A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the process used by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to identify foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, focusing on current identification process used by the Committee and the effectiveness of the Committee's follow-up on acquisitions identified by its member agencies."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (NDAA 2008) requires the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly develop and implement comprehensive policies on the care, management, and transition of recovering servicemembers. The Senior Oversight Committee (SOC)--jointly chaired by DOD and VA leadership--has assumed responsibility for these policies. The NDAA 2008 also requires GAO to report on the progress DOD and VA make in developing and implementing the policies. This statement provides preliminary information on (1) the progress DOD and VA have made in jointly developing the comprehensive policies required in the NDAA 2008 and (2) the challenges DOD and VA are encountering in the joint development and initial implementation of these policies. GAO determined the current status of policy development by assessing the status reported by SOC officials and analyzing supporting documentation. To identify challenges, GAO interviewed the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the Executive Director and Chief of Staff of the SOC, the departmental co-leads for most of the SOC work groups, the Acting Director of DOD's Office of Transition Policy and Care Coordination, and other knowledgeable …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In June 2007, GAO reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had made little progress in integrating its existing financial management systems and made six recommendations focused on the need for DHS to define a departmentwide strategy and embrace disciplined processes. In June 2007, DHS announced its new financial management systems strategy, called the Transformation and Systems Consolidation (TASC) program. GAO's testimony provides preliminary analysis of the status of its prior recommendations and whether there were additional issues identified that pose challenges to the successful implementation of the TASC program. GAO reviewed relevant documentation, such as the January 2009 Request for Proposal and its attachments, and interviewed key officials to obtain additional information. GAO provided a draft report that this testimony is based on to DHS on September 29, 2009, for review and comment. After reviewing and considering DHS' comments, GAO plans to finalize and issue the report including providing appropriate recommendations aimed at improving the department's implementation of the TASC program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides health care services to veterans who have been diagnosed with psychosis--primarily schizophrenia, a disorder that can substantially limit their ability to care for themselves, secure employment, and maintain relationships. These veterans also have a high risk of premature death, including suicide. Effective treatment, especially antipsychotic drug therapy, has reduced the severity of their illnesses and increased their ability to function in society. VA's guideline for prescribing atypical antipsychotic drugs is sound and consistent with published clinical practice guidelines used by public and private health care systems. VA's prescribing guideline, recommends that physicians use their best clinical judgment, based on clinical circumstances and patients' needs, when choosing among the atypical drugs. Most Veterans Integrated Service Networks and facilities use VA's prescribing guideline; however, five VISNs have additional policies and procedures for prescribing atypical antipsychotic drugs. Although these procedures help manage pharmaceutical cost, they also have the potential to result in more weight given to cost than clinical judgment which is not consistent with the prescribing guideline."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A consolidated watch list managed by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) contains the names of known or suspected terrorists, both international and domestic. Various agencies whose missions require screening for links to terrorism use watch list records. For example, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) screens travelers at ports of entry. Because screening is based on names, it can result in misidentifications when persons not on the list have a name that resembles one on the list. Also, some names may be mistakenly included on the watch list. In either case, individuals can be negatively affected and may express concerns or seek agency action, or redress, to prevent future occurrences. This report addresses: (1) the extent to which the numbers of misidentified persons are known and how they could be affected, (2) the major reasons misidentifications occur and the actions agencies are taking to reduce them or minimize their effects, and (3) the opportunities for redress available to individuals with watch list-related concerns. In conducting work at TSC and the principal federal agencies that use watch list data, GAO reviewed standard operating procedures and other …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Catastrophic disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, may result in trauma and other psychological consequences for the people who experience them. The federal government provides states with funding and other support to help them prepare for and respond to disasters. Because of congressional interest in these issues, GAO examined (1) federal agencies' actions to help states prepare for the psychological consequences of catastrophic disasters and (2) states' experiences obtaining and using grants from the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) to respond to the psychological consequences of catastrophic disasters. CCP is a program of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). GAO reviewed documents and interviewed program officials from federal agencies and conducted additional work in six states with experience responding to catastrophic disasters: Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Texas, and Washington."