Reports and Testimony: January 1995 (Other Written Prod., 01/95,
GAO/OPA-95-4).
GAO published its monthly digest of reports and testimonies issued in
January 1995.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: OPA-95-4
TITLE: Reports and Testimony: January 1995
DATE: 01/01/95
SUBJECT: Food stamp programs
Defense contingency planning
Computer security
Transportation operations
National defense operations
Budget administration
Employment
Data integrity
Electronic funds transfer
International relations
IDENTIFIER: Bibliographies
DOD Bottom-Up Review
National Information Infrastructure Program
Information Superhighway
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REPORTS AND TESTIMONY:
JANUARY 1995
GAO/OPA-95-4
Highlights
DOD Bottom-Up Review
In its bottom-up review of U.S. defense needs, the Defense
Department outlined a strategy to fight and win two nearly
simultaneous regional conflicts. GAO found that DOD has not fully
analyzed key assumptions about availability of forces, supporting
capabilities, and enhancements that DOD concluded were necessary for
executing the two-conflict strategy. Page 20.
Information Superhighway
Several critical challenges remain before a national information
superhighway is finally developed. These include ensuring data
security and users' privacy, developing common protocols and
standards to ensure a "seamless" web of features, and guaranteeing
reliability. Page 16.
Food Assistance
GAO concludes that providing Food Stamps by either electronic
transfer or giving beneficiaries a check rather than coupons could
reduce some types of waste, fraud, and abuse, although the reductions
have yet to be quantified. Page 2.
GAO/OPA-95-4
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
AFDC -
CBO -
DCAA -
DOD -
DOE -
DOT -
EEO -
EPA -
EU -
FAA -
FDA -
FSIS -
FTC -
FYDP -
HHS -
HUD -
INS -
JOBS -
NASA -
OMB -
OSCE -
SSI -
TAA -
TRW -
TSSAM -
USDA -
VA -
REPORTS AND TESTIMONY: JANUARY
1995
=========================================================== Appendix 0
AGRICULTURE AND FOOD
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:1
Food Assistance:
Potential Impacts of Alternative Systems for Delivering Food Stamp
Program Benefits
GAO/RCED-95-13, Dec. 16 (77 pages).
The food stamp program, one of the nation's largest welfare programs,
provides benefits to one in 10 Americans at a total annual cost of
nearly $25 billion. The use of electronic fund transfer technology
and checks could reduce some types of waste, fraud, and abuse in the
program, which now relies on coupons to deliver benefits. The
reductions possible under the two alternatives, however, have yet to
be quantified. Administratively, checks are the least expensive way
to deliver benefits. Whether electronic fund transfer technology
will be less costly to run than the existing coupon system is
unclear. Also, the popularly held assumption that electronic fund
transfer technology and checks will boost program participation is
unproven. Electronic fund transfer technology appears superior to
both coupons and checks in ensuring that benefits are actually used
to buy food. Currently, momentum is building to implement a new
federal electronic benefits delivery system that would provide
payments and benefits for a host of government programs. In GAO's
opinion, the future value of electronic fund transfer technology is
in the larger arena of a multiprogram benefit delivery mechanism
instead of a system for delivery of food assistance benefits alone.
Nutrition Labeling:
FDA and USDA Need a Coordinated Assessment of Food
Label Accuracy
GAO/RCED-95-19, Dec. 29 (20 pages).
The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 seeks to provide
consumers with uniform and accurate nutrition information on food
labels. To guarantee the accuracy of this information, the Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) will do laboratory analyses of food products and
visual reviews of food labels. However, relatively few labels will
be verified by laboratory analyses, and the visual reviews will not
verify the accuracy of the nutrient values. Because of these
limitations and the flexibility given food companies in developing
the nutrient values on labels, the accuracy of the information
provided on about 50,000 labels will depend largely on the food
industry. Because the new nutrition labeling requirements have
applied to food companies only since August 1994, it is too soon to
evaluate federal policies and procedures governing the accuracy of
nutrition information on labels. Although FSIS will use information
from its enforcement program to evaluate the effectiveness of its
policies and procedures, unlike FDA, it does not plan to
statistically assess the overall accuracy of the nutrition
information on labels for meat and poultry. Without such an
assessment, the federal government may be unable to evaluate the
effectiveness of its nutrition labeling program for all products in
the marketplace.
BUDGET AND SPENDING
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:2
Budget Issues:
Compliance Report Required by the Budget Enforcement Act
of 1990
GAO/AIMD-95-66, Jan. 13 (17 pages).
As required by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, this compliance
report covers budget sequestration reports issued by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
during the session of Congress ending December 1, 1994. In GAO's
opinion, the OMB and CBO reports substantially complied with the act.
GAO does note some differences in cost estimates concerning
appropriation acts and the dissimilar budget treatment for the
Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act. OMB and CBO estimates for outlays
from appropriations acts varied because they used (1) different
approaches to scoring emergency and contingent emergency
appropriations and (2) different assumptions about the timing of
outlays. The differences in cost estimates were due primarily to
different methodological and technical assumptions by OMB and CBO
about the programs involved. OMB and CBO cost estimates were similar
for the newly created Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund. GAO
describes the different approaches OMB and CBO used to estimate the
costs of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act because it was the
only pay-as-you-go legislation with significant outlay variance.
CIVIL RIGHTS
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:3
Discrimination Complaints:
Monetary Awards in Federal EEO Cases
GAO/GGD-95-28FS, Jan. 3 (six pages).
Although exact payment figures are not readily available, GAO found
that federal agencies and the Judgment Fund paid at least $87.4
million to federal workers and their attorneys since fiscal year 1989
as a result of federal equal employment opportunity cases. Of that
amount, $30.6 million was paid in fiscal years 1993 and 1994. Much
of the $87.4 million was back pay to federal employees. However, at
least $30.5 million was for attorney fees and costs. Of that amount,
$8.7 million was paid in fiscal years 1993 and 1994.
EDUCATION
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:4
Charter Schools:
New Model for Public Schools Provides Opportunities and Challenges
GAO/HEHS-95-42, Jan. 18 (47 pages).
Charter schools are a rapidly growing education reform, offering a
new model for public schools. These schools are intended to address
a variety of concerns about public education, including unresponsive
bureaucracies, restrictive rules, limited choices among types of
schools, and a lack of accountability for student performance. As
the number of charter schools has grown, so has their diversity.
These schools vary considerably in their autonomy, their
instructional programs reflect diversity and innovation, and they
vary in how they plan and measure student performance. Because of
this diversity, these schools pose new challenges for federal program
administration. These challenges stem from the lack of connection of
some charter schools to local school districts. Meanwhile, states
are uncertain about how to treat charter schools in regard to federal
programs and federal requirements, such as those for special
education. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress;
see:
Charter Schools: A Growing and Diverse National Reform Movement, by
Linda G. Morra, Director of Education and Employment Issues, before
the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies, Senate Committee on Appropriations.
GAO/T-HEHS-95-52, Jan. 19 (five pages).
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:4.1
Department of Education: Opportunities to Realize Savings, by Linda
G. Morra, Director of Education and Employment Issues, before the
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations.
GAO/T-HEHS-95-56, Jan. 18 (13 pages).
