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The structure of the armed forces is based on the Total Force concept, which recognizes that all elements of the structure—active duty military personnel, reservists, defense contractors, host nation military and civilian personnel, and DOD federal civilian employees—contribute to national defense. In recent years, fed... | As the Department of Defense (DOD) has expanded its involvement in overseas military operations, it has grown increasingly reliant on its federal civilian workforce to support contingency operations. The Senate Armed Services Committee required GAO to examine DOD's policies concerning the health care for DOD civilians ... |
Most income derived from private sector business activity in the United States is subject to federal corporate income tax, the individual income tax, or both. The tax treatment that applies to a business depends on its legal form of organization. Firms that are organized under the tax code as “C” corporations (which in... | Business income taxes, both corporate and noncorporate, are a significant portion of federal tax revenue. Businesses also play a crucial role in collecting taxes from individuals, through withholding and information reporting. However, the design of the current system of business taxation is widely seen as flawed. It d... |
There are some similarities in how Medicare pays ASCs and hospital outpatient departments for the procedures they perform. However, the methods used by CMS to calculate the payment rates in each system, as well as the mechanisms used to revise the Medicare payment rates, differ. In 1980, legislation was enacted that en... | Medicare pays for surgical procedures performed at ambulatory surgical centers (ASC) and hospital outpatient departments through different payment systems. Although they perform a similar set of procedures, no comparison of ASC and hospital outpatient per-procedure costs has been conducted. The Medicare Prescription Dr... |
IRS’s mission is to provide America’s taxpayers top-quality service by helping them to understand and meet their tax responsibilities and to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all. During fiscal year 2015, IRS collected more than $3.3 trillion; processed more than 243 million tax returns and other forms; an... | In collecting taxes, processing returns, and providing taxpayer service, IRS relies extensively on computerized systems. Thus it is critical that sensitive taxpayer and other data are protected. Recent data breaches at IRS highlight the vulnerability of taxpayer information. In addition, identity theft refund fraud is ... |
In 1991, we reported that, historically, INS leadership had allowed INS’ organizational structure to become decentralized without adequate controls. Specifically, its regional structure had created geographical separation among INS programs and hampered resource allocation and consistent program implementation. The fie... | The Immigration and Naturalization's (INS) organizational structure has led to recurring management problems, including an inability to balance competing priorities, poor communications, and weaknesses in the development and fielding of critical information technology. Although restructuring may help, INS will still ne... |
While TCE and perchlorate are both DOD-classified emerging contaminants, there are key distinctions between the contaminants that affect the extent to which they are regulated, and the information that may be needed before further steps are taken to protect human health and the environment. Since 1989, a maximum contam... | DOD defines emerging contaminants as chemicals or materials with (1) perceived or real threat to health or the environment and (2) lack of published standards or a standard that is evolving or being reevaluated. Two emerging contaminants--trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchlorate--are of particular concern to DOD because... |
As you know, the cost of the Decennial Census has steadily increased during the past 40 years, in part because the nation’s population has steadily grown larger, more diverse, and increasingly difficult to enumerate. For example, at about $13 billion, the 2010 Census was the costliest U.S. census in history and was 56 ... | The cost of the nation's decennial census has steadily increased over the past 40 years; the 2010 Census was the most expensive to date, at about $13 billion. To achieve cost savings while still conducting an accurate count of the population, the U.S. Census Bureau is planning significant changes for the design of the ... |
Each military service—the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marine Corps—is responsible for assessing and making decisions regarding the ammunition in its inventory. The Army, as the Single Manager for Conventional Ammunition (SMCA), is responsible for centrally managing the demilitarization of all conventional am... | DOD manages conventional ammunition that ranges from small arms cartridges to rockets, mortars, artillery shells, and tactical missiles. When a military service determines such ammunition is beyond its needs, obsolete, or unserviceable, it is offered to the other services and if not taken, transferred to the Army, whic... |
DOE is responsible for a nationwide complex of facilities created during World War II and the Cold War to research, produce, and test nuclear weapons. Much of the complex is no longer in productive use, but it contains vast quantities of radioactive waste related to the production of nuclear material, such as plutonium... | Compliance agreements between the Department of Energy (DOE) and its regulators specify cleanup activities and milestones that DOE has agreed to achieve. The 70 compliance agreements at DOE sites vary, but can be divided into three main types. These are: (1) agreements specifically required by the Comprehensive Environ... |
An unregulated child custody transfer, commonly referred to as rehoming, is not an adoption. It is a practice in which parents seek new homes for their children and place them without the safeguards and oversight of the courts or the child welfare system. This practice does not pertain exclusively to adopted children; ... | Parents have the legal responsibility to protect and care for their children. However, recent media reports have illuminated a practice involving unregulated custody transfers of adopted children. Commonly referred to as “rehoming,” this practice involves parents who turn to the internet or other unregulated networks t... |
In fiscal year 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) paid about $37.5 billion in disability compensation and pension benefits to more than 3.6 million veterans and their families. Through its disability compensation program, the VBA pays monthly benefits to veterans with service- connected disabilities (injurie... | Faced with an increase in disability claims, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is hiring a large number of new claims processing staff. We were asked to determine: (1) What training is provided to new and experienced claims processors and how uniform is this training? (2) To what extent has VBA planned this tr... |
Under TRICARE, beneficiaries may obtain health care through either the direct care system of military treatment facilities or the purchased care system of civilian providers and hospitals, including SCHs. SCHs were exempted from TRICARE’s reimbursement rules for hospitals until revised rules were implemented in January... | DOD offered health care to about 9.6 million eligible beneficiaries through TRICARE, which provides care through military treatment facilities and civilian providers. Because DOD determined that its approach for reimbursing SCHs (459 in 2014) based on their billed charges was inconsistent with TRICARE's governing statu... |
