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Over the last decade, the Army has begun to transform its warfighting capabilities to more effectively counter a broad and complex set of potential threats. According to Army officials, the transformation is the most comprehensive change in the Army in over a century, and will affect all aspects of its organizations, t... | The Army has embarked on a major transformation of its force. Central to this transformation is the Future Combat Systems (FCS), a $108 billion effort to provide warfighters with the vehicles, weapons, and communications needed to identify and respond to threats with speed, precision, and lethality. Establishing reliab... |
Flaws in software code that could cause a program to malfunction generally result from programming errors that occur during software development. The increasing complexity and size of software programs contribute to the growth in software flaws. For example, Microsoft Windows 2000 reportedly contains about 35 million l... | Attacks on computer systems--in government and the private sector--are increasing at an alarming rate, placing both federal and private-sector operations and assets at considerable risk. By exploiting software vulnerabilities, hackers can cause significant damage. While patches, or software fixes, for these vulnerabili... |
In March 2003, DHS began operations and set about the daunting task of merging 22 separate and autonomous federal agencies with homeland security-related missions under the centralized leadership of a single department. In doing so, DHS assumed operational control of about 209,000 civilian and military positions from t... | In performing its missions, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) relies extensively on information technology (IT). Recognizing this, DHS's fiscal year 2006 appropriations act required its Chief Information Officer (CIO) to submit a report to congressional appropriations committees that includes, among other thing... |
Initial concerns about the threat posed by nuclear smuggling were focused on nuclear materials originating in the former Soviet Union. As a result, the first major initiatives concentrated on deploying radiation detection equipment at borders in countries of the former Soviet Union and in Central and Eastern Europe. In... | Preventing radioactive material from being smuggled into the United States is a key national security objective. To help address this threat, in October 2002, DHS began deploying radiation detection equipment at U.S. ports-of-entry. This report reviews recent progress DHS has made (1) deploying radiation detection equi... |
Interior’s ongoing reorganization of bureaus with oil and gas functions will require time and resources, and undertaking such an endeavor while continuing to meet ongoing responsibilities may pose new challenges. Historically, BLM managed onshore federal oil and gas activities, while MMS managed offshore activities and... | The Department of the Interior oversees oil and gas activities on leased federal lands and waters. Revenue generated from federal oil and gas production is one of the largest nontax sources of federal government funds, accounting for about $9 billion in fiscal year 2009. For onshore leases, Interior's Bureau of Land Ma... |
USAID’s 2011-2015 education strategy, issued in February 2011, includes three goals: improved reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades by 2015 (Goal 1), improved ability of tertiary and workforce development programs to produce a workforce with relevant skills to support country development goals by 20... | While many developing countries have achieved important gains in primary school enrollment, students' reading skills remain very low. In response, USAID's 2011-2015 Education Strategy set a goal of improved reading skills for 100 million primary grade children by the end of 2015 (Goal 1). The 42 missions with funding f... |
The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors and subcontractors working on federally funded contracts in excess of $2,000 to pay at least locally prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics. The act covers both new construction and the alteration or repair of existing public buildings and works. The Department of Labor sets... | The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) has the broad purpose of stimulating the economy. It includes substantial appropriations for construction projects that, under the act's prevailing wage provision, are subject to Davis-Bacon Act requirements. That is, contractors must pay laborers and me... |
The purchase price of electronic products primarily reflects their technological capabilities; it does not include all of the substantial costs that are incurred throughout the equipment’s life. A study by Gartner Research, for example, shows that computers costing less than $1,000 typically have a total cost of owners... | Advancing technology has led to increasing sales of new electronic devices. With this increase comes the dilemma of managing them at the end of their useful lives. If discarded with common trash, a number of environmental impacts may result, ranging from the loss of valuable resources to the potential release of toxic ... |
FOIA establishes a legal right of access to government records and information, on the basis of the principles of openness and accountability in government. Before the act (originally enacted in 1966), an individual seeking access to federal records had faced the burden of establishing a right to examine them. FOIA est... | The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) establishes that federal agencies must provide the public with access to government information, thus enabling them to learn about government operations and decisions. To help ensure appropriate implementation, the act requires that agencies report annually to the Attorney General,... |
The 75 percent rule was established in 1983 to distinguish IRFs from other facilities for payment purposes. According to CMS, the conditions on the list in the rule at that time accounted for 75 percent of the admissions to IRFs. In June 2002 CMS suspended the enforcement of the 75 percent rule after its study of the f... | Medicare classifies inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) using the "75 percent rule." If a facility can show that during a 12-month period at least 75 percent of its patients required intensive rehabilitation for 1 of 13 listed conditions, it may be classified as an IRF and paid at a higher rate than for less inte... |
OPM collects and maintains personal information on millions of individuals, including sensitive security clearance data. The agency is the central human resources agency for the federal government, overseeing all policy to support federal agencies’ human resources departments— from classification and qualifications sys... | OPM collects and maintains personal data on millions of individuals, including data related to security clearance investigations. In 2015, OPM reported significant breaches of personal information that affected 21.5 million individuals. The Senate report accompanying the Financial Services and General Government Approp... |
Today the Social Security program does not face an immediate crisis but rather a long-range and more fundamental financing problem driven largely by known demographic trends. The lack of an immediate solvency crisis affects the nature of the challenge, but it does not eliminate the need for action. Acting soon reduces ... | Social Security not only represents the foundation of our retirement income system; it also provides millions of Americans with disability insurance and survivor's benefits. Although the Social Security Trustees now project that under the intermediate or "best estimate" assumptions the combined Social Security Trust Fu... |
