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The federal government manages about 640 million acres of land in the United States, including lands in national forests, grasslands, parks, refuges, reservoirs, and military bases and installations. Of the total federal lands, BLM and the Forest Service manage about 450 million acres for multiple uses, including grazi... | BLM, within the Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service, within the Department of Agriculture, are responsible for managing most of the nation's public rangelands. Ranchers must obtain permits or leases from the agencies to graze livestock on federal lands. Unauthorized grazing may take various forms, s... |
USPS is an independent establishment of the executive branch mandated by law to provide postal services to “bind the nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.” Established by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, USPS is a vital part of the nation’s communi... | U.S. Postal Service (USPS) delivery performance standards and results, which are central to its mission of providing universal postal service, have been a long-standing concern for mailers and Congress. Standards are essential to set realistic expectations for delivery performance and organize activities accordingly. T... |
In the three years since its creation, DHS realized some successes among its various acquisition organizations in opening communication through its strategic sourcing and small business programs. Both efforts have involved every principal organization in DHS, along with strong involvement from the CPO, and both have yi... | The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has some of the most extensive acquisition needs within the U.S. government. In fiscal year 2005, the department reported that it obligated almost $17.5 billion to acquire a wide range of goods and services. DHS's acquisition portfolio is broad and complex, including procuremen... |
Newborn screening for heritable and other conditions begins with a provider collecting a blood specimen from a newborn within a few days of birth. The newborn’s heel is pricked to obtain a few drops of blood, which are placed and dried on a specimen collection card, and then sent to a state lab for testing. (See fig. 1... | Each year, over 12,000 newborns are born with heritable or other conditions that require early detection and treatment. Newborn screening is a state public health activity, and includes the collection of a blood specimen from the newborn, specimen arrival at a state's lab, and results reporting. Barriers at any stage o... |
Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. The anthrax bacterium is commonly found in the soil and forms spores (like seeds) that can remain dormant in the environment for many years. Human anthrax infections are rare in the United States and are usually the result ... | In March 2005, two well-publicized and nearly simultaneous incidents involving the suspicion of anthrax took place in the Washington, D.C., area. The incidents occurred at Department of Defense (DOD) mail facilities at the Pentagon and at a commercial office complex (Skyline Complex). While these incidents were false a... |
The insurance industry offers many types of coverages intended to protect businesses as well as individuals. While the extent of regulation varies by state and by line of insurance, state insurance regulators oversee the provision of insurance; for example, states may approve the rates (prices) insurers may charge and ... | Terrorists using unconventional weapons, also known as nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological (NBCR) weapons, could cause devastating losses. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) of 2002, as well as the extension passed in 2005, will cover losses from a certified act of terrorism, irrespective of the weapon ... |
As a result of operations related to OIF, the Army continues to face an enormous challenge to reset its equipment. This is due to the increased usage of equipment, pace of operations, and the amount of equipment to be reset. At the onset of operations in March 2003, the Army deployed with equipment that in some cases w... | Continuing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking a heavy toll on the condition and readiness of the Army's equipment. Harsh combat and environmental conditions in theater over sustain periods exacerbates the wear and tear on equipment. Since fiscal year 2002, Congress has appropriated about $38 billion... |
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 combined 22 federal agencies specializing in various missions under DHS. Numerous departmental offices and seven key operating components are headquartered in the NCR.components were not physically consolidated, but instead were dispersed across the NCR in accordance with their history... | This testimony summarizes the information contained in GAO's September 2014 report, entitled: Federal Real Property: DHS and GSA Need to Strengthen the Management of DHS Headquarters Consolidation ( GAO-14-648 ). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and General Services Administration (GSA) planning for the DHS he... |
Increasing computer interconnectivity—most notably growth in the use of the Internet—has revolutionized the way that our government, our nation, and much of the world communicate and conduct business. While this interconnectivity offers us huge benefits, without proper safeguards it also poses significant risks to the ... | For many years, GAO has reported that ineffective information security is a widespread problem that has potentially devastating consequences. In its reports to Congress since 1997, GAO has identified information security as a governmentwide high-risk issue--most recently in January 2005. Concerned with accounts of atta... |
SSA administers the SSI program, one of the largest federal programs providing assistance to people with disabilities. The SSI program was established in 1972 under Title XVI of the Social Security Act. The program provides cash benefits to low-income individuals, including children and youth, who meet financial eligib... | The number of individuals with disabilities under age 18 receiving SSI benefits increased by about 44 percent from 2000 through 2016. Youth ages 14 to 17 with disabilities face many challenges achieving self-sufficiency as they transition to adulthood. GAO was asked to examine SSA's efforts to encourage employment for ... |
IPP project proposals are prepared and submitted to DOE by officials from the participating national laboratories. Each national laboratory provides technical and financial oversight for a set of projects. An Inter-Laboratory Board (ILAB) serves as the primary coordinating body for the national laboratories involved in... | During the decades before its dissolution, the Soviet Union produced a cadre of scientists and engineers whose knowledge and expertise could be invaluable to countries or terrorist groups trying to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD). After the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, many of these scientists suffered si... |
Although depository institutions may have state or federal charters, all depository institutions (including banks, savings and loans, and thrifts) that have federal deposit insurance are supervised by a federal banking regulator. The federal banking regulators—which generally may issue regulations and take enforcement ... | The 2007-2009 financial crisis revealed that many U.S. and international banks lacked capital of sufficient quality and quantity to absorb substantial losses. In 2010, the Basel Committee (the global standard-setter for prudential bank regulation) issued the Basel III framework—comprehensive reforms to strengthen globa... |
