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ATM transactions involve several different participants, including the customer at the terminal (the “consumer”); financial institutions such as banks, thrifts, and credit unions; and other entities involved in electronically processing transactions. Financial institutions typically issue debit cards to account holders... | Since the 1960s, consumers have increasingly used ATMs to easily access their accounts and conduct transactions such as cash withdrawals. Consumers may incur fees to use ATMs, such as a surcharge fee, which is paid to the ATM operator for transactions conducted at ATMs outside their financial institutions network. I... |
Studies published by the Institute of Medicine and other organizations have indicated that fragmented, disorganized, and inaccessible clinical information adversely affects the quality of health care and compromises patient safety. In addition, long-standing problems with medical errors and inefficiencies increase cost... | The expanding implementation of health information technology (IT) and electronic health information exchange networks raises concerns regarding the extent to which the privacy of individuals' electronic health information is protected. In April 2004, President Bush called for the Department of Health and Human Service... |
Based on state responses to our survey, we estimated that nearly 617,000, or about 89 percent of the approximately 693,000 regulated tanks, had been upgraded with the federally required equipment by the end of fiscal year 2000. EPA data showed that about 70 percent of the total number of tanks that its regions regulate... | Contaminated soil or water resulting from leaks at underground storage tanks can pose serious health risks. In 1984, Congress created the Underground Storage Tank (UST) program to protect the public from potential leaks. Under the program, the Environmental Protection Agency required tank owners to install new leak det... |
U.S. citizens residing abroad are generally subject to the same filing requirements as citizens residing in the United States. In particular, section 6012 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) requires individuals to file tax returns if they meet certain gross income thresholds, regardless of whether or not they owe taxes... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the tax compliance of U.S. citizens residing in foreign countries, focusing on: (1) whether it is possible, given available data, to estimate the prevalence and revenue impact of nonfiling among U.S. citizens residing abroad; (2) factors that may limit th... |
Between January 1999 and May 2000, the U.N. Security Council adopted 10 resolutions authorizing new peacekeeping operations or significantly expanding existing ones, including 8 resolutions for operations in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Table 1 lists the eight decisions and the da... | Presidential Decision Directive 25 states that U.S. involvement in international peacekeeping operations must be selective and effective. Toward this end, the directive established guidance that U.S. officials must consider before deciding whether to support proposed operations, including whether the operations advance... |
About 53,000 children died from a range of causes in the United States in 2007—the latest year for which national data were available—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Major causes of death among children include conditions originating in the perinatal period, accidents (such as motor v... | Children's deaths from maltreatment are especially distressing because they involve a failure on the part of adults who were responsible for protecting them. Questions have been raised as to whether the federal National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), which is based on voluntary state reports to the Depar... |
SBA coordinates and oversees the efforts of the 11 agencies currently participating in the SBIR program. SBA coordinates the agencies’ schedules for issuing solicitations—announcements of opportunities for small businesses to apply for awards—and provides access to these solicitations through its Web site. As part of i... | Federal agencies with a budget of at least $100 million for research and development (R&D) conducted by others must participate in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. SBIR has four purposes: meet federal R&D needs; stimulate technological innovation; increase commercialization (e.g., sales) of innova... |
Antibiotics are substances that destroy microorganisms or inhibit their growth; they have been used for 70 years to treat people who have bacterial infections. In this report, the term antibiotic is used to refer to any substance used to kill or inhibit microorganisms, also sometimes referred to as an antimicrobial. Re... | Antibiotics have saved millions of lives, but antibiotic use in food animals contributes to the emergence of resistant bacteria that may affect humans. The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) are primarily responsible for ensuring food safety. GAO reviewed the issue in 2004 and recomme... |
In fiscal year 2001, the latest period for which data are available, the Minerals Management Service reported that it collected about $5.2 billion in gas royalties and about $2.3 billion in oil royalties. There are more than 20,000 producing federal leases located in the continental United States and Alaska and more th... | In fiscal year 2001, the federal government collected $7.5 billion in royalties from the sale of oil and gas produced on federal lands. Although most oil and gas companies pay royalties in cash, the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) has the option to take a percentage of the oil and gas pro... |
VA operates one of the largest health care systems in America, providing care to millions of veterans and their families each year. The department’s health information system—VistA—serves an essential role in helping the department to fulfill its health care delivery mission. Specifically, VistA is an integrated medica... | VA operates one of the nation's largest health care systems, serving millions of veterans each year. For almost two decades, the department has undertaken a patchwork of initiatives with DOD to increase interoperability between their respective electronic health record systems. During much of this time, VA has also bee... |
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 their year of birth. Social Security retirement benefits are based on the worker’s ... | Social Security covers about 96 percent of all US workers; the vast majority of the rest are state, local, and federal government employees. While these noncovered workers do not pay Social Security taxes on their government earnings, they may still be eligible for Social Security benefits. This poses difficult issues ... |
The Congress passed the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 to promote the creation of a global satellite communications system. As a result of this legislation, the United States joined with 84 other nations in establishing the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization—more commonly known as INTELSAT—ro... | In 2000, the Congress passed the Open-market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications Act (ORBIT Act) to help promote a more competitive global satellite services market. The ORBIT Act called for the full privatization of INTELSAT, a former intergovernmental organization that provided inter... |
Between 2006 and 2011, Congress initiated two significant efforts to increase public awareness of, and access to, federal spending data: the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA), and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Both acts mandated the creation of publ... | The federal government spends more than $3.7 trillion annually, with more than $1 trillion awarded through contracts, grants, and loans. Improving transparency of spending is essential to improve accountability. Recent federal laws have required increased public information on federal awards and spending. GAO was asked... |
