FEDERAL AUTISM 

ACTIVITIES

Funding and Coordination 

Efforts

Statement of Marcia Crosse 

Director, Health Care

Testimony 

Before the Subcommittee on 

Government Operations, Committee on 

Oversight and Government Reform, 

House of Representatives

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 9:00 a.m. ET

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

GAO-14-613T

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-14-613T, a testimony 

before the Subcommittee on Government 

Operations, Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform, House of 

Representatives

May 20, 2014

FEDERAL AUTISM ACTIVITIES

Funding and Coordination Efforts

Why GAO Did This Study

Autism—a developmental disorder 

involving communication and social 

impairment—is an important public 

health concern. From fiscal years 2008 

through 2012, 12 federal agencies 

awarded at least $1.4 billion to support 

autism research and other autismrelated activities. The Combating 

Autism Act directed the IACC to 

coordinate HHS autism activities and 

monitor all federal autism activities. It 

also required the IACC to develop and 

annually update a strategic plan for 

autism research. This plan is organized 

into 7 research areas that contain 

specific objectives. 

This statement is based on GAO's 

November 2013 report, GAO-14-16, 

with selected updates. It discusses 

federal autism activities, including 

(1) the extent to which federal 

agencies fund potentially duplicative 

autism research, and (2) the extent to 

which IACC and agencies coordinate 

and monitor federal autism activities. 

GAO analyzed agencies’ data and 

documents, and interviewed federal 

agency officials.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommended in November 2013 

that HHS improve IACC data to 

enhance coordination and monitoring. 

HHS disagreed and stated its efforts 

were already adequate. GAO also 

recommended that DOD, Education, 

HHS, and NSF improve coordination. 

The agencies supported improved 

coordination, but most disputed that 

duplication occurs. GAO continues to 

believe the recommendations are 

warranted and actions needed.

What GAO Found

Eighty-four percent of the autism research projects funded by federal agencies 

had the potential to be duplicative. Of the 1,206 autism research projects funded 

by federal agencies from fiscal years 2008 through 2012, 1,018 projects were 

potentially duplicative because the projects were categorized to the same 

objectives in the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee’s (IACC) strategic 

plan. Funding similar research on the same topic is sometimes appropriate—for 

example, for purposes of replicating or corroborating results—but in other 

instances funding similar research may lead to unnecessary duplication. Each 

agency funded at least 1 autism research project in the same strategic plan 

objective as another agency and at least 4 agencies funded autism research in 

the same research area.

Number of Federal Agencies’ Autism Research Projects Funded, by Research Area, Fiscal 

Years 2008 through 2012

Note: Thirty-one of the 1,206 projects funded by federal agencies from fiscal years 2008 through 

2012 are not included in this figure because they were not categorized to a specific research area. At 

the time of GAO’s review, DOD had not submitted data on its fiscal year 2012 research projects, and 

therefore they were not included in this figure. The “other agencies” are: Administration for Children 

and Families, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration. Not all of these “other agencies” necessarily funded projects in every research area.

The IACC and federal agencies may have missed opportunities to coordinate 

and reduce the risk of duplicating effort and resources. GAO found that the IACC 

is not focused on the prevention of duplication, and its efforts to coordinate the 

Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) autism research and monitor 

all federal autism activities were hindered by limitations with the data it collects. 

Apart from federal agencies’ participation on the IACC, there were limited 

instances of agency coordination, and the agencies did not have robust or 

routine procedures for monitoring federal autism activities.

View GAO-14-613T. For more information, 

contact Marcia Crosse at (202) 512-7114 or 

crossem@gao.gov.
 

Page 1 GAO-14-613T

Chairman Mica, Ranking Member Connolly, and Members of the 

Subcommittee:

I am pleased to be here to discuss our recent work examining federally 

funded autism activities. Autism is a complex developmental disorder that 

begins during early childhood, characterized by impaired social 

interactions, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and 

repetitive behaviors, or by severely limited activities and interests.1

A variety of federal agencies are involved in responding to this important 

public health concern. From fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2012, 

12 federal agencies spent a combined total of approximately $1.4 billion 

on autism activities: $1.2 billion on autism research, such as research to 

identify the causes of autism, and $200 million on other autism-related 

activities, such as training to help health care professionals better identify 

and diagnose autism.

