A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "With the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program taking effect in 1997, child care assistance became a significant strategy for helping welfare recipients move into the workforce and for helping other low-income families stay off welfare. Since 1997, states have used federal funds from the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and TANF along with state funds to expand child care assistance programs. However, given the current budget problems in most states and the competing demands for TANF and state funds, it is possible that states have changed their child care policies and the availability of child care assistance to low-income families."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on issues related to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) reauthorization, focusing on issues related to derivatives that are traded on-exchange as well as those that are privately negotiated off-exchange, or over-the-counter (OTC)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed issues related to the regulation of electronic trading systems, focusing on: (1) how technology is being used in the exchange-traded futures market, and what concerns this use raises under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA); (2) how technology is being used in the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market, and what concerns this use raises under the CEA; and (3) what alternatives have been suggested for addressing the concerns raised under the CEA by the use of technology in the exchange-traded futures and OTC derivatives markets."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of Executive Order 12612 on federalism, focusing on: (1) how often the preambles to covered agencies' final rules issued between April 1, 1996, and December 31, 1998, mentioned Executive Order 12612 and how often they indicated that the agencies had conducted federalism assessments under the order; (2) what selected agencies have done to implement the requirements of Executive Order 12612; and (3) what the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has done to oversee federal agencies' implementation of Executive Order 12612 in the rulemaking process."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the status of the court-appointed receivership for the District of Columbia's child welfare system, focusing on: (1) the progress the receivership has made to comply with the requirements of the modified final order (MFO); and (2) key elements that are essential for additional reforms to occur."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to improve customer service."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) system, implemented in 1998 and subsequently revised, is used to update Medicare's physician fees and moderate the growth in Medicare spending for physician services. SGR, and a predecessor system implemented in 1992, were designed to reduce physician fee updates if spending growth exceeded a specified target. Although spending growth slowed substantially under both systems, concerns about SGR arose when the system caused fees to decline by 5.4 percent in 2002. GAO was asked to discuss (1) Medicare physician spending trends both before and after the implementation of spending targets and (2) the evolution and mechanics of the SGR system. This statement is largely based on GAO's previous work on Medicare spending trends and the SGR system."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On November 21, 2002, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) invited seven countries to join the alliance. To facilitate congressional consideration of NATO enlargement, the U.S. Senate mandated in 1998 that GAO review and assess the reports the Senate directed the President to provide on countries invited to join NATO. The President submitted the required reports to Congress on March 25, 2003. To fulfill its mandate, GAO determined if (1) the reports met the Senate's requirements and the information was accurate and current, (2) the methodology for assessing the likely impact on NATO's military effectiveness was reasonable, and (3) the methodology for analyzing the ability of the invited countries to fulfill the full range of financial burdens of NATO membership was reasonable."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the tax compliance burdens of small business taxpayers, focusing on: (1) why the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) compliance burden estimates are not reliable; (2) why the relationship of the no-change rates to audit rates for small businesses and other individuals is difficult to determine; and (3) why IRS has limited information on its interactions with small businesses."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work concerning federally funded teacher training programs, focusing on the: (1) number of agencies and the programs they administer that support teacher training, along with some general characteristics of these programs; and (2) funding provided by these programs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In December 2009, recognizing that the situation in Afghanistan had become more grave since the March 2009 announcement of the U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the administration concluded a 10-week review of the strategy's goals and the methods needed to achieve them. In announcing the results of this review, the President reaffirmed the core strategic goal of disrupting, dismantling, and eventually defeating extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan and preventing them from threatening the United States and its allies in the future. To meet this goal, the President announced his decision to rapidly deploy an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. In addition, he pledged a "surge" of civilian experts to help enhance the capacity of Afghan government institutions and assist in the rehabilitation of key economic sectors. Since the President's December 2009 announcement, about 16,000 of the additional U.S. troops have gradually deployed to Afghanistan--including about 10,000 as of March 2010 and approximately another 6,000 since that time--and the number of U.S. government civilians present in country has grown by about 200. In February 2010, in what senior Department of Defense (DOD) officials have described as the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As Congress considers reauthorization of the laws which provide funding for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), there is interest in understanding what accounts for recent trends in child care subsidy receipt among eligible families and what research says about subsidies' effects on parents' ability to obtain and maintain employment. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers CCDF, but states have flexibility in its implementation. As requested, GAO examined: (1) trends in federal estimates of the number and proportion of eligible children and families who receive child care subsidies, (2) factors that may affect trends in estimates of the number of children served, and (3) what is known about the extent to which access to subsidies supports low-income parents' employment. To address these issues, GAO reviewed recent federal estimates of the number and proportion of eligible children and families served; conducted a survey of state child care administrators in 50 states and the District of Columbia; interviewed HHS officials, state officials in four selected states, and researchers and experts in child care subsidies; and reviewed research on the relationship between subsidy receipt …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since GAO reported on the commercial space launch industry in 2006 and 2009, the industry has evolved and moved further toward space tourism. Commercial space tourism promises to make human space travel available to the public for the first time. In addition, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to use private companies to transport cargo, and eventually personnel, to the International Space Station after NASA retires the space shuttle later in 2011. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversees the safety of commercial space launches, licensing and monitoring the safety of such launches and of commercial spaceports (sites for launching spacecraft), and promotes the industry. This testimony addresses (1) recent industry trends, (2) FAA's related budget request for fiscal year 2012, and (3) challenges that FAA and industry faces. This statement is based on GAO's October 2006 report and December 2009 testimony on commercial space launches, updated with information GAO gathered from FAA and industry experts in April and May 2011 on industry trends and recent FAA and NASA actions. In past work, GAO recommended that FAA take several actions to improve its oversight of commercial space …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The high pace of military operations in Iraq and elsewhere has generated a multibillion dollar equipment maintenance requirement that must be addressed after units return home. Upon returning from deployments, active, reserve, and National Guard units reconstitute, or restore, their equipment to a condition that enables them to conduct training and prepare for future deployments. The Department of Defense (DOD) uses a two-phased process to develop equipment reconstitution supplemental budget estimates. GAO reviewed this process for the fiscal year 2004 supplemental budget to determine (1) the extent to which the process produced reliable estimates of reconstitution requirements in the fiscal year 2004 supplemental budget, and (2) whether DOD is accurately tracking and reporting reconstitution costs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assumed responsibility for the immigration programs of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in 2003. The three DHS bureaus with primary responsibility for immigration functions are U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). This testimony focuses on CBP and ICE, which took over the immigration enforcement function. CBP is responsible for functions related to inspections and border patrol, and ICE is responsible for functions related to investigations, intelligence, detention, and removal. The Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, House Committee on the Judiciary, held a hearing to discuss management challenges and potential structural changes. Some research organizations have suggested structural changes to address management challenges, including a merger of CBP and ICE. This testimony addresses the following questions: (1) Have ICE and CBP encountered similar management challenges to those encountered at INS? (2) What factors might be considered in addressing some of the management challenges that exist at ICE and CBP?"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) alerted your offices that it might have violated statutory restrictions when obligating funds to states for its Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) program. CVISN awards grants to state offices to support improved information technology exchanges between government agencies and the motor carrier industry to enhance motor carrier safety and other efforts. In 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) provided $25 million annually in contract authority and established funding restrictions for CVISN awards. FMCSA temporarily shut down the CVISN program in May 2010 to determine whether it violated funding restrictions and to prevent exacerbating any problems; it has not determined when it will restart the program. In response to congressional request, this report addresses (1) whether FMCSA complied with statutory requirements when awarding CVISN grants to states and (2) actions that the agency is taking to manage the award of CVISN grants effectively."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Delays in processing of equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints have been a long-standing concern. In 2000, as part of the Department of Defense's (DOD) fiscal year 2001 authorization act, Congress authorized DOD to carry out a 3-year pilot program for improving processes to resolve complaints by civilian DOD employees by testing procedures that would reduce EEO complaint processing times and eliminate redundancy, among other things. The act requires two reports from GAO--90 days after the first and last fiscal years of the pilot program's operation. In December 2005 and January 2006, we provided briefings on our initial review of the pilot program. This report (1) describes key features and status of the three programs and (2) assesses DOD's plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2003, the federal Food Stamp Program made payment errors totaling about $1.4 billion in benefits, or about 7 percent of the total $21.4 billion in benefits provided to a monthly average of 21 million low-income participants. Because payment errors are a misuse of public funds and can undermine public support of the program, it is important that the government minimize them. Because of concerns about ensuring payment accuracy GAO examined: (1) what is included in the national food stamp payment error rate and how it has changed over time, (2) what is known about the causes of food stamp payment errors, and (3) what actions the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and states have taken to reduce these payment errors. To answer these questions, GAO analyzed program quality control data for fiscal years 1999 through 2003 and interviewed program stakeholders, including state and local officials from nine states."