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Executive Order 12866, issued on September 30, 1993, is administered by OIRA and is intended to enhance regulatory planning and coordination with respect to both new and existing regulations. Section 5 of the executive order required agencies to submit to OIRA by December 31, 1993, a program for periodically reviewing ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO updated and expanded its previous review of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) page elimination and revision initiative, focusing on whether: (1) agencies' reported page elimination totals took into account any pages added to the CFR during the same period; (2) agencies' CFR ... |
Social Security provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to insured workers and their dependents. Insured workers are eligible for reduced benefits at age 62, and full retirement benefits between age 65 and 67, depending on the worker’s year of birth. Social Security retirement benefits are based on the w... | Social Security covers about 96 percent of all U.S. workers; the vast majority of the remaining 4 percent are public employees. Although these noncovered workers do not pay Social Security taxes on their government earnings, they may still be eligible for Social Security benefits through their spouses' or their own ear... |
As I observed when I first testified on the DOD proposal in April, many of the basic principles underlying DOD’s civilian human capital proposals have merit and deserve the serious consideration they are receiving. Secretary Rumsfeld and the rest of DOD’s leadership are clearly committed to transforming how DOD does bu... | People are at the heart of an organization's ability to perform its mission. Yet a key challenge for the Department of Defense (DOD), as for many federal agencies, is to strategically manage its human capital. DOD's proposed National Security Personnel System would provide for wide-ranging changes in DOD's civilian per... |
The federal government’s information resources and technology management structure has its foundation in six laws: the Federal Records Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, the Computer Security Act of 1987, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, and the Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998.... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the creation of a federal chief information officer (CIO), focusing on the: (1) structure and responsibilities of existing state and foreign governmentwide CIO models; (2) federal CIO approaches proposed by two bills; and (3) type of leadership responsibilities that a ... |
Health care quality measures are standard, evidence-based metrics designed to assess the performance of health care providers, such as hospitals, in providing care. These measures are intended to (1) inform providers about opportunities for potential improvements in their delivery of care, (2) incentivize providers to ... | To help veterans make informed choices about their care, the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (Choice Act) directs VA to publicly report applicable health care quality measures for its medical facilities on HHS's Hospital Compare website and on VA's own website. The Choice Act also contains provi... |
DHS’s mission is to lead the unified national effort to secure America by preventing and deterring terrorist attacks and protecting against and responding to threats and hazards to the nation, among other things. Created in 2002, DHS merged 22 agencies and offices that specialized in one or more aspects of homeland sec... | DHS's human resources administrative environment includes fragmented systems, duplicative and paper-based processes, and little uniformity of data management practices, which according to DHS, are compromising the department's ability to effectively carry out its mission. DHS initiated HRIT in 2003 to consolidate, inte... |
In light of delays in completing security clearance background investigations and adjudicative decisions, as well as a significant backlog of clearances to be processed, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), which set objectives and established requirements for improving ... | Personnel security clearances allow individuals access to classified information that, through unauthorized disclosure, can in some cases cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. national security. A sound requirements process to determine whether a national security position requires access to classified information i... |
For many years, HUD has been the subject of sustained criticism for management and oversight weaknesses that have made it vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. In 1994, we designated all of HUD’s programs as high risk because of four long-standing management deficiencies: weak internal controls; inadequ... | Looming retirements during the next 5 years at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have brought the need for workforce planning to the forefront. HUD has done some workforce planning and has determined how many staff it needs to meet its current workload, but it does not have a comprehensive strategic... |
According to FCC, as of June 2001, just over 86 percent of television households purchased a subscription television service, as opposed to relying solely on free, over-the-air broadcast television. Of these subscription households, 78 percent received their service from a franchised cable operator while 18 percent rec... | Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television service has grown to become the principal competitor to cable television systems. In October 2001, the two primary DBS companies, EchoStar and DirecTV, proposed a merger plan that is pending before the Department of Justice and that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)... |
Both mutual fund companies and banks are financial intermediaries, that is, they raise funds from savers and channel these funds back to the economy by investing them. Banks generally use their deposits either to make loans or to invest in certain debt securities, principally government bonds. Mutual funds do not make ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined whether the movement of funds from bank deposits into mutual funds affects the availability of credit for residential, consumer, or commercial purposes. GAO found that: (1) the amount of money in mutual funds grew from $994 billion at year-end 1989 to $2,172 billion at ... |
HCFA, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for administering much of the federal government’s multibillion-dollar investment in health care—primarily the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Rapid increases in Medicare program costs, coupled with increasing concern about fraud a... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) progress in: (1) addressing its most immediate priorities; and (2) strengthening its internal management to effectively discharge its major implementation and oversight responsibilities. GAO noted that: (1) HCFA is faci... |
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: We are pleased to be here today to discuss the operations of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) and the status of OFHEO’s efforts to fulfill its mission of helping to ensure the safety and soundness of the two largest housing government-sponsored enterp... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the operations of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) and the status of OFHEO's efforts to fulfill its mission of helping to ensure the safety and soundness of the two largest government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. GAO note... |