The 

most recent estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) indicate that at least 1 in 68 children in the United 

States have been identified as having autism. There is no single known 

cause of autism and there is no known cure. However, research shows 

that early intervention and treatment services can greatly improve a 

child’s development.

2 Most of these 12 agencies are members of the 

Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). The IACC is a 

federal advisory committee composed of federal and nonfederal 

members.3

 

1

What is commonly known as autism is a group of disorders known as autism spectrum 

disorder that can range from mild to more severe in their symptoms. In this statement, the 

term “autism” is used to refer to autism spectrum disorder.

The Combating Autism Act of 2006 (CAA) required the IACC 

to coordinate all autism activities within the Department of Health and 

2

The 12 agencies are the Department of Defense (DOD); Department of Education

(Education); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); National Science Foundation (NSF); 

and 8 agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services—Administration for 

Children and Families (ACF), Administration for Community Living (ACL), Agency for 

Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), CDC, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services (CMS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), National 

Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration (SAMHSA).

3

Federal members of the IACC are from DOD, Education, ACF, ACL, AHRQ, CDC, CMS, 

HRSA, NIH, and the Food and Drug Administration. The IACC nonfederal members 

represent individuals with autism and parents of children with autism; as well as members 

of the autism advocacy, research, and service-provider communities.
 

Page 2 GAO-14-613T

Human Services (HHS) and monitor federal activities related to autism 

across the federal government.4 To fulfill these requirements, the IACC 

holds meetings and has issued several reports including a strategic plan 

for autism research, which the CAA requires the IACC to develop and 

annually update. The strategic plan is organized into seven research 

areas with specific short- and long-term research objectives, and contains 

a total of 78 objectives.5 The IACC also issues an annual Autism 

Spectrum Disorder Research Portfolio Analysis Report. This report is 

organized by the same seven research areas and includes information on 

research projects funded by federal and nonfederal entities related to 

autism, including budget information, for a single fiscal year.6

Having multiple agencies fund research in the same area can be 

appropriate and necessary—for example, for purposes of replicating or 

corroborating prior research results. It can also be advantageous to be 

able to draw on different expertise found in multiple agencies. One such 

advantage is that agencies may be better able to tailor research or other 

programs to suit their specific missions and needs. However, the 

involvement of multiple agencies can also make it challenging to identify 

gaps and efficiently allocate resources across the federal government. 

The 

National Institutes of Health (NIH)—an agency within HHS—created the 

Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC) to provide administrative 

support to the IACC. On behalf of the IACC, OARC periodically collects 

data from agencies on the autism research projects they fund, helps 

agencies categorize this research to the specific strategic plan objectives, 

and prepares the portfolio analysis, which includes this data.

My remarks today will focus on two areas: (1) the extent to which federal 

agencies fund potentially duplicative autism research and other autismrelated activities, and (2) the extent to which the IACC and agencies 

coordinate and monitor federal autism activities. My remarks are based 

 

4

Pub. L. No. 109-416, § 3, 120 Stat. 2821, 2827 (2006). The IACC and other autism 

activities authorized under the CAA were reauthorized through fiscal year 2014 under the 

Combating Autism Reauthorization Act of 2011. Pub. L. No. 112-32, 125 Stat. 361 (2011).

5

The seven research areas are diagnosis, biology, causes, treatment and interventions, 

services, lifespan issues, and infrastructure and surveillance.

6

At the time we did our work, the most recent portfolio analysis was published in July 2012 

and contained information on research funded in 2010. The IACC also has a companion 

database to its portfolio analysis, which allows users to view and search projects included 

in the portfolio analysis.
 

Page 3 GAO-14-613T

primarily on our report, released in November 2013, entitled Federal

Autism Activities: Better Data and More Coordination Needed to Help 

Avoid the Potential for Unnecessary Duplication.