DOD may be unable to prevent an attack using chemical or biological weapons. Therefore, DOD has determined that servicemembers must be protected to survive and conduct effective military operations. Consequently, DOD supplies servicemembers with a protective ensemble consisting of a suit, mask with breathing filter, ru... | The Department of Defense (DOD) believes it is increasingly likely that an adversary will use chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces to degrade superior U.S. conventional warfare capabilities, placing servicemembers' lives and effective military operations at risk. To reduce the effects of such an attack on... |
STB is an independent agency administratively housed within the Department of Transportation. The successor to ICC, STB is responsible for the economic regulation of railroads and certain pipelines, as well as some motor carrier and water carrier activities. STB has fewer responsibilities and functions than ICC. STB’s ... | GAO discussed the regulatory role of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), focusing on: (1) STB's responsibilities in regulating surface transportation; (2) the historical reasons for the economic regulation of pipelines; (3) the ability of alternatives to anhydrous ammonia pipelines to compete in the Midwest; and (4... |
OJJDP, within the U.S. Department of Justice, is the primary federal agency responsible for the prevention and control of juvenile delinquency in the United States. This includes preventing, treating and controlling youth gang activity and violence through sponsored research, evaluation, and demonstrating new approache... | The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) provides block grants and discretionary funding to help states and communities prevent juvenile delinquency and improve their juvenile justice systems. OJJDP has specific program monitoring and documentation requirements for its discretionary grants. The... |
Money laundering is the process used to transform monetary proceeds derived from criminal activities into funds and assets that appear to have come from legitimate sources. Although the magnitude of global money laundering is unknown, many estimates suggest annual ranges in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The proc... | Money laundering is a serious crime, with hundreds of billions of dollars laundered annually. Congress passed the Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Strategy Act of 1998 to better coordinate the efforts of law enforcement agencies and financial regulators in combating money laundering. This act required the issuance... |
Education administers three programs—the TEACH Grant, Stafford Teacher Loan Forgiveness, and Perkins Loan Teacher Cancellation—that may help attract and retain high-quality teachers in high-need schools and subjects by helping teachers pay for school. TEACH Grant. Individual colleges and universities elect whether to p... | Education estimates 430,000 new teachers will be needed by 2020. It administers three programs that may help attract and retain qualified teachers by helping them finance their education. However, little is known about the efficacy of these programs. GAO was asked to examine the TEACH Grant and two loan forgiveness pro... |
Total Medicare spending for physician services depends on actual payment rates, the volume of services provided, and the mix of those services. Medicare spending goes up when the price paid to physicians for each service increases, when the number of services provided rises, or when more intensive, and therefore more e... | Congress implemented a physician fee schedule and a fee update formula to moderate spending growth relative to specified Medicare spending targets. These spending targets increase annually to reflect higher costs for physician services, the growth in the overall economy, and changes in the number of Medicare beneficiar... |
Labor required states to implement major provisions of WIA by July 1, 2000, although some states began implementing provisions of WIA as early as July 1999. WIA replaced the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program and requires that many federal programs provide employment and training services through one-stop cent... | Federal programs carried out in partnership with states and localities continually balance the competing objectives of collecting uniform performance data with giving program implementers the flexibility they need. Our previous work identified limitations in the quality of performance data for the key employment and tr... |
In 2006, more than 42,600 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes. Overall, this represents a 1.5 percent increase in the number of fatalities from 1997 to 2006, although the fatality rate—fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT)—declined by approximately 14 percent, from 1.65 in 1997 to 1.41 in 2006... | In 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) included authorizations of nearly $2.2 billion for safety incentive grant programs to assist states in their efforts to reduce traffic fatalities. Administered by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Natio... |
DOJ prosecutors cited the Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations as a major factor in their decision on entering into a DPA or an NPA, and considered other factors, such as the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, in determining the terms of these agreements. Prosecutors also said that they generally neg... | Recent cases of corporate fraud and mismanagement heighten the Department of Justice's (DOJ) need to appropriately punish and deter corporate crime. Recently, DOJ has made more use of deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements (DPAs and NPAs), in which prosecutors may require company reform, among other things... |
FDA’s mission is to protect public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biologic products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The agency is also responsible for advancing public health by helping to speed innovations th... | The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relies heavily on information technology (IT) to carry out its responsibility for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of certain consumer products. Recognizing limitations in its IT capabilities that had been previously identified in studies by FDA and others, the agency has beg... |
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. In addition to providi... | Cases of practitioners causing intentional harm to patients have raised concerns about the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) screening of practitioners' professional credentials and personal backgrounds. GAO was asked to (1) identify key VA screening requirements, (2) evaluate their adequacy, and (3) assess complian... |
According to IRS, during the mid to late 1990’s, abusive tax schemes reemerged across the country. The use of abusive tax shelters, anti- taxation arguments, abusive tax schemes, and frivolous returns last peaked in the 1980’s. IRS characterizes an abusive tax scheme as any plan or arrangement created and used to obtai... | Estimating the extent of abusive tax schemes used by individual taxpayers is difficult because they are often hidden. Nevertheless, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) believes that the number and dollar consequences of these schemes has grown recently. IRS estimates that 740,000 taxpayers used abusive schemes in tax ye... |
An influenza pandemic can occur when an existing virus mutates into a novel strain that is highly transmissible among humans, leading to outbreaks worldwide. Such strains can be highly pathogenic because there is little or no pre-existing immunity in the population. Some of the issues associated with the preparation fo... | Concerns exist that a more severe pandemic outbreak than 2009's could cause large numbers of people staying home to increase their Internet use and overwhelm Internet providers' network capacities. Such network congestion could prevent staff from broker-dealers and other securities market participants from teleworking ... |