More than a year after TRIA’s enactment, Treasury and insurance industry participants have made progress in implementing and complying with its provisions, although Treasury has yet to fully implement the 3-year program. Treasury has issued regulations (final rules) to guide insurance market participants, fully staffed... | After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, insurance coverage for terrorism largely disappeared. Congress passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in 2002 to help commercial property-casualty policyholders obtain terrorism insurance and give the insurance industry time to develop mechanisms to provide suc... |
The LCS consists of two separate acquisition programs: one for the seaframe and one for the mission packages, which, when integrated with the seaframe and supplemented with aviation support, provide the ship’s mission capability. In order to demonstrate LCS mission capability both seaframe variants will be evaluated th... | LCS represents an innovative approach to Navy acquisitions and operations, consisting of a ship—called a seaframe—and reconfigurable mission packages. These packages provide combat capability to perform three primary missions: surface warfare; mine countermeasures; and anti-submarine warfare. The Navy plans to buy no m... |
The ICR gas turbine engine program was established in the mid-1980s to develop an improved surface ship propulsion system that would be fuel efficient. In December 1991, the Navy awarded a contract to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation for the advanced design and an option for full-scale development of the engine. T... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Navy's intercooled recuperated (ICR) engine program, focusing on the: (1) Navy's need for the engine; (2) cost, schedule, and performance of the program; and (3) impact of the Navy's test and development strategies. GAO found that: (1) some Navy offic... |
The 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea share the same definition of piracy, and, under that definition, piracy consists of any of several acts, including any illegal act of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the cr... | Somali pirates operating off the Horn of Africa have attacked more than 450 ships and taken nearly 2,400 hostages since 2007. A small number of U.S.-flagged vessels and ships have been among those affected. As Somalia lacks a functioning government and is unable to repress piracy in its waters, the National Security Co... |
The National Energy Policy report was the product of a short-term, labor- intensive process that involved the efforts of several hundred federal employees governmentwide. In the 3½ months between NEPDG’s inception and its presentation of the final report, the Principals and Support Group controlled most facets of the r... | On January 29, 2001, the President established the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG)--a group of cabinet-level and other senior administration officials, chaired by the Vice President--to gather information, deliberate, and recommend a national energy policy. The group presented its final report to the P... |
The military services and VA have medical requirements that servicemembers must meet when leaving the military and applying for VA disability compensation. These requirements include a medical assessment; a service-specific separation exam, which is given to some servicemembers; and a VA C&P exam. The single separation... | Servicemembers who leave the military and file disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may be subject to potentially duplicative physical exams in order to meet requirements of both the Department of Defense's (DOD) military services and VA. To streamline the process for these servicemembers, the... |
ICE is the largest investigative arm of DHS. ICE is composed of four offices: (1) Investigations, (2) Intelligence, (3) Detention and Removal Operations (DRO), and (4) the Federal Protective Service. As of September 2005, OI had more than 5,600 special agents; about 94 percent of these are assigned to 26 major field of... | Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) mission is to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States and reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism while ensuring its mandated customs, immigration, and federal protective enforcement functions are not diminished. The ICE Office of Investigations ... |
The Congress passed PRWORA in 1996, making sweeping changes to national welfare policy. The act replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with TANF block grants, a fixed federal funding stream that provides states with a total of $16.5 billion per year over 5 years and allows states the flexib... | Although some welfare recipients who might seem hard to employ are able to successfully enter the workforce, others have needed considerable time and support to become work-ready. As a result, some states have begun to implement or are considering strategies to help hard-to-employ recipients join the workforce. To be s... |
TSA is responsible for ensuring air carriers’ compliance with regulatory requirements, including requirements reflected in TSA security directives. Related to watch-list matching, TSA outlines air carrier requirements in the No Fly List Procedures security directive, requiring domestic air carriers to conduct checks of... | Domestic air carriers are responsible for checking passenger names against terrorist watch-list records to identify persons who should be denied boarding (the No Fly List) or who should undergo additional security scrutiny (the Selectee List). The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is to assume this function ... |
GAO-08-1036SP and GAO-13-519SP. use of performance information has not changed significantly over time government-wide. These survey results are consistent with trends identified in other federal employee surveys government-wide. For example, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) surveys federal workers with the Fed... | GAO has long reported that agencies are better equipped to address management and performance challenges when managers effectively use performance information for decision making. However, GAO's periodic surveys of federal managers indicate that use of performance information has not changed significantly. GAO was mand... |
The purpose of Title III of the OAA is to help seniors maintain independence in their homes and communities by providing appropriate support services and promoting a continuum of care for the vulnerable elderly. The OAA laid the foundation for the current aging services network. This network is comprised of 56 state un... | Administered by the Administration on Aging (AoA) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Title III of the Older Americans Act (OAA) is intended to assist individuals age 60 and older by providing supportive services. Title III, Medicaid and Medicare, state, and other sources of funding provide for severa... |
Under the federal Identity Theft Act, a criminal offense is committed if a person “knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a fel... | Identity theft or identity fraud generally involves "stealing" another person's personal identifying information--such as Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, and mother's maiden name--and then using the information to fraudulently establish credit, run up debt, or take away existing financial accounts. The Ide... |
The Davis-Bacon Act and related legislation require employers on federally funded construction projects valued in excess of $2,000 or federally assisted projects to pay their workers no less than the prevailing wage rate. According to its regulations, the Department of Labor determines the wages “prevailing for the cor... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the: (1) Department of Labor's response to the House Appropriations Committee's directive that it verify a random sample of employers' wage data submissions and select a sample of submissions for on-site data verification; and (2) likely effect of these efforts on the... |