To be eligible for DI or SSI benefits, an individual generally must have a medically determined physical or mental impairment that (1) has lasted or is expected to last at least 1 year or result in death and (2) prevents the individual from engaging in substantial gainful activity (SGA). Once an individual is receiving... | The Social Security Administration (SSA) pays billions of dollars in Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income to people with disabilities. The Ticket to Work program, established in 1999, provides eligible beneficiaries (ticket holder) with a ticket they may assign to approved service providers, called emp... |
Education’s changes to SIG requirements in 2010 have led to new responsibilities for the agency, states, and school districts. These entities all play key roles in the SIG award and implementation process, with Education supporting and overseeing state SIG efforts. Before awarding formula grants to states, Education re... | The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program funds reforms in low performing schools. Congress provided $3.5 billion for SIG in fiscal year 2009, and a total of about $1.6 billion was appropriated in fiscal years 2010-2012. SIG requirements changed significantly in 2010. Many schools receiving SIG funds must now use the ... |
The Coast Guard is in the process of receiving 14 C-27Js as a part of a Congressionally mandated transfer, at no cost to the Coast Guard, from the Air Force, and these aircraft are planned to significantly contribute to the Coast Guard’s missions once they are operational. However, as we reported in March 2015, it will... | The Coast Guard is managing a multi-billion dollar effort to modernize aging assets, including ships, aircraft, and information technology, to provide new capabilities to conduct missions ranging from marine safety to defense readiness. The Coast Guard has made progress in its acquisition management capabilities, such ... |
Under the CAA, EPA establishes health-based air quality standards that the states must meet and regulates air pollutant emissions from various sources, including industrial facilities and mobile sources such as automobiles. EPA has issued standards for six primary pollutants—carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, ozon... | Recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revisions to the New Source Review (NSR) program--a key component of the federal government's plan to limit harmful industrial emissions--have been under scrutiny by the Congress, environmental groups, state and local air quality agencies, the courts, and several industry gr... |
GSA’s existing government-wide telecommunications program is the successor to a series of programs that have provided data services and long-distance telecommunications to the federal government. In 1998 and 1999, GSA awarded two sets of contracts under the FTS2001 program, which was designed to meet agency needs for v... | GSA is responsible for contracts providing telecommunications services for federal agencies. Transitions involving previous contracts faced significant delays resulting in increased costs. Because GSA's current telecommunications program, Networx, expires in May 2020, planning for the next transition has begun. GAO was... |
In fiscal year 1998, the Congress appropriated $25 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) programs, which represented a 30-percent increase over the fiscal year 1997 level of $19.3 billion. HUD provides rental housing assistance-about $21 billion in fiscal ... | Pursuant to a congressional request and a legislative requirement, GAO: (1) reviewed the accuracy of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) estimate of unexpended budget authority in the Section 8 tenant-based program; and (2) assessed HUD's budget formulation process for this program. GAO noted that: ... |
State has authority to acquire, manage, and dispose of real property abroad. Specifically, the Foreign Buildings Act (Act) of 1926, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of State to acquire by purchase, construction, exchange, or lease sites and buildings in foreign cities for use by diplomatic and consular establishmen... | The Department of State (State) holds or leases about 70-million square feet of real estate in about 275 posts worldwide and has the authority to construct, acquire, manage, and dispose of real property abroad. GAO was asked to review State's management of overseas real property. This report examines: (1) what is known... |
Our financial audits have found that IRS’ financial statement amounts for revenue, in total and by type of tax, were not derived from its revenue general ledger accounting system or its master files of detailed individual taxpayer records. The revenue accounting system does not contain detailed information by type of t... | GAO discussed its financial audits of the Internal Revenue Service for fiscal years 1992 through 1995. GAO noted that: (1) IRS relied on alternative sources to obtain revenue totals by type of tax for its financial statements; (2) IRS financial statements include various discrepancies that cannot be explained because o... |
The Great Lakes Basin covers approximately 300,000 square miles, encompassing Michigan and parts of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario (see fig. 1), as well as lands that are home to more than 40 Native American tribes. It includes the five Great ... | The GLRI seeks to address issues such as water quality contamination and nonnative, or “invasive,” species that threaten the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. A Task Force of 11 federal agencies, chaired by the EPA Administrator, oversees the GLRI. Task Force agencies conduct work themselves or through agreements wi... |
IRS designed NRP to obtain new information about taxpayers’ compliance with the tax laws. While IRS is using NRP to measure voluntary filing, reporting, and payment compliance, the majority of NRP efforts are devoted to obtaining accurate voluntary reporting compliance data. In measuring reporting compliance, IRS’s two... | The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) needs up-to-date information on voluntary compliance in order to assess and improve its programs. IRS's last detailed study of voluntary compliance was done in the late 1980s, so the compliance information IRS is using today is not current. IRS is now carrying out the National Researc... |
OCS planning, integration, and policy roles and responsibilities, along with the associated contractor-management functions,of DOD command and staff, including the following entities: The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics has overall responsibility for establishing and publishing poli... | DOD has spent billions of dollars on contract support during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 and anticipates continuing its heavy reliance on contractors in future operations. Generally, OCS is the process of planning for and obtaining needed supplies and services from commercial sources in support of joi... |
Compared with the traditional Medicare FFS program, HMOs typically cost beneficiaries less money and cover additional benefits. In addition to covering all Medicare part A and part B benefits, advantages of Medicare HMOs typically include low or no monthly premiums, expanded benefit coverage, and reduced out-of-pocket ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined a mature managed care market to determine: (1) the extent to which Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions enroll in health maintenance organizations (HMO); (2) whether beneficiaries with chronic conditions who enroll in HMOs are as costly as those remaining in f... |
