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Selected Worldwide Disease Occurrence: Foot-and-Mouth Disease According to the Department of Agriculture, a 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom resulted in the slaughter and disposal of millions of animals and economic losses conservatively estimated at $14.7 billion. Foot-and-mouth disease is... | Naturally-occurring infectious disease or the intentional use of a biological agent to inflict harm could have catastrophic consequences. For example, the recent outbreak of naturally-occurring highly pathogenic avian influenza affecting wild birds and poultry in the Midwest and on the Pacific coast presents a serious ... |
Concurrency is broadly defined as the overlap between development and production of a system. The stated rationale for concurrency is to introduce systems in a more timely manner or to fulfill an urgent need, to avoid technology obsolescence and/or to maintain an efficient industrial development/production work force. ... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO assessed the concurrency between the development and production phases of the Air Force's F-22 fighter program and the risks associated with that concurrency. GAO found that: (1) the F-22 program has a high degree of concurrency because it will enter production before initial ... |
The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 charges Interior with responsibility for oil and gas leasing on federal lands and on private lands where the federal government has retained mineral rights. Several other statutes and regulations also affect oil and gas leasing and development on federal lands. For instance, the protecti... | The development of oil and natural gas resources on federal lands contributes to domestic energy production but also results in concerns over potential impacts on those lands. Numerous public protests about oil and gas lease sales have been filed with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages these federal res... |
Natural catastrophes have a low probability of occurrence, but when they do occur the consequences can be of high severity. Insurance companies face catastrophe risk associated with their provision of property-casualty insurance. Major reinsurers are insurance companies with global insurance and reinsurance operations.... | Because of population growth, resulting real estate development, and using real estate values in hazard-prone areas, the nation is increasingly exposed to much higher property-casualty losses--both insured and uninsured--from natural catastrophes than in the past. In the 1990s, a series of natural disasters, (1) raised... |
NHTSA’s mission is to prevent motor vehicle crashes and reduce injuries, fatalities, and economic losses associated with these crashes. To carry out this mission, NHTSA conducts a range of safety-related activities, including: providing guidance and other assistance to states to help address setting vehicle safety stan... | In 2013, an estimated 5.7-million vehicle crashes resulted in approximately 32,700 fatalities and over 2.3-million injuries. One of NHTSA's guidelines to help states optimize the effectiveness of highway safety programs recommends that each state have a program to periodically inspect all registered vehicles to reduce ... |
Demand for GAO’s analysis and advice remains strong across the Congress. During the past 3 years, GAO has received requests or mandated work from all of the standing committees of the House and the Senate and over 90 percent of their subcommittees. In fiscal year 2007, GAO received over 1,200 requests for studies. This... | The budget authority GAO is requesting for fiscal year 2009--$545.5 million--represents a prudent request of 7.5 percent to support the Congress as it confronts a growing array of difficult challenges. GAO will continue to reward the confidence you place in us by providing a strong return on this investment. In fiscal ... |
Review groups identified significant problems after the media reports concerning Walter Reed. Initial efforts to respond to these problems were primarily coordinated through the Senior Oversight Committee, and DOD and VA undertook additional efforts to respond to these problems. Following the revelations at Walter Reed... | The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 required DOD and VA to jointly develop and implement policy on the care, management, and transition of recovering servicemembers. It also required GAO to report on DOD's and VA's progress in addressing these requirements. This report specifically examines (1) ... |
DON’s primary mission is to organize, train, maintain, and equip combat- ready naval forces capable of winning the global war on terrorism and any other armed conflict, deterring aggression by would-be foes, preserving freedom of the seas, and promoting peace and security. To support this mission, DON performs a variet... | The Department of Defense (DOD) has long been challenged in implementing key information technology (IT) 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. One of the larger business system invest... |
The overall goal of U.S. public diplomacy is to understand, inform, engage, and influence the attitudes and behavior of foreign audiences in ways that support U.S. strategic interests. The State Department leads these efforts, which are guided by the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and include a... | Public opinion polls have shown continued negative sentiments toward the United States in the Muslim world. Public diplomacy activities--led by the State Department (State)--are designed to counter such sentiments by explaining U.S. foreign policy actions, countering misinformation, and advancing mutual understanding b... |
Federal employees have a choice of multiple health plans offered by private health insurance carriers participating in the FEHBP. Mirroring private sector trends, several participating carriers have begun to offer CDHPs. In 2003, the APWU plan became the first CDHP offered to federal employees. OPM administers the FEHB... | Since 2003, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) has offered "consumer-directed" health plans (CDHP) to federal employees. A CDHP is a high-deductible health plan coupled with a savings account enrollees use to pay for health care. Unused balances may accumulate for future use, providing enrollees the ... |
When DHS was created in March 2003, ODP was transferred from the Justice Department’s OJP to DHS’s Directorate of Border and Transportation Security. In March 2004, the Secretary of Homeland Security consolidated ODP with the Office of State and Local Government Coordination to form the Office of State and Local Govern... | The Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP)--originally established in 1998 within the Department of Justice to help state and local first responders acquire specialized training and equipment needed to respond to terrorist incidents--was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security upon its creation in March 2003... |
Transportation Security Act (ATSA) was enacted. Among other things, ATSA required that TSA provide for the screening of all checked baggage for explosives transported on flights departing U.S. commercial airports. Pursuant to ATSA, TSA deployed EDS and ETD equipment to screen checked baggage and identify potential thre... | Explosives represent a continuing threat to aviation security. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seeks to ensure through the Electronic Baggage Screening Program (EBSP) that checked-baggage-screening technology is capable of detecting explosives. General... |
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, is the primary body of law governing immigration and visa operations. Among other things, the INA defines the powers given to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security and the consular and immigration officers who serve under them, delineates categories of and... | In fiscal year 2005, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents filed about 730,000 petitions with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to sponsor noncitizen family members, including spouses, fiances, and children, to immigrate to the United States. Those doing the sponsoring are called petitioners;... |