Although VA has been authorized to collect third-party health insurance payments since 1986, it was not allowed to use these funds to supplement its medical care appropriations until enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Part of VA’s 1997 strategic plan was to increase health insurance payments and other collec... | The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) collects health insurance payments, known as third-party collections, for veterans' health care conditions it treats that are not a result of injuries or illnesses incurred or aggravated during military service. In September 1999, VA adopted a new fee schedule, called "reasonable... |
Under the TVA Act of 1933 (TVA Act), as amended, TVA is not subject to most of the regulatory and oversight requirements that commercial electric utilities must satisfy. The Act vests all authority to run and operate TVA in its three-member board of directors. Legislation also limits competition between TVA and other u... | If the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) were to lose its legislative protections today, its high level of debt and corresponding high financing costs would be a competitive challenge. This competitive challenge would be even greater if it were at the same time attempting to recover costs of deferred assets through rate... |
The federal government buys a myriad of goods and services from contractors. Federal agency acquisitions must be conducted in accordance with a set of statutes and regulations designed to accomplish several objectives, including full and open competition and various social and economic goals, such as encouraging small ... | This report focuses on the trends in federal procurement for small businesses during the 1990s. Some organizations that represent small businesses and others have expressed concerns over acquisition reforms in the mid-1990s that may have reduced the opportunities for small businesses to compete for federal government c... |
In June 1997, we reported on the results of our interviews with state WIC officials in 8 states that had unspent federal funds in fiscal year 1995 and 2 states that did not have unspent funds that year. These state officials identified a variety of reasons for having unspent federal WIC funds that were returned to the ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its completed reviews of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), focusing on the: (1) reasons that states had for not spending all of their federal grant funds; (2) efforts of WIC agencies to improve access to WIC benefits for... |
Since the early 1990s, increasing computer interconnectivity—most notably growth in the use of the Internet—has revolutionized the way that our government, our nation, and much of the world communicate and conduct business. The benefits have been enormous, but without proper safeguards in the form of appropriate inform... | The recent information security breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in which personal data on millions of veterans were compromised, has highlighted the importance of the department's security weaknesses, as well as the ability of federal agencies to protect personal information. Robust federal security ... |
Interest in oil shale as a domestic energy source has waxed and waned since the early 1900s. In 1912, President Taft established an Office of Naval and Petroleum Oil Shale Reserves, and between 1916 and 1924, executive orders set aside federal land in three separate naval oil shale reserves to ensure an emergency domes... | Oil shale deposits in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming are estimated to contain up to 3 trillion barrels of oil--or an amount equal to the world's proven oil reserves. About 72 percent of this oil shale is located beneath federal lands, making the federal government a key player in its potential development. Extracting this... |
The federal government began with a public debt of about $78 million in 1789. Since then, the Congress has attempted to control the size of the debt by imposing ceilings on the amount of Treasury securities that could be outstanding. In February 1941, the Congress set an overall ceiling of $65 billion on all types of T... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of the Treasury's actions during the 1995-1996 debt ceiling crisis, focusing on: (1) investments and redemptions in federal trust funds; and (2) the Treasury's restoration of fund losses. GAO found that: (1) during the 1995-1996 debt ceiling crisis, Treas... |
Federal law has required broadcasters to identify sponsors of radio program content since 1927.requirements have been amended to expand and further define the requirements. Since that time, sponsorship identification In 1934, the Communications Act established FCC and gave it authority to administer sponsorship identif... | The FCC is responsible for ensuring that the public knows when and by whom it is being persuaded. Requirements direct broadcasters to disclose when a group or individual has paid to broadcast commercial or political programming. Political advertising must also comply with requirements overseen by the FEC. Recognition o... |
USPS has a universal service obligation, part of which requires it to provide access to retail services. It is required to serve the public and provide a maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self- sustaining. USPS is intended to ... | USPSs declining revenues have become insufficient to cover its costs. Its strategies to address losses include reducing hours of service at many post offices and expanding the use of post office alternatives, including CPUs.CPUs are independent businesses compensated by USPS to sell most of the same products and servi... |
The voucher program is not an entitlement program. As a result, the amount of budget authority HUD requests and Congress provides through the annual appropriations process limits the number of households that the program can assist. Historically, appropriations for the voucher program (or for other federal housing prog... | The Department of Housing and Urban Developments (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher (voucher) program subsidizes private-market rents for approximately 2 million low-income households. HUD pays a subsidy that generally is equal to the difference between the units rent and 30 percent of the households income. HUD also pays... |
The UI program was established by Title III of the Social Security Act in 1935 and is a key component in ensuring the financial security of America’s workforce. This complex program, which is administered jointly by the U.S. Department of Labor and the states, provides temporary cash benefits to workers who lose their ... | The Unemployment Insurance (UI) program is a federal-state partnership to help replace the lost earnings of unemployed persons and to stabilize the economy during a recession. The Department of Labor estimates that $2.4 billion in overpayments were made in 2001, including $577 million attributed to fraud or abuse. Over... |
Through special use permits, the Forest Service authorizes a variety of rights-of-way across the lands it administers. These include commercial uses such as pipelines and power lines and noncommercial uses such as driveways, roads, and trails. In total, there are about 13,000 permits for all rights-of-way. This report ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Forest Service's issuance of rights-of-way on national forest lands, focusing on: (1) whether the fees collected for rights-of-way reflect fair market value; (2) how Forest Service fees compare with fees charged by private landowners; and (3) the changes needed to e... |
UASs can be categorized by both size and mission, as shown in figure 1. For the purposes of this report, in terms of size, we use the broad categories of “small” and “large” UASs. Small UASs typically weigh less than 55 pounds and can be used for a variety of commercial purposes including photography and package delive... | UASs are aircraft that do not carry a pilot aboard, but instead operate on pre-programmed routes or are manually controlled by following commands from pilot-operated ground control stations. Unauthorized UAS operations have, in some instances, compromised safety. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 directed FA... |
