A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Multiple Title IV programs and tax expenditures provided substantial aid to populations across income levels. In 2009, 12.8 million students received Title IV aid, and approximately 18-million tax filers claimed a higher education tax benefit for current expenses. Recent increases in both programs from 2008 to 2009 may be because of enrollment increases and legislative actions, among other factors. Title IV grants tend to benefit students and families with incomes below the national median (about $52,000 from 2006–2010), while loans and work-study serve these students and those with family incomes above the median. Most tax benefits from the tuition and fees deduction and the parental exemption for dependent students went to households with incomes above $60,000, whereas the majority of benefits from the other higher education tax expenditures in GAO’s review—such as the American opportunity credit—went to households with lower incomes."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our work on the status of efforts to establish federal border control in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and implement the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA) with regard to foreign workers, visitors, and investors in the CNMI. In May 2008, the United States enacted CNRA, amending the U.S.-CNMI Covenant to establish federal control of CNMI immigration. CNRA contains several CNMI-specific provisions affecting foreign workers and investors during a transition period that began in November 2009 and ends in 2014. In addition, CNRA amends existing U.S. immigration law to establish a joint visa waiver program for the CNMI and Guam by replacing an existing visa waiver program for Guam visitors. During the transition period, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Interior, Labor, and State and the U.S. Attorney General, has the responsibility to establish, administer, and enforce a transition program to regulate immigration in the CNMI. CNRA requires that we report on the implementation of federal immigration law in the CNMI. This testimony summarizes findings from our recent report regarding (1) steps that the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report is part of GAO's requirement, under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, to monitor the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and submit special reports as warranted from oversight findings. It evaluates Treasury's borrowing actions since the start of the crisis, and how Treasury communicates with market participants in the context of the growing debt portfolio and the medium- and long-term fiscal outlook. GAO analyzed market data; interviewed Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and market experts; and surveyed major domestic holders of Treasury securities."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Head Start program, overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services and administered by the Office of Head Start, provides child development services primarily to low-income families and their children. Federal law allows up to 10 percent of enrolled families to have incomes above 130 percent of the poverty line--GAO refers to them as "over-income." Families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line, or who meet certain other criteria, are referred to as "under-income". Nearly 1 million children a year participate in Head Start, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided an additional $2.1 billion in funding. GAO received hotline tips alleging fraud and abuse by grantees. In response, GAO investigated the validity of the allegations, conducted undercover tests to determine if other centers were committing fraud, and documented instances where potentially eligible children were put on Head Start wait lists. The investigation of allegations is ongoing. To perform this work, GAO interviewed grantees and a number of informants and reviewed documentation. GAO used fictitious identities and bogus documents for proactive testing of Head Start centers. GAO also interviewed families on wait lists. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Nonprofits are key partners in delivering federal services yet reportedly often struggle to cover their indirect costs (costs not readily identifiable with particular programs or projects). This raises concerns about fiscal strain on the sector. To provide information on nonprofits' indirect cost reimbursement, especially when funding flows through entities such as state and local governments, GAO was asked to review, for selected grants and nonprofits, (1) how indirect cost terminology and classification vary, (2) how indirect costs are reimbursed, and (3) if gaps occur between indirect costs incurred and reimbursed, steps taken to bridge gaps. GAO selected six Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development grants and 17 nonprofits in Louisiana, Maryland, and Wisconsin. GAO selected these agencies for their historical relationship with nonprofits. GAO reviewed policies and documents governing indirect costs and interviewed relevant officials. GAO also reviewed research on nonprofits' indirect costs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1995, GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) business systems modernization program as high risk, and it continues to do so today. To assist in addressing DOD's business system modernization challenges, the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (the Act) contains provisions that require the department to take certain actions and to annually report to its congressional committees on these actions. The Act also directs GAO to review each annual report. In response, GAO performed its fifth annual review of DOD's actions to comply with key aspects in the Act and related federal guidance. To do so, GAO reviewed, for example, the latest version of DOD's business enterprise architecture (BEA) and transition plan, investment management policies and procedures, and information in the department's business system data repositories."