Congress is considering proposed budget reductions and rescissions
affecting the Department of Education, which runs about 240 programs
with a budget totaling $33.7 billion--$25.1 billion in discretionary
spending and $8.6 billion in mandatory funds. This testimony
discusses (1) the need to reexamine the programs previously suggested
by Education for elimination because they duplicate other programs,
their purposes are already achieved, or they are more appropriately
funded through nonfederal resources; (2) potential funding cuts that
Congress may want to consider in higher education programs; (3)
Department programs related to employment training that overlap with
each other and other programs outside the Department; and (4) ways to
reduce the negative effects of any Title I or other formula grant
funding reductions.
EMPLOYMENT
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:5
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:5.1
Multiple Employment Training Programs: Major Overhaul Needed to
Reduce Costs, Streamline the Bureaucracy, and Improve Results, by
Clarence C. Crawford, Associate Director for Education and
Employment Issues, before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human
Resources. GAO/T-HEHS-95-53, Jan. 10 (28 pages).
This testimony discusses the many problems with the current
fragmented "system" of federal employment training assistance.
Although many of the programs have admirable goals, collectively
these add unnecessary administrative costs and confuse and frustrate
clients, employers, and administrators. These problems have raised
concerns about the efficiency of the current system. Additionally,
many agencies do not know whether their programs actually help people
get jobs. Thus, the effectiveness of these problems is also in
question. This situation convinces GAO that a major overhaul and
consolidation of the programs is needed to create an effective and
efficient employment training system.
Department of Labor: Opportunities to Realize Savings, by Linda G.
Morra, Director of Education and Employment Issues, before the
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations.
GAO/T-HEHS-95-55, Jan. 18 (15 pages).
Congress is considering budget reductions and rescissions affecting
the Labor Department. Although about two-thirds of Labor's $34.3
billion budget for 1995 is earmarked for mandatory spending on income
maintenance programs, GAO testified that several employment training
programs--the Job Training Partnership Act Title IIC Program for
Disadvantaged Youth, the Job Corps program, and Title III (Economic
Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance Act)--might be
candidates for budget review. These programs have either received
increases in fiscal year 1995 funding, have had some concerns raised
about their effectiveness, or have had difficulty in spending prior
year allocations. They represent sizable investments in socially
laudable objectives and the total funding for these programs is only
a fraction of resources needed to serve the entire eligible
population. Nevertheless, they may warrant review during these
difficult budgetary times. In addition, other reductions may be
possible by consolidating federal job training programs, repealing
the Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts, not renewing the Targeted
Jobs Tax Credit program, and implementing administrative changes for
enforcing the Employment Retirement and Income Security Act.
ENERGY
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:6
Managing DOE:
Further Review Needed of Suspensions of Security Clearances for
Minority Employees
GAO/RCED-95-15, Dec. 8 (16 pages).
From fiscal year 1989 through fiscal year 1993, the Energy Department
(DOE) suspended 425 security clearances for contractor employees at
its Albuquerque, Savannah River, and Oak Ridge operations offices.
At each of these locations, GAO found that the clearances of
African-Americans, Hispanics, or American Indians were suspended more
often than would be statistically expected if the suspensions had
been randomly distributed across racial/ethnic groups. DOE does not
monitor suspensions of minority groups' security clearances and was
unaware of the statistical disparities. GAO believes that DOE needs
to further evaluate why these disparities
are occurring.
Department of Energy:
Procedures Followed in Awarding Grants to Study Uses of Collider's
Assets
GAO/RCED-95-53, Dec. 13 (10 pages).
The Energy Department (DOE) generally complied with federal
regulations and its own procedures in awarding grants to study future
uses of the Superconducting Super Collider's assets. GAO's review of
DOE's grant award processes did not disclose any departures from
applicable regulations and procedures in selecting the grantees and
making the grants. However, when notifying applicants that they had
not been chosen, DOE did not follow its regulation that applicants be
told in writing that they could ask for more detailed information on
DOE's decision. Instead, DOE officials assumed that they would be
contacted by the unsuccessful applicants if more information was
desired. The 11 solicited grants that DOE awarded varied in terms of
the funding and technical support provided to the grantees because
the scope, the nature, and the complexity of the studies varied
although the grants were generally comparable in timing. The
grantees generally received the level of funding and technical
support they requested and were generally satisfied with the amount
of support they received. Although grantees residing in Texas had
the obvious advantage of being near the collider site, no other
advantages for Texas grantees were identified.
Nuclear Waste:
DOE's Management and Organization of the Nevada
Repository Project
GAO/RCED-95-27, Dec. 23 (27 pages).
The Energy Department (DOE) in 1991 hired a contractor---at an
estimated cost of $1 billion over 10 years--to engineer, develop, and
manage a system for permanently disposing of highly radioactive
waste. The centerpiece of this disposal system is a geological
repository for waste disposal. One of DOE's original objectives was
to consolidate under the contractor much of the program work and, in
particular, a project investigating Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a
suitable repository site. This report examines whether DOE is
effectively using the contractor--TRW Environmental Safety Systems,
Inc., a subsidiary of TRW, Inc.--to manage the project.
Specifically, GAO reviews DOE's efforts to consolidate participants'
activities, streamline decision-making, and cut costs at the
repository project. GAO also assesses DOE's recent initiative to
reorganize project management.
Nuclear Nonproliferation:
U.S. International Nuclear Materials Tracking Capabilities
Are Limited
GAO/RCED/AIMD-95-5, Dec. 27 (27 pages).
The Energy Department's (DOE) computerized Nuclear Materials
Management and Safeguards System has significant limitations that
impair its ability to track the international movement of nuclear
materials. GAO is concerned that DOE's new tracking system will not
overcome existing shortcomings. For example, the system lacks data
that are not required to be reported under U.S. agreements for
cooperation. GAO believes that DOE should have explored system
alternatives and asked its intended users to try to mitigate some of
these limitations. In addition, because DOE has not followed good
systems development practices, it cannot be sure that the system will
be cost-effective or will even meet the needs of its
principal users.
Nuclear Waste:
Change in Test Strategy Sound, but DOE Overstated Savings
GAO/RCED-95-44, Dec. 27 (40 pages).
After pursuing for a decade a strategy for underground tests with
nuclear wastes in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant--a proposed
repository for the disposal of transuranic wastes located near
Carlsbad, New Mexico--the Energy Department (DOE) announced in
October 1993 that it was abandoning these tests in favor of
laboratory-based tests. DOE claimed that this change would save
about $139 million by January 2000 and would allow DOE to begin
disposing of waste by 1998. The general consensus among scientists,
experts, and regulators is that DOE's decision to discontinue its
planned underground tests with transuranic wastes is sound. However,
GAO questions DOE's projected cost savings. For instance, DOE lacks
documentation for many elements of the estimated cost savings. GAO
also doubts that DOE will be able to open the plant by 1998 instead
of 2000. Numerous unresolved issues could affect when DOE can
eventually begin disposing of wastes in the facility. For example it
is unclear whether DOE's schedule gives the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) enough time to review DOE's procedures and decide if DOE
has complied with EPA's regulatory requirements for disposing of
transuranic wastes in
a repository.
