Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Request: U.S. General Accounting Office
Published: 2003-04-09T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: GAO is a key source of objective information and analyses and, as such, plays a crucial role in supporting congressional decision-making and helping improve government for the benefit of the American people. This testimony focuses on GAO's (1) fiscal year 2002 performance and results, (2) efforts to maximize our effectiveness, responsiveness and value, and (3) our budget request for fiscal year 2004 to support the Congress and serve the American public.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: In fiscal year 2002, GAO's work informed the national debate on a broad spectrum of issues including helping the Congress answer questions about the associated costs and program tradeoffs of the national preparedness strategy, including providing perspectives on how best to organize and manage the new Transportation Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security. GAO's efforts helped the Congress and government leaders achieve $37.7 billion in financial benefits--an $88 return on every dollar invested in GAO. The return on the public's investment in GAO extends beyond dollar savings to improvements in how the government serves its citizens. This includes a range of accomplishments that serve to improve safety, enhance security, protect privacy, and increase the effectiveness of a range of federal programs and activities. The results of our work in fiscal year 2002 were possible, in part, because of changes we have made to transform GAO in order to meet our goal of being a model federal agency and a world-class professional services organization. We had already realigned GAO's structure and resources to better serve the Congress in its legislative, oversight, appropriations, and investigative roles. Over the past year, we cultivated and fostered congressional and agency relations, better refined our strategic and annual planning and reporting processes, and enhanced our information technology infrastructure. We also continued to provide priority attention to our management challenges of human capital, information security, and physical security. We have made progress in addressing each of these challenges, but we still have work to do and plan to ask for legislation to help address some of these issues. GAO is requesting budget authority of $473 million for fiscal year 2004. Our request represents a modest 4.1 percent increase in direct appropriations, primarily for mandatory pay and uncontrollable costs. This budget will allow us to maintain current operations for serving the Congress as outlined in our strategic plan and continue initiatives to enhance our human capital, support business processes, and ensure the safety and security of GAO staff, facilities, and information systems. Approximately $4.8 million, or about 1 percent, of our request relates to several safety and security items that are included in our fiscal year 2003 supplemental request. If this supplemental request is granted, our fiscal year 2004 request could be reduced accordingly.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to appear before the Subcommittee today as the Comptroller  General of the United States and head of the U.S. General Accounting  Office (GAO). GAO is a key source of objective information and analyses  and, as such, plays a crucial role in supporting congressional decision- making and helping improve government for the benefit of the American  people. My testimony today will focus on GAO’s (1) fiscal year 2002  performance and results, (2) efforts to maximize our effectiveness,  responsiveness and value, and (3) our budget request for fiscal year 2004  to support the Congress and serve the American public. In summary,  In fiscal year 2002, GAO’s work informed the national debate on a broad  spectrum of issues including helping the Congress answer questions about  the associated costs and program trade-offs of the national preparedness  strategy, including providing perspectives on how best to organize and  manage the new Transportation Security Administration and Department  of Homeland Security. GAO’s efforts helped the Congress and government  leaders achieve $37.7 billion in financial benefits—an $88 return on every  dollar invested in GAO. The return on the public’s investment in GAO  extends beyond dollar savings to improvements in how the government  serves its citizens. This includes a range of accomplishments that serve to  improve safety, enhance security, protect privacy, and increase the  effectiveness of a range of federal programs and activities.
The results of our work in fiscal year 2002 were possible, in part, because  of changes we have made to transform GAO in order to meet our goal of  being a model federal agency and a world-class professional services  organization. We had already realigned GAO’s structure and resources to  better serve the Congress in its legislative, oversight, appropriations, and  investigative roles. Over the past year, we cultivated and fostered  congressional and agency relations, better refined our strategic and annual  planning and reporting processes, and enhanced our information  technology infrastructure. We also continued to provide priority attention  to our management challenges of human capital, information security, and  physical security. We have made progress in addressing each of these  challenges, but we still have work to do and plan to ask for legislation to  help address some of these issues.
