Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) establishes that federal agencies must provide the public with access to government information, thus enabling them to learn about government operations and decisions. To help ensure appropriate implementation, the act requires that agencies report annually to the Attorney General, providing specific information about their FOIA operations. In addition, a recent Executive Order directs agencies to develop plans to improve their FOIA operations, including, among other things, goals to reduce backlogs in FOIA requests. GAO has reported previously on the contents of these annual reports for 25 major agencies. For this hearing, GAO was asked to testify both on the annual reports for fiscal year 2005 and on the recently developed improvement plans for these 25 agencies. GAO based its testimony on its ongoing work on these topics. Upon completion of its ongoing review, GAO expects to make recommendations to improve agency implementation of the Executive Order, including efforts to reduce and eliminate backlog."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For the Spanish translation of the highlights page for this document, see GAO-06-1111. Ley para que ningun nino se quede atras: La ayuda del Departamento de Educacion puede contribuir a que los Estados midan mejor el progreso de los alumnos que no dominan bien el ingles. GAO-06-1111, Julio de 2006. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) focused attention on the academic achievement of more than 5 million students with limited English proficiency. Obtaining valid test results for these students is challenging, given their language barriers. This report describes (1) the extent to which these students are meeting annual academic progress goals, (2) what states have done to ensure the validity of their academic assessments, (3) what states are doing to ensure the validity of their English language proficiency assessments, and (4) how the U.S. Department of Education (Education) is supporting states' efforts to meet NCLBA's assessment requirements for these students. To collect this information, we convened a group of experts and studied five states (California, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, and Texas). We also conducted a state survey and reviewed state and Education …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. rail transit system is a vital component of the nation's transportation infrastructure. Safety and security oversight of rail transit is the responsibility of state-designated oversight agencies following Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requirements. In this report, GAO addressed: (1) how the State Safety Oversight program is designed; (2) what is known about the program's impact; and (3) challenges facing the program. We also provide information about oversight of transit systems that cross state boundaries. To do our work we surveyed state oversight agencies and transit agencies covered by FTA's program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The CARE Act authorized grants to the states and certain territories for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) to purchase and provide HIV/AIDS drugs to eligible individuals. An ADAP's coverage--who and what is covered--is determined by each ADAP's eligibility and other program criteria, and ADAPs may establish waiting lists for eligible individuals. ADAPs may purchase their drugs through the 340B federal drug pricing program, which provides discounts on certain drugs to covered entities. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) oversees ADAPs and is responsible for monitoring the prices they pay. GAO was asked to examine (1) coverage differences among ADAPs, (2) how the prices ADAPs reported paying for HIV/AIDS drugs compare to 340B prices, (3) how HRSA monitors the drug prices ADAPs pay, and (4) how the 340B prices compare to other selected federal drug pricing programs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to a Congressional request, we briefed Congressional staff on September 21, 2006, on the results of our review of two appraisal reports prepared for a proposed land exchange contained within the pending bill H.R. 5025, the Mount Hood Stewardship Legacy Act. This bill would authorize the exchange of private land and business interests at Cooper Spur for Forest Service land at Government Camp in Oregon. Specifically, Congress asked that we determine whether the appraisal reports supporting this land exchange were prepared in compliance with recognized appraisal standards, namely, appraisal industry standards as defined in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP) and federal standards as defined in the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions (UASFLA)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1995, the Department of Defense (DOD) began an effort to implement a standard departmentwide travel system. The Defense Travel System (DTS) is envisioned as DOD's standard end-to-end travel system. This report is a follow-up to GAO's January 2006, report which highlighted DTS implementation problems. Because of continued congressional interest in DTS, GAO initiated this follow-up audit under the Comptroller General's statutory authority. GAO determined whether (1) two key assumptions made in the September 2003 economic analysis were reasonable, (2) DOD is taking action to ensure full utilization of DTS and gathering the data needed to monitor DTS utilization, and (3) DOD has resolved the previously identified problems with DTS flight information. To address the above objectives, GAO (1) reviewed the September 2003 DTS economic analysis, (2) analyzed DTS utilization data, and (3) analyzed DTS flight information."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The September 11, 2001, attacks significantly affected the financial markets that the U.S. Treasury (Treasury) relies on. To understand how Treasury could obtain funds during a future potential wide-scale financial market disruption GAO examined (1) steps Treasury and others took during the September 11 attacks and after to assure required debt obligations and payments were made on time and ensure liquidity in the markets, (2) major actions Treasury and others have taken since the attacks to increase the resiliency of the auction process, and (3) the opinions of relevant parties on the main design features of any backup funding options. We conducted interviews with Treasury officials and others and reviewed appropriate documents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In regulating exports of dual-use items, which have both commercial and military applications, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) seeks to allow U.S. companies to compete globally while minimizing the risk of items falling into the wrong hands. In so doing, BIS faces the challenge of weighing U.S. national security and economic interests, which at times can be divergent or even competing. In light of the September 2001 terror attacks, GAO was asked to examine BIS's dual-use export control system. In response, GAO is reporting on BIS's (1) evaluations of and changes to the system, (2) screening of export license applications against its watchlist, and (3) actions to correct weaknesses previously identified by GAO."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The ability to produce the financial information needed to efficiently and effectively manage the day-today operations of the federal government and provide accountability to taxpayers continues to be a challenge for most federal agencies. To help address this challenge, the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies to implement and maintain financial management systems that comply substantially with (1) federal financial management systems requirements, (2) federal accounting standards, and (3) the U.S. Government Standard General Ledger at the transaction level. FFMIA also requires GAO to report annually on the implementation of the act."