Department of Energy:
National Laboratories Need Clearer Missions and
Better Management
GAO/RCED-95-10, Jan. 27 (45 pages).
The Energy Department's (DOE) national laboratories have made vital
contributions to the nation's defense and to civilian science and
technology efforts. However, the national laboratories today lack
clearly defined missions and suffer from poor coordination to solve
national problems. As a result, DOE has underutilized the
laboratories' talents to tackle complex issues and these institutions
may be unprepared to meet future expectations. GAO raises questions
about the laboratories' ability to help the United States meet its
changing defense needs at the end of the Cold War and compete against
growing foreign competition in technology.
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:6.1
Department of Energy: Need to Reevaluate Its Role and Missions, by
Victor S. Rezendes, Director of Energy and Science Issues, before
the Subcommittee on Energy and Water, House Committee on
Appropriations. GAO/T-RCED-95-85, Jan. 18 (10 pages).
The mission and priorities of the Energy Department (DOE) have
changed dramatically since it was created in 1977, leading GAO to
conclude that the agency and its mission should be reevaluated.
Weapons production and environmental cleanup issues now overshadow
DOE's original focus on energy research and conservation. Science
and industrial competitiveness have also emerged as new missions. At
the same time, DOE suffers from significant management problems,
ranging from poor environmental management of the nuclear weapons
complex to major internal inefficiencies involving poor contractor
oversight, inadequate information systems, and workforce weaknesses.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:7
Air Pollution:
Reductions in EPA's 1994 Air Quality Program's Budget
GAO/RCED-95-31BR, Nov. 29 (24 pages).
This briefing report provides information on (1) reductions in the
Environmental Protection Agency's fiscal year 1994 budget for its air
quality program, (2) how the agency allocated reductions among
various components of the air quality program, and (3) the extent to
which the reductions affected efforts to meet requirements and
deadlines set by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
Superfund:
Estimates of Number of Future Sites Vary
GAO/RCED-95-18, Nov. 29 (20 pages).
Since 1980, nearly 37,000 nonfederal sites have been reported to the
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) hazardous waste site
inventory. The number of sites reported each year has declined
steadily since 1985, reaching 1,159 nonfederal sites in fiscal year
1993. However, the proportion of sites judged upon inspection to
have serious potential contamination in fiscal year 1993 was the same
(43 percent) that it averaged in the past. EPA officials attributed
the decline in the number of reported sites to the fact that states
believe that they can handle cleanups more efficiently and prefer to
deal with sites in their own cleanup programs. Recent estimates of
the number of reported sites that will eventually be included in the
National Priorities List--the register of Superfund sites--vary
widely. EPA has estimated that 1,700 new sites could be added to the
list through the year 2020. The Congressional Budget Office
concluded that 3,300 new nonfederal sites could be added to the
priorities list through the year 2027. GAO believes that between
2,500 and 2,800 nonfederal sites could be added to the list just from
the inventory of sites undergoing or awaiting evaluation.
Environmental Protection:
Information on EPA's Underground Injection Control Program
GAO/RCED-95-21, Dec. 5 (15 pages).
Liquified hazardous wastes as well as oil and gas wastes are often
injected into underground wells and deposited below drinking water
supplies into porous rock formations that are separated from the
drinking water by layers of nonpermeable rock. The nonpermeable rock
reduces the likelihood of waste contaminating the drinking water. To
protect drinking water supplies, the Safe Drinking Water Act requires
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set minimum requirements
for state underground injection control programs to regulate
injection wells used for waste disposal. In addition, the 1984
amendment to the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act requires
EPA, beginning in 1988, to ban the disposal of untreated hazardous
wastes into wells unless owners and operators could prove to EPA that
the wastes would not migrate from the injection zone. This report
discusses the (1) results of EPA's efforts to implement the ban on
underground injection of hazardous wastes, (2) accuracy of EPA's
inspection and enforcement data to ensure reliable program oversight,
and (3) status of GAO's earlier recommendations to improve the
Underground Injection Control Program. Because two-thirds of the
nation's hazardous waste and oil and gas waste injection wells are
found in EPA Regions 5 and 6, which encompass Louisiana, Michigan,
and Texas, GAO included these regions and states in this review.
Superfund:
Legal Expenses for Cleanup-Related Activities of Major
U.S. Corporations
GAO/RCED-95-46, Dec. 23 (60 pages).
Under the Superfund program, parties responsible for hazardous waste
sites that are contaminating the environment are liable for cleanup
costs. Responsible parties can include generators of hazardous waste
deposited at the sites, transporters of the waste, and site owners
and operators. In addition to cleanup costs, responsible parties
must also pay legal expenses to allocate the cleanup costs among
themselves, to settle with the government, or to litigate liability
for cleanups. Responsible parties have complained that these
costs--called transaction costs--are high and represent too large a
portion of their total Superfund expenditures. GAO surveyed Fortune
500 companies to determine how much responsible parties have spent on
cleanup and legal costs at Superfund sites and to identify factors
that these parties believe have increased or decreased their legal
costs.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:8
Bank Regulatory Structure:
The United Kingdom
GAO/GGD-95-38, Dec. 29 (59 pages).
Proposals to consolidate U.S. banking regulatory agencies have
raised questions about how other nations structure and carry out
their various bank regulation and supervision and central bank
activities. This report provides information about such activities
in the United Kingdom, which provides an example of a bank regulatory
structure dominated by its central bank. GAO describes (1) the U.K.
bank regulatory and supervisory structure and its key participants;
(2) how that structure functions, particularly with respect to bank
authorization, regulation, and supervision; and (3) how banks are
examined.
GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:9
Reimbursed Travel:
Commerce and FTC Generally Met Requirements but Some Improvements
Needed
GAO/GGD-95-32, Jan. 26 (27 pages).
Under federal regulations, government employees can accept payment of
travel costs by nonfederal sources, such as private companies and
universities, if the purpose of the travel is related to the
employees' official duties and the acceptance of such travel does not
present a conflict of interest. Federal agencies are required to
establish procedures to ensure that these conditions are met before
travel reimbursements are accepted. This report discusses (1) how
adequately the Commerce Department and the Federal Trade Commission
controlled the their employees' acceptance and reporting of travel
funds paid by nonfederal organizations and (2) the implication of
Commerce's denying the Office of Government Ethics access to its
records of reimbursed travel in 1992.
Budget Function Classification:
Relating Agency Spending and Personnel Levels to Budget Functions
GAO/AIMD/GGD-95-69FS, Jan. 30 (125 pages).
This fact sheet examines the functions performed by agencies in the
federal government, identifying those that are uniquely associated
with each agency and those that are done by two are more agencies.
It also provides financial information and civilian personnel levels
associated with each function. GAO provides tabular and graphical
presentations showing (1) a matrix of federal departments and
agencies according to budget function and subfunction classifications
developed by the Office of Management and Budget, (2) separate
presentations for departments and agencies depicting obligation and
employment levels by budget function, (3) separate presentations for
each budget function showing obligation and employment levels for
departments and agencies, and (4) end-of-year employment "head
counts" for each department and agency.
Program Evaluation:
Improving the Flow of Information to the Congress
GAO/PEMD-95-1, Jan. 30 (84 pages).
