Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) appropriation for fiscal year (FY) 1999 and its budget request for FY 2000 for selected programs and initiatives."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On February 27, 2009, we issued our report expressing our opinion on the American Battle Monuments Commission's (the Commission) fiscal years 2008 and 2007 financial statements and our opinion on the Commission's internal control as of September 30, 2008. We also reported on the results of our tests of the Commission's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations during fiscal year 2008. We reported that the Commission maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding of assets) and compliance as of September 30, 2008. During our fiscal year 2008 audit, we identified accountability and internal control deficiencies that, while not individually or in the aggregate material to the Commission's financial statements, warrant management's attention. The purpose of this report is to present these deficiencies, to provide recommendations to address these matters, and to provide an overview of the status of our prior year findings and recommendations. Because of the sensitive nature of some of the issues we identified, we are communicating detailed information regarding our findings and recommendations on information systems and physical security in a separately issued Limited Official Use Only …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a congressional request that GAO review allegations that the National Cancer Institute's Special Virus Cancer Program (SVCP) created the AIDS virus. GAO found no evidence to support the allegations that SVCP created the AIDS virus."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As the demand for and the cost of prescription drugs rise, many consumers have turned to the Internet to purchase them. However, the global nature of the Internet can hinder state and federal efforts to identify and regulate Internet pharmacies to help assure the safety and efficacy of products sold. Recent reports of unapproved and counterfeit drugs sold over the Internet have raised further concerns. This testimony summarizes a GAO report: Internet Pharmacies: Some Pose Safety Risks for Consumers, GAO-04-820 (June 17, 2004). GAO was asked to examine (1) the extent to which certain drugs can be purchased over the Internet without a prescription; (2) whether the drugs are handled properly, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and authentic; and (3) the extent to which Internet pharmacies are reliable in their business practices. GAO attempted to purchase up to 10 samples of 13 different drugs, each from a different pharmacy Web site, including sites in the United States, Canada, and other foreign countries. GAO assessed the condition of the samples it received and forwarded the samples to their manufacturers to determine whether they were approved by …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. government efforts to protect and enforce intellectual property (IP) rights domestically and overseas are crucial to preventing billions of dollars in losses to U.S. industry and IP rights owners. The illegal importation and distribution of IP-infringing goods also poses a threat to the health and safety of U.S. citizens. However, the challenges involved in IP protection are significant and require effective coordination among a wide range of policy and law enforcement agencies. Multiple agencies work to protect IP rights, and they coordinate their efforts through certain coordination bodies as well as an executive- branch strategy called the Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP). This testimony addresses two topics: the need for (1) greater leadership and permanence in the national IP enforcement strategy and coordination structure; and (2) improvement in key agencies' criminal IP enforcement data collection and analysis. It is based on prior GAO work conducted from 2003 to 2008."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's work on U.S. television broadcasting to Cuba. The United States has been broadcasting to Cuba for more than two decades via Radio Marti and, subsequently, TV Marti to "break the information blockade" and promote freedom and democracy in Cuba. U.S. television broadcasting to Cuba is performed by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), which is a U.S. government entity, overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), and based in Miami. OCB operates TV Marti, which broadcasts news, commentary, and entertainment programming to Cuba. From the inception of these broadcasting efforts, various questions have been raised regarding their purpose, quality, and effectiveness. In light of the more than $500 million that has been spent over the years on broadcasting to Cuba and OCB's almost $35 million annual budget, we have reviewed a variety of issues related to the effectiveness of OCB's television broadcasts."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2001, an estimated 2 million elderly households with very low incomes (50 percent or less of area median income) did not receive housing assistance. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considered most of these households to be "rent burdened" because they spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent. The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program provides capital advances (grants) to nonprofit organizations to develop affordable rental housing exclusively for these households. Based on a report issued in May 2003, this testimony discusses the role of the Section 202 program in addressing the need for affordable elderly housing and factors affecting the timeliness of approving and constructing new projects."