Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force plans to construct 233 military housing units on Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany at a cost of $131.3 million spread over fiscal years 2006-2008, and to fund 270 build-to-lease units nearby at an annual cost of $32,888 per unit over 20 years. The Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2006 directed the Secretary of the Air Force to submit to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress a report containing a housing plan for Spangdahlem. The House Conference Report accompanying H.R. 2528 stipulated that the report must include a complete cost-benefit analysis of available housing options to include build-to-lease housing, and that none of the funds appropriated for family housing at Spangdahlem--nearly $45.4 million--may be obligated until the Secretary of the Air Force certified to the Appropriations Committees that the report had been completed and received the Committees' response or a 30-day period has elapsed after the Committees receive such report. In response to the mandate, the Air Force issued a report in January 2006 that compared its proposed plan with four other housing options that included a …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Beginning in the 1990s, there was a substantial increase in the number of short-term acute care hospitals that primarily treat patients with specific medical conditions or who need surgical procedures. Advocates of such hospitals, commonly referred to as specialty hospitals, contend that their focused missions and dedicated resources can both improve quality and reduce health care costs. Critics contend that specialty hospitals siphon off the most profitable procedures and patient cases, typically without providing emergency care or other vital community services, and thus erode the financial health of neighboring general hospitals. Critics also contend that the ability of physicians to invest in a specialty hospital and then refer patients to that hospital creates financial incentives that may inappropriately affect physicians' clinical and referral behavior. In 2003, we issued two reports on the growth, characteristics, and performance of specialty hospitals. More than two-thirds of the 100 specialty hospitals we identified as being in existence in June 2003 had opened their doors since the beginning of 1990. The specialty hospitals in existence in fiscal year 2000, the most recent year for which we then had data, accounted for about 1 …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our work on factors that will affect the potential economic impact of implementing the legislation applying U.S. immigration law to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Although subject to most U.S. laws, the CNMI has administered its own immigration system since 1978, under the terms of its 1976 Covenant with the United States. The CNMI has applied this flexibility to admit substantial numbers of foreign workers through a permit program for non-U.S. citizens (noncitizens) entering the CNMI. In 2005, these workers represented a majority of the CNMI labor force and outnumbered U.S. citizens in most industries, including garment manufacturing and tourism, which have been central to the CNMI's economy. The CNMI also has admitted tourists under its own entry permit and entry permit waiver programs and has provided various types of admission to foreign investors. As we have reported previously, the CNMI faces serious economic challenges, including the decline of garment manufacturing and fluctuations in tourism. The recent immigration legislation amends the U.S.-CNMI Covenant to establish federal control of CNMI immigration and includes several provisions affecting foreign workers and investors in the CNMI …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The concept of enterprise architecture emerged in the mid- 1980s as a means for optimizing integration and interoperability across organizations. In the early 1990s, GAO research of successful public and private sector organizations led it to identify enterprise architecture as a critical success factor for agencies that are attempting to modernize their information technology (IT) environments. Since then, GAO has repeatedly identified the lack of an enterprise architecture as a key management weakness in major modernization programs at a number of federal agencies. It has also collaborated with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council to develop architecture guidance. In 2002, OMB began developing the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA), an initiative intended to guide and constrain federal agencies' enterprise architectures and IT investments. GAO was asked to testify on the status of the FEA and on the state of federal agencies' development and use of enterprise architectures."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The purpose of the Endangered Species Act is to conserve endangered and threatened species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. This law currently protects more than 1,260 animal and plant species. Within the Department of the Interior, the Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the act. In addition, all federal agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Land Management, must ensure that their activities do not jeopardize a protected species' continued existence or adversely modify or destroy habitat that has been designated as critical to its survival. The Endangered Species Act and its implementation can be controversial when there are conflicting uses for a natural resource as, for example, when timber on federal lands is both habitat for endangered and threatened species and a valuable commodity to be harvested. Conflicts also occur over the adequacy or interpretation of scientific information in making species protection decisions. GAO has issued numerous reports on the implementation of the Endangered Species Act. This testimony is based primarily on four of these reports and addresses (1) collaboration among federal agencies to conserve threatened and endangered species and …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Gun Buyback Violence Reduction Initiative, focusing on whether HUD: (1) may use funds appropriated for the Public Housing Drug Elimination Grants Program (PHDEG) for gun buyback programs; and (2) has used PHDEG funds for that purpose. GAO noted that HUD would need additional authority to use appropriated funds to support the gun buyback program. In addition, HUD nor GAO has identified any other HUD appropriation that would be available to pay for the gun buyback program."