General Accounting Office Reports & Testimony back issues from Friday, August 1:
Climate Change: Expert Opinion on the Economics of Policy Options to Address Climate Change.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-605 May 9, 2008 Elevated levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the resulting effects on the earth's climate could have significant environmental and economic impacts in the United States and internationally. Potential impacts include rising sea levels and a ...
Environmental Satellites: Polar-orbiting Satellite Acquisition Faces Delays; Decisions Needed on Whether and How to Ensure Climate Data Continuity.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-518 May 16, 2008 The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is a triagency acquisition--managed by the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the National ...
Border Security: Summary of Covert Tests and Security Assessments for the Senate Committee on Finance, 2003-2007.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-757 May 16, 2008 From January 2003 to September 2007, GAO testified before the Committee on three occasions to describe security vulnerabilities that terrorists could exploit to enter the country. GAO's first two testimonies focused on covert testing at ports of ...
Privacy: Alternatives Exist for Enhancing Protection of Personally Identifiable Information.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-536 May 19, 2008 The centerpiece of the federal government's legal framework for privacy protection, the Privacy Act of 1974, provides safeguards for information maintained by federal agencies. In addition, the E-Government Act of 2002 requires federal agencies to conduct ...
Border Security: State Department Should Plan for Potentially Significant Staffing and Facilities Shortfalls Caused by Changes in the Visa Waiver Program.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-623 May 22, 2008 Under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), citizens from 27 countries can travel to the United States visa free. Terrorism concerns involving VWP country citizens have led some to suggest eliminating or suspending the program, while the executive branch is ...
Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waivers: CMS Should Encourage States to Conduct Mortality Reviews for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-529 May 23, 2008 Deaths of individuals with developmental disabilities due to poor quality of care have been highlighted in the media. Prior GAO work has raised concerns about inadequate safeguards for such individuals receiving care through state Medicaid home and ...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Human Capital Planning Has Improved, but Strategic View of Contractor Workforce Is Needed.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-582 May 28, 2008 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)--an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--has experienced an expanding workload due to emerging health threats, such as bioterrorism. Strategic planning helps agencies like CDC ...
VA Health Care: Facilities Have Taken Action to Provide Language Access Services and Culturally Appropriate Care to a Diverse Veteran Population.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-535 May 28, 2008 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) faces challenges in bridging language and cultural barriers as it seeks to provide quality health care services to an increasingly diverse veteran population in terms of race, ethnicity, sex, and age. To meet the ...
Department of Energy: Office of Science Has Kept Majority of Projects within Budget and on Schedule, but Funding and Other Challenges May Grow.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-641 May 30, 2008 The Department of Energy (DOE) has long suffered from contract and management oversight weaknesses. Since 1990 DOE contract management has been on GAO's list of programs at high risk for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. In 2003 DOE's Office of ...
Privacy: Agencies Should Ensure That Designated Senior Officials Have Oversight of Key Functions.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-603 May 30, 2008 Government agencies have a long-standing obligation under the Privacy Act of 1974 to protect the privacy of individuals about whom they collect personal information. A number of additional laws have been enacted in recent years directing agency heads to ...
Medicaid: CMS Needs More Information on the Billions of Dollars Spent on Supplemental Payments.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-614 May 30, 2008 The financing of the $299 billion Medicaid program is shared between the federal government and states. States pay qualified providers for covered Medicaid services and receive federal matching funds from the Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) ...
September 11: HHS Needs to Develop a Plan That Incorporates Lessons from the Responder Health Programs.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-610 May 30, 2008 Following the World Trade Center (WTC) attack, the Congress appropriated more than $8 billion to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency for response and recovery activities. The Department of Health and Human ...
U.S. Postal Service: Mail-Related Recycling Initiatives and Possible Opportunities for Improvement.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-599 June 3, 2008 In 2006, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) discarded about 317,000 tons of undeliverable-as-addressed advertising mail. Such mail can be disposed of using incineration, landfills or through other methods. USPS recently committed to minimizing the agency's ...