GAO is requesting budget authority of $473 million for fiscal year 2004.
Our request represents a modest 4.1 percent increase in direct  appropriations, primarily for mandatory pay and uncontrollable costs. This  budget will allow us to maintain current operations for serving the  Congress as outlined in our strategic plan and to continue initiatives to  enhance our human capital, support business processes, and ensure the  safety and security of GAO staff, facilities, and information systems.
Approximately $4.8 million, or about 1 percent, of our request relates to  several safety and security items that are included in our fiscal year 2003  supplemental request. If this supplemental request is granted, our fiscal  year 2004 request could be reduced accordingly.
subsections: section_title: Fiscal Year 2002 Performance and Results
paragraphs: Fiscal year 2002 was a year of challenges, not just for GAO but also for the  Congress and the nation. The nation’s vulnerabilities were exposed in a  series of events—America’s vulnerability to sophisticated terrorist  networks, bioterrorism waged through mechanisms as mundane as the  daily mail, and corporate misconduct capable of wiping out jobs, pensions,  and investments virtually overnight. As the Congress’s priorities changed  to meet these crises, GAO’s challenge was to respond quickly and  effectively to our congressional clients’ changing needs.
With work already underway across a spectrum of critical policy and  performance issues, we had a head start toward meeting the Congress’  needs in a year of unexpected and often tumultuous events. For example,  in fiscal year 2002 GAO’s work informed the debate over national  preparedness strategy, helping the Congress determine how best to  organize and manage major new departments, assess key vulnerabilities to  homeland defense, and respond to the events of September 11 in areas  such as terrorism insurance and airline security. GAO’s input also was a  major factor in shaping the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which created the Public  Company Accounting Oversight Board, as well as new rules to strengthen  corporate governance and ensure auditor independence. Further, GAO’s  work helped the Congress develop and enact election reform legislation in  the form of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to help restore voter  confidence.
In fiscal year 2002, GAO also served the Congress and the American  people by helping to:    Contribute to a national preparedness strategy at the federal, state, and  local levels that will make Americans safer from terrorism    Protect investors through better oversight of the securities industry and    Ensure a safer national food supply    Expose the inadequacy of nursing home care    Make income tax collection fair, effective, and less painful to taxpayers    Strengthen public schools’ accountability for educating children    Keep sensitive American technologies out of the wrong hands    Protect American armed forces confronting chemical or biological  weapons  Identify the risks to employees in private pension programs  Identify factors causing the shortage of children’s vaccines    Assist the postal system in addressing anthrax and various management  challenges  Identify security risks at ports, airports, and transit systems    Save billions by bringing sound business practices to the Department of    Foster human capital strategic management to create a capable, effective,    Ensure that the armed forces are trained and equipped to meet the  nation’s defense commitments    Enhance the safety of Americans and foreign nationals at U.S.
Assess ways of improving border security through biometric technologies    Reduce the international debt problems faced by poor countries    Reform the way federal agencies manage their finances    Protect government computer systems from security threats    Enhance the transition of e-government—the new “electronic connection”  between government and the public During fiscal year 2002, GAO’s analyses and recommendations contributed  to a wide range of legislation considered by the Congress, as shown in the  following table.
By year’s end, we had testified 216 times before the Congress, sometimes  on as little as 24 hours’ notice, on a range of issues. We had responded to  hundreds of urgent requests for information. We had developed 1,950  recommendations for improving the government’s operations, including,  for example, those we made to the Secretary of State calling for the  development of a governmentwide plan to help other countries combat  nuclear smuggling and those we made to the Chairman of the Federal  Energy Regulatory Commission calling for his agency to develop an action  plan for overseeing competitive energy markets. We also had continued to  track the recommendations we had made in past years, checking to see  that they had been implemented and, if not, whether we needed to do  follow-up work on problem areas. We found, in fact, that 79 percent of the  recommendations we had made in fiscal year 1998 had been implemented,  a significant step when the work we have done for the Congress becomes  a catalyst for creating tangible benefits for the American people.