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance (Commission) was created on December 28, 2000, by the National Moment of Remembrance Act. The Commission's purpose is to sustain the American spirit through acts of remembrance, not only on Memorial Day but also throughout the year, for those who died serving our country. Congress appropriated $1.25 million to the Commission to fund its operations for fiscal years 2002 through 2005. In fiscal year 2005, the Commission received net appropriations of approximately $248,000, along with cash and in-kind donations of approximately $103,000 from individuals and businesses. In addition, it had approximately $244,000 in unexpended appropriations from prior fiscal years. The Commission expended approximately $239,000 of appropriated funds and funded costs of approximately $103,000 with cash and in-kind donations received during the fiscal year. The National Moment of Remembrance Act requires GAO to annually audit the financial transactions of the Commission. However, as reflected in an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum, the Commission is subject to the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002 which was enacted on November 7, 2002. This act requires the Commission to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan and Tropical Storm Jeanne passed through the Caribbean, taking lives and causing widespread damage in several countries. After initial U.S. emergency relief, in October 2004 Congress appropriated $100 million in supplemental funding, primarily for Grenada, Jamaica, and Haiti, which were significantly affected. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), leader of the U.S. recovery programs, agreed, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, to complete the programs by December 31, 2005, giving the agency a 1-year time frame. GAO was asked to (1) review the nature and status of the programs in Grenada, Jamaica, and Haiti as of December 31, 2005; (2) identify factors that affected the programs' progress; and (3) assess USAID's use of guidance and lessons learned from previous similar programs and efforts to draw lessons from the current programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2006, the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program is expected to collect over $37 billion in taxes from employers to pay $34 billion in benefits to unemployed workers. Under state UI programs, employers' tax contributions are experience-rated--that is, they reflect the extent to which they laid off workers who then collected benefits. To examine the equity of this system, we met with officials from five states, reviewed prior studies, and examined state data to determine (1) how states ensure that employers pay UI taxes based on their experience with unemployment, and the aspects of state unemployment insurance systems that limit experience rating; (2) the extent to which employers pay unemployment insurance taxes commensurate with unemployment benefits paid to their former employees; and how this varies by industry; and (3) steps states could take to increase the degree of experience rating. We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Labor (Labor) for its review. Overall, Labor agreed with our findings."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The growth of information resellers--companies that collect and resell publicly available and private information on individuals--has raised privacy and security concerns about this industry. These companies collectively maintain large amounts of detailed personal information on nearly all American consumers, and some have experienced security breaches in recent years. GAO was asked to examine (1) financial institutions' use of resellers; (2) federal privacy and security laws applicable to resellers; (3) federal regulators' oversight of resellers; and (4) regulators' oversight of financial institution compliance with privacy and data security laws. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed documents and interviewed representatives from 10 information resellers, 14 financial institutions, 11 regulators, industry and consumer groups, and others."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. officials often call the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha Development Agenda or "Round" of global trade talks, launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, a "once in a generation opportunity" to expand trade. President Bush has identified their success as his administration's top trade priority. Due to various U.S. notification and consultation requirements, concluding the negotiations in 2006 is essential for a Doha agreement to qualify for congressional consideration under U.S. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which expires July 1, 2007. A ministerial meeting among the WTO's 149 members was held on December 13-18, 2005, in Hong Kong, China, to make decisions needed to advance the talks. Given the importance of the WTO Doha Round to the United States, GAO was asked to provide an update on the status of the negotiations. In this report, the latest in a series on the negotiations, we (1) provide the status of the Doha negotiations on the eve of the Hong Kong ministerial, (2) review the outcome of the Hong Kong ministerial, and (3) discuss the prospects for concluding the Doha Round before TPA expires in July 2007."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has authority to approve air carrier requests to deploy less-than-lethal weapons, including electric stun devices, onboard commercial aircraft to thwart an attack. Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, one air carrier received approval to deploy electric stun devices. To address concerns regarding reports of injuries after the use of these devices and to ensure that the impacts of these devices onboard aircraft have been fully evaluated, this report answers the following: (1) What analyses has the federal government conducted to assess the safety and effectiveness of these devices onboard commercial aircraft? (2) What controls does TSA have in place to help ensure uniform and timely review of air carrier requests to deploy these devices onboard commercial aircraft?"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a legislative mandate to report on the effects of certain program changes on the actuarial soundness of the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) program, which is part of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Military Retirement Fund (Fund). The primary purpose of the SBP is to provide benefits to the surviving dependents of deceased members or retirees of the armed forces. In certain cases, individuals other than dependents can be designated recipients of survivor benefits. The Fund accumulates financing resources in order to fund, on an actuarially sound basis, the liabilities of the military retirement and SBP programs. The SBP was created by legislation enacted on September 21, 1972, and has been modified various times by subsequent legislation. The fiscal year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act requires that we report to Congress on (1) the effect of recent significant SBP program changes on the actuarial soundness of the program, (2) the effect of these significant SBP program changes by the various categories of participants and in total on (a) DOD normal cost payments for the program and (b) Department of the Treasury (Treasury) payments to amortize …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The EA-6B has conducted airborne electronic attack for all services since 1996. In 2002, the Department of Defense (DOD) completed an analysis of alternatives for the EA-6B that concluded the inventory would be insufficient to meet the DOD's needs beyond 2009. Since then, the services have embarked on separate acquisition efforts to develop airborne electronic attack assets. In 2003, the Navy started development of the EA-18G aircraft to replace the EA-6B. This report was done under the Comptroller General's authority and assesses if (1) DOD's 2002 conclusion that the EA-6B inventory would be insufficient beyond 2009 remains valid for assessing the Navy's future needs, and (2) the acquisition approach used to develop the EA-18G is knowledge-based and might mitigate future risks."

