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Russian Nuclear Submarines: U.S. Participation in the Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation Program Needs Better Justification

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "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 aging fleet of nuclear submarines. Section 324 of the National Defense Authorization Act f… more
Date: September 9, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Kennedy Center: More Information on Project Status and Budgets Needed to Understand the Impact of Future Funding Decisions

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since fiscal year 1995, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Center) has been responsible and received federal funding for implementing capital improvement projects and operations and maintenance activities. The Kennedy Center's Comprehensive Building Plan identifies capital projects needed to renovate the Center and bring it into compliance with current life safety and accessibility code… more
Date: September 15, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee: IRAC Representatives Effectively Coordinate Federal Spectrum but Lack Seniority to Advise on Contentious Policy Issues

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) within the Department of Commerce manages the federal government's use of the radio frequency spectrum with coordination and policy input from the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC), comprised of 20 federal agencies that use spectrum. In recent years, the use of spectrum in wireless applications has expanded dramatically,… more
Date: September 30, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Management Systems: Lack of Disciplined Processes Puts Implementation of HHS' Financial System at Risk

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In June 2001, the Secretary of HHS directed the department to establish a unified accounting system that, when fully implemented, would replace five outdated accounting systems. GAO was asked to review HHS' ongoing effort to develop and implement the Unified Financial Management System (UFMS) and to focus on whether the agency has (1) effectively implemented disciplined processes; (2) implemented effect… more
Date: September 23, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Best Practices: Using Spend Analysis to Help Agencies Take a More Strategic Approach to Procurement

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""Spend analysis" is a tool that provides knowledge about who are the buyers, who are the suppliers, how much is being spent for what goods and services, and where are the opportunities to leverage buying power. Private sector companies are using spend analysis as a foundation for employing a strategic approach to procurement. Recognizing the potential in government purchasing, GAO examined if the depart… more
Date: September 16, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Defense Acquisitions: Better Information Could Improve Visibility over Adjustments to DOD's Research and Development Funds

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress recognizes that the DOD needs some flexibility to adjust research and development program levels. A key mechanism--below threshold reprogramming (BTR)--enables DOD to adjust program funding levels without seeking prior congressional approval as long as a certain dollar amount or percentage threshold is not exceeded. In response to a mandate by the appropriations committees, this report addresse… more
Date: September 17, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Transportation Security R&D: TSA and DHS Are Researching and Developing Technologies, but Need to Improve R&D Management

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Conducting research and development (R&D) on technologies for detecting, preventing, and mitigating terrorist threats is vital to enhancing the security of the nation's transportation system. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress enacted legislation to strengthen homeland security, in part by enhancing R&D. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Ho… more
Date: September 30, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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No Child Left Behind Act: Improvements Needed in Education's Process for Tracking States' Implementation of Key Provisions

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) has focused national attention on improving the academic achievement of the nations' 48 million students by establishing a deadline--school year 2013-14--for public schools to ensure that all students are proficient in reading and math. Accordingly, states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico developed plans that set goals for increasing the numbers of … more
Date: September 30, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Trade Adjustment Assistance: Reforms Have Accelerated Training Enrollment, but Implementation Challenges Remain

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Reform Act of 2002 consolidated two programs serving trade-affected workers and made changes to expand benefits and decrease the time it takes for workers to get services. GAO was asked to provide information on (1) how key reform provisions have affected program services, (2) what have been the challenges in implementing new provisions, (3) whether demand for TAA t… more
Date: September 22, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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No Child Left Behind Act: Additional Assistance and Research on Effective Strategies Would Help Small Rural Districts

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To improve the academic achievement of the nation's 48 million school-aged children, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) introduced significant changes to state, district, and school accountability for student performance and teacher qualifications. Congress has raised concerns about difficulties rural districts face implementing NCLBA. GAO is providing NCLBA implementation information on (1) key chall… more
Date: September 23, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Depot Maintenance: DOD Needs Plan to Ensure Compliance with Public- and Private-Sector Funding Allocation

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under 10 U.S.C. 2466, the military departments and defense agencies can use no more than 50 percent of annual depot maintenance funding for work performed by private-sector contractors. DOD also must submit two reports to the Congress annually on the division of depot maintenance funding between the public and private sectors--one about the percentage of funds spent in the previous 2 fiscal years (prior… more
Date: September 29, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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VA Long-Term Care: More Accurate Measure of Home-Based Primary Care Workload Is Needed

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides a variety of long-term care services that includes nursing home care and noninstitutional care provided in community-based settings or in the homes of veterans. One important noninstitutional service is home-based primary care, which uses a multidisciplinary team approach involving VA health care providers and others such as social workers to treat vetera… more
Date: September 8, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Welfare Reform: Rural TANF Programs Have Developed Many Strategies to Address Rural Challenges