The speed, functionality, and accessibility that create the enormous benefits of the computer age can, if not properly controlled, allow individuals and organizations to inexpensively eavesdrop on or interfere with computer operations from remote locations for mischievous or malicious purposes, including fraud or sabot... | Research and development (R&D) of cyber security technology is essential to creating a broader range of choices and more robust tools for building secure, networked computer systems in the federal government and in the private sector. The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace identifies national priorities to secure c... |
When Social Security was enacted in 1935, the nation was in the midst of the Great Depression. About half of the elderly depended on others for their livelihood; roughly one-sixth received public charity. Many had lost their savings in the stock market crash. Social Security was created to help ensure that the elderly ... | GAO discussed: (1) the demographic trends contributing to the social security financing problem; (2) when the problem will begin to confront the federal government; (3) the alternatives for addressing the problem; and (4) the implications of these alternatives. GAO noted that: (1) increasing life expectancy and declini... |
VA physicians prescribed OTC products for veterans more than 7 million times in fiscal year 1995, accounting for almost one-fifth of all prescriptions. VA pharmacies filled these OTC prescriptions over 15 million times, about one-fourth of all prescriptions filled. VA physicians prescribed more than 2,000 unique OTC pr... | GAO discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policies concerning over-the-counter (OTC) medications, medical supplies, and dietary supplements. GAO noted that: (1) VA pharmacies provide many OTC medications; (2) VA pharmacies dispensed analgesics nearly 3 million times in 1995; (3) some VA pharmacies restrict ... |
Statistics reported by CDC show that many high school students engage in sexual behavior that places them at risk for unintended pregnancy and STDs. In 2005, 46.8 percent of high school students reported that they have had sexual intercourse, with 14.3 percent of students reporting that they had had sexual intercourse ... | Among the efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies, the agency provides funding to states and organizations that offer abstinence-until-marriage education. GAO was asked to testify on the oversight of federally funde... |
Air ambulances can play an important role in transporting patients with time critical injuries and conditions to medical facilities and providing patients with advanced care while en route. Air ambulances transported more than 270,000 patients in 2008, and their use is widely believed to improve the chances of survival... | Changes in the air ambulance industry's size and structure have led to differences of opinion about the implications for air ambulance use, safety, and services. Some industry stakeholders believe that greater state regulation would be good for consumers. While states can regulate the medical aspects of air ambulances,... |
Over the last 15 years, the federal government’s increasing demand for IT has led to a dramatic rise in the number of federal data centers and a corresponding increase in operational costs. According to OMB, the federal government had 432 data centers in 1998 and more than 1,100 in 2009. Operating such a large number o... | In 2010, as focal point for information technology management across the government, OMBs Federal Chief Information Officer launched the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiativean effort to consolidate the growing number of federal data centers. In July 2011 and July 2012, GAO evaluated 24 agencies progress and ... |
In February 1997, we issued our third series of reports on the status of high-risk areas across the government. One report in the series discussed the four long-standing high-risk areas at IRS: (1) tax systems modernization—IRS’ development of the business and management strategies, software acquisition and development... | GAO discussed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its program areas that GAO has designated as high risk because of their vulnerability to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. GAO noted that: (1) for years GAO has chronicled IRS' struggle to modernize and manag... |
Hundreds of tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) have accumulated worldwide, and inventories of plutonium are expected to continue to grow in years to come as a result of reprocessing or recovering activities. Tracking and accounting for these and other nuclear materials are important in order to (1) ens... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how the United States tracks its exported civilian nuclear materials and ensures their physical protection, focusing on the: (1) capabilities of the Department of Energy's (DOE) computerized Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS) to track the interna... |
OAM resources are divided among 70 air and marine locations across three regions (southeast, southwest, and northern); the National Capital area; and National Air Security Operations Centers (NASOC) throughout the continental United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as shown in figure 1. OAM also has mis... | Within DHS, the U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CBP) OAM deploys the largest law enforcement air force in the world. In support of homeland security missions, OAM provides aircraft, vessels, and crew at the request of the its customers, primarily Border Patrol, which is responsible for enforcing border security, ... |
TEA-21 authorized a total of $36 billion in “guaranteed” funding through fiscal year 2003 for a variety of transit programs, including financial assistance to states and localities to develop, operate, and maintain transit systems. Under one of these programs, the New Starts program, FTA identifies and funds worthy fix... | Under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21 st Century (TEA-21), Congress authorized federal funding for New Starts fixed guideway transit projects--including rail and bus rapid transit projects that met certain criteria. In response to an annual mandate under TEA-21, GAO assessed the New Starts evaluation and ratin... |
As of the end of February 2005, an estimated 827,277 servicemembers had been deployed in support of OIF. Deployed servicemembers, such as those in OIF, are potentially subject to occupational and environmental hazards that can include exposure to harmful levels of environmental contaminants such as industrial toxic che... | Following the 1991 Persian Gulf War, research and investigations into the causes of servicemembers' unexplained illnesses were hampered by a lack of servicemember health and deployment data, including inadequate occupational and environmental exposure data. In 1997, the Department of Defense (DOD) developed a militaryw... |
In October 1998, we issued a report that raised concerns about the justification and the affordability of the Deepwater Replacement Project. Our major findings included the following: The Coast Guard had understated the remaining useful life of its aircraft and, to a lesser extent, its ships. For example, the justifica... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Coast Guard's plans for modernizing its ships, aircraft, and other capital assets needed to carry out its missions, as well as the agency's plans and strategies to fund these needs, focusing on the Coast Guard's progress in: (1) justifying the Deepwater Capability ... |
When a contractor conducts a federal audit of claims data and identifies an overpayment, the contractor drafts an audit report and obtains comments from CMS, the provider, and the state before submitting the completed report to CMS. Within CMS, the MIG reviews the audit contractor’s submission and, when finalized, send... | While states and certain federal entities have had long-standing roles identifying Medicaid improper payments, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 expanded CMS's role in identifying improper payments. As a result, CMS created a national audit program, which uses federal contractors to audit state Medicaid claims and iden... |