Defense Acquisitions: Better Weapon Program Outcomes Require Discipline, Accountability, and Fundamental Changes in the Acquisition Environment.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-782T June 3, 2008 Since 1990, GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) management of major weapon system acquisitions a high risk area. DOD has taken some action to improve acquisition outcomes, but its weapon programs continue to take longer, cost more, and ...
Alien Detention Standards: Observations on the Adherence to ICE's Medical Standards in Detention Facilities.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-869T June 4, 2008 In fiscal year 2007, Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained over 311,000 aliens, with an average daily population of over 30,000 and an average length of stay of about 37 days in one of ...
Individual Retirement Accounts: Government Actions Could Encourage More Employers to Offer IRAs to Employees.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-590 June 4, 2008 Congress created individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with two goals: (1) to provide a retirement savings vehicle for workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans, and (2) to preserve individuals' savings in employer-sponsored retirement plans. ...
Federal Disability Programs: Coordination Could Facilitate Better Data Collection to Assess the Status of People with Disabilities.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-872T June 4, 2008 Multiple federal programs provide services and support to the approximately 50 million individuals with disabilities in America. While some health and economic data on people with disabilities are currently available, these data have limited use in ...
Combating Terrorism: Guidance for State Department's Antiterrorism Assistance Program Is Limited and State Does Not Systematically Assess Outcomes.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-875T June 4, 2008 The Department of State's (State) Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program's objectives are to provide partner nations with counterterrorism training and equipment, improve bilateral ties, and increase respect for human rights. State's Office of the ...
Management Report: Improvements Needed in IRS's Internal Controls.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-368R June 4, 2008 In November 2007, we issued our report on the results of our audit of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) financial statements as of, and for the fiscal years ending, September 30, 2007, and 2006, and on the effectiveness of its internal controls as of ...
Fiscal Year 2007 U.S. Government Financial Statements: Sustained Improvement in Financial Management Is Crucial to Improving Accountability and Addressing the Long-Term Fiscal Challenges.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-847T June 5, 2008 The Congress and the President need to have reliable, useful and timely financial and performance information to make sound decisions on the current and future direction of vital federal government programs and policies. Unfortunately, except for the ...
Oil and Gas Royalties: Litigation over Royalty Relief Could Cost the Federal Government Billions of Dollars.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-792R June 5, 2008 Oil and gas production from federal lands and waters is critical to meeting the nation's energy needs. This production provided about 31 percent of all oil and 29 percent of all natural gas produced in the United States in fiscal year 2007. Every five ...
Refund Anticipation Loans.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-800R June 5, 2008 Taxpayers who do not want to wait for their tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may choose to obtain refund anticipation loans (RAL). RALs are short-term, high-interest bank loans that are advertised and brokered by both national chain ...
Department of Energy: Implementation and Use of Other Transactions Authority Provided in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-798R June 6, 2008 Since the Department of Energy (DOE) was established in 1977, one of its missions has been to promote the nation's energy security through research, development, and demonstration of advanced technologies for meeting future energy demands and ...
Food Safety: Selected Countries' Systems Can Offer Insights into Ensuring Import Safety and Responding to Foodborne Illness.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-794 June 10, 2008 Like other nations, the United States faces growing food safety challenges resulting from at least three major trends. First, imported food makes up a growing share of the food supply. Second, consumers are increasingly eating foods that are raw or have ...
Digital Television Transition: Broadcasters' Transition Status, Low-Power Station Issues, and Information on Consumer Awareness of the DTV Transition.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-881T June 10, 2008 The Digital Television (DTV) Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, requires all full-power television station in the United States to cease analog broadcasting by February 17, 2009. Low-power stations are not required to cease analog transmissions ...
Employment Verification: Challenges Exist in Implementing a Mandatory Electronic Employment Verification System.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-895T June 10, 2008 In 1996, the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, now within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Social Security Administration (SSA) began operating a voluntary pilot program, recently named the E-Verify program, to ...