Unlike other U.S. school districts, DCPS, due to its location in the nation’s capital, has a unique administrative environment. Because Washington, D.C., is not located in a state, DCPS does not benefit from the oversight and assistance often provided by states. Furthermore, recent organizational changes in both the ci... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the enrollment count process that the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) used in school year 1996-97, focusing on: (1) whether the process appeared sufficient to produce an accurate count; (2) enrollment count processes used by some other urban school systems; a... |
We found that several states have divested or frozen assets primarily related to Sudan and that the value of U.S. investment companies’ Sudan- related asset holdings has declined considerably since March 2007. Our survey responses show that state fund managers have divested or frozen about $3.5 billion in assets primar... | Recognizing the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, Congress enacted the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (SADA) in 2007. This law supports U.S. states' and investment companies' decisions to divest from companies with certain business ties to Sudan. It also seeks to prohibit federal contracting with these com... |
Beginning in the 1930s, a number of federal housing programs have provided assistance to low-income renters and homeowners, including rent subsidies, mortgage insurance, and loans and grants for the purchase or repair of homes. Housing developments can be assisted by multiple programs. For example, a loan or mortgage o... | According to a congressionally established bipartisan commission, decreased investment in affordable housing and an elderly population that is projected to grow from about 12 percent of the population in 2002 to 20 percent by 2030 are likely to increase the number of elderly who must spend large portions of their incom... |
DHS and DOJ have several components with law enforcement functions whose personnel are authorized to carry firearms in support of accomplishing their respective missions. Table 1 describes the various law enforcement and homeland security missions of the DHS and DOJ components within our review, as well as the number o... | DHS and its components have homeland security and law enforcement missions that require agents and officers to carry and be proficient in the use of firearms. DHS has more than 70,000 firearm-carrying personnel—the most of any department. DOJ has the next largest with approximately 69,000 firearm-carrying personnel. GA... |
DOD is a massive and complex organization. In fiscal year 2004, the department reported that its operations involved $1.2 trillion in assets, $1.7 trillion in liabilities, over 3.3 million military and civilian personnel, and over $605 billion in net cost of operations. For fiscal year 2005, the department received app... | For many years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has been attempting to modernize its business systems, and GAO has made numerous recommendations to help it do so. To further assist DOD, Congress included provisions in the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 aimed at ensuring that DO... |
The military services face the challenge of dealing with a large backlog of facilities maintenance and repair and insufficient funding devoted to sustainment, restoration and modernization. To address this issue, DOD is pursuing an installation strategy to reduce infrastructure and base operating costs and reshape mili... | The military services face significant challenges in addressing facility sustainment, restoration, and modernization needs with limited funds. These challenges are magnified by the 20 to 25 percent of the Department of Defense's (DOD) real property that it views as not being needed to meet current mission requirements,... |
Our preliminary analysis of NSF data indicates that for fiscal years 2000 through 2016, indirect costs on NSF awards ranged from 16 percent to 24 percent of the total annual amounts the agency awarded, though the percentage generally has increased since 2010. In fiscal year 2016, for example, NSF awards included approx... | NSF awards billions of dollars to institutions of higher education (universities), K-12 school systems, industry, science associations, and other research organizations to promote scientific progress by supporting research and education. NSF reimburses awardees for direct and indirect costs incurred for most awards. Di... |
Two NNSA offices, NA-23 and NA-25, documented management controls for almost all of their contracts that we reviewed; but the third office, NA- 24, could not provide us with the complete records necessary to document these controls. Similarly, NA-23 and NA-25 provide their technical reviewers and contract managers with... | The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2004 mandated that we assess the management of threat reduction and nonproliferation programs that the Departments of Defense and Energy each administer. The objective of this report is to assess how the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)... |
Insurance is a mechanism for spreading risk over time, across large geographical areas, and among industries and individuals. While private insurers assume some financial risk when they write policies, they employ various strategies to manage risk so that they earn profits, limit potential financial exposure, and build... | Weather-related events in the United States have caused tens of billions of dollars in damages annually over the past decade. A major portion of these losses is borne by private insurers and by two federal insurance programs-- the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which insu... |
When providers at VAMCs determine that a veteran needs outpatient specialty care, they request and manage consults using VHA’s clinical consult process. Clinical consults include requests by physicians or other providers for both clinical consultations and procedures. A clinical consultation is a request seeking an opi... | Access to timely medical appointments is critical to ensuring that veterans obtain needed medical care. Over the past few years, there have been numerous reports of VAMCs failing to provide timely care to veterans, and in some cases, these delays have reportedly resulted in harm to patients. As the number of these repo... |
Intellectual property has a broad range—anywhere from inventions, to technological enhancements, to methods of doing business, to computer programs, to literary and musical works and architectural drawings. Government-sponsored research has an equally broad range—from research in mathematical and physical sciences, com... | Improperly defined intellectual property rights in a government contract can result in the loss of an entity's critical assets or limit the development of applications critical to public health or safety. Conversely, successful contracts can spur economic development, innovation, and growth, and dramatically improve th... |
Nationwide, more than 16,000 POTWs serve more than 200 million people, or about 70 percent of the nation’s total population. The remaining population is served by privately-owned utilities or by on-site systems, such as septic tanks. A relative handful of large wastewater systems serve the great majority of people, as ... | Wastewater facilities provide essential services to residential, commercial, and industrial users, yet they may possess certain characteristics that terrorists could exploit to impair the wastewater treatment process or to damage surrounding infrastructure. For example, large underground collector sewers could be acces... |
Energy oversees a nationwide network of 40 contractor-operated industrial sites and research laboratories that have historically employed more than 600,000 workers in the production and testing of nuclear weapons. In implementing EEOICPA, the President acknowledged that it had been Energy’s past policy to encourage and... | The Department of Energy (Energy) and its predecessor agencies and contractors have employed thousands of workers in the nuclear weapons production complex. Some employees were exposed to toxic substances, including radioactive and hazardous materials, during this work and many subsequently developed illnesses. Subtitl... |