When Congress amended the Communications Act of 1934 in 1996, it added a provision to ensure access to communications technologies for people with disabilities. The provision, Section 255, required manufacturers of traditional telecommunications equipment, such as telephones, wireless handsets, or fax machines, and pro... | CVAA was enacted to help ensure that people with disabilities have full access to the benefits of technological advances in communications. The act required FCC to establish regulations and conduct public outreach and included a provision that GAO review FCC's efforts. GAO examined (1) the extent to which FCC establish... |
NMFS’ mission is to act as a steward of the nation’s ocean resources and their habitats. This includes responsibility for managing recreational fisheries in federal waters. These waters generally include the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, which typically begins approximately 3 geographical miles from land and e... | Almost 11 million anglers made nearly 71 million marine recreational fishing trips in the continental United States in 2013. Pressure on many fish stocks from fishing has increased demand for quality and timely data that can be used to assess the status of various fish stocks as part of managing marine recreational fis... |
In our reviews of embassy staffing issues during the 1990s, we found that the Department of State and some other agencies operating overseas lacked clear criteria for staffing overseas embassies. Other reviews reached similar conclusions. In early 1999, the Accountability Review Boards that investigated the bombings of... | Since the mid-1990s, GAO has highlighted the need for the Department of State and other agencies to establish a systematic process for determining their overseas staffing levels. To support this long-standing need and in support of the President's Management Agenda, GAO developed a framework for assessing overseas work... |
The kidneys are the body’s filtration system that removes waste and extra fluid from the blood. Further, the kidneys maintain electrolyte stability, help to control blood pressure, and produce hormones to keep the body and blood healthy. Kidney disease occurs when the kidneys become damaged and can no longer filter blo... | An estimated 17 percent of U.S. adults have chronic kidney disease—the most common form of kidney disease—a condition in which the kidneys are damaged and cannot filter blood sufficiently, causing waste from the blood to remain in the body. Kidney disease patients may progress to ESRD, a condition of kidney failure, wh... |
Federal government real estate that is no longer needed is not automatically sold. Rather, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (the Property Act) requires a screening process in which the appropriate government officials explore transferring the property with or without payment to another gover... | GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) projected revenues from property sales from closed military bases, focusing on the: (1) revenues the government has received and expects to receive from military base property sales; (2) amount of additional resources the government has given to support comm... |
Advances in telecommunications technology have the potential to provide new and improved services to people no matter where they live. For example, students in rural areas of Iowa are being taught Russian, music, and calculus by teachers in distant urban centers through two-way video communications. North Carolina has ... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on three states' initiatives to promote increased access and private investment in advanced telecommunications. GAO found that: (1) Iowa, Nebraska, and North Carolina encouraged telephone companies to make private investment in advanced telecommunications in... |
Passenger trains, at one time the nation’s primary means of intercity transportation, began losing riders to automobiles in the 1920s and to airplanes in the 1950s and 1960s. Revenue losses on passenger services mounted, and in 1970, the final year in which these services were operated by private railroads, over $1.7 b... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed Amtrak's financial and operating condition, focusing on: (1) whether Amtrak can overcome its financial and operating problems; and (2) alternative actions Amtrak could take to meet its future funding requirements. GAO found that: (1) Amtrak's financial condition has d... |
With the passage of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) in November 2001, TSA assumed from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the majority of the responsibility for civil aviation security, including the commercial aviation system. ATSA required that TSA screen 100 percent of checked baggage usin... | Mandated to screen all checked baggage by using explosive detection systems at airports by December 31, 2003, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has deployed two types of screening equipment: explosive detection systems (EDS), which use computer-aided tomography X-rays to recognize explosives, and explosi... |
The difference in price between what farmers receive for their raw milk and what consumers pay for fluid milk products has increased in recent years. This growing spread between farm and retail prices may be attributable to a number of factors at each level of the milk marketing chain, including supply and demand force... | In 2003, U.S. dairy farmers marketed nearly 19.7 billion gallons of raw milk, one-third of which were used in fluid milk products. Farmers, cooperatives, processors, and retailers receive a portion of the retail price of milk for their part in providing milk to consumers. During 2002 and 2003, farm prices fell while re... |
Key DOD financial managers face considerable challenges in addressing the financial management needs of a DOD organization that is without parallel in the size, diversity, and complexity of its operations; repeated audit findings that deficiencies in personnel experience or competencies are a major contributor to DOD’s... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the lessons learned from the results of its survey of selected large state governments and private-sector corporations that the Department of Defense (DOD) could use to augment its existing plans to upgrade the competencies of its key financial managers. GAO noted tha... |
The FSS program consists of 40 schedules providing access to almost 20,000 vendors offering a wide range of goods and services. GSA operates the FSS program under authority contained in the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949.and a wide range of medical supplies, GSA has delegated to the Department... | The FSS program provides agencies a simplified method of purchasing commercial products and services at prices associated with volume buying. In 2011, the FAR was amended to enhance competition on FSS orders. Competition helps agencies get lower prices on products and services and get the best value for taxpayers. GAO ... |
Elder justice can be defined as efforts to prevent, identify, and respond to elder abuse. The following are examples of the types of objectives federal elder justice programs may include: Preventing and identifying elder abuse, such as conducting outreach and public education and investigating allegations of elder abus... | As the percentage of older adults in the population increases, the number of older adults at risk of abuse also is growing. At the same time, constraints on public funds may limit assistance to the growing population of older adults in need. GAO was asked to review elder justice program issues. This report addresses: (... |
