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Chief Acquisition Officers: Appointments Generally Conform to Legislative Requirements, but Agencies Need to Clearly Define Roles and Responsibilities

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Most agencies have appointed Chief Acquisition Officers (CAO) in accordancewith two of the three key requirements in the Services Acquisition Reform Act of2003 (SARA): that the CAOs be political appointees and have agency SeniorProcurement Executives report directly to them. However, few CAOs haveacquisition management as their primary duty; other areas of responsibilityincluded financial, information, … more
Date: July 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Government Transparency: Efforts to Improve Information on Federal Spending

Description: Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other federal agencies have taken steps to improve federal spending data available on USAspending.gov. This effort to publicly display comprehensive data arose from the federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which required OMB to establish a free, publicly accessible website containing data on federal awards and subawards. OMB launched USAspe… more
Date: July 18, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mortgage Foreclosures: Regulatory Oversight of Compliance with Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Has Been Limited

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Certain protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) only apply to those servicemembers who obtained mortgages prior to becoming active duty, but at least 15,000 instances of financial institutions failing to properly reduce servicemembers’ mortgage interest rates and over 300 improper foreclosures have been identified by federal investigations and financial institutions in recent years.… more
Date: July 17, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Estimates of the Effect on the Prevalence of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The five studies GAO reviewed that used microsimulation models to estimate the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on employer-sponsored coverage generally predicted little change in prevalence in the near term, while results of employer surveys varied more widely. The five microsimulation study estimates ranged from a net decrease of 2.5 percent to a net increase of 2.7 pe… more
Date: July 13, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Iraq: U.S. Assistance to Iraq's Minority Groups in Response to Congressional Directives

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) could not demonstrate how the projects that it reported to Congress met the provisions of the 2008 directive because of three weaknesses. First, USAID documents—specifically, the list of projects the agency submitted to Congress— linked only $3.8 million of the $14.8 million in assistance (26 percent) directly to the Ninewa pl… more
Date: July 10, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle: DOD Is Addressing Knowledge Gaps in Its New Acquisition Strategy [Reissued on August 13, 2012]

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has numerous efforts in progress to address the knowledge gaps and data deficiencies identified in the GAO report. Of the seven recommendations GAO made to the Secretary of Defense, two have been completely addressed. While two of GAO’s recommendations have actions underway that are expected to be completed, two recommendations need more action for completion and one has … more
Date: July 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Anthrax: DHS Faces Challenges in Validating Methods for Sample Collection and Analysis

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A workgroup—led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and made up of DHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—has attempted to address GAO’s recommendations to (1) validate environmental sampling methods for detecting Bacillu… more
Date: July 31, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Troubled Asset Relief Program: Further Actions Needed to Enhance Assessments and Transparency of Housing Programs

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of the Treasury announced changes in January 2012 to its Making Home Affordable (MHA) programs, which are funded by the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), to address barriers to borrower participation. These changes include expanding eligibility criteria and extending application deadlines through 2013. Not enough time has passed to assess the extent to which these changes will increas… more
Date: July 19, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Foreign Assistance: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Quality and Sustainability of USAID Road in Indonesia

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From August 2005 to September 2010, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded five contracts to reconstruct a major coastal road in Aceh Province, Indonesia. Three of the contracts were for construction, one contract was for design and supervision, and one contract was for project management. Several factors delayed the road’s completion and increased costs. For example, according to… more
Date: July 19, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Real Property: Strategic Partnerships and Local Coordination Could Help Agencies Better Utilize Space

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government owns facilities that are underutilized in locations where it also leases space. In some cases, space within these government-owned properties could be occupied by other government agencies. This is particularly true for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), for which declining mail volume and operational changes have freed space in many facilities. However, this potential for collocatio… more
Date: July 25, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Refugee Resettlement: Greater Consultation with Community Stakeholders Could Strengthen Program

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Voluntary agencies consider various factors when determining where refugees will be placed, but few agencies we visited consulted relevant local stakeholders, which posed challenges for service providers. When deciding how many refugees to place in each community, some voluntary agencies prioritize local agency capacity, such as staffing levels, while others emphasize community capacity, such as housing… more
Date: July 25, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medicare Advantage: Quality Bonus Payment Demonstration Has Design Flaws and Raises Legal Concerns