Since 1996, Congress has taken important steps to increase Medicare program integrity funding and oversight, including the establishment of the Medicare Integrity Program. Table 1 summarizes several key congressional actions. CMS has made progress in strengthening provider enrollment provisions, but needs to do more to... | GAO has designated Medicare as a high-risk program, in part because the program's size and complexity make it vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. In 2013, Medicare financed health care services for approximately 51 million individuals at a cost of about $604 billion. The deceptive nature of fraud makes its extent in... |
The IRS and tax administrators worldwide generally use similar administrative practices. Information reporting. Information reporting is a widely accepted practice for increasing taxpayer compliance. Under U.S. law, some types of transactions are required to be reported to the IRS by third parties who make payments to,... | The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and foreign tax administrators face similar issues regardless of the particular provisions of their laws. These issues include, for example, helping taxpayers prepare and file returns, and assuring tax compliance. Understanding how other tax administrators have used certain practices ... |
Despite efforts undertaken by TARP to bolster capital of the largest financial institutions, market conditions in the beginning of 2009 were deteriorating and public confidence in the ability of financial institutions to withstand losses and to continue lending were further declining. On February 10, 2009, Treasury ann... | The Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (SCAP) was established under the Capital Assistance Program (CAP)--a component of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)--to assess whether the 19 largest U.S. bank holding companies (BHC) had enough capital to withstand a severe economic downturn. Led by the Board of Govern... |
Available data showed that case dispositions and processing times in disciplinary cases during the period of January 1, 1996, through June 30, 1998, differed for SES employees and lower-level, or general schedule (GS), staff. In addition, a 1997 IRS internal study found that actions taken against lower-level employees ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on alleged misconduct by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees in their treatment of other IRS employees and taxpayers, focusing on: (1) the specific allegations made at the Senate Committee on Finance hearings; and (2) any underlying systemic or programm... |
In recent years, a number of factors have led to growing concern about the protection of privacy when personally identifiable information is collected and maintained by the federal government. Recent data breaches of personal information at government agencies, such as the data breach at the Department of Veterans Affa... | 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 designate senior officials as focal points with overall responsibi... |
FECA is administered by Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) and currently covers more than 2.7 million civilian federal employees from more than 70 different agencies. FECA benefits are paid to federal employees who are unable to work because of injuries sustained while performing their federal duti... | This testimony discusses issues related to possible changes to the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) program, a topic that we have reported on in the past. At the end of chargeback year 2010, the FECA program, administered by the Department of Labor (Labor) paid more than $1.88 billion in wage-loss compensatio... |
DOD is perhaps the largest and most complex organization in the world and spends billions of dollars each year to maintain key business operations intended to support the warfighter, including systems and processes related to the management of contracts, finances, the supply chain, support infrastructure, and weapons s... | In 2005, GAO added the Department of Defense's (DOD) approach to business transformation to its high-risk list because (1) DOD's improvement efforts were fragmented, (2) DOD lacked an integrated and enterprisewide business transformation plan, and (3) DOD had not designated a senior official at the right level with the... |
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 required that DOD develop a detailed implementation plan for carrying out its health care system reform of creating the DHA, and provide the plan to the congressional defense committees in three separate submissions in fiscal year 2013. In October 2013, DOD es... | To help address DOD's escalating health care costs, in 2013 DOD established the DHA to, among other things, combine common medical services such as medical education and training. DOD trains its servicemembers for a wide variety of medical positions, such as physicians, nurses, therapists, and pharmacists. DHA's Educat... |
Federal agencies can use a variety of different approaches to purchase office supplies. For relatively small purchases, generally up to $3,000, authorized users can use their government purchase cards. For larger purchases, agencies may use other procedures under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, such as awarding a c... | Concerned that federal agencies may not be getting the best prices available, Congress directed the General Services Administration (GSA) to study office supply purchases by the 10 largest federal agencies. GSA delivered the results of its study in November 2010. The study also discussed GSAs efforts to implement an i... |
The 31 DFEs we surveyed were established in various statutes as commissions, boards, authorities, corporations, endowments, institutions, agencies, and administrations. Their heads may be individuals, such as a chairperson or a director, or groups, such as commissions or boards. Individuals and members of commissions a... | For entities that rely on others for funding, effective governance, accountability, and internal control are keys to maintaining trust and credibility. In recent years, corporate governance and accountability have received increased scrutiny and emphasis in the nonprofit, federal government, and public company sectors.... |
DOD and VA offer health care benefits to active duty servicemembers and veterans, among others. Under DOD’s health care system, eligible beneficiaries may receive care from military treatment facilities or from civilian providers. Military treatment facilities are individually managed by each of the military services—t... | In February 2007, a series of Washington Post articles about conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center highlighted problems in the Army's case management of injured servicemembers and in the military's disability evaluation system. These deficiencies included a confusing disability evaluation process and servicemem... |
Federal crop insurance protects participating farmers against the financial losses caused by events such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. In 1995, crop insurance premiums were about $1.5 billion. USDA’s Risk Management Agency administers the federal crop insurance program through FCIC. Fede... | GAO discussed the: (1) adequacy of the administrative expense reimbursement paid by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) to participating insurance companies for selling and servicing crop insurance; and (2) comparative cost to the government of delivering catastrophic c... |
DOD’s Joint Exercise Program provides an opportunity for combatant commanders to (1) train to the mission capability requirements described in the Joint Mission-Essential Task List and (2) support theater or global security cooperation requirements as directed in theater or in global campaign plans. All nine of the com... | The Joint Exercise Program is the principal means for combatant commanders to maintain trained and ready forces, exercise contingency and theater security cooperation plans, and conduct joint and multinational training exercises. These exercises are primarily aimed at developing the skills needed by U.S. forces to oper... |
Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency whose mission is to finance the export of U.S. goods and services overseas and to support U.S. jobs, particularly when private sector lenders are unable or unwilling to accept the risk. Ex-Im Bank provides medium- and long-term loans and guarantees, export credit insu... | From 1990 through 2001, the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the United States provided export financing commitments totaling $31 billion to promote the export of U.S. goods and services for use in the energy sector. The energy sector is divided into fossil fuel, renewable, and nuclear energy. Financing is provided t... |
NCLBA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and built upon accountability requirements created under a previous reauthorization, the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA). Under ESEA, as amended, Congress sought to improve student learning by incorporating academic standards an... | The federal government has invested billions of dollars to improve student academic performance, and many schools, teachers, and researchers are trying to determine the most effective instructional practices with which to accomplish this. The Conference Report for the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 200... |
In November 2006, we reported that since 2001, the amount of national research that has been conducted on the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault had been limited, and less research had been conducted on dating violence and stalking. At that time, no single, comprehensive effort existed that provided nat... | This testimony discusses issues related to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In hearings conducted from 1990 through 1994, Congress noted that violence against women was a problem of national scope and that the majority of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalkin... |
The Title I property improvement program was established by the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1703) to encourage lending institutions to finance property improvement projects that would preserve the nation’s existing housing stock. Under the program, FHA insures 90 percent of a lender’s claimable loss on an individua... | GAO discussed certain aspects of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) management and oversight of its loan insurance program for home improvements under Title I of the National Housing Act, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the information needed to manage the program was available to HUD; (2) the... |
DLA is DOD’s logistics manager for all departmental consumable items and some repair parts. Its primary business function is materiel management: providing supply support to sustain military operations and readiness. In addition, DLA performs five other supply-related business functions: distributing materiel from DLA ... | The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) relies extensively on information technology (IT) to carry out its logistics support mission. This report focuses on DLA's processes for making informed IT investment decisions. Because IT investment management has only recently become an area of management focus and commitment at DLA... |
Since 2005, DOD and OPM have made significant progress in reducing delays in making personnel security clearance decisions and met statutory timeliness requirements for DOD’s initial clearances completed in fiscal year 2008. IRTPA currently requires that decisions on at least 80 percent of initial clearances be made wi... | Due to concerns about long standing delays in the security clearance process, Congress mandated reforms in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), which requires, among other things, that the executive branch report annually to Congress. Since 2005, the Department of Defense's (DOD) cleara... |
The SDB program in various forms has been in existence for the past 14 years. While criteria to qualify as an SDB remained essentially the same during this period, a Supreme Court decision in 1995—Adarand v. Pena— resulted in the federal government examining how it implemented “affirmative action” programs, including c... | The federal government has an annual, governmentwide procurement goal of at least five percent for small disadvantaged businesses (SDB). SDBs are eligible for various price and evaluation benefits when being considered for federal contract awards. SDB firms must have their SDB status certified by the Small Business Adm... |
Holding federal elections in the United States is a massive enterprise, administered primarily at the local level. On federal Election Day, millions of voters across the country visit polling places, which are located in schools, recreation centers, churches, various government buildings, and even private homes. For th... | Voting is fundamental to our democracy, and federal law generally requires polling places to be accessible to all eligible voters for federal elections, including voters with disabilities. However, during the 2000 federal election, GAO found that only 16 percent of polling places had no potential impediments to access ... |
The federal government uses grants to achieve national priorities through nonfederal parties, including state and local governments, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. While there can be significant variation among different grant programs, most federal grants share a common life cycle for administe... | In 2008,GAO reported that about $1 billion in undisbursed funding remained in expired grant accounts in the largest civilian payment system for grants, PMS, operated by the Department of Health and Human Services Program Support Center. GAO was asked to update its 2008 analysis evaluating: (1) the amount of undisburse... |
Farming is an inherently risky enterprise. In conducting their operations, farmers are exposed to both production and price risks. Crop insurance is one method farmers have of protecting themselves against these risks. Over the years, the federal government has played an active role in helping to mitigate the effects o... | U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the federal crop insurance program in partnership with insurance companies who share in the risk of loss or gain. In 2002, American Growers Insurance Company (American Growers), at the time, the largest participant in the program, was plac... |
Three agencies share responsibility for enforcing ERISA: the Department of Labor (EBSA), the Department of the Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). EBSA enforces fiduciary standards for plan fiduciaries of privately sponsored employee benefit plans to ensure th... | Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to address public concerns over the mismanagement and abuse of private sector employee benefit plans by some plan sponsors and administrators. The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) shares responsibility with... |
The Congress passed the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 to promote the creation of a global satellite communications system. As a result of this legislation, the United States joined with 84 other nations in establishing the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization—more commonly known as INTELSAT—ro... | In 2000, the Congress passed the Open-market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications Act (ORBIT Act) to help promote a more competitive global satellite services market. The ORBIT Act called for the full privatization of INTELSAT, a former intergovernmental organization that provided inter... |