Table 2 highlights, by GAO’s three external strategic goals, examples of  issues on which we testified before Congress during fiscal year 2002.
Congress and the executive agencies took a wide range of actions in fiscal  year 2002 to improve government operations, reduce costs, or better target  budget authority based on GAO analyses and recommendations, as  highlighted in the following sections.
Federal action on GAO’s findings or recommendations produced financial  benefits for the American people: a total of $37.7 billion was achieved by  making government services more efficient, improving the budgeting and  spending of tax dollars, and strengthening the management of federal  resources (see fig. 1). For example, increased funding for improved  safeguards against fraud and abuse helped the Medicare program to better  control improper payments of $8.1 billion over 2 years, and better policies  and controls reduced losses from farm loan programs by about $4.8 billion  across 5 years.
In fiscal year 2002, we also recorded 906 instances in which our work led  to improvements in government operations or programs (see fig. 2). For  example, by acting on GAO’s findings or recommendations, the federal  government has taken important steps toward enhancing aviation safety,  improving pediatric drug labeling based on research, better targeting of  funds to high-poverty school districts, greater accountability in the federal  acquisition process, and more effective delivery of disaster recovery  assistance to other nations, among other achievements.
As shown in table 3, we met all of our annual performance targets except  our timeliness target. While we provided 96 percent of our products to  their congressional requesters by the date promised, we missed this  measure’s target of 98 percent on-time delivery. The year’s turbulent  events played a part in our missing the target, causing us to delay work in  progress when higher-priority requests came in from the Congress. We  know we will continue to face factors beyond our control as we strive to  improve our performance in this area. We believe the agency protocols we  are piloting will help clarify aspects of our interactions with the agencies  we evaluate and audit and, thus, expedite our work in ways that could  improve the timeliness of our final products. We also believe that our  continuing investments in human capital and information technology will  improve our timeliness while allowing us to maintain our high level of  productivity and performance overall.
section_title: Maximizing GAO’s Effectiveness, Responsiveness and Value
paragraphs: The results of our work were possible, in part, because of changes we  have made to maximize the value of GAO. We had already realigned GAO’s  structure and resources to better serve the Congress in its legislative,  oversight, appropriations, and investigative roles. Over the past year, we  cultivated and fostered congressional and agency relations, better refined  our strategic and annual planning and reporting processes, and enhanced  our information technology infrastructure. We also continued to provide  priority attention to our management challenges of human capital,  information security, and physical security. Changes we made in each of  these areas helped enable us to operate in a constantly changing  environment.
subsections: section_title: Congressional and Agency Relations
paragraphs: Over the course of the year, we cultivated and fostered congressional and  agency relations in several ways. On October 23, 2001, in response to the  anthrax incident on Capitol Hill, we opened our doors to 435 members of  the House of Representatives and their staffs. Later in the year, we  continued with our traditional hill outreach meetings and completed a 7- month pilot test of a system for obtaining clients’ views on the quality of  our testimonies and reports. We also developed agency protocols to  provide clearly defined, consistently applied, well-documented, and  transparent policies for conducting our work with federal agencies. We  have implemented our new reporting product line entitled Highlights—a  one-page summary that provides the key findings and recommendations  from a GAO engagement. We continued our policy of outreach to our  congressional clients, the public, and the press to enhance the  accessibility of GAO products. Our external web site now logs about  100,000 visitors each day and more than 1 million GAO products are  downloaded every month by our congressional clients, the public, and the  press.
In light of certain records access challenges during the past few years and  with concerns about national and homeland security unusually high at  home and abroad, it may become more difficult for us to obtain  information from the Executive Branch and report on certain issues. If this  were to occur, it would hamper our ability to complete congressional  requests in a timely manner. We are updating GAO’s engagement  acceptance policies and practices to address this issue and may  recommend legislative changes that will help to assure that we have  reasonable and appropriate information that we need to conduct our work  for the Congress and the country.
section_title: Strategic and Annual Planning
paragraphs: GAO’s strategic planning process serves as a model for the federal  government. Our plan aligns GAO’s resources to meet the needs of the  Congress, address emerging challenges and achieve positive results.  Following the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, we  established a process that provides for updates with each new Congress,  ongoing analysis of emerging conditions and trends, extensive  consultations with congressional clients and outside experts, and  assessments of our internal capacities and needs.