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the passage of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has faced the challenge of managing its resources to simultaneously improve service to taxpayers, assure taxpayers' compliance with the tax laws, and modernize its antiquated information systems. As requested, this statement provides our assessment of IRS's current performance in the areas of taxpayer service, tax law enforcement, and systems modernization. Looking ahead, this statement also describes the challenges that IRS faces in addressing resource constraints as well as realizing efficiency and information systems improvements."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked GAO to testify on the status of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) financial management reform efforts. NASA faces major challenges that if not addressed, will weaken its ability to manage its highly complex programs. NASA has been on GAO's high-risk list since 1990 because of its failure to effectively oversee its contracts and contractors, due in part to the agency's lack of accurate and reliable information on contract spending. GAO's statement focused on (1) how NASA's history of clean audit opinions served to mask the true extent of the agency's financial management difficulties; (2) the results of NASA's fiscal year 2003 financial statement audit, which are a departure from the fiscal year 2002 results; (3) NASA's effort to implement an integrated financial management system; and (4) the challenges NASA faces in reforming its financial management organization. Although GAO does not make specific recommendations in this statement, GAO previously made several recommendations to improve NASA's acquisition and implementation strategy for its financial management system. While NASA ultimately agreed to implement all of the recommendations, it disagreed with most of the findings--stating that its acquisition and …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the Department of Defense (DOD) reported that more than 12,000 servicemembers have been injured in combat. While many return to active duty, others with more serious injuries are likely to be discharged from the military. To ensure the continuity of medical care and access to all other Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) benefits, such as vocational rehabilitation, VA formed its Seamless Transition Task Force. In January 2005, GAO reported that VA had given high priority to OEF/OIF servicemembers, but faced challenges in identifying, locating, and following up with seriously injured servicemembers. GAO recommended that VA and DOD reach an agreement for VA to obtain systematic data from DOD, and the departments concurred. However, DOD raised privacy concerns. GAO was asked to review VA's efforts to expedite vocational rehabilitation services to seriously injured servicemembers and to determine the status of an agreement between DOD and VA to share health data. GAO relied on its prior work; interviewed VA and DOD officials; and reviewed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the HIPAA …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Providing readily accessible health information on veterans and active duty military personnel is highly essential to ensuring that these individuals are given quality health care and assistance in adjudicating disability claims. Moreover, ready access to health information is consistent with the President's recently announced intention to provide electronic health records for most Americans within 10 years. In an attempt to improve the sharing of health information, the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DOD) have been working, since 1998, toward the ability to exchange electronic health records for use by veterans, military personnel, and their health care providers. In testimony before Congress last November and again this past March, GAO discussed the progress being made by the departments in this endeavor. While a measure of success has been achieved--the one-way transfer of health data from DOD to VA health care facilities--identifying the technical solution for a two-way exchange, as part of a longer term HealthePeople (Federal) initiative, has proven elusive. At Congress's request, GAO reported on its continuing review of the departments' progress toward this goal of an electronic two-way exchange of patient health records."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Without proper safeguards, federal agencies' computer systems are vulnerable to intrusions by individuals and groups who have malicious intentions and can obtain sensitive information, commit fraud, disrupt operations, or launch attacks against other computer systems and networks. Concerned by reports of significant weaknesses in federal systems, Congress passed the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), which permanently authorized and strengthened information security program, evaluation, and annual reporting requirements for federal agencies. GAO was asked to testify on its draft report on (1) the adequacy and effectiveness of federal agencies' information security policies and practices and (2) their implementation of FISMA requirements. To prepare for this testimony, GAO summarized its draft report where it analyzed agency, inspectors general, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), congressional, and GAO reports on information security."