Prepositioned equipment and supplies are strategic assets, along with sealift and airlift, for projecting military power. These assets include combat equipment, spare parts, and sustainment supplies that are stored on ships and on land in locations around the world to enable the rapid fielding of combat-ready forces. (... | The military services store prepositioned stocks of equipment and material on ships and land in locations around the world to enable the rapid fielding of combat-ready forces. GAO's prior work has shown that the readiness and safety of military equipment can be severely degraded by corrosion and that the Department of ... |
This section describes (1) the operation and regulation of the electricity system and (2) advances in technologies available to customers that allow them to generate, store, and manage their consumption of electricity. The electricity system involves four distinct functions: electricity generation, electricity transmis... | Traditionally, electricity has moved in one direction—from electricity suppliers to customers. Today, solar systems allow electricity to be generated at a customer's home and sent to the grid for electricity suppliers to use to meet other customers' electricity needs. Storage systems allow residential customers to stor... |
In our testimony, we stated that our audit and investigative work on FEMA disaster relief payments associated with hurricanes Katrina and Rita identified additional indications of fraud, waste, and abuse. Specifically, we found that FEMA made nearly $17 million in potentially improper and/or fraudulent rental assistanc... | The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to respond to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. GAO's previous work identified suspected fraud, waste, and abuse resulting from control weaknesses associated with FEMA's Individuals and Households Program (IHP) and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) purchase ... |
As of the time of this hearing, the CDFI Fund in the Department of the Treasury has authorized $21 billion of the $26 billion in tax credit authority to be awarded between 2001 and 2009 to CDEs that manage NMTC investments in low-income community development projects. Eligible organizations may apply for and receive NM... | The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund in the Department of the Treasury has awarded $21 billion of the $26 billion in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) authorized to be awarded to Community Development Entities (CDE) between 2001 and 2009. CDEs use the NMTC to make qualified investments in low-incom... |
The federal-state UI program, created in part by the Social Security Act of 1935, is administered under state law based on federal requirements. The primary objectives of the program are to provide temporary, partial compensation for lost earnings of eligible individuals who become unemployed through no fault of their ... | The joint federal-state unemployment insurance program is the Department of Labor's largest income maintenance program, and its benefits provide a critical source of income for millions of unemployed Americans. The program is overseen by Labor and administered by the states. To administer their UI programs, states rely... |
BSA established reporting, recordkeeping, and other anti-money- laundering (AML) requirements for financial institutions. By complying with BSA/AML requirements, U.S. financial institutions assist government agencies in the detection and prevention of money-laundering and terrorist financing by maintaining effective in... | Over the last few years, billions of dollars have been collected in fines, penalties, and forfeitures assessed against financial institutions for violations of requirements related to financial crimes. These requirements are significant tools that help the federal government detect and disrupt money laundering, terrori... |
To improve federal efforts to assist state and local personnel in preparing for domestic terrorist attacks, H.R. 525 would create a single focal point for policy and coordination—the President’s Council on Domestic Terrorism Preparedness—within the Executive Office of the President. The new council would include the Pr... | This testimony discusses the Preparedness Against Domestic Terrorism Act of 2001 (H.R. 525). To improve federal efforts to help state and local personnel prepare for domestic terrorist attacks, H.R. 525 would create a single focal point for policy and coordination--the President's Council on Domestic Terrorism Prepared... |
For decades, Colombia was one of Latin America’s more stable democracies and successful economies. However, by the late 1990s it had entered a period of sustained crisis due to the emerging strength of the FARC, the Army of National Liberation (ELN), and paramilitary groups (primarily, the United Self Defense Forces of... | In September 1999, the government of Colombia announced a strategy, known as "Plan Colombia," to (1) reduce the production of illicit drugs (primarily cocaine) by 50 percent in 6 years and (2) improve security in Colombia by re-claiming control of areas held by illegal armed groups. Since fiscal year 2000, the United S... |
In response to global challenges the government faces in the coming years, we have a unique opportunity to create an extremely effective and performance-based organization that can strengthen the nation’s ability to protect its borders and citizens against terrorism. There is likely to be considerable benefit over time... | Title III of the proposed Homeland Security Act of 2002 would transfer responsibility for certain chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear research and development programs and activities to the new department. The proposed Department of Homeland Security would develop national policy for, and coordination of, t... |
Figure 1 compares original cost estimates and current cost estimates for the broader portfolio of major space acquisitions for fiscal years 2008 through 2013. The wider the gap between original and current estimates, the fewer dollars DOD has available to invest in new programs. As shown in the figure, estimated costs ... | Despite a growing investment in space, the majority of large-scale acquisition programs in the Department of Defense's (DOD) space portfolio have experienced problems during the past two decades that have driven up cost and schedules and increased technical risks. The cost resulting from acquisition problems along with... |
Treasury’s Office of Homeownership Preservation within the Office of Financial Stability (OFS), which administers TARP, addresses the issues of preventing avoidable foreclosures and preserving homeownership. Treasury established three initiatives funded under TARP to address these issues: MHA, the Hardest Hit Fund, and... | More than 3 years have passed since Treasury made up to $50 billion available to help struggling homeowners through the MHA program, and foreclosure rates remain near historically high levels. Further, more than 2 years after Treasury set up the Hardest Hit Fund to help homeowners in high-unemployment states, much of t... |
The State Department operates over 160 embassies and over 100 consulates at a cost of about $2 billion annually. The embassies perform diplomatic and consular functions and provide administrative support for other U.S. agencies. State employs over 7,300 U.S. Foreign Service officers, about 10,000 Foreign Service nation... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of State's efforts to improve the management of its embassies, focusing on whether State has responded to previous recommendations concerning embassy management. GAO found that: (1) State has not responded to the recommendation that it establish proactive... |
In 1986, Congress amended Title IV-E of the Social Security Act to authorize federal funds targeted to assist youth aged 16 and over in making the transition from foster care to living independent of the child welfare system and created the Independent Living Program (ILP). This program was designed to prepare adolesce... | To improve outcomes for youth leaving foster care, Congress passed the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (FCIA), which increased the allocation of federal funds for independent living programs from $70 million to $140 million. This report reviews (1) how states' funding allocations changed to serve youth after FCIA,... |