The electricity industry, as shown in figure 1, is composed of four distinct functions: generation, transmission, distribution, and system operations. Once electricity is generated—whether by burning fossil fuels; through nuclear fission; or by harnessing wind, solar, geothermal, or hydro energy—it is generally sent th... | The electric power industry is increasingly incorporating information technology (IT) systems and networks into its existing infrastructure as part of nationwide effortscommonly referred to as the smart gridaimed at improving reliability and efficiency and facilitating the use of alternative energy sources such as ... |
Terrorism and drug trafficking exact a tremendous cost from society. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the estimated cost of one bombed aircraft is about $1 billion, including the price of litigation for the loss of human lives and property loss. This estimate does not include the cost to national... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how the U.S. government is organized to develop technologies for detecting explosives and narcotics, focusing on: (1) the roles, responsibilities, and authority of agencies that establish policy, provide funds or oversee funding requests, and develop explosives and narc... |
Title XIX of the Social Security Act authorizes federal funding to states for Medicaid, which finances health care services including acute and long- term care for certain low-income, aged, or disabled individuals. States have considerable flexibility in designing and operating their Medicaid programs. Within broad fed... | Medicaid, the federal-state health financing program for many of the nation's most vulnerable populations, finances health care for an estimated 53 million lowincome Americans, at a cost of $244 billion in 2002. Congress structured Medicaid as a shared fiduciary responsibility of the federal government and the states, ... |
The FBI primarily grants security clearances to state and local law enforcement officials who participate in FBI task forces and to state and local chiefs of police and sheriffs. Since September 11, the FBI has expanded its JTTF initiative from 35 JTTFs to 84 JTTFs. This increase in JTTFs created more opportunities for... | The free flow of information among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies could prove vital to fighting the war on terrorism. State and local law enforcement officials are key stakeholders in the United States' efforts to combat terrorism, and as such, they may require access to classified national security... |
The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (2012 act) established numerous responsibilities for FirstNet, most of which relate directly to developing the nationwide public-safety broadband network (hereafter, public safety network). It is intended that this network will be a new, nationwide, broadband tel... | For communications during emergencies, public safety officials rely on thousands of separate systems, which often lack interoperability, or the ability to communicate across agencies and jurisdictions. The 2012 act created FirstNet within the Department of Commerce to establish, for public safety use, a nationwide, int... |
The U.S. Department of Commerce controls the export of U.S. dual-use commodities, software, and technology by requiring validated licenses prior to shipment unless a license exception applies. A license exception, formerly known as a general license, is a broad grant of authority to export certain goods and technology ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the transfer of broadband telecommunication equipment to HuaMei, a joint venture between SCM Brooks Telecommunications, a U.S. limited partnership, and Galaxy New Technology, a Chinese company primarily owned by an agency of the Chinese military, focusing on the: (1) ci... |
In the past, the ICC regulated almost all of the rates that railroads charged shippers. The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 and the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 greatly increased reliance on competition to set rates in the railroad industry. Specifically, these acts allowed railroads and shippers... | The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 largely deregulated the freight railroad industry, giving the railroads freedom to price their services according to market conditions and encouraging greater reliance on competition to set rates. The act recognized the need for railroads to recover costs by setting higher rates for shippe... |
Information technology should enable government to better serve the American people. However, according to OMB, despite spending more than $600 billion on IT over the past decade, the federal government has achieved little of the productivity improvements that private industry has Too often, federal IT projects run ove... | The federal government spends billions of dollars on information technology (IT) each year, with such investments accounting for at least $79 billion in fiscal year 2011. Given the size of these investments, it is important that federal agencies avoid duplicative investments when possible to ensure the most efficient u... |
The Great Lakes Basin is a large area that extends well beyond the five lakes proper to include their watersheds, tributaries, connecting channels, and a portion of the St. Lawrence River. The basin encompasses nearly all of the state of Michigan and parts of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, ... | The five Great Lakes, which comprise the largest system of freshwater in the world, are threatened on many environmental fronts. To address the extent of progress made in restoring the Great Lakes Basin, which includes the lakes and surrounding area, GAO (1) identified the federal and state environmental programs opera... |
The domestic production of oil and gas is essential to the nation’s energy portfolio. According to DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States consumed approximately 6.7 billion barrels of oil and 24 trillion cubic feet of gas in 2010. Together, oil and gas production supply over 60 percent of the ... | Water is a significant byproduct associated with oil and gas exploration and production. This water, known as produced water, may contain a variety of contaminants. If produced water is not appropriately managed or treated, these contaminants may present a human health and environmental risk. GAO was asked to describ... |
Our May 2009 report on the then-current round of ASP testing found that DHS increased the rigor of ASP testing over that of previous tests, and that a particular area of improvement was in the performance testing at the Nevada Test Site, where DNDO compared the capability of ASP and current-generation equipment to dete... | The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) is responsible for addressing the threat of nuclear smuggling. Radiation detection portal monitors are key elements in the nation's defenses against such threats. DHS has sponsored testing to develop new monitors, known as advanced spe... |
The process of issuing and enforcing regulations is one of the basic tools of government, and the process has generated considerable controversy. Some individuals and organizations have called for increasing regulation of businesses and other nonfederal entities to achieve certain goals, such as fairer competition, cle... | Pursuant to congressional requests, GAO reviewed the cumulative impact of federal regulations on a limited number of businesses, focusing on: (1) what selected businesses and federal agencies believed were the federal regulations that applied to those businesses; (2) what those businesses believed were the cost and oth... |