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About 49 million people, or 17 percent of the country's total population, live in rural communities, and 18 states have at least a third of their population in rural areas. Rural areas often have less favorable employment conditions than urban areas and have fewer public transportation options to help people get to and from work. Given these conditions and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TA… more
Date: September 10, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Great Lakes: Organizational Leadership and Restoration Goals Need to Be Better Defined for Monitoring Restoration Progress

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Great Lakes remain environmentally vulnerable, prompting the United States and Canada to agree on actions to preserve and protect them. As requested, this report (1) determines the extent to which current EPA monitoring efforts provide information for assessing overall conditions in the Great Lakes Basin, (2) identifies existing restoration goals and whether monitoring is done to track goal progress… more
Date: September 28, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tax Policy: Historical Tax Treatment of INTELSAT and Current Tax Rules for Satellite Corporations

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT)--an intergovernmental organization launched in 1964 to design, develop, and operate a commercial telecommunications satellite system--enjoyed certain privileges that domestic companies do not, including some related to taxation. Each member nation designated a Signatory to participate as an investor. The U.S. Signatory was COMSAT, a … more
Date: September 13, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Corporate Credit Unions: Competitive Environment May Stress Financial Condition, Posing Challenges for NCUA Oversight

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Thousands of credit unions have placed about $55 billion of their excess funds in corporate credit unions (corporates). In a three-tiered system, corporates provide lending, investment, and processing services for their member credit unions. Problems with investments in the past prompted regulatory changes that required higher capitalization and stricter risk management, but allowed for expanded investm… more
Date: September 10, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Rural Housing Service: Updated Guidance and Additional Monitoring Needed for Rental Assistance Distribution Process

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Rural Housing Service's (RHS) Section 521 rental assistance program provides rental subsidies for about 250,000 rural tenants. Because the program has a waiting list of 80,000 eligible tenants and there are over 1.3 million rural low-income renters eligible for housing subsidies, it is important to effectively distribute resources to extend assistance to as many needy tenants as possible. Therefore,… more
Date: September 13, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Foreign Regimes' Assets: The United States Faces Challenges in Recovering Assets, but Has Mechanisms That Could Guide Future Efforts

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For many years, the United States has used economic sanctions, including the freezing of foreign regimes' assets, when such regimes have been determined to be a threat to the nation. In light of recent efforts to "recover"--or target, identify, freeze, and transfer--Iraqi assets, GAO was asked to examine overall U.S. efforts to recover foreign regimes' assets. This report (1) describes the approach the … more
Date: September 14, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Audit: Independent and Special Counsel Expenditures for the Six Months Ended March 31, 2004

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the expenditures of two offices of independent counsel and one office of special counsel for the 6 months ended March 31, 2004."
Date: September 30, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Electronic Government: Federal Agencies Continue to Invest in Smart Card Technology

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Smart cards--plastic devices about the size of a credit card--use integrated circuit chips to store and process data, much like a computer. Among other uses, these devices can provide security for physical assets and information by helping to verify the identity of people accessing buildings and computer systems. They can also support functions such as tracking immunization records or storing cash value… more
Date: September 8, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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TANF and SSI: Opportunities Exist to Help People with Impairments Become More Self-Sufficient

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's social welfare system has been transformed into a system emphasizing work and personal responsibility, primarily through the creation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program has expanded policies to help recipients improve self-sufficiency. Given that SSA data indicate an overlap in the populations served by TANF and … more
Date: September 15, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Maritime Security: Better Planning Needed to Help Ensure an Effective Port Security Assessment Program

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Created in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Port Security Assessment Program was designed to evaluate security at the nation's 55 most economically and militarily strategic ports. Implemented by the U.S. Coast Guard, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, the program focuses on identifying vulnerabilities, suggesting approaches to minimize them, and making the inform… more
Date: September 30, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medicare: Information Needed to Assess Adequacy of Rate-Setting Methodology for Payments for Hospital Outpatient Services

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS), hospitals receive a temporary additional payment for certain new drugs and devices while data on their costs are collected. In 2003, these payments expired for the first time for many drugs and devices. To incorporate these items into OPPS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) used its rate-setting methodology that c… more
Date: September 17, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Export-Import Bank: OMB's Method for Estimating Bank's Loss Rates Involves Challenges and Lacks Transparency

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) facilitates U.S. exports by extending credit to foreign governments and corporations, mostly in developing countries. The Federal Credit Reform Act requires Ex-Im Bank to estimate its net future losses, called "subsidy costs," for budget purposes. Beginning with fiscal year 2003, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) significantly changed its methodology for estim… more
Date: September 30, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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