A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, commercial real estate (CRE) loan delinquencies have more than doubled. The federal banking regulators have issued statements and guidance encouraging banks to continue lending to creditworthy borrowers and explaining how banks can work with troubled borrowers. However, some banks have stated that examiners' treatment of CRE loans has hampered their ability to lend. This report examines, among other issues, (1) how the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) responded to trends in CRE markets and the controls they have for helping ensure consistent application of guidance and (2) the relationships between bank supervision practices and lending. GAO reviewed agency guidance, examination review procedures, reports of examination, and relevant literature and interviewed agency officials, examiners, bank officials, and academics.."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter formally discusses a congressional request to review the Department of Homeland Security's framework for securing critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR), and subsequent agency comments. As such, this correspondence provides information on: (1) how DHS coordinates with CIKR stakeholders to identify overlaps and gaps in CIKR security activities across all sectors, (2) how DHS addresses these potential overlaps in CIKR security activities, and (3) how DHS addresses CIKR security gaps. To conduct this work, among other things, we selected a non-random sample of nine sectors with a mix of regulations related to security to obtain stakeholders views on working with DHS to identify and address overlaps and gaps in CIKR activities; reviewed applicable laws and regulations, DHS documents such as the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, and pertinent GAO reports; and interviewed DHS officials in the Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) in the National Protection and Programs Directorate and officials representing the sectors we selected. While the results of these efforts are not generalizable to all CIKR sectors, stakeholders, and activities, they provided valuable insights into CIKR partner perspectives across a range of CIKR."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "One of the areas included in our recent report on potential duplication among federal programs was economic development. If economic development programs are administered efficiently and effectively, they can contribute to the well-being of our nation's economy at the least cost to taxpayers. Absent a common definition for economic development, we had previously developed a list of nine activities most often associated with economic development. These activities include planning and developing strategies for job creation and retention, developing new markets for existing products, building infrastructure by constructing roads and sewer systems to attract industry to undeveloped areas, and establishing business incubators to provide facilities for new businesses' operations, among others. Our recent work included information on 80 economic development programs at four agencies--the Departments of Commerce (Commerce), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Agriculture (USDA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA). This work examined (1) the potential for overlap in the design of the programs, (2) the extent to which the four agencies collaborate to achieve common goals, and (3) the extent to which the agencies have developed measures to determine the programs' effectiveness. According to the agencies, funding …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On January 12, 2010, an earthquake in Haiti killed an estimated 230,000 people, displaced about 2 million more, and exacerbated longstanding challenges. In July 2010, Congress appropriated more than $1.14 billion in supplemental funds for reconstruction assistance, most of which was provided to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State (State). In April 2010, the Haitian government created the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), a joint Haitian-international entity, for an 18-month term to coordinate donors, conduct strategic planning, approve reconstruction projects, and provide accountability. In this report, GAO addresses (1) the planned uses for U.S. reconstruction assistance and the amounts provided so far, (2) USAID's internal controls for overseeing U.S. funds, and (3) IHRC's progress establishing governance and oversight structures. GAO interviewed U.S. government officials in Washington, D.C., and Haiti, as well as officials from Haitian ministries, the IHRC, and nongovernmental organizations, and reviewed U.S. and IHRC documents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Effective implementation of two 2008 laws by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could increase taxpayers' voluntary compliance. Those laws require reporting to IRS and taxpayers of cost basis for sales of certain securities and of transaction settlement information (i.e., merchants' income from payment cards or third party networks). In response to a congressional request, GAO (1) assessed IRS's implementation plans for the laws; (2) determined the extent to which IRS issued timely regulations and guidance and did outreach; (3) examined how IRS will use the new data to improve compliance; and (4) analyzed IRS's plans to assess implementation and measure performance and outcomes. GAO compared IRS's implementation plans to criteria in past GAO work and other sources; interviewed industry groups and agency officials, and reviewed rulemaking documents; examined IRS's plans to use the new data; and compared IRS's measures and evaluation plans to GAO criteria."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (MGD Program) provides donations of U.S. agricultural products and financial and technical assistance for school feeding programs in the developing world. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), with about $200 million in funding in fiscal year 2010, the MGD Program served about 5 million beneficiaries in 28 countries. In 2006 and 2007, USDA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audited the department's food aid programs and identified significant weaknesses. This report examines (1) USDA's oversight of the MGD Program and (2) the extent to which USDA has addressed the program's internal control weaknesses. GAO conducted field work in Cambodia, Guatemala, and Kenya; reviewed USDA and implementing partners' documents and studies on school feeding; and interviewed officials from U.S. agencies and various organizations.."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is the Department of Defense's (DOD) most costly and ambitious aircraft acquisition, seeking to simultaneously develop and field three aircraft variants for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and eight international partners. The JSF is critical for recapitalizing tactical air forces and will require a long-term commitment to very large annual funding outlays. The estimated total investment cost is currently about $385 billion to develop and procure 2,457 aircraft. Because of a history of relatively poor cost and schedule outcomes, defense leadership over the past 15 months has directed a comprehensive restructuring of the JSF program that is continuing. This testimony draws substantially from our extensive body of work on the JSF including our April 2011 report, the latest annual review mandated in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-84 244 (2009). This testimony discusses (1) program cost and schedule changes and their implications on affordability; (2) progress made during 2010; (3) design and manufacturing maturity; and (4) test plans and progress. GAO's work included analyses of a wide range …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report documents information that we presented to Congress on March 31, 2011, in response to a congressional request that we examine the extent to which federal funding is used to support public radio. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was established pursuant to the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and receives federal payments through the annual appropriations process. CPB distributes the federal payments it receives in accordance with a statutory formula. Under this formula, the majority of each annual federal payment must be distributed to public broadcasting television and radio stations and program producers, such as National Public Radio (NPR), typically in the form of grants. This report addresses the following questions: (1) What are the missions of CPB, NPR, and local public radio stations? (2) What are the processes through which CPB receives federal payments and disburses them to grantees? and (3) What are NPR's sources of revenue, both federal and nonfederal?."