Compact of Free Association: Palau's Use of and Accountability for U.S. Assistance and Prospects for Economic Self-Sufficiency.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-732 June 10, 2008 The Compact of Free Association between the Republic of Palau and the United States entered into force on October 1, 1994, with the U.S. interest of promoting Palau's self-sufficiency and economic advancement. The compact and its related subsidiary ...
Compact of Free Association: Micronesia Faces Challenges to Achieving Compact Goals.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-859T June 10, 2008 From 1987 through 2003, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) received more than $1.5 billion in economic assistance under the original Compact of Free Association with the United States. In 2003, the U.S. government approved an amended compact with ...
Military Personnel: Army Needs to Better Enforce Requirements and Improve Record Keeping for Soldiers Whose Medical Conditions May Call for Significant Duty Limitations.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-546 June 10, 2008 The increasing need for warfighters for the Global War on Terrorism has meant longer and multiple deployments for soldiers. Medical readiness is essential to their performing needed duties, and an impairment that limits a soldier's capacities represents ...
VA Health Care: Ineffective Controls over Medical Center Billings and Collections Limit Revenue from Third-Party Insurance Companies.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-675 June 10, 2008 GAO previously reported that continuing problems in billing and collection processes at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) impaired VA's ability to maximize revenue from private (third-party) insurance companies. VA has undertaken several ...
2010 Census: Plans for Decennial Census Operations and Technology Have Progressed, But Much Uncertainty Remains.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-886T June 11, 2008 On April 3, 2008, the Secretary of Commerce announced significant changes to how the Census Bureau (Bureau) would conduct nonresponse follow-up, its largest field operation, in which census workers interview households that do not return initial census ...
Homeland Security: The Federal Protective Service Faces Several Challenges That Hamper Its Ability to Protect Federal Facilities.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-683 June 11, 2008 In 2003, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) transferred from the General Services Administration (GSA) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). FPS provides physical security and law enforcement services to about 9,000 GSA facilities. To ...
National Response Framework: FEMA Needs Policies and Procedures to Better Integrate Non-Federal Stakeholders in the Revision Process.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-768 June 11, 2008 Hurricane Katrina illustrated that effective preparation and response to a catastrophe requires a joint effort between federal, state, and local government. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Federal Emergency Management Agency ...
Emergency Management: Observations on DHS's Preparedness for Catastrophic Disasters.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-868T June 11, 2008 The Homeland Security Act was enacted in November 2002, creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to improve homeland security following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The act centralized the leadership of many ...
Federal Aviation Administration: Efforts to Hire, Staff, and Train Air Traffic Controllers Are Generally on Track, but Challenges Remain.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-908T June 11, 2008 Each day, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controls the take-offs, landings, and flights of over 50,000 aircraft. To accomplish this mission safely and efficiently, FAA must have a sufficient number of adequately trained air traffic controllers ...
Federal Oversight of Food Safety: FDA Has Provided Few Details on the Resources and Strategies Needed to Implement its Food Protection Plan.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-909T June 12, 2008 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of roughly 80 percent of the U.S. food supply, including $417 billion worth of domestic food and $49 billion in imported food annually. Changing demographics and consumption ...
Supply Chain Security: Challenges to Scanning 100 Percent of U.S.-Bound Cargo Containers.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-533T June 12, 2008 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is responsible for preventing weapons of mass destruction from entering the United States in cargo containers that are shipped from more than 700 foreign ...
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: A More Strategic Approach Could Improve Human Capital Management.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-624 June 12, 2008 The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) employs over 800 federal employees and uses some 1,500 private sector employees to insure the pensions of millions of private sector workers and retirees in certain employer-sponsored pension plans. In ...
Compact of Free Association: U.S. Assistance to Palau, Accountability Over Assistance Provided, and Palau's Prospects For Economic Self-Sufficiency.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-858T June 12, 2008 Since 1995, when the Compact of Free Association between Palau and the United States entered into force, U.S. aid to Palau has included assistance provided for in the compact and related subsidiary agreements--direct assistance to the Palau national ...