This section describes (1) WIPP’s layout and base operations, (2) the February 2014 truck fire and radiological release accident investigation reports, (3) DOE’s requirements for operations activities and for project management applicable to the WIPP Recovery effort, (4) best practices for cost and schedule estimating,... | DOE's WIPP is the only deep geologic repository for the disposal of U.S. defense-related nuclear waste. In February 2014, waste operations were suspended following a truck fire and an unrelated radiological release. DOE estimated in February 2015 that it would complete recovery activities and restart limited waste oper... |
In our June 2015 report, we found that Interior uses a multistep review process to help ensure that tribal-state compacts, and any compact amendments, comply with IGRA, other federal laws not related to jurisdiction over gaming on Indian lands, and the trust obligation of the United States to Indians. Interior’s Office... | Over the past 25 years, Indian gaming has become a significant source of revenue for many tribes, reaching $28 billion in fiscal year 2013. IGRA, the primary federal statute governing Indian gaming, provides a statutory basis for the regulation of Indian gaming. Tribes, states, Interior, and the Commission have varying... |
Approximately 8,500 projects that have been financed with Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages are also supported by project-based Section 8 housing assistance payments contracts. In 1996, a HUD contractor estimated that for approximately 63 percent of these multifamily projects, the rents are higher ... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the status of the Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring's (OMHAR) development, focusing on: (1) its organization and staffing and how it relates to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) overall structure; (2) whether it is on schedul... |
Labor and VA have had a long-standing relationship formalized by agreements acknowledging their mutual concern and responsibility for helping veterans with service-connected disabilities transition to the civilian workforce. Their past efforts to coordinate and collaborate have faced difficulties, however. In 2005, at ... | To better assist veterans with service-connected disabilities seeking employment, in 2005, the Departments of Labor (Labor) and Veterans Affairs (VA) signed an agreement to coordinate employment services for disabled veterans. Around the same time, VA rolled out a redesigned employment program for these veterans, known... |
In response to budget reductions in the 1990s, SBA streamlined its field structure by downsizing the 10 regional offices, shifting its workload to district or headquarters offices, eliminated most of the region’s role as intermediate management layer between headquarters and the field (district offices), and created th... | Over the past 6 years, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has sought to transform the agency and improve its operations. A major focus of transformation was to centralize the remaining loan functions performed by 68 district offices. SBA's implementation of early transformation efforts did not reflect key practice... |
As we reported in 2000, commercial activities in school can generally be classified in four categories—product sales, direct advertising, indirect advertising, and market research—although each category encompasses a wide range of activities. For example, advertising activities could range from selling advertisements f... | Congress has continuing interest in commercial activities in U.S. public schools. These include product sales, advertising, market research, and the commercial use of personal data about students (such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers) by schools. To update information about commercial activities in schools, ... |
The PMAs were established from 1937 through 1977 to sell and transmit electricity generated mainly from federal hydropower facilities. Most of these facilities were constructed and continue to be owned and operated by the Bureau and Corps (operating agencies). The operating agencies constructed these facilities as part... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the monitoring of the repayment of the power-related costs and debt of four of the Department of Energy's (DOE) power marketing administrations (PMA), focusing on determining whether: (1) DOE or the Department of the Treasury actively monitors the amount of debt to be r... |
The FAA, an agency of the Department of Transportation, is primarily responsible for the advancement, safety, and regulation of civil aviation, as well as overseeing the development of the air traffic control system. Its stated mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. This system,... | In support of its mission, FAA relies on the NAS—one of the nation's critical infrastructures—which is comprised of air traffic control systems, procedures, facilities, aircraft, and people who operate and maintain them. Given the critical role of the NAS and the increasing connectivity of FAA's systems, it is essentia... |
The United States, which possesses the largest, most extensive aviation system in the world, has more than 18,000 airports. U.S. airports range from large commercial transportation centers enplaning more than 30 million passengers annually to small grass strips serving only a few aircraft each year. Of these, 3,304 are... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed airports' capacity to finance their future development, focusing on: (1) how much airports of various sizes are spending on capital development and where the money is coming from; (2) whether current funding levels will be sufficient to meet capital development planned ... |
Servicemembers wounded in recent conflicts are surviving injuries that would have been fatal in past conflicts, in part because of advanced protective equipment and medical treatment. However, the severity of their injuries can result in a lengthy transition from patient status back to active duty or to veteran status.... | In 2007, following reports of poor case management for outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) jointly developed the Federal Recovery Coordination Program (FRCP) to coordinate the clinical and nonclinical services needed by severely wounded, ill, and in... |
Under the Medicare inpatient PPS, hospitals receive a fixed, predetermined payment for each hospital stay. The payment is based on standardized amounts that are calculated separately for hospitals in large metropolitan areas (with populations of 1 million or more) and for hospitals in smaller metropolitan and nonmetrop... | The Medicare program's prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provides incentives for hospitals to operate efficiently by paying them a predetermined, fixed amount for each inpatient hospital stay regardless of the actual costs incurred in providing the care. Although the fixed amount is based... |
The R&D Centers, Regional Labs, and Comprehensive Centers share responsibility with other programs created by the Congress for education research, research-based activities, and technical assistance. Many of these programs are located in six different offices throughout Education. (See fig. 4.) For example, the Individ... | Research and Development (R&D) Centers, Regional Labs, and Comprehensive Centers support the Department of Education's research agenda to various degrees. Because statutes define different missions and activities for these programs, the amount and focus of the research and other research-based activities they support v... |