Overall, the regulations that OPM developed to administer a performance- based pay system for senior executives serve as a substantive and positive step for agencies in holding senior executives accountable for their performance and contributions to organizational success. The new senior executive pay system raises the... | The government's senior executives need to lead the way in transforming their agencies' cultures. Credible performance management systems--those that align individual, team, and unit performance with organizational results--can help manage and direct this process. In past work, GAO found that the performance management... |
Since the early 1990s, DOD has increasingly relied on contractors to meet many of its logistical and operational support needs during combat operations, peacekeeping missions, and humanitarian assistance missions, ranging from Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and operations in the Balkans (e.g., Bosnia and Kosovo) ... | Prior GAO reports have identified problems with the Department of Defense's (DOD) management and oversight of contractors supporting deployed forces. GAO issued its first comprehensive report examining these problems in June 2003. Because of the broad congressional interest in U.S. military operations in Iraq and DOD's... |
A DOD-owned electric, water, wastewater, or natural gas system is composed of multiple components — the equipment, fixtures, pipes, wires, and other structures used in the generation and distribution of electric power, the supply of natural gas, the treatment and distribution of potable water, or the collection and tre... | DOD installations rely on utilities, such as electricity, to accomplish their missions and disruptions can hamper military operations. Senate Report 114-49 included a provision for GAO to report on DOD-owned utility disruptions. This report (1) describes the number, causes and impacts of utility disruptions caused by t... |
An effective military medical surveillance system needs to collect reliable information on (1) the health care provided to service members before, during, and after deployment, (2) where and when service members were deployed, (3) environmental and occupational health threats or exposures during deployment (in theater)... | GAO, the Institute of Medicine, and others have cited weaknesses in the Defense Department's (DOD) medical surveillance during the Gulf War and Operation Joint Endeavor. DOD was unable to collect, maintain, and transfer accurate data on the movement of troops, potential exposures to health risks, and medical incidents ... |
Our analysis of 2005 data found that over 21,000 physicians, health professionals, and suppliers who received Medicare Part B payments during the first 9 months of 2005 had over $1 billion in unpaid federal taxes as of September 30, 2005. This represents about 5 percent of the number of Medicare Part B physicians, heal... | Under the Medicare program, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its contractors paid a reported $330 billion in Medicare benefits in calendar year 2005. Because GAO previously identified government contractors with billions of dollars in unpaid federal taxes, Congress requested that we expand our work... |
Since its creation in 1970, OMB has had two distinct but parallel roles. OMB serves as a principal staff office to the President by preparing the President’s budget, coordinating the President’s legislative agenda, and providing policy analysis and advice. The Congress has also assigned OMB specific responsibilities fo... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed how well the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) strategic plan addresses the Government Performance and Results Act's requirements and some of the challenges remaining for OMB to address in future planning efforts. GAO noted that: (1) since its July 1997 draft, OM... |
Countries provide food aid through either in-kind donations or cash donations. In-kind food aid is food procured and delivered to vulnerable populations, while cash donations are given to implementing organizations to purchase food in local, regional, or global markets. U.S. food aid programs are all in-kind, and no ca... | The United States is the largest global food aid donor, accounting for over half of all food aid supplies to alleviate hunger and support development. Since 2002, Congress has appropriated an average of $2 billion per year for U.S. food aid programs, which delivered an average of 4 million metric tons of food commoditi... |
As a nation we have made greater strides in articulating a budget control framework to achieve our overall fiscal policy goals than in designing a framework for addressing the composition of spending. The unified budget provides information on the federal government’s overall fiscal policy—the aggregate size of the gov... | GAO discussed ways the federal government should budget for capital, focusing on: (1) problems with the current process; (2) traditional capital budgeting proposals; (3) an alternative investment framework; (4) budgeting for federally owned capital assets; and (4) improving the way federal agencies plan for and manage ... |
Coastal barriers are unique land forms that function as buffers, protecting the mainland against the destructive forces of hurricanes and other coastal storms. Coastal barriers also provide habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife; and they provide essential nesting and feeding areas for commercially and recreati... | In 1982, Congress enacted the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. The Coastal Barrier Resources Act, as amended (CBRA), designates 585 units of undeveloped coastal lands and aquatic habitat as the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). CBRA prohibits most federal expenditures and assistance within the syste... |
States provide health care coverage to low-income uninsured children largely through two federal-state programs—Medicaid and SCHIP. Since 1965, Medicaid has financed health care coverage for certain categories of low-income individuals—over half of whom are children. To expand health coverage for children, the Congress... | Congress created the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997 to reduce the number of uninsured children in families with incomes that are too high to qualify for Medicaid. Financed jointly by the states and the federal government, SCHIP encourages state participation by offering a higher federal match... |
In 1975, the Congress created the federal child support enforcement program as title IV-D of the Social Security Act. The program’s original purpose was to strengthen state and local efforts for obtaining child support for families receiving AFDC and for any non-AFDC individuals who apply for child support services. Th... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how successful states are likely to be in obtaining child support for families whose benefits are subject to time limits, focusing on: (1) how successful states that experimented with time-limited benefits before welfare reform have been in obtaining chil... |
As a result of 150 years of changes in financial regulation in the United States, the regulatory system has become complex and fragmented. Today, responsibilities for overseeing the financial services industry are shared among almost a dozen federal banking, securities, futures, and other regulatory agencies, numerous ... | This testimony discusses GAO's January 8, 2009, report that provides a framework for modernizing the outdated U.S. financial regulatory system. GAO prepared this work under the authority of the Comptroller General to help policymakers weigh various regulatory reform proposals and consider ways in which the current regu... |