The Army has divided nonstandard equipment into two broad categories: Nontactical nonstandard equipment, which consists primarily of durable goods that are used to provide services for soldiers as well as foreign governments. This equipment includes but is not limited to fire trucks and ambulances, as well as equipme... | As of March 2011, the Army had over $4 billion worth of nonstandard equipment in Iraq--that is equipment not included on units' standard list of authorized equipment. Concurrently, the Department of Defense (DOD) has acquired over $44 billion worth of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAP), most of which have ... |
According to a 1995 assessment by the IPCC, climate models project that increasing atmospheric concentrations of the primary greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—and aerosols will raise the average global surface temperature between 1.8 and 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. The IPCC estimates that ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the United States and other countries' progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by year 2000. GAO found that: (1) incomplete, unreliable, and inconsistent data prevent a complete assessment of these countries' efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissio... |
Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provides for tax exemption for certain corporations, trusts, and other organizations. Section 501(c) establishes 29 categories of tax-exempt organizations, ranging from cemeteries to professional football leagues—see appendix II for complete list of different types of tax-... | IRS oversight of charitable organizations helps to ensure they abide by the purposes that justify their tax exemption and protects the sector from potential abuses and loss of confidence by the donor community. In recent years, reductions in IRS's budget have raised concerns about the adequacy of IRS oversight. GAO was... |
Now that the Census Bureau has congressional approval to begin the full ACS, data collection will begin in November 2004. The ACS test survey of a sample of 800,000 housing units, which has been conducted since 2000, will end in December 2004. The Bureau has been using this survey, known as the ACS Supplementary Survey... | The Congress asked GAO to review operational and programmatic aspects of the Census Bureau's ACS that will affect the reliability of small geographic area data. The ACS will be a mail survey of about 3 million households annually, whose results will be cumulated over 5 years to produce estimates that will replace infor... |
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has identified two different kinds of furloughs—an administrative furlough, which is a planned event by an agency designed to absorb reductions necessitated by downsizing, reduced funding, lack of work, or other budget situation other than a lapse in appropriations, and a shutdo... | In March 2013, DOD's discretionary budget was reduced by $37 billion as a result of sequestration—across-the-board spending reductions to enforce certain budget policy goals. In response, the Secretary of Defense implemented an administrative furlough, among other things by placing most of DOD's civilian personnel in a... |
VHA’s Family Caregiver Program is designed to provide support and services to family caregivers of post-9/11 veterans who have a serious injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty. The program provides approved primary family caregivers with a monthly financial stipend as well as training and other support servi... | In May 2010, Congress required VA to establish a program to support family caregivers of seriously injured post-9/11 veterans. In May 2011, VHA implemented its Family Caregiver Program at all VAMCs across the country, offering caregivers an array of services, including a monthly stipend, training, counseling, referral ... |
The CCDF is the primary federal funding source to help states subsidize the cost of child care for low-income parents and to improve the quality of care. For a parent to be eligible for CCDF funds, their children must be younger than 13 years old and living with them; parents must be working, or enrolled in school or t... | Through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) subsidizes child care for low-income families whose parents work or attend education or training programs. In fiscal year 2009, the CCDF budget was $7 billion. States are responsible for determining program priori... |
The federal government and the states share responsibilities for financing and administering Medicaid. As a result of flexibility in the program’s design, Medicaid consists of 56 distinct state-based programs. The challenges inherent in overseeing a program of Medicaid’s size and diversity make the program vulnerable t... | Medicaid, a joint federal-state health care program, financed care for about 67 million people at a cost of $401 billion in fiscal year 2010. At the federal level, CMS, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for overseeing the design and operations of states Medicaid programs, whi... |
Medicare is the federal program that helps pay for a variety of health care services for about 44 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries. Most Medicare beneficiaries participate in Medicare Part B, which helps pay for certain physician, outpatient hospital, laboratory, and other services; medical equipment and supp... | For more than a decade, GAO has reported that Medicare has paid higher than market rates for medical equipment and supplies provided to beneficiaries under Medicare Part B. Since 1989, Medicare has used fee schedules primarily based on historical charges to set payment amounts. But this approach lacks flexibility to ke... |
Since World War II, many employers have voluntarily sponsored health insurance as a benefit to employees for purposes of recruitment and retention, and many have also extended these benefits to their retirees. The federal tax code gives employers incentives to subsidize health benefits because their contributions can b... | In 1999, about 10 million Americans aged 55 and older relied on employer-sponsored health benefits until they became eligible for Medicare or to pay for out-of-pocket expenses not covered by Medicare. However, the number of employers offering these benefits has declined considerably during the past decade. Despite the ... |
The TANF block grant was created by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), and changed the federal role in financing welfare programs in states. PRWORA ended families’ entitlement to cash assistance by replacing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program—es... | Under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant created as part of the 1996 welfare reforms, states have the authority to make key decisions about how to allocate federal and state funds to assist low-income families. States also make key decisions, through their budget processes, about federal and... |
The Social Security Act of 1935 authorized SSA to establish a record- keeping system to help manage the Social Security program, and this resulted in the creation of the SSN. Through a process known as enumeration, unique numbers are created for every person as a work and retirement benefit record for the Social Securi... | In 1936, the Social Security Administration (SSA) established the Social Security number (SSN) to track workers' earnings for social security benefit purposes. Today, private and public sector entities frequently ask individuals for SSNs in order to conduct their businesses and sometimes to comply with federal laws. Al... |
Legislative and executive branch action has led to a variety of governmentwide and agency-specific initiatives, started and ongoing, to enhance homeland security. Establishment of an Office of Homeland Security and the office’s planned national security strategy represent important governmentwide initiatives to address... | Enhancing homeland security is a complex effort that involves all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories; thousands of municipalities; and countless private entities. Since September 11, the nation has taken many actions to combat terrorism and enhance homeland security. It is well known that the U.S.... |