Description: Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our March 2012 review found that the CMS Office of the Actuary’s (OACT) estimated cost of the demonstration exceeds $8 billion over 10 years. About $5.34 billion of this estimate is attributed to quality bonus payments more generous than those prescribed in PPACA, specifically to (1) higher bonuses for 4-star and 5-star plans, (2) new bonuses for 3-star and 3.5-star plans, (3) applying bonuses to plans’ entir… more
Date: July 25, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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General Aviation Security: Weaknesses Exist in TSA's Process for Ensuring Foreign Flight Students Do Not Pose a Security Threat

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and aircraft operators have taken several important actions to enhance general aviation security, and TSA is gathering input from operators to develop additional requirements. For example, TSA requires that certain general aviation aircraft operators implement security programs. Aircraft operators under these programs must, among other things, develop and… more
Date: July 18, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Privacy: Federal Law Should Be Updated to Address Changing Technology Landscape

Description: Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Technological developments since the Privacy Act became law in 1974 have changed the way information is organized and shared among organizations and individuals. Such advances have rendered some of the provisions of the Privacy Act and the E-Government Act of 2002 inadequate to fully protect all personally identifiable information collected, used, and maintained by the federal government. For example, GAO has… more
Date: July 31, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm Programs: Direct Payments Should Be Reconsidered

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From 2003 through 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) made more than $46 billion in direct payments to farmers and other producers. These producers planted varying percentages of acres that qualified for payments based on their historical planting yields and designated payment rates (qualifying acres). Cumulatively, USDA paid $10.6 billion—almost one-fourth of total direct payments made from… more
Date: July 3, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Improved Oversight of State Eligibility Expansions Needed

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2010, GAO estimates that 2.6 percent (473,000) of households that received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would not have been eligible for the program without broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) because their incomes were over the federal SNAP eligibility limits. The characteristics of these households were generally similar to other SNAP households, alth… more
Date: July 26, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Afghanistan Security: Long-standing Challenges May Affect Progress and Sustainment of Afghan National Security Forces

Description: Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) report progress developing capable Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), but tools used to assess the performance of ANSF units have changed several times. In April 2012, DOD reported progress increasing the number and capability of ANSF, with 7 percent of army units and 9 percent of police units rated at the highest level of … more
Date: July 24, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Human Capital: HHS and EPA Can Improve Practices Under Special Hiring Authorities

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) use of special hiring authorities under 42 U.S.C. §§ 209(f) and (g) has increased in recent years. Nearly all HHS Title 42 employees work in one of three HHS operating divisions: the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Title 42 employees at HHS serve in a … more
Date: July 9, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund: Transparency of Balances and Controls over Equitable Sharing Should Be Improved

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Annual revenues into the Assets Forfeiture Fund (AFF) from forfeited assets increased from $500 million in 2003 to $1.8 billion in 2011, in part due to an increase in prosecutions of fraud and financial crimes cases. Expenditures in support of forfeiture activities such as equitable sharing payments to state and local law enforcement agencies and payments to victims also increased over the same 9-year p… more
Date: July 12, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Protective Service: Preliminary Results on Efforts to Assess Facility Risks and Oversee Contract Guards

Description: Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s preliminary results indicate that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Protective Service (FPS) is not assessing risks at federal facilities in a manner consistent with standards such as the National Infrastructure Protection Plan’s (NIPP) risk management framework, as FPS originally planned. Instead of conducting risk assessments, since September 2011, FPS’s inspectors have collected inf… more
Date: July 24, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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EPA Regulations and Electricity: Better Monitoring by Agencies Could Strengthen Efforts to Address Potential Challenges

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "It is uncertain how power companies may respond to four key Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, but available information suggests companies may retrofit most coal-fueled generating units with controls to reduce pollution, and that 2 to 12 percent of coal-fueled capacity may be retired. Some regions may see more significant levels of retirements. For example, one study examined 11 states … more
Date: July 17, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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