Base Visit Book - Naval Station Ingleside

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Justice (DOJ) estimates that the United States has about a million gang members. While state and local agencies have primary responsibility for combating gang crime, the federal government has key roles to enforce laws and help fund programs to provide alternatives to gang membership for at-risk youth. GAO was asked to examine federal efforts to combat gang crime. This report addresses (1) the roles of DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in combating gang crime and the extent to which DOJ and DHS agencies coordinate their efforts with each other and state and local agencies; (2) the extent to which DOJ and DHS measure their gang enforcement efforts; and (3) how federal grant funding is used to administer or support activities to reduce gang-related crime. GAO reviewed federal agencies' plans, resources, and measures and interviewed federal, state, and local officials in 15 localities with federally led anti-gang task forces representing varying population sizes and locations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Cayman Islands is a major offshore financial center and the registered home of thousands of corporations and financial entities. Financial activity in the Cayman Islands is measured in the trillions of dollars annually. One Cayman building--Ugland House--has been the subject of public attention as the listed address of thousands of companies. To help Congress better understand the nature of U.S. persons' business activities in the Cayman Islands, GAO was asked to study (1) the nature and extent of U.S. persons' involvement with Ugland House registered entities and the nature of such business; (2) the reasons why U.S. persons conduct business in the Cayman Islands; (3) information available to the U.S. government regarding U.S. persons' Cayman activities; and (4) the U.S. government's compliance and enforcement efforts. GAO interviewed U.S. and Cayman government officials and representatives of the law firm housed in Ugland House, and reviewed relevant documents."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The private sector is increasingly involved in financing and operating highway facilities under long-term concession agreements. In some cases, this involves new facilities; in other cases, firms operate and maintain an existing facility for a period of time in exchange for an up-front payment to the public sector and the right to collect tolls over the term of the agreement. In February 2008 GAO reported on (1) the benefits, costs, and trade-offs of highway public-private partnerships; (2) how public officials have identified and acted to protect the public interest in these arrangements; and (3) the federal role in highway public-private partnerships and potential changes in this role. The Senate Finance Committee asked GAO to testify on this report and to highlight its discussion of tax issues. GAO reviewed the experience of projects in the U.S. (including the Chicago Skyway and Indiana Toll Road agreements), Australia, Canada, and Spain."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) funding of Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act projects, focusing on: (1) what process HUD uses to select projects for funding, whether this process is consistent with relevant statutes, and how HUD treats new projects and projects that have been funded in the past (renewal projects); (2) the extent to which HUD funds projects that communities rank as high-priority under their Continuums of Care, and why some high-priority projects are not funded while some low-priority projects are funded; and (3) whether communities face any common problems when applying for funds from HUD, and what actions are needed to correct these problems."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A buildup of foreign debt throughout the 1970s and 1980s--combined with low growth, falling commodity prices, and other economic difficulties--left many poor countries with significantly more debt than they could repay. International efforts to provide debt relief to 41 such heavily indebted poor countries have been ongoing for over a decade, and these efforts culminated in the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), which was announced in 2005. MDRI eliminates eligible debt that countries owe to four international financial institutions--the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development Bank's African Development Fund (ADF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IaDB). To receive MDRI debt relief, countries must first complete the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, which the World Bank and IMF created in 1996 to relieve the debt burden of poor countries. In response to concerns over the continuing vulnerability of these countries, the World Bank and IMF enhanced the initiative to provide additional debt relief in 1999. Recognizing that recipient countries needed further assistance, MDRI was created to help accelerate countries' progress toward achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Of the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal-aid highway program provides about $33 billion a year to states for highway projects. The federal government provides funding for and oversees this program, while states largely choose and manage the projects. As requested, GAO reviewed the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) implementation of several requirements in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU): (1) oversight of states using a risk management approach; (2) efforts to develop minimum standards for estimating project costs, and periodically evaluate states' cost estimating practices; and (3) reviews of states' financial management systems. GAO also reviewed FHWA's policy on presenting an estimate of financing costs in financial plans for major projects (i.e., projects estimated to cost over $500 million). GAO reviewed FHWA plans, risk assessments, reviews, and other documents; visited five FHWA field offices and reviewed financial management reviews in an additional five field offices; and interviewed FHWA officials."