http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/repandtest.html Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:25:48 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2-ppt http://www.gao.gov/images/title_object.jpg http://www.gao.gov/ http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-60?source=ra As a result of internal control deficiencies discussed in GAO's 2007 report on certain contracts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), GAO was asked to identify the extent to which CMS (1) implemented effective control procedures over contract actions, and (2) established a strong control environment for contract management. GAO used a statistical random sample of 2008 CMS contract actions (including contract awards and ... Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-30?source=ra Recent congressional initiatives seek to focus funds for certain federal social programs on interventions for which randomized experiments show sizable, sustained benefits to participants or society. The private, nonprofit Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy undertook the Top Tier Evidence initiative to help federal programs identify interventions that meet this standard. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine (1) ... Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-115?source=ra Built in 1943, the Kansas City Plant (KCP)--the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) primary production plant for manufacturing nonnuclear components of nuclear warheads and bombs--is to be modernized because of its age and the high cost of maintenance and operation. Among other changes, NNSA plans to relocate KCP to a new facility and increase components obtained from external suppliers from about 54 to 70 percent. KCP's continued ... Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-42R?source=ra The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provides health care services to American Indians and Alaskan Natives. For fiscal year 2009, Congress appropriated approximately $3.6 billion for health care services to be made available through IHS. The agency provides direct medical care, including primary care services, ancillary services, and some specialty services, through its network ... Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-11?source=ra The Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) collections program provides services to agencies to collect, deposit, and account for collections through a variety of methods. Electronic collection methods can reduce government borrowing costs and agency administrative costs, while improving compliance and security. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to identify (1) the extent to which agencies other ... Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-39?source=ra In fiscal year 2008, the Department of Defense (DOD) obligated $200 billion on services contracts, including $42 billion for professional and management services. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) previously identified weaknesses in DOD's management and oversight of services contracts, contributing to DOD contract management being on GAO's high-risk list. For selected professional and management support contracts, GAO was asked ... Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-260T?source=ra Recent cases of corporate fraud and mismanagement heighten the Department of Justice's (DOJ) need to appropriately punish and deter corporate crime. Recently, DOJ has made more use of deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements (DPAs and NPAs), in which prosecutors may require company reform, among other things, in exchange for deferring prosecution, and may also require companies to hire an independent monitor to oversee compliance. ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-45?source=ra When a consumer uses a credit card to make a purchase, the merchant does not receive the full purchase amount because a certain portion of the sale is deducted to compensate the merchant's bank, the bank that issued the card, and the card network that processes the transaction. The level and growth of these rates have become increasingly controversial. The 2009 Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act directed GAO ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-56?source=ra The Department of Defense (DOD) implemented the post-deployment health reassessment (PDHRA), which is required to be administered to servicemembers 90 to 180 days after their return from deployment. DOD established the PDHRA program to identify and address servicemembers' health concerns that emerge over time following deployments. This report is the second in response to a Senate Armed Services Committee report directing the Government ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-57?source=ra The Department of Education (Education) awards about $45 billion in grants each year to school districts, states, and other entities. In addition, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided an additional $97 billion in grant funding. In a series of reports from 2002 to 2009, Education's Inspector General cited a number of grantees for failing to comply with financial and programmatic requirements of their grant agreements. ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-13?source=ra The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program stores and processes biometric and biographic information to, among other things, control and monitor the entry and exit of foreign visitors. Currently, an entry capability is operating at almost 300 U.S. ports of entry, but an exit capability is not. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has previously reported on ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-223?source=ra The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) requires recipients of funding from federal agencies to report quarterly on jobs created or retained with Recovery Act funding. The first recipient reports filed in October 2009 cover activity from February through September 30, 2009. GAO is required to comment on the jobs created or retained as reported by recipients. This report addresses (1) the extent to which recipients ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-224T?source=ra This testimony discusses the report being issued today on the first set of recipient reports made available in October 2009 in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's section 1512 requirement. On October 30, Recovery.gov (the federal Web site on Recovery Act spending) reported that more than 100,000 recipients had reported hundreds of thousands of jobs created or retained. GAO is required to comment quarterly on the estimates ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-255T?source=ra The Small Business Administration (SBA), which, along with federal procuring activities, administers the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) program, reported in fiscal year 2008 that $6.5 billion in federal contracts were awarded to firms who self-certified themselves as SDVOSBs. Government contracts to SDVOSBs accounted for only 1.5 percent of all government contract dollars paid in fiscal year 2008. Since the SDVOSB ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-108?source=ra The Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) program is intended to provide federal contracting opportunities to qualified firms. In fiscal year 2007, the Small Business Administration (SBA) reported $4 billion in governmentwide sole source and set aside SDVOSB contract awards. Given the amount of federal contract dollars being awarded to SDVOSB firms, GAO was asked to determine (1) whether cases of fraud and abuse exist within ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-77?source=ra When sponsors terminate underfunded plans during bankruptcy, it can deplete resources of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which protects the pensions of almost 44 million American workers and retirees who participate in over 29,000 defined benefit pension plans. In 2009, PBGC reported an estimated deficit of over $30 billion. GAO was asked to determine what pay and other compensation executives received in the years preceding ... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-236T?source=ra The Federal Protective Service (FPS) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for providing law enforcement and related security services for nearly 9,000 federal facilities under the control and custody of the General Services Administration (GSA). In 2004 GAO identified a set of key protection practices from the collective practices of federal agencies and the private sector, which included allocation of resources ... Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO/OIG-10-1?source=ra GAO's mission is to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. To accomplish its mission, GAO provides objective and reliable information and informed analysis to Congress, federal agencies, and the public. To help monitor its performance in serving Congress, GAO uses the testimony performance ... Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-142?source=ra There is ongoing concern about the security of federal buildings and their occupants. The Federal Protective Service (FPS) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for providing law enforcement and related security services for nearly 9,000 federal buildings under the control and custody of the General Services Administration (GSA). In 2004, GAO identified a set of key protection practices from the collective practices ... Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-252T?source=ra The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) is responsible for addressing the threat of nuclear smuggling. Radiation detection portal monitors are key elements in the nation's defenses against such threats. DHS has sponsored testing to develop new monitors, known as advanced spectroscopic portal (ASP) monitors, to replace radiation detection equipment being used at ports of entry. DNDO expects that ... Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-230T?source=ra Pervasive and sustained cyber attacks continue to pose a potentially devastating threat to the systems and operations of the federal government. In recent months, federal officials have cited the continued efforts of foreign nations and criminals to target government and private sector networks; terrorist groups have expressed a desire to use cyber attacks to target the United States; and press accounts have reported attacks on the Web ... Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-259T?source=ra The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service manage about 628 million acres of public land, mostly in 11 western states and Alaska. Under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) of 2000, revenue raised from selling BLM lands is available to the agencies, primarily to acquire nonfederal land ... Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-86R?source=ra Over the past few decades, the cost of tuition, room, and board for undergraduate students has increased, making it more difficult for some students and families to afford the cost of college. While students have historically relied on federal loans and grants and family contributions to pay for college, a growing number have turned to private education loans to help them cover the cost. In 2007-08, private loan volume, including private ... Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-262T?source=ra U.S. trade preference programs promote economic development in poorer nations by providing duty-free export opportunities in the United States. The Generalized System of Preferences, Caribbean Basin Initiative, Andean Trade Preference Act, and African Growth and Opportunity Act unilaterally reduce U.S. tariffs for many products from over 130 countries. However, two of these programs expire partially or in full this year, and Congress is ... Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.gao.gov/pdfs/GAO-10-65?source=ra In fiscal year 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) identified three material internal control weaknesses over financial reporting--financial management system functionality, IT security controls, and financial management oversight. VA is developing a new financial system--FLITE--but full implementation is not expected until 2014. Therefore, the Subcommittee asked us to determine whether VA corrective action plans and oversight ... Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100