Archaeological survey results for proposed 33 acre McDermott Development Site in Collin County, Texas.

It is popular to discuss low energy physics in lattice gauge theory ill terms of the small eigenvalues of the lattice Dirac operator. I play with some ensuing pitfalls in the interpretation of these eigenvalue spectra. In short, thinking about the eigenvalues of the Dirac operator in the presence of gauge fields can give some insight, for example the elegant Banks-Casher picture for chiral symmetry breaking. Nevertheless, care is necessary because the problem is highly non-linear. This manifests itself in the non-intuitive example of how adding flavors enhances rather than suppresses low eigenvalues. Issues involving zero mode suppression represent one facet of a set of connected unresolved issues. Are there non-perturbative ambiguities in quantities such as the topological susceptibility? How essential are rough gauge fields, i.e. gauge fields on which the winding number is ambiguous? How do these issues interplay with the quark masses? I hope the puzzles presented here will stimulate more thought along these lines.

This report presents, first, a brief history, economic rationale, and legal background leading to the establishment of the Generalized System of Preferences. Second, the U.S. implementation of the GSP is discussed. Third, an analysis of the U.S. program's effectiveness and the positions of various stakeholders are presented. Fourth, possible implications of the expiration of the U.S. program and other possible options for Congress are discussed.

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This report discusses the statutory and regulatory requirements of IDEA, judicial decisions, and the concept of mediation as it applies to special education.

This report discusses the history and current status of federal student loan programs. Specifically, the report focuses on the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the William D. Ford Direct Loan (DL). Moreover, the report highlights differences in the two programs such as that the FFEL is financed by private lenders, while the DL is financed by the federal government.

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