A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' (CNMI) customs administration, focusing on: (1) procedures for controlling the flow of aliens and goods into and out of the CNMI; and (2) the aliens' use of public health care and education and their involvement in criminal activities in the CNMI."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "There have been recurring calls to evaluate and realign, or "rightsize," the number and location of staff at U.S. embassies and consulates and to consider staff reductions to reduce security vulnerabilities. The Office of Management and Budget is implementing this rightsizing initiative by analyzing the U.S. overseas presence and reviewing the staffing allocation process. This report uses a systematic approach to assess overseas workforce size and identifying options for rightsizing, both at the embassy level and for making related decisions worldwide. GAO's framework links staffing levels to the following three critical elements of overseas diplomatic operations: (1) physical/technical security of facilities and employees, (2) mission priorities and requirements, and (3) cost of operations. Unlike an analysis that considers the elements in isolation, GAO's rightsizing framework encourages consideration of a full range of options, along with the security, mission, and cost trade-offs. Policy makers could use this information to decide whether to add, reduce, or change the staff mix at an embassy."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The current federal peanut program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is designed to support producers' incomes while ensuring an ample supply of domestically produced peanuts. To achieve these goals, the program controls the domestic supply of peanuts and guarantees producers a minimum price for their crops. This price substantially exceeds the price for peanuts in world markets. The program uses two mechanisms to control the domestic supply of peanuts--a national quota on the number of pounds that can be sold for edible consumption domestically and import restrictions. Only producers holding quota, either through ownership or rental of farmland, may sell their peanuts domestically as "quota" peanuts. Generally, all other production, referred to as "additional" peanuts, must be exported or crushed for oil or meal. The program protects producers' incomes through a two-tiered system that sets minimum support prices for quota and for additional peanuts. GAO and others have criticized the program because it provides substantial benefits to a relatively small number of producers who hold most of the quota, generally restricts nonquota holders from producing peanuts for the U.S. domestic market, and increases consumers' cost. In …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Drug effectiveness and adverse events can vary between children and adults and among racial and ethnic groups. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is authorized under the pediatric exclusivity provision to grant drug sponsors 6 months of additional exclusive marketing rights for conducting clinical drug studies in children. The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act of 2002 (BPCA) expanded this provision to require FDA to take into account the adequacy of minority representation in pediatric exclusivity studies. BPCA also directed GAO to evaluate the representation of minorities in such studies. GAO examined the extent to which minority children are represented, whether drugs that treat diseases disproportionately affecting minority groups are studied under the provision, and FDA's monitoring of the representation of minority children in the studies. GAO reviewed related FDA documents, FDA requests for pediatric studies and final study results, and interviewed FDA officials and other experts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Government Performance and Results Act (GRPA) requires federal agencies to set goals for program performance and to report annually on their progress toward achieving those goals. Agencies need to produce credible performance data to provide transparency of government operations so that Congress, program managers, and others can make informed decisions. The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires agencies to assess the completeness and reliability of their performance data. However, GAO found that only five of the 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies' assessed the completeness and the reliability of their performance data in the transmittal letters accompanying their performance reports for fiscal year 2000. The other agencies somewhat discussed the quality of their performance data elsewhere in their performance reports. None of the agencies identified any material inadequacies with their performance data. However, concerns about the quality of performance data were identified by the inspector general as either a major management challenge or included in the discussion of other challenges for 11 of the 24 agencies. Although not required, discussing the performance reports in the standard or method used to assess the completeness and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Political appointees in the federal government sometimes seek appointments to career positions, which do not end with an administration. Although merit system principles require that selections be determined solely on the basis of merit after fair and open competition, questions have been raised about whether some individuals have received political favoritism or an unfair advantage, even the appearance of which could adversely compromise the integrity of the system. The 45 agencies GAO surveyed reported that 100 employees converted from political appointments and 11 converted from congressional staff positions from October 1998 through April 2001. All the conversions took place at 21 agencies. Ninety-five of the 111 conversions were to positions at the GS-12 level and above. GAO found that the 21 agencies used appropriate appointment authorities, such as civil service certificates from the competitive selection process, and generally followed merit system procedures. In 17 instances, however, the appointments could give the appearance that individuals had received political favoritism or preferences."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pesticides play a significant role in increasing production of tobacco, food, and other crops by reducing the number of crop-destroying pests. However, if used improperly, pesticides can have significant adverse health effects. GAO was asked to (1) identify the pesticides commonly used on tobacco crops and the potential health risks associated with them, (2) determine how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assesses and mitigates health risks associated with pesticides used on tobacco, and (3) assess the extent to which federal agencies regulate and test for pesticide residues on tobacco."