7 For this report, we 

collected data on the research federal agencies funded, including funding 

amounts, from fiscal years 2008 to 2012 through database searches, 

review of related documentation, interviews, as well as through the use of 

data that agencies submitted to OARC.8 To determine potential 

duplication in autism research, we identified research projects that were 

categorized to the same strategic plan objectives. For projects that were 

not categorized to a specific objective, but were categorized to one of the 

seven research areas, we assessed duplication based on whether they 

were categorized to the same research area. Determining that projects 

were categorized to the same strategic plan objective or research area 

suggests potential—but not actual—duplication. Determining actual 

duplication for research projects would require a more extensive review 

and was beyond the scope of our study. Additionally, we collected data 

on non-research activities funded by federal agencies from fiscal years 

2008 through 2011, and assessed whether there was actual duplication of 

these activities using the framework we established in our previous work. 

This framework considers duplication to have occurred when two or more 

agencies fund the same activities that target the same users.9

To assess the extent to which the IACC and agencies coordinate and 

monitor federal autism activities, we reviewed IACC documents, including 

the strategic plan, and interviewed OARC officials and officials from 

10 federal agencies and select nonfederal IACC members. We assessed 

the IACC’s and agencies’ coordination and monitoring activities against 

criteria established by our prior work. These criteria include key practices 

for interagency coordination and collaboration, and federal internal control 

standards related to communicating with external entities, including other 

 

 

7

GAO, Federal Autism Activities: Better Data and More Coordination Needed to Help 

Avoid the Potential for Unnecessary Duplication, GAO-14-16 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 20, 

2013).

8

At the time of our review, DOD had not submitted data on its fiscal year 2012 research 

projects. As a result, our review did not include data on DOD’s fiscal year 2012 autism 

research.

9

See, for example, GAO, 2013 Annual Report: Actions Needed to Reduce Fragmentation, 

Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits, GAO-13-279SP

(Washington, D.C.: Apr. 9, 2013).
 

Page 4 GAO-14-613T

federal agencies, and measuring progress on organizational efforts, such 

as those established through strategic plans.10

We conducted the work on which this statement is based, and made 

selected updates in May 2014, in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards.11 Those standards require that we plan 

and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide 

a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit 

objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable 

basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

Further details on our scope and methodology are included in our 

November 2013 report.

Of the 1,206 autism research projects funded by federal agencies from 

fiscal years 2008 through 2012, 84 percent—or 1,018 projects—had the 

potential to be duplicative because the projects were categorized to the 

same strategic plan objectives or research areas.12 We found that each of 

the 11 federal agencies that funded autism research during this period 

funded at least 1 autism research project in the same strategic plan 

objective as another agency.13

 

10See, for example, GAO, Managing for Results: Key Considerations for Implementing 

Interagency Collaborative Mechanisms, 

In many instances, 3 or more agencies 

funded research projects under the same objective. For example, 

5 agencies awarded approximately $15.2 million for 20 autism research 

projects related to one objective. This objective was to test methods to 

improve dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of evidencebased interventions, services, and supports in diverse community 

settings. Four agencies awarded approximately $4.1 million for 8 autism 

research projects to develop at least two individualized community-based 

interventions to improve quality-of-life or health outcomes for the 

GAO-12-1022 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 

2012), and GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government

GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1 (Washington, D.C.: November 1999).

11Our updates were limited to reviewing certain publically available information, such as 

the most recent strategic plan released by the IACC.

12Our findings suggest potential, not actual duplication. Thirty-one projects could not be 

assessed for potential duplication.

13ACL, within HHS, did not fund autism research from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 

2012; ACL funded one non-research autism-related activity during this time period.

The Majority of 

Federally-Funded 

Autism Research Had 

the Potential to Be 

Duplicative
 

Page 5 GAO-14-613T

spectrum of adults with autism. Funding autism research on the same 

topic may be appropriate and necessary—for example, for purposes of 

replicating or corroborating results—but in some instances, funding 

similar autism research may lead to unnecessary duplication and 

inefficient use of funds.

Most agency officials we spoke with said that they consider the research 

funded by their agencies to be different than autism research funded by 

other agencies; however, we found that each research area included 

projects funded by at least four agencies. For example, the diagnosis 

research area included projects funded by seven different agencies. 

The most commonly funded projects were in the area of biology 

(423 projects), followed by treatment and interventions (253 projects), 

and causes (159 projects). NIH funded a majority of the autism research 

projects in five of the seven research areas. (See fig. 1.)
 