The small size, portability and potential value of sealed radiological sources make them vulnerable to misuse, improper disposal and theft. According to IAEA, the confirmed reports of illicit trafficking in radiological materials have increased since 2002. For example, in 2004, about 60 percent of the cases involved ra... | Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. and international experts raised concerns that unsecured radiological sources were vulnerable to theft and posed a significant security threat to the United States and the international community. Radioactive material is encapsulated or sealed in metal to prev... |
The U.S. export control system for items with military applications is divided into two regimes. State licenses munitions items, which are designed, developed, configured, adapted, or modified for military applications, and Commerce licenses most dual-use items, which are items that have both commercial and military ap... | GAO discussed the evolution of export controls on commercial communications satellites, focusing on: (1) key elements in the export control systems of the Department of Commerce and the Department of State; (2) how export controls for commercial satellites have evolved over the years; (3) the concerns and issues debate... |
The congressional budget justification for IRS presents funding and FTE information at two levels: (1) appropriation account and (2) budget activity. In addition, it provides descriptions of program activities within each budget activity. IRS has four appropriation accounts: Enforcement. This account provides funding f... | The financing of the federal government depends largely upon the IRS's ability to collect taxes, including providing taxpayer services that make voluntary compliance easier and enforcing tax laws to ensure compliance with tax responsibilities. For fiscal year 2015, the President requested a $12.5 billion budget for IRS... |
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal government’s principal provider of loans used to assist the nation’s rural areas in developing their utility infrastructure. Through RUS, USDA finances the construction, improvement, and repair of electrical, telecommunications, and water and waste disposal syste... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Rural Utilities Service's (RUS) electric loan portfolio and the potential for future losses to the federal government from these loans, focusing on: (1) substantial write-offs of loans to rural electric cooperatives; (2) likely additional losses to the federal gove... |
In implementing decimal pricing, regulators hoped to improve the quality of U.S. stock and option markets. The quality of a market can be assessed using various characteristics, but the trading costs that investors incur when they execute orders are a key aspect of market quality. Trading costs are generally measured d... | In early 2001, U.S. stock and option markets began quoting prices in decimal increments rather than fractions of a dollar. At the same time, the minimum price increment, or tick size, was reduced to a penny on the stock markets and to 10 cents and 5 cents on the option markets. Although many believe that decimal pricin... |
DOD’s ADM facility is to specialize in manufacturing biologics, with a focus on producing antibodies and vaccines. Until recently, the manufacture of biologic medical countermeasures has required a single facility to produce a single product (e.g., a vaccine), and extensive cleaning and sterilization of equipment was r... | DOD has long expressed concerns about its ability to acquire and maintain the capability to research, develop, and manufacture medical countermeasures (e.g., vaccines) against biological warfare threat agents, toxins, and endemic diseases. In 2013, DOD partnered with a private-sector biopharmaceutical company to develo... |
Since the end of the cold war, there has been a change in the way reserve forces have been used in military operations. During the cold war era, the reserve components were a manpower tool that was rarely tapped. For example, from 1945 to 1989, reservists were mobilized by the federal government only four times, an ave... | Since 2001, the number of reservists mobilized for active duty has increased dramatically. Congress has expanded reservists' and their dependents' eligibility for TRICARE, the Department of Defense's (DOD) health insurance program. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2004 directed GAO to exami... |
Question 1: Does DOE have statutory authority that specifically authorizes it to spend the funds appropriated to other federal agencies and use those funds for LDRD? The Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 authorizes DOE to conduct R&D at DOE facilities for “other departments and agen... | The Department of Energy's (DOE) contractor-operated laboratories perform mission-related research and development (R&D) for DOE and other federal agencies. In 1992, DOE established the Laboratory- Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program, under which laboratory directors may allocate funding to scientists to c... |
DOD’s primary military medical mission is to maintain the health of 1.7 million active duty service personnel and to be prepared to deliver health care during times of war. Also, as an employer, DOD offers health care services to 6.6 million non-active duty beneficiaries such as dependents of active duty personnel and ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) implementation of its TRICARE managed health care program, focusing on: (1) whether early implementation produced the expected results; (2) how early outcomes may affect costs; and (3) whether DOD is capturing data needed to manage and ... |
The plaintiffs in the Olmstead case were two women with developmental disabilities and mental illness who claimed that Georgia was violating title II of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the provision of public services. Both women were being treated as inpatients in a state ps... | In the Olmstead case, the Supreme Court decided that states were violating title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) if they provided care to disabled people in institutional settings when they could be a appropriately served in a home or community-based setting. Considerable attention has focused o... |
Current domestic uses of UAS are limited and include law enforcement, monitoring or fighting forest fires, border security, weather research, and scientific data collection. UAS have a wide-range of potential uses, including commercial uses such as pipeline, utility, and farm fence inspections; vehicular traffic monito... | UAS aircraft do not carry a human operator on board, but instead operate on pre-programmed routes or by following commands from pilot-operated ground stations. An aircraft is considered to be a small UAS if it is 55 pounds or less, while a large UAS is anything greater. Current domestic uses of UAS are limited and incl... |
Older adults are being financially exploited by strangers who inundate them with mail, telephone, or Internet scams; unscrupulous financial services providers; and untrustworthy in-home caregivers (see table 1 for more details). For example: Mass marketing scams: Local law enforcement authorities in the four states we ... | Elder financial exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an older adult's funds or property. It has been described as an epidemic with society-wide repercussions. While combating elder financial exploitation is largely the responsibility of state and local social service, criminal justice, and consumer protection... |
