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The National Adult Literacy Survey estimated that approximately 90 million American adults have deficient literacy skills. Of those, between 40 and 44 million adults—about 22 percent of the country’s adult population—have severe problems with literacy, defined as the ability to read, write, and speak English and comput... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Adult Education Act's (AEA) State Grant Program, focusing on: (1) its coordination with federal employment training programs; and (2) the extent to which the program ensures accountability for program quality and results. GAO found that: (1) AEA goals... |
The United States experienced heavy aircraft and aircrew losses to enemy air defenses during the Vietnam War. Since then, the services have recognized air defense suppression as a necessary component of air operations. Consequently, when a crisis arises, suppression aircraft are among the first to be called in and the ... | U.S. military aircraft are often at great risk from enemy air defenses, and the services use specialized aircraft to neutralize or destroy them. In January 2001, GAO reported that a gap existed between the services' suppression capabilities and their needs and recommended that a comprehensive strategy was needed to fix... |
Farming has always been a risky endeavor, and farmers have always had to manage risk as a part of doing business. Over the years, the federal government has played an active role in several ways to help mitigate the effects of production losses and low prices on farm income. For example, USDA's Risk Management Agency (... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) efforts to educate farmers about risk management, focusing on: (1) the extent of farmers' use of risk management tools; and (2) educational programs and projects USDA has directed or initiated to prepare farmers for managing risks ... |
The Howard M. Metzenbaum Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 is one of several recent congressional initiatives to address concerns that children remain in foster care too long. As originally enacted, the law provided that the placement of children in foster or adoptive homes could not be denied or delayed solely because... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the implementation of the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994, as amended, at the federal level and in states with large and ethnically diverse foster care caseloads, focusing on: (1) efforts by federal, state, and local agencies to implement the 1994 act i... |
GPRA is intended to shift the focus of government decisionmaking, management, and accountability from activities and processes to the results and outcomes achieved by federal programs. New and valuable information on the plans, goals, and strategies of federal agencies has been provided since federal agencies began imp... | This report reviews the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fiscal year 2000 performance report and fiscal year 2002 performance plan required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to assess VA's process in achieving selected key outcomes that are important to its mission. VA reported making mixed progr... |
Several federal laws and policies—predominantly the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 and its predecessor, the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (both referred to as FISMA)—provide a framework for protecting federal information and IT assets. The purpose of both laws is to provide... | The dependence of federal agencies on computerized information systems and electronic data makes them potentially vulnerable to a wide and evolving array of cyber-based threats. Securing these systems and data is vital to the nation's safety, prosperity, and well-being. Because of the significance of these risks and lo... |
The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve are composed primarily of citizen soldiers who serve in the military on a part-time basis, balancing the demands of civilian careers with their military service. Collectively, these part-time forces make up more than 50 percent of the Army’s total force, and these soldiers a... | Sexual assault in the Army is often discussed in terms of its incidence among active-duty forces. Sexual assault is a crime that similarly confronts the more than 550,000 members who collectively serve in the Guard and Reserve, who together reported 604 sexual assault incidents in fiscal year 2015; however, sexual assa... |
The Navy’s UCLASS system will be the first unmanned aircraft system deployed on an aircraft carrier. Efforts to develop an unmanned combat air system for the Navy can be traced back to 2003 when DOD established a joint Navy and Air Force program called the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS). This joint effort dr... | The Navy estimates that it will need $3.7 billion from fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2020 to develop and field an initial UCLASS system. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 mandated that GAO evaluate the UCLASS system acquisition strategy. This report (1) assesses the UCLASS acquisition s... |
FMD is a highly contagious animal disease. It affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and has occurred in most countries of the world at some point during the past century. It has 7 types and over 80 subtypes. Immunity to, or vaccination for, one type of the virus does not protect animals ... | DHS is proposing to move foot-and mouth disease (FMD) research from its current location at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center--located on a federally owned island off the northern tip of Long Island, New York--and potentially onto the United States mainland. FMD is the most highly infectious animal disease that is ... |
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 increased the federal government’s role in kindergarten-12th grade education by setting two key goals: to reach universal proficiency so that all students score at the proficient level of achievement—as defined by the states—by 2014, and to close achievement gaps between high- and l... | The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) requires that states improve academic performance so that all students reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014 and that achievement gaps close among student groups. States set annual proficiency targets using an approach known as a status model, which calculates test scores 1 ... |
Although the tsunami’s effects were concentrated in the countries closest to the earthquake’s epicenter in the Indian Ocean, about 100 miles off the coast of Sumatra, it also destroyed communities along some coastlines thousands of miles away. A year later, in December 2005, more than 40,000 persons were still listed a... | In December 2004, an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia caused a tsunami that left more than 230,000 people killed or missing and presumed dead and an estimated $10 billion in damage in 12 countries. In May 2005, Congress appropriated $908 million for relief and reconstruction. U.S. emergency relief efforts budgeted... |
The need to transform the military services has been widely recognized in a number of DOD policy papers, reports, and strategy documents. The national security strategy, the national military strategy, the Secretary of Defense’s guidance to the services, the 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review, and the Chairman of the Join... | With the end of the Cold War, national security strategies changed to meet new global challenges. The Navy developed a new strategic direction in the early 1990s, shifting its primary focus from open ocean "blue water" operations to littoral, or shallow water, operations closer to shore. GAO found that although the Nav... |