International Trade: The United States Needs an Integrated Approach to Trade Preference Programs.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-907T June 12, 2008 U.S. trade preference programs promote economic development in poorer nations by providing duty-free export opportunities in the United States. The Generalized System of Preferences, Caribbean Basin Initiative, Andean Trade Preference Act, and African ...
Telecommunications: FCC Needs to Improve Performance Management and Strengthen Oversight of the High-Cost Program.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-633 June 13, 2008 In the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act), the Congress said that consumers in "rural, insular, and high-cost areas" should have access to services and rates that are "reasonably comparable" to those in urban areas. To implement the 1996 Act, the ...
Telecommunications: Survey of State Regulatory Commissions (GAO-08-662SP, June 2008), an E-supplement to GAO-08-633.(Survey)
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-662SP June 13, 2008 Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, state regulatory commissions were given primary responsibility for determining whether a telecommunications carrier is eligible to participate in and receive support from the federal Universal Service Fund's ...
Federal Real Property: Property Conveyances between the District of Columbia and the Federal Government Await Completion, and Development Will Take Many Years.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-684 June 13, 2008 The Federal and District of Columbia Government Real Property Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-396) mandated GAO's review of the property exchange between the District and the federal government. None of the conveyances had occurred by the beginning of GAO's ...
Medicare Part B Imaging Services: Rapid Spending Growth and Shift to Physician Offices Indicate Need for CMS to Consider Additional Management Practices.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-452 June 13, 2008 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--and the Congress, through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), recently acted to constrain spending on imaging services, one of ...
Medicare: Thousands of Medicare Providers Abuse the Federal Tax System.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-618 June 13, 2008 Under the Medicare program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its contractors paid over $400 billion in Medicare benefits in calendar year 2006. GAO was asked to determine if Medicare providers have unpaid federal taxes and, if so, ...
Emergency Preparedness: States Are Planning for Medical Surge, but Could Benefit from Shared Guidance for Allocating Scarce Medical Resources.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-668 June 13, 2008 Potential terrorist attacks and the possibility of naturally occurring disease outbreaks have raised concerns about the "surge capacity" of the nation's health care systems to respond to mass casualty events. GAO identified four key components of ...
Federal Records: National Archives and Selected Agencies Need to Strengthen E-Mail Management.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-742 June 13, 2008 Federal agencies are increasingly using electronic mail (e-mail) for essential communication. In doing so, they are potentially creating messages that have the status of federal records, which must be managed and preserved in accordance with the Federal ...
Los Alamos National Laboratory: Long-Term Strategies Needed to Improve Security and Management Oversight.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-694 June 13, 2008 In 2006, a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) contract employee unlawfully removed classified information from the laboratory. This was the latest in a series of high-profile security incidents at LANL spanning almost a decade. LANL conducts research ...
Global War on Terrorism: Reported Obligations for the Department of Defense.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-853R June 13, 2008 Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with hundreds of billions of dollars in supplemental and annual appropriations for military operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). DOD's reported annual obligations ...
Tax Debt Collection: IRS Has a Complex Process to Attempt to Collect Billions of Dollars in Unpaid Tax Debts.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-728 June 13, 2008 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimated that $33 billion in income tax assessments was not paid in 2001. If not collected, annual unpaid taxes keep accumulating each year along with penalty and interest charges to create an inventory of "tax debts," ...
National Flood Insurance Program: Financial Challenges Underscore Need for Improved Oversight of Mitigation Programs and Key Contracts.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-437 June 16, 2008 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its contractors administer and implement the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). GAO designated NFIP as a high-risk area in March 2006, and as of December 2007, FEMA owed more than $17.3 billion to ...
Federal Reserve Banks: Areas for Improvement in Information Security Controls.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-836R June 16, 2008 In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2007 ...
2010 Census: Census Bureau Should Take Action to Improve the Credibility and Accuracy of Its Cost Estimate for the Decennial Census.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-554 June 16, 2008 The 2010 Census will be the most expensive census in our nation's history, even after adjusting for inflation. The Census Bureau (Bureau) estimates that the life cycle cost of the 2010 Census will be from $13.7 billion to $14.5 billion. GAO was asked to ...