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is implementing a new approach to overseeing the safety of a 2.2-million-mile network of pipelines in the United States that transports potentially dangerous materials, including hazardous liquids, such as oil and natural gas. OPS has to complete several important steps to implement its integrity management approach within an ambitious, self-imposed schedule. The agency began applying this new regulatory approach to hazardous liquid pipelines in 2000 by issuing final rules requiring operators of these pipelines to develop integrity management programs. While implementing its integrity management approach, OPS must also perform ongoing oversight duties, such as inspecting the construction of new pipelines and investigating pipeline incidents. In addition to meeting its ambitious schedule, OPS faces a number of other challenges in implementing this new regulatory approach. These challenges include (1) enforcing the integrity management requirements consistently and effectively, (2) ensuring that natural gas transmission pipeline operators use assessment methods appropriately, (3) establishing an inspection interval for natural gas transmission pipelines, (4) measuring and reporting on the effectiveness of the approach, and (5) developing and implementing an approach for overseeing pipeline security. OPS's …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2003, Congress enacted the Postal Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) Funding Reform Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-18), which\ lowered the Postal Service's (Service) annual payment for its CSRS obligation by over $2.5 billion beginning in fiscal year 2003. P.L. 108-18 includes requiring (1) the Service to begin making payments into an escrow account in fiscal year 2006, (2) the Service to issue a report on its proposed use of "savings" resulting from the lower CSRS payments, and (3) GAO to evaluate the Service's report and present its findings to Congress. GAO evaluated whether the Service's proposals were consistent with P.L. 108-18; the impact of the escrow account; and whether the proposals were fair to current and future ratepayers, affordable, and helped achieve transformation goals."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003 (the Act) required the United States Postal Service, Department of the Treasury, and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to prepare proposals detailing whether and to what extent the Treasury and Postal Service should fund the benefits attributable to the military service of the Postal Service's current and former Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) employees. The Act required GAO to evaluate the proposals. Our objective in doing so was to assess the agencies' positions and provide additional information where it may be useful."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO testified before Congress at the hearing A System Rued: Inspecting Food. This report responds to Congress's request that GAO provide answers to follow-up questions from the hearing."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) assessment of the performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) operations, focusing on whether: (1) ONDCP performs its statutory and regulatory responsibilities in an efficient, effective, and results-oriented manner; (2) ONDCP optimizes human resources in fulfilling its primary objectives of policy, anti-drug program coordination, and compliance; and (3) ONDCP's internal control systems are strategically deployed to enhance business processes throughout the organization."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) proposed rule on the confidentiality of patient health care information, focusing on: (1) the authoritative basis in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) statute for some of the approaches taken by HHS in the proposed rule; (2) the overall pattern of public responses to the rule among a selected group of 40 organizations representing different constituencies affected by the rule; (3) the views expressed by those organizations with respect to sections of the rule that prompted an especially large volume of comments; and (4) concerns that would require legislative action to address."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Multiemployer-defined benefit pension plans, which are created by collective bargaining agreements covering more than one employer and generally operated under the joint trusteeship of labor and management, provide coverage to over 9.7 million of the 44 million participants insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). The recent termination of several large single-employer plans--plans sponsored by individual firms--has led to millions of dollars in benefit losses for thousands of workers and left PBGC, their public insurer, an $11.2 billion deficit as of September 30, 2003. The serious difficulties experienced by these single-employer plans have prompted questions about the health of multiemployer plans. This report provides the following information on multiemployer pension plans: (1) trends in funding and worker participation, (2) PBGC's role regarding the plans' financial solvency, and (3) potential challenges to the plans' long-term prospects."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is the Spanish-language version of GAO-02-925. Day laborers generally are individuals who work and get paid on a daily or short-term basis. To find work, they often congregate on street corners and wait for employers to drive by and offer them work. Day laborers may also be employed by temporary staffing agencies that assign them work on a daily basis with client employers. Day laborers have an informal relationship with the labor market, often working for different employers each day, being paid in cash, and lacking key benefits, such as health or unemployment insurance. However, day laborers may be eligible for wage and safety protections provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. The U.S. Department of Labor administers both acts. Its Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is responsible for ensuring that all covered workers receive at least the federal minimum hourly wage and overtime pay. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is required to ensure that employers provide safe and healthy workplaces to help their workers avoid injury or death. Coverage under both laws does …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress authorized the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program to help federal land management agencies provide high-quality recreational opportunities to visitors and protect resources. The program focuses on recreational activities at the following four land management agencies: the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service. Under the fee demonstration program, participating agencies can collect fees at several sites and use them to (1) enhance visitor services, (2) address a backlog of needs for repair and maintenance, and (3) manage and protect resources. The agencies applied "entrance fees" for basic admission to an area and "user fees" for specific activities such as camping or launching a boat. Under the law, 80 percent of program revenue must be used at the site where it was collected. The rest may be distributed to other sites that may or may not be participating in the demonstration program. Some of the sites GAO surveyed experimented with innovative fee designs and collection methods, such as reducing fees during off-peak seasons and allowing visitors to use credit cards, but room for additional innovation exists, particularly …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Many of today's workers may not be financially prepared for retirement when they stop working. Many people are counting on Social Security alone, without an additional retirement plan. The Savings Are Vital to Everyone's Retirement (SAVER) Act of 1997 requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to hold periodic national summits and run an outreach program to promote retirement saving. This report (1) identifies major accomplishments of the 1998 summit and issues that might affect future summits, (2) describes DOL's outreach program, and (3) determines what DOL knows about the effectiveness of the summit and outreach program. GAO found that the 1998 National Summit made progress in identifying problems that workers face in saving for retirement. DOL's Outreach Program--the Retirement Savings Education Campaign--targets of small business owners, women, minorities, and youth to change the way they think about, and act on, their retirement saving needs. DOL has not tried to assess the extent to which outreach efforts from the 1998 National Summit and Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration have increased the public's knowledge and understanding of retirement savings."