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Background The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to eligible public safety officers and their families in the event of the officer’s death or permanent and total disability in the line of duty. To qualify for program benefits, claims must be associated with an officer who worked for a ... | The PSOB program, administered by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, provides three types of benefits (death, disability, and education) to public safety officers and their eligible family members in cases of line-of-duty death or disability. GAO's 2009 report (GAO-10-5) examined the timeliness o... |
Costly Financial Products With Features Inappropriate for Military Members Raise Sales Practice Concerns A limited number of insurance companies and broker-dealers are under investigation for deceptive sales practices to target military members with financial products that have features that reduce their benefi... | In 2004, a series of media articles alleged that financial firms were marketing expensive and potentially unnecessary insurance or other financial products to members of the military. GAO's report for this committee examined (1) features and marketing of certain insurance and securities products being sold to military ... |
Computer Security Is an Increasing Threat to Critical Government Operations The dramatic increase in computer interconnectivity and the popularity of the Internet are offering government agencies unprecedented opportunities to improve operations by reducing paper processing, cutting costs, and sharing information. At t... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its work on computer security, focusing on the results of its recent reviews of the Department of State and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). GAO noted that: (1) the dramatic increase in computer interconnectivity and the popularity of the Internet are offerin... |
Background DODDS was created pursuant to section 1402 of Public Law 95-561, the Defense Dependents’ Education Act of 1978, which directed the Secretary of Defense to establish and operate a program to provide a free public education through secondary school for dependents in overseas areas (20 U.S.C. 921). DODDS is a s... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on educating Department of Defense (DOD) dependents overseas, focusing on: (1) legislation that establishes eligibility and authorizes funding for students to enroll in DOD Dependents Schools (DODDS) as space becomes available; (2) the number of space-avai... |
Background RTC needs complete and current information to ensure that it maximizes recoveries from the sale of its large inventory of hard-to-sell assets, which includes nonperforming loans. With complete and current asset information, RTC could provide investors with pertinent data about assets being offered for sale. ... | GAO reviewed the Resolution Trust Corporation's (RTC) August 1993 national nonperforming loan auction, focusing on the: (1) process RTC used to select loans for the auction; and (2) adequacy and usefulness of loan data provided to investors before the auction. GAO found that: (1) RTC efforts to select and dispose of no... |
Background The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, referred to as the 1996 Farm Bill, continued a commodity loan program that has existed in various forms since the 1930s. The Marketing Assistance Loan Program is aimed at helping farmers with the orderly marketing of their crops through short-term f... | Under the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Marketing Assistance Loan Program, the federal government accepts harvested crops as collateral for interest-bearing loans (marketing assistance loans) that are typically due in nine months. When market prices drop below the loan rate (the loan price per pound or bushel), th... |
Background DHS’s NPPD leads the national effort to protect and enhance the resilience of the nation’s physical and cyber infrastructure. The directorate includes the Office of Infrastructure Protection, which leads the coordinated national effort to reduce risk to U.S. critical infrastructure posed by acts of terro... | The CFATS program is intended to ensure the security of the nation's chemical infrastructure by assessing risks and requiring the implementation of measures to protect high-risk chemical facilities. The CFATS Act of 2014 required DHS to establish a whistleblower process. Employees and contractors at hundreds of thousan... |
Background Engagement with Partner Nation Security Forces through Security Cooperation DOD engages with partner nation security forces through a range of security cooperation efforts. Security cooperation is the broad term used to define those activities undertaken by DOD to build relationships that promote speci... | In support of the Department of Defense's (DOD) increasing emphasis on strengthening partner nations' security forces, the Army is aligning its forces with geographic combatant commands to provide tailored, trained, and responsive forces to meet the commands' requirements. In 2013, AFRICOM became the first combatant co... |
Background Various criminal statutes, agency-specific policies, and professional standards address potential post-employment and conflict-of-interest questions. Executive branch employees, including SEC employees, are subject to criminal conflict-of-interest statutes. For example, restrictions on the activity of fo... | Many Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) employees leave the SEC each year, and some of these former employees go to work for firms regulated by SEC or the law or consulting firms that represent them. This practice raises questions about the potential impact on SEC's ability to effectively carry out its mission, i... |
Background Army Transformation and the FCS Concept A decade after the cold war ended, the Army recognized that its combat force was not well suited to perform the operations it faces today and is likely to face in the future. The Army’s heavy forces had the necessary firepower but required extensive support and too... | FCS is the core of Army efforts to create a lighter, more agile, capable force: a $108 billion investment to provide a new generation of 18 manned and unmanned ground vehicles, air vehicles, sensors, and munitions linked by an information network. Although system development and demonstration began in May 2003, the pro... |