Foreign schools can offer unique educational opportunities for U.S. residents, such as improved language proficiency and knowledge of other cultures, and help ensure that U.S. residents have a wide range of options in pursuing postsecondary education. The number of loans certified for U.S. residents attending foreign s... | Recent events have increased concerns about the potential for fraud in Education's student loan programs related to loans for U.S. residents attending foreign schools. In 2002, GAO's Office of Special Investigations created a fictitious foreign school that Education subsequently certified as eligible to participate in ... |
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—a United Nations organization that assesses scientific, technical, and economic information on the effects of climate change—global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased markedly as a result of human activities over the past 200 years. T... | Congress is considering proposals to establish a price on greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade program that would limit overall emissions and require covered entities to hold tradable emissions permits, or allowances, for their emissions. The purpose of such a program is to raise the cost of activities that... |
As one of the largest and most complex organizations in the world, DOD spends billions of dollars each year to operate, maintain, and modernize IT systems that support core business operations. These business operations consist of various interrelated and interdependent business functions, including logistics managemen... | Because of the importance of the Department of Defense's (DOD) adherence to disciplined information technology (IT) acquisition processes in successfully modernizing its business systems, GAO was asked to determine whether the Transportation Coordinators' Automated Information for Movements System II (TC-AIMS II) progr... |
Several key actions have been taken to implement the law since it was enacted over 14 months ago. Some of the actions taken to implement the act had a direct impact on the Service’s 2007 financial condition, while others facilitated the transition to a new financial, operating, and regulatory environment. Specific acti... | In December 2006, Congress passed the first comprehensive postal reform legislation in over 30 years. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (the act) provided opportunities to address many of the financial, operational, and human capital challenges facing the Postal Service (the Service), which contributed to G... |
Created by the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, the NFIP is designed to protect homeowners from flood losses while also minimizing the exposure of property to flood damage. To participate in the program, communities must adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to mitigate the effects of flooding on new ... | The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) run National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has combined flood hazard mitigation efforts and insurance to protect homeowners against losses from floods. The program provides an incentive for communities to adopt floodplain management ordinances to mitigate the effect of fl... |
Energy commodities are bought and sold in several different physical and financial markets. Physical markets include the spot, or cash, markets where products such as crude oil or gasoline are bought and sold for immediate or near-term delivery. The United States has several spot markets. Examples are the pipeline hub ... | Prices for four energy commodities--crude oil, heating oil, unleaded gasoline, and natural gas--have risen substantially since 2002. Some observers believe that higher energy prices are the result of changes in supply and demand. Others believe that increased futures trading activity has also contributed to higher pric... |
IRS expects individual taxpayers to pay the full amount of tax owed when they file their tax return. However, Section 6159 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for taxpayers to pay their taxes in installments when full payment is not possible. Taxpayers who cannot pay their taxes are subject to IRS’ collection process... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Installment Agreement Program, focusing on the: (1) increase in installment agreements since IRS streamlined the processing and approval of taxpayers' requests for installment agreements; (2) effects these changes had on IRS collecti... |
BIA administers funding for the operation, maintenance, construction, and repair of school facilities at 171 elementary and secondary schools in 23 states. These schools are located primarily in rural areas and small towns and serve Indian students living on or near reservations. Many of these schools include not only ... | The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is responsible for providing over 48,000 children with a safe place to learn. In response to concerns that data in its old information system did not accurately reflect the condition of facilities, BIA acquired a new system, called the Facilities Management Information System (FMIS). ... |
The procedures under UMRA for the identification and analysis of intergovernmental and private sector mandates are very complex. Moreover, some potential mandates are enacted through procedures that never require them to be reviewed under UMRA. For example, UMRA does not require the automatic review of potential mandat... | The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) was enacted to address concerns about federal statutes and regulations that require nonfederal parties to expend resources to achieve legislative goals without being provided funding to cover the costs. UMRA generates information about the nature and size of potential fed... |
GPRA was intended to address several broad purposes, including promoting a new focus on results, service quality, and customer satisfaction. GPRA requires executive agencies to develop strategic plans, prepare annual performance plans, measure performance toward the achievement of goals in the annual plans and report a... | The federal government has set a goal of providing service to the public that matches or exceeds that of the private sector. Executive Order 12862 (September 11, 1993) and a related 1995 memorandum require agencies to post customer service standards and report results to customers. As requested, this report (1) assesse... |
There is no single definition for financial literacy, but it has previously been described as the ability to make informed judgments and to take effective actions regarding current and future use and management of money. Financial literacy encompasses both financial education and consumers’ behavior as it relates to th... | Financial literacy plays an important role in helping ensure the financial health and stability of individuals, families, and our broader national economy. Economic changes in recent years have highlighted the need to empower Americans to make informed financial decisions, yet evidence indicates that many U.S. consumer... |
The enterprises constitute one component of a range of federal initiatives that, since the 1930s, have facilitated the availability of mortgage credit and housing opportunities (see table 1). While these initiatives may involve differing missions, structures, and activities, they generally rely on federal support and s... | Congress established Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the enterprises) with two key housing missions: (1) provide stability in the secondary market for residential mortgages (also in periods of economic stress) and (2) serve the mortgage credit needs of targeted groups such as low-income borrowers. To accomplish these goals... |
CMS and Palmetto GBA administer and implement the CBP and its bidding phases. In each CBP bidding phase, suppliers that want to participate in the CBP may submit a bid in one or more product categories in one or more designated competitive bidding areas. To be offered a CBP contract, suppliers must be qualified, meanin... | To achieve Medicare savings for DME, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 required that CMS implement the CBP for certain DME, such as wheelchairs and oxygen, in phases, or rounds. Round 1 started in 2008, and round 2 and the national mail-order program started in 2013. CMS estimat... |