Congressional committees need evaluative information to help them
make decisions about the programs they oversee--information that
tells them whether, and in what important respects, a program is
working well or poorly. Concerned that the information it receives
from administrative agencies is often insufficient, the Senate
Committee on Labor and Human Resources asked GAO to (1) identify the
kinds of information that would be useful for oversight and
reauthorization review of the programs under its jurisdiction; (2)
examine the extent to which agencies collect and report such
information; and (3) propose a strategy the Committee could use to
improve its access to agency information.
HEALTH
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:10
Hospital Costs:
Cost Control Efforts at 17 Texas Hospitals
GAO/AIMD-95-21, Dec. 9 (51 pages).
This report provides information on how the increased use of managed
care may have influenced cost control efforts at 17 urban hospitals
in Texas. GAO identifies the types of costs that are subject to
these hospitals' control and those that are not. GAO also highlights
cost control efforts that are significantly changing how the 17
hospitals operate.
Ryan White Care Act:
Access to Services by Minorities, Women, and Substance Abusers
GAO/HEHS-95-49, Jan. 13 (25 pages).
AIDS is affecting minorities, women, and injection drug users at an
increasing rate. GAO reviewed the extent to which HIV-infected
groups, such as African-Americans, Hispanics, women, and injection
drug users, received medical and support services funded by the Ryan
White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990. GAO
visited five locations--Baltimore, Denver, Los Angeles, Sacramento,
and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.--and found that all
three groups generally used services at a rate that reflect their
representation in the HIV-infected population in those areas.
Medical and support services providers said that this corresponds to
their experience of the usage of Ryan White Care Act-funded services.
These providers and advocates added, however, that barriers may limit
some groups' access to services.
HOUSING
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:11
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:11.1
Housing and Urban Development: Major Management and Budget Issues,
by Judy A. England-Joseph, Director of Housing and Community
Development Issues, before the Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and
Independent Agencies, Senate Committee on Appropriations.
GAO/T-RCED-95-86, Jan. 19 (11 pages); and
Housing and Urban Development: Major Management and Budget Issues,
by Judy A. England-Joseph, Director of Housing and Community
Development Issues, before the Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and
Independent Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations.
GAO/T-RCED-95-89, Jan. 24 (11 pages).
Longstanding agency-wide deficiencies--weak internal controls, an
ineffective organizational structure, an insufficient mix of staff
with the proper skills, and inadequate information and financial
management systems--hamper the Department of Housing and Urban
Development's (HUD) ability to effectively carry out its mission.
These shortcomings, along with a variety of other problems, have
created particularly vexing problems for both HUD and Congress in the
area of public and assisted housing. These problems include how to
minimize mortgage loan defaults, deal with billions of dollars of
backlogged housing rehabilitation needs and increased vacancy levels,
and address the spiraling costs of providing housing subsidies to
poor families. HUD has taken steps that begin to address its
department-wide deficiencies as well as the problems plaguing
assisted and public housing, but many of these efforts are in their
early stages. Solving the problems at HUD will not be easy and will
require a full examination of housing policy and HUD's mission.
INCOME SECURITY
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:12
Child Support Enforcement:
Families Could Benefit From Stronger Enforcement Program
GAO/HEHS-95-24, Dec. 27 (116 pages).
The number of youngsters needing child support has risen
dramatically. The child support enforcement caseload soared 180
percent between 1980 and 1992. Yet the federal child support
enforcement program managed to collect support for only 19 percent of
its clients in 1992. Management weaknesses prevented the federal
Office of Child Support Enforcement (OSCE) from (1) effectively
leading the program and the states, (2) judging how well the program
is working, and (3) setting effective policies. Although most
program funding comes from the federal government, child support
enforcement remains very much a state activity. Today, states face
common problems, such as increasing workloads that outpace resources,
inadequate computer systems, and fragmented authority and
unstandardized procedures among others. In response, states have
developed a number of strategies, including augmenting their staffs
with volunteers and contracting with private collection agencies,
improving automation, and using innovative enforcement techniques.
Many welfare reform proposals would further expand child support
enforcement. Unless OSCE strengthens its management of its current
program, it may have difficulty implementing any new
responsibilities.
District Pensions:
Federal Options for Sharing Burden to Finance Unfunded Liability
GAO/HEHS-95-40, Dec. 28 (39 pages).
With a total unfunded liability of about $5 billion in 1993, the
District of Columbia pension plans for police officers and
firefighters, teachers, and judges continued to be not as well funded
as 24 comparable state and local governmental pension plans. A
funding method proposed by the District of Columbia Pension Liability
Funding Reform Act of 1994 (H.R. 3728) and a companion District bill
would shift about $1 billion in contributions from the District to
the federal government. However, because the approach would entail
federal payments escalating at five percent per year through 2035,
more of the burden of eliminating the unfunded liability would shift
to future federal budgets and generations of federal taxpayers. In
contrast, a constant annual federal payment of $102.1 million would
shift less of the burden to future federal budgets and taxpayers,
cost the federal government a little less overall, and have the same
effect as H.R. 3728 in stabilizing the District's contributions at
about 45 percent of payroll while eliminating the liability. Other
options with lower constant annual federal payments would also
eliminate the liability but the District's contributions would be
higher. Also, under the District bill, its contributions for the
first three years would be at the required minimum of $295.5 million.
GAO notes that these payments would be about $58 million higher than
the actuarially determined amounts.
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:12.1
Supplemental Security Income: Recent Growth in the Rolls Raises
Fundamental Program Concerns, by Jane L. Ross, Director of Income
Security Issues, before the Subcommittee on Human Resources, House
Committee on Ways and Means. GAO/T-HEHS-95-67, Jan. 27 (seven
pages).
This testimony discusses growth in the Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) rolls and changes in the characteristics of SSI recipients.
Last year, the Social Security Administration paid nearly $22 billion
in benefits to about 6.3 million aged, blind, and disabled SSI
recipients. Since 1986, payments have risen by $13.5 billion, more
than doubling. Benefits for the disabled accounted for nearly all of
this increase. Since 1986, the number of disabled SSI recipients
under age 65 has increased an average of more than eight percent
annually, adding nearly 2 million younger recipients to the rolls,
while the number of aged and blind recipients has remained level.
The trend toward younger beneficiaries, coupled with low exit rates
from the program, means that costs will continue to burgeon in the
near term. Without a slowing in the growth of this younger
population, SSI will become even more costly. Since 1991, three
groups--disabled children, legal immigrants, and adults with mental
problems--have accounted for nearly 90 percent of the SSI caseload
growth. Of the two million mentally disabled adults, roughly 100,000
are disabled by drug addiction or alcoholism. The dramatic increases
pose fundamental questions about eligibility standards,
acountability, and program effectiveness.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:13
Information Superhighway:
An Overview of Technology Challenges
GAO/AIMD-95-23, Jan. 23 (84 pages).
To take advantage of emerging technologies to create, manage, and use
information that could be of strategic importance to the United
States, the administration has launched an initiative to guide
industry's development of the national information superhighway.
