Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding: (1) issues concerning auditing in the new century as discussed at the 17th Commonwealth Auditors-General Conference held in Sun City, South Africa in October 1999; (2) efforts to encourage public health services, public works, and technical assistance at the Organization of African Supreme Audit Institutions' 8th General Assembly held in Burkina Faso in October 1999; (3) discussions held by the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions' 9th General Assembly in Paraguay; (4) an audit profile on Sierra Leone; and (5) activities within INTOSAI."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is the French-language edition of the journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding: (1) issues concerning auditing in the new century as discussed at the 17th Commonwealth Auditors-General Conference held in Sun City, South Africa in October 1999; (2) efforts to encourage public health services, public works, and technical assistance at the Organization of African Supreme Audit Institutions' 8th General Assembly held in Burkina Faso in October 1999; (3) discussions held by the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions' 9th General Assembly in Paraguay; (4) an audit profile on Sierra Leone; and (5) activities within INTOSAI."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This is the German-language version of the journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). This journal includes articles regarding (1) issues concerning auditing in the new century as discussed in the 17th Commonwealth Auditors-General Conference held in Sun City, South Africa in October 1999, (2) efforts to encourage public health services, public works, and technical assistance at the Organization of African Supreme Audit Institutions' 8th General Assembly held in Burkina Faso in October 1999, (3) discussions held by the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions' 9th General Assembly in Paraguay, (4) an audit profile in Sierra Leone, and (5) activities within INTOSAI."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding: (1) issues concerning auditing in the new century as discussed at the 17th Commonwealth Auditors-General Conference held in Sun City, South Africa in October 1999; (2) efforts to encourage public health services, public works, and technical assistance at the Organization of African Supreme Audit Institutions' 8th General Assembly held in Burkina Faso in October 1999; (3) discussions held by the Organization of Latin America and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions' 9th General Assembly in Paraguay; (4) an audit profile on Sierra Leone; and (5) activities within INTOSAI."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's current financial management initiatives, activities, and practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on management actions needed to answer basic research questions about Gulf War Illnesses, focusing on the: (1) amount of money the Departments of Veterans' Affairs (VA), Defense (D0D), and Health and Human Services (HHS) spent on research and investigation of Gulf War veterans' illnesses and health concerns in the fiscal years 1997 and 1998, including current and projected spending by the Office of the Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses; (2) productivity of this research spending, including the extent to which the Coordinating Board has determined that federal research objectives have been satisfied, and the extent to which the research has resulted in peer-reviewed publications and the identification of the causes or successful treatments for Gulf War veterans' illnesses; (3) extent of coordination between the Research Working Group of the Coordinating Board and the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses; and (4) Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses' contract management."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, focusing on the characteristics of tax properties and their residents."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO identified the reasons for the Army National Guard's unfinanced Operation and Maintenance (O&M) requirements, focusing on the: (1) way the Guard prepares its O&M budget; (2) five Army models the Guard uses to generate most of its O&M requirements; and (3) improvements the Army and the Guard are making to correct problems in their use of the models."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) new rule on the irradiation of meat and meat food products. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule amends the FSIS rules to permit the use of ionizing radiation for treating refrigerated or frozen uncooked meat, meat byproducts, and certain other meat food products to reduce levels of foodborne pathogens and to extend shelf-life; (2) the rule revises existing regulations governing the irradiation of poultry products so that they will be as consistent as possible with the regulations for the irradiation of meat food products; and (3) FSIS complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Federal Housing Administration's credit subsidy budget estimates used to formulate the President's fiscal year (FY) 2000 budget to determine whether: (1) these estimates were reasonable; and (2) any changes need to be made to the credit subsidy estimation process to ensure that future budget estimates are reasonable."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) report on the actuarial projections for the trust funds of the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance programs, focusing on whether the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Board of Trustees': (1) 1999 long-range intermediate actuarial projections--their best estimates--as presented in the Trustees' 1999 report are based on generally accepted actuarial methods and techniques and include economic and demographic assumptions that contain no material defects because of errors or omissions and are individually reasonable; and (2) sensitivity tests include all assumptions that could have a significant effect on the projections and are reasonable."