MDBs are autonomous international financial entities that finance economic and social development projects and programs in developing countries. All members participate in oversight and the setting of operating policies of the MDBs through their participation on the boards of governors. The MDBs primarily fund these pr... | This report discusses Multilateral Development Banks (MDB), which provide financial support for projects and programs that promote social and economic progress in developing countries. GAO provides (1) summaries of each bank's mission, function, and operations; (2) key bank financial data covering the last three fiscal... |
In March 1997, a White House memorandum implemented adjudicative guidelines, temporary eligibility standards, and investigative standards governmentwide. The National Security Council is responsible for overseeing these guidelines and standards. Within DOD, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence ... | Because of increased awareness of threats to national security and efforts to privatize federal jobs, the demand for security clearances for government and industry personnel has increased. Industry personnel are taking on a greater role in national security work for the Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal ag... |
Historically, people with SMI were cared for primarily in hospitals. States developed a system of public mental hospitals, but by the 1960s they were viewed as ineffective and inadequate because of overcrowding, staff shortages, and poor facilities. Advocates and reformers contended that long-term institutional care in... | Between 1987 and 1997, the growth in mental health spending in the United States roughly paralleled the growth in overall health care spending. However, federal mental health spending grew at more than twice the rate of state and local spending. This led to the federal government's share surpassing that of state and lo... |
The Department of the Navy’s (DON) primary mission is to organize, train, maintain, and equip combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression by would-be foes, preserving freedom of the seas, and promoting peace and security. Its operating forces, known as the fleet, are supported by four system... | The Department of Defense (DOD) has long been challenged in effectively implementing key acquisition management controls on its thousands of business system investments. For this and other reasons, GAO has designated DOD's business systems modernization efforts as high-risk since 1995. One major business system investm... |
Under federal statutes, executive orders, and department-level guidance, DOD is to meet various renewable energy goals. Statutory goals include the following: Production. DOD is to adopt the goal to produce or procure not less than 25 percent of the total quantity of facility energy it consumes within its facilities fr... | By law and executive order, DOD is to pursue goals for the production and consumption of renewable energy. Also, DOD policy calls for investing in cost-effective renewable energy and improving energy security—addressing risks such as disruption of electricity grids serving military installations. The Joint Explanatory ... |
Influenza is associated with an average of more than 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths each year in the United States. Most people who get the flu recover completely in 1 to 2 weeks, but some develop serious and life-threatening medical complications, such as pneumonia. People who are aged 65 and older, people... | Influenza is associated with an average of 36,000 deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States. Persons who are aged 65 and older, people with chronic medical conditions, children younger than 2 years, and pregnant women are more likely to get severe complications from influenza than oth... |
GAO’s work helps to facilitate holding agencies accountable for delivering positive results in an economical, efficient, effective, ethical, and equitable manner. I would like to highlight just a few of our recent efforts to assist the Congress in identifying and addressing areas for continued or additional oversight: ... | The Committee sought GAO's views on the role GAO has played in assisting congressional oversight and the authorities and resources GAO needs to further improve its assistance to the Congress. Today's testimony discusses some of the ways that GAO has helped "set the table" for this Committee, the Congress, the executive... |
In the past, USDA had several persistent weaknesses in internal control and in accounting and financial reporting that contributed to the OIG’s inability to render an opinion on the department’s consolidated financial statements. The OIG reported, among other things, that USDA was unable to: provide sufficient, compete... | In January, we issued our Performance and Accountability Series on management challenges and program risks at major agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The report for USDA focused on a number of major management challenges, including enhancing financial management, and continued the high risk... |
IRS estimated, for tax year 2001, that $11 billion of the tax gap could be attributed to individual taxpayers who misreport income from capital assets, such as securities and other assets owned for investment or personal purposes. Specific to securities transactions, we estimated based on IRS data and examination of ca... | Effective implementation of two 2008 laws by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could increase taxpayers' voluntary compliance. Those laws require reporting to IRS and taxpayers of cost basis for sales of certain securities and of transaction settlement information (i.e., merchants' income from payment cards or third p... |
Under PPACA, health-care marketplaces were intended to provide a single point of access for individuals to enroll in private health plans, apply for income-based subsidies to offset the cost of these plans— which, as noted, are not paid directly to enrollees, but instead are paid to health-insurance issuers—and, as app... | PPACA provides for the establishment of health-insurance marketplaces where consumers can, among other things, select private health-insurance plans or apply for Medicaid. The act requires verification of applicant information to determine enrollment or subsidy eligibility. In addition, PPACA provided for the expansion... |
As part of a Navy-wide infrastructure cost reduction initiative, the Navy is restructuring its shore establishment by consolidating installation management functions in areas where significant concentrations of Navy activities exist, such as San Diego, California, Jacksonville, Florida, and—for purposes of this report—... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) the Navy's site selection process for its northeast regional command; (2) the extent to which the Navy fully evaluated the costs and implications of establishing a new command at the Naval Weapons Station (NWS) Earle, New Jersey, versus the Naval Submarine Base (NS... |
This section describes the following general aspects of EPA’s management of discretionary grants: (1) types of grants awarded by EPA; (2) EPA’s competition policy and grants management plan; (3) new discretionary grant awards; and (4) amendments to discretionary grant awards. EPA generally awards three types of grants ... | EPA annually awards hundreds of discretionary grants, totaling about $500 million. EPA has the discretion to determine grantees and amounts for these grants, which fund a range of activities, from environmental research to wetlands restoration. EPA awards and manages discretionary grants at 10 headquarters program offi... |
Many individuals receiving monthly compensation and pension benefits from the VA have mental impairments that can prevent them from managing their finances. These conditions may result from injury, disease, or infirmities of age. The VA Fiduciary Program matches beneficiaries who are unable to manage their financial af... | The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays billions of dollars in compensation and pension benefits to disabled veterans and their dependents. For those beneficiaries who are unable to manage their own affairs, VA appoints a third party, called a fiduciary, to manage their VA funds. Congress, VA's Office of Inspector... |
