War Powers Resolution: Presidential Compliance (open access)

War Powers Resolution: Presidential Compliance

Report that gives a summary of the usage of the War Powers Resolution (WPR) and various issues related to proposals to modify or repeal the resolution. The report summarizes most recent developments and background, and gives an overview of United Nations actions, and WPR activities in former Yugoslavia/Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq (post-1991), Haiti, and Somalia.
Date: August 30, 2012
Creator: Grimmett, Richard F.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Background, Funding, and Activities (open access)

The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Background, Funding, and Activities

Report discussing the federal government's role in the country's information technology (IT) research and development (R&D) activities.
Date: August 30, 2012
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oman: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy (open access)

Oman: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy

Report that describes the relationship between the United States and the Sultanate of Oman, especially with respect to Oman's support of U.S. efforts toward peace in the Middle East, the U.S. free trade agreement with Oman, and Oman's relatively close relations with Iran, the last of which seems incongruous with the other positive aspects of Oman's relationship with the U.S.
Date: August 30, 2012
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: An Abridged Legal Analysis of 18 U.S.C. 2250 (open access)

Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: An Abridged Legal Analysis of 18 U.S.C. 2250

Report that describes 18 U.S.C. 2250, which outlaws any individual convicted of a sex offense from not registering themselves in a jurisdiction which they live, work, or go to school. It describes elements of the law, and consequences for not following it.
Date: August 30, 2012
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: An Abridged Legal Analysis of 18 U.S.C. 2250 (open access)

Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: An Abridged Legal Analysis of 18 U.S.C. 2250

Report that describes 18 U.S.C. 2250, which outlaws any individual convicted of a sex offense from not registering themselves in a jurisdiction which they live, work, or go to school. It describes elements of the law, and consequences for not following it.
Date: August 30, 2012
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (open access)

Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress

Report that introduces the main steps through which a bill (or other item of business) may travel in the legislative process, from introduction to committee and floor consideration to possible presidential consideration.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Emergency Management: A Brief Introduction (open access)

Federal Emergency Management: A Brief Introduction

Report that is designed to provide Members of Congress and congressional staff with a general overview of principles and foundations of federal emergency management in the United States as well as the types of activities provided by various federal agencies.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Lindsay, Bruce R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions (open access)

The New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions

Report providing an overview of the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START), including a comparison to the original START Treaty, the belief of the Obama Administration and outside analysts that New START will enhance U.S. national security, and the criticisms of those who say that New START is a distraction from more important items on the nonproliferation agenda.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Woolf, Amy F.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chemical Facility Security: Issues and Options for the 112th Congress (open access)

Chemical Facility Security: Issues and Options for the 112th Congress

Report that describes several policy issues regarding chemical facility security and identifies policy options for congressional consideration.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Shea, Dana A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Promoting Global Internet Freedom: Policy and Technology (open access)

Promoting Global Internet Freedom: Policy and Technology

Report that provides information about federal and private sector efforts to promote and support global Internet freedom, a description of Internet freedom legislation from the 112th Congress, and suggestions for further reading on this topic. Two appendixes describe censorship and circumvention technologies.
Date: August 30, 2012
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Addressing the Long-Run Budget Deficit: A Comparison of Approaches (open access)

Addressing the Long-Run Budget Deficit: A Comparison of Approaches

Report that examines alternative approaches to reducing the deficit, relating to the immediate issues arising from the Budget Control Act and the expiring tax cuts as well as to ongoing longer term decisions about how to bring the debt under control.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Gravelle, Jane G.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance (open access)

Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance

Report that discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government. Election fraud and corruption in Afghanistan are also discussed.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health Benefits for Members of Congress (open access)

Health Benefits for Members of Congress

Report that covers health benefits made available to Members of Congress through federal government employment, including Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), dental and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, long-term care insurance, services at the Office of the Attending Physician and military hospitals, and Medicare. It also offers a comparison of FEHBP to health benefits offered by the private sector and state and local governments and a discussion of the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Members' health benefits.
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: Cornell, Ada S.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Group Purchasing Organizations: Federal Oversight and Self-Regulation (open access)