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States is bound by five international environmental agreements related to climate change (Framework Convention), desertification (Desertification Convention), the earth's ozone layer (Montreal Protocol), endangered species (CITES), and North American environmental cooperation (North American Agreement). However, the United States fell short of meeting a commitment or pledge in two areas--providing financial assistance to other nations and timely reporting. Agencies use informal means, such as meetings and informal communications, to track their actions to fulfill commitments under the five agreements. GAO found few studies that evaluated the effectiveness of the U.S. actions. These few studies generally concluded that the actions examined had positive effects."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns about transfer pricing abuse have led researchers to compare the tax liabilities of foreign- and U.S.-controlled corporations. (Transfer prices are the prices related companies charge on intercompany transactions.) However, such comparisons are complicated because other factors may explain the differences in reported tax liabilities. In three prior reports, GAO found differences in the percentages of foreign-controlled and U.S.-controlled corporations reporting no tax liability. GAO was asked to update the previous reports by comparing: (1) the tax liabilities of foreign-controlled domestic corporations (FCDC) and U.S.-controlled corporations (USCC)-including those reporting zero tax liabilities for 1998 through 2005 (the latest available data) and (2) characteristics of FCDCs and USCCs such as age, size, and industry. GAO analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service's Statistics of Income samples of corporate tax returns. GAO does not make any recommendations in this report. In commenting on a draft of this report, IRS provided comments on technical issues, which we incorporated into this report where appropriate."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "States provide health care coverage to about 60 million low-income individuals through Medicaid, a joint federal and state program established under title XIX of the Social Security Act (the Act). Title XIX of the Act established parameters under which states operate their Medicaid programs, such as requiring states to cover certain services for certain mandatory groups of individuals such as low-income children; pregnant women; and aged, blind, or disabled adults. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), however, possesses authority to allow states to depart from these requirements under certain conditions. Under section 1115 of the Act, the Secretary may waive certain Medicaid requirements and authorize Medicaid expenditures for experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects that are likely to assist in promoting Medicaid objectives. Medicaid section 1115 demonstration projects vary in scope, from targeted demonstrations, which are limited to specific services and populations, to comprehensive demonstrations, which affect Medicaid populations statewide, cover a broad range of services, and account for the majority of a state's Medicaid expenditures. Since 1982, the Secretary has approved comprehensive demonstration projects in a number of states, including Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Oregon, Tennessee, and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recent losses in the stock market and poor economic conditions underscore that many U.S. workers are at risk of not having an adequate income in retirement from pension plans. The dramatic decline in the stock market has diminished pension savings and reportedly led to low levels in older Americans' confidence in their ability to retire. Even before the current economic recession, research indicated that pension benefits are likely to be inadequate for many Americans. This report addresses the following questions: (1) What are key risks faced by U.S. workers in accumulating and preserving pension benefits? (2) What approaches are used in other countries that could address these risks and what trade-offs do they present? (3) What approaches do key proposals for alternative plan designs in the U.S. suggest to mitigate risks faced by workers and what trade-offs do they entail? To complete this work, we reviewed research on defined benefit and defined contribution plans, and interviewed pension consulting firms, industry experts, academics, and other relevant organizations in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, we used a microsimulation model to assess the impact of certain strategies to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Generally, in paying for hospital outpatient procedures, Medicare makes prospectively set payments that are intended to cover the costs of all items and services delivered with the procedure. Medicare pays separately for some technologies that are too new to be represented in the claims data used to set rates. It also pays separately for certain technologies that are not new, such as radioactive sources used in brachytherapy, a cancer treatment. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 required separate payment for the radioactive sources. It also directed GAO to make recommendations regarding future payment. GAO examined (1) how Medicare determines payment amounts for technologies that are not new but are separately paid and (2) how payment amounts for iodine, palladium, and iridium sources used in brachytherapy could be determined."