The federal government’s increasing demand for IT has led to an increase in the number of federal data centers and a corresponding increase in operational costs. According to OMB, the federal government reported 432 data centers in 1998, 2,094 in July 2010, and 9,995 in August 2016. Operating such a large number of cen... | In December 2014, FITARA was enacted and included a series of provisions related to improving the performance of data centers, including requiring OMB to establish optimization metrics and agencies to report on progress toward meeting the metrics. OMB's Federal Chief Information Officer subsequently launched DCOI to bu... |
DOD has undergone four BRAC rounds since 1988 and is currently implementing its fifth round. In May 2005, the Secretary of Defense made public more than 200 recommendations that DOD estimated would generate net annual recurring savings of about $5.5 billion beginning in fiscal year 2012. Ultimately, the BRAC Commission... | The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round is the biggest, most complex, and costliest BRAC round ever. In addition to base closures, many recommendations involve realignments, such as returning forces to the United States from bases overseas and creating joint bases. However, anticipated savings remained an im... |
The Joint Forces Command, in coordination with the Joint Staff, the services, and other combatant commands and DOD agencies, is responsible for creating and exploring new joint war-fighting concepts, as well as for planning, designing, conducting, and assessing a program of joint experimentation. The Command executed i... | The Department of Defense (DOD) considers the transformation of the U.S. military a strategic imperative to meet the security challenges of the new century. In October 1998, DOD established a joint concept development and experimentation program to provide the engine of change for this transformation. In the nearly 4 y... |
To identify whether factors limit VA’s ability to recover more of its billed charges, we studied the recovery programs at VA’s Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C., medical centers. We selected the two medical centers in consultation with officials working in VA’s Medical Care Cost Recovery (MCCR) program. ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) efforts to recover from private health insurers the costs it incurs to provide health care services to veterans with no service-connected disabilities, focusing on: (1) those factors that limit VA's ability to recover more of its... |
Prior to enactment of the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA), which first established incentives for conducting pediatric drug studies in the form of additional market exclusivity, few drugs were studied for pediatric use. As a result, there was a lack of information on optimal dosage, possi... | About two-thirds of drugs that are prescribed for children have not been studied and labeled for pediatric use, which places children at risk of being exposed to ineffective treatment or incorrect dosing. The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA), enacted in 2002, encourages the manufacturers, or sponsors, of dr... |
In 1981, Congress created the research tax credit to encourage business to do more research. The credit has never been a permanent part of the tax code. Since its enactment on a temporary basis in 1981, the credit has been extended six times and modified four times. The research tax credit has always been incremental i... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed eight studies of the research tax credit, focusing on the: (1) adequacy of the studies' data and methods to determine the amount of research spending stimulated per dollar of foregone tax revenue; and (2) other factors that determine the credit's value to society. GAO f... |
Two-thirds of all crude oil consumed in the United States is used by the transportation sector, with gasoline accounting for two-thirds of that total. The second largest consumer of crude oil is the industrial sector, including refineries and petrochemical industries, which account for another 25 percent of that total.... | California is the nation's fourth largest producer of crude oil and has the third largest oil refining industry (behind Texas and Louisiana). Because crude oil is a globally traded commodity, natural and geopolitical events can affect its price. These fluctuations affect state revenues because a share of the royalty pa... |
For the past several years, DOD has planned and budgeted for about 1.4 million active military personnel active duty forces: about 482,400 in the Army; 359,300 in the Air Force; 373,800 in the Navy; and 175,000 in the Marine Corps. These active duty personnel levels have been generally stable since the mid-1990s, when ... | Congress recently increased active military personnel levels for the Army and the Marine Corps. The Secretary of Defense has undertaken initiatives to use military personnel more efficiently such as rebalancing high-demand skills between active and reserve components. In view of concerns about active personnel, GAO rev... |
In conducting our work, we interviewed headquarters officials at DHS, DOJ, the Department of the Interior (DOI), and USDA; analyzed DHS documentation; and conducted site visits to four northern border locations. We selected Border Patrol’s Blaine, Spokane, Detroit, and Swanton sectors to visit as they comprise a mix of... | The challenges of securing the U.S.-Canadian border involve the coordination of multiple partners. The results of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) efforts to integrate border security among its components and across federal, state, local, tribal, and Canadian partners are unclear. GAO was asked to address th... |
Federal power marketing administrations (PMAs) are part of the Department of Energy (DOE). The five PMAs sell electric power within 34 states—to all states except those in the Northeast and upper Midwest. They sold about 3 percent of the nation’s electric power output in 1994. Almost all of it is hydroelectric power ge... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed three power marketing administrations' (PMA) cost recovery practices, and financing for capital projects, focusing on how these PMA differ from nonfederal utilities. GAO found that: (1) the three PMA are not recovering through power rates some costs related to producing... |
According to EPA’s most recent estimate, in 1991 about 435,000 facilities used one or more aboveground tanks to store petroleum, refined petroleum products, and nonpetroleum oils. According to a trade group survey, about 83 percent of the tanks that store petroleum and petroleum products had a capacity of 500 barrels o... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) actions to address weaknesses in the regulation and inspection of aboveground oil storage tanks (AST), and provided information on the age, size, and other characteristics of AST. GAO found that: (1) EPA has not fully implemen... |
Security at federal courthouses is complex and involves multiple federal stakeholders with different roles and responsibilities (see fig. 1). A 1997 memorandum of agreement (MOA) between these entities defines the roles and responsibilities for each of these stakeholders in protecting federal courthouses and the federa... | The variety of civil and criminal cases tried in 400-plus federal courthouses can pose security risks. The CSP was started in 2012 and was designed to be a less costly alternative to building new federal courthouses by adding key security features to existing courthouses. Congress has provided $20 million in obligation... |