Regulation B imposes a general prohibition on collecting data on personal characteristics for nonmortgage loan applicants. But in 2003, FRB expanded its exceptions to this prohibition to include permitting lenders to collect data on race, gender, and other personal characteristics in connection with a self-test for the... | The Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 (ECOA), generally prohibits lenders from collecting certain data from loan applicants, such as their race or gender, for nonmortgage loans (e.g., small business loans). FRB has stated that this provision of Regulat... |
ONDCP expects that disrupting the illicit drug market will reduce the availability of illicit drugs, increase their cost, and, eventually, reduce the rate of drug usage. To disrupt the cocaine market, the U.S. National Drug Control Strategy calls for, among other things, seizing “enormous and unsustainable” amounts of ... | One of the U.S. National Drug Control Strategy's priorities is to disrupt the illicit drug market. To this end, the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security provide ships and aircraft to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs, primarily cocaine, shipped from South America through the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Oc... |
The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS)—the only system of federal lands protected specifically for wildlife conservation—provides more than 96 million acres of habitat for over 700 species of birds, hundreds of threatened or endangered species, and a wide variety of other species. Each year, millions of birds stop ... | The National Wildlife Refuge System, which is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of the Interior, comprises 585 refuges on more than 96 million acres of land and water that preserve habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, and other wildlife. Refug... |
Over the past decade, VA’s system of health care for veterans has undergone a dramatic transformation, shifting from predominantly hospital-based care to primary reliance on outpatient care. As VA increased its emphasis on outpatient care rather than inpatient care, it was left with an increasingly obsolete infrastruct... | Through its Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates one of the largest integrated health care systems in the country. In 1999, GAO reported that better management of VA's large inventory of aged capital assets could result in savings that could be used to enhance health ca... |
Established in 1965 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Title I provides grants to help schools establish and maintain programs to improve the educational opportunities of low-income and disadvantaged students. Most Title I funds are distributed by formula from Education to states. The states ... | New resources for education come at a time when states are struggling to address budget shortfalls. Two provisions in Title I--maintenance of effort (MOE) and supplement not supplant (SNS)--are designed to limit the extent to which federal funds could be used to replace state and local resources. To assess the quality ... |
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 ... |
We found that the 11 high-value, long-term SSACs we selected for review from three of the five VAMCs we visited took nearly 3 years (33.8 months) on average to develop and award. (See fig. 1.) The total time required for the development and award of these 11 high-value, long-term SSACs ranged from 18 to 46 months and t... | This testimony summarizes the information contained in GAO's May 2016 report, entitled VA Health Care: Improvements Needed for Management and Oversight of Sole- Source Affiliate Contract Development (GAO-16-426). GAO found it took nearly 3 years on average to develop and award 11 selected high- value, long-term sole-so... |
The 1993 Midwest flood, termed “the Great Flood of 1993,” was unprecedented in the United States in terms of the amount of precipitation, the recorded river levels, the duration and extent of the flood, the damage to crops and property, and the economic impact. The intense rainfall that deluged the upper Mississippi Ri... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the operations of levees involved in the 1993 Midwest flood, focusing on: (1) whether the Army Corps of Engineers' flood control levees prevented flooding and reduced damage or increased the flooding and added to the damage; and (2) the governments exercise control over... |
Title I grants are intended to help elementary and secondary schools establish and maintain programs that will improve the educational opportunities of low-income and disadvantaged children. Title I funds are intended to provide instruction and instructional support for these disadvantaged children so that they can mas... | The Title I program spends $8 billion each year on elementary and secondary education. Although state and local funds account for more than 90 percent of national education expenditures, Title I has been an important source of funding for many poor school districts and schools since 1965. In the 1999-2000 school year, ... |
In the late 1980s, the Marine Corps began efforts to improve its chemical and biological protective suits because the ones used by U.S. armed forces at the time were bulky and heavy and could not be reused after laundering. Starting in 1989, the Marine Corps’ exploratory development efforts and subsequent MCLIST Advanc... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Department of Defense's (DOD) research and development programs for improved chemical defense garment materials for U.S. armed forces, focusing on whether DOD: (1) provided sufficient notice to industry of the government's interest in identifying improved chemical d... |
The Army and Marine Corps use established mechanisms that allow them to categorize and track personnel with specific skill sets. Specifically, each service uses Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) and additional skill identifiers to categorize the specific jobs and skill sets of officers and enlisted servicemembers... | SFA—DOD activities that contribute to supporting the development of foreign security forces and their supporting institutions—is a key component of U.S. efforts to create sustainable security around the world. These activities are carried out by DOD personnel serving as advisors who may have SFA-related training, educa... |
Title XIX of the Social Security Act is a federal and state entitlement program that pays for medical assistance for certain categories of low- income adults and children. This program, known as Medicaid, became law in 1965 and is jointly funded by the federal and state governments (including the District of Columbia a... | In fiscal year 2006, outlays for Medicaid were about $324 billion; about $185 billion was paid by the federal government. Because GAO previously identified abusive and criminal activity associated with government contractors owing billions of dollars in federal taxes, the subcommittee requested GAO expand our work to M... |
In 1980, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This act, which created the Superfund program, was intended primarily to clean up those sites considered to be the most serious of the hazardous waste sites identified in the United States. As of March 7, 1995,... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the adequacy of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) information systems that support the Superfund cost recovery process, focusing on whether planned modifications to the information systems will improve the efficiency of EPA cost recovery efforts. GAO found tha... |