Background The radiofrequency spectrum is the medium that enables wireless communications of all kinds. Although the radio spectrum spans the range from 3 kilohertz to 300 gigahertz, 90 percent of its use is concentrated in the 1 percent of frequencies that lie below 3.1 gigahertz, because these frequencies have pr... | The radiofrequency spectrum--a natural resource used for wireless communications--is a critical input to various commercial and government functions. Because of expanding commercial and government demand for spectrum, there is increasing debate on how best to manage this resource to meet current and future needs. GAO w... |
Background Employment-based health insurance is the leading source of private health insurance in the United States. In 1996, about 64 percent of the population under 65 years old had employment-based health insurance. This employer-based system of health insurance is almost entirely voluntary. The majority of private ... | Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the extent to which classes of large employers in different states have access to health insurance and the circumstances surrounding the lack of access, if any, to coverage, focusing on: (1) the extent to which medium and large employers in different categories and st... |
Background Medicare part B pays for most medical equipment and supplies using a fee schedule system. The fee schedules specify a Medicare allowance for each of about 1,900 groups of products, and each product group is identified by a HCFA Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code. All the products grouped under a HCP... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Medicare's payments for commonly purchased, off-the-shelf durable medical equipment (DME), focusing on the need to: (1) better identify products billed to Medicare; and (2) bring Medicare fees more in line with current marketplace prices. GAO noted that: (1) there are t... |
Background Students with disabilities are a complex and diverse group. These students can have a wide range of physical and psychological disabilities, from severe cognitive delays or emotional disorders to specific learning disabilities that can affect their ability to learn. In addition, students with the same di... | The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has focused attention on improving the academic achievement of all students, including more than 6 million students with disabilities and requires that all students be assessed. Students with disabilities may be included through accommodations, such as extended time, or alternate as... |
Background VA and DOD have distinct missions and health care systems to provide services to their respective beneficiaries. VA and DOD provide some similar services in locations where they have facilities near each other, and have established an organizational structure to plan and carry out a variety of joint proj... | VA and DOD operate two of the nation's largest health care systems at estimated annual costs of about $53 billion and $49 billion, respectively, for fiscal year 2013, and have established collaboration sites to deliver care jointly with the aim of improving access, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care. In addition, ... |
Background Section 6159 of the Internal Revenue Code authorizes IRS to allow taxpayers to pay their taxes in installments, with interest, if this would facilitate collection of the liability. IRS procedures allow taxpayers to enter into an installment agreement any time during the collection process, which involves sen... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the best practices being used by delinquent debt collectors, and if they offer the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) any prospects for improving collection efforts, focusing on the: (1) uses and benefits of electronic funds transfer (EFT); (2) experiences of two states tha... |
Background In 1999 the Army announced its intentions to transform its forces over a 30-year period into a more strategically responsive force that could more rapidly deploy and effectively operate in all types of military operations, whether small-scale contingencies or major theater wars. Army transformation plans... | The Army is organizing and equipping rapidly deployable Stryker brigades as the first step in its planned 30-year transformation. Stryker brigades are to help fill a gap in capabilities between current heavy and light forces--heavy forces require too much time to deploy, and light infantry forces lack the combat power ... |
Background Interior is responsible for the safety of 70,000 employees and 200,000 volunteers, 1.3 million daily visitors, and over 507 million acres of public lands that include a number of sites of historical or national significance (national monuments and icons), and the security of dams and reservoirs. The Park... | The threat of terrorism has made physical security for federal real property assets a major concern. Protecting these assets can be particularly complex and contentious for agencies whose missions include ensuring public access such as the Department of the Interior (Interior) and the General Services Administration (G... |
Background Between November 1990 and March 1991, 1,200 members of the ARCOM were sent to the Persian Gulf; most returned between March and August 1991. The ARCOM’s mission was combat service support, and members were not involved in frontline combat. In January 1992, officials of the ARCOM first became aware of members... | Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on certain Persian Gulf War veterans' chronic health problems, focusing on: (1) the veterans' current military and health status; (2) the health care services they received after the war; and (3) their opinions on post-war care. GAO found that: (1) the veter... |
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