Following the 2000 national elections, we performed a comprehensive series of reviews covering our nation’s election process, in which we identified a number of challenges. These reviews culminated in a capping report that summarized this work and provided the Congress with a framework for considering options for elect... | The technology used to cast and count votes is one aspect of the multifaceted U.S. election process. GAO examined voting technology, among other things, in a series of reports that it issued in 2001 following the problems encountered in the 2000 election. In October 2002, the Congress enacted the Help America Vote Act,... |
The new IRS Commissioner and IRS management have expressed a commitment to ensure that taxpayers are treated properly. Even so, problems with current management information systems make it impossible to determine the extent to which allegations of taxpayer abuse and other taxpayer complaints have been reported, or the ... | GAO discussed the: (1) adequacy of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) controls over the treatment of taxpayers; (2) responsibilities of the Offices of the Chief Inspector (IRS Inspection) and the Department of the Treasury Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in investigating allegations of taxpayer abuse and employ... |
Under A-76, commercial activities may be converted to or from contractor performance either by direct conversion or by cost comparison. Under direct conversion, specific conditions allow commercial activities to be moved from government or contract performance without a cost comparison study (for example, for activitie... | The Department of Defense (DOD) has been at the forefront of federal agencies in using the OMB Circular A-76 process. In 1995, DOD made it a priority to reduce operating costs and free funds for other needs. DOD has also augmented the A-76 program with what it terms strategic sourcing--a broader array of reinvention an... |
MCC undertakes a process each fiscal year to identify countries as candidates for MCA assistance. MCC uses per capita income data to identify two pools of countries as eligible candidates: low-income countries and lower-middle-income countries. Candidate countries also must not be statutorily barred from receiving U.S.... | Established in January 2004 with a mission to reduce poverty through economic growth, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has committed $6.9 billion for compacts with 19 developing countries. MCC vests compact management with accountable entities in recipient countries, called Millennium Challenge Accounts (MCA)... |
The Institute of Medicine, chartered by the National Academy of Sciences, has defined practice guidelines as systematically developed statements that assist practitioners in making decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical conditions. For example, guidelines are available on such topics as the lengt... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how managed health plans make use of existing clinical practice guidelines. GAO found that: (1) clinical practice guidelines promote greater uniformity within physician networks, encourage improved efficiency and clinical decision-making, and eliminate unnecessary care;... |
In 1996, SAMHSA issued a regulation implementing the Synar amendment. The regulation requires all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and eight insular areas to (1) have in effect and enforce laws that prohibit the sale and distribution of tobacco products to people under 18 years of age, (2) conduct annual random, un... | Every day, about 3,000 young people become regular smokers. It is estimated that one-third of them will die from smoking-related diseases. If children and adolescents can be prevented from using tobacco products they are likely to remain tobacco-free for the rest of their lives. In 1992, Congress enacted legislation, k... |
The mission of the Customs Service is to ensure that all goods and persons entering and exiting the United States do so in compliance with all U.S. laws and regulations. It does this by (1) enforcing the laws governing the flow of goods and persons across the borders of the United States and (2) assessing and collectin... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Customs Service's enterprise information systems architecture, focusing on determining whether: (1) the architecture is complete; and (2) Customs has processes and procedures to enforce compliance with the architecture. GAO noted that: (1) Customs does not yet have ... |
Virtually all federal operations are supported by automated systems and electronic data, and agencies would find it difficult, if not impossible, to carry out their missions and account for their resources without these information assets. Therefore, it is important for agencies to safeguard their systems against risks... | Information security is especially important for federal agencies, where the public's trust is essential and poor information security can have devastating consequences. Since 1997, GAO has identified information security as a governmentwide high-risk issue in each of our biennial reports to Congress. Concerned by repo... |
Widespread looting—including looting of radiological sources—became a major problem in Iraq after the March 2003 coalition forces invasion, complicating U.S. efforts to secure and collect radiological sources. Media reports of the looting at Iraq’s Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, for example, brought public attention... | Following the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, concerns were raised about the security of Iraq's radiological sources. Such sources are used in medicine, industry, and research, but unsecured sources could pose risks of radiation exposure, and terrorists could use them to make "dirty bombs." This report provides informa... |
Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, is required to carry out a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive statewide transportation planning process. The statewide transportation planning process addresses both urbanized and nonmetropolitan areas of the state and includes both highway and tr... | Through the statewide transportation planning process, states decide how to spend federal transportation funds--almost $46 billion in fiscal year 2009. Draft legislation to reauthorize federal surface transportation legislation would, among other things, revise planning requirements to recognize states' use of rural pl... |
SBA was established by the Small Business Act of 1953 to fulfill the role of several agencies that previously assisted small businesses affected by the Great Depression and, later, by wartime competition. SBA’s stated purpose is to promote small business development and entrepreneurship through business financing, gove... | The Small Business Administration (SBA) helps individuals and businesses recover from disasters such as hurricanes through its Disaster Loan Program. SBA faced an unprecedented demand for disaster loan assistance following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes (Katrina, Rita, and Wilma), which resulted in extensive property d... |
In November 2001, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) was enacted, requiring TSA to, among other things, work with airport operators to strengthen access control points to secured areas and to consider using biometric access control systems, or similar technologies, to verify the identity of individuals... | Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Coast Guard manage the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, which requires maritime workers to complete background checks and obtain a biometric identification card to gain unescort... |
The permanent national government of Iraq was established by a constitutional referendum in October 2005, followed by election of the first Council of Representatives (Parliament) in December 2005 and the selection of the first Prime Minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, in May 2006. By mid-2006, the cabinet had been approve... | Iraq's ministries were decimated following years of neglect and centralized control under the former regime. Developing competent and loyal Iraqi ministries is critical to stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq. The President received $140 million in fiscal year 2007 funds and requested an additional $255 million in fiscal ye... |