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been developing an Electronic Records Archive (ERA) to preserve and provide access to massive volumes of electronic records independent of their original hardware and software. The ERA system is to include a base system for federal records and a separate system for presidential records, known as the Executive Office of the President (EOP) system. The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act requires NARA to submit an expenditure plan for ERA to congressional appropriation committees. GAO's objectives were to (1) determine whether NARA's fiscal year 2009 plan meets the legislative conditions set forth in the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, (2) provide an update on NARA's progress in implementing recommendations made in GAO's review of NARA's 2008 expenditure plan, and (3) provide any other observations about the expenditure plan and the ERA acquisition. To do this, GAO reviewed the expenditure plan, interviewed NARA officials, and reviewed program data and documentation."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2002, GAO reported that the number of restatement announcements due to financial reporting fraud and/or accounting errors grew significantly between January 1997 and June 2002, negatively impacting the restating companies' market capitalization by billions of dollars. GAO was asked to update key aspects of its 2002 report (GAO-03-138). This report discusses (1) the number of, reasons for, and other trends in restatements; (2) the impact of restatement announcements on the restating companies' stock prices and what is known about investors' confidence in U.S. capital markets; and (3) regulatory enforcement actions involving accounting- and audit-related issues. To address these issues, GAO collected restatement announcements meeting GAO's criteria, calculated and analyzed the impact on company stock prices, obtained input from researchers, and analyzed selected regulatory enforcement actions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Postal Service (the Service) has a long history of contracting out postal functions, such as mail transportation, mail delivery in rural areas, vehicle and equipment maintenance, and retail postal services. However, postal employees also perform many of these same functions and unions representing these employees have concerns about the scope and impact of outsourcing. The objectives of this requested report are to assess (1) the circumstances under which the Service can outsource postal functions, how it decides to outsource, and the extent to which it has outsourced; (2) how the Service's management processes compare for contractors and postal employees; and (3) the results, including any savings, and key challenges related to the Service's outsourcing activities. GAO reviewed applicable statutes, collective bargaining agreements, postal processes and outsourcing data, and interviewed postal union and management officials."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report describes the schedule, cost, and technical status of the 155mm Lightweight Howitzer program. The Army-Marine Corps Lightweight Howitzer Joint Program Office directs this program's development, with a British company as the prime contractor. Since GAO's April 2000 report (See GAO-01-603R), all key milestones have slipped because a 2-year low-rate initial production phase has been added to provide production representative howitzers for operational testing. Correspondingly, the full-rate production decision has slipped from September 2002 to October 2004. Since April 2001, total program cost estimates have increased from $1,209.0 million to $1,365.2 million, principally as the result of the large number of design modifications resulting from developmental testing and restructuring the program to add a low-rate initial production phase. In addition, the costs for the towed artillery digitization increased by $51 million. Technical problems--such as the durability of the optical fire control, bore sight retention, and accuracy--have been addressed through design changes. However, some of these changes have not yet been tested, and the Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity has yet to review test data that the program office believes shows the howitzer has met accuracy …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report formally transmits the briefing in response to section 247d-6c of title 42 of the United States Code. The statute required the Comptroller General to examine the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) support for the development and procurement of and authority for the emergency use of medical countermeasures to address chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats to public health, and provide the results to the congressional committees by July 21, 2009."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security Administration (SSA) has had difficulty in conducting timely reviews of beneficiaries' cases to ensure they are still eligible for disability benefits. SSA has been taking steps to improve the cost-effectiveness of its review process. SSA has linked the review process to eligibility for a new benefit that provides return-to-work services. This report looks at SSA's ability to stay current with future reviews, identifies potential improvements to the review process, and assesses the review process--return-to-work link."