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO summarized from available research what is known about adverse drug events (ADE), focusing on the: (1) different types and causes of ADEs; (2) evidence on the overall incidence and cost of ADEs in the United States; and (3) measures that have been proposed to reduce the number and severity of ADEs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) shift to a risk-informed regulation, focusing on the: (1) views of NRC's staff on the quality of the work that NRC performs, the management of and staff's involvement in changes occurring in the agency, and the move to a risk-informed regulatory approach; and (2) status of NRC's efforts to develop a strategy to implement a risk-informed regulatory approach."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Archer-Shaw Social Security reform proposal, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the proposal achieves sustainable solvency and how it would affect the U.S. economy and the federal budget; (2) the balance struck between the twin goals of income adequacy (level and certainty of benefits) and individual equity (rates of return on individual contributions); and (3) how readily such changes could be implemented, administered, and explained to the public."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the development of the Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring's (OMHAR) mark-to-market program and the relationship between OMHAR and other Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) offices, focusing on: (1) OMHAR's progress in obtaining staffing resources to implement the program; (2) the status of OMHAR's progress on seven actions that are integral to the program's successful implementation; (3) whether OMHAR has implemented nine statutory requirements in accordance with the act; (4) the extent to which HUD management is involved in directing, reviewing, and approving OMHAR's operations; (5) whether OMHAR's Director has complied with the legislative requirements to report to congressional committees if actions by HUD's Secretary interfere with the Office's ability to carry out the mark-to-market program; and (6) whether the other HUD offices from which OMHAR must obtain support have provided the support requested."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the impact of loan sales on tenants and properties, focusing on: (1) the impact on tenants as project-based assistance contracts expire; and (2) the steps that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has taken to ensure that mortgage purchasers honor the tenant protections."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the pricing of genetically modified seeds, focusing on the: (1) prices of Roundup Ready soybean seeds and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn seeds in the United States and Argentina; and (2) major reasons for the price differences, if any, between the two countries for these seeds."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the role and functioning of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, focusing on: (1) whether the issues listed for consideration by the Working Group in Executive Order 12631 have been considered; (2) what additional issues have been considered by the Working Group and how they were identified; and (3) the nature of coordination and cooperation within the Working Group and the views of members of Congress and Working Group participants about whether it needs to be formalized in statute."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on states' efforts to ensure the safety and health of children in child care settings, focusing on: (1) the most critical licensing and enforcement activities that help states ensure the safety and health of children in child care; (2) the extent to which states conduct these critical activities for their regulated providers; and (3) how states ensure that nonregulated providers receiving block grant funds meet the law's safety and health requirements."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) new rule on Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO). GAO noted that: (1) the rule requires that each public utility that owns, operates, or controls facilities for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce make certain filings with respect to forming and participating in a RTO; and (2) FERC complied with applicable requirements in promugating the rule."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO developed congressional protocols for governing its work to better serve Congress, to improve the efficacy and efficiency of its work, and to ensure equitable treatment of all requesters."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the risk-focused approaches used by the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), focusing on: (1) the general characteristics of the regulators' risk-focused approach to examinations of large, complex banks, explaining how they differ from past examination practices; (2) comparing the implementation of the Federal Reserve's and OCC's risk-focused examination approaches; and (3) the challenges faced by both agencies as they continue to implement their examination programs for large, complex banks."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its report on how federal requirements affect local school districts, focusing on: (1) the major federal requirements that affect school districts; (2) the issues school districts face in implementing these requirements; and (3) recent initiatives by Congress and the Department of Education to provide flexibility to school districts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) efforts to implement changes to the Medicare program, focusing on HCFA's implementation of the: (1) expansion of the partial hospitalization benefit; and (2) more recent changes under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) to determine whether HCFA is acting upon lessons learned from the partial hospitalization program."