IHS, an operating division of HHS, is responsible for providing health services to federally recognized tribes of American Indians and Alaska Natives. According to IHS, in 2008, it provided health services to approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives from more than 562 federally recognized tribes. A... | In 2008, GAO issued a report and testimony revealing gross mismanagement of property at the Indian Health Service (IHS). GAO found that 5,000 items with an acquisition value of $15.8 million were reported lost or stolen for fiscal years 2004 through 2007. GAO attributed the property mismanagement and waste to weak inte... |
The federal government sets broad federal requirements for Medicaid— such as requiring that state Medicaid programs cover certain populations and benefits—and matches state Medicaid expenditures with federal funds for most services. States administer their respective Medicaid programs on a day-to-day basis, and have th... | As of November 2016, 37 states had demonstrations under section 1115 of the Social Security Act, under which the Secretary of HHS may allow costs that Medicaid would not otherwise cover for state projects that are likely to promote Medicaid objectives. By policy, demonstrations must be budget neutral; that is, the fede... |
VBA is in the process of modernizing many of its older, inefficient systems and has reportedly spent an estimated $294 million on these activities between October 1, 1986 and February 29, 1996. The modernization program can have a major impact on the efficiency and accuracy with which over $20 billion in benefits and o... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed software development processes and practices at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and Austin Automation Center (AAC). GAO found that: (1) neither VBA nor AAC satisfy any of the criteria for a repeatable software development capab... |
Since the 1940s, DOE and its predecessors have operated a nationwide complex of facilities used to research, design, and manufacture nuclear weapons and related technologies. The environmental legacy of nuclear weapons production at dozens of these sites across the United States includes contaminated buildings, soil, w... | The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for one of the world's largest cleanup programs: treatment and disposal of radioactive and hazardous waste created as a by-product of nuclear weapons production and energy research at sites across the country, such as EM's Hanford S... |
DOD is not receiving expected returns on its large investment in weapon systems. The total acquisition cost of DOD’s 2007 portfolio of major programs under development or in production has grown by nearly $300 billion over initial estimates. While DOD is committing substantially more investment dollars to develop and p... | Since 1990, GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) management of major weapon system acquisitions a high risk area. DOD has taken some action to improve acquisition outcomes, but its weapon programs continue to take longer, cost more, and deliver fewer capabilities than originally planned. These persisten... |
This background section discusses (1) NNSA’s methods of accounting for and tracking costs, (2) the legislative requirement for NNSA to develop a plan to improve and integrate financial management, and (3) leading practices for strategic planning. NNSA contractors use different methods to account for costs, according to... | Effective management and oversight of contracts, projects, and programs are dependent upon the availability of reliable enterprise-wide financial management information. Such information is also needed by Congress to carry out its oversight responsibilities and make budgetary decisions. However, meaningful cost analysi... |
In part to improve the availability of information on and management of DOD’s acquisition of services, in fiscal year 2002 Congress enacted section 2330a of title 10 of the U.S. Code, which required the Secretary of Defense to establish a data collection system to provide management information on each purchase of serv... | DOD is the government's largest purchaser of contractor-provided services. In fiscal year 2011, DOD reported $199 billion in obligations for service contracts, which include services as varied as medical services and intelligence support. In 2008, Congress required DOD to compile and review an annual inventory of its c... |
In 2000, significantly fewer managers at CMS—then known as the Health Care Financing Administration—reported using performance information for various management decisions, as compared to their counterparts in the rest of government. Between our 2000 and 2007 surveys, however, CMS showed one of the largest average incr... | Since 1997, periodic GAO surveys indicate that overall, federal managers have more performance information available, but have not made greater use of this information for decision making. To understand the barriers and opportunities for more widespread use, GAO was asked to (1) examine key management practices in an a... |
DOE’s LGP was originally designed to address a fundamental impediment for investors and lenders that stems from the risks of innovative and advanced energy projects, including technology risk—the risk that the new technology will not perform as expected—and execution risk—the risk that the borrower or project will not ... | DOE's Loan Programs Office administers the Loan Guarantee Program (LGP) for certain renewable or innovative energy projects and the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program for projects to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles and components. As of March 2014, the programs had made more than $30 bi... |
Over the past two decades, several efforts have been launched to improve federal government accountability and results, such as the strategic plans and annual performance reports required under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). The act was designed to provide executive and congressional decisio... | Recent congressional initiatives seek to focus funds for certain federal social programs on interventions for which randomized experiments show sizable, sustained benefits to participants or society. The private, nonprofit Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy undertook the Top Tier Evidence initiative to help federal pr... |
Students with limited English proficiency are a diverse and complex group. They speak many languages and have a tremendous range of educational needs and include refugees with little formal schooling and students who are literate in their native languages. Accurately assessing the academic knowledge of these students i... | For the Spanish translation of the highlights page for this document, see GAO-06-1111 . Ley para que ningun nino se quede atras: La ayuda del Departamento de Educacion puede contribuir a que los Estados midan mejor el progreso de los alumnos que no dominan bien el ingles. GAO-06-1111 , Julio de 2006. The No Child Left ... |
The Congress has long recognized the need for the President to have flexibility in the foreign policy area. This is reflected in sections 506 and 552 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. In addition, the Congress has occasionally authorized the President to initiate drawdowns for specific purposes in fore... | Since 1961, the President has had special statutory authority to order the "drawdown" of defense articles--such as aircraft, vehicles, various weapons, and spare parts--and services or military education and training from Department of Defense (DOD) and military service inventories and transfer them to foreign countrie... |