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have spent billions of dollars to develop Afghanistan. From fiscal years 2004 to 2008, DOD has reported obligations of about $1 billion for its Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP), which enables commanders to respond to urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs. As troop levels increase, DOD officials expect the program to expand. Under the authority of the Comptroller General, GAO assessed DOD's (1) capacity to manage and oversee the CERP in Afghanistan and (2) coordination of projects with USAID. Accordingly, GAO interviewed DOD and USAID officials, and examined program documents to identify workload, staffing, training, and coordination requirements. In Afghanistan, GAO interviewed key military personnel on the sufficiency of training, and their ability to execute assigned duties."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter provides answers to questions for the record. Questions from Chairman Ortiz include: (1) What steps could have been taken to roll out NSPS in a more orderly and fair fashion and if NSPS continues, what steps should now be taken to move forward? (2) As DOD and OPM leadership hold discussions to determine the overall framework, scope, and timeline of the review, what guidance or suggestions would you give to DOD and OPM to include in the methodology of this study? (3) Under the GS system, an employee steadily moves up through the various grades and can actually monitor actual career progression. There appears to be no such similar movement in NSPS; an employee, while receiving pay increases and bonuses, may remain in the same pay band for his/her entire career. If this is a valid concern, how can it be addressed, if NSPS continues? Questions from Representative Forbes include: (1) Based on the GAO testimony, one safeguard GAO believes needs to be implemented to increase employee confidence in the pay for performance system is for DOD to have a third party analyze the pay-pool recommendations …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In August 2006, we reported to Congress on the results of our review, which Congress requested, of factors affecting Hispanic representation in the federal workforce and efforts being taken by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and other agencies related to Hispanic representation. We reported that EEOC and OPM require agencies to analyze their workforces to help ensure equal employment opportunity and that EEOC requires agencies to analyze subsets of their workforce to determine whether barriers to such opportunities may exist. As indicated in that report, and as discussed with Congress, this report contains additional data on Hispanic representation in various subsets of the federal workforce with some comparisons to Hispanic representation in the Civilian Labor Force (CLF). The data in this report provide a foundation for further analyses by agency officials and policymakers as they consider a broad spectrum of issues related to Hispanic representation in the federal workforce. These data include analyses by agency, selected occupation, occupational category, grade, and among new hires. For purposes of these analyses, the federal workforce governmentwide includes civilian employees of all cabinet-level departments, independent agencies, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) spent about 40 percent of the total defense budget to operate and maintain the nation's military forces in fiscal year 2005. Operation and maintenance (O&M) funding is considered one of the major components of funding for readiness. O&M appropriations fund the training, supply, and equipment maintenance of military units as well as the infrastructure of military bases. Over the past several years, DOD has increasingly used contractors, rather than uniformed or DOD civilian personnel, to provide O&M services in areas such as logistics, base operations support, information technology services, and administrative support. The House Appropriations Committee directed GAO to examine growing O&M costs and support services contracting. This GAO report (1) identifies the trends in O&M costs and services contracts and the reasons for the trends, (2) discusses whether increased services contracting has exacerbated the growth of O&M costs, and (3) provides perspectives on the benefits and concerns associated with increased contracting for support services. GAO analyzed DOD's O&M appropriations, budgets, and services contract costs over a 10-year period and developed case studies of outsourced O&M-related work at three installations. GAO …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Average health insurance premiums for plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) have risen each year since 1997. These growing premiums result in higher costs to the federal government and plan enrollees. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees FEHBP, negotiating benefits and premiums and administering reserve accounts that may be used to cover plans' unanticipated spending increases. GAO was asked to discuss its December 22, 2006 report, entitled Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Premium Growth Has Recently Slowed, and Varies Among Participating Plans (GAO-07-141). In this report, GAO reviewed (1) FEHBP premium trends compared with those of other purchasers, (2) factors contributing to average premium growth across all FEHBP plans, and (3) factors contributing to differing trends among selected FEHBP plans. GAO reviewed data provided by OPM relating to FEHBP premiums and factors contributing to premium growth. For comparison purposes, GAO examined premium data from the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and surveys of other public and private employers. GAO also interviewed officials from OPM and eight FEHBP plans with premium growth that was higher than average and six FEHBP plans with premium …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with hundreds of billions of dollars in supplemental and annual appropriations for military operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). DOD's reported annual costs for GWOT have shown a steady increase from about $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to about $98.4 billion in fiscal year 2006. So far in fiscal year 2007, Congress has provided DOD with $70 billion in annual appropriations for GWOT. To continue its GWOT operations, DOD has requested an additional $93.4 billion in supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2007 and $141.7 billion in appropriations for fiscal year 2008. The United States' commitments to GWOT will likely involve the continued investment of significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult trade-offs as the nation faces an increasing long-range fiscal challenge. The magnitude of future costs will depend on several direct and indirect cost variables and, in some cases, decisions that have not yet been made. DOD's future costs will likely be affected by the pace and duration of operations, the types of facilities needed to support troops overseas, redeployment plans, and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has a demanding responsibility enforcing banking laws, regulating financial institutions, and protecting depositors. As part of its audit of the calendar year 2006 financial statements, GAO assessed (1) the progress FDIC has made in correcting or mitigating information security weaknesses previously reported and (2) the effectiveness of FDIC's system integrity controls to protect the confidentiality and availability of its financial information and information systems. To do this, GAO examined pertinent security policies, procedures, and relevant reports. In addition, GAO conducted tests and observations of controls in operation."