, financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining such projects. Among its objectives, GAO (1) identified the extent to which states have used active private sponsorship and investment to finance and build highway and transit projects; (2) identified some advantages, from the perspective of state and local governments, resulting from private sponsorship and investment and some tradeoffs;(3) determined challenges that the private sector faced in these projects; and (4) presented legislative proposals that could help increase private sponsorship and investment in highway and transit projects. We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for its review and comment. DOT …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Established in March 2002, the Homeland Security Advisory System was designed to disseminate information on the risk of terrorist acts to federal agencies, states, localities, and the public. However, these entities have raised questions about the threat information they receive from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the costs they incurred as a result of responding to heightened alerts. This report examines (1) the decision making process for changing the advisory system national threat level; (2) information sharing with federal agencies, states, and localities, including the applicability of risk communication principles; (3) protective measures federal agencies, states, and localities implemented during high (codeorange) alert periods; (4) costs federal agencies reported for those periods; and (5) state and local cost information collected by DHS."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the terrorist attacks of September 2001, and the subsequent anthrax incidents, there has been concern about the ability of the federal government to prepare for and coordinate an effective public health response to such events. More than 20 federal departments and agencies carry some responsibility for bioterrorism preparedness and response. Emergency response is further complicated by the need to coordinate actions with agencies at the state and local level, where much of the response activity would occur. The President's proposed Homeland Security Act of 2002 would bring many of the federal entities with public health preparedness and response responsibilities into one department to mobilize and focus assets and resources at all levels of government. The proposed reorganization has the potential to repair the fragmentation in the coordination of public health preparedness and response at the federal, state, and local levels. In addition to improving overall coordination, the transfer of programs from multiple agencies to the new department could reduce overlap among programs and facilitate response in times of disaster. However, there are concerns about the proposed transfer of control from the Department of Health and Human Services …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since September 11, the President and Congress have taken aggressive steps to protect the nation, including creating an Office of Homeland Security (OHS); passing new laws, such as the USA Patriot Act and an emergency supplemental spending bill; establishing a new agency to improve transportation security; and working with federal, state, and local governments, private sector entities, non-governmental organizations and other countries to prevent future terrorist acts and to bring those individuals responsible to justice. More recently, Congress and the President have proposed greater consolidation and coordination of various agencies and activities. The President has proposed establishing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and has sent draft legislation to Congress. This testimony focuses on two major issues: (1) the need for reorganization and the principles and criteria to help evaluate what agencies and missions should be included in or left out of the new DHS and (2) issues related to the transition, cost, and implementation challenges of the new department."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) single-family mortgage insurance program, focusing on: (1) the activities of FHA's home mortgage insurance program, including the extent to which home buyers use FHA insurance, the characteristics of these home buyers--including whether they were first-time home buyers--and how many of them might also qualify for private mortgage insurance; (2) comparing the insurance terms available through FHA's principal single-family mortgage insurance program with private mortgage insurance and guarantees from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA); and (3) examining the challenges FHA faces in ensuring the financial health of its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO discussed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) fiscal year 2002 budget request. Because HUD's 2002 budget request was released only two weeks before this testimony, GAO could only offer a general discussion of the budget's policy policy implications and program trade-offs. GAO found that, in recent years, HUD has had significant unexpended balances, making it difficult for Congress to assess the Department's need for new appropriations. Without accurate and timely information on the nature, the amount, and the availability of HUD's unexpended balances, decision-makers cannot fully and fairly evaluate HUD's funding needs. HUD has begun several short-term efforts to identify, quantify, and recapture some unexpended balances and has, in fact, recaptured about $3 billion each year between fiscal years 1998 and 2000. In spite of these efforts, HUD has not yet integrated the processes needed to routinely and accurately account for unexpended balances into its ongoing financial, program, and budget management. As a result, HUD lacks the information it needs to (1) determine with certainty how much of the unexpended balances should be recaptured and (2) clearly factor these funds into its budget requests."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the U.S. housing finance system, focusing on: (1) the benefits and costs of the enterprises' housing finance activities; (2) federal efforts to ensure the enterprises' safety and soundness; and (3) federal efforts to ensure that the enterprises promote home ownership opportunities for all Americans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Real Estate Assessment Center's (REAC) new physical inspection system for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) public and multifamily housing properties, focusing on whether: (1) REAC's inspection system represents an improvement over HUD's prior inspection systems; and (2) REAC's inspections are reliable."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Technical Assistance is an important means through which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can influence how its program funds are spent; this assistance can range from training workshops to one-on-one assistance. GAO was asked to determine how many HUD technical assistance programs Congress has authorized and their cost; why HUD offers technical assistance programs and who provides and receives the services; and whether HUD program offices are overseeing and measuring the impact of their technical assistance programs as required."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) almost one year ago represents an historic moment for the federal government to fundamentally transform how the nation will protect itself from terrorism. DHS is continuing to transform and integrate a disparate group of agencies with multiple missions, values, and cultures into a strong and effective cabinet department. Together with this unique opportunity, however, also comes significant risk to the nation that could occur if this transformation is not implemented successfully. In fact, GAO designated this implementation and transformation as high risk in January 2003. Congress provided DHS with significant flexibility to design a modern human capital management system. GAO reported in September 2003 that the design effort to develop the system was collaborative and consistent with positive elements of transformation. Last Friday, the Secretary of DHS and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released for public comment draft regulations for DHS's new human capital system. This testimony provides preliminary observations on selected major provisions of the proposed system."