Transportation programs, like other federal programs, need to be viewed in the context of the nation’s fiscal position. Long-term fiscal simulations by GAO, the Congressional Budget Office, and others all show that despite a 3-year decline in the federal government’s unified budget deficit, we still face large and grow... | The nation has reached a critical juncture with its current surface transportation policies and programs. Demand has outpaced the capacity of the system, resulting in increased congestion. In addition, without significant changes in funding mechanisms, revenue sources, or planned spending, the Highway Trust Fund--the m... |
Before presenting additional preliminary results, I would like to provide some information on our scope and methodology. Specifically, we are interviewing key OWCP and Postal Service officials in Washington, D.C., to discuss and collect pertinent information regarding the employees’ claims for WCP eligibility and for c... | In fiscal year 2002, U.S. Postal Service employees accounted for one-third of both the federal civilian workforce and the $2.1 billion in overall costs for the Federal Workers' Compensation Program (WCP). Postal workers submitted half of the claims for new work-related injuries that year. Postal Service employees with ... |
About 1.2 million years ago, a volcano erupted and collapsed inward, forming the crater now known as Valles Caldera, in north-central New Mexico (see fig. 1). Almost entirely surrounded by the Forest Service’s Santa Fe National Forest and the National Park Service’s Bandelier National Monument, this geologically and ec... | In creating the Valles Caldera National Preserve from a unique parcel of land in north-central New Mexico, and by creating the Valles Caldera Trust as a wholly owned government corporation to manage the preserve, the Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 established a 20-year public-private experiment to operate the ... |
ESRD occurs when an individual’s kidneys have regressed to less than 10 percent of normal baseline function. Without functioning kidneys, excess wastes and fluids in the body rise to dangerous levels, and certain hormones are no longer produced. Individuals with ESRD must undergo either regular dialysis treatments or r... | For individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the permanent loss of kidney function, Medicare covers kidney transplants and 36 months of follow-up care. Kidney transplant recipients must take costly medications to avoid transplant failure. Unless a transplant recipient is eligible for Medicare other than on the ... |
DHS components operate holding facilities at various locations nationwide. Border Patrol has approximately 203 holding facilities that are located at stations, checkpoints and forward operating bases. OFO has approximately 129 holding facilities located at land POEs. ICE has 137 holding facilities that are located at E... | DHS is responsible for providing safe, secure, and humane confinement for detained aliens who may be subject to removal or have been ordered removed from the United States. For example, during fiscal years 2014 and 2015, Border Patrol apprehended 823,768 aliens and held them temporarily in holding facilities. GAO was a... |
See GAO-09-399. property transported by commercial passenger aircraft. At the 463 TSA- regulated airports in the United States, prior to boarding an aircraft, all passengers, their accessible property, and their checked baggage are screened pursuant to TSA-established procedures, which include passengers passing throug... | The attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253 in December 2009 underscores the need for effective aviation security programs. Aviation security remains a daunting challenge with hundreds of airports and thousands of flights daily carrying millions of passengers and pieces of checked baggage. The Department of Homeland ... |
Since the early 1990s, hundreds of residential treatment programs and facilities have been established in the United States by state agencies and private companies. Many of these programs are intended to provide a less- restrictive alternative to incarceration or hospitalization for youth who may require intervention t... | Residential treatment programs provide a range of services, including drug and alcohol treatment, confidence building, military-style discipline, and psychological counseling for troubled boys and girls with a variety of addiction, behavioral, and emotional problems. This testimony concerns programs across the country ... |
State and local governments generally have the principal responsibility for meeting mass care and other needs in responding to a disaster; however, governments largely carry out this responsibility by relying on the services provided by voluntary organizations. Voluntary organizations provide sheltering, feeding, and o... | Voluntary organizations have traditionally played a major role in the nation's response to disasters, but the response to Hurricane Katrina raised concerns about their ability to handle large-scale disasters. This report examines (1) the roles of five voluntary organizations in providing mass care and other services, (... |
The Results Act is the centerpiece of a statutory framework provided by recent legislation to bring needed improvements to federal agencies’ management activities. (Other parts of the framework include the 1990 Chief Financial Officers Act, the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act, and the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act.) Under the Re... | GAO discussed the Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. GAO noted that: (1) VBA continues to make progress in setting goals and measuring its programs' performance but faces significant challenges in its efforts to successfully implement the Resul... |
In 1992, the U.S. government initiated a program known as the Lisbon Initiative on Multilateral Nuclear Safety. This program is designed to help improve the safety of Soviet-designed reactors. The U.S. program is part of a larger international effort to improve the safety of these reactors. As of February 1996, 22 dono... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) changes in the U.S. nuclear safety assistance program's goals since its inception; (2) the costs associated with the program; (3) the status of 13 safety projects implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NR... |
FERS consists of three parts: a DB component, a DC component with employer contribution, and Social Security. CSRS consists of two parts: a DB component and a DC component with no employer contribution. The DC component differs between FERS and CSRS. Under FERS, federal agencies automatically contribute an amount equal... | GAO provided information on the: (1) design components of retirement programs that states offer to their general employees and compared them to the design components of the two principal retirement programs for federal employees; and (2) changes states have considered and made to their retirement programs. GAO noted th... |
Depot maintenance is a key part of the total DOD logistics effort and is a vast undertaking, supporting millions of equipment items, 53,000 combat vehicles, 514,000 wheeled vehicles, 372 ships, and 17,300 aircraft of over 100 different models. Depot maintenance requires extensive shop facilities, specialized equipment,... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the privatization of defense depot maintenance activities. GAO noted that: (1) the Department of Defense's (DOD) evolving depot maintenance policy includes a public-private mix and shifts work to the private sector where feasible; (2) depot privatization could worsen e... |
DOD instruction 1330.04 outlines the following roles and responsibilities regarding the Armed Forces Sports Program: Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness: Provides guidance and oversight concerning the participation of servicemembers in Armed Forces, national, and international amateu... | For nearly a century, the U.S. Armed Forces (i.e., the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard) have organized and participated in international and national sporting competitions in part because of the intended benefits for servicemember morale and the unique opportunity that participation... |