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed various laws, rules, and policies related to the political activities of U.S. Attorneys, focusing on: (1) what laws and Department of Justice (DOJ) rules and policies govern U.S. Attorneys' involvement in Hatch Act partisan political activities; (2) what types of activities are permitted and what types are prohibited; (3) to what extent have U.S. Attorneys been involved in Hatch Act partisan political activities; (4) what DOJ rules and policies govern U.S. Attorneys' involvement in issue-oriented political activities; (5) to what extent have U.S. Attorneys been involved in issue-oriented political activities; and (6) what statutory or other provisions govern U.S. Attorney Offices' expenditure of federal funds and resources for political activities."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past 15 years, legislative and executive branch reform efforts have attempted to shift the focus of federal government management from a preoccupation with activities to the results or outcomes of those activities. Based on over a decade of work in this area, GAO has found a transformation in the capacity of the federal government to manage for results, including an infrastructure of outcome-oriented strategic plans, performance measures, and accountability reporting that provides a solid foundation for improving the performance of federal programs. However, agencies have made less progress in getting their managers' to use performance information in their decision making. GAO was asked to testify on the preliminary results of ongoing work looking at (1) trends in federal managers' use of performance information to manage, both governmentwide and at the agency level; (2) how agencies can encourage greater use of performance information to improve results; and (3) lessons learned from prior management reforms for the next administration. Our statement is based on prior GAO reports and surveys we conducted in 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2007. For the results of our 2007 survey, see e-supplement GAO-08-1036SP. GAO …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO and the Department of Education's Office of Inspector General have issued many reports in recent years on the Department's financial management problems, including internal control weaknesses that put the Department at risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. In an April 2001 assessment of the internal control over Education's payment processes and the associated risks for improper payments, GAO identified four broad categories of internal control weaknesses: poor segregation of duties, lack of supervisory review, inadequate audit trails, and inadequate computer systems' applications controls. This testimony discusses how these weaknesses make Education vulnerable to improper payments in grant and loan payments, third party drafts, and government purchase card purchases. GAO found that Education's student aid application processing system for grants and loans lacks an automated edit check that would identify potentially improper payments from students who were much older than expected, a single social security number associated with two or more dates of birth, grants to recipients in excess of statutory limits, and searches for invalid social security numbers. GAO also found problems with Education's third party draft system. Specifically, Education (1) circumvented a system's application control …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made significant progress establishing a national formulary that has generally met with acceptance by prescribers and patients, VA oversight has not fully ensured standardization of its drug benefit nationwide. The three medical centers GAO visited did not comply with the national formulary. Specifically, two of the three medical centers omitted more than 140 required national formulary drugs, and all three facilities inappropriately modified the national formulary list of required drugs for certain drug classes by adding or omitting some drugs. In addition, as VA policy allows, Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN) added drugs to supplement the national formulary ranging from five drugs at one VISN to 63 drugs at another. However, VA lacked criteria for determining the appropriateness of the actions networks took to add these drugs. In addition to problems standardizing the national formulary, GAO identified weaknesses in the nonformulary approval process. Although the national formulary directive requires certain criteria for approving nonformulary drugs, it does not prescribe a specific nonformulary approval process. As a result, the processes health care providers must follow to obtain nonformulary drugs differ among …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Critical infrastructure protection (CIP) enhances the security of the nation's cyber and physical public and private infrastructure. Federal agencies and other public and private entities rely extensively on computerized systems and electronic data to support their missions. CIP issues involve developing a national CIP strategy, improving analysis and warning capabilities, improving information sharing on threats and vulnerabilities, and addressing pervasive weaknesses in federal information security. Although the national strategy for homeland security acknowledges the need to address these challenges, much work remains to successfully implement it."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) faces many risks in its use of globally networked computer systems to perform operational missions--such as identifying and tracking enemy targets--and daily management functions--such as paying soldiers and managing supplies. Weaknesses in these systems, if present, could give hackers and other unauthorized users the opportunity to modify, steal, inappropriately disclose, and destroy sensitive military data. GAO was asked, among other things, to discuss DOD's efforts to protect its information systems and networks from cyber attack, focusing on its reported progress in implementing statutory information security requirements."