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's economic vitality and the quality of life of its citizens depend significantly on the availability, dependability, and security of its surface transportation network. Our nation has built a vast surface transportation system of roads, railways, ports, and transit systems that facilitate commerce and improve our quality of life. The flow of people and goods is enormous: The nation moved about 5 trillion ton miles of freight and 5 trillion passenger miles of people in 2004. In total, about 4 million miles of roads, 117,000 miles of rail, 600,000 bridges, 19,000 airports, 11,000 miles of transit lines, and 500 train stations make up the surface transportation network. For the past several decades, demand has outpaced the capacity of the surface transportation system, and population growth, technological change, and the increased globalization of the economy will further strain the system. For example, according to the Transportation Research Board, an expected population growth of 100 million people could double the demand for passenger travel. Moreover, this population growth will be concentrated in certain regions and states, intensifying the demand for transportation in these areas. Likewise, freight traffic is projected …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In our role as principal auditor of the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government (CFS), we plan to use the work of the inspectors general and contracted independent public accountants who audit the agency-level financial statements. The development of the joint PCIE/GAO Financial Audit Manual (FAM) has provided a common framework and methodology for federal financial statement auditing. Adherence to the FAM will enable us to readily review the work of other auditors as a basis for using that work under auditing standards. We want to all be on the same page so that we are in the position to use the work of the inspectors general. Certain CFS line items that will be subject to our concurrent review because of their significance, such as the federal employee and veteran benefits payable line item, involve federal agencies' significant actuarial estimations. Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 57, Auditing Accounting Estimates applies to such estimations. In addition, Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standard (SFFAS) No. 5 requires that federal agencies disclose specific information in their financial statements for pensions, other retirement benefits, and other postemployment benefits. Additional related …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Government agencies and businesses that require significant capacity to meet voice and data needs depend on dedicated access services. This segment of the telecommunications market generated about $16 billion in revenues for the major incumbent telecommunications firms in 2005. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has historically regulated dedicated access prices. With the Telecommunications Act of 1996, FCC reformed its rules to rely on competition to bring about cost-based pricing. Starting in 2001, FCC granted pricing flexibility on the basis of a proxy measure of competition. GAO examined (1) the extent that alternatives are available in areas where FCC granted pricing flexibility, (2) how prices have changed since the granting of pricing flexibility, and the effect on government agencies, and (3) how FCC monitors competition. GAO's work included analyzing data on competitive alternatives, list prices, and average revenue, and interviewing FCC officials and industry representatives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies can use several different types of contracts to leverage the government's buying power for goods and services. These include interagency contracts--where one agency uses another's contract for its own needs--such as the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs multiple award schedule (MAS) contracts, multiagency contracts (MAC) for a wide range of goods and services, and governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWAC) for information technology. Agencies spent at least $60 billion in fiscal year 2008 through these contracts and similar single-agency enterprisewide contracts. However, concerns exist about duplication, oversight, and a lack of information on these contracts, and pricing and management of the MAS program. GAO was asked to assess the reasons for establishing and the policies to manage these contracts; the effectiveness of GSA tools for obtaining best MAS contract prices; and GSA's management of the MAS program. To do this, GAO reviewed statutes, regulations, policies, contract documentation and data, and interviewed officials from OMB and six agencies."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses (1) whether the goals of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Restructuring Act's goals are realistic and (2) disagreements between the IRS Oversight Board, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and GAO on the act's funding issues. GAO found that the act's goals of meeting taxpayers' needs while ensuring compliance with the tax laws require a massive modernization of IRS. These changes involve major management challenges and will require considerable time to implement. Although IRS officials believe that they have complied with the act's requirements, they are still learning how to effectively manage in the new environment. GAO believes that it is premature to consider significant changes to the act. Differences exist among the Oversight Board, TIGTA, and GAO with respect to specific IRS funding issues."