Page 6 GAO-14-613T

Figure 1: Number of Federal Agencies’ Autism Research Projects Funded, by Research Area, Fiscal Years 2008 through 2012

Note: Thirty-one of the 1,206 projects funded by federal agencies from fiscal years 2008 through 

2012 are not included in this figure because they were not categorized to a specific research area. At 

the time of our review, DOD had not submitted data on its fiscal year 2012 research projects, and 

therefore DOD’s fiscal year 2012 autism research projects were not included in this figure. The 

agencies included as “other agencies” in each research area are: Administration for Children and 

Families, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and Substance Abuse and Mental 

Health Services Administration in diagnosis; Environmental Protection Agency in causes; AHRQ in 

treatments and interventions; AHRQ and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 

services; AHRQ in lifespan issues; and CMS in infrastructure and surveillance.

Five agencies that funded non-research autism-related activities from 

fiscal years 2008 through 2011—Administration for Community Living 

(ACL), CDC, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Education 

(Education), and the Health Resources and Services Administration 

(HRSA)—funded activities that were not duplicative. HRSA and Education 

both funded training activities related to autism. HRSA’s activities 

included training health care professionals, such as pediatric 
 

Page 7 GAO-14-613T

practitioners, residents, and graduate students, to provide evidencebased services to children with autism and other developmental 

disabilities and their families. The activities also included training 

specialists to provide comprehensive diagnostic evaluations to address 

the shortage of professionals who can confirm or rule out an autism 

diagnosis. Education’s training activities focused on the education setting; 

for example, to prepare personnel in special education, related services, 

early intervention, and regular education to work with children with 

disabilities, including autism. Additionally, DOD and ACL both funded a 

publicly available website to provide information on services available to 

individuals with autism. DOD’s website was developed for military families 

to provide them with information on the educational services that are 

close to specific military installations in select states, while the ACL 

website is broader by focusing on all individuals with autism and other 

developmental disabilities, their families, and other targeted key 

stakeholders concerned with autism. Finally, we determined that CDC is 

the only agency funding an awareness campaign on autism and other 

developmental disabilities. CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. campaign

promotes awareness of healthy developmental milestones in early 

childhood, the importance of tracking each child’s development, and the 

importance of acting early if there are concerns.

We noted in our November 2013 report that the IACC and federal 

agencies may have missed opportunities to coordinate federal autism 

activities and reduce the risk of duplication of effort and resources. 

Although the CAA requires the IACC to coordinate HHS autism activities 

and monitor federal autism activities, OARC officials stated that the 

prevention of duplication among individual projects in agency portfolios is 

not specified in the CAA as one of the IACC’s statutory responsibilities 

and therefore is not a focus of the IACC. OARC officials stated that it was 

up to the individual federal agencies to use the information contained in 

the IACC’s strategic plan and portfolio analysis to prevent duplication. 

Officials from three federal agencies—CDC, DOD, and NIH—told us that 

they use the strategic plan and portfolio analysis, which are key 

documents used by the IACC to coordinate and monitor federal autism 

activities, when setting priorities for their autism programs and to learn of 

autism activities conducted by other agencies. OARC officials 

acknowledged that the IACC could choose to use data from the portfolio 

analysis as the basis for specific recommendations regarding areas 

where interagency coordination could be increased, but to date this has 

not occurred. OARC officials stated that they do not consider it to be their 

responsibility to review the data that they collect on behalf of the IACC for 

The IACC’s and 

Federal Agencies’ 

Efforts to Coordinate 

and Monitor Federal 

Autism Activities 

Were Limited
 

Page 8 GAO-14-613T

duplication or for coordination opportunities. Instead, they said that they 

fulfill their role in assisting the IACC in its cross-agency coordination 

activities in other ways, such as by facilitating interagency communication 

and gathering information.

In our November 2013 report, we recommended that the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services direct the IACC and NIH, in support of the 

IACC, to

• identify projects through their monitoring of federal autism activities—

including OARC’s annual collection of data for the portfolio analysis, 

and the IACC’s annual process to update the strategic plan—that may 

result in unnecessary duplication and thus may be candidates for 

consolidation or elimination; and

• identify potential coordination opportunities among agencies.