The President’s budget request is proposing to maintain taxpayer service levels with fewer staff by realizing efficiency gains; it also proposes to increase enforcement by adding staff. The President’s FY 2009 budget request of $11.4 billion for IRS is 4.3 percent more than the FY 2008 enacted budget and represents an ... | The fiscal year 2009 budget request for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a road map for how IRS plans to allocate resources and achieve ambitious goals for improving enforcement, improving taxpayer service, increasing research, and continuing to invest in modernized information systems. One complicating factor in ... |
IDEA authorizes federal funding for the needs of school-age children with a range of disabilities, such as specific learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, or mental retardation, who need special education services (see fig. 1). In 2007-2008, students covered under IDEA made up about 13 percent of the n... | Research has established that physical activity and participation in athletics provides important health and social benefits for children. Certain federal laws help ensure that kindergarten-12th grade schools provide students with disabilities opportunities to participate in physical education (PE) and extracurricular ... |
MDA is the agency responsible for designing, developing, producing, and procuring targets for testing the nation’s ballistic missile defense system. In 2001, MDA initiated a Targets and Countermeasures Program Office. The MDA’s Targets and Countermeasures program oversees the design, development, fabrication, and produ... | The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is likely to spend $460 million annually on missiles used as targets for flight tests. Executing these tests depends on the quality and availability of targets. Congress asked GAO to assess (1) if MDA is providing reliable targets; (2) the causes of any deficiencies; and (3) if resoluti... |
The federal government supports multiple freshwater programs in the United States and abroad. Although agencies vary in how they describe their freshwater programs (activities, projects, or initiatives), the following terms generally describe the freshwater efforts covered in this review: Desalination—Activities and/or... | As the world's population tripled during the past century, demand for the finite amount of freshwater resources increased six-fold, straining these resources for many countries, including the United States. The United Nations estimates that, worldwide, more than 1 billion people live without access to clean drinking wa... |
Education administers and oversees federal student aid programs authorized by HEA, monitors participants’ activities, and establishes program requirements. Among these financial aid programs is FFELP. The five principal entities involved in FFELP are students, schools, lenders, guaranty agencies,and Education. At schoo... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on student loan trustee arrangements, focusing on the: (1) number and cost of trustee arrangements and their shared characteristics; (2) benefits and protections afforded the federal government through use of trustee arrangements; and (3) effect of trustee a... |
CBP has developed a layered security strategy that provides multiple opportunities to mitigate threats and allows CBP to focus its limited resources on cargo containers that are the most likely to pose a risk to the United States. Risk management is a strategy called for by federal law and presidential directive and is... | 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 seaports. The Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act calls ... |
The Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988 amended the Small Business Act to establish an annual governmentwide goal of awarding not less than 20 percent of prime contract dollars to small businesses. The Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 further amended the Small Business Act to increase this goa... | Section 15(k) of the Small Business Act requires that all federal agencies with procurement powers establish an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) to advocate for small businesses. Section 15(k)(3) requires that OSDBU directors be responsible only to and report directly to agency or deputy a... |
FECA provides cash benefits to eligible federal employees who suffer temporary or permanent disabilities resulting from work-related injuries or diseases. Labor’s Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) administers the FECA program and charges agencies for whom... | In 2012, the FECA program provided more than $2.1 billion in wage-loss compensation to federal workers who sustained injuries or illnesses while performing federal duties. Total-disability beneficiaries with an eligible dependent are compensated at 75 percent of gross wages at the time of injury and those without are c... |
In June 2002, the Coast Guard awarded a contract to ICGS to begin the acquisition phase of the Deepwater program. Rather than using the traditional approach of replacing classes of ships or aircraft through a series of individual acquisitions, the Coast Guard chose to employ a “system of systems” acquisition strategy t... | In 2002, the Coast Guard began its $17 billion, 20-year Integrated Deepwater System acquisition program to replace or modernize its cutters, aircraft, and communications equipment for missions generally beyond 50 miles from shore. During fiscal years 2002-03, Deepwater received about $125 million less than the Coast Gu... |
Geoengineering proposals to deliberately alter the climate in response to the greenhouse effect have appeared in scientific advisory reports since at least the 1960s. Until recently, these proposals generally remained outside the mainstream discussions of climate policy, which focused either on strategies to reduce emi... | Policymakers have raised questions about geoengineering--large-scale deliberate interventions in the earth's climate system to diminish climate change or its impacts--and its role in a broader strategy of mitigating and adapting to climate change. Most geoengineering proposals fall into two categories: carbon dioxide r... |
The 1935 Social Security Act mandated coverage for most workers in commerce and industry, which at that time comprised about 60 percent of the workforce. State and local government employees were excluded because they had their own retirement systems and there was concern over the question of the federal government’s r... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed extending mandatory Social Security coverage to all newly hired state and local government employees, focusing on: (1) the implications of mandating such coverage for the Social Security program, public employers, newly hired employees, and the affected pension plans; ... |
The Great Lakes Basin is a large area that extends well beyond the five lakes proper to include their watersheds, tributaries, connecting channels, and a portion of the St. Lawrence River. The basin encompasses nearly all of the state of Michigan and parts of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, ... | The five Great Lakes, which comprise the largest system of freshwater in the world, are threatened on many environmental fronts. To address the extent of progress made in restoring the Great Lakes Basin, which includes the lakes and surrounding area, GAO (1) identified the federal and state environmental programs opera... |
Following a disaster, and upon the request of a state governor, the President may issue a major disaster declaration that triggers a range of assistance from federal agencies. Under the provisions of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the federal government will assist disaster-stricke... | Over the past 12 years, federal disaster assistance costs have totaled more than $39 billion (in fiscal year 2001 dollars)--a nearly fivefold increase over the previous 12-year period--as a result of a series of unusually large and frequent disasters and an increasing federal role in assisting communities and individua... |