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many forms of identification (ID) that federal employees and contractors use to access government-controlled buildings and information systems can be easily forged, stolen, or altered to allow unauthorized access. In an effort to increase the quality and security of federal ID and credentialing practices, the President issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) in August 2004, requiring the establishment of a governmentwide standard for secure and reliable forms of ID. The resulting standard is referred to as the personal identity verification (PIV) card. GAO was asked to determine the progress selected agencies have made in (1) implementing the capabilities of the PIV cards to enhance security and (2) achieving interoperability with other agencies. To address these objectives, GAO selected eight agencies that have a range of experience in implementing smart card-based ID systems and analyzed what actions the agencies have taken to implement PIV cards."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hospitals and other health care providers use purchasing intermediaries--group purchasing organizations (GPO)--as a way to control the cost of various medical products. Through GPO-negotiated contracts, hospitals and other health care providers can purchase everything from commodities, such as cotton balls and bandages, to high-technology medical devices, such as pacemakers and stents. By pooling the purchases of these products for their customers, GPOs are in a position to negotiate lower prices from manufacturers, distributors, and other suppliers, which may in turn benefit health care providers and, ultimately, consumers and payers of health care such as insurers and employers. Members of Congress and others have recently raised questions about the extent to which GPOs negotiate lower prices for health care providers. GPO and other trade associations have funded studies on the impact of GPOs. However, these studies have limitations. Congress asked us to review research on the impact of GPOs on pricing for hospitals and other health care providers. This report summarizes the peer-reviewed and nonpeer-reviewed literature on the impact of GPOs on pricing for hospitals and other health care providers that GAO identified in GAO's literature review."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the last 25 years, pension coverage has shifted primarily from "traditional" defined benefit (DB) plans, in which workers accrue benefits based on years of service and earnings, toward defined contribution (DC) plans, in which participants accumulate retirement balances in individual accounts. DC plans provide greater portability of benefits, but shift the responsibility of saving for retirement from employers to employees. This report addresses the following issues: (1) What percentage of workers participate in DC plans, and how much have they saved in them? (2) How much are workers likely to have saved in DC plans over their careers and to what degree do key individual decisions and plan features affect plan saving? (3) What options have been recently proposed to increase DC plan coverage, participation, and savings? GAO analyzed data from the Federal Reserve Board's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the latest available, utilized a computer simulation model to project DC plan balances at retirement, reviewed academic studies, and interviewed experts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Department of Homeland Security (DHS) organizations are expected to work together to protect the United States from terrorism. To support this primary mission, DHS has been acquiring billions of dollars worth of goods and services. DHS also has been working to integrate the disparate acquisition processes and systems that organizations brought with them when DHS was created 2 years ago. GAO was asked to identify (1) areas where DHS has been successful in promoting collaboration among its various organizations and (2) areas where DHS still faces challenges in integrating the acquisition function across the department. GAO was also asked to assess DHS's progress in implementing an effective review process for major, complex investments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In prior work, GAO found that contractors were paid billions of dollars in award fees regardless of acquisition outcomes. In December 2007, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued guidance aimed at improving the use of award fee contracts. GAO was asked to (1) identify agencies' actions to revise or develop award fee policies and guidance to reflect OMB guidance, (2) assess the consistency of current practices with the new guidance, and (3) determine the extent agencies are collecting, analyzing, and sharing information on award fees. GAO reviewed the Departments of defense (DOD), Energy (DOE), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)--agencies that constituted over 95 percent of the dollars spent on award fee contracts in fiscal year 2008."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Understanding the extent and nature of identity theft-related refund fraud is important to crafting a response to it, but Internal Revenue Service (IRS) managers recognize that they do not have a complete picture. Program officials said that one of the challenges they face in combating this type of fraud is its changing nature and how it is concealed. While perfect knowledge about cases and who is committing the crime will never be attained, the better IRS understands the problem, the better it can respond and the better Congress can oversee IRS's efforts. IRS officials described several areas where the extent and nature of identity theft is unknown."