Although the structure and services to be offered by the information
superhighway have not yet been determined, several critical technical
challenges are emerging. These include the necessity of ensuring
data security and protection of users' privacy, providing a
"seamless" web of features that will require standards and common
interfaces and protocols, and ensuring reliability.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:14
Peace Corps:
New Programs in Former Eastern Bloc Counties Should
Be Strengthened
GAO/NSIAD-95-6, Dec. 19 (20 pages).
Although the Peace Corps has sound policies for planning new programs
and preparing volunteers for service abroad, its haste to help former
Eastern bloc countries has led the agency to override normal
procedures and launch programs prematurely. The programs GAO
examined were poorly designed, and volunteers did not receive the
guidance, support, or well-conceived assignments that they were led
to expect. The Peace Corps suffered a high rate of staff turnover
and early returns of volunteers. As a result, the program's
developmental impact in these countries was impaired. Peace Corps
officials acknowledge the problems and have taken steps to overcome
them; however, it is to soon to know how effective they will be. The
Peace Corps programs in the former Eastern Bloc were not undertaken
at the expense of programs in other regions. Funding and staffing in
other countries did not appear to be affected by the
new programs.
International Trade:
Long-Term Viability of U.S.-European Union Aircraft
Agreement Uncertain
GAO/GGD-95-45, Dec. 19 (50 pages).
An objective of the 1979 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft was to
liberalize world trade in the civil aircraft industry through the
removal of tariffs and such other trade obstacles as quotas,
preferential technical standards, and export subsidies. However,
trade tension between the United States and the European Union (EU)
over the civil aircraft industry continued into the 1990s, due
especially to U.S. concerns about continuing government support to
large EU civil aircraft manufacturers. In July 1992, the United
States and the EU entered into a bilateral agreement aimed at
reducing government support to manufacturers of large civil
aircraft--planes with a capacity of 100 or more passengers. This
report assesses the (1) extent to which the agreement has proved
viable in operation, (2) potential impact of changes in government
support on the competitiveness of the U.S. large civil aircraft
industry, and (3) the efforts of the United States and the EU to
extend the agreement to other nations with aerospace industries and
to related aerospace products.
Overseas Presence:
Staffing at U.S. Diplomatic Posts
GAO/NSIAD-95-50FS, Dec. 28 (70 pages).
GAO assembled information on the size, location, and costs of the
diplomatic presence maintained by the State Department and more than
35 other U.S. government agencies at 260 posts in about 170
countries around the globe. The information includes the number of
employees at embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic offices
located in almost every country in the world; the size of that
presence on a country-by-country basis; trends in staffing levels;
and the amount of money spent by 10 agencies surveyed by GAO for
salaries, benefits, and allowances for staff.
U.S.-China Trade:
Implementation of Agreements on Market Access and
Intellectual Property
GAO/GGD-95-61, Jan. 25 (68 pages).
In recent years, market access barriers and inadequate protection of
intellectual property rights have discouraged U.S. firms from doing
business in the rapidly growing economy of the People's Republic of
China. To help overcome these barriers, in 1992 the United States
and China signed two Memorandums of Understanding in which each
country made commitments to improve market access and intellectual
property rights protection. This report examines China's
implementation of these two memorandums. GAO discusses (1) China's
compliance with the provisions of the market access memorandum and
related progress needed for China to meet the eligibility
requirements to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and
(2) China's implementation of the memorandum on the protection of
intellectual property rights. GAO also provides information on the
legal procedures involved in addressing U.S. concerns about foreign
market access and intellectual property rights protection under
Section 301 of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act.
JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:15
Border Control:
Revised Strategy Is Showing Some Positive Results
GAO/GGD-95-30, Dec. 29 (28 pages).
Despite law enforcement efforts, the flow of drugs along the
southwest border continues, and unless border control efforts become
more effective, illegal immigration is expected to increase during
the next decade. A 1993 study commissioned by the Office of National
Drug Control Policy recommended that the Border Patrol try to prevent
illegal alien entry rather than catch illegal aliens once they have
entered the country. The study suggested using (1) multiple physical
barriers in some areas to prevent entry and (2) more highway
checkpoints and other measures to prevent drugs and illegal aliens
that have entered the United States from leaving border areas.
Officials GAO spoke with expressed support for a "prevention
strategy," and preliminary results from prevention initiatives in San
Diego and El Paso are generally encouraging. However, some drug
smuggling and illegal immigration seems to have been rerouted from
these two sectors to other southwest border areas where enforcement
is less effective. In August 1994, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service approved a national strategy to prevent
illegal entry that builds on the agency's success in San Diego and El
Paso. Although this plan appears encouraging, GAO concludes that it
is too early to tell what impact it will eventually have on drug
smuggling and illegal immigration along the southwest border.
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:15.1
Customs Service: Status of Reorganization and Modernization Efforts,
by J. William Gadsby, Director of Government Business Operations
Issues, before the Subcommittee on Trade, House Committee on Ways and
Means. GAO/T-GGD/AIMD-95-70, Jan. 30 (14 pages).
The American public relies on the Customs Service to guard the
nation's borders and enforce U.S. trade laws. In 1992, GAO reported
that Customs could not adequately ensure that it was meeting its
responsibilities of combatting unfair trade practices and protecting
the American public from unsafe goods. This testimony covers three
topics: the challenges facing Customs, Customs' proposal to
fundamentally restructure itself as outlined in a September 1994
report, and its implementation of the Modernization Act.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:16
Bottom-Up Review:
Analysis of Key DOD Assumptions
GAO/NSIAD-95-56, Jan. 31 (69 pages).
In its bottom-up review of the nation's defense needs, the Defense
Department (DOD) concluded that it is prudent to maintain the
capability to fight and win two nearly simultaneous major regional
wars, and it determined the forces, capability improvements, and
funding necessary to do so. Because the bottom-up review is the
basis for the Pentagon's planning, programming, and budgeting for the
foreseeable future, GAO examined key DOD assumptions underlying the
two-conflict strategy. GAO raises questions about the redeployment
of forces from other operations to major regional conflicts,
availability of strategic mobility assets and Army support forces,
deployability of Army National Guard enhanced brigades, and planned
enhancements to strategic lift and firepower. In addition, military
commanders believe that DOD's concept for responding to two nearly
simultaneous conflicts may not be the best approach. For example,
their estimates of key characteristics of how two nearly simultaneous
wars might arise and how forces should be deployed differ
significantly from DOD's estimates, including the timing between the
two conflicts and the timing of force deployments.
Overhead Costs:
Unallowable Costs Charged by Rockwell Corporation,
Rocketdyne Division
GAO/NSIAD-95-41, Dec. 9 (10 pages).
GAO reviewed the overhead cost submissions of the Rockwell
Corporation's Rocketdyne Division--a major NASA contractor--and found
that about $222,000 of the costs in Rocketdyne's fiscal year 1990 and
1992 overhead submissions were unallowable. This amount represents
about five percent of the $4.8 million in overhead costs reviewed and
2.6 percent of the $8.6 million charged in total to the reviewed
accounts. These percentages of unallowable costs cannot be
generalized to the total overhead charges of $8.66 million because
GAO reviewed only those accounts that it believed were more
susceptible to unallowable charges. Rocketdyne included the
unallowable costs in its overhead submissions mainly because
accounting personnel did not have accurate instructions on allowable
membership fees and because of weaknesses in Rockwell and Rocketdyne
procedures for handling outside legal services. Rocketdyne would
have been reimbursed for fiscal year 1990 unallowable costs in part
because the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) did not review the
company's legal expenses and did not follow up on information it
obtained on membership fees. At the time of GAO's review, DCAA had
not audited Rocketdyne's fiscal year 1992 submission.