At the beginning of fiscal year 2002, we updated our strategic plan for  serving the Congress based on substantial congressional input—extending  the plan’s perspective out to fiscal year 2007 and factoring in  developments that had occurred since we first issued it in fiscal year 2000.  The updated plan carries forward the four strategic goals we had already  established as the organizing principles for a body of work that is as wide- ranging as the interests and concerns of the Congress itself. Using the plan  as a blueprint, we lay out the areas in which we expect to conduct  research, audits, analyses, and evaluations to meet our clients’ needs, and  we allocate the resources we receive from the Congress accordingly.  Following is our strategic plan framework. Appendix I of this statement  delineates in a bit more detail our strategic objectives and our qualitative  performance goals for fiscal years 2002 and 2003.
We issued our 2001 Performance and Accountability Report that combines  information on our past year’s accomplishments and progress in meeting  our strategic goals with our plans for achieving our fiscal year 2003  performance goals. The report earned a Certificate of Excellence in  Accountability Reporting from the Association of Government  Accountants. We issued our fiscal year 2002 Performance and  Accountability Report in January 2003.
Our financial statements, which are integral to our performance and  accountability, received an unqualified opinion for the sixteenth  consecutive year. Furthermore, our external auditors did not identify any  material control weaknesses or compliance issues relating to GAO’s  operations.
section_title: Information Technology
paragraphs: During the past year, we acquired new hardware and software and  developed user-friendly systems that enhanced our productivity and  responsiveness to the Congress and helped meet our initial information  technology goals. For example, we replaced aging desktop workstations  with notebook computers that provide greater computing power, speed,  and mobility. In addition, we upgraded key desktop applications, the  Windows desktop operating system, and telecommunications systems to  ensure that GAO staff have modern technology tools to assist them in  carrying out their work. We also developed new, integrated, user-friendly  Web-based systems that eliminate duplicate data entry while ensuring the  reusability of existing data. As the Clinger-Cohen Act requires, GAO has an  enterprise architecture program in place to guide its information  technology planning and decision making. In designing and developing  systems, as well as in acquiring technology tools and services, we have  applied enterprise architecture principles and concepts to ensure sound  information technology investments and the interoperability of systems.
section_title: Human Capital
paragraphs: Given GAO’s role as a key provider of information and analyses to the  Congress, maintaining the right mix of technical knowledge and expertise  as well as general analytical skills is vital to achieving our mission. We  spend about 80 percent of our resources on our people, but without  excellent human capital management, we could still run the risk of being  unable to deliver what the Congress and the nation expect from us. At the  beginning of my term in early fiscal year 1999, we completed a self- assessment that profiled our human capital workforce and identified a  number of serious challenges facing our workforce, including significant  issues involving succession planning and imbalances in the structure,  shape, and skills of our workforce. As presented below, through a number  of strategically planned human capital initiatives over the past few years,  we have made significant progress in addressing these issues. For  example, as illustrated in figure 3, by the end of fiscal year 2002, we had  almost a 60 percent increase in the percentage of staff at the entry-level  (Band I) as compared with fiscal year 1998. Also, the proportion of our  workforce at the mid-level (Band II) decreased by about 8 percent.
Our fiscal year 2002 human capital initiatives included the following:  In fiscal year 2002, we hired nearly 430 permanent staff and 140 interns.  We also developed and implemented a strategy to place more emphasis on  diversity in campus recruiting.  In fiscal years 2002 and 2003, to help meet our workforce planning  objectives, we offered voluntary early retirement under authority  established in our October 2000 human capital legislation. Early  retirement was granted to 52 employees in fiscal year 2002 and 24  employees in fiscal year 2003.