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter summarizes our review of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) revised Circular No. A-123, Management's Responsibility for Internal Control (A-123) during fiscal year 2006. These requirements are applicable to the 24 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies, including the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), of which IRS is a significant component. The objectives of our review, which was conducted as part of our audit of IRS's fiscal year 2006 financial statements, were to determine whether (1) IRS appropriately planned and implemented its assessment of internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the requirements of OMB Circular No. A-123, (2) IRS performed sufficient work to support its related assurance statement to Treasury, and (3) IRS's assurance statement appropriately represented the status of IRS's internal control over financial reporting."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures the pensions of nearly 44 million private sector workers in over 30,000 employer-sponsored defined benefit pension plans. Established in 1974 as a self-financing government corporation, PBGC's primary responsibility is to insure, under statutory limits, the pension benefits of participants in covered private defined benefit plans. PBGC collects premiums from the sponsors of defined benefit pension plans and administers plans that are terminated for reasons such as plan insolvency or bankruptcy. In the event of a termination, PBGC assumes control of plan assets, determines plan benefit liabilities, and pays benefits as guaranteed by statute. In fiscal year 2006, about 612,000 plan participants and beneficiaries received $4.1 billion in benefit payments from PBGC. An additional 659,000 participants in plans already trusteed by the corporation will receive benefits from PBGC when they become eligible to retire. An increase in underfunded plan terminations in recent years increased the number of plan participants receiving and eligible for benefit payments. In 2005, PBGC reorganized, creating an additional legal department called the Office of the Chief Counsel, and placed this new office under the Chief Insurance Program Officer. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Small businesses engaged in manufacturing, typically those with 500 or fewer employees, comprise about 90 percent of all U.S. manufacturers and employ 6 million workers. Recent studies have shown that small manufacturing businesses face a number of challenges in their efforts to remain competitive, including the inability to obtain operating and investment capital, a lack of familiarity with new business practices, and difficulty in finding independent advice and skilled employees. To help these businesses overcome such challenges, many federal agencies provide financial and nonfinancial technical services through targeted or general programs or create interagency work groups to better coordinate their efforts and more effectively support these businesses. In this context, GAO identified (1) federal programs that provide services to support small businesses engaged in manufacturing and (2) federal interagency efforts that focus on issues of concern to small manufacturing businesses. To identify these programs and efforts, GAO obtained documentation from 19 federal agencies. In commenting on a draft of this report, 18 of the 19 agencies made technical comments that we have incorporated as appropriate. GAO is not making recommendations in this report."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) is making the most extensive use of contractors in its history to supply a number of mission-critical functions and technologies. Because of the critical role that contractors will play in the 2010 Census, GAO reviewed the Bureau's acquisition planning process. Specifically GAO's objectives were to (1) determine the status of the Bureau's major decennial contracts, and (2) evaluate the extent to which the Bureau is using selected leading practices to manage its acquisition planning for these contracts."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina struck near the Louisiana-Mississippi border and became one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, affecting a large geographic area and necessitating the evacuation of people from parts of the area, including vulnerable populations, such as hospital patients, nursing home residents and transportation-disadvantaged populations who were not in such facilities. The disaster highlighted the challenges involved in evacuating vulnerable populations due to hurricanes. GAO was asked to discuss efforts to plan and prepare for the needs of seniors in the event of a national emergency. GAO describes its ongoing work on evacuation in the event of emergencies, such as hurricanes, and provides preliminary observations on (1) challenges faced by hospital and nursing home administrators that are related to hurricane evacuations; (2) the federal program that supports the evacuation of patients needing hospital care and nursing home residents; and (3) challenges states and localities face in preparing for and carrying out the evacuation of transportation-disadvantaged populations and efforts to address evacuation needs. This testimony is based in part on a prior GAO report, Disaster Preparedness: Preliminary Observations on the Evacuation of Hospitals and Nursing Homes Due …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has faced challenges for many years in managing its grants, which constitute over one-half of the agency's budget, or about $4 billion annually. EPA awards grants through 93 programs to such recipients as state and local governments, tribes, universities, and nonprofit organizations. In response to concerns about its ability to manage grants effectively, EPA issued its 5-year Grants Management Plan in 2003, with performance measures and targets. This testimony is based on GAO's May 2006 report, Grants Management: EPA Has Made Progress in Grant Reforms but Needs to Address Weaknesses in Implementation and Accountability (GAO-06-625). GAO examined EPA's progress in implementing its grant reforms in four key areas: (1) awarding grants, (2) monitoring grantees, (3) obtaining results from grants, and (4) managing grant staff and resources."