Physician groups with at least 200 physicians were eligible to apply for the PGP Demonstration and 10 were selected by CMS. (See table 1.) CMS’s technical review panel evaluated each applicant based on its organizational structure, operational feasibility, geographic location, and demonstration implementation strategy.... | Congress mandated in 2000 that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conduct the Physician Group Practice (PGP) Demonstration to test a hybrid payment methodology for physician groups that combines Medicare fee-for-service payments with new incentive payments. The 10 participants, with 200 or more physicia... |
Grants constitute a form of federal assistance consisting of payments in cash or in kind for a specified purpose, allocated to a state or local government or to a nongovernmental recipient.state and local governments, grants are an important tool used by the federal government to achieve national objectives. When taken... | GAO has previously reported that consolidations may help increase the effectiveness and efficiency of government programs. GAO was asked to review grant program consolidations in regard to reducing overlap and duplication. This report: (1) describes approaches taken to grant programs that have been consolidated from fi... |
Selected provisions of federal law explicitly prohibit specific categories of drug offenders from receiving certain federal benefits for specified periods. Table 1 identifies key provisions of federal law that provide for denial of benefits specifically to drug offenders and the corresponding benefits that may or must ... | Several provisions of federal law allow for or require certain federal benefits to be denied to individuals convicted of drug offenses in federal or state courts. These benefits include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, federally assisted housing, postsecondary education assistance, and some ... |
Since the advent of modern warfare, the presence of mines and minefields has hampered the freedom of movement of military forces. The origins of mine warfare may be traced back to crude explosive devices used during the Civil War. Since that time, the use of land mines has increased to a point where there are now over ... | Recent U.S. military operations have shown that land mines continue to pose a significant threat to U.S. forces. U.S. land mine detection capabilities are limited and largely unchanged since the Second World War. Improving the Department of Defense's (DOD) land mine detection capability is a technological challenge Thi... |
In the 21st century, older Americans are expected to make up a larger share of the U.S. population, live longer, and spend more years in retirement than previous generations. The share of the U.S. population age 65 and older is projected to increase from 12.4 percent in 2000 to 19.6 percent in 2030 and continue to grow... | While many factors influence workers' decisions to retire, Social Security, Medicare, and pension laws also play a role, offering incentives to retire earlier and later. Identifying these incentives and how workers respond can help policy makers address the demographic challenges facing the nation. GAO assessed (1) the... |
E-government is seen as promising a wide range of benefits based largely on harnessing the power of the Internet to facilitate interconnections and information exchange between citizens and their government. A variety of actions have been taken in recent years to enhance the government’s ability to realize the potentia... | In accordance with the President's Management Agenda, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has sponsored initiatives to promote electronic government--the use of information technology, such as Web-based Internet applications, to enhance government services. Generally, these "e-gov" initiatives do not have direct ... |
FDA’s responsibilities related to medical devices include premarket and postmarket oversight—spanning, for example, both premarket review of devices and postmarket surveillance (the collection and analysis of data on marketed devices). As part of both premarket and postmarket oversight, FDA is responsible for inspectin... | Americans depend on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide assurance that medical devices sold in the United States are safe and effective. FDA classifies medical device types into three classes, with class I including those with the lowest risk to patients (such as forceps) and class III including those wit... |
DHS satisfied or partially satisfied each of the applicable legislative conditions specified in the act. In particular, the plan, including related program documentation and program officials’ statements, satisfied or provided for satisfying all key aspects of (1) compliance with the DHS enterprise architecture; (2) fe... | The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program--the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)--to collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers, on selected foreign nationals who travel to the United States. By congressional mandate, DHS ... |
In 1975, DOD implemented the Reserve Components Common Personnel Data System (RCCPDS) to collect information on current and past members of the six reserve components—Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Air Force Reserve. This information included data on reser... | GAO has previously reported on the Department of Defense's (DOD) ability to track reservists deployed to the theater of operations and made recommendations. Reliable mobilization and deployment data are critical for making decisions about reserve force availability and medical surveillance. Because of broad congression... |
The Medicare home health care benefit covers skilled nursing, therapy, and related services provided in beneficiaries’ homes. To qualify, a beneficiary must be confined to his or her residence (that is, must be “homebound”); require intermittent skilled nursing, physical therapy, or speech therapy; be under the care of... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the surety bond requirements for home health agencies (HHA) participating in Medicare, focusing on: (1) analyzing the key features of surety bonds that affect their costs and effect; (2) examining the Florida Medicaid program's experience with a surety bond requirement... |
The BRAC 2005 Commission Report contains 198 recommendations approved by the BRAC Commission for closing or realigning DOD installations. The text of each recommendation contains several sections with important contextual information: Cost and Savings Information Secretary of Defense Recommendation Secretary of Defense... | The 2005 BRAC round was the fifth round of base closures and realignments undertaken by DOD since 1988, and it was the largest, most complex, and costliest. DOD has relied on the BRAC process to reduce excess infrastructure and realign bases to meet changing force structure needs. According to the Secretary of Defense,... |
IT can enrich people’s lives and improve organizational performance. For example, during the last two decades the Internet has matured from being a means for academics and scientists to communicate with each other to a national resource where citizens can interact with their government in many ways, such as by receivin... | While investments in IT have the potential to improve lives and organizations, federal IT projects too often experience cost overruns, schedule slippages, and performance shortfalls. To address acquisition challenges, improve operational efficiencies, and deliver more value to the American taxpayer, in December 2010, O... |
The vast majority of the Recovery Act funding for transportation programs went to FHWA, FRA, and FTA for highway, road, bridge, rail, and transit projects. More than half of all Recovery Act transportation funds were designated for the construction, rehabilitation, and repair of highways, roads, and bridges (see fig. 1... | This report responds to two GAO mandates under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). It is the latest report on the uses of and accountability for Recovery Act funds in selected states and localities, focusing on the $48.1 billion provided to the Department of Transportation (DOT) to invest... |