Group Purchasing Organizations: Federal Oversight and Self-Regulation

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GPOs are subject to certain federal laws that HHS, DOJ, and FTC are responsible for enforcing. According to HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) officials, since 2004, the office has not routinely exercised its authority to request and review disclosures related to GPOs’ contract administrative fees, but it has collected information on GPOs’ contract administrative fees while conducting audits of hospitals’ cost reports. While HHS-OIG is responsible for enforcing the Anti-Kickback statute, the law and regulation do not require routine monitoring of GPO written agreements and disclosures. HHS-OIG officials told us that even if they requested this information from GPOs, it would not necessarily be sufficient to determine whether a GPO violated the Anti-Kickback statute. Officials from HHS-OIG also told us that, since 2004, it participated in two case investigations with DOJ that involved allegations that certain GPOs did not comply with safe harbor requirements and violated the Anti-Kickback statute. Officials told us that HHS-OIG has not imposed administrative penalties on any GPOs since 2004. DOJ and FTC have investigated complaints related to federal antitrust laws, and we identified one lawsuit filed by DOJ against a GPO in …
Date: March 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electronic Health Records: First Year of CMS's Incentive Programs Shows Opportunities to Improve Processes to Verify Providers Met Requirements (open access)

Electronic Health Records: First Year of CMS's Incentive Programs Shows Opportunities to Improve Processes to Verify Providers Met Requirements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the four states GAO reviewed are implementing processes to verify whether providers met the Medicare and Medicaid EHR programs’ requirements and, therefore, qualified to receive incentive payments in the first year of the EHR programs. To receive such payments, providers must meet both (1) eligibility requirements that specify the types of providers eligible to participate in the programs and (2) reporting requirements that specify the information providers must report to CMS or the states, including measures that demonstrate meaningful use of an EHR system and measures of clinical quality. For the Medicare EHR program, CMS has implemented prepayment processes to verify whether providers have met all of the eligibility requirements and one of the reporting requirements. Beginning in 2012, the agency also has plans to implement a risk-based audit strategy to verify on a postpayment basis that a sample of providers met the remaining reporting requirements. For the Medicaid EHR Program, the four states GAO reviewed have implemented primarily prepayment processes to verify whether providers met …
Date: April 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Older Americans Act: Options to Better Target Need and Improve Equity (open access)

Older Americans Act: Options to Better Target Need and Improve Equity

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We found that:"
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOD Financial Management: Reported Status of Department of Defense's Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (open access)

DOD Financial Management: Reported Status of Department of Defense's Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The following is a list of the specific data elements that we requested DOD provide an updated status as of December 31, 2011, for each of the ERPs."
Date: March 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund: State Should Better Assure the Effective Use of Program Authorities (open access)

Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund: State Should Better Assure the Effective Use of Program Authorities

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State's (State) Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF) has several key authorities that provide it significant operational flexibility; however, it has not determined its needed carryover balances and it has taken years to close out many of its projects in the absence of guidance for closing them. Annual appropriations bills have consistently provided NDF with three key authorities that it has used to carry out its activities. First, NDF has the authority to undertake projects notwithstanding any other provision of law. NDF has used this authority to fund projects in countries, such as North Korea, where U.S. assistance is prohibited by U.S. sanctions and other legal restrictions. Second, NDF has the authority to undertake projects globally. NDF has used this authority to fund projects in numerous regions around the world, in contrast with other U.S. nonproliferation programs, which have historically focused on countries in the former Soviet Union. Third, NDF's appropriations do not expire within a particular time period, enabling NDF to carry over balances from year to year not designated for specific projects. However, NDF has not determined appropriate levels for these balances, …
Date: November 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Prescription Drugs: FDA Has Met Most Performance Goals for Reviewing Applications (open access)

Prescription Drugs: FDA Has Met Most Performance Goals for Reviewing Applications

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "FDA met most performance goals for priority and standard NDAs and BLAs received from FY 2000 through FY 2010. FDA meets its performance goals by completing its review and issuing an action letter—such as an approval or a response detailing deficiencies that are preventing the application from being approved—for a specified percentage of applications within a designated period of time. FDA designates NDAs and BLAs as either priority—if the product would provide significant therapeutic benefits when compared to available drugs—or standard. FDA met the performance goals for both priority and standard NDAs and BLAs for 10 of the 11 fiscal years GAO examined; FDA did not meet either of the goals for FY 2008. Although FDA had not yet issued an action letter for all of the applications it received in FY 2011 and results are therefore preliminary, FDA was meeting the goals for both priority and standard NDAs and BLAs on which it had taken action. Meanwhile, FDA review time for NDAs and BLAs—the time elapsed between FDA’s receipt of an application and issuance of an action letter—increased slightly from FY 2000 through FY 2010. …
Date: March 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Border Security: Opportunities Exist to Ensure More Effective Use of DHS's Air and Marine Assets (open access)

Border Security: Opportunities Exist to Ensure More Effective Use of DHS's Air and Marine Assets