The federal government owns onshore mineral resources, including oil and gas, under about 700 million acres of land. These resources are located below the surface land—known as the subsurface. While the federal government owns all or part of the mineral resources in the subsurface, it does not necessarily own the surfa... | U.S. consumption of oil and natural gas increasingly outpaces domestic production, a gap that is expected to grow rapidly over the next 20 years. There has been increasing concern about U.S. reliance on foreign energy sources. One option being considered is to increase domestic production of resources on land under the... |
The 2005 Act made access to safe water and sanitation a U.S. foreign policy objective. Specifically, the act aimed to promote the provision of access to safe water and sanitation to countries, locales, and people with greatest need, including the very poor, women, and other vulnerable populations. Congress passed the 2... | Millions of people in developing countries lack access to safe water and improved sanitation. Congress passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 to improve access to safe water and sanitation for developing countries. In 2013, USAID released its first Water and Development Strategy , which includes t... |
The Launching Our Communities’ Access to Local Television Act of 2000 created a guaranteed loan program to facilitate access to signals of local television stations for households located in nonserved and underserved areas of the United States. The Act established the LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Board (Board) whose... | The LOCAL TV Act required that GAO perform an annual audit of the (1) administration of the provisions of the Act, and (2) financial position of each applicant who receives a loan guarantee under the Act, including the nature, amount, and purpose of investments made by the applicant. In fiscal year 2002, the LOCAL TV P... |
In our June 2015 and April 2016 reports examining CMS screening procedures, we found weaknesses in CMS’s verification of provider practice location, physician licensure status, providers listed as deceased or excluded from participating in federal programs or health care–related programs, and criminal-background histor... | In fiscal year 2015, Medicare paid $568.9 billion for health care and related services. CMS estimates that $59.6 billion (about 10.5 percent) of that total was paid improperly. To establish and maintain Medicare billing privileges, providers and suppliers must be enrolled in a CMS database known as PECOS. About 1.9 mil... |
For many years we have advocated the use of a risk management approach that entails managing risk through actions, including setting strategic goals and objectives, assessing risk, allocating resources based on risk, evaluating alternatives, selecting initiatives to undertake, and implementing and monitoring those init... | As part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Protective Service (FPS) is responsible for protecting federal employees and visitors in approximately 9,000 federal facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA). FPS has a budget of approximately $1 billion and maintains appro... |
Money laundering is the use or conversion of money gained from illegal activity, such as drug smuggling, as or to money that appears legitimate and whose source cannot be traced to the illegal activity. Law enforcement officials have estimated that between $100 billion and $300 billion in U.S. currency is laundered eac... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined: (1) the extent of legalized gaming in the United States; (2) currency transaction reporting requirements for casinos; (3) whether the same transaction reporting requirements apply to tribal casinos; and (4) the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to ensure that ca... |
Plum Island is a federally owned 840-acre island off the northeastern tip of Long Island, New York. Scientists working at the facility are responsible for protecting U.S. livestock against foreign animal diseases that could be accidentally or deliberately introduced into the United States. Animal health officials defin... | The livestock industry, which contributes over $100 billion annually to the national economy, is vulnerable to foreign animal diseases that, if introduced in the United States, could cause severe economic losses. To protect against such losses, critical research and diagnostic activities are conducted at the Plum Islan... |
USDA’s Food and Consumer Service (FCS) administers WIC through federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education. To qualify, WIC applicants must show evidence of health or nutritional risk that is medically verified by a health professional. In addition, participants must ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the extent to which Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program benefits are accessible to eligible working women, focusing on: (1) the actions taken by local WIC agencies to increase access to WIC benefits for wo... |
DOD defines “common military training” as non-occupational, directed training that sustains readiness, provides common knowledge, enhances awareness, reinforces expected behavioral standards or obligations, and establishes a functional baseline that improves the effectiveness of DOD and its constituent organizations. C... | DOD requires all servicemembers to complete training that provides common knowledge and skills. Common military training across the military services includes topics such as Suicide Prevention, Cybersecurity, and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response. DOD has identified a need to reduce training requirements because o... |
Tritium, which makes possible smaller, more powerful nuclear weapons, decays at a rate of 5.5 percent per year. Therefore, for nuclear weapons to be capable of operating as designed, the tritium in the weapons must be periodically replaced. DOE used to produce new tritium in its reactors at the Savannah River Site, but... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) plans to build a Tritium Extraction Facility at its Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the reports of three different teams responsible for reviewing the project's conceptual design and related products, focusing on: (1) the major... |
DOD’s beneficiaries have four options for obtaining prescription drugs. They can pick them up directly from MTFs, network retail pharmacies, or nonnetwork retail pharmacies. They can also receive them in the mail through DOD’s TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy. DOD operates 536 pharmacies at 121 of its MTFs. Each MTF may hav... | There has been long-standing congressional interest in whether the Department of Defense (DOD) could use the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP) system as a cost-effective alternative to beneficiaries picking up outpatient refill prescriptions at DOD military treatment facil... |
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... | The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 requires agencies to produce annual performance reports. GAO reviewed the Department of Transportation's (DOT) performance reports for fiscal years 2000 and 2002 to assess its progress in achieving selected key outcomes in important mission areas. This report (1) asses... |
CPSC was created in 1972 under the Consumer Product Safety Act (P.L. 92-573) to regulate consumer products that pose an unreasonable risk of injury, to assist consumers in using products safely, and to promote research and investigation into product-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses. CPSC currently has three comm... | GAO discussed the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) procedures to protect consumers from unreasonable risk of injuries, focusing on CPSC's project selection, use of cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment, and information release procedures. GAO noted that: (1) although CPSC has established criteria to help... |