On June 12, 2002, Congress passed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, which requires specific activities related to bioterrorism preparedness and response. For example, it calls for steps to improve the nation’s preparedness for bioterrorism and other public health emergen... | It has been almost 4 years since the anthrax events of October 2001 highlighted the weaknesses in our nation's public health infrastructure. Since that time, emerging infectious diseases have appeared--such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and human monkeypox--that have made our readiness for public health emergenc... |
Farmers are exposed to financial losses because of production risks— droughts, floods, and other natural disasters—as well as variations in the market price of their crops. The federal government has played an active role in helping to mitigate the effects of these risks on farm income by promoting the use of crop insu... | Federally subsidized crop insurance, which farmers can buy to help manage the risk inherent in farming, has become one of the most important programs in the farm safety net. Revenue policies, which protect farmers against crop revenue loss from declines in production or price, are the most popular policy type and accou... |
The Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service manages about 192 million acres of land—nearly 9 percent of the nation’s total surface area and 30 percent of all federal lands. Laws guiding the management of the 155 forests, 20 national grasslands, and 17 national recreation areas within the National Forest System requi... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Forest Service's implementation of fiscal year (FY) 1995 budget reforms, focusing on the progress that the agency has made toward becoming more accountable for its results. GAO noted that: (1) the Forest Service's management of the National Forest System has not app... |
Medical devices can range in complexity from a simple tongue depressor to a sophisticated CT (computed tomography) x-ray system. Most of the devices reach the market through FDA’s premarket notification (or 510(k)) review process. Under its 510(k) authority, FDA may determine that a device is substantially equivalent t... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) review of medical devices, focusing on how FDA review time has changed from fiscal year 1989 to May 18, 1995. GAO found that: (1) FDA review times for medical device applications remained stable from 1989 to 1991, increased sharp... |
IRS and state revenue offices are both charged with responsibility for collecting taxes. More than half of the states have based their income tax systems on the federal tax system, with an overlap of many taxpayers. For the most part, this common customer base is dealt with separately by IRS and the state agencies. Giv... | GAO reviewed the status of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) FedState Cooperative Program, focusing on: (1) potential program benefits to taxpayers, IRS, and the states; (2) conditions that may impede program success; and (3) states' concerns on the impact of IRS reorganization on the program. GAO found that: (1) th... |
During World War II, the U.S. government partnered with academic scientists in ad-hoc laboratories and research groups to meet unique research and development (R&D) needs of the war effort. These efforts resulted in technologies such as the proximity fuse, advanced radar and sonar, and the atomic bomb. Those relationsh... | In 2006, the federal government spent $13 billion--14 percent of its research and development (R&D) expenditures--to enable 38 federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs) to meet special research needs. FFRDCs--including laboratories, studies and analyses centers, and systems engineering centers--conduct research in military... |
Since the late 1950s, the birth rate of women aged 15 to 19 has decreased by about 41 percent overall. (One substantial increase started around the mid-1980s, then reversed itself in the early 1990s). The overall decrease in the teen birth rate parallels the overall decline in the U.S. birth rate as a whole, which has ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided social and demographic information about teen mothers, focusing on: (1) trends in birth rates for teens; (2) a profile of teen mothers; and (3) factors, such as education or family background, that may influence the likelihood of teen motherhood. GAO noted that: (1) alt... |
In January 2006, to better align foreign assistance programs with U.S. foreign policy goals, the Secretary of State appointed a Director of Foreign Assistance with authority over all State and USAID foreign assistance funding and programs. In working to reform foreign assistance, the Director’s office, State/F, has tak... | In fiscal years 2006- 2008, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has primary responsibility for promoting democracy abroad, implemented democracy assistance projects in about 90 countries. The Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (State DRL) and the private, nonprofi... |
DOD space systems support and provide a wide range of capabilities to a large number of users, including the military services, the intelligence community, civil agencies, and others. These capabilities include positioning, navigation, and timing; meteorology; missile warning; and secure communications, among others. S... | DOD is shifting its traditional approach to space acquisitions, bolstering its protection of space systems, and engaging with more commercial providers. Given the time and resource demands of DOD's space systems and today's budget environment, challenges that hinder these transitions must be addressed. This statement f... |
Wildland fires are both natural and inevitable and play an important ecological role on the nation’s landscapes. These fires have long shaped the composition of forests and grasslands, periodically reduced vegetation densities, and stimulated seedling regeneration and growth in some species. Wildland fires can be ignit... | Wildland fire plays an important ecological role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Over the past century, however, various land management practices, including fire suppression, have disrupted the normal frequency of fires and have contributed to larger and more severe wildland fires. Wildland fires cost billions to f... |
During the three decades in which uranium was used in the government’s nuclear weapons and energy programs, for every ounce of uranium that was extracted from ore, 99 ounces of waste were produced in the form of mill tailings—a finely ground, sand-like material. By the time the government’s need for uranium peaked in t... | GAO discussed the status and cost of the Department of Energy's (DOE) uranium mill tailings cleanup program and the factors that could affect future costs. GAO noted that: (1) surface contamination cleanup has been completed at two-thirds of the identified sites and is underway at most of the others; (2) if DOE complet... |
The military’s legacy disability evaluation process begins at a military treatment facility when a physician identifies a condition that may interfere with a servicemember’s ability to perform his or her duties. On the basis of medical examinations and the servicemember’s medical records, a medical evaluation board (ME... | Since 2007, the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) have been testing a new disability evaluation system designed to integrate their separate processes and thereby expedite veterans' benefits for wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers. Having piloted the integrated disability evaluation system (IDE... |
To be eligible for an advance tax refund in 2001, taxpayers (1) had to have a federal income tax liability on their tax year 2000 return, (2) could not be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax year 2000 return, and (3) could not be a nonresident alien. The amount of advance tax refund that taxpayers could receiv... | The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 replaced the 15-percent tax rate for individual taxpayers with a 10-percent rate. To stimulate the economy quickly, the act provided for an advance refund in 2001. Between July and December 2001, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), working with the Departmen... |