Our analysis of initial estimates of Recovery Act spending provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggested that about $49 billion would be outlayed to states and localities by the federal government in fiscal year 2009, which runs through September 30. However, our analysis of the latest information availab... | This report, the second in response to a mandate under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), addresses the following objectives: (1) selected states' and localities' uses of Recovery Act funds, (2) the approaches taken by the selected states and localities to ensure accountability for Recov... |
Public transportation provides many groups with wide-ranging benefits. Those served include transportation disadvantaged populations, such as “low-income individuals”. Congress created the JARC program in the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) to support national welfare-reform goals, includin... | Established in 1998, the JARC program, which was administered by FTA, provided grants to states and localities for improving the mobility of low-income individuals to and from jobs and employment-related activities. In 2005, statute changed JARC into a formula program with dedicated funds apportioned by FTA. Then in 20... |
AOC is responsible for the maintenance, renovation, and new construction of the buildings and grounds primarily located within the Capitol Hill complex. Organizationally, AOC consists of a centralized staff that performs administrative functions and separate “jurisdictions” responsible for the day-to-day operations at ... | The Conference Report on the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, directed GAO to monitor AOC's progress in implementing recommendations contained in GAO's management review of AOC's operations, issued in January 2003. This is the second status report in which GAO examines the actions taken by AOC to implement... |
In 1991, DOD consolidated debt management within DFAS. At DFAS Columbus, two offices are involved in collecting contractor debts owed to the government. The Accounts Receivable Branch manages all newly identified debts. In managing new debts the Accounts Receivable Branch is to use DOD’s policies and procedures that de... | Improper payments are a long-standing problem throughout the government. The Department of Defense (DOD) has been overpaying contractors by hundreds of millions of dollars each year. For fiscal years 1994 through 1999, DOD contractors returned nearly $1.2 billion that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) h... |
Credit card use has grown dramatically since the introduction of cards more than 5 decades ago. Cards were first introduced in 1950, when Diners Club established the first general-purpose charge card that allowed its cardholders to purchase goods and services from many different merchants. In the late 1950s, Bank of Am... | With credit card penalty rates and fees now common, the Federal Reserve has begun efforts to revise disclosures to better inform consumers of these costs. Questions have also been raised about the relationship among penalty charges, consumer bankruptcies, and issuer profits. GAO examined (1) how card fees and other pra... |
The concept of the COO/CMO position largely came out of the creation of performance-based organizations (PBO) in the federal government in the late 1990s and early in this decade. During that time, the administration and Congress renewed their focus on the need to restructure federal agencies and hold them accountable ... | As agencies across the federal government embark on large-scale organizational change needed to address 21st century challenges, there is a compelling need for leadership to provide the continuing, focused attention essential to completing these multiyear business-related transformations. At the same time, many agencie... |
JWST is a large deployable, infrared-optimized space telescope intended to be the scientific successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope. JWST is designed for a 5-year mission to find the first stars and trace the evolution of galaxies from their beginning to their current formation, and is intended to operate in an ... | JWST is one of NASA's most complex and costly science projects. Effective execution of the project is critical given the potential effect further cost increases could have on NASA's science portfolio. The project was rebaselined in 2011 with a 78 percent life-cycle cost estimate increase --now $8.8 billion--and a launc... |
In 2008, we reported that FPS does not use a comprehensive risk management approach that links threats and vulnerabilities to resource requirements. Without a risk management approach that identifies threats and vulnerabilities and the resources required to achieve FPS’s security goals, there is only limited assurance ... | 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 1,225 full-time employees, and about 15,000 contract security guards. However, protecting federal facilities and their occupants from a potential terrorist attac... |
Conducting research is one of VA’s core missions. VA researchers have been involved in a variety of important advances in medical research, including development of the cardiac pacemaker, kidney transplant technology, prosthetic devices, and drug treatments for high blood pressure and schizophrenia. For fiscal year 200... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed rights and welfare of veterans who volunteer to participate in research at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the effectiveness of its human subject protection system, focusing on: (1) VA's implementation of human subject protections; (2) whether weaknesses exist i... |
DOD’s mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and protect the security of the United States. As shown in figure 1, the discretionary budget authority requested by DOD for fiscal year 2014 comprises about 53 percent of the budget request for discretionary programs throughout the federal government.... | GAO, the DOD Inspector General (IG), and others have reported on DOD's inability to provide effective control over the use of public funds (i.e., funds control). Funds control requires obligations and expenditures to comply with applicable law. Funds control weaknesses have prevented DOD from reporting reliable financi... |
As shown in figure 1, residential and small business users often connect to an Internet service provider (ISP) to access the Internet. Well-known ISPs include America Online (AOL) and Comcast. Typically, ISPs market a package of services that provide homes and businesses with a pathway, or “on-ramp,” to the Internet al... | According to one report, at the end of 2006, about 92 million U.S. adults used the Internet on a typical day. As public use of the Internet grew from the mid-1990s onward, Internet access became a potential target for state and local taxation. In 1998, Congress imposed a moratorium temporarily preventing state and loca... |
The Army’s conversion to a modular force encompasses the Army’s total force—active Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve—and directly affects not only the Army’s combat units, but related command and support organizations. A key to the Army’s new modular force design is embedding within combat brigades reconnaiss... | The Army considers its modular force transformation its most extensive restructuring since World War II. Restructuring units from a division-based force to a modular brigade-based force will require an investment of over $52 billion, including $41 billion for equipment, from fiscal year 2005 through fiscal year 2011, a... |
For almost two decades, we have reported on pervasive and long-standing weaknesses in DOD’s business operations. In January 2009, we released our high-risk series update for the 111th Congress. This series emphasizes federal programs and operations that are at high risk because of vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse... | Since fiscal year 2000, the Department of Defense (DOD) has significantly increased the number of major defense acquisition programs and its overall investment in them. However, acquisition outcomes have not improved. Over the next 5 years, DOD expects to invest $357 billion on the development and procurement of major ... |