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-07-1173G, Financial Audit Manual: Volume Three, August 2007. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) maintain the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of the Interior (Interior) leases public lands for oil and natural gas development, which generated about $9 billion in royalties in 2009. Some gas produced on these leases cannot be easily captured and is released (vented) directly to the atmosphere or is burned (flared). This vented and flared gas represents potential lost royalties for Interior and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. GAO was asked to (1) examine available estimates of the vented and flared natural gas on federal leases, (2) estimate the potential to capture additional gas with available technologies and associated potential increases in royalty payments and decreases in greenhouse gas emissions, and (3) assess the federal role in reducing venting and flaring. In addressing these objectives, GAO analyzed data from Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and others and interviewed agency and industry officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the Deepwater Horizon incident, the oil and gas industry has improved its capabilities to respond to a subsea well blowout—the uncontrolled release of oil or gas from a well on the ocean floor—in the Gulf of Mexico. In particular, operators have formed two new not-for-profit organizations that can quickly make available well containment equipment, services, and expertise. Among the equipment that these organizations can provide are capping stacks—devices used to stop the flow of oil or gas from a well. This improved well containment response equipment consists primarily of existing technologies that have been modified to support well containment, according to industry representatives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As greater numbers of foreign-born persons enter, live, and work in the United States, policymakers need more information--particularly on the undocumented population, its size, characteristics, costs, and contributions. This report reviews the ongoing development of a potential method for obtaining such information: the "grouped answers" approach. In 1998, GAO devised the approach and recommended further study. In response, the Census Bureau tested respondent acceptance and recently reported results. GAO answers four questions. (1) Is the grouped answers approach acceptable for use in a national survey of the foreign-born? (2) What further research may be needed? (3) How large a survey is needed? (4) Are any ongoing surveys appropriate for inserting a grouped answers question series (to avoid the cost of a new survey)? For this study, GAO consulted an independent statistician and other experts, performed test calculations, obtained documents, and interviewed officials and staff at federal agencies. The Census Bureau and DHS agreed with the main findings of this report. DHS agreed that the National Survey of Drug Use and Health is not an appropriate survey for inserting a grouped answers question series."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pension and other retiree benefits for state and local government employees represent liabilities for state and local governments and ultimately a burden for state and local taxpayers. Since 1986, accounting standards have required state and local governments to report their unfunded pension liabilities. Recently, however, standards changed and now call for governments also to report retiree health liabilities. The extent of these liabilities nationwide is not yet known, but some predict they will be very large, possibly exceeding a trillion dollars in present value terms. The federal government has an interest in assuring that all Americans have a secure retirement, as reflected in the federal tax deferral for contributions to both public and private pension plans. Consequently, the GAO was asked to examine: 1) the key measures of the funded status of retiree benefits and 2) the current funded status of retiree benefits. GAO analyzed data on public pensions, reviewed current literature, and interviewed a range of experts on public retiree benefits, actuarial science, and accounting."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Improvised explosive devices (IED) are the number-one threat to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, accounting for almost 40 percent of the attacks on coalition forces in Iraq. Although insurgents' use of IEDs in Iraq has begun to decline, in Afghanistan the number of IED incidents has significantly increased. The Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) was created to lead, advocate, and coordinate all DOD efforts to defeat IEDs. Its primary role is to provide funding to the military services and DOD agencies to rapidly develop and field counter-IED solutions. Through fiscal year 2009, Congress has appropriated over $16 billion to JIEDDO. In addition, other DOD components, including the military services, have devoted at least $1.5 billion to the counter-IED effort--which does not include $22.7 billion for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. This testimony is based on a report that GAO is issuing today as well as preliminary observations from ongoing work that GAO plans to report in early 2010. In the report being issued today, GAO is recommending that JIEDDO (1) improve its visibility of counter-IED efforts across DOD, (2) develop a complete plan to guide the transition of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal judiciary (judiciary) and the General Services Administration (GSA) are in the midst of a multi-billion dollar courthouse construction initiative, which has faced rising construction costs. For 33 federal courthouses completed since 2000, GAO examined (1) whether they contained extra space and any costs related to it; (2) how their actual size compares with the congressionally authorized size; (3) how their space based on the judiciary's 10-year estimates of judges compares with the actual number of judges; and (4) whether the level of courtroom sharing supported by the judiciary's data could have changed the amount of space needed in these courthouses. This testimony is based on GAO's June 2010 report; for that report, GAO analyzed courthouse planning and use data, visited courthouses, modeled courtroom sharing scenarios, and interviewed judges, GSA officials, and others."