Security force assistance—the effort to develop capable host nation security forces—is a key component of the U.S. efforts to create sustainable security in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal of this mission is to build partner capability and improve the security situation such that, over time, U.S. forces and partner... | Developing capable Iraqi and Afghan security forces is a key component of the U.S. military effort in Iraq and Afghanistan and, in 2009, the Army began augmenting brigade combat teams (BCT) with advisor personnel to advise the host nation security forces in these countries. House Armed Services Committee report 111-491... |
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 created DHS and gave the department wide-ranging responsibilities for, among other things, leading and coordinating the overall national critical infrastructure protection effort. Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 7 further defined critical infrastructure protection respo... | Natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, and terrorist attacks, such as the 2005 bombings in London, highlight the importance of protecting CIKRassets and systems vital to the economy or health of the nation. DHS issued the NIPP in June 2006 (updated in 2009) to provide the approach for integrating the nations C... |
Long-term care includes services provided to individuals who have a cognitive impairment or who, because of illness or disability, are unable to perform certain activities of daily living (ADL)—such as bathing, dressing, and eating—for an extended period of time. These services may be provided in various settings, such... | As the baby boom generation ages, the demand for long-term care services, which include nursing home care, is likely to grow and could strain state and federal resources. The increased use of long-term care insurance (LTCI) may be a way of reducing the share of long-term care paid by state and federal governments. Over... |
Since 2004, Congress has authorized over $8 billion for medical countermeasure procurement. The Project BioShield Act of 2004 authorized the appropriation of $5.6 billion from fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 2013 for the Project BioShield Special Reserve Fund, and funds totaling this amount were appropriated. The ... | Public health emergencies--the 2001 anthrax attacks, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and others--have raised concerns about national vulnerability to threats from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents and new infectious diseases. There are some medical countermeasures--drugs, vaccines, and medical de... |
This section discusses the organization of FWS, the provisions of the ESA, and the life cycle of the ABB. Among its duties, FWS is responsible for administering the ESA for certain species, including terrestrial species, such as the ABB. FWS headquarters, regions, and field offices are responsible for implementing the ... | The ABB is a large scavenger insect that FWS listed as endangered in 1989 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). FWS uses various strategies to address potential adverse impacts on protected species from construction and other projects. In some cases, FWS has required project proponents to take specific steps to avoid... |
In September 2012, we found that DHS employees reported having lower average morale than the average for the rest of the federal government, but morale varied across components and employee groups within the department. Specifically, we found that DHS employees as a whole reported lower satisfaction and engagement—the ... | DHS is the third-largest cabinet-level department in the federal government, with more than 240,000 employees situated throughout the nation. Employees engage in a broad range of jobs to support its missions, including aviation and border security, emergency response, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure protecti... |
In March 2014 and April 2015, we reported that CBP had made progress in deploying programs under the Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan, but that CBP could take additional action to strengthen its management of the Plan and the Plan’s various programs. The Plan’s seven acquisition programs include fixed and mo... | DHS has employed a variety of technology, infrastructure, and other assets to help secure the border. For example, in January 2011, CBP developed the Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan, which includes seven acquisition programs related to fixed and mobile surveillance systems, agent-portable devices, and groun... |
The National Defense Stockpile is a reserve of strategic and critical materials that may be unavailable in the United States in sufficient quantities to meet unanticipated national security requirements. The Defense Logistics Agency’s Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC) has managed the stockpile since 1988. Zinc i... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed issues surrounding a dispute between the American Zinc Association (AZA) and the federal government about the Department of Defense's (DOD) sale of excess zinc from the National Defense Stockpile, focusing on: (1) the government's basis for its interpretation of the sta... |
Established in 1943, Hanford produced plutonium for the world’s first nuclear device. At the time, little attention was given to the resulting by- products—massive amounts of radioactive and chemically hazardous waste—or how these by-products were to be permanently disposed of. About 46 different radioactive elements r... | In December 2000, DOE awarded Bechtel a contract to design and construct the WTP project at DOE's Hanford Site in Washington State. This project--one of the largest nuclear waste cleanup facilities in the world-- was originally scheduled for completion in 2011 at an estimated cost of $4.3 billion. Technical challenges ... |
Before advanced computerized techniques, obtaining people’s personal information usually required visiting courthouses or other government facilities to inspect paper-based public records, and information contained in product registrations and other business records was not generally available at all. Automation of the... | Federal agencies collect and use personal information for various purposes from information resellers--companies that amass and sell data from many sources. GAO was asked to testify on its report being issued today on agency use of reseller data. For that report, GAO was asked to determine how the Departments of Justic... |
The Army spends about $1.3 billion annually on depot maintenance work that includes the repair, overhaul, modification, and upgrading of aircraft, tracked and wheeled combat vehicles, and electronic items. It also includes limited manufacture of parts, technical support, testing, and software maintenance. This work gen... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army's plans to reallocate depot maintenance workloads from depots recommended for closure or realignment by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission, focusing on the: (1) impact on excess depot capacity and operating costs at the remaining defense... |
Private sector participation and investment in transit is not new. In the 1800s, the private sector played a central role in financing early transportation infrastructure development in the United States. For example, original sections of the New York City Subway were constructed from 1899 to 1904 by a public-private p... | As demand for transit and competition for available federal funding increases, transit project sponsors are increasingly looking to alternative approaches, such as public-private partnerships, to deliver and finance new, large-scale public transit projects more quickly and at reduced costs. GAO reviewed (1) the role of... |