To retain staff with critical skills and staff with less than 3 years of GAO  experience, we implemented legislation authorizing federal agencies to  offer student loan repayments in exchange for certain federal service  commitments.  In fiscal year 2002, GAO implemented a new, modern, effective, and  credible performance appraisal system for analysts and specialists,  adapted the system for attorneys, and began modifying the system for  administrative professional and support staff.
We began developing a new core training curriculum for managers and  staff to provide additional training on the key competencies required to  perform GAO’s work.
We also took steps to achieve a fully democratically-elected Employee  Advisory Council to work with GAO’s Executive Committee in addressing  issues of mutual interest and concern.
The above represent just a few of many accomplishments in the human  capital area. GAO is the clear leader in the federal government in  designating and implementing 21st century human capital policies and  practices. We also are taking steps to work with the Congress, the Office  of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management, and  others to “help others help themselves” in the human capital area.
section_title: Information Security
paragraphs: Ensuring information systems security and disaster recovery systems that  allow for continuity of operations is a critical requirement for GAO,  particularly in light of the events of September 11 and the anthrax  incidents. The risk is that our information could be compromised and that  we would be unable to respond to the needs of the Congress in an  emergency. In light of this risk and in keeping with our goal of being a  model federal agency, we are implementing an information security  program consistent with the requirements in the Government Information  Security Reform provisions (commonly referred to as “GISRA”) enacted in  the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year  2001. We have made progress through our efforts to, among other things,  implement a risk-based, agencywide security program; provide security  training and awareness; and develop and implement an enterprise disaster  recovery solution.
section_title: Physical Security
paragraphs: In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent  anthrax incidents, our ability to provide a safe and secure workplace  emerged as a challenge for our agency. Protecting our people and our  assets is critical to our ability to meet our mission. We devoted additional  resources to this area and implemented measures such as reinforcing  vehicle and pedestrian entry points, installing an additional x-ray machine,  adding more security guards, and reinforcing windows.
section_title: GAO’s Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Request
paragraphs: GAO is requesting budget authority of $473 million for fiscal year 2004 to  maintain current operations for serving the Congress as outlined in our  strategic plan and to continue initiatives to enhance our human capital,  support business processes, and ensure the safety and security of GAO  staff, facilities, and information systems. This funding level will allow us to  fund up to 3,269 full-time equivalent personnel. Our request includes  $466.6 million in direct appropriations and authority to use estimated  revenues of $6 million from reimbursable audit work and rental income.  Our requested increase of $18.4 million in direct appropriations represents  a modest 4.1 percent increase, primarily for mandatory pay and  uncontrollable costs. Our budget request also includes savings from  nonrecurring fiscal year 2003 investments in fiscal year 2004 that we  propose to use to fund further one-time investments in critical areas, such  as security and human capital.
We have submitted a request for $4.8 million in supplemental fiscal year  2003 funds to allow us to accelerate implementation of important security  enhancements. Our fiscal year 2004 budget includes $4.8 million for safety  and security needs that are also included in the supplemental. If the  requested fiscal year 2003 supplemental funds are provided, our fiscal year  2004 budget could be reduced by $4.8 million. Table 4 presents our fiscal  year 2003 and requested fiscal year 2004 resources by funding source.
During fiscal year 2004, we plan to sustain our investments in maximizing  the productivity of our workforce by continuing to address the key  management challenges of human capital, and both information and  physical security. We will continue to take steps to “lead by example”  within the federal government in connection with these and other critical  management areas.
Over the next several years, we need to continue to address skill gaps,  maximize staff productivity and effectiveness, and reengineer our human  capital processes to make them more user-friendly. We plan to address  skill gaps by further refining our recruitment and hiring strategies to target  gaps identified through our workforce planning efforts, while taking into  account the significant percentage of our workforce eligible for  retirement. We will continue to take steps to reengineer our human capital  systems and practices to increase their efficiency and to take full  advantage of technology. We will also ensure that our staff have the  needed skills and training to function in this reengineered environment. In  addition, we are developing competency-based performance appraisal and  broad-banding pay systems for our mission support employees.
