Base Visit Book from BRAC Commission Visit to Fort Monmouth, NJ dtd 3 Jun 2005. Document includes commissioner agenda, base summary sheet, economic impact, recommendations, media input, demographics, and environmental scenarios.

Letter from concerned citizen and business owner Gayla Brumfield regarding the closure of Cannon AFB

Letter from concerned citizen Greg Stimack regarding the closure of Cannon AFB

NAS JRB Willowgrove Community Petition dtd 1 June 2005. Signed petition from the Horsham, PA community regarding the closure of NAS Willowgrove.

Letter from concerned citizen JoAnn Johnson cocerning the closure of Cannon AFB, New Mexico

Letter from concerned citizen James P. Cassidy regarding the closing of Cannon Air Force Base.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare--the federal health insurance program that covers the nation's elderly and disabled--annually processes over 1 billion medical claims for services provided to beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), administers the Medicare program with the assistance of its claims administration contractors. These contractors are charged with processing and paying claims that are properly submitted and that are for medically necessary and covered services. The contractors also deny payment for claims considered invalid, incomplete, or otherwise improper. Medicare beneficiaries and providers have the right to appeal denied claims through a multilevel administrative process that includes a decision by an administrative law judge (ALJ). In fiscal year 2004, CMS's contractors denied over 158 million Medicare claims, about 5 million of which resulted in the initiation of appeals. In the same year, about 113,000 denied claims were appealed to ALJs. Two federal agencies--HHS and the Social Security Administration (SSA)--play a role in resolving Medicare appeals, but neither agency manages the entire process. In recent years, the Medicare appeals process has been the subject of widespread concern because of …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare pays hospitals for drugs that beneficiaries receive as part of their treatment in hospital outpatient departments. Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) uses an outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) to pay hospitals fixed, predetermined rates for services. These services include drugs given to beneficiaries in outpatient settings. When OPPS was first developed as directed by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the rates for hospital outpatient services and drugs were based on hospitals' 1996 median costs. However, these rates prompted concerns that payments to hospitals would not reflect the cost of newly introduced pharmaceutical products--drugs, biologicals, and radiopharmaceuticals--used to treat, for example, cancer, rare blood disorders, and other serious conditions. In turn, congressional concerns were raised that beneficiaries might lose access to some of these products if hospitals avoided providing them because of a perceived shortfall in payments. In response to these concerns, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 authorized pass-through payments, which are a way to augment, on a temporary basis, the OPPS payments for newly introduced pharmaceutical products …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) bureau within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provides toll-free telephone assistance through call centers to immigrants, their attorneys, and others seeking information about U.S. immigration services and benefits. As the volume of calls increased--from about 13 million calls in fiscal year 2002 to about 21 million calls in fiscal year 2004--questions were raised about USCIS's ability to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the information provided at call centers run by an independent contractor. This report analyzes: (1) the performance measures established by USCIS to monitor and evaluate the performance of contractor-operated call centers; (2) how performance measures were used to evaluate the contractor's performance; and (3) any actions USCIS has taken, or plans to take, to strengthen call center operations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003 which amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), contains provisions intended to help consumers remedy the effects of identity theft. For example, section 609(e) of the amended FCRA gives identity theft victims the right to obtain records of fraudulent business transactions, and section 609(d) requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to develop a model summary of identity theft victims' rights. This report provides information on (1) outreach efforts to inform consumers, businesses, and law enforcement entities about section 609(e); (2) the views of relevant groups on the provision's expected impact; and (3) FTC's process for developing its model summary of rights and views on the summary's potential usefulness."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Section 3611 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 mandates that GAO assess the Department of Defense's (DOD) internal controls for the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program and their effect on the program's execution. In addressing the mandate, we assessed DOD's management and internal controls over implementing CTR projects since 2003 by using the control standards for the federal government as criteria. In response to the mandate, we focused on those management and internal control areas considered most relevant to CTR project implementation: (1) building a management structure, (2) risk assessments, (3) performance measures, (4) program reviews, (5) communications, and (6) project monitoring. The Congress also mandated that GAO describe the status of DOD's implementation of legislative mandates covering the CTR program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Army depot maintenance activity group received about $2.6 billion of orders in fiscal year 2004 to repair helicopters, combat vehicles, and air defense systems. To perform this work, the group operates under the working capital fund concept, where customers are to be charged the anticipated costs of providing goods and services to them. GAO was asked to determine (1) if prices charged by the group have increased and, if so, why; (2) how the group allocates gains or losses incurred at the individual depot level; and (3) if the group exceeded its allowable carryover ceilings and the reasons for exceeding the ceilings. GAO was also asked to determine if the Army encountered problems implementing a new system, the Logistics Modernization Program (LMP), at the Tobyhanna Army Depot."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To date, the Department of Defense (DOD) has identified nearly 6,000 sites at its facilities that require groundwater remediation and has invested $20 billion over the past 10 years to clean up these sites. In the past, DOD primarily used "pump-and-treat" technologies to contain or eliminate hazardous contaminants in groundwater. However, the long cleanup times and high costs of using pump-and-treat technologies often make them expensive and ineffective for groundwater remediation. As directed by Public Law 108-375 and as agreed, GAO (1) described current DOD groundwater remediation technologies and (2) examined whether any new technologies are being used or developed outside the department that may have potential for DOD's use and the extent to which DOD is researching and developing new approaches to groundwater remediation. GAO provided the Department of Defense with a draft copy of the report for its review and comment. DOD generally agreed with the contents stating that the report is an accurate summary of DOD's use and field tests of remedial technologies. DOD also provided technical clarifications that have been incorporated, as appropriate."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As the federal government confronts an array of challenges in the 21st century, it must employ strategic human capital management, including succession planning, to help meet those challenges. Leading organizations go beyond a succession planning approach that focuses on replacing individuals and engage in broad, integrated succession planning and management efforts that focus on strengthening current and future organizational capacity. GAO reviewed how the Census Bureau, Department of Labor (DOL), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) are implementing succession planning and management efforts."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government spends billions of dollars annually for programs that help low-income families and other individuals. A significant portion of these funds cover administrative costs rather than direct benefits and services. To provide information on how these administrative costs compare across programs and the federal government's role in funding these programs' administrative costs, we examined (1) total funding and the amounts and types of administrative expenditures for selected programs and (2) the federal matching rates for these administrative expenditures."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In its December 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, the Department of Defense (DOD) created a New Triad by significantly changing its definition and conceptual framework for its strategic capabilities to include not only the nuclear capabilities of the old Triad that consisted of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers, but also the capabilities of offensive conventional strike forces, active and passive defenses, and a revitalized defense infrastructure. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which DOD has (1) identified the projected spending for the New Triad in its Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) and (2) developed a long-term investment approach to identify and manage future spending for the New Triad."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration (GSA) and the federal judiciary are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar courthouse construction initiative aimed at addressing the housing needs of federal district courts and related agencies. From fiscal year 1993 through fiscal year 2005, Congress appropriated approximately $4.5 billion for 78 courthouse construction projects. GAO (1) compared estimated and actual costs for recently completed courthouse projects and determined what information GSA provided to Congress on changes to proposed courthouse projects, (2) identified factors that contributed to differences between the estimated and actual costs of seven projects selected for detailed review, and (3) identified strategies that were used to help control the costs of the seven selected projects."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "After more than two decades of war, Afghanistan had no army or functioning police and, before September 11, 2001, was a haven for international terrorists. In April 2002, the United States and several other nations agreed to reform the five pillars of Afghanistan's security sector--creating an Afghan army, reconstituting the police force, establishing a working judiciary, combating illicit narcotics, and demobilizing the Afghan militias. As the leader for the army pillar, the United States has provided about $3.3 billion. For the German-led effort to reconstitute the Afghan police, the United States has provided over $800 million. We examined the progress made, and limitations faced, in developing the army and police forces. We also identified challenges that must be addressed to complete and sustain these forces."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD has raised concerns about certain business practices of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), including its role in civilian medicine. In response, AFIP implemented changes and drafted a business plan. On May 13, 2005, DOD recommended closing AFIP as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process. The Senate Committee on Armed Services, in a report accompanying the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, directed that GAO study AFIP's business plan. GAO (1) described the business plan's key initiatives and projected financial benefits, (2) evaluated the business plan's potential to improve internal controls and achieve financial benefits, and (3) assessed the likely impact of the business plan on the role of AFIP in military and civilian medicine. GAO reviewed the major assumptions and analyses for developing the plan and interviewed AFIP and DOD officials, and members of the civilian medical community."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To assist Congress in considering legislation to authorize the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to carry out a pilot program to insure zero down payment mortgages, this testimony provides information about practices mortgage institutions use in designing and implementing low and no down payment products. It also contains information about how these practices could be instructive for FHA in managing risks associated with a zero down payment product--a product for which the risks are not well understood. This testimony is primarily based on GAO's February 2005 report, Mortgage Financing: Actions Needed to Help FHA Manage Risks from New Mortgage Loan Products, (GAO-05-194)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Shortages of influenza vaccine in the 2004-05 and previous influenza seasons and mounting concern about recent avian influenza activity in Asia have raised concern about the nation's preparedness to deal with a worldwide influenza epidemic, or influenza pandemic. Although the extent of such a pandemic cannot be predicted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), it has been estimated that in the absence of any control measures such as vaccination or antiviral drugs, a "medium-level" influenza pandemic could kill up to 207,000 people in the United States, affect from 15 to 35 percent of the U.S. population, and generate associated costs ranging from $71 billion to $167 billion in the United States. GAO was asked to discuss the challenges the nation faces in responding to the threat of an influenza pandemic, including the lessons learned from previous annual influenza seasons that can be applied to its preparedness and overall ability to respond to a pandemic. This testimony is based on GAO reports and testimony issued since 2000 on influenza vaccine supply, pandemic planning, emergency …