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many U.S. communities face difficulties attracting physicians to meet their health care needs. To address this problem, states and federal agencies have turned to foreign physicians who have just completed their graduate medical education in the United States under J-1 visas. Ordinarily, these physicians are required to return home after completing their education, but this requirement can be waived at the request of a state or federal agency if the physician agrees to practice in, or work at a facility that treats residents of, an underserved area. In 1996, GAO reported that J-1 visa waivers had become a major means of providing physicians for underserved areas, with over 1,300 requested in 1995. Since 2002, each state has been allotted 30 J-1 visa waivers per year, but some states have expressed interest in more. GAO was asked to report on its preliminary findings from ongoing work on (1) the number of J-1 visa waivers requested by states and federal agencies and (2) states' views on the 30-waiver limit and on their willingness to have unused waiver allotments redistributed. Such redistribution would require legislative action. GAO surveyed the 50 states, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The finances of servicemembers and their families have been an ongoing concern of Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD), especially in light of more frequent deployments to support conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adverse effects that may result when servicemembers experience financial problems include loss of security clearances, criminal or nonjudicial sanctions, adverse personnel actions, or adverse impacts on unit readiness. To decrease the likelihood that servicemembers will experience financial problems, DOD has requested and Congress has granted annual increases in military basic pay for all active duty servicemembers and increases in special pays and allowances for deployed servicemembers. The military has also developed personal financial management (PFM) programs to help avoid or mitigate adverse effects associated with personal financial problems. However, studies published in 2002 showed that servicemembers continue to report financial problems. This testimony provides a summary of GAO's prior work examining (1) the extent to which deployments have affected the financial conditions of active duty servicemembers and their families, and (2) steps that DOD has taken to assist servicemembers with their financial needs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to prepare a master plan to develop laser technologies for potential weapons applications in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000. In response to this legislation, the High Energy Laser (HEL) Executive Review Panel was formed and issued the HEL Master Plan on March 24, 2000. This plan recommended that DOD implement a new management structure for HEL technologies and increase the funding allocated to HELs to achieve a better balance between large demonstration programs and the enabling science and technology projects. Subsequently, in the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2001, Congress directed the Secretary of Defense to implement the management and organizational structure specified in the Master Plan. Congress asked us to review the extent to which DOD has implemented the recommendations of the HEL Master Plan, by assessing (1) whether DOD has achieved more balance between large demonstration projects and the enabling science and technology base projects; (2) whether the DOD funding process focuses on the most critical HEL issues; and (3) what impact the new management structure has had on the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) space shuttle fleet has been key to International Space Station operations. Since the grounding of the fleet in February 2003, Russia has provided logistics support. However, due to the limited payload capacity of the Russian space vehicles, on-orbit assembly of the space station stopped. In May 2004 and in February 2005, NASA testified before the Congress that it had assessed using alternative launch vehicles to the space shuttle for space station operations. NASA concluded that using alternatives would be challenging and result in long program delays and would ultimately cost more than returning the space shuttle safely to flight. Yet uncertainties remain about when the space shuttle will return to flight, and questions have been raised about NASA's assessment of alternatives. GAO was asked to determine whether NASA's assessment was sufficient to conclude that the space shuttle is the best option for assembling and providing logistics support to the space station."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) space shuttle program is key to implementing the President's vision for space exploration, which calls for completing the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade. Currently, the space shuttle, which is to be retired after ISS assembly is completed, is the only launch system capable of transporting ISS components. To meet the goals of the President's vision and satisfy ISS's international partners, NASA is examining alternative launch vehicles and ISS configurations. Retiring the space shuttle and, in the larger context, implementing the President's vision, will require NASA to rely on its most important asset--its workforce. Because maintaining a skilled workforce through retirement will be challenging, GAO was asked to discuss the actions NASA has taken to sustain a skilled space shuttle workforce and the challenges it faces in doing so--findings reported on in March 2005 (see GAO, Space Shuttle: Actions Needed to Better Position NASA to Sustain Its Workforce through Retirement, GAO-05-230)."