In 1972, Congress passed FACA in response to a concern that federal advisory committees were proliferating without adequate review, oversight, or accountability. Although Congress recognized the value of advisory committees to public policymaking, it included measures in FACA intended to ensure that (1) valid needs exi... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the views of federal advisory committees and federal agencies on Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requirements. GAO noted that: (1) overall, the views presented by both the committee members and agencies GAO surveyed provided useful insights into the... |
Our nation’s border security process for controlling the entry and visits of foreign visitors consists of three primary functions: (1) issuing visas; (2) controlling entries through inspection of passports, visas, and other travel documents as well as controlling exits; and (3) managing stays of foreign visitors—that i... | The National Strategy for Homeland Security calls for preventing the entry of foreign terrorists into our country and using all legal means to identify; halt; and, where appropriate, prosecute or bring immigration or other civil charges against terrorists in the United States. GAO reported in October 2002 that the Depa... |
DOD’s health system, TRICARE, currently offers health care coverage to approximately 6.6 million active duty and retired military personnel under age 65 and their dependents and survivors. An additional 1.5 million retirees aged 65 and over can obtain care when space is available. TRICARE offers three health plans: TRI... | In the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress established a three-year demonstration, called Medicare subvention, to improve the access of Medicare-eligible military retirees to care at military treatment facilities (MTF). The demonstration allowed Medicare-eligible retirees to get their health care largely at MTFs by e... |
To apply for disability benefits through either of SSA’s disability programs—DI or SSI—individuals submit a claim in-person, by telephone, mail, or online. The application and related forms ask for a description of the claimant's impairment (or impairments); sources of the claimant’s treatment, such as doctors, hospita... | SSA in October 2008 implemented CAL to fast track individuals with certain conditions through the disability determination process by prioritizing their disability benefit claims. Since then, SSA has expanded its list of CAL conditions from 50 to 225. GAO was asked to review SSA's implementation of CAL. This report exa... |
The purpose of the Stafford Act is to provide an orderly and continuing means of assistance by the federal government to state and local governments in carrying out their responsibilities to alleviate the suffering and damage which results from disasters. The Stafford Act originally was enacted in 1974 and amended in 1... | In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused unprecedented damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) Individuals and Households Program (IHP), provides direct assistance (temporary housing units) and financial assistance (grant funding for temporary housing and other disaster-related needs) to eligible ... |
As we have previously testified, legislative proposals involving substantial long-term costs and commitments should be considered in the context of the serious fiscal challenges facing this country. The federal government’s liabilities and commitments have grown from $20.4 trillion to $43.3 trillion from fiscal year 20... | Since September 2001, the National Guard has experienced the largest activation of its members since World War II. Currently, over 30 percent of the Army forces now in Iraq are Army National Guard members, and Guard forces have also carried out various homeland security and large-scale disaster response roles. However,... |
The following information discusses our continuing concerns about the long-term viability of the Single-Employer Fund and weaknesses in employee benefit plan audits and reporting. In addition, significant matters involving material weaknesses in internal controls are discussed in a separate section below. The Single-Em... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) Single-Employer Fund and Multiemployer Fund for the fiscal years ended September 30, 1994 and 1993 and evaluated PBGC internal controls and compliance with laws and regulations. GAO found that: (1) PBGC financial statem... |
Refundable tax credits (RTC) differ from other credits because a taxpayer is able to receive a refund check from IRS for the amount their credit exceeds their tax liability. For example, a person who owed $2,000 in taxes, but qualified for $3,000 in EITC would receive a $1,000 refund from IRS. A nonrefundable credit ca... | Refundable tax credits are policy tools available to encourage certain behavior, such as entering the workforce or attending college. GAO was asked to review the design and administration of three large RTCs (the EITC, AOTC, and ACTC). The ACTC is sometimes combined with its nonrefundable counterpart, the Child Tax Cre... |
To obtain information on the number and kinds of issues identified by the FSCPE and bureau analysts and to determine how the bureau used the information developed during the Full Count Review program, we analyzed the work papers submitted by FSCPE members and other participants in the Full Count Review program. We also... | To ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2000 census data, Bureau of the Census analysts were to identify, investigate, and document suspected data discrepancies or issues to clear census data files and products for subsequent processing or public release. They were to determine whether and how to correct the dat... |
Over the last three decades, Congress has enacted several laws to assist agencies and the federal government in managing IT investments. For example, to assist agencies in managing their investments, Congress enacted the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. More recently, in December 2014, Congress enacted IT acquisition reform ... | The President's fiscal year 2017 budget request for IT was more than $89 billion, with much of this amount reportedly for operating and maintaining existing (legacy) IT systems. Given the magnitude of these investments, it is important that agencies effectively manage their IT O&M investments. GAO was asked to summariz... |
Medicaid is the third largest social program in the federal budget and is also one of the largest components of state budgets. Although it is one federal program, Medicaid consists of 56 distinct state-level programs—one for each state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and each U.S. territory. Each state has a design... | State Medicaid programs make a wide variety of payments to individuals, institutions, and managed health care plans for services provided to beneficiaries whose eligibility status may fluctuate because of changes in income. Because of the size and the nature of the program, Medicaid is potentially at risk for billions ... |
DOT and its administrations interact with all levels of government and the private sector. When Congress created DOT in 1966, it combined several existing federal transportation organizations with responsibility over aviation, waterways, railroads, and highways. As shown in figure 1, Congress has taken action over the ... | DOT was established over 50 years ago, in part, to build, maintain, and oversee a vast national transportation system. Millions of Americans rely on this system every day to travel and receive goods and services. DOT is organized into nine modal administrations that are generally responsible for activities related to s... |