COBRA Program - Naval Air Station Atlanta, GA - Revised

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The vast majority of U.S. exports are covered by at least one trade agreement. Ensuring that U.S. companies can take advantage of the market opportunities created by trade agreements has therefore become a critical responsibility for U.S. government agencies. GAO examined U.S. government efforts to monitor and enforce trade agreements. Specifically, GAO (1) reviewed how the nature and scope of U.S. trade agreements has changed in the last 10 years and what effect changes had on agencies' monitoring and enforcement workload, (2) evaluated how U.S. government agencies monitor and enforce trade agreements, and (3) analyzed how the U.S. government allocates resources for monitoring and enforcement of trade agreements within the context of other trade activities."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our July 2003 report on the status of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund program included, among other things, data on the program's appropriations and expenditures for fiscal years 1993 to 2002. In February 2004, we issued a report updating that information and, in May 2004, we broke down the appropriations data, reporting the amounts for the Superfund program as well as amounts designated for EPA's Brownfields program, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) that had previously been included in the Superfund appropriation. Superfund program operations are funded by appropriations from the Superfund trust fund. Historically, a tax on crude oil and certain chemicals and an environmental tax on corporations were the primary sources of revenues for the fund; however, the authority for these taxes expired in 1995. The trust fund continues to receive revenues in the form of cost recoveries, interest on the fund balance, fines and penalties, and general revenue fund appropriations. EPA's Brownfields activities to clean up and redevelop underutilized industrial properties were funded under the Superfund appropriation until the Brownfields program appropriations …