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the New York City Office of Management and Budget and the New York State Division of Budget estimates of tax revenue losses attributed to the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Both offices estimated that the attacks would reduce anticipated tax revenues to the city and state in both fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The budget offices' estimates of the tax revenue losses have limitations, such as including some of the economic slowdown that was under way at the time of the attacks. Nevertheless, the tax revenue loss estimates for the 2002 fiscal year--$1.6 billion for New York City and $1.6 billion for New York State--appear to reasonably approximate the impact of the attacks on tax revenues. Precisely measuring the effect on economic activity and related tax revenues is inherently difficult. Such measuring requires disentangling the effect of the attacks from the effects of other events. As of June 2002, the federal government had authorized funds of $10.4 billion to New York to partly compensate for the economic losses attributable to the attacks, including $6.4 billion for debris removal and temporary housing assistance. Nonetheless, the specific amount of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In examining the efforts of the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation to ensure that recipients corrected single audit report findings, GAO found that each agency had procedures for obtaining and distributing the audit reports to appropriate officials for action. However, they often did not issue the required written management decisions or have documentary evidence of their evaluations of and conclusions on recipients' actions to correct the audit findings. In addition, program managers did not summarize and communicate information on single audit results and recipient actions to correct audit findings to agency management."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's review of the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation efforts to ensure that federal award recipients corrected single audit findings found that required documentation of management decisions and the evaluation of and conclusions on the adequacy of recipient actions to correct single audit findings was lacking. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse received 34,000 single audit reports during calendar year 2000 with six thousand of these containing audit findings. Despite these impressive figures, questions exist about whether (1) all required single audits are performed, (2) federal award recipients are adequately monitoring subrecipent use of federal awards and the correction of single audit findings, and (3) the audits are performed in accordance with government auditing standards."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), insures billions of dollars in home mortgage loans made by private lenders. HUD's 2020 Management Reform Plan, issued in 1997, sought to downsize and reform the agency, including its single-family mortgage insurance program. As part of its 2020 plan, HUD consolidated the single-family program's field activities at four new regional homeownership centers and specified resources for the centers. Although HUD has substantially streamlined FHA's single-family mortgage insurance programs, human capital issues remain a concern. This report reviews HUD's implementation of the homeownership center concept under the 2020 plan, focusing on (1) the deployment of center staff, (2) the training provided to the center staff, and (3) the centers' monitoring of contractors. GAO found that nearly half of the centers' staff remain in 71 field offices across the country, even though HUD envisioned that only a third of the staff would stay in the field offices. The deployment of staff across the centers is not consistent with their workload, and, as a result, the centers are having trouble supervising and making effective use …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) General Business Loan Program, focusing on: (1) the general characteristics of the 7(a) program, including how the program operates; (2) certain issues, such as the lack of coordinated lender oversight, that have been identified in recent studies and reports on the program; and (3) how SBA has responded to these issues."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's recent performance and accountability series report on the Small Business Administration (SBA) described major management challenges and program risks to efficient delivery of services. However, that report did not discuss how well SBA's organization was aligned to achieve its mission. GAO found that SBA's current structure contributes to the challenges SBA faces in delivering services to the small business community. In particular, ineffective lines of communication; confusion over the mission of district offices; complicated, overlapping organizational relationships; and a field structure not consistently matched with mission requirements combine to impede the effective deliver of services. Restructuring efforts by other federal agencies may prove instructive in addressing the problems with SBA's current structure. Efforts at other agencies also demonstrate the need for buy-in from both internal and external stakeholders and the importance of agency efforts to consider the human impact of restructuring activities, including the closure of field offices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress created the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program to stimulate economic development and create jobs in distressed urban and rural areas. To achieve these goals, the HUBZone program provides small businesses with greater access to federal contracting opportunities. Reported HUBZone program achievements for fiscal year 2000 were inaccurate because of data entry errors and insufficient guidance on how to report agency data. Federal agencies are having difficulty implementing the HUBZone program. The primary reasons that federal contracting personnel gave for not using the HUBZone program to award contracts were (1) the small number of Small Business Administration (SBA) certified HUBZone firms, (2) difficulty identifying certified firms with the capabilities needed by federal agencies, (3) SBA's guidance that emphasizes the 8(a) program over the HUBZone program, and (4) easier and quicker procedures to award contracts under the 8(a) program."