GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as private pensions and military base realignments and closures. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports

• Drug Control: Cooperation with Many Major Drug Transit Countries Has Improved, but Better Performance Reporting and Sustainability Plans Are Needed. GAO-08-784, July 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-784
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08784high.pdf
• International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005: Agencies Have Implemented Some, but Not All of the Act's Requirements. GAO-08-862, August 8.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-862
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08862high.pdf
• Private Pensions: Fulfilling Fiduciary Obligations Can Present Challenges for 401(k) Plan Sponsors. GAO-08-774, July 16.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-774
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08774high.pdf
• Tax Administration: Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations, 1998-2005. GAO-08-957, July 24.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-957
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08957high.pdf
• Transportation Security: TSA Has Developed a Risk-Based Covert Testing Program, but Could Better Mitigate Aviation Security Vulnerabilities Identified Through Covert Tests. GAO-08-958, August 8.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-958
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08958high.pdf

Correspondence

• Military Base Realignments and Closures: Army Is Developing Plans to Transfer Functions from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, but Challenges Remain. GAO-08-1010R, August 13.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1010R
• Military Personnel: Improvements Needed to Increase Effectiveness of DOD's Programs to Promote Positive Working Relationships between Reservists and Their Employers. GAO-08-981R, August 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-981R
• Review of Transportation Security Administration's Air Cargo Screening Exemptions Report. GAO-08-1055R, August 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1055R
• Schedule and Timing Issues Complicate Withholding Premiums for Medicare Parts C and D from Social Security Payments. GAO-08-816R, July 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-816R

Related Products

• Private Pensions: GAO Survey of 401(k) Plan Sponsor Practices (GAO-08-870SP, July 2008), an E-supplement to GAO-08-774. GAO-08-870SP, July 16. [Internet only]
  http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/gao-08-870sp
• Defense Acquisitions: Department of Defense Needs Framework for Balancing Investments in Tactical Radios. GAO-08-877, August 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-877
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08877high.pdf
• Defense Critical Infrastructure: Adherence to Guidance Would Improve DOD's Approach to Identifying and Assuring the Availability of Critical Transportation Assets. GAO-08-851, August 15.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-851
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08851high.pdf

Endangered Species Act Regulatory Changes Proposed

On Monday Dick Kempthorne, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, announced that the department would be proposing changes to the way the Endangered Species Act is regulated. An article in the New York Times stated that "the draft rules would bar federal agencies from assessing the emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats."

The Interior Department's August 11 press release about the proposal calls the changes "narrow," but an August 13 blog entry by the New York Times editorial board raises concerns that it would be a "major gutting of the act." Decide for yourself when the proposed changes appear in the Federal Register on Friday, August 15.

You can read the full text of the ESA at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's website. Need more resources on or related to the ESA? For U.S. and international government as well as nongovernmental resources, check out our subject guide devoted to this particular topic.

Congressional Research Service reports

Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the Taiwan, terrorism, finance, and much more. While these reports are in the public domain there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report you can request it from your Senator or Representative. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by OpenCRS:

• The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC): An Overview
• China's "Hot Money" Problems
• Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods
• Retroactive Immunity Provided by the FISA Amendments Act of 2008
• Intelligence Reform at the Department of Energy: Policy Issues and Organizational Alternatives
• Community Acceptance of Carbon Capture and Sequestration Infrastructure: Siting Challenges
• Islamic Finance: Overview and Policy Concerns
• H.R. 6500, The Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2008
• Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Legislative Initiatives
• Misuse of Government Purchase Cards
• Credit Default Swaps: Frequently Asked Questions
• Panama: Political and Economic Conditions and U.S. Relations
• Suits against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism
• The U.S. Secret Service: An Examination and Analysis of Its Evolving Missions
• Taiwan: Major U.S. Arms Sales Since 1990
• The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan and Enhanced Base Security Since 9/11
• Foreign Science and Engineering Presence in U.S. Institutions and the Labor Force
• Tajikistan: Recent Developments and U.S. Interests
• U.S.-Latin American Trade: Recent Trends
• Homosexuals and U.S. Military Policy: Current Issues
• North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?
• Violence Against Women Act: History, Federal Funding, and Reauthorizing Legislation
• Kosovo and U.S. Policy
• Financing Issues and Economic Effects of Past American Wars
• Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts and Post-War Governance
• Presidential Advisers'' Testimony Before Congressional Committees: A Brief Overview

Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916.

Not on campus, but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.

Violence Escalates in Georgia

Heavy fighting broke out in the Republic of Georgia on Friday, August 8, as Georgia and Russia clashed over the region of South Ossetia. This BBC News article describes some of the issues of conflict between the two former Soviet republics.

The United Nations Security Council held its fourth meeting in three days to discuss the conflict. You can learn more about the meeting via the UN News Centre or read the UN Secretary-General's statement calling for an end to the violence.

The BBC News article mentions Georgia's aims for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Go directly to NATO's website to learn more about NATO's relations with Georgia.

The Government Publications Library provides many helpful links to web pages for the UN, NATO, and other international organizations via its International Organizations web page. For links to the government web pages of foreign countries, such as Russia and Georgia, check out our country guides.

GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq, Medicare and Medicaid, and the role of the U.S. Government Accountability Office. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports

• Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Managing Potential Economic Impact of Applying U.S. Immigration Law Requires Coordinated Federal Decisions and Additional Data. GAO-08-791, August 4.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-791
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08791high.pdf
• DOD Business Systems Modernization: Key Navy Programs' Compliance with DOD's Federated Business Enterprise Architecture Needs to Be Adequately Demonstrated. GAO-08-972, August 7.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-972
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08972high.pdf
• DOD Business Transformation: Air Force's Current Approach Increases Risk That Asset Visibility Goals and Transformation Priorities Will Not Be Achieved. GAO-08-866, August 8.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-866
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08866high.pdf
• Medicare and Medicaid: CMS and State Efforts to Interact with the Indian Health Service and Indian Tribes. GAO-08-724, July 11.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-724
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08724high.pdf
• Medicare: Covert Testing Exposes Weaknesses in the Durable Medical Equipment Supplier Screening Process. GAO-08-955, July 3.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-955
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08955high.pdf
  
• Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: Iraqi Revenues, Expenditures, and Surplus. GAO-08-1031, August 5.
  http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1031
  Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d081031high.pdf

Presentation by the Acting Comptroller General

• "The Role of the U.S. Government Accountability Office," a presentation by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general of the United States, before the House Democracy Assistance Commission, in Washington, D.C. GAO-08-1089CG, July 31, 2008.
  http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d081089cg.pdf

Reposted Products

• "The Role of the U.S. Government Accountability Office," a presentation by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general of the United States, before the House Democracy Assistance Commission, in Washington, D.C. GAO-08-1089CG, July 31, 2008. [Reposted to correct several slides with corrupted or missing text.]
  http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d081089cg.pdf