Military Recruiting:
More Innovative Approaches Needed
GAO/NSIAD-95-22, Dec. 22 (85 pages).
The military has overstated its future recruiting challenges--the
number of eligible high-school graduates is actually expected to grow
steadily in coming years--and current recruiting operations are
plagued by inefficiencies, with half the network of 6,000 recruiting
offices supplying just 13.5 percent of enlistees. Moreover, the
military services plan to add more recruiters even though fewer
recruits are needed to support the smaller military force resulting
from downsizing. Although many studies have suggested ways to
consolidate or eliminate layers of management to cut costs, the
services have been reluctant to change existing organizational
structures.
Defense Research and Development:
Mandated Reports on Noncompetitive Awards to Colleges
and Universities
GAO/NSIAD-95-72, Dec. 30 (41 pages).
Federal law requires the Defense Department (DOD) to report to
Congress on the use of competitive procedures in awarding research
and development contracts to colleges and universities. Generally,
the reports are to list colleges and universities that received more
than $1 million in noncompetitive contracts and the cumulative amount
of such contracts these colleges and universities received. GAO
reviewed DOD research and development contracts and awards,
concentrating on 1993. DOD awarded about $2.17 billion--$1.4 billion
in contract funding and $769 million in grants--for research,
development, test, and evaluation to colleges, universities, and
other organizations (including university-affiliated laboratories) in
fiscal year 1993. DOD's data shows that about $1 billion of these
contracts and about $75 million in grants were noncompetitive.
Navy's Aircraft Carrier Program:
Investment Strategy Options
GAO/NSIAD-95-17, Jan. 1995 (48 pages).
The 1993 bottom-up review--an evaluation of the nation's defense
strategy, force structure, and modernization done in response to the
end of the Cold Ware and the collapse of the Soviet Union--concluded
that a force of 10 aircraft carriers could meet the military's
war-fighting requirements but that 12 carriers were needed for
sufficient overseas presence. The bottom-up review recommended that
construction of the CVN-76 begin in fiscal year 1995 to maintain the
12-carrier force structure, allow flexibility in the carriers' force
size, avoid cost increases arising from a construction delay, and
preserve the industrial base at Newport News Shipbuilding. This
staff study supplements GAO's April 1994 testimony
(GAO/T-NSIAD-94-171) on the affordability of several alternatives to
construction of the CVN-76 beginning in fiscal year 1995. The staff
study discusses the budget implications of a wide range of options
for achieving the 12-carrier fleet recommended by the bottom-up
review, including the purchase of conventionally powered carriers
instead of nuclear-powered carriers. It also discusses each option's
effect on employment levels at Newport News Shipbuilding.
Missile Development:
Status and Issues at the Time of the TSSAM Termination Decision
GAO/NSIAD-95-46, Jan. 20 (16 pages).
The Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM) program--a $13.7
billion effort to develop and acquire a stealthy, conventional,
medium-range cruise missile--has been plagued by significant
technical problems, cost growth, and schedule delays. In May 1994,
the Defense Department began restructuring the program after a series
of flight test failures and unresolved technical problems. On
December 9, 1994, the Secretary of Defense announced plans to cancel
the program because of significant development difficulties and
growth in the expected unit cost for each missile. This report
provides pertinent information on the history and status of the TSSAM
program at the time of the Secretary's announcement for use by
Congress as it reviews the termination decision.
Defense Supply:
Inventories Contain Nonessential and Excessive Insurance Stocks
GAO/NSIAD-95-1, Jan. 20 (22 pages).
The Department of Defense (DOD) is stocking hundreds of millions of
dollars of what are known as insurance items--spare parts and
supplies, such as aircraft doors, rudders, and ejection seats, that
are not expected to fail during normal use--that are not mission
essential and in quantities that violate Defense Department
regulations. The unnecessary inventories occurred because inventory
officials do not periodically review insurance items to ensure that
they are mission-essential and stocked in appropriate quantities. It
costs DOD millions of dollars each year to manage and maintain their
unnecessary inventories.
Defense Supply:
Controls Over Hand Tools Can Be Improved
GAO/NSIAD-95-44, Jan. 27 (23 pages).
The Defense Department (DOD) each year buys significant quantities of
hand tools, such as wrenches and screwdrivers, to do maintenance and
repair work at military installations worldwide. However, GAO was
unable to determine the extent of unnecessary purchases and losses of
hand tools because DOD has insufficient cost data to identify and
track tool purchases and inventory levels, as well as costs
associated with missing, lost, and stolen tools. DOD and the
military services have not provided enough guidance and oversight to
ensure that hand tools are adequately safeguarded and controlled at
military units. Further, GAO visited military units and found that
(1) personnel were allowed to buy tools without prior authorization;
(2) tool purchases could not be identified and traced to inventory
records; and (3) discrepancies existed between inventory records and
actual tool quantities. GAO also found that Air Force operating
units were buying new warranted tools to replace perfectly good tools
and, contrary to regulations, were using local purchases to buy the
same warranted tools that were available through normal DOD supply
channels. In August 1994, Air Force headquarters sent a message to
all of the major commands advising them of GAO's findings and
reminding them to comply with established policies and procedures.
C-17 Aircraft:
Cost and Performance Issues
GAO/NSIAD-95-26, Jan. 26 (50 pages).
The widebodied C-17 cargo plane was intended to carry out a variety
of unique missions, such as delivering cargo and troops to
battlefront airfields; landing in small, austere airfields during
conflicts; airlifting outsize cargo, such as tanks; and performing
air drops. GAO assessed the C-17's original justification and the
effect of technical problems and cost increases on the aircraft's
ability to achieve original program requirements. Changes in the
intended role of the C-17, soaring program costs, and the results of
the Defense Department's own analysis lead GAO to conclude that a
fleet of 120 C-17 aircraft is not the most effective way to meet the
Air Force's airlift needs. A fleet of 40 C-17s and 64 commercial
freighters could meet the Defense Department's airlift requirements,
as expressed in the Mobility Requirements Study, at a cost savings of
upwards of $10 billion dollars when compared to a fleet of 120 C-17s.
Force Structure:
Army's Support Requirements Process Lacks Valid and
Consistent Data
GAO/NSIAD-95-43, Jan. 30 (20 pages).
The Total Army Analysis (TAA) process is used to determine the
support forces needed to sustain combat divisions and brigades.