Within DHS, USCIS is responsible for adjudicating immigration benefit applications, including I-129Fs filed by U.S. citizens to bring a foreign national fiancé(e) to the United States through a K-1 visa. If the K-1 visa is issued, the INA provides that the petitioner and fiancé(e) must marry within 90 days of the fianc... | Enacted in January 2006, IMBRA was passed by Congress to address reports of domestic violence and abuse of foreign beneficiaries married or engaged to U.S. citizens who have petitioned for them to enter the United States on a K visa. As amended, IMBRA requires that the federal government collect and provide to benefici... |
In November 1994, the Office of the Director of Defense Procurement initiated the SPS program to acquire and deploy a single automated system to perform all contract-management-related functions for all DOD organizations. At that time, life-cycle costs were estimated to be about $3 billion over a 10-year period. From 1... | The Department of Defense (DOD) lacks management control of the Standard Procurement System (SPS). DOD has not (1) ensured that accountability and responsibility for measuring progress against commitments are clearly understood, performed, and reported; (2) demonstrated, on the basis of reliable data and credible analy... |
Floods can result in the loss of lives, extensive damage to property and agriculture, and large-scale disruptions to business and infrastructure, such as transportation and water and sewer services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that floods cause about 140 deaths in the United States eac... | Indian tribes' participation in NFIP is extremely low, even though some Indian lands are at high risk of flooding. In response to a Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act mandate, GAO examined (1) factors affecting Indian tribes' participation in NFIP, (2) FEMA's efforts to increase tribes' participation in ... |
The FFEL and DL programs have substantially different structures but both provide student loans to help students meet the costs of obtaining a postsecondary education. FFEL loans are provided by nonfederal lenders and repayment is guaranteed by the federal government. Under the DL program, the federal government provid... | The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-315, mandated GAO to study the financial and compliance audits and reviews required or conducted for the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program and the Federal Direct Student Loan (DL) program. The Department of Education's (Education) Office of Federa... |
Modern agricultural biotechnology refers to various scientific techniques, most notably genetic engineering, used to modify plants, animals, or microorganisms by introducing in their genetic makeup genes for specific desired traits, including genes from unrelated species (see slide 1). For centuries people have crossbr... | This report reviews the challenges facing U.S. agricultural biotechnology products in international trade. GAO found that new regulations and guidelines that may restrict U.S. exports of crops with a large biotech component are being enacted or considered by some U.S. trading partners and are also under discussion in v... |
FDA and FSIS must approve the release of the products they regulate before importers can distribute them in the domestic market. These agencies inspect products to ensure that they comply with U.S. food safety requirements. FDA electronically screened all 2.7 million entries of imported foods under its jurisdiction in ... | GAO discussed: (1) the extent to which federal controls ensure that food importers present shipments for inspection when required and that shipments refused entry are destroyed or reexported; and (2) ways to strengthen these controls. GAO noted that: (1) the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) controls provide little ... |
Successful implementation of VA’s information technology program requires strong leadership and management to help define and guide the department’s plans and actions. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 articulate the importance of CIOs in promoting improvements in their agencies’ wor... | In March of this year, GAO testified before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, about the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) information technology (IT) program, and the strides that the Secretary had made in improving departmental leadership and management of this ... |
According to the Institute of Medicine, the federal government has a central role in shaping nearly all aspects of the health care industry as a regulator, purchaser, health care provider, and sponsor of research, education, and training. According to HHS, federal agencies fund more than a third of the nation’s total h... | In April 2004, President Bush called for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and implement a strategic plan to guide the nationwide implementation of health IT. The plan is to recommend methods to ensure the privacy of electronic health information. GAO was asked to summarize its report that is... |
Since late 2003, the United States has employed numerous strategies to address the security and reconstruction needs of Iraq. First, the multinational force’s security transition strategy called for Iraqi security forces to assume security responsibilities on an accelerated basis during spring 2004. This strategy faile... | Since 2001, Congress has appropriated about $640 billion for the global war on terrorism, the majority of this for operations in Iraq. In January 2007, the President announced The New Way Forward to stem violence in Iraq and enable the Iraqi government to foster national reconciliation. This new strategy established go... |
DOD collects information on the extent of foreign participation in its contracts to assess matters related to defense trade balances and domestic industrial base capabilities. Toward this end, DOD uses different sources of information. For defense trade information, DOD has one database for prime contract awards (DD 35... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) foreign procurement data, focusing on DOD's: (1) reported trends on contracts performed outside the United States; and (2) use of foreign subcontract information and the completeness and accuracy of how DOD collects and manages its data... |
Title XVII of EPAct 2005—Incentives for Innovative Technologies— authorized DOE to guarantee loans for projects that satisfy all three of the following criteria: (1) decrease air pollutants or man-made greenhouse gases by reducing their production or by sequestering them (storing them to prevent their release into the ... | Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 established DOE's loan guarantee program (LGP) for innovative energy projects that should decrease air pollutants or greenhouse gases and that have a reasonable prospect of repayment. For fiscal years 2008 and 2009, Congress authorized the use of borrower fees to pay the cost... |
In 1862, the Army Surgeon General established a repository in the Army Medical Museum for disease specimens collected from Civil War soldiers. The Army Institute of Pathology was created as a part of the museum in 1944, using the museum’s extensive collection of disease specimens to develop expertise in diagnostic path... | The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) provision required the Department of Defense (DOD) to close the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP). GAO was asked to address the status and potential impact of implementing this BRAC provision. This report discusses (1) key services AFIP provides to the military and ... |
The annual number of fatalities from crashes involving large trucks increased 20 percent from 4,462 in 1992 to 5,355 in 1997 (see fig. 1). This result reversed a trend of decreasing truck fatalities in the previous 5-year period, 1988-92. Also during the 1992-97 period, the fatality rate—the number of fatalities per 10... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the safety of large commercial trucks on the nation's highways, focusing on: (1) trends in crashes involving large trucks; (2) factors that contribute to such crashes; and (3) the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's (OMCHS) act... |