Long-Term Fiscal Outlook: Long-Term Federal Fiscal Challenge Driven Primarily by Health Care.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-912T June 17, 2008 GAO was asked to provide its views on the long-term fiscal outlook. This statement addresses four key points: (1) the federal government's long-term fiscal outlook is a matter of utmost concern; (2) this challenge is driven primarily by health care cost ...
Small Business Administration: Additional Actions Are Needed to Certify and Monitor HUBZone Businesses and Assess Program Results.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-643 June 17, 2008 The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program provides federal contracting assistance to small firms located in economically distressed areas, with the intent of stimulating economic development ....
Financial Audit: Material Weaknesses in Internal Control over the Processes Used to Prepare the Consolidated Financial Statements of the U.S. Government.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-748 June 17, 2008 For the past 11 years, since GAO's first audit of the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government (CFS), certain material weaknesses in internal control and in selected accounting and financial reporting practices have prevented GAO from ...
Millennium Challenge Corporation: Independent Reviews and Consistent Approaches Will Strengthen Projections of Program Impact.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-730 June 17, 2008 In January 2004, Congress established the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for foreign assistance. Eligible countries submit compact proposals for MCC funding for projects aimed at reducing poverty through economic growth. To assess the proposed ...
Intellectual Property: Leadership and Accountability Needed to Strengthen Federal Protection and Enforcement.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-921T June 17, 2008 U.S. government efforts to protect and enforce intellectual property (IP) rights domestically and overseas are crucial to preventing billions of dollars in losses to U.S. industry and IP rights owners. The illegal importation and distribution of ...
Defense Infrastructure: High-Level Leadership Needed to Help Communities Address Challenges Caused by DOD-Related Growth.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-665 June 17, 2008 Due to several simultaneous Department of Defense (DOD) force structure and basing initiatives, 20 installations are expecting a combined net growth of over 173,000 military and civilian personnel, not including family members and all contractors, over ...
Architect of the Capitol: Progress in Improving Energy Efficiency and Options for Decreasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-917T June 18, 2008 In April 2007, GAO reported that 96 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from the Capitol Hill Complex facilities--managed by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC)--resulted from electricity use throughout the complex and combustion of fossil fuels in ...
Indian Health Service: IHS Mismanagement Led to Millions of Dollars in Lost or Stolen Property.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-727 June 18, 2008 In June 2007, GAO received information from a whistleblower through GAO's FraudNET hotline alleging millions of dollars in lost and stolen property and gross mismanagement of property at Indian Health Service (IHS), an operating division of the ...
Homeland Security: The Federal Protective Service Faces Several Challenges That Raise Concerns About Protection of Federal Facilities.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-914T June 18, 2008 The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is responsible for providing physical security and law enforcement services to about 9,000 General Services Administration (GSA) facilities. To accomplish its mission of protecting GSA facilities, FPS currently has ...
Privacy: Congress Should Consider Alternatives for Strengthening Protection of Personally Identifiable Information.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-795T June 18, 2008 Concerns have been raised about the privacy and security of personal information in light of advances in information technology and the increasingly sophisticated ways in which the government obtains and uses information. Federal agencies' use of ...
Afghanistan Security: Further Congressional Action May Be Needed to Ensure Completion of a Detailed Plan to Develop and Sustain Capable Afghan National Security Forces.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-661 June 18, 2008 Since 2002, the United States has worked to develop the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The Department of Defense (Defense), through its Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A), directs U.S. efforts to develop the Afghan ...
Afghanistan Security: U.S. Efforts to Develop Capable Afghan Police Forces Face Challenges and Need a Coordinated, Detailed Plan to Help Ensure Accountability.
Aug 01, 2008 ... GAO-08-883T June 18, 2008 Since 2005, the Department of Defense (Defense), with support from the Department of State (State), has directed U.S. efforts to develop the Afghan National Police (ANP) into a force capable of enforcing the rule of law and supporting actions to defeat ...