To ensure our ability to attract, retain, and reward high-quality staff, we  plan to devote additional resources to our employee training and  development program. We will target resources to continue initiatives to  address skill gaps, maximize staff productivity, and increase staff  effectiveness by updating our training curriculum to address  organizational and technical needs and training new staff. Also, to enhance  our recruitment and retention of staff, we will continue to offer a student  loan repayment program and transit subsidy benefit established in fiscal  year 2002. In addition, we will continue to focus our hiring efforts in fiscal  year 2004 on recruiting talented entry-level staff.
To build on the human capital flexibilities provided by the Congress in  2000, we plan to recommend legislation that would, among other things,  facilitate GAO’s continuing efforts to recruit and retain top talent, develop  a more performance-based compensation system, realign our workforce,  and facilitate our succession planning and knowledge transfer efforts. In  addition, to help attract new recruits, address certain “expectation gaps”  within and outside of the government, and better describe the modern  audit and evaluation entity GAO has become, we will work with the  Congress to explore the possibility of changing the agency’s name while  retaining our well-known acronym and global brand name of “GAO.”
On the information security front, we need to complete certain key actions  to be better able to detect intruders in our systems, identify our users, and  recover in the event of a disaster. Among our current efforts and plans for  these areas are completing the installation of software that helps us detect  intruders on all our internal servers, completing the implementation of a  secure user authentication process, and refining the disaster recover plan  we developed last year. We will need the Congress’ help to address these  remaining challenges.
We also are continuing to make the investments necessary to enhance the  safety and security of our people, facilities, and other assets for the mutual  benefit of GAO and the Congress. With our fiscal year 2003 supplemental  funding, if provided, or if not, with fiscal year 2004 funds, we plan to  complete installation of our building access control and intrusion  detection system and supporting infrastructure, and obtain an offsite  facility for use by essential personnel in emergency situations. With the  help of the Congress, we plan to implement these projects over the next  several years.
section_title: Concluding Remarks
paragraphs: As a result of the support and resources we have received from this  Subcommittee and the Congress over the past several years, we have been  able to make a difference in government, not only in terms of financial  benefits and improvements in federal programs and operations that have  resulted from our work, but also in strengthening and increasing the  productivity of GAO, and making a real difference for our country and its  citizens. Our budget request for fiscal year 2004 is modest, but necessary  to sustain our current operations, continue key human capital and  information technology initiatives, and ensure the safety and security of  our most valuable asset—our people. We seek your continued support so  that we will be able to effectively and efficiently conduct our work on  behalf of the Congress and the American people.
section_title: Appendix I: GAO’s Qualitative Performance Goals for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
paragraphs: This appendix lists GAO’s strategic goals and the strategic objectives for  each goal. They are part of our updated draft strategic plan (for fiscal  years 2002 through 2007).
Organized below each strategic objective are its qualitative performance  goals. The performance goals lay out the work we plan to do in fiscal years  2002 and 2003 to help achieve our strategic goals and objectives. We will  evaluate our performance at the end of fiscal year 2003.