Science and technology is traditionally divided into three broad categories: basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development. Basic research attempts to produce new knowledge in a scientific or technological area. This research is not associated with a specific weapon system. Applied research supp... | Congress and the scientific community are concerned that the Air Force's investment in science and technology may be too low to meet the challenges presented by new and emerging threats. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 requires the Air Force to review its science and technology programs to a... |
After a possible hazardous waste site is reported to EPA, it is evaluated to determine whether it should be placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), EPA’s list of sites that present serious threats to human health and the environment. The cleanup at an NPL site consists of several phases. First, through the remedi... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) identified practices that are both used in selected state programs at sites that may be contaminated enough to qualify for long-term cleanup under the Superfund program and that are believed by state officials to reduce the time and expense of cleanups; and (2) obtained the... |
FEHBP is the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the country, providing health insurance coverage for about 8 million federal employees, retirees, and their dependents through contracts with private insurance plans. All currently employed and retired federal workers and their dependents are eligible ... | Average health insurance premiums for plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) have risen each year since 1997. These growing premiums result in higher costs to the federal government and plan enrollees. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees FEHBP, negotiating benefits an... |
The company formation process is governed and executed at the state level. Formation documents are generally filed with a secretary of state’s office and are commonly called articles of incorporation (for corporations) or articles of organization (for LLCs). These documents, which set out the basic terms governing the ... | Companies, which are the basis of most commercial activities in market-based economies, may be used for illicit as well as legitimate purposes. Because companies can be used to hide activities such as money laundering, some states have been criticized for requiring too little information about companies when they are f... |
In January 2011, the Secretary of Defense announced that the Army’s end strength would be reduced by 27,000 active duty military personnel beginning in 2015. According to Army officials, initial discussions regarding how these reductions should be made began as part of the 2014-2018 Total Army Analysis, but no decision... | As part of its plan to reduce its active duty force by 80,000 personnel by 2017, the Army will be inactivating 10 BCTs currently stationed in the United States and reorganizing the remaining BCTs. The Army conducted analyses of different stationing options, which included the use of its military value analysis model to... |
To carry out its responsibility for the custody and care of federal offenders, BOP currently houses inmates across six geographic regions in 120 long-term federal institutions. The Central Office and regional offices provide administrative oversight and support to institutions, among other things. The management offici... | The federal inmate population has increased over the last two decades, and as of July 2014, BOP was responsible for the custody and care of more than 216,000 inmates. To handle the projected growth of between 2,500 and 3,000 or more inmates per year from 2015 through 2020, BOP has spent about $1.3 billion constructing ... |
Air Force and Army cite the increasingly complex training requirements needed to prepare for the ever more lethal battlefield environment as a factor that has led to greater reliance on flight simulators. A flight simulator is a system that tries to realistically replicate, or simulate, the experience of flying an airc... | The Air Force has turned to service contracts for the F-15C, F-16, Airborne Warning and Control System, and F-15E, and the Army has done the same for helicopter simulator training at its Flight School XXI. The contractors own, operate, and maintain the simulator hardware and software. The military services rely on indu... |
Trucks handled more than two-thirds of all freight commodities shipped in 2002, according to a recent report for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), an organization representing the majority of freight-hauling companies. Trucking companies that shipped freight earned revenues of about $585 billion, or 87 percent,... | Diesel engine emissions pose health risks, but one major source--heavy-duty diesel vehicles--is critical for our economy. To reduce risks, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set stringent emissions standards for diesel engines. In 1998, EPA found that some engine makers were violating standards, so they agre... |
To review the OIG’s audit oversight coverage of NASA, we obtained the 71 final reports from the Office of Audits as reported in the OIG’s semiannual reports to the Congress for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, which included 46 audits with statements of compliance with Government Auditing Standards and 25 reports without re... | GAO was asked to review the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and provide information on (1) the audit and investigative coverage of NASA; (2) the NASA OIG's audit and investigative accomplishments; (3) the NASA OIG's budget and staffing levels, including staff attri... |
The United States has experienced dramatic changes in mobile phone use since nationwide cellular service became available in the mid-1980s. For example, the number of estimated mobile phone subscribers has grown from about 3.5 million in 1989 to approximately 286 million by the end of 2009, according to the most recent... | The rapid adoption of mobile phones has occurred amidst controversy over whether the technology poses a risk to human health as a result of long-term exposure to RF energy from mobile phone use. FCC and FDA share regulatory responsibilities for mobile phones. GAO was asked to examine several issues related to mobile ph... |
In 1964, Congress passed the Urban Mass Transportation Act to provide financial assistance to states and local governments to extend and improve urban mass transportation systems beleaguered by rising costs and declining ridership. The provisions commonly called Section 13(c) were included to protect employees who migh... | Concerns have arisen about the 37-year-old statutory provision commonly known as Section 13(c). Before the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) may make grants to transit applicants, the Department of Labor (DOL) must certify that fair and equitable arrangements are in place to protect mass transit employees affected. ... |
The FCS concept is designed to be part of the Army’s Future Force, which is intended to transform the Army into a more rapidly deployable and responsive force that differs substantially from the large division-centric structure of the past. The Army is reorganizing its current forces into modular brigade combat teams, ... | The Future Combat System (FCS) program--which comprises 14 integrated weapon systems and an advanced information network--is the centerpiece of the Army's effort to transition to a lighter, more agile, and more capable combat force. The substantial technical challenges, the cost of the program, and the Army's acquisiti... |
The SSI program provides financial assistance to disabled people whose income and resources are below specified amounts. As of January 1996, about 2.6 million adults and 1.1 million children were receiving SSI disability benefits and an additional 1.1 million adults were receiving both SSI and DI benefits. Most SSI rec... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) strategy for conducting legally required continuing disability reviews (CDR) on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, focusing on: (1) SSA plans to conduct legally required SSI CDR in fiscal years 1996 through 1998; (2... |