FPA includes several provisions designed to protect fish, wildlife, and the environment from the potentially damaging effects of a hydropower project’s operations. Specifically: Section 4(e) states that licenses for projects on federal lands reserved by Congress for other purposes—such as national forests—are subject t... | Under the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issues licenses for up to 50 years to construct and operate nonfederal hydropower projects. These projects must be relicensed when their licenses expire to continue operating. Relevant federal resource agencies issue license conditions to prot... |
VA operates the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care to nearly 5 million veterans per year. The VA health care system consists of hospitals, ambulatory clinics, nursing homes, residential rehabilitation treatment programs, and readjustment counseling centers. VA delegates decision ... | In a report issued in May 2006, GAO examined compliance with the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) physician credentialing and privileging requirements at seven VA medical facilities GAO visited. VA's credentialing process is used to determine whether a physician's professional credentials, such as licensure, are va... |
The United States, along with its coalition partners and various international organizations and donors, have made significant efforts to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure and the capacity of its personnel. The United States alone has provided more than $40 billion since 2003, most of which has been obligated. The February... | The President's New Way Forward in Iraq identified Iraq's inability to spend its resources to rebuild infrastructure and deliver essential services as a critical economic challenge to Iraq's self-reliance. Further, Iraq's ability to spend its $10.1 billion capital projects budget in 2007 was one of the 18 benchmarks us... |
The Foreign Buildings Act of 1926, as amended, authorizes the secretary of state to sell, exchange, or lease any property acquired abroad that is used for diplomatic and consular establishments in foreign countries. The law authorizes the secretary to use the sales proceeds to acquire and maintain other property overse... | The U.S. government owns about 3,500 properties overseas at more than 220 locations, including embassy and consular office buildings, housing, and land. The Department of State is responsible for acquiring, managing, and disposing of these properties. In 1996, GAO reported that the State Department did not have an effe... |
In 1986, IRCA established the employment verification process based on employers’ review of documents presented by employees to prove identity and work eligibility. On the Form I-9, employees must attest that they are U.S. citizens, lawfully admitted permanent residents, or aliens authorized to work in the United State... | The opportunity for employment is one of the most powerful magnets attracting illegal immigration to the United States. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 established an employment eligibility verification process, but immigration experts state that a more reliable verification system is needed. In 1996, th... |
The Communications Act of 1934 first established the nation’s telecommunications policy, including making communications services available “so far as possible, to all the people of the United States.” Since the cost of providing telephone service in rural areas is generally higher than the cost of providing service in... | The high-cost program within the Universal Service Fund (USF) provides subsidies to telecommunications carriers that serve rural and other remote areas with high costs of providing telephone service. The annual program cost has grown from $2.6 billion in 2001 to over $4 billion in 2011, primarily funded through fees ad... |
As an agency of the Department of Transportation, FAA’s mission is to promote the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the national airspace. To fulfill its mission requires the extensive use of technology. The achievement of the agency’s mission is also dependent in large part on the skills and expert... | The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) mission is to promote the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the United States airspace system, commonly referred to as the National Airspace System (NAS). To maintain its ability to effectively carry out this mission FAA embarked, in 1981,on a multi-billio... |
The legal framework for addressing and paying for maritime oil spills is identified in OPA, which was enacted after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. OPA places the primary burden of liability and the costs of oil spills on the owner and operator of the vessel or on shore facility and the lessee or permittee of the area in ... | On April 20, 2010, an explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig leased by BP America Production Company (BP) resulted in a significant oil spill. GAO was requested to (1) identify the financial risks to the federal government resulting from oil spills, particularly Deepwater Horizon, (2) assess the Coast Guard's inter... |
US-VISIT’s goals are to (1) enhance the security of U.S. citizens and visitors, (2) facilitate legitimate travel and trade, (3) ensure the integrity of the U.S. immigration system, and (4) protect the privacy of visitors. The program is to achieve these goals by collecting, maintaining, and sharing information on certa... | The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program stores and processes biometric and biographic information to, among other things, control and monitor the entry and exit of foreign visitors. Currently, an entry capability is operating at almost 300 U.... |
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services is the federal agency primarily responsible for monitoring the incidence of foodborne illness in the United States. In collaboration with state and local health departments and other federal agencies, CDC investigates ou... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed foodborne pathogens and their impact on public health. GAO noted that: (1) millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths result annually from contaminated foods; (2) the actual incidence of foodborne illnesses is unknown because most cases go unreported; (3) public hea... |
Bank holding companies are companies that own or control one or more banks. In the United States, most banks insured by FDIC are owned or controlled by a bank holding company. In addition to bank subsidiaries engaged in traditional banking activities of deposit-taking and lending, many U.S. bank holding companies also ... | The federal government extended unprecedented support to financial institutions to stabilize financial markets during the financial crisis. While these actions helped to avert a more severe crisis, they raised questions about the appropriate scope of government safety nets for financial institutions. GAO was asked to r... |
The unique characteristics and relative abundance of wood have made it a natural material for a variety of uses, including homes and other structures, furniture, tools, vehicles, and decorative objects. Because wood varies in characteristics and volume by species, it may be heavy or light, stiff or flexible, and hard o... | More wood is consumed every year in the United States than all metals, plastics, and masonry cement combined. To maximize their use of wood, forest product companies rely on research into new methods for using wood. At least 12 federal agencies have provided support to wood utilization research and product development ... |