subsections: section_title: Strategic Goal 1
paragraphs: Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and the Federal  Government to Address Current and Emerging Challenges to the Well- Being and Financial Security of the American People  To achieve this goal, we will provide information and recommendations on  the following:  the Health Care Needs of an Aging and Diverse Population  evaluate Medicare reform, financing, and operations;  assess trends and issues in private health insurance coverage;  assess actions and options for improving the Department of Veterans  Affairs’ and the Department of Defense’s (DOD) health care services;  evaluate the effectiveness of federal programs to promote and protect the  public health;  evaluate the effectiveness of federal programs to improve the nation’s  preparedness for the public health and medical consequences of  bioterrorism;  evaluate federal and state program strategies for financing and overseeing  chronic and long-term health care; and  assess states’ experiences in providing health insurance coverage for low- income populations. the Education and Protection of the Nation’s Children  analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of early childhood education and  care programs in serving their target populations;  assess options for federal programs to effectively address the educational   and nutritional needs of elementary and secondary students and their  schools;    determine the effectiveness and efficiency of child support enforcement  and child welfare programs in serving their target populations; and  identify opportunities to better manage postsecondary, vocational, and  adult education programs and deliver more effective services. the Promotion of Work Opportunities and the Protection of Workers  assess the effectiveness of federal efforts to help adults enter the  workforce and to assist low-income workers;  analyze the impact of programs designed to maintain a skilled workforce  and ensure employers have the workers they need;  assess the success of various enforcement strategies to protect workers  while minimizing employers’ burden in the changing environment of work;  and  identify ways to improve federal support for people with disabilities. a Secure Retirement for Older Americans  assess the implications of various Social Security reform proposals;  identify opportunities to foster greater pension coverage, increase  personal saving, and ensure adequate and secure retirement income; and  identify opportunities to improve the ability of federal agencies to  administer and protect workers’ retirement benefits. an Effective System of Justice  identify ways to improve federal agencies’ ability to prevent and respond  to major crimes, including terrorism;  assess the effectiveness of federal programs to control illegal drug use;  identify ways to administer the nation’s immigration laws to better secure  the nation’s borders and promote appropriate treatment of legal residents;  and  assess the administrative efficiency and effectiveness of the federal court  and prison systems. the Promotion of Viable Communities  assess federal economic development assistance and its impact on  communities;  assess how the federal government can balance the promotion of home  ownership with financial risk;  assess the effectiveness of federal initiatives to assist small and minority- owned businesses;  assess federal efforts to enhance national preparedness and capacity to  respond to and recover from natural and man-made disasters; and  assess how well federally supported housing programs meet their  objectives and affect the well-being of recipient households and  communities.
Responsible Stewardship of Natural Resources and the Environment  assess the nation’s ability to ensure reliable and environmentally sound  energy for current and future generations;  assess federal strategies for managing land and water resources in a  sustainable fashion for multiple uses;  assess federal programs’ ability to ensure a plentiful and safe food supply,  provide economic security for farmers, and minimize agricultural  environmental damage;  assess federal pollution prevention and control strategies; and  assess efforts to reduce the threats posed by hazardous and nuclear  wastes. a Secure and Effective National Physical Infrastructure  assess strategies for identifying, evaluating, prioritizing, financing, and  implementing integrated solutions to the nation’s infrastructure needs;  assess the impact of transportation and telecommunications policies and  practices on competition and consumers;  assess efforts to improve safety and security in all transportation modes;  assess the U.S. Postal Service’s transformation efforts to ensure its  viability and accomplish its mission; and  assess federal efforts to plan for, acquire, manage, maintain, secure, and  dispose of the government’s real property assets.
section_title: Strategic Goal 2
paragraphs: Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and the Federal  Government to Respond to Changing Security Threats and the  Challenges of Global Interdependence  To achieve this goal, we will provide information and recommendations on  the following:  Respond to Diffuse Threats to National and Global Security  analyze the effectiveness of the federal government’s approach to  providing for homeland security;  assess U.S. efforts to protect computer and telecommunications systems  supporting critical infrastructures in business and government; and  assess the effectiveness of U.S. and international efforts to prevent the  proliferation of nuclear, biological, chemical, and conventional weapons  and sensitive technologies.
Ensure Military Capabilities and Readiness  assess the ability of DOD to maintain adequate readiness levels while  addressing the force structure changes needed in the 21st century;  assess overall human capital management practices to ensure a high- quality total force;  identify ways to improve the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of  DOD’s support infrastructure and business systems and processes;  assess the National Nuclear Security Administration’s efforts to maintain a  safe and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile;  analyze and support DOD’s efforts to improve budget analyses and  performance management;  assess whether DOD and the services