The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-375) created the United States Postal Service, an independent, self-supporting organization, replacing the former United States Post Office Department. The act charges the Postal Service with binding the nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and busi... | The U.S. Postal Service invests hundreds of millions of dollars in information technology (IT) each year to support its mission of providing prompt, reliable, and efficient mail service to all areas of the country. It must support these operations through the revenues it earns for its services. Growing operating expens... |
According to research, comprehensive early intervention programs can positively affect the progress of children with developmental delays and children at risk of having a disability. Services provided by these programs may include speech language therapy, family counseling, and home visits. Research has linked early in... | Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was established to ensure that infants and toddlers with disabilities, from birth to age 3, and their families receive appropriate early intervention services. Within the Department of Education (Education), the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)... |
The primary purpose of PME is to develop military personnel, throughout their careers, for the intellectual demands of complex contingencies and major conflicts. The military services provide PME at their respective staff and war colleges. Each service educates service members in their core competencies according to se... | DOD's colleges and universities that provide JPME, including their research institutions, are intended to develop military personnel throughout their careers by broadening them intellectually and fostering collaboration across the military services. JPME research institutions generally provide studies and analysis rese... |
In 1994, U.S. consumers spent over $600 billion on food—about $334 billion for consumption at home and $268 billion for consumption outside the home. To regulate the safety of this food, the federal government spends over $1 billion annually, and state governments and industry spend unknown additional amounts. However,... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the federal food safety system, focusing on recent federal initiatives to improve meat, poultry, and seafood safety. GAO found that: (1) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are primarily responsible for... |
Under the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), United States citizens and businesses may freely prospect for hard rock minerals—such as gold, silver, lead, and copper—on most federal lands not specifically closed to mining. Although all mining claims must be filed with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), each ag... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on abandoned hard rock mines on federal lands, focusing on the: (1) approximate number of such mines; (2) types of hazards the mines pose; and (3) approximate cost to reclaim the mines. GAO found that: (1) the four major federal land managing agencies are ea... |
FFATA as amended by the Government Funding Transparency Act of 2008, gave OMB responsibility for ensuring the existence and operation of a website that captures specific information on federal awards (e.g. contracts, loans and grants). The website is to promote transparency in government spending by providing the publi... | The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act was enacted in 2006 to increase the transparency over the more than $1 trillion spent by the federal government on awards annually. Among other things, the act requires OMB to establish a website that contains data on federal awards (e.g., contracts and grants) an... |
Financial planning typically involves a variety of services, including preparing financial plans for clients based on their financial circumstances and objectives and making recommendations for specific actions clients may take. In many cases, financial planners also help implement these recommendations by, for example... | Consumers are increasingly turning for help to financial planners-- individuals who help clients meet their financial goals by providing assistance with such things as selecting investments and insurance products, and managing tax and estate planning. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandat... |
As of September 1996, there were over 25,000 full-time physicians employed by the federal government. (See appendix IV.) Most of the physicians paid under title 5 were with the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DOD). Physicians paid under title 37 were with HHS’ Public Health Service Commissio... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on pay and benefits of physicians employed by the federal government and in the private sector, to be used in considering reauthorization of the Federal Physicians Comparability Allowance Act (5 U.S.C. 5948). GAO did not attempt to make conclusions or recomm... |
Currently, there are over 1 billion undernourished people worldwide, according to FAO. This number is greater than at any time since the 1996 World Food Summit, when world leaders first pledged to halve the number of the world’s hungry, and has been steadily increasing since the mid- 1990s, even before the food and fue... | Global hunger continues to worsen despite world leaders' 1996 pledge--reaffirmed in 2000 and 2009--to halve hunger by 2015. To reverse this trend, in 2009 major donor countries pledged $22 billion in a 3-year commitment to agriculture and food security in developing countries, of which $3.5 billion is the U.S. share. T... |
Ultra-filtration technology separates the components of milk according to their size by passing milk under pressure through a thin porous membrane. Specifically, ultra filtration allows the smaller lactose, water, mineral, and vitamin molecules to pass through the membrane, while the larger protein and fat molecules—ke... | The ultra-filtration process for milk, developed in the 1970s, removes most of the fluid components, leaving a high concentration of milk protein that allows cheese and other manufacturers to produce their products more efficiently. No specific data on amount of ultra-filtered milk imports exists because these imports ... |
Medicare provides health insurance coverage for approximately 37 million elderly and disabled people under two parts: part A, primarily hospital insurance, and part B, supplementary insurance. HCFA, which administers the Medicare program, contracts with insurance companies (called “fiscal intermediaries” for part A and... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Medicare payments for medical supplies, focusing on the: (1) circumstances surrounding payments for unusually high surgical dressing claims; and (2) adequacy of Medicare's internal controls to prevent paying such claims. GAO found that: (1) although the Health Care Fina... |
The CWC is a multilateral arms control treaty that bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons by member countries and requires the declaration and destruction of those countries’ existing chemical weapons stocks and production facilities by 2007, with a possible extension to 20... | The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction by 2007, with possible extensions to 2012. The CWC also seeks to reduce the proliferation of these weapons by requiring member states to adopt comprehensive national laws to criminalize CWC-prohibited activities. The Organization... |
The CDFI Fund provides certification to CDFIs that meet the six statutory and regulatory criteria of the Fund.on CDFIs that have the primary mission of providing capital and development services to economically distressed communities generally underserved by conventional financial institutions. CDFIs provide products a... | The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) made nondepository CDFIs eligible for membership in the FHLBank System. The System includes 12 regional FHLBanks that make loans, known as advances, to their members at favorable rates. GAO was asked to review the FHLBanks' implementation of HERA provisions relating ... |