SBA depends on its IT environment to support the management of its programs. This environment includes 42 mission-critical systems running on legacy mainframes and minicomputers. Ten of these systems support administrative activities; the remaining 32 support loan activities, including loan accounting and collection, l... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) management of information technology (IT), focusing on five key areas: (1) investment management; (2) architecture; (3) software development and acquisition; (4) information security; and (5) human capital management. GAO noted... |
The federal government funds multiple programs that subsidize housing construction and rehabilitation, assist homebuyers and renters, and provide assistance to state and local governments through a variety of spending and loan programs, tax expenditures, regulatory requirements, and other activities aimed at promoting ... | The federal government plays a major role in providing housing assistance to homebuyers, renters, and state and local governments. It incurred about $170 billion in obligations for federal assistance and estimated forgone tax revenue in fiscal year 2010. However, fiscal realities raise questions about the efficiency of... |
Treasury is the primary federal agency responsible for the economic and financial prosperity and security of the United States, and as such is responsible for a wide range of activities, including advising the President on economic and financial issues, promoting the President’s growth agenda, and enhancing corporate g... | In 2008, the Department of Treasury (Treasury) plans to spend approximately $3 billion on information technology (IT) investments--the third largest planned IT expenditure among civilian agencies. To more effectively manage such investments, in 2005 the Office of Management and Budget required agencies to use earned va... |
NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration calls for a return of humans to the Moon and eventual human spaceflight to Mars. In September 2005, NASA outlined an initial architecture for implementing the Vision in its Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS). NASA is implementing this architecture under the Constellation p... | NASA's Constellation program is developing the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle as the agency's first major efforts in a plan to return to the moon and eventually send humans to Mars. GAO has issued a number of reports and testimonies on various aspects of this program, and made several... |
Aircraft noise standards establish the noise limits that civil subsonic jet aircraft are permitted to generate for takeoff, landing, and sideline measurements. These standards are based on an aircraft’s weight and number of engines. In general, they allow heavier aircraft and those with more engines to generate more no... | The transition to quieter aircraft required by the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 was expected to benefit communities, airports, and airlines. In turn, the transition was expected to reduce community opposition to airport operations and expansion and to reduce the demand for funds provided for noise abatement t... |
Opioids are drugs that slow down the actions of the body, such as breathing and heartbeat, by binding with certain receptors in the body. Some patients are prescribed opioids to treat pain. Opioid medications are available as immediate or extended release and in different forms, such as a pill, liquid, or a patch worn ... | The abuse of prescription opioid pain relievers and illicit opioids, such as heroin, have contributed to increasing numbers of overdose deaths in the United States, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show more than 28,000 opioid overdose deaths in 2014. Research has shown that MAT can more effectively ... |
To understand the trends in the size of tax expenditures, it is helpful to understand how tax expenditures are defined and how the different types affect taxpayer liability. For this report, we also provide an overview of the broad purposes of tax expenditures—one method the federal government can use to achieve nation... | Numerous federal programs, policies, and activities are supported through the tax code. As described in statute, tax expenditures are reductions in tax liabilities that result from preferential provisions, such as tax exclusions, credits, and deductions. They result in revenue forgone. This report, done under the Compt... |
Trade preference programs were instituted by several advanced economies in the 1970s as temporary measures to help developing countries pursue economic growth and development by increasing exports and diversifying their economies. Trade preferences, which reduce tariffs, or duties, for many products from eligible count... | AGOA was signed into law in 2000 to offer SSA countries trade preferences that stimulate export-led economic growth and facilitate their integration into the global economy. This legislation was recently reauthorized, and the accompanying Senate report stated that the United States should seek all opportunities to deep... |
Fiscal year 2002 was a year of challenges, not just for GAO but also for the Congress and the nation. The nation’s vulnerabilities were exposed in a series of events—America’s vulnerability to sophisticated terrorist networks, bioterrorism waged through mechanisms as mundane as the daily mail, and corporate misconduct ... | GAO is a key source of objective information and analyses and, as such, plays a crucial role in supporting congressional decision-making and helping improve government for the benefit of the American people. This testimony focuses on GAO's (1) fiscal year 2002 performance and results, (2) efforts to maximize our effect... |
In our recent report, we summarize many of the agencies’ financial management system implementation failures that have been previously reported by us and inspectors general (IG). Our work and that of the IGs over the years has shown that agencies have failed to employ accepted best practices in systems development and ... | Over the years, GAO has reported on various agencies' financial management system implementation failures. GAO's recent report (GAO-06-184) discusses some of the most significant problems previously identified with agencies' financial management system modernization efforts. For today's hearing, GAO was asked to provid... |
Job Corps was established as a national employment and training program in 1964 to provide severely disadvantaged youth with a wide range of services, including basic/remedial education, vocational training, and social skills instruction, usually at residential facilities. It remains one of the few federally run progra... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the: (1) locations of Job Corps centers and their capacity by state; (2) extent to which Job Corps participants are trained and placed in jobs in the state in which they reside; and (3) reasons why participants are sent to centers outside their state of residence. GAO f... |
To describe the nature and purpose of the federal assistance provided to the auto industry, we reviewed Department of the Treasury documents related to AIFP—including white papers on the Supplier Support Program and the Warranty Commitment Program, terms and conditions of the loans provided to Chrysler and GM, and disb... | The turmoil in financial markets and the economic downturn has brought significant financial stress to the auto manufacturing industry. The economic reach of the auto industry in the United States is broad, affecting autoworkers, auto suppliers, stock and bondholders, dealers, and certain states. To help stabilize the ... |