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) PMAs sell power primarily to preference customers—cooperatives and public bodies, such as municipal utilities, irrigation districts, and military installations—that are located in the PMAs’ service territories. Many of these preference customers then resell the power to industrial, comm... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided a state-by-state analysis of the preference customers who buy power from the Southeastern Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration, and the Western Area Power Administration, focusing on the: (1) extent to which preference customers' rates may change ... |
DOD has voluntary education programs in place to facilitate educational opportunities for service members to pursue postsecondary education during off-duty time. Program oversight for voluntary education programs is the responsibility of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In addition, the milita... | In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Defense's (DOD) Military Tuition Assistance (TA) Program provided $517 million in tuition assistance to approximately 377,000 service members. GAO was asked to report on (1) DOD's oversight of schools receiving TA funds, and (2) the extent to which DOD coordinates with accrediting... |
An estimated 5 million illegal aliens resided in the United States in 1996, according to INS. Official estimates, however, are not available on the number of children born to illegal aliens in the United States. Illegal alien parents may apply on behalf of their children for those federal welfare benefits to which thei... | Pursuant to a legislative mandate, GAO provided information on the extent to which means-tested public benefits are provided to illegal aliens for the use of eligible individuals, focusing on: (1) the extent and the locations that selected federal means-tested benefits are being provided to illegal aliens for use by th... |
The decennial census is conducted against a backdrop of immutable deadlines. The census’s elaborate chain of interrelated pre- and post- Census Day activities is predicated upon those dates. To meet these mandated reporting requirements, census activities must occur at specific times and in the proper sequence. The Sec... | For the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) faces the daunting challenge of cost-effectively counting a population that is growing steadily larger, more diverse, increasingly difficult to find, and more reluctant to participate in the decennial census. Managing its human capital, maintaining community partners... |
Over the years, FAA has taken a number of steps to better manage its ATC modernization program. In 1995, based on the premise that FAA would be better able to manage ATC modernization if it were not constrained by federal acquisition laws, FAA requested and Congress enacted legislation that exempted the agency from mos... | Acquiring new systems on budget and on schedule is critically important in transitioning to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). However, air traffic control modernization has been on GAO's high-risk list since 1995, in part due to acquisitions exceeding budget and schedule targets. The Federal Avia... |
As computer technology has advanced, both government and private entities have become increasingly dependent on computerized information systems to carry out operations and to process, maintain, and report essential information. Public and private organizations rely on computer systems to transmit proprietary and other... | Effective cybersecurity for federal information systems is essential to preventing the loss of resources, the compromise of sensitive information, and the disruption of government operations. Federal information and systems face an evolving array of cyber-based threats, and recent data breaches at federal agencies high... |
As of December 2014, DOD’s portfolio of major defense acquisition programs included 78 programs with a total estimated acquisition cost of roughly $1.4 trillion. The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics is the defense acquisition executive, and for 38 of these 78 programs, the Under Secr... | DOD has long sought to improve the efficiency of its weapon system acquisition process, including the time and effort needed to complete the milestone decision process. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 mandated GAO to review DOD's weapon system acquisition process. This report examines (1) th... |
The WIC program provides eligible women, infants, and children with nutritious foods to supplement their diets, nutrition education, and referrals to health care. FNS administers the program through a federal/state partnership in which FNS makes funds available in the form of grants to WIC agencies. FNS establishes reg... | The Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) provided about $3 billion to state agencies in fiscal year 2001 for food assistance, including infant formula, through its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Most infants receiving formula are given a milk- or so... |
Several security incidents in the late 1990s highlighted the need for improvements at DOE. For example, the possible loss of nuclear weapons design information and the “missing” computer hard drives at Los Alamos National Laboratory revealed important weaknesses in security. More broadly, many reports have criticized D... | In response to persistent security weaknesses at nuclear weapons facilities during the late 1990s, the Department of Energy (DOE) undertook several initiatives and Congress created the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) as a separate entity with DOE. DOE and NNSA have made progress in implementing many of ... |
SBA’s organizational structure comprises headquarters and regional, district, and area field offices. At the headquarters level, SBA is divided into several key functional areas that manage and set policy for the agency’s programs. Seventeen headquarters offices report to the Office of the Administrator. SBA provides i... | SBA's OGCBD administers a business development program and further promotes small business participation in federal contracting through a variety of other programs. A House Committee Report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 included a provision for GAO to examine the operations of... |
With the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-82), the Congress created the largest national and community service program since the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s. AmeriCorps*USA allows participants to earn education awards to help pay for postsecondary education in exchange for perform... | GAO discussed the Corporation for National and Community Service's AmeriCorps*USA service program. GAO noted that: (1) for program year 1994 to 1995, the Corporation provided almost $149 million for grantee projects; (2) about 69 percent of matching project contributions came from public sources; (3) total resources av... |
About 3.8 million borrowers took out mortgages in 1996 for purchasing homes, according to information collected through requirements contained in the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). While most of these mortgages were not insured, about 39 percent, or about 1.5 million, were insured. FHA’s share of the home purchas... | GAO discussed: (1) the achievements of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) home mortgage insurance program, including the extent that home buyers use FHA insurance, the characteristics of these home buyers--including whether they were first-time home buyers--and how many of them might also qualify for private mo... |
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.