HHS did not concur with our recommendation. The agency stated that 

such an analysis by the IACC to identify duplication would not likely 

provide the detail needed to determine actual duplication, and that the 

role of the IACC should not include identification of autism-related 

projects for elimination. We agree that further analysis would be needed 

to identify actual duplication. While the strategic plan objectives, which 

represent broad and complex areas of research, are useful to identify the 

potential for unnecessary duplication, we believe that such identification is 

worthwhile as it can effectively lead to further review by the funding 

agencies to ensure funds are carefully spent. Agencies can review 

specific project information to confirm whether research projects 

associated with an objective are, for example, necessary to replicate prior 

research results. While funding more than one study per objective may 

often be worthwhile and appropriate, this type of analysis by agencies 

would help provide assurance that agencies are not wasting federal 

resources due to unnecessary duplication of effort. Further, such an 

analysis could help identify research needs—such as research that is 

needed to complement or follow-up prior research, or research that 

requires further corroboration—and move autism research forward in a 

coordinated manner. We also question the purpose of using federal 

resources to collect data, if the data are not then carefully examined to 

ensure federal funds are being used appropriately and efficiently.

Further, we found that the IACC’s efforts to coordinate HHS autism 

research and monitor all federal autism activities were hindered due to 

limitations with the data it collects. For example, the guidance and 
 

Page 9 GAO-14-613T

methodology for determining what projects constitute research, and 

therefore should be included in the portfolio analysis, has changed over 

the years. As a result, the projects included in the portfolio analysis have 

varied. Such inconsistency makes it difficult to accurately determine how 

much an increase in the funding of autism research was due to an actual 

increase in research versus the inclusion of more projects in the analysis. 

Additionally, the portfolio analysis and strategic plan contain limited 

information on non-research autism-related activities, and the IACC did 

not have a mechanism to collect information on such activities.

In our November 2013 report, we made recommendations that the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services direct the IACC and NIH, in 

support of the IACC, to

• provide consistent guidance to federal agencies when collecting data 

for the portfolio analysis so that information can be more easily and 

accurately compared over multiple years; and

• create a document or database that provides information on nonresearch autism-related activities funded by the federal government, 

and make this document or database publicly available.

HHS did not concur with these recommendations. HHS emphasized that, 

when collecting data for the portfolio analysis, it has balanced the need 

for consistency with the need to be responsive to feedback from the IACC 

and from those participating in the portfolio analysis. While we agree with 

HHS that it is important to be responsive to feedback and make 

adjustments to guidance as necessary to improve data collection, we 

believe that annual changes of the type we observed are not productive. 

Guidance should be developed so that accurate, consistent, and 

meaningful comparisons of changes in federal funding of autism research 

can be made over time and used to inform future funding decisions. 

Additionally, HHS commented that information on non-research autismrelated activities was publicly accessible through a report to Congress 

that the CAA, and its reauthorization in 2011, required of HHS. While this 

document could be a starting point from which the IACC could begin to 

regularly catalog non-research autism-related activities, we believe that 

having a document or database that contains current and regularlyupdated information on these activities is an important aspect of fulfilling 

the IACC's responsibility to monitor all federal autism activities, not just 

research.
 

Page 10 GAO-14-613T

We also reported in November 2013 that the data used by the IACC was 

outdated and not tracked over time, and therefore not useful for 

measuring progress on the strategic plan objectives or identifying gaps in 

current research needs. Although the IACC did not examine research 

projects over time, our analysis found that, when looking across multiple 

years, some agencies funded more autism research projects than were 

suggested in the associated strategic plan objective, whereas other 

objectives were not funded by an agency.14

Lastly, we found limited instances of coordination among federal 

agencies, apart from participation on the IACC. We also found that 

agencies did not have robust or routine procedures for monitoring federal 

autism activities. While 5 of the 10 agencies with which we spoke stated 

that they monitored federal autism activities by searching databases or 

websites, these searches were narrowly focused or undefined, and some 

agencies lacked formal policies or procedures for staff to follow. For 

example, some agencies conducted federal database searches to ensure 

that a principle investigator was not receiving funding from another 

agency for the same project; however, these searches would not identify 

whether agencies were funding similar projects led by different principal 

investigators.

Recently, in April 2014, the 

IACC released an update of its strategic plan. This plan included the 

number of research projects funded from fiscal years 2008 through 2012 

under each objective, and the corresponding funding amounts, which may 

help identify those objectives that have received more funding than 

others. Although OARC collected specific information on the more 

recently funded projects—those funded in fiscal years 2011 and 2012—

this information was not included in the plan. Detailed project information 

is needed to effectively coordinate and monitor autism research across 

the federal government and avoid duplication.