In the legislative history, RRGs were described as essentially insurance “cooperatives,” whose members pool funds to spread and assume all or a portion of their own commercial liability risk exposure—and who are engaged in businesses and activities with similar or related risks. Specifically, RRGs may be owned only by ... | Congress authorized the creation of risk retention groups (RRG) to increase the availability and affordability of commercial liability insurance. An RRG is a group of similar businesses that creates its own insurance company to self-insure its risks. Through the Liability Risk Retention Act (LRRA), Congress partly pree... |
Reducing the costs and time of its decision-making and improving its ability to deliver what is expected or promised have not been given adequate attention throughout the Forest Service. As a result, deficiencies within the decision-making process that have been known to the agency for a decade or more have not been co... | GAO discussed the preliminary results of its work on the decisionmaking process used by the Forest Service in carrying out its mission, focusing on the underlying causes of inefficiencies and ineffectiveness in the Forest Service's decisionmaking process. GAO noted that: (1) its ongoing work has identified three underl... |
In order to collect tax revenue that would otherwise go uncollected and resolve threats to the integrity and fairness of the tax system, IRS encourages the public to report possible federal tax noncompliance and fraud. IRS has a web page to help the public find resources for reporting both general and specific types of... | Reports by the public of suspected underreporting of taxes or other tax violations can help IRS detect millions of dollars in taxes that would otherwise go uncollected. Productive referrals can help address the net $385 billion tax gap—the difference between the amount of taxes paid voluntarily on time and the amount o... |
INS processed approximately 1.3 million citizenship applications between August 31, 1995, and September 30, 1996; 1,049,867 of the applicants were naturalized. During this period, INS initiated a number of efforts, under a program called “Citizenship USA,” to accelerate and streamline its process for naturalizing citiz... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) review of its case files of aliens who were naturalized between August 31, 1995 and September 30, 1996, and who the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had identified as having criminal history records, focusing on... |
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: We welcome this opportunity to appear before you today to discuss three areas of concern raised by the Committee last summer in its fiscal year 1996 appropriations report on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Those concerns involved ATF’s (1) use of force, (... | GAO discussed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), focusing on its: (1) policy on the use of force; (2) licensing of firearms dealers; and (3) compliance with legislative restrictions on maintaining certain firearms licensee data. GAO noted that: (1) between fiscal year (FY) 1990 and FY 1995, ATF arrested... |
Refineries process crude oil into petroleum products through a combination of distillation and other processes. A single barrel of crude oil produces a varying amount of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other petroleum products depending on the configuration—or complexity—of the refinery and the type of crude oil being ... | In 2008, GAO reported that, with the exception of the period following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, refinery outages in the United States did not show discernible trends in reduced production capacity, frequency, and location from 2002 through 2007. Some outages are planned to perform routine maintenance or upgrades, w... |
The mission of INS, an agency of the Department of Justice, is to administer and enforce the immigration laws of the United States. To accomplish this, INS is organized into three core business areas— enforcement, immigration services, and corporate services. Enforcement includes, among other things, conducting inspect... | The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) invests hundreds of millions of dollars each year in information technology (IT) to help (1) prevent aliens from entering the United States illegally and remove aliens who succeed in doing so and (2) provide services or benefits to facilitate entry, residence, employment... |
Ex-Im is an independent agency operating under the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended. Its mission is to support the export of U.S. goods and services, thereby supporting U.S. jobs. Ex-Im’s charter states that it should not compete with the private sector. Rather, Ex-Im’s role is to assume the credit and countr... | Ex-Im serves as the official export credit agency of the United States, providing a range of financial products to support the export of U.S. goods and services. Following the 2007-2009 financial crisis, increased demand for Ex-Im support resulted in significant increases in Ex-Im's outstanding financial commitments an... |
Long-term care services assist people who need help in performing activities of daily living (ADLs), such as eating, bathing, and dressing. As some of these services can be expensive, especially services provided in a nursing home, long-term care insurance helps people pay for the cost of care. However, relatively few ... | The Long-Term Care Security Act required the federal government to offer long-term care insurance to its employees, their families, and others. The act also required GAO to conduct a study of the competitiveness of the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, which began in 2002, compared with individual and group pro... |
Both the Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF programs authorize EPA to provide states and local communities with independent and sustainable sources of financial assistance, such as low- or no-interest loans, for projects that protect or improve water quality and that are needed to comply with federal drinking water reg... | The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) included $4 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and $2 billion for the agency's Drinking Water SRF. This testimony is based on GAO's ongoing review of clean and drinking water projects. It provid... |
Consular officers issued about 6.2 million nonimmigrant visas in 1996—an increase of approximately 16 percent over the number issued in 1992. The total budget for consular relations activities has also increased significantly in recent years. The budget grew from about $259 million in fiscal year 1992 to an estimated $... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how Department of State consulates process visas for visitors (nonimmigrants) to the United States, focusing on the: (1) extent and nature of visa processing backlogs in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and at other consulates; (2) factors affecting consulates' ability to process non... |
Base operations support services, generally called commercial activities, are the functions necessary to support, operate, and maintain DOD installations. Although the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies 29 services as base support functions, DOD does not have a generally accepted definition of base suppor... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) use of single contracts for multiple base operations support functions, focusing on: (1) the history and characteristics of selected single contracts for multiple base operations support services; (2) the kinds of services procured un... |
Subsets and Splits
Short Government Reports Sample
Retrieves short reports or summaries from the training dataset, which helps identify potentially incomplete or truncated entries that might need data quality improvement.
Short Government Reports Filtering
Retrieves short reports from the training dataset, providing basic filtering but offering limited analytical value beyond simple length constraints.