A number of HUD’s large grant programs are subject to the AFFH requirement. These programs include the following: CDBG program: The CDBG program is authorized by Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. The program provides annual grants to states, metropolitan areas, and urban counties... | Pursuant to the Fair Housing Act, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations require grantees, such as cities, that receive federal funds through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) to further fair housing opportunities. In particular, grantees... |
The United States, along with its coalition partners and various international organizations and donors, has continued to support efforts to rebuild Iraq in the aftermath of the war that replaced Iraq’s previous regime. From April 2003 to June 28, 2004, the CPA served as Iraq’s interim government and was responsible fo... | The United States is spending billions of dollars to reconstruct Iraq while combating an insurgency that has targeted military and contractor personnel and the Iraqi people. This environment created a need for those rebuilding Iraq to obtain security services. GAO evaluated the extent to which (1) U.S. agencies and con... |
Aquaculture is defined as the production of any plant or animal in water and under controlled conditions. In the United States, aquaculture is a relatively new but rapidly growing industry. The value of U.S. aquaculture production more than quadrupled during the 1980s. Salmon is one of the four principal aquaculture pr... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Canada's policy regarding the import of fertilized salmon eggs and smolts, focusing on: (1) the reasons Canada implemented its policy; (2) whether concerned parties view Canada's policy as reasonable; and (3) whether opportunities exist for U.S. producers... |
Over the last 2 decades, the number of school-aged children with limited English proficiency in the nation has grown dramatically, increasing from less than 1 million in 1980 to more than 3.5 million in 1998. Despite small rates of growth in the total enrollment of all K-12 children, the enrollment of school-aged child... | In fiscal year 2000, the federal government funded four bilingual education programs--Program Development and Implementation Grants, Program Enhancement Projects, Comprehensive School Grants, and Systemwide Improvement Grants--that award grants to school districts to serve children with limited English proficiency. Thi... |
Generally, Medicare covers SNF stays for patients needing skilled nursing and therapy for conditions related to a hospital stay of at least 3 consecutive calendar days, if the hospital discharge occurred no more than 30 days prior to admission to the SNF. For qualified beneficiaries, Medicare will pay for medically nec... | In 1998, the Health Care Financing Administration implemented a prospective payment system (PPS) for skilled nursing facility (SNF) services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. PPS is intended to control the growth in Medicare spending for skilled nursing and rehabilitative services that SNFs provide. Two years after t... |
VA pays monthly disability compensation benefits to veterans with service-connected disabilities (injuries or diseases incurred or aggravated while on active military duty) according to the severity of the disability. VA also pays compensation to some spouses, children, and parents of deceased veterans and servicemembe... | The Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, House Veterans' Affairs Committee, asked GAO to discuss its recent work related to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) disability claims and appeals processing. GAO has reported and testified on this subject on numerous occasions. GAO's work has addre... |
In general, the Coast Guard’s COP can be described as an information display that provides the position and additional information on vessel and aircraft contacts (called tracks) to the Coast Guard and other decision makers. The Coast Guard’s concept for the COP includes a complex interplay of data, assets, technology,... | To facilitate its mission effectiveness and share maritime situational awareness, the Coast Guard developed its COP--a map-based information system shared among its commands. The COP displays vessels, information about those vessels, and the environment surrounding them on interactive digital maps. COP information is s... |
Economic growth—which is central to many of our major concerns as a society—requires investment, which, over the longer term, depends on saving. The nation’s saving consists of the private saving of households and businesses and the saving or dissaving of all levels of government. In general, government budget deficits... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO updated its previous simulations of the long-term economic impact of federal budget policy following passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. GAO noted that: (1) the balanced budget or surpluses that are projected in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 would represent an enormous... |
Most VA providers—including full- and part-time providers—are eligible for performance pay, but they may choose not to participate. Performance pay is given annually in a lump sum and may not exceed the lesser amount of $15,000 or 7.5 percent of a provider’s combined base and market pay, under the statute that defines ... | VHA administers VA's health care system and strives to provide high-quality, safe care to veterans. Concerns continue about the quality of care VHA delivers, but many physicians and dentists, referred to as providers, receive performance-based pay and awards. In fiscal year 2011, about 80 percent of VHA's nearly 22,500... |
The national park system has 376 units. These park units have over 16,000 permanent structures, 8,000 miles of roads, 1,500 bridges and tunnels, 5,000 housing units, about 1,500 water and waste systems, 200 radio systems, over 400 dams, and more than 200 solid waste operations. According to the Park Service, these faci... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed: (1) the Park Service's estimate of the maintenance backlog and its composition; (2) how the agency determined the maintenance backlog estimate and whether it is reliable; and (3) how the agency manages the backlog. GAO noted that: (1) the Park Service's estimate of it... |
EDA’s primary focus is to help regions experiencing long-term economic distress or sudden economic dislocation (brought about by, for example, plant closure or natural disaster) through public infrastructure investments, technical assistance and research, and the development and implementation of comprehensive economic... | The Department of Commerce's EDA provides financial assistance through grants to rural and urban communities experiencing substantial and persistent economic distress. EDA grants are intended to leverage existing regional assets to support the implementation of economic development strategies that advance new ideas and... |
NextGen is a multidecade, multiagency effort to transform the current ATC system to the next generation air transportation system by moving from relying largely on ground-based radars to using precision satellites; digital, networked communications; and an integrated weather system. Often characterized as “curb to curb... | To prepare for forecasted air traffic growth, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in partnership with other federal agencies and the aviation industry, is planning and implementing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), a new, satellite-based air traffic management system that is expected to in... |