15

 

14For example, while one objective recommended launching 3 projects related to 

underlying biological pathways of genetic conditions related to autism, 72 projects were 

funded from fiscal years 2008 through 2012.

After our November 2013 report was released, HHS 

informed us that NIH program officials use a database for detection of 

duplication of scientific content across research applications to help 

identify similar projects led by either the same or different principal 

investigators. Although the use of this database may be helpful, HHS did 

15Principal investigators are typically individuals designated by the applicant organization, 

such as a university, to have the appropriate level of authority and responsibility to direct 

the project or program to be supported by the award.
 

Page 11 GAO-14-613T

not provide information indicating that NIH has policies requiring program 

officials to actually search this database before awarding each research 

grant. Several agency officials also stated that they rely on their peer 

reviewers, other experts, and project officers to have knowledge of the 

current autism research environment. As established in our recent 

duplication work,16

To promote better coordination among federal agencies that fund autism 

research and avoid the potential for unnecessary duplication before 

research projects are funded, we recommended that the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 

Education, and the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

each determine methods for identifying and monitoring the autism 

research conducted by other agencies, including by taking full advantage 

of monitoring data the IACC develops and makes available. DOD 

concurred with our recommendation to improve coordination among 

federal agencies, and comments from Education, HHS, and NSF 

suggested that these agencies support improving the coordination of 

federal autism research activities. However, Education, HHS, and NSF 

disputed that any duplication occurs. We agree that more information on 

the specific projects funded within each objective would need to be 

assessed in order to determine actual duplication. However, the fact that 

research is categorized to the same objectives suggests that there may 

be duplicative projects being funded. During the course of our work, 

Education, HHS, and NSF did not provide any information to show that 

they had reviewed research projects to ensure that they were not 

unnecessarily duplicative.

 it is important for agencies that fund research on 

topics of common interest, such as autism, to monitor each others’ 

activities. Such monitoring helps maximize effectiveness and efficiency of 

federal investments, and minimize the potential for the inefficient use of 

federal resources due to unnecessary duplication.

Chairman Mica, Ranking Member Connolly, and Members of the 

Subcommittee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be 

pleased to respond to any questions that you may have.

 

16See for example, GAO, 2014 Annual Report: Additional Opportunities to Reduce 

Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits,

GAO-14-343SP (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 8, 2014) and GAO-13-279SP. 
 

Page 12 GAO-14-613T

For questions about this statement, please contact me at (202) 512-7114 

or crossem@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional 

Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this 

statement. GAO staff who made key contributions to this statement 

include Geri Redican-Bigott, Assistant Director; Deirdre Brown; 

Sandra George; Drew Long; and Sarah Resavy.

GAO Contact and 

Staff 

Acknowledgements

(291220)
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain 

copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be 

necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and 

investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its 

constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and 

accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO 

examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and 

policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance 

to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. 

GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of 

accountability, integrity, and reliability.

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no 

cost is through GAO’s website (http://www.gao.gov). Each weekday 

afternoon, GAO posts on its website newly released reports, testimony, 

and correspondence. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted 

products, go to http://www.gao.gov and select “E-mail Updates.”

The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO’s actual cost of 

production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the 

publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black and 

white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO’s website, 

http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm. 

Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or 

TDD (202) 512-2537. 

Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card, 

MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional information.

Connect with GAO on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Subscribe to our RSS Feeds or E-mail Updates. Listen to our Podcasts. 

Visit GAO on the web at www.gao.gov. 

Contact:

Website: http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm

E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov

Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470

Katherine Siggerud, Managing Director, siggerudk@gao.gov, (202) 512-

4400, U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 

7125, Washington, DC 20548

Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov, (202) 512-4800

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 

Washington, DC 20548

GAO’s Mission

Obtaining Copies of 

GAO Reports and 

Testimony

Order by Phone

Connect with GAO

To Report Fraud, 

Waste, and Abuse in 

Federal Programs

Congressional 

Relations

Public Affairs

Please Print on Recycled Paper.