The concept of “universal service” has traditionally meant providing residential telephone subscribers with nationwide access to basic telephone services at reasonable rates. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 broadened the scope of universal service to include, among other things, support for schools and libraries. Th... | Since 1998, the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) E-rate program has committed more than $13 billion to help schools and libraries acquire Internet and telecommunications services. Recently, allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse by some E-rate program participants have come to light. As steward of the program,... |
Between fiscal years 1998 and 2002, HUD administered a total of 21 technical assistance programs, most of which are associated with programs in its offices of Community Planning and Development and Public and Indian Housing. The other three offices that administer technical assistance programs are the offices of Housin... | This testimony discusses the results of GAO's review of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) technical assistance and capacity-building programs. Technical assistance programs can be defined as training designed to improve the performance or management of program recipients, such as teaching one-on-o... |
The District’s prekindergarten through grade 12 school system is composed of 128 public schools with enrollment for the 2008-2009 school year around 45,200. Historically, DCPS has had several problems that interfere with the education of its students. One primary problem was the dysfunction of the central office. For e... | In response to long-standing problems with student achievement and the management of the District of Columbia (D.C. or the District) public school system, the D.C. Council approved the Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007. This act made major changes to the governance of the D.C. public school system, giving t... |
The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 established NFIP as an alternative to providing direct assistance after floods. NFIP, which provides government-guaranteed flood insurance to homeowners and businesses, was intended to reduce the federal government’s escalating costs for repairing flood damage after disasters. F... | The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been on GAO's high-risk list since 2006, when the program had to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to cover losses from the 2005 hurricanes. The outstanding debt is $17.8 billion as of June 2011. This sizeable debt, plus operational and management challenges that GAO has iden... |
The Medicare Part D benefit is provided through private organizations that offer one or more drug plans with different levels of premiums, deductibles, and cost sharing. Plan sponsors must offer the standard Part D benefit established under MMA or an actuarially equivalent benefit. The standard benefit includes an annu... | Under the Medicare Part D program, prescription drug coverage is provided through plans sponsored by private companies. Beneficiaries, their appointed representatives, or physicians can ask sponsors to cover prescriptions restricted under their plan--a process known as a coverage determination--and can appeal denials t... |
Federal awareness of the importance of securing our nation’s critical infrastructures, which underpin our society, economy, and national security, has been evolving since the mid-1990’s. Over the years, a variety of working groups has been formed, special reports have been written, federal policies issued, and organiza... | Since 1998, the federal government has taken steps to protect the nation's critical infrastructures, including developing partnerships between the public and private sectors. These cyber and physical public and private infrastructures, which include the financial services sector, are essential to national security, eco... |
The way DOD develops and produces its major weapons systems has had disappointing outcomes. There is a vast difference between DOD’s budgeting plans and the reality of the cost of its systems. Performance, if it is defined as the capability that actually reaches the warfighter, often falls short, as cost increases resu... | The Department of Defense (DOD) is shepherding a portfolio of major weapon systems valued at about $1.3 trillion. How DOD is managing this investment has been a matter of concern for some time. Since 1990, GAO has designated DOD's weapon system acquisitions as a high-risk area for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement... |
The Coast Guard is a multimission, maritime military service within DHS. The Coast Guard’s responsibilities fall into two general categories—those related to homeland security missions, such as port security and vessel escorts, and those related to non–homeland security missions, such as search and rescue and polar ice... | The Deepwater Program is intended to recapitalize the Coast Guard's fleet and includes efforts to build or modernize five classes each of ships and aircraft, and procure other key capabilities. In 2002, the Coast Guard contracted with Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) to manage the acquisition as systems integrator... |
Section 9 of the Communications Act authorizes FCC to collect regulatory fees annually. These regulatory fees do not include application fees or revenue from spectrum auctions. The statute directs FCC to do the following: Assess and collect regulatory fees to recover the costs of FCC’s regulatory activities, defined by... | FCC must by law assess annual regulatory fees on telecommunications entities to recover its entire appropriationabout $336 million in fiscal year 2011. The entities from which FCC collects fees fall into one of five main industry sectors (broadcast, cable, wireline, wireless, and international) and are assigned to one... |
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused extensive human suffering and damage in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Mississippi and Louisiana on August 29, 2005, and alone caused more damage than any other single natural disaster in the history of the United States. Hurricane Katrina destro... | Using lessons from the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, the federal government released the National Response Framework (NRF) in January 2008. This report examines (1) why the primary role for mass care in the NRF shifted from the Red Cross to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and potential issues with impleme... |
DOD draws from a large number of suppliers in a global supply chain—in both the acquisition phase and throughout a system’s operational and sustainment phases—providing multiple opportunities for the risk of counterfeit parts into these systems. DOD contractors rely on thousands of subcontractors and suppliers, includi... | The DOD supply chain is vulnerable to the risk of counterfeit parts, which have the potential to delay missions and ultimately endanger service members. To effectively identify and mitigate this risk, DOD began requiring its agencies in 2013 and its contractors in 2014, to report data on suspect counterfeit parts. A Se... |
A number of areas on the President’s Management Agenda are consistent with issues highlighted by our work on the High Risk Program, our annual reports on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, and other work related to long-standing management challenges. Over the years, we have made hundreds of recommendations to ad... | The federal government is one of the world's largest and most diverse entities, with about $3.5 trillion in outlays in fiscal year 2013, funding an extensive array of programs and operations. Moreover, it faces a number of significant fiscal, management, and governance challenges in responding to the varied and increas... |
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.