Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed federal assessments--user fees, taxes, and other charges--levied on the commercial maritime industry, focusing on: (1) the federal agencies that levied assessments in fiscal year (FY) 1998 compared with FY 1991, the number of assessments levied, and the amounts they collected; (2) who pays the assessments and in which funds they were deposited in fiscal years 1991-1998; (3) new federal assessments that have been recently proposed; and (4) the status of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, and the projected annual balances of the fund."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the year 2000 technology problem, focusing on: (1) the federal government's progress and challenges that remain in correcting its systems; (2) state and local government year 2000 issues; and (3) the readiness of key public infrastructure and economic sectors."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed ways to combat fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program, focusing on: (1) an overview of the problem; (2) key components of fraud control; and (3) the importance of federal and state cooperation."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its study of the Health Care Financing Administration's (HFCA) implementation of two of its nursing home initiatives."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the President's proposal for Social Security financing, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the proposal achieves sustainable solvency and how the proposal would affect the economy and the federal budget; (2) whether the proposal balances individual equity and income adequacy; and (3) how readily changes could be implemented, administered, and explained to the public."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the experience of six nations--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom--with budget surpluses, focusing on: (1) how they achieved budget surpluses and what their fiscal policies were during periods of surplus; (2) how they addressed long-term budgetary pressures; (3) how they adapted their budget process during a period of surplus; and (4) the lessons these nations learned from their experiences with budget surpluses that might be applicable to the United States."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) food service operations, focusing on: (1) the type and volume of food services VA provides; (2) how VA provides food services; (3) the cost VA incurs; and (4) the revenues VA generates from sales of excess food services."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Board's and the Emergency Gas and Oil Guaranteed Loan Board's new rules on the Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Program and the Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Program. GAO noted that: (1) the rules would establish the procedures for providing guarantees of up to $1 billion in loans for qualified steel and iron ore companies and $500 million in loans for qualified oil and gas companies; (2) both programs will be administered by both Boards; (3) prior to the issuance of the loan guarantee and while any guarantee is outstanding, the company must agree to permit an audit by GAO or its designee, and an independent auditor acceptable to the Boards; (4) audited financial statements are required to be submitted with an application; (5) the final rules have an announced effective date of December 27, 1999; and (6) both the Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Board and the Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Board complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on establishing core competencies for budget analysts who work in the federal government. This document identifies and sorts the competencies necessary for budget analysts' work into the following categories: (1) budgeting concepts and process; (2) budget presentation and justification; and (3) general."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) for fiscal year 2000, focusing on the: (1) major changes and adjustments in the 2000 FYDP as compared to the 1999 FYDP; and (2) risks that the 2000 FYDP faces that may prevent it from being implemented as planned."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) military health system (MHS), focusing on: (1) the need for national capital area (NCA) military treatment facilities (MTF) and DOD's strategy for assessing such needs; (2) identifying any obstacles hindering DOD's ability to make coherent needs assessments; and (3) whether current care coordination among NCA MTFs could be improved."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the governmental and nongovernmental plans for managing the Yellowstone National Park bison herd, focusing on the: (1) key elements of the five nongovernmental plans and the government's preferred alternative; (2) strengths and weaknesses of the economic analyses used to support each of these six plans; and (3) status of efforts to issue the environmental impact statement (EIS) on the government's plan."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO analyzed the potential budgetary and economic effects of several Social Security reform proposals."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) new rule on the regulation of takeovers and security holder communications. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would revise the regulations applicable to takeover transactions (including tender offers, mergers, acquisitions, and similar extraordinary transactions) to permit significantly more communications before the time a mandated disclosure document must be publicly filed with the SEC; (2) in addition, the rule balances the treatment of cash and stock tender offers, simplifies and centralizes disclosure requirements, and eliminates existing regulatory inconsistencies in merger and tender offers; and (3) SEC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the foreign military sales program to determine the changes needed to improve the viability of the program, focusing on: (1) whether the foreign military sales program has achieved full recovery of its administrative costs; (2) the Defense Security Cooperation Agency's (DSCA) basis for making administrative account adjustments; and (3) the effectiveness of various foreign military sales reinvention efforts in terms of cost recovery."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the U.S. Transportation Command's (TRANSCOM) year 2000-related end-to-end testing activities, focusing on TRANSCOM's management of its end-to-end test of its ability to plan and execute joint major theater war (MTW) deployment operations."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new rule on Medicare Program revisions to payment policies under the physician fee schedule for calendar year 2000. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would make several changes affecting Medicare Part B payment; (2) the changes include, among others, implementation of resource-based malpractice insurance relative value units (RVU), refinement of resource-based practice expense RVUs, and payment for physician pathology and independent laboratory services; and (3) HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the use of pesticides in schools, focusing on: (1) what federal requirements govern the use of pesticides in schools; (2) what information exists on the use of pesticides in schools; (3) what data exist on the incidences of short- and long-term illnesses linked to the exposure to pesticides in schools, and to the extent data are available, what does this data show; and (4) what actions are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states taking, where appropriate, to reduce the use of pesticides in schools, and what are the results of their efforts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) progress in eliminating asset management control weaknesses, focusing on: (1) the implementation of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act's mandate to remove revenue officers from the asset sale function; and (2) other internal control weaknesses identified in GAO's 1992 testimony."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the independent living program (ILP), focusing on: (1) the extent of services provided under ILPs; and (2) what is known about the effect of these services on youths' ability to live on their own."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Air Force's best practices implementation schedule for the acquisition and distribution of secondary inventory items, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the schedule responds to the provisions of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999; and (2) specific elements of a management framework needed for effective implementation and oversight of the Air Force's best practice initiatives."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on interjurisdictional adoption issues, focusing on the: (1) number of foster children who are available and waiting for an adoptive home to be identified; (2) actions taken by state and county child welfare agencies and nonprofit organizations to improve the adoption process when prospective adoptive families and foster children live in different jurisdictions; and (3) actions taken by the federal government to improve the adoption process when prospective adoptive families and foster children live in different jurisdictions."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This document is a supplement to GAO's May 1998 executive guide on information security management. It is intended to help federal managers implement an ongoing information security risk assessment process by providing examples, or case studies, of practical risk assessment procedures that have been successfully adopted by four organizations known for their efforts to implement good risk assessment practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the effects of the marketing assistance loan program on cash payments to farm producers, focusing on: (1) which producers received cash payments through the program, by type of crop and state; (2) why some producers did not participate in the program; and (3) what types of concerns have been raised about the program's effect on cash payments and potential forfeitures."