The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for some of the nation’s largest and most impressive scientific facilities. The agency’s nine national multiprogram laboratories employ more than 50,000 people and have annual operating budgets that exceed $6 billion. DOE estimates that more than $100 billion has been inves... | GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's nine multiprogram national laboratories, focusing on the: (1) laboratories' current and future missions; and (2) DOE approach to laboratory management. GAO found that: (1) the DOE laboratories do not have clearly defined missions and laboratory managers believe that the lack of D... |
The Bureau’s mission is to provide comprehensive data about the nation’s people and economy. The 2010 census enumerates the number and location of people on Census Day, which is April 1, 2010. However, census operations begin long before Census Day and continue afterward. For example, address canvassing for the 2010 ce... | The Decennial Census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides vital data that are used, among other things, to reapportion and redistrict congressional seats and allocate federal financial assistance. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Decennial Census a high-risk area, citing a number of long-standing and... |
Since the 1970s, a variety of work requirements have been tied to the receipt of food stamp benefits, including participation in the Food Stamp E&T Program. Funding for the program has been provided through a combination of federal grants to states, state funds, and federal matching funds. Under the Workforce Investmen... | Since the late 1990s, many funding changes have been made to the Food Stamp E&T Program. In 1997, legislation required states to spend 80 percent of their funds on participants who lose their food stamp benefits if they do not meet work requirements within a limited time frame. The legislation also increased funds by $... |
The transportation of air cargo between global trading partners provides the world economy with critical goods and components. Air cargo valued at almost $400 billion entered the United States in fiscal year 2004. According to TSA, approximately 200 U.S. and foreign air carriers currently transport cargo into the Unite... | The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has primary responsibility for securing air cargo transported into the United States from another country, referred to as inbound air cargo, and preventing implements of terrorism from entering the country. GAO examined (1) what actions DHS has taken to secure inbound air cargo... |
Established by the National Housing Act of 1934, FHA’s single-family mortgage insurance program helps home buyers obtain home mortgages by providing insurance on single-family mortgage loans. The mortgage insurance allows FHA-approved private lenders to provide qualified borrowers with mortgages on properties with one ... | With mortgage foreclosures at historic levels in recent years, FHA is faced with disposing of a high volume of REO properties. The enterprises, other federal agencies, and private sector mortgage servicers also dispose of REO properties from their foreclosures. To assess the relative effectiveness of FHAs REO disposit... |
The purpose of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 is to conserve endangered and threatened species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. The act defines “conservation” as the recovery of endangered and threatened species so that they no longer need the protective measures afforded by the Act. The act defines as en... | Currently there are more than 1,260 species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. While few species have gone extinct since 1973, only 9 have been "recovered" or removed from the list because they no longer need the act's protection. This has raised questions about how the U.S. Fi... |
The Missouri River basin extends from the Rocky Mountains across portions of the Midwest and Great Plains, covering roughly one-sixth of the continental United States (see fig. 1). Of the six dams along the mainstem of the Missouri River, one is in Montana (Fort Peck), one is in North Dakota (Garrison), three are in So... | The Missouri River stretches from western Montana to St. Louis, Missouri. The Corps manages six dams and reservoirs on the river to provide flood control and for other purposes, such as recreation and navigation. The Corps bases reservoir release decisions on the guidance in the Master Manual. In the 2011 flood, the Co... |
PBGC was created as a government corporation by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to help protect the retirement income of U.S. workers with private-sector defined benefit plans by guaranteeing their benefits up to certain legal limits. PBGC receives no funds from general tax revenues. Operati... | Under the single-employer insurance program, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) may become the trustee of underfunded plans that are terminated and assume responsibility for paying benefits to participants as they become due, up to certain legal limits. From its inception in 1974 through the end of fiscal ... |
FPS faces a number of challenges that hamper its ability to protect government employees and the public in federal facilities. For example, these challenges include (1) developing a risk management framework, (2) developing a human capital plan, and (3) better oversight of its contract security guard program. In our Ju... | To accomplish its mission of protecting federal facilities, the Federal Protective Services (FPS), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), currently has a budget of about $1 billion, about 1,200 full-time employees, and about 15,000 contract security guards. This testimony is based on completed and ongoing wo... |
When the Congress established the transition assistance program in 1990,significant reductions in military force levels were expected. The law noted that many of these service personnel specialized in critical skills, such as combat arms, which would not transfer to the civilian workforce. Transition assistance, includ... | Since its inception, the Transition Assistance Program has served more than one million separating and retiring military personnel through the coordinated efforts of the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Labor (DOL), and Veterans Affairs. In fiscal year 2001, the military branches and DOL spent $47.5 million to p... |
For decades, we and DOD auditors have reported that DOD has not promptly or accurately charged its appropriation accounts for all of its disbursements and collections. Instead, DOD has recorded billions of dollars in suspense and other accounts that were set up to temporarily hold disbursements and collections until th... | Over the years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has recorded billions of dollars of disbursements and collections in suspense accounts because the proper appropriation accounts could not be identified and charged. DOD has also been unable to resolve discrepancies between its and Treasury's records of checks issued by D... |
In the early 1970s, BIA began giving the tribes more training, involvement, and influence in the process of allocating TPA funds. TPA funds are used for programs such as law enforcement, social services, adult vocational training, child welfare, and natural resource management. Most tribes have placed all their availab... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the: (1) Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) method for distributing Tribal Priority Allocation (TPA) funds; and (2) other revenues available to the tribes. GAO noted that: (1) under the current method for distributing TPA funds, there is no assurance that th... |