We have identified numerous challenges related to the government’s management of its real property, including issues pertaining to using and disposing of underutilized and excess property, an overreliance on leasing, and having unreliable real property data to support decision making.management after we designated it h... | In June 2010, the President issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to achieve $3 billion in real property cost savings by the end of fiscal year 2012 through a number of methods, including disposal of excess property, energy efficiency improvements, and other space consolidation efforts. GAO was asked to review... |
FCA is an independent federal regulatory agency responsible for supervising, regulating, and examining institutions operating under the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended. The act also authorizes FCA to assess the institutions it regulates to provide funds for its annual operating costs and to maintain a reserve amoun... | The Farm Credit Administration (FCA) regulates the farm credit system. Administrative expenses, which accounted for about 97 percent of FCA's total operating expenses of $34.5 million in fiscal year 2000, are funded primarily by assessments on the institutions that make up the system, including the Federal Agricultural... |
DOE is the largest civilian contracting agency in the federal government; about 90 percent of its annual budget is spent on contracts for carrying out its activities and operating its facilities. In fulfilling their missions, DOE’s program offices are responsible for contracting for and overseeing the execution of the ... | The Department of Energy (DOE) pays its contractors billions of dollars each year to implement its major projects--those costing more than $400 million each. Many major projects have experienced substantial cost and schedule overruns, largely because of contract management problems. GAO was asked to assess, for major d... |
The mission of IRS’s collection program, as set forth in the fiscal year 2015 collection program letter, is “to collect delinquent taxes and secure delinquent tax returns through the fair and equitable application of the tax laws, including the use of enforcement tools when appropriate, provide education to customers t... | IRS's ACS is one of the primary means for pursuing taxpayers who failed to fully pay their taxes or file their tax return in a timely manner. From fiscal years 2012 through 2014, ACS staff has declined 20 percent while the number of unresolved collection cases at year-end has increased 21 percent. Given these trends, I... |
State trading enterprises (STE) have existed for some time and have been considered legitimate trading entities by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since 1947. STEs have developed in various countries for various reasons at different points in history. The current Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) was formall... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Canadian grain exports to the United States, focusing on the operations of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) and the trade remedies applicable to the activities of state trading enterprises (STE). GAO noted that: (1) the CWB is a STE with a monopoly on certa... |
Challenges we identified with disaster resilience as long ago as 1980 have persisted and were reflected in our work on disaster mitigation in 2007, as well as recent studies such as a 2012 National Academies National Research Council (NRC) study on disaster resilience. We testified in January 1998 that, for a number of... | Multiple factors including increased disaster declarations, climate change effects, and insufficient premiums under the National Flood Insurance Program increase federal fiscal exposure to severe weather events. Managing fiscal exposure from climate change and the National Flood Insurance Program are both on GAO's High... |
IAEA safeguards are a set of technical measures and activities by which IAEA seeks to verify that nuclear material subject to safeguards is not diverted to nuclear weapons or other proscribed purposes. To carry out its safeguards activities, inspectors and analysts in IAEA’s Safeguards Department collaborate to verify ... | In July 2015, multilateral talks with Iran culminated in an agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), through which Iran committed to limits on its nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions put in place by the United States and other nations. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IA... |
The Federal Payment Reauthorization Act of 1994 requires that the mayor of the District of Columbia submit to Congress a statement of measurable and objective performance goals for the significant activities of the District government (i.e., the performance accountability plan). After the end of the each fiscal year, t... | This report examines the progress the District of Columbia has made with its fiscal year 2001 performance accountability report and highlights continuing challenges facing our nation's capital. The District must submit a performance accountability plan with goals for the coming fiscal year and, at the end of the fiscal... |
Congress passed the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (the 1988 Trade Act) to achieve macroeconomic and exchange rate policies consistent with a sustainable current account balance. The law increases the executive branch’s accountability for assessing the impact of international economic and exchange rate p... | The 1988 Trade Act requires the Department of the Treasury to annually assess whether countries manipulate their currencies for trade advantage and to report semiannually on specific aspects of exchange rate policy. Some observers have been concerned that China and Japan may have maintained undervalued currencies, with... |
The FBI was founded in 1908 to serve as the primary investigative unit of the Department of Justice. Its missions include protecting the nation from foreign intelligence and terrorist threats, investigating serious federal crimes, providing leadership and assistance to law enforcement agencies, and being responsive to ... | The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is currently modernizing its information technology (IT) systems to support its efforts to adopt a more bureauwide, integrated approach to performing its mission. A key element of such systems modernization programs is the use of an enterprise architecture (EA), which is a blue... |
State’s $162 million Biometric Visa Program is designed to work hand-in- hand with the DHS multibillion-dollar US-VISIT program. Both programs aim to improve U.S. border security by verifying the identity of persons entering the United States. Both programs rely on the DHS Automated Biographic Identification System, kn... | Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. government has made a concerted effort to strengthen border security by enhancing visa issuance policies and procedures, as well as expanding screening of the millions of foreign visitors who enter the United States annually. Consistent with the 9/11 Commission report that recommends ... |
STEM fields include a wide range of disciplines and occupations, including agriculture, physics, psychology, medical technology, and automotive engineering. Many of these fields require completion of advanced courses in mathematics or science, subjects that are first introduced and developed at the kindergarten through... | The United States is a world leader in scientific and technological innovation. To help maintain this advantage, the federal government has spent billions of dollars on education programs in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields for many years. However, concerns have been raised about the ... |