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "One of the primary functions of any security system is the control of people moving into or out of protected areas, such as physical buildings, information systems, and our national border. Technologies called biometrics can automate the identification of people by one or more of their distinct physical or behavioral characteristics. The term biometrics covers a wide range of technologies that can be used to verify identity by measuring and analyzing human characteristics--relying on attributes of the individual instead of things the individual may have or know. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, laws have been passed that require a more extensive use of biometric technologies in the federal government. In 2002, GAO conducted a technology assessment on the use of biometrics for border security. GAO was asked to testify about the issues that it raised in the report, the current state of the technology, and the application of biometrics to aviation security."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO recently testified before the Committee regarding allegations of death and abuse at residential programs for troubled teens. Recent reports indicate that vulnerable children are being abused in other settings. For example, one report on the use of restraints and seclusions in schools documented cases where students were pinned to the floor for hours at a time, handcuffed, locked in closets, and subjected to other acts of violence. In some of these cases, this type of abuse resulted in death. Given these reports, the Committee asked GAO to (1) provide an overview of seclusions and restraint laws applicable to children in public and private schools, (2) verify whether allegations of student death and abuse from the use of these methods are widespread, and (3) examine the facts and circumstances surrounding cases where a student died or suffered abuse as a result of being secluded or restrained. GAO reviewed federal and state laws and abuse allegations from advocacy groups, parents, and the media from the past two decades. GAO did not evaluate whether using restraints and seclusions can be beneficial. GAO examined documents related to closed cases, including police …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The anthrax attacks of 2001 resulted in 23 cases of the disease, 5 deaths, and the contamination of numerous U.S. Postal Service facilities, including the Southern Connecticut Processing and Distribution Center in Wallingford, Connecticut (the Wallingford facility). But none of the workers at the Wallingford facility contracted the disease from the anthrax contamination. As a result, GAO was asked to examine the adequacy of methods used to determine whether the Wallingford facility and other postal facilities were contaminated. In this testimony, GAO presents its preliminary findings concerning the test results for the Wallingford facility: (1) the collection of samples to detect anthrax, (2) the meaning of the test results, and (3) the communication of the test results to workers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On April 1, we testified before the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, House Committee on Government Reform at a hearing on "Compensation Reform: How Should the Federal Government Pay Its Employees?" This letter responds to a request that we provide answers to follow-up questions from the hearing."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A Congressional letter, dated June 30, 2004, to the Comptroller General expressed concern that the federal government may not have a uniform approach to protecting its facilities from lightning strikes. As a result, Congress requested a GAO study on issues related to whether the federal government should adopt a uniform standard for lightning protection systems. We selected four agencies for this study--the General Services Administration (GSA), the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and the Department of Defense (DOD). These agencies hold over 80 percent (in terms of square footage) of the government's owned and leased property. The objectives of this study were to determine (1) to what extent these selected federal agencies use applicable lightning protection standard(s) to help protect buildings they own from lightning strikes; (2) how these selected federal agencies assess the need for lightning protection systems on their buildings; (3) what practices and lightning protection standard(s) the General Services Administration uses when leasing privately owned buildings; and (4) what data exist related to the financial impact of lightning protection and damage to the federal government, such as the number of buildings …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Constable’s authority in the county outside of the constable’s own precinct; permissible scope of interlock agreements concerning law enforcement (RQ-0136-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county may lease airport land without engaging in competitive bidding (RQ-0137-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification.

Official statement issued by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States describing preliminary findings regarding the lessons learned from the emergency responses on September 11, 2001 to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Transcript of the eleventh public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States held May 19, 2004 at New School University in New York City. The two-day hearing examined the response of local and federal emergency response departments on September 11, 2001, and considered how to improve these critical functions in the event of future terrorist attacks. The Commission heard from the current and former top-level officials in the fire, police, and emergency management departments of New York City, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Arlington County, Virginia. Secretary of Homeland Security Thomas J. Ridge and former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani also testified. Two staff statements were presented during the course of the hearing.