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the rise in claims for administrative costs associated with school-based health services, focusing on: (1) trends in Medicaid's spending for administrative costs; (2) the distribution of Medicaid payments for administrative claims to schools and other entities; and (3) the adequacy of federal oversight in approving school districts' claims for reimbursement."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Biennially, the Judicial Conference, the federal judiciary's principal policymaking body, assesses the need for additional judges. The assessment is based on a variety of factors, but begins with quantitative case-related workload measures. This testimony focuses on (1) whether the judiciary's quantitative case-related workload measures from 1993 were reasonably accurate; and (2) the reasonableness of any proposed methodologies to update the 1993 workload measures. The comments in this testimony are based on a report GAO issued in May 2003."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO was asked to provide its views on the long-term fiscal outlook. This statement addresses four key points: (1) the federal government's long-term fiscal outlook is a matter of utmost concern; (2) this challenge is driven primarily by health care cost growth; (3) reform of health care is essential but other areas also need attention which requires a multipronged solution; and (4) the federal government faces increasing pressures yet a shrinking window of opportunity for phasing in needed adjustments. GAO's simulations of the federal government's long-term fiscal outlook were updated with the Trustees 2008 intermediate projections and continue to indicate that the long-term outlook is unsustainable. This update combined with GAO's analysis of the fiscal outlook of state and local governments demonstrates that the fiscal challenges facing all levels of government are linked and should be considered in a strategic and integrated manner. Since 1992, GAO has published long-term fiscal simulations of what might happen to federal deficits and debt levels under varying policy assumptions. GAO developed its long-term model in response to a bipartisan request from Members of Congress who were concerned about the longterm effects of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)--a tri-agency acquisition managed by the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)--is considered critical to the United States' ability to maintain the continuity of data required for weather forecasting (including severe weather events such as hurricanes) and global climate monitoring. Since its inception, NPOESS has experienced escalating costs, schedule delays, and technical difficulties. As the often-delayed launch of its demonstration satellite (called the NPOESS Preparatory Project--NPP) draws closer, these problems continue. GAO was asked to summarize its report being released today that (1) identifies the status and risks of key program components, (2) assesses the NPOESS Executive Committee's ability to fulfill its responsibilities, and (3) evaluates efforts to identify an alternative system integrator for later NPOESS satellites."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO summarized the results of its investigation of some of the business practices of certain U.S. Internet pharmacies that sold narcotics without a prescription. At the request of the Chairman, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, GAO attempted to obtain information about the sources of hydrocodone that it purchased without a prescription from eight U.S. online pharmacies. Hydrocodone is an addictive narcotic pain medication, and illicit use of this drug has increased significantly in recent years."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The loss of personally identifiable information, such as an individual's Social Security number, name, and date of birth can result in serious harm, including identity theft. Identity theft is a serious crime that impacts millions of individuals each year. Identity theft occurs when such information is used without authorization to commit fraud or other crimes. While progress has been made protecting personally identifiable information in the public and private sectors, challenges remain. GAO was asked to testify on how the loss of personally identifiable information contributes to identity theft. This testimony summarizes (1) the problem of identity theft; (2) steps taken at the federal, state, and local level to prevent potential identity theft; and (3) vulnerabilities that remain to protecting personally identifiable information, including in federal information systems. For this testimony, GAO relied primarily on information from prior reports and testimonies that address public and private sector use of personally identifiable information, as well as federal, state, and local efforts to protect the security of such information. GAO and agency inspectors general have made numerous recommendations to agencies to resolve prior significant information control deficiencies and information security …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Secure Border Initiative (SBI) is intended to help secure the 6,000 miles of international borders that the contiguous United States shares with Canada and Mexico. The program, which began in November 2005, seeks to enhance border security and reduce illegal immigration by improving surveillance technologies, raising staffing levels, increasing domestic enforcement of immigration laws, and improving physical infrastructure along the nation's borders. Within SBI, the Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet) is a multibillion dollar program that includes the acquisition, development, integration, deployment, and operation of surveillance technologies--such as unattended ground sensors and radar and cameras mounted on fixed and mobile towers--to create a "virtual border fence." In addition, command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) software and hardware are to use the information gathered by the surveillance technologies to create a real-time picture of what is transpiring within specific areas along the border and transmit the information to command centers and vehicles."