The United States has supported Colombia’s efforts to reduce drug- trafficking activities and stem the flow of illegal drugs entering the United States for more than 2 decades. Despite Colombian and U.S. efforts to disrupt drug-trafficking activities, the U.S. government has not reported any net reduction in the proces... | The United States has been providing assistance to Colombia since the early 1970s to help reduce illegal drug activities. In fiscal years 2000-03 alone, the United States provided over $2.5 billion. Despite this assistance, Colombia remains the world's leading producer and distributor of cocaine and a major source of t... |
Congress created FDIC in 1933 to restore and maintain public confidence in the nation’s banking system. In 1989 the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act was enacted to reform, recapitalize, and consolidate the federal deposit insurance system. It created the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings A... | GAO reviewed information systems general controls in the calendar year 2001 financial statement audits of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) Bank Insurance Fund, Savings Association Insurance Fund, and Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Resolution Fund. FDIC made progress in correcting infor... |
HUD is the principal federal agency responsible for programs dealing with housing, community development, and fair housing opportunities. Its mission includes making housing affordable through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) mortgage insurance for multifamily housing, providing rental assistance for about 4.... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO identified: (1) the initial objectives, development, deployment and maintenance costs, and completion dates for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Financial Systems Integration (FSI) effort and how they have changed; (2) the factors that have contributed to ... |
AMEC provides a forum for Norway, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom to collaborate in addressing military-related environmental concerns in the Arctic region. The AMEC Declaration and “Terms of Reference” established the framework and organization for sharing information and technology and implementing ... | Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States participate in the Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation (AMEC) program, a multilateral effort that seeks to reduce the environmental impacts of Russia's military activities through technology development projects. AMEC has primarily focused on Russia's agin... |
Enormous growth in government and private biomedical research funding and in financial relationships between government-funded investigators and private industry has increased the potential for financial conflicts of interest to occur that could compromise research integrity and the safety of participants. HHS has regu... | Financial relationships between individual investigators or their research institutions and private industry have yielded significant results, including treatments for such diseases as AIDS and strokes. However, some collaborations have raised concerns that the focus on financial reward might compromise the integrity o... |
The Internet is a vast network of interconnected networks. It is used by governments, businesses, research institutions, and individuals around the world to communicate, engage in commerce, do research, educate, and entertain. While most Americans are familiar with Internet service providers—such as America Online and ... | Since the early 1990s, growth in the use of the Internet has revolutionized the way that our nation communicates and conducts business. While the Internet was originally developed by the Department of Defense, the vast majority of its infrastructure is currently owned and operated by the private sector. Federal policy ... |
Under the authority of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972, as amended, the Coast Guard operates VTS systems in eight ports. Operations and maintenance costs for these systems, which totaled about $19 million in fiscal year 1995, are borne by the Coast Guard and are not passed on to the ports or the shipping ind... | GAO discussed the Coast Guard's vessel traffic service (VTS) 2000 program. GAO noted that: (1) it is difficult to judge whether VTS 2000 is the best marine safety system because it is unknown how many ports need the system, how much it will cost, and whether other cost-effective alternatives are available; (2) most key... |
The past decade has seen an increasing emphasis in the United States on the role of state and local entities in the fight against violent extremism. More recently, in August 2011, the White House issued the nation’s first CVE strategy, Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States, and in ... | DHS and DOJ have responsibility for training state and local law enforcement and community members on how to defend against violent extremism--ideologically motivated violence to further political goals. Community members and advocacy organizations have raised concerns about the quality of some CVE-related training tha... |
Local governments have primary responsibility for wastewater treatment, owning and operating more than 17,000 treatment plants and 24,000 collection systems nationwide. Local ratepayers have long been relied upon to fund both construction costs and operating and maintenance costs associated with facilities serving thei... | Communities will need hundreds of billions of dollars in coming years to construct and upgrade wastewater treatment facilities, sewer systems, and other water infrastructure. To finance these efforts, they will rely heavily on low-interest loans from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Water State Revolvi... |
China’s December 2001 accession to the WTO resulted in commitments to open and liberalize its economy and offer a more predictable environment for trade and foreign investment in accordance with WTO rules. U.S. investment and trade with China has grown significantly over the past 10 years, and trade between China and t... | China's 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) required China to reform its economy and trade practices. As part of ongoing work, GAO reviewed how the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and State pursued China's WTO compliance in 2003. Specifically, this report ... |
While federal IT investments can improve operational performance and increase public interaction with government, too often they have become risky, costly, and unproductive mistakes. Congress has expressed interest in monitoring and improving IT investments through hearings and other reviews over the past two decades. ... | Federal agencies depend on IT to support their missions and spent at least $76 billion on IT in fiscal year 2011. However, long-standing congressional interest has contributed to the identification of numerous examples of lengthy IT projects that incurred cost overruns and schedule delays while contributing little to m... |
BOP’s mission is to protect society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens. BOP is... | The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for the custody and care of more than 201,000 federal offenders. To provide housing for the federal prison population, BOP manages the construction and maintenance of its prison facilities and oversees contract facilities. GAO was asked to look into recent increases in... |
In response to financial stresses in the railroad industry, the Congress passed legislation in 1976 and 1980 that dramatically reduced federal regulation over the industry. As a result of the 1976 and 1980 legislation, most rail traffic in the United States is not subject to the Surface Transportation Board’s (the Boar... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the Surface Transportation Board's rate relief complaint process and how it has changed since the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) Termination Act of 1995 became law; (2) the number and outcome of rate relief cases pending or filed since 1990; an... |
PBGC’s single-employer insurance program is a federal program that protects the retirement incomes of more than 34 million workers and retirees covered by almost 29,000 private sector defined benefit pension plans. Defined benefit pension plans promise to pay a specified monthly benefit at retirement, commonly based on... | The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) single-employer insurance program insures the pension benefits of over 34 million participants in almost 29,000 private sector defined benefit pension plans. The increase in PBGC's probable claims has raised questions about PBGC's monitoring and financial disclosure pra... |
In March 2003, the United States—along with the United Kingdom, Australia, and other members of the coalition—began combat operations in Iraq. The original “coalition of the willing” consisted of 49 countries (including the United States) that publicly committed to the war effort and also provided a variety of support,... | In March 2003, a U.S.-led multinational force began operations in Iraq. At that time, 48 nations, identified as a "coalition of the willing," offered political, military, and financial support for U.S. efforts in Iraq, with 38 nations other than the United States providing troops. In addition, international donors met ... |
While the federal government is deeply involved in many aspects of air travel, it is not involved in the creation or distribution of airline tickets. Instead, such matters are left to the airline industry. There are a variety of sources and types of airline ticket stock. For example, when airlines issue tickets directl... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on issues associated with the theft of stock used to create airline tickets, focusing on: (1) the number and value of the airline ticket stock stolen annually; (2) financial implications associated with the use of stolen ticket stock; (3) issues that are pot... |
Basic education is defined in this report as all program efforts aimed at improving early childhood development, primary education, and secondary education, as well as training in literacy, numeracy, and other basic skills for adults or out-of-school youth. Basic education also includes efforts that facilitate and supp... | Pub. L. No. 109-102, section 567, mandated that GAO analyze U.S. international basic education efforts overseas. In this report, GAO (1) describes U.S. agencies' basic education activities and how the agencies plan them; (2) examines U.S. coordination of basic education efforts among U.S. agencies, and with host govern... |
DOD aircraft are used to perform a variety of different missions. However, for the purpose of this report, we have grouped them into five basic categories: (1) various models of fighter/attack aircraft, such as the F/A-18 Hornet, provide air superiority or close air support of ground forces; (2) bombers, such as the B-... | The attacks on September 11, 2001, show that threats to U.S. security can now come from any number of terrorist groups, at any number of locations, and in wholly unexpected ways. As a result, the Department of Defense (DOD) is shifting to a new defense strategy focused on dealing with uncertainty by acting quickly acro... |
The federal government contracts for a variety of services, from elevator maintenance to program management support, and often has a need to continue these services beyond the lifespan of an individual contract. However, in certain situations, it may become evident that a base contract and any option years will expire ... | When an existing contract is set to expire but the follow-on contract is not ready to be awarded, the government can extend the existing contract or award a short-term sole-source contract to avoid a gap in service. These have been referred to as “bridge contracts.” While bridge contracts can be necessary tools, they a... |
Carbon offsets can be used by entities that are subject to legal requirements to limit their emissions, such as utilities or manufacturing facilities. Offset programs designed for this purpose are called compliance programs. One such program is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an offset program established by the... | Carbon offsets are reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in one place to compensate for emissions elsewhere. Examples of offset projects include planting trees, developing renewable energy sources, or capturing emissions from landfills. Recent congressional proposals would have limited emissions from utilities, indust... |
Franchise funds are government-run, self-supporting businesslike enterprises managed by federal employees. Franchise funds provide a variety of common administrative services, such as payroll processing, information technology support, employee assistance programs, public relations, and contracting. This review focuses... | The Department of Defense (DOD) is the largest user of other federal agencies' contracting services. The availability of these contracting services has enabled DOD and other departments to save time by paying other agencies to award and administer contracts for goods and services on their behalf. DOD can access these c... |
For fiscal year 1998, the Federal Procurement Data Center reported that federal agencies had contract obligations of about $200 billion. Acquisition refers to the process of obtaining goods, services, and space for use by the government. The acquisition process begins with a determination of a need for goods or service... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the training of the acquisition workforce in certain federal civilian departments and agencies, focusing on whether: (1) the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had assurance that their acquisition workforces ... |
The employee evaluation process is an important tool for influencing employee behavior. At IRS, as in other federal agencies, employee evaluations are the official documents used to support many personnel actions, including within-grade pay increases, performance awards, promotions, reductions-in-force, and adverse per... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the extent to which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee evaluation system can support the new mission statement during the period IRS will need to revamp its performance management system, focusing on: (1) determining the relative emphasis on revenue production,... |
Recent fire seasons have shown that past fire suppression policies have not worked as effectively as was once thought. In fact, they have had major unintended consequences, particularly on federally owned lands. For decades, the federal wildland fire community followed a policy of suppressing all wildland fires as soon... | Wildfires burn millions of acres annually. Most burnt land can recover naturally, but a small percentage needs short-term emergency treatment to stabilize burnt land that threatens public safety, property, or ecosystems or longer-term treatments to rehabilitate land unlikely to recover naturally. The Department of the ... |
IRS is in the midst of reorganizing and reengineering its major technological, organizational, operational, and financial processes. Through its reengineering efforts and Tax Systems Modernization (TSM) program, IRS plans to introduce new technology to support these and other changes directed toward making it a more ef... | GAO summarized the studies it issued during fiscal year 1996 to Congress and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the statements it made before Congress and the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service. GAO noted that it published 50 reports in 6 broad areas: (1) IRS management and budget; (2... |
Most U.S. families access the health care system through health insurance coverage. Without health insurance, many families face difficulties getting preventive and basic care for their children. Uninsured women, for example, are less likely to get early and adequate prenatal care. Late and inadequate prenatal care is ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the status of health insurance for children, focusing on: (1) the impact of the Medicaid expansion on children's health insurance coverage since 1989; (2) changes in the demographic profile of children enrolled in the Medicaid program and uninsured children since the Me... |
HUD operates a variety of project-based rental assistance programs through which it pays subsidies, or housing assistance payments, to private owners of multifamily housing that help make this housing affordable for lower income households. In some cases, HUD subsidized the construction of the housing (or substantial r... | The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides subsidies, known as housing assistance payments, under contracts with privately owned, multifamily projects so that they are affordable to low-income households. Project owners have expressed concern that HUD has chronically made late housing assistance pay... |
Head Start was created in 1965 as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was built on the premise that effective intervention in the lives of children can be best accomplished through family and community involvement. Fundamental to this notion was that communities should be given considerable latitude to devel... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work on the Head Start program, focusing on: (1) how well the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ensures that the Head Start program is achieving its purpose; and (2) how well Head Start is structured to meet the needs of program participants in today's ... |
VA operates one of the nation’s largest health care systems. In fiscal year 2004, VA provided health care to approximately 5.2 million veterans at 157 VAMCs and almost 900 outpatient clinics nationwide. In fiscal year 2004, DOD provided health care to approximately 8.3 million beneficiaries, including active duty perso... | The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 required that the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DOD) implement programs referred to as the Joint Incentive Fund (JIF) and the Demonstration Site Selection (DSS) to increase health care resource sharing between the departments. The act requi... |
Each state administers its Medicaid program in accordance with its own Medicaid plan, which determines the groups of individuals to be covered, services to be provided, methodologies for providers to be reimbursed, and the administrative requirements that states must meet. To receive federal matching dollars for servic... | Medicaid, a $436 billion federal and state health care program for low-income individuals and families, is a significant and growing expenditure. Section 1115 of the Social Security Act authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive certain Medicaid requirements and allow otherwise uncovered costs for d... |
Both SEC and IRS have had an interest in the tax services, particularly tax shelter services, that accounting firms provide taxpayers. In terms of SEC, according to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, before an SEC registrant company’s auditor can provide non-audit services such as tax services to the company, the company’... | Recent legislative and regulatory changes have addressed the relationship between auditor-provided tax services and auditor independence. At this time, the federal regulatory community is exploring further changes. To contribute to the discussion surrounding these changes, GAO's objectives were to determine (1) accordi... |
Federal agencies spent more than $235 billion in fiscal year 2001 to buy goods and services ranging from weapon systems and medical equipment to information technology services and the operation of government facilities. This is an 11 percent increase over the amount spent in 1997. This growth is expected to continue a... | The federal government, comprised of more than 60 agencies and nearly 1.7 million civilian workers, acquires most of its goods and services through contracts. Recent changes in what the government buys, its contracting approaches and methods, and its acquisition workforce have combined to create a dynamic acquisition e... |
The Census Bureau’s mission is to serve as the leading source of high- quality data about the nation’s people and economy. The Bureau’s core activities include conducting decennial, economic, and government censuses, conducting demographic and economic surveys, managing international demographic and socioeconomic datab... | Automation and information technology (IT) are expected to play a critical role in the 2010 decennial census. The Census Bureau plans to spend about $3 billion on automation and technology that are to improve the accuracy and efficiency of census collection, processing, and dissemination. The Bureau is holding what it ... |
Established as a national program in the mid 1970s, the WIC program is intended to improve the health status of low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children by providing supplemental foods and nutrition education. Pregnant and post-partum women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible fo... | WIC provides supplemental foods and assistance to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children. Approximately half of U.S. infants born each year receive WIC benefits, and infant formula is a key component of the food package many receive. Recent news reports suggest that some participants have... |
GSA administers the federal government’s SmartPay® purchase card program, which has been in existence since the late 1980s. The purchase card program was created as a way for agencies to streamline federal acquisition processes by providing a low-cost, efficient vehicle for obtaining goods and services directly from ve... | Over the past several years, GAO has issued numerous reports and testimonies on internal control breakdowns in certain individual agencies' purchase card programs. In light of these findings, GAO was asked to analyze purchase card transactions governmentwide to (1) determine whether internal control weaknesses existed ... |
The Housing Act of 1949 authorized new rural lending programs to farmers, which were administered by RHS’s predecessor, the Farmers Home Administration, within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). RHS now facilitates homeownership, develops rental housing, and promotes community development through loan and grant... | The rural America of 2005 is far different from the rural America of the 1930s, when the federal government first began to provide housing assistance to rural residents. Advances in transportation, computer technology, and telecommunications, along with the spread of suburbia, have linked many rural areas to urban area... |
SARS is an emerging respiratory disease that has been reported principally in Asia, Europe, and North America. SARS is believed to have originated in Guangdong Province, China in mid-November 2002. However, early cases of the disease went unreported, which then delayed identification and treatment of the disease allowi... | SARS is a highly contagious respiratory disease that infected more than 8,000 individuals in 29 countries principally throughout Asia, Europe, and North America and led to more than 800 deaths as of July 11, 2003. Due to the speed and volume of international travel and trade, emerging infectious diseases such as SARS a... |
Creosote is derived by distilling tar; the type of creosote most commonly used for wood-treating is manufactured from coal tar. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—chemicals formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, or other organic substances—generally make up 85 percent of the chemical composition of creos... | In the 1990s, creosote was discovered under a residential neighborhood in Manville, New Jersey. Creosote, a mixture of chemicals, is used to preserve wood products, such as railroad ties. Some of the chemicals in creosote may cause cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA found that creosote ... |
GSA was established by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to serve as a central procurement and property management agency for the federal government. GSA’s diverse activities and programs have governmentwide implications that, according to GSA, affect over $52 billion, which is more than one-... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how foreign governments perform procurement activities that in the United States fall under the responsibility of the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service (FSS) and Federal Technology Service (FTS). GAO noted that: (1) none of the coun... |
DCMA has undergone an evolutionary process to become the agency it is today. In 1990, DOD decided to consolidate and streamline contract administration services, which, at the time, were performed by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) as well as each of the military services. DOD made this change to achieve several ben... | The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) provides contract administration services for DOD buying activities. Its contract management offices (CMO) work with defense contractors to help ensure that goods and services are delivered on time, at projected cost, and that they meet performance requirements. DCMA also s... |
The MHS operated by DOD has two missions: (1) supporting wartime and other deployments and (2) providing peacetime health care. In support of these two missions, DOD operates a large and complex health care system that employs more than 150,000 military, civilian, and contract personnel working in military medical faci... | Mental health providers are essential to DOD's delivery of health care to servicemembers and other beneficiaries. DOD's need for these providers has grown as increasing numbers of servicemembers experience life-threatening combat situations. This led to congressional attention—such as the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2010, whi... |
The United States has a long history of refugee resettlement, but there was no formal program for the resettlement and admission of refugees until the Refugee Act of 1980 (Refugee Act) amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to, among other purposes, establish a more uniform basis for the provision of assista... | Increases in the number of USRAP applicants approved for resettlement in the United States from countries where terrorists operate have raised questions about the adequacy of applicant screening. GAO was asked to review the refugee screening process. This report (1) describes what State and DHS data indicate about the ... |
Under the Direct Loan program, Education issues three main types of loans—Subsidized Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, and PLUS Loans. Subsidized Stafford Loans are available only to undergraduate student borrowers with demonstrated financial need. The government subsidizes these loans by not charging borrowers for the ... | Federal student loans issued under the Direct Loan program play a key role in ensuring access to higher education for millions of students. The costs of the program to the government include administrative costs like loan servicing. They also include subsidy costs, which are the estimated long-term costs to the governm... |
Oil and natural gas are found in a variety of geologic formations distributed across the country, such as shale and tight sandstone. Shale plays—sets of discovered or undiscovered oil and natural gas accumulations or prospects that exhibit similar geological characteristics—are located within basins, which are large-sc... | Technology advancements such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (pumping water, sand, and chemicals into wells to fracture underground rock formations and allow oil or gas to flow) have allowed companies to extract oil and gas from shale and other tight geological formations. As a result, oil and gas produ... |
The goal of SNAP is to help low-income individuals and households obtain a more nutritious diet by supplementing their income with benefits to purchase allowable food items. The overarching rules governing SNAP are set at the federal level. Accordingly, FNS is responsible for promulgating program regulations and ensuri... | During fiscal year 2015, state SNAP agencies provided about 46 million low-income individuals approximately $70 billion in federally funded benefits, and an additional $7.6 billion in federal and state funds was spent in administering the program in fiscal year 2014, according to the most recent data. SNAP agencies use... |
Despite restrictions in law and regulation on private letter delivery, the U.S. Postal Service faces increasing competition from private firms. Moreover, growing demands are being made to open even more of the Service’s mail stream to competition. At the same time, some mail is reported to have been diverted to electro... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the restrictions in federal, civil, and criminal law on private letter delivery, focusing on: (1) the Postal Service's experience in administering and enforcing the private express statutes since 1970; (2) the growth and development of private message and package delive... |
Nuclear research reactors are used for training and research purposes throughout the world. Research reactors are generally smaller than nuclear power reactors, ranging in size from less than 1 to 250 megawatts compared with 3,000 megawatts generated by a typical power reactor. In addition, unlike power reactors, many ... | Nuclear research reactors worldwide use highly enriched uranium (HEU) as fuel and for the production of medical isotopes. Because HEU can also be used in nuclear weapons, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors program is developing low enriched uranium (LEU), which would be v... |
Children with mental health conditions can be treated with psychotropic medications, psychosocial therapies, or a combination of both. Psychotropic medications can be very effective in treating children with mental health conditions, but they may also produce side effects, some of which can be serious. For example, acc... | Experts have concerns that children with mental health conditions do not always receive appropriate treatment, including concerns about appropriate use of psychotropic medications (which affect mood, thought, or behavior) and about access to psychosocial therapies (sessions with a mental health provider). These concern... |
To accomplish its mission of protecting federal facilities, FPS has become increasingly reliant on its guard force. As of June 2009, FPS’s guard program has cost $613 million and represents the single largest item in its fiscal year 2009 budget. While the contractor has the primary responsibility for training and ensur... | To accomplish its mission of protecting about 9,000 federal facilities, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) currently has a budget of about $1 billion, about 1,200 full time employees, and about 13,000 contract security guards. This testimony discusses GAO's preliminary findings on (1) the extent to which FPS ensures ... |
In our May 2004 report on federal data mining efforts, we defined data mining as the application of database technology and techniques—such as statistical analysis and modeling—to uncover hidden patterns and subtle relationships in data and to infer rules that allow for the prediction of future results. We based this d... | Data mining--a technique for extracting knowledge from large volumes of data--is being used increasingly by the government and by the private sector. Many federal data mining efforts involve the use of personal information, which can originate from government sources as well as private sector organizations. The federal... |
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.