Numerous international and domestic organizations play a role in the security of maritime energy commodities. The list of stakeholders outside the United States is quite diverse. They include international organizations, governments of nations where tankers load or where tankers are registered, and owners and operators... | U. S. energy needs rest heavily on ship-based imports. Tankers bring 55 percent of the nation's crude oil supply, as well as liquefied gases and refined products like jet fuel. This supply chain is potentially vulnerable in many places here and abroad, as borne out by several successful overseas attacks on ships and fa... |
Section 861 of the NDAA for FY2008 directed the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the USAID Administrator to sign an MOU related to contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The law specified a number of issues to be covered in the MOU, including the identification of each agency’s roles and responsibilities... | The Departments of Defense (DOD) and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have relied extensively on contractors to provide a range of services in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as GAO has previously reported, the agencies have faced challenges in obtaining sufficient information to plan and manag... |
Health insurance helps children obtain health care. Children without health insurance are less likely to have routine doctor visits, seek care for injuries, and have a regular source of medical care. Their families are more likely to take them to a clinic or emergency room (ER) rather than a private physician or health... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed state and private efforts to insure children who are not eligible for Medicaid and whose parents cannot purchase private insurance, focusing on: (1) enrollment, costs, funding sources, and annual budgets of these state and private programs; (2) state strategies to manag... |
The Coast Guard is an Armed Service of the United States and the only military organization within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is the principle federal agency responsible for maritime safety, security, and environmental stewardship through multi-mission resources, authorities, and capabilities. To acc... | The U.S. Coast Guard, a multi-mission maritime military service within the Department of Homeland Security, has requested more than $9 billion for fiscal year 2009 to address its responsibilities for homeland security missions (such as undocumented migrant interdiction) and non-homeland security missions (such as envir... |
Historically, state governments have sued and been sued by others in federal court for intellectual property infringement just like any other owner or user of intellectual property. The landscape changed dramatically in June 1999, however, when the Supreme Court ruled in Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense ... | Intellectual property--which includes federally granted patents, trademarks, and copyrights--is often owned or used by state governmental entities, such as public institutions of higher education. Until recently, state entities that made unauthorized use of, or "infringed," the intellectual property of others were subj... |
Medicare covers about 40 million elderly (over 65 years old) and disabled beneficiaries. Individuals who are eligible for Medicare automatically receive Hospital Insurance, known as part A, which helps pay for inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility, hospice, and certain home health services. A beneficiary general... | To assist low-income beneficiaries with their share of premiums and other out-of-pocket costs associated with Medicare, Congress has created four Medicare savings programs. Historic low enrollment in these programs has been attributed to several factors, including lack of awareness about the programs, and cumbersome el... |
Compounded drugs may include sterile and nonsterile preparations, which, like all drug products, are made up of active and inactive ingredients. The active ingredient or ingredients in a compounded drug may be one or more FDA-approved products or may be bulk drug substances. Bulk drug substances—usually raw powders—are... | Drug compounding is a process whereby a pharmacist mixes or alters ingredients to create a drug tailored to the medical needs of an individual patient. Compounded drugs make up 1 to 3 percent of the $300 billion domestic prescription drug market. Compounded drugs and some of their ingredients are not approved by FDA. M... |
DOE program offices manage the department’s 17 national laboratories and support the department’s diverse missions, as follows: The Office of Science oversees 10 national laboratories and, for fiscal year 2012, received appropriations of more than $4.3 billion to operate these laboratories. The Office of Science is the... | DOE's 17 national laboratories house cutting-edge scientific facilities and equipment, ranging from high-performance computers to ultra-bright X-ray sources for investigating fundamental properties of materials. DOE allows the capabilities of the laboratories to be made available to perform work for other federal agenc... |
Our objective was to assess IRS’ performance during the 1995 filing season. To achieve our objective, we interviewed IRS National Office officials and IRS officials in the Atlanta, Austin, Cincinnati, Fresno, Kansas City, Memphis, and Ogden service centers responsible for the various activities we assessed; tested the ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) performance during the 1995 tax filing season, focusing on the: (1) processing of individual income tax returns and refunds; (2) ability of taxpayers to reach IRS by telephone; and (3) new IRS computer system for processing returns. ... |
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 (e.g., electricity networks, including power lines and customer meters). This use of IT can provide many benefits, such as greater efficiency and lower costs to consumers. However,... |
The DRC is a vast, mineral-rich nation with an estimated population of about 75 million people and an area that is roughly one-quarter the size of the United States, according to the UN. The map in figure 1 shows the DRC’s provinces and adjoining countries. Since its independence in 1960, the DRC has undergone politica... | Armed groups in eastern DRC continue to commit severe human rights abuses and profit from the exploitation of minerals, according to the United Nations. Congress included a provision in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that, among other things, directed SEC to promulgate disclosure and... |
The ability to find, organize, use, share, appropriately dispose of, and save records—the essence of records management—is vital for the effective functioning of the federal government. In the wake of the transition from paper-based to electronic processes, records are increasingly electronic, and the volumes of electr... | Since 2001, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been working to develop an Electronic Records Archive (ERA) to preserve and provide access to massive volumes and all types of electronic records. However, in acquiring this system, NARA has repeatedly revised the program schedule and increased the... |
DOD submitted the first version of its long-term corrosion strategy to Congress in December 2003. DOD developed this long-term strategy in response to direction in the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003. In November 2004, DOD revised its long-term corrosion strategy and issued its DOD Cor... | According to DOD, corrosion can significantly affect the cost of facility maintenance and the expected service life of DOD facilities. While corrosion is not always highly visible, it can lead to structural failure, loss of capital investment, and environmental damage. In response to a congressional request, GAO review... |
The federal government spent more than $90 billion on domestic food and nutrition assistance programs in fiscal year 2010. This assistance is provided through a decentralized system of primarily 18 different federal programs that help ensure that millions of low-income individuals have consistent, dependable access to ... | This testimony discusses our first annual report to Congress responding to the statutory requirement that GAO identify federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives--either within departments or governmentwide--that have duplicative goals or activities. This work can help inform government policymakers as they a... |