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Information security is a critical consideration for any organization that depends on information systems and computer networks to carry out its mission or business. It is especially important for government agencies, where maintaining the public's trust is essential. The need for a vigilant approach to information security has been demonstrated by the pervasive and sustained computerbased (cyber) attacks against the United States and others that continue to pose a potentially devastating impact to systems and the operations and critical infrastructures that they support. GAO was asked to describe (1) cyber threats to federal information systems and cyberbased critical infrastructures and (2) control deficiencies that make these systems and infrastructures vulnerable to those threats. To do so, GAO relied on its previous reports and reviewed agency and inspectors general reports on information security."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's efforts to coordinate with the accountability community--the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (the Board), the Inspectors General (IGs), and state and local government auditors--to help ensure effective and efficient oversight of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds. The Recovery Act assigns GAO a range of responsibilities including bimonthly reviews of the use of funds by selected states and localities. Because funding streams will flow from federal agencies to the states and localities, it is important for us to coordinate with the accountability community. Also, on March 19, 2009, GAO testified before this Subcommittee about the more than $21 billion in Recovery Act funds estimated to be spent for research and development (R&D) activities at four federal agencies. This statement discusses (1) GAO's efforts to fulfill its responsibilities under the Recovery Act; (2) GAO's coordination with others in the accountability community; (3) GAO's authorities to assist whistleblowers and elicit public concerns; and (4) updated information on the status of Recovery Act funds for R&D. It is based in part on GAO's first bimonthly Recovery Act report, Recovery Act: As Initial Implementation Unfolds in …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The technology component of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Secure Border Initiative (SBI), referred to as SBInet, is to put observing systems along our nation's borders and provide Border Patrol command centers with the imagery and related tools and information needed in deciding whether to deploy agents. SBInet is being acquired and deployed in incremental blocks of capability, with the first block to cost about $1.3 billion. Because of the program's importance, size, and challenges, GAO was asked to, among other things, determine the extent to which DHS has (1) defined the scope of its proposed SBInet solution, (2) developed a reliable schedule for this solution, (3) demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of this solution, and (4) acquired the solution using key management processes. To do this, GAO compared key program documentation to relevant guidance and industry practices."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony highlights the results of our March 2009 report on undercover investigative tests, which confirmed the continued existence of significant fraud vulnerabilities in this process. We also provided a letter to you in April 2009, describing our recent work on passport fraud and summarizing actions the Department of State (State) has taken to address the prior weaknesses related to fraud vulnerabilities we identified. We have found that these vulnerabilities stem from people, process, and technology. For example, the lack of training and resources provided to people contributes to vulnerabilities in the detection of fraudulent applications and counterfeit documents. The limitations in the access to inter-agency information contribute to vulnerabilities related to processes. Finally, the lack of databases and information-sharing technologies contribute to vulnerabilities in the verification of passport applicants' records. A U.S. passport not only allows an individual to travel freely in and out of the United States, but also can be used to obtain further identification documents, prove U.S. citizenship, and set up bank accounts, among other things. Because passports issued under a false identity help enable individuals to conceal their movements and activities, there is …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Both Congress and the President have indicated that access to broadband for all Americans is critically important. Broadband is seen as a critical economic engine, a vehicle for enhanced learning and medicine, and a central component of 21st century news and entertainment. As part of our response to a mandate included in the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act of 2004, this report examines the factors that affect the deployment and the adoption of broadband services. In particular, this report provides information on (1) the current status of broadband deployment and adoption; (2) the factors that influence the deployment of broadband networks; (3) the factors that influence the adoption, or purchase, of broadband service by households; and (4) the options that have been suggested to spur greater broadband deployment and adoption."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law. However, for homeland security and other purposes, the FBI is notified when a firearm or explosives background check involves an individual on the terrorist watchlist. This statement addresses (1) how many checks have resulted in matches with the terrorist watchlist, (2) how the FBI uses information from these checks for counterterrorism purposes, and (3) pending legislation that would give the Attorney General authority to deny certain checks. GAO's testimony is based on products issued in January 2005 and May 2009 and selected updates in March and April 2010. For these updates, GAO reviewed policies and other documentation and interviewed officials at FBI components involved with terrorism-related background checks."