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies are increasingly using electronic means to create, exchange, and store information, and in doing so, they frequently create federal records: that is, information, in whatever form, that documents government functions, activities, decisions, and other important transactions. As the volume of electronic information grows, so does the challenge of managing electronic records. Both federal agency heads and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have responsibilities for managing federal records. As requested, after providing some context about records management in the federal government and the roles of federal agencies and NARA, this testimony describes the challenges of electronic records management and potential means of addressing these challenges. In preparing this testimony, GAO relied primarily on its previous work, supplemented by analysis of publicly available documents."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Commodity Import Program (CIP), managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is intended to foster a competitive private sector in Egypt, in addition to assisting U.S. exporters. The program also supports the government of Egypt and USAID activities and expenses in Egypt. Since 1992, Congress has appropriated at least $200 million per year for the CIP. In 1998, the United States negotiated a reduction in its economic assistance to Egypt, including the CIP, through fiscal year 2009. In this context, GAO was asked to discuss its ongoing analysis of (1) program participants' use of the CIP and the Egyptian government's and USAID's use of program funds and (2) factors that have affected the CIP's ability to foster a competitive private sector in Egypt. We received comments on a draft of this statement from USAID, which we incorporated where appropriate. In general, USAID agreed with our observations."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Invasive species--nonnative plants and animals--have caused billions of dollars in damage to natural areas, businesses, and consumers. In 2001, the federal government issued a National Management Plan to coordinate a national control effort involving the 20 or so federal agencies that are responsible for managing invasive species. In October 2002, GAO reported on the implementation of the management plan and efforts to manage ballast water, among other things. This testimony discusses some of GAO's findings and recommendations in that report. It also presents the results of a subsequent GAO survey of state officials responsible for managing terrestrial and aquatic invasive species. This survey sought state perspectives on (1) the perceived gaps in existing legislation and barriers to addressing terrestrial and aquatic invasive species and (2) the federal leadership structure for addressing invasive species, as well as the integration of federal legislation on terrestrial invasive species with legislation on aquatic invasives."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its review of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, focusing on: (1) the distribution of awards by company and geographic area, with special emphasis on the share of awards received by the 25 most frequent winners; (2) the extent to which federal agencies are considering commercial potential and the program's other goals in making their awards; and (3) previous evaluations of the SBIR program to identify an opportunity to improve measurements of the program's outcomes."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has continued to identify significant vulnerabilities in the department's use of government purchase cards. Over the years, the OIG has identified internal control weaknesses that resulted in instances of fraud and numerous improper and questionable uses of purchase cards. The OIG has made a number of recommendations for corrective action. Given that VA is the second largest user of the governmentwide purchase card program, with reported purchases totaling $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2002, and because of the program weaknesses reported by the OIG, GAO was asked to determine whether existing controls at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) were designed to provide reasonable assurance that improper purchases would be prevented or detected in the normal course of business, purchase card and convenience check expenditures were made in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and purchases were made for a reasonable cost and a valid government need. GAO's report on this issue, released concurrently with this testimony, makes 36 recommendations to strengthen internal controls and compliance in VHA's purchase card program to reduce its vulnerability to improper, wasteful, …

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 federal law preempts Transportation Code section 471.001, which imposes a criminal penalty against a railway company if its train blocks a railroad crossing for more than ten minutes (RQ-0299-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; Authority of a commissioners court to assign the duties of collecting criminal fines, costs and fees to a county treasurer's deputies (RQ-0301-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; Applicability of section 145.002 of the Civil Practice and RemediesCode to installers and repairers of lawn sprinkler and landscape lighting systems (RQ-0302-GA)

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the Texas Department of Criminal Justice may adopt a policy of mandatory tuberculosis screening of all employees and volunteers (RQ-1043)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a district clerk may honor a change of address request from a child support obligee to remit child support payments to the care of a collection agency (RQ-653)