The Food Stamp Program helps low-income households (individuals and families) obtain a more nutritious diet by supplementing their income with food stamp benefits. In fiscal year 1996, the average monthly food stamp benefit was $73 per person. These benefits are generally provided through coupons or electronically on a... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the impact of welfare reform on the Food Stamp Program, focusing on: (1) the actions, if any, that states have taken to assist those individuals who lose eligibility for the Food Stamp Program; and (2) related actions, if any, taken by other organizations in selected lo... |
The four major federal land management agencies administer approximately 628 million acres, or about 28 percent of the land area in the United States. These public lands are mostly in Alaska and the 11 western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyomi... | The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service manage about 628 million acres of public land, mostly in 11 western states and Alaska. Under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act ... |
Over the past decade, NASA has experienced significant problems with several of its projects, which GAO and others have reported on (see table 1 for some examples of such problems). In addition, in 2002 we reported on several sources of failures in NASA programs, including underestimating complexity and technology matu... | The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to spend over $100 billion on capabilities and technologies to achieve the initial goals of the President's 2004 Vision for Space Exploration. In the past, NASA has had difficulty meeting cost, schedule, and performance objectives for some of its projects b... |
Although the current focus of concern is largely on the potential for several years of declining physician fees, the historic challenge for Medicare has been to find ways to moderate the rapid growth in spending for physician services. Before 1992, the fees that Medicare paid for those services were largely based on ph... | Concerns were raised about the system Medicare uses to determine annual changes to physician fees--the sustainable growth rate (SGR) system--when it reduced physician fees by almost 5 percent in 2002. Subsequent administrative and legislative actions modified or overrode the SGR system to avert fee declines in 2003, 20... |
Survey questions about sensitive topics carry a “threat” for some respondents, because they fear that a truthful answer could result in some degree of negative consequence (at a minimum, social disapproval). The grouped answers approach is designed to reduce this threat when asking about immigration status. Three key p... | As greater numbers of foreign-born persons enter, live, and work in the United States, policymakers need more information--particularly on the undocumented population, its size, characteristics, costs, and contributions. This report reviews the ongoing development of a potential method for obtaining such information: t... |
In August 2004, the President issued HSPD-12, which directed the Department of Commerce to develop a new standard for secure and reliable forms of ID for federal employees and contractors to enable a common standard across the federal government by February 27, 2005. The directive defines secure and reliable ID as meet... | In an effort to increase the quality and security of federal identification (ID) practices, the President issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) in August 2004. This directive requires the establishment of a governmentwide standard for secure and reliable forms of ID. GAO was asked to testify on i... |
A federally recognized tribe is an American Indian or Alaska Native tribal entity that is recognized as having a government-to-government relationship with the United States. Federally recognized tribes and their members are eligible for programs and services the federal government provides to Indians because of their ... | The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, enacted in 2014, limited the use of APPLA as a case goal to children aged 16 and older. The Act made this provision effective 3 years after enactment for children under tribal responsibility. Some experts raised concerns that tribes may use the APPLA case g... |
Since 2011, we have identified 11 areas across DHS where fragmentation, overlap, or potential duplication exists, and suggested 24 actions to the department and Congress to help strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of DHS operations. In some cases, there is sufficient information available to show that if action... | Since beginning operations in 2003, DHS has become the third-largest federal department, with more than 224,000 employees and an annual budget of about $60 billion. Over the past 10 years, DHS has implemented key homeland security operations and achieved important goals to create and strengthen a foundation to reach it... |
The United States has approximately 360 commercial sea and river ports that handle more than $1.3 trillion in cargo annually. A wide variety of goods, including automobiles, grain, and millions of cargo containers, travel through these ports each day. While no two ports are exactly alike, many share certain characteris... | U.S. maritime ports handle more than $1.3 trillion in cargo annually. The operations of these ports are supported by information and communication systems, which are susceptible to cyber-related threats. Failures in these systems could degrade or interrupt operations at ports, including the flow of commerce. Federal ag... |
The standard of living of the elderly depends on total retirement income, which includes Social Security, pensions, income from assets, and earnings from employment. While Social Security provides a foundation for retirement income, savings through pension and retirement savings plans, as well as by individuals on thei... | The decisions that retiring workers make about how and when to draw down their pension plan assets determine in part whether they will have pension income that lasts throughout retirement. Individuals will need pension and other retirement income to sustain them over a longer period of time than in the past. Moreover, ... |
According to IRS data, about 60,000 FCCs and about 2.3 million USCCs filed income tax returns in 1995. FCCs and USCCs may not pay U.S. income tax for a variety of reasons. For instance, some corporations may have zero tax liabilities because of current-year operating losses; losses carried forward from preceding tax ye... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided an update to its report on the nonpayment of U.S. income taxes by foreign-controlled corporations (FCC) and U.S.-controlled corporations (USCC), focusing on comparisons of: (1) the percentages of FCCs and USCCs that filed income tax returns showing no tax liabilities fo... |
Mortgage servicers are the entities that manage payment collections and other activities associated with mortgage loans. Servicing duties can involve sending borrowers monthly account statements, answering borrowers’ inquiries, collecting monthly mortgage payments, and maintaining escrow accounts for property taxes and... | Since April 2011, OCC and the Federal Reserve had been overseeing the foreclosure review, a requirement of consent orders entered into by 14 mortgage servicers. This undertaking involved a review of loan files by thirdparty consultants to identify errors in servicing and foreclosure practices. More than 4 million borro... |
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.