Support forces include such units as transportation, maintenance,
military police, and quartermaster. GAO found that the Army lacks
adequate procedures governing the development and review of
logistical data in the TAA process. Until recently, Army regulations
only focused on the management and validation of one type of
logistical data--planning factors. These regulations were not
followed, however, allowing outdated or unreliable information to be
used in TAA. The Army has changed its regulations to require that
all logistical data in the Army Force Planning Data and Assumptions
document be validated and that the Combined Arms Support Command
centrally manage the process. Although this is a step in the right
direction, GAO believes that more guidance is needed to ensure the
validity of all logistical data and sufficient oversight of the
process. The data and assumptions used by Army programmers in the
TAA process sometimes differ from what Army component planners use
for war plans, leading to vastly different requirements. Since TAA
requirements are the basis for resourcing decisions, these
differences need to be identified and evaluated to ensure that there
are valid reasons for them.
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:16.1
Future Years Defense Program: Optimistic Estimates Lead to Billions
in Overprogramming, by Henry L. Hinton, Jr. Assistant Comptroller
General for National Security and International Affairs Programs,
before the House Committee on National Security. GAO/T-NSIAD-95-83,
Jan. 19 (nine pages).
The Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) is a classified database of
current and projected force structure, costs, and personnel levels
approved by the Secretary of Defense. The Defense Department (DOD)
makes projections far enough ahead to enable it to estimate future
implications of current decisions. GAO's review of the 1995-99 FYDP,
published in July 1994, revealed a potential imbalance between
programs sought by DOD and available funds of $150 billion or more,
although the President and DOD have agreed to changes that could
correct some of the imbalance. GAO has been reporting on the problem
of overprogramming since the mid-1980s, when DOD funding began to
decline. GAO's work since then has shown that DOD has had an
imbalance between programs and projected funds. This overprogramming
has tended to obscure defense priorities and delay hard decisions and
trade-offs that must be made if available funds and defense programs
are to be balanced.
NATURAL RESOURCES
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:17
Endangered Species Act:
Information on Species Protection on Nonfederal Lands
GAO/RCED-95-16, Dec. 20 (23 pages).
Congress is considering reauthorizing the Endangered Species Act.
GAO was asked to obtain information on the efforts of the Fish and
Wildlife Service to protect species on nonfederal lands. A
predominant number of the species protected under the Act have the
major share of their habitat on nonfederal lands. Specifically, of
the 781 listed species for which the Fish and Wildlife Service was
responsible as of May 1993, 712 (or over 90 percent) have habitat on
nonfederal lands and of these, 516 have over 60 percent of their
total habitat on nonfederal lands. Two processes authorized under
the Act have addressed potential conflicts between the effort to
protect species and land use activities on nonfederal lands. The
implementation of these processes has resulted in nonfederal
landowners altering their planned or ongoing activities in various
ways to minimize and/or mitigate their potential impact on endangered
species. In addition, the Fish and Wildlife Service and others have
initiated legal action to protect species.
SOCIAL SERVICES
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:18
Early Childhood Programs:
Local Perspectives on Barriers to Providing Head Start Services
GAO/HEHS-95-8, Dec. 21 (61 pages).
To gather information on problems that Head Start programs face in
trying to provide services, GAO surveyed a sample representing about
46 percent of all Head Start programs nationwide. Head Start program
directors identified three barriers as significantly affecting their
ability to provide services to children and families: insufficient
qualified staff to meet the complex needs of children and families;
limited numbers of health professionals in the community willing to
help Head Start staff provide services; and difficulties in getting
suitable facilities at reasonable costs.
Early Childhood Programs:
Parent Education and Income Best Predict Participation
GAO/HEHS-95-47, Dec. 28 (32 pages).
Using data from the 1990 census, GAO analyzed factors, including
family income, parents' education, race, immigrant status, and family
type, that influence the likelihood of children taking part in
preschool programs. GAO found that children whose parents have less
than a high school diploma, whose families have low incomes, and who
live in certain states are the least likely to participate in
preschool. Research has shown considerable benefits of preschool
participation, and yet some children remain much less likely to
participate compared with their peers. Consequently, the National
Education Readiness Goal that all children will be ready for school
by the year 2000 will be difficult to attain.
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:18.1
Welfare to Work: AFDC Training Program Spends Billions, but Not Well
Focused on Employment, by Jane L. Ross, Director of Income Security
Issues, before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
GAO/T-HEHS-95-51, Jan. 10 (eight pages).
GAO concludes that although billions have been spent on it, the Jobs
Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program has not
transformed Aid for Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) into a
transitional cash assistance program focused on employment. Few are
served in JOBS and some of those most at risk of long welfare stays,
such as teen parents, have not been reached. In addition, the JOBS
program is not well focused on the ultimate goal of employment.
First, the number of JOBS participants who have landed jobs is
unknown. Second, federal performance standards generally reward
states financially for placing AFDC recipients in education and
training, but not for finding them jobs. Third, the programs in most
communities are not fully using the tools available to find and
create jobs for their welfare recipients.
Health and Human Services: Opportunities to Realize Savings, by Mark
V. Nadel, Associate Director for National and Public Health Issues,
and Jane L. Ross, Director of Income Security Issues, before the
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations.
GAO/T-HEHS-95-57, Jan. 12 (16 pages).
With estimated outlays of more than $315 billion, the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) is the largest department in the
government. GAO concludes that the Department warrants a
comprehensive "scrub" of all its activities, with the goal of
eliminating, reducing, or consolidating programs. GAO stresses three
points. First, opportunities exist to reduce HHS' budget through
greater administrative efficiencies and targeting ineffective
programs. Second, through targeting, Congress could preserve funding
for essential administrative functions that enable agencies to avoid
unnecessary or wasteful expenditures. Third, HHS currently lacks the
tools--an adequate program evaluation strategy or modern information
systems--to determine whether its programs work.
Low-Income Families: Comparisons of Incomes of AFDC and Working Poor
Families, by Jane L. Ross, Director of Income Security Issues,
before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.
GAO/T-HEHS-95-63, Jan. 25
(13 pages).
In recent years, rapid growth in welfare caseloads, concerns about
program costs and beneficiaries' long-term dependence, and
dissatisfaction with current programs have again focused attention on
the nation's welfare system. This testimony focuses on four main
points: (1) the range of benefits that welfare and working poor
families receive, (2) welfare families' incomes and poverty status,
(3) how welfare families' incomes compare with those of working poor
families not on welfare, and (4) how work-related support may help
welfare families move from welfare to work. In summary, GAO found
that the incomes of welfare families who also received benefits, such
as food stamps and Medicaid, were quite similar to the incomes of
families with earnings close to the minimum wage. In addition, the
incomes of most families in both groups fell below the poverty line.
Child Care: Narrow Subsidy Programs Create Problems for Mothers
Trying to Work, by Jane L. Ross, Director of Income Security Issues,
before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families, House
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities.
GAO/T-HEHS-95-69, Jan. 31
(14 pages).
The categorical nature of child care subsidy programs creates service
gaps that diminish the likelihood that low-income mothers will work.
The fragmented nature of the child care funding, with entitlements to
some client categories, time limits on others, and activity limits on
still others, produces unintended gaps in services that limit the
ability of low-income families to become self-sufficient. Moreover,
as states deplete funds for welfare recipients, they turn to funds
originally targeted for the child care needs of the working poor,
putting them at greater risk of welfare dependency. In considering
consolidation of these programs as a remedy for the service gaps that
trouble mothers, child care providers, and program administrators
alike, some important issues need to be considered. For example,
trade-offs must be weighed between state flexibility to determine
whom to serve with subsidies and congressional interest in
accountability for how federal money is spent and for positive
program outcomes.