Children enter foster care when they have been removed from their parents or guardians for reasons such as abuse or neglect, and placed under the responsibility of a state child welfare agency. The agency generally places the child in the home of a relative, with unrelated foster parents, or in a group home or resident... | GAO previously reported that children in foster care in five selected states were prescribed psychotropic medications at higher rates than other children on Medicaid. GAO also reported that some prescriptions were not supported by research and could pose health risks. GAO was asked to study efforts to oversee psychotro... |
ATSA established TSA and charged it with responsibility for securing all modes of transportation, including civil aviation. Prior to ATSA and the establishment of TSA, passenger and baggage screening had generally been performed by private screening companies under contract to airlines and in accordance with FAA regula... | TSA maintains a federal workforce to screen passengers and baggage at the majority of the nation's commercial airports, but also oversees a workforce of private screeners at airports who participate in the SPP. The SPP allows commercial airports to use private screeners, provided that the level of screening matches or ... |
DOD’s Real Property Management Program is governed by statute and DOD regulations, directives, and instructions that establish real property accountability and financial reporting requirements. These laws, regulations, directives, and instructions require DOD and the military departments to maintain a number of data el... | GAO has designated DOD's Support Infrastructure Management as a high-risk area in part due to challenges in reducing excess infrastructure. DOD installations can establish agreements to allow entities such as non-DOD federal agencies and private entities to use property on DOD installations that are unutilized or under... |
IRS has a multistage process that governs audits and settlements of disputes over the additional taxes recommended. In an audit, an auditor, usually from IRS’ Examination Division, is to review a taxpayer’s books and records to determine compliance with tax laws in reporting the proper amount of tax. Auditors usually r... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) measures of the results of its audits of tax returns, focusing on: (1) how much of the additional taxes recommended in all types of audits that were closed in fiscal year (FY) 1992 through FY 1997 had been settled or w... |
In general, SCHIP funds are targeted to uninsured children in families whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid but are at or below 200 percent of FPL. Recognizing the variability in state Medicaid programs, federal SCHIP law allows a state to cover children up to 200 percent of the poverty level or 50 percen... | In August 1997, Congress created the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) with the goal of significantly reducing the number of low-income uninsured children, especially those who lived in families with incomes exceeding Medicaid eligibility requirements. Unlike Medicaid, SCHIP is not an entitlement to ser... |
Metabolife 356, which claims to raise the body’s metabolism and help dieters lose weight while maintaining high energy levels, contains 32 ingredients, including ephedra, guarana (an herbal source of caffeine), bee pollen, and caffeine. The product label recommends that adults take one to two caplets two to three times... | Dietary supplements containing ephedra, such as Metabolife 356, have been associated with serious adverse health-related events. In a February 28, 2003, announcement, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed that dietary supplements containing ephedra include a statement on their label warning that "Heart attack... |
Recently, a body of research has shown that quality teachers are significant to improving student performance. For example, a 1996 study by Sanders and Rivers examined the effect of teacher quality on academic achievement and found that children assigned to effective teachers scored significantly higher in math than ch... | In December 2001, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA). The act required that all teachers of core subjects be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year and provided funding to help states and districts meet the requirement. In general, the act requires that teachers have a bachelor's degre... |
Depot-level maintenance and repair of military weapons and equipment involve extensive shop facilities, specialized equipment, and highly skilled technical and engineering personnel. In recent years, the distinction between depot maintenance and lower levels of maintenance has become less pronounced. Public sector depo... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) guidelines and procedures for identifying depot maintenance workloads and quantifying the public- and private-sector share of depot maintenance funding, focusing on: (1) public and private workload distributions as reported by the milit... |
Beginning with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, Congress required the Secretary of Defense to issue guidelines requiring DOD to consider using federal employees to perform work that was currently being performed or would otherwise be performed under DOD contracts. Under the guidelines, speci... | The Department of Defense (DOD) relies on contractors for varied functions, and obligated about $200 billion in fiscal year 2010 for contracted services. In-sourcingmoving contracted work to performance by DOD employeeshas been one tool through which DOD managed its workforce. The National Defense Authorization Act f... |
Under Title II of the Food for Peace Act, the United States provides agricultural commodities to address famine and food crises in foreign countries. Between fiscal years 2007 and 2012, the United States spent about $9.2 billion to provide emergency food aid to 57 countries through its cooperating sponsors, such as the... | USDA and USAID spent about $9.2 billion to provide international emergency food aid during fiscal years 2007-2012. USDA developed WBSCM with USAID's input to manage domestic and international food aid procurements. USDA spent about $187 million to develop and implement the system. GAO was asked to examine the internati... |
The Colville and Spokane Indian reservations were established in 1872 and 1877, respectively, on land that was later included in the state of Washington. The Colville Reservation, of approximately 1.4 million acres, was created on July 2, 1872, through an executive order issued by President Grant. The Spokane Reservati... | The Grand Coulee Dam was constructed on the Columbia River in northeastern Washington State from 1933 to 1942. The reservoir behind the dam covers land on the Colville Reservation along the Columbia River and land on the adjacent Spokane Reservation along both the Columbia and Spokane rivers. Under a 1940 act, the fede... |
A clinical lab is generally defined as a facility that examines specimens derived from humans for the purpose of disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, or health assessment of individuals. Labs conduct a wide range of tests that are categorized as waived tests or as moderate- or high- complexity tests. Approxima... | Today's hearing focuses on oversight of clinical labs. The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) strengthened quality requirements for labs that perform tests to diagnose or treat disease. About 36,000 labs that perform certain complex tests must be surveyed biennially by a state survey agency, a st... |