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union established several hundred research institutes that were dedicated to the research, development, and production of weapons of mass destruction. Although precise figures are not available, science center officials estimate that at the time of the Soviet Union’s collapse, from 30,00... | Since 1994, the United States has appropriated $227 million to support two multilateral science centers in Russia and Ukraine. The science centers pay scientists who once developed nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and missile systems for the Soviet Union to conduct peaceful research. By employing scientists at... |
As with servicemembers and federal workers, industry personnel must obtain a security clearance to gain access to classified information, which is categorized into three levels: top secret, secret, and confidential. The level of classification denotes the degree of protection required for information and the amount of ... | The damage that unauthorized disclosure of classified information can cause to national security necessitates the prompt and careful consideration of who is granted a security clearance. However, long-standing delays and other problems with DOD's clearance program led GAO to designate it a high-risk area in January 200... |
According to our Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, transactions and other significant events should be authorized and executed only by persons acting within the scope of their authority. Although review of transactions by persons in authority is the principal means of assuring that transactions ... | The use of government purchase cards has increased in recent years as agencies have sought to eliminate the bureaucracy and paperwork long associated with small purchases. At the same time, agencies need to have adequate internal controls in place to protect the government from waste, fraud, and abuse. GAO found signif... |
As I mentioned earlier, as has been the case for the previous 6 fiscal years, the federal government continues to have a significant number of material weaknesses related to financial systems, fundamental recordkeeping and financial reporting, and incomplete documentation. Several of these material weaknesses (referred... | GAO is required to audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government. Proper accounting and reporting practices are essential in the public sector. The U.S. government is the largest, most diverse, most complex, and arguably the most important entity on earth today. Its services--homeland security, nat... |
The cannabis plant, commonly known as marijuana, is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. According to recent national survey figures, over 75 percent of the 14 million illicit drug users 12 years or older are estimated to have used marijuana alone or with other drugs in the month prior to the survey.... | A number of states have adopted laws that allow medical use of marijuana. Federal law, however, does not recognize any accepted medical use for marijuana and individuals remain subject to federal prosecution for marijuana possession. Debate continues over medical effectiveness of marijuana, and over government policies... |
USPS’s mail processing network consists of multiple facilities with different functions, as shown in a simplified version of this complex network in figure 1. USPS can receive mail into its processing network from different sources such as mail carriers, post offices, and mailing companies. Once USPS receives mail from... | Deteriorating financial conditions and declining mail volume have reinforced the need for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to increase operational efficiency and reduce expenses in its mail processing network. This network consists of interdependent functions in nearly 600 facilities. USPS developed several initiatives t... |
OMB’s 2000 standards replaced the 1990 standards for metropolitan areas. Some of the terms have changed, and appendix II provides an explanation of the key terms used in the new standards. OMB’s 2000 standards provide for the identification of the following statistical areas in the United States and Puerto Rico: metrop... | For the past 50 years, the federal government has had a metropolitan area program designed to provide a nationally consistent set of standards for collecting, tabulating, and publishing federal statistics for geographic areas in the United States and Puerto Rico. Before each decennial census, the Office of Management a... |
As federal employees plan for their eventual retirement from government service, they often consider many financial and lifestyle issues. Agency- provided retirement education is generally the primary source of the information that employees need to plan for these issues before they retire. Retirement benefits represen... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the retirement education that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and agencies provide to federal civilian employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). GAO noted that: (1) OPM and the experts wi... |
One of DOD’s goals is to prepare its combat units for wartime operations by providing units with the most realistic training possible. DOD operates and maintains hundreds of training ranges located throughout the country. Its combat units use training areas located in a wide variety of climates and include the full sca... | A fundamental principle of military readiness is that the military must train as it intends to fight, and military training ranges allow the Department of Defense (DOD) to accomplish this goal. According to DOD officials, heightened focus on the application of environmental statutes has affected the use of its training... |
Since the 1980s, the United States and Canada have been engaged in a trade dispute regarding softwood lumber. One of the main causes of the dispute is differences in costs for timber harvested on public land in Canada as compared with timber from private land in the United States. In Canada, federal and provincial gove... | In 2006, the United States and Canada signed the Softwood Lumber Agreement. The agreement, among other things, imposed export charges and quotas on Canadian lumber exports to the United States. To assist in monitoring compliance with the agreement, in 2008 Congress passed the Softwood Lumber Act, which imposed several ... |
Funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, pre-need plans, and third party sales of funeral goods are all various segments of the death care industry, and the federal and state governments both have a role in regulating the industry. In 1999 and 2003, we reported on various aspects of federal and state regulation of the d... | Media reports have identified instances of desecration of graves and human remains at cemeteries, and in one instance, reported that bodies were removed from graves and the sites resold. Allegations have also surfaced about the mismanagement of pre-need plans that are designed to provide consumers the opportunity to fu... |
Although State has not yet formally defined what constitutes a soft target, State Department travel warnings and security officers generally consider soft targets to be places where Americans and other westerners live, congregate, shop, or visit, such as hotels, clubs, restaurants, shopping centers, housing compounds, ... | U.S. government officials working overseas are at risk from terrorist threats. Since 1968, 32 embassy officials have been attacked--23 fatally--by terrorists outside the embassy. As the State Department continues to improve security at U.S. embassies, terrorist groups are likely to focus on "soft" targets--such as home... |
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.