TAX POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:19
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:19.1
U.S. Insular Areas: Information on Fiscal Relations With the
Federal Government, by Natwar M. Gandhi, Associate Director for Tax
Policy and Administration Issues, before the Subcommittee on Native
American and Insular Affairs, House Committee on Resources.
GAO/T-GGD-95-71, Jan. 31
(61 pages).
This testimony discusses various fiscal arrangements between the U.S.
government and the insular areas of American Samoa, Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
GAO provides information on income and other tax rules and revenues
that apply to these areas, current federal expenditures to these
areas, and the extent to which major federal social programs are
extended to these areas.
TRANSPORTATION
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:20
International Aviation:
DOT Needs More Information to Address U.S. Airlines' Problems in
Doing Business Abroad
GAO/RCED-95-24, Nov. 29 (44 pages).
U.S. airlines serving key European and Pacific Rim airports often
face obstacles that foreign airlines operating in the United States
experience to a much lesser extent. These obstacles include (1)
limited access to landing and take-off slots; (2) inadequate
terminals; (3) restrictions on their ability to perform ground
services, such as checking in passengers and handling baggage; and
(4) restrictions and delays in processing cargo. These obstacles at
overseas airports affect all airlines except the national carriers,
creating a home-country advantage for those airlines. The State
Department and the Transportation Department recognize that U.S.
airlines face many doing-business problems overseas, and these
agencies have had some success in eliminating them. For example, the
two agencies helped U.S. airlines to obtain slots at satisfactory
times at a Tokyo airport. Other problems, however, persist.
Coast Guard Cutters:
Actions Needed Now to Ensure Better Management of Parts
and Supplies
GAO/RCED-95-62, Jan. 24 (18 pages).
The Coast Guard does not have the organizational structure or
computer systems necessary to effectively manage its inventory for
supporting its fleet of 240 cutters. As a result, the Coast Guard
does not know the value, type, quantity, and condition of many of the
spare and repair parts in the inventory. Without such information,
the Coast Guard cannot determine whether cutters have a shortage or
an excess of parts or whether the parts are readily available when
needed.
TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:20.1
Department of Transportation: Issues Related to Transportation
Funding, by Kenneth M. Mead, Director of Transportation Issues,
before the Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies, House
Committee on Appropriations. GAO/T-RCED-95-83, Jan. 11 (three
pages).
This testimony focuses on issues affecting the development of more
efficient and effective transportation programs in an era of
diminishing resources. During the past several years, GAO has
reported to Congress on ways to strengthen transportation programs.
On the basis of this work, this testimony makes observations on five
critical issues: the restructuring of the Transportation Department,
the consolidation of transportation grant programs, the future of
Amtrak, the plans for the air traffic control system, and the status
of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Aviation Safety: FAA Can Be More Proactive in Promoting Aviation
Safety, by Kenneth M. Mead, Director of Transportation Issues,
before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
GAO/T-RCED-95-81, Jan. 12 (16 pages).
The same number of passengers died in crashes involving large
airlines and commuter planes in 1994 as in the previous four years
combined, raising questions about what can be done to make an already
safe system even safer. Although the U.S. air transport system has
achieved a high level of safety, GAO testified that several
longstanding problems not only handicap the Federal Aviation
Administration's (FAA) ability to effectively administer its
oversight responsibilities but also inhibit its ability to be more
proactive in promoting safety. GAO suggests that FAA can take
further steps to better promote safety. Most importantly, FAA needs
to be increasingly proactive, rather than reactive. To do so, FAA
must overcome several challenges, including ensuring that its staff
keeps pace with advances in aviation technology and that it has
accurate, reliable, and timely information with which to better
identify emerging safety problems and make the hard choices as to
which safety improvements are the most urgent and critical.
Amtrak: Deteriorated Financial and Operating Conditions, by Kenneth
M. Mead, Director of Transportation Issues, before the Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. GAO/T-RCED-95-90,
Jan. 26
(nine pages).
Amtrak's financial condition, always precarious, has declined
steadily since 1990 to the point that its ability to offer service
over its current 25,000-mile nationwide system is seriously
threatened. It is unlikely that Amtrak can overcome its problems in
financing, capital investments, and service quality without
significant increases in passenger revenues or funding, particularly
for capital investment, from federal, state, and local governments.
During the past several years, Amtrak has responded to deteriorating
conditions by taking on debt, deferring maintenance, and cutting
staff. Some of these measures have diminished the quality and
reliability of Amtrak service. In December 1994, Amtrak announced an
aggressive plan to reduce expenses by $430 million annually by
eliminating routes, retiring its oldest cars, cutting staff, and
improving productivity. Although this plan is an aggressive first
step, it will not solve the railroad's long-term problems. In
deciding the future of intercity rail passenger service in the United
States, Congress will need to consider the nation's expectations for
such services and the scope of Amtrak's mission. Congress will also
need to decide the appropriate role of the federal government in
funding Amtrak's operating losses and capital investments.
VETERANS AFFAIRS
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:21
VA Health Care:
Albuquerque Medical Center Not Recovering Full Costs of Lithotripsy
Services
GAO/HEHS-95-19, Dec. 28 (50 pages).
The price charged by the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) medical
center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for lithotripsy--a procedure that
uses shock waves to crush kidney stones into small pieces that can be
passed through a patient's urinary tract--did not fully recover the
center's costs. The main reason for the problem--a flawed
price-setting methodology--can be corrected. First, the Albuquerque
medical center should develop lithotripsy charges using a workload
estimate based on historical workload for veterans and potential
demand under sharing agreements. Second, the center should include
an equipment depreciation cost that is based on a shorter useful
life. Without such actions, it seems likely that the Albuquerque
center's pricing practices will continue to fail to recoup costs and
may harm the market for lithotripsy services in the Albuquerque area.
Veterans' Benefits:
Better Assessments Needed to Guide Claims Processing Improvements
GAO/HEHS-95-25, Jan. 13 (30 pages).
Slow claims processing and poor customer service have long been
recognized as serious problems for the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA). As early as 1990, VA began encouraging its regional offices to
improve their claims processing system, but processing times and
backlogs have increased rather than decreased. At the end of fiscal
year 1994, nearly 500,000 claims awaited a VA decision. About 65,000
of these were initial disability compensation claims. On average
during fiscal year 1994, veterans waited more than seven months for
their initial disability claims to be decided and, if approved,
payments to begin; some waited much longer. This report discusses
VA's current plans to change regional office claims processing and
assesses VA's plans to determine the effectiveness of those changes.
SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:22
Abstracts of Reports and Testimony:
Fiscal Year 1994
GAO/OIMC-95-4A and GAO/OIMC-95-4B, Jan. 1995 (227 pages and 444
pages).
Copies are now available of this handy guide to GAO reports and
testimony. A two-volume set, this reference publication provides an
overview of the agency's work during fiscal year 1994. The first
volume summarizes more than 1,000 "blue books" and other publications
issued between October 1993 and September 1994. The second volume
contains comprehensive indexes that allow the reader to locate
documents that are of interest.