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s analysis of the Office of Air and Marine (OAM) data found that OAM met 73 percent of the 38,662 air support requests and 88 percent of the 9,913 marine support requests received in fiscal year 2010. The level of support differed by location, customers, and type of mission. For example, in its northern region OAM met air support requests 77 percent of the time and in its southeast region, it met these requests 60 percent of the time. The main reasons for unmet air and marine support requests were maintenance and adverse weather, respectively. OAM has taken actions, such as developing an aircraft modernization plan and purchasing all-weather vessels, to address these issues."
Date: March 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tribal Law and Order Act: None of the Surveyed Tribes Reported Exercising the New Sentencing Authority, and the Department of Justice Could Clarify Tribal Eligibility for Certain Grant Funds (open access)

Tribal Law and Order Act: None of the Surveyed Tribes Reported Exercising the New Sentencing Authority, and the Department of Justice Could Clarify Tribal Eligibility for Certain Grant Funds

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Among the tribes that responded to our survey (109), none reported that they were exercising TLOA’s new sentencing authority, and, in open-ended responses, many tribes (86 of 90, or 96 percent) reported challenges to exercising this authority due to funding limitations. Tribes were relatively evenly split among those that reported that they have plans to exercise the new authority (36 of 101, or 36 percent); that they did not know the tribe’s plans to exercise the new authority (34 of 101, or 34 percent) because, for instance, the tribal council has not yet made a decision; and that they did not have plans to do so (31 of 101, or 31 percent). In addition, 64 percent of selected tribes (70 of 109) reported implementing at least half of the requirements necessary for exercising the new sentencing authority, but reported challenges in implementing other requirements. Specifically, these tribes most frequently reported implementing the requirement to maintain a record of the criminal proceeding, and least frequently reported providing the defendant a licensed defense attorney. For example, 8 tribes that described challenges to exercising the new sentencing authority reported challenges with …
Date: May 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare: Implementation of Financial Incentive Programs under Federal Fraud and Abuse Laws (open access)

Medicare: Implementation of Financial Incentive Programs under Federal Fraud and Abuse Laws

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Certain financial incentive programs are permitted within the framework of federal fraud and abuse laws, but stakeholders GAO spoke with reported that the laws, regulations, and agency guidance have created challenges for program design and implementation. The Stark law and anti-kickback statute, which restrict financial relationships among providers, have statutory and regulatory exceptions and safe harbors, respectively, that permit financial incentive programs that meet specific criteria. However, there are no exceptions or safe harbors specifically for financial incentive programs intended to improve quality and efficiency, and legal experts reported that the constraints of existing exceptions and safe harbors make it difficult to design and implement a comprehensive program for all participating physicians and patient populations. The CMP law prohibits hospitals from paying physicians to reduce or limit services, and OIG has interpreted the law to apply to the reduction or limitation of any services, whether or not those services are medically necessary. The CMP law does not include statutory exceptions to this prohibition, and OIG does not have the authority to create exceptions through regulation. Through its advisory opinion process, OIG, however, has indicated that it …
Date: March 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
2011 Lobbying Disclosure: Observations on Lobbyists' Compliance with Disclosure Requirements (open access)

2011 Lobbying Disclosure: Observations on Lobbyists' Compliance with Disclosure Requirements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Most lobbyists were able to provide documentation to demonstrate compliance with disclosure requirements. This finding is similar to GAO’s results from prior reviews. There are no specific requirements for lobbyists to create or maintain documentation related to disclosure reports they file under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 as amended (LDA). Nonetheless, and similar to last year’s results, for two key elements of the reports (income and expenses), GAO estimates that lobbyists could provide documentation to support approximately 93 percent of the disclosure reports for the third and fourth quarters of 2010 and the first and second quarters of 2011. According to documentation lobbyists provided for income and expenses, GAO estimates that the amounts disclosed were properly reported and supported for 63 percent of the quarterly lobbying disclosure (LD-2) reports. For lobbyists and lobbying firms listed on the LD-2 report, an estimated 86 percent filed year-end 2010 or midyear 2011 reports of federal political campaign contributions (LD-203) reports as required. For LD-203 political contributions reports, GAO estimates that a minimum of 4 percent of all LD-203 reports omitted one or more reportable political contributions that were …
Date: March 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
VA Administrative  Investigations: Improvements Needed in Collecting and Sharing Information (open access)

VA Administrative Investigations: Improvements Needed in Collecting and Sharing Information

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has departmentwide policy and procedures for convening and conducting administrative investigation boards (AIB). The department’s procedures contain requirements for convening and conducting AIB investigations, but according to VA officials, they also provide the flexibility to tailor an investigation to effectively meet diverse informational needs. For example, the VA official convening an AIB investigation is required to select AIB members who are impartial and objective, but has flexibility to vary the number of members appointed to each AIB based on the matter being investigated. VA is currently updating its AIB policy and procedures, but officials said the department plans to maintain flexibility in its AIB process."
Date: April 30, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library