BSE and vCJD belong to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). Other TSEs include scrapie in sheep and goats, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, feline spongiform encephalopathy in domestic cats, and mink encephalopathy. Currently, no therapies or vaccines exist to treat TSE... | More than 5 million cattle across Europe have been killed to stop the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly called mad cow disease. Found in 26 countries, including Canada and the United States, BSE is believed to spread through animal feed that contains protein from BSE-infected animals. Consuming... |
Our undercover testing for the 2015 coverage year found that the health- care marketplace eligibility determination and enrollment process remains vulnerable to fraud. As shown in figure 1, the federal Marketplace or selected state marketplaces approved each of our 10 fictitious applications for subsidized qualified he... | 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 Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of subsidies and related spending under PPACA at $60 billion for fiscal year 2016. PPACA requires... |
While a large number of tax software companies offer return preparation and electronic filing services, three companies provide the tax software used by the majority of individuals who prepare and file their returns electronically (see app. II). One company’s product—Intuit’s TurboTax— represented over half of the retu... | Individual taxpayers used commercial tax software to prepare over 39 million tax returns in 2007, making it critical to the tax administration system. The majority were then filed electronically, resulting in fewer errors and reduced processing costs compared to paper returns. GAO was asked to assess what is known abou... |
As the nation’s largest supplier of hydroelectric power, the Corps generates about 25 percent of all the hydroelectric power in the United States. The Corps operates hydroelectric power plants at 75 dams with a total capacity of about 21,000 megawatts (MW). The total capital investment in these facilities over the year... | GAO discussed the maintenance and repair of hydroelectric powerplants operated by the Army Corps of Engineers in the Southeast, focusing on the extent to which: (1) the power plants are experiencing outages; and (2) planning and budgeting processes allow the Corps to perform timely and effective repairs and rehabilitat... |
The SSO program covers all states with fixed guideway systems operating in their jurisdictions. FTA defines a rail fixed guideway system as any light, heavy, or rapid rail system, monorail, inclined plane, funicular, trolley, or automated guideway that is not regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and i... | Rail transit generally has been one of the safest forms of public transportation. However, several recent notable accidents are cause for concern. For example, a July 2009 crash on the Washington Metro Red Line resulted in nine deaths. The federal government does not directly regulate the safety of rail transit. Throug... |
Definition: When ll people ll timeve oth phyicnd economic ccess to sufficient food to meet their dietry need for prodctive nd helthy life. Food ilability—chieved when sufficient uantitie of food (supplied throgh household prodction, other dometic otpt, commercil import, or food assnce) re contently ilable to ll individ... | In 1996, the United States and more than 180 world leaders pledged to halve the number of undernourished people globally by 2015 from the 1990 level. The global number has not decreased significantly--remaining at about 850 million in 2001-2003--and the number in sub-Saharan Africa has increased from about 170 million ... |
Federal employees are routinely surveyed through OPM’s administration of the FEVS, which is administered to collect data on federal employees’ perceptions about how effectively agencies are managing their workforces. The FEVS is a tool that measures employees’ perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions that... | DHS is the third largest cabinet-level department in the federal government, employing more than 200,000 staff in a broad range of jobs. Since it began operations in 2003, DHS employees have reported having low job satisfaction. DHS employee concerns about job satisfaction are one example of the challenges the departme... |
The FTR, issued by GSA, implements statutory and OMB requirements and policies for most federal civilian employees and others authorized to travel at government expense. The purpose of the FTR is to ensure that official travel is conducted responsibly and at minimal administrative expense. Unless exempt by specific leg... | Previous GAO work on widespread improper premium class travel at the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of State (State) have led to concerns as to whether similar improper travel exists in the rest of the federal government. Consequently, GAO was asked to (1) determine the magnitude of premium class travel... |
DOD and OPM’s proposed NSPS regulations would establish a new human resources management system within DOD that governs basic pay, staffing, classification, performance management, labor relations, adverse actions, and employee appeals. We believe that many of the basic principles underlying the proposed DOD regulation... | The Department of Defense's (DOD) new human resources management system--the National Security Personnel System (NSPS)--will have far-reaching implications for civil service reform across the federal government. The 2004 National Defense Authorization Act gave DOD significant flexibilities for managing more than 700,00... |
DOD is a massive and complex organization. To illustrate, it reported that its fiscal year 2006 operations involved approximately $1.4 trillion in assets and $2.0 trillion in liabilities, more than 2.9 million military and civilian personnel, and $581 billion in net cost of operations. Organizationally, DOD includes th... | In 1995, GAO first designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) business systems modernization program as "high-risk," and continues to do so today. In 2004, Congress passed legislation reflecting prior GAO recommendations that DOD adopt a corporate approach to information technology (IT) business systems investment ma... |
In the 2001 tax filing season, IRS received more than 70.7 million calls on its three toll-free assistance numbers and answered over 50.5 million calls—assistors answered 22.7 million calls and automated systems answered 27.8 million calls. As in previous years, IRS had three toll-free telephone numbers that taxpayers ... | Congress has long been concerned about the quality of service that taxpayers receive when calling the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for help in understanding and meeting their tax obligations. IRS has taken steps to improve its responsiveness to the tens of millions of telephone calls it receives each year, from expan... |
In light of the federal government’s long-term fiscal challenges, it is critical that agencies can justify the needed resources and develop effective, efficient strategies to achieve their mission. We testified in January 2008 that, while FDA officials had acknowledged that implementing the Food Protection Plan would r... | The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of roughly 80 percent of the U.S. food supply, including $417 billion worth of domestic food and $49 billion in imported food annually. Changing demographics and consumption patterns along with an increase in imports have presented challenges... |
TSA is responsible for administering background checks—known as security threat assessments—for maritime, surface, and aviation transportation security programs that have vetted approximately 15 million applicants since 2003, according to TSA officials. Security threat assessments are designed to ensure that only eligi... | TSA implements programs that, for example, ensure individuals with unescorted access to secure areas of the nation's critical transportation infrastructure do not pose a security threat. Key to these programs are security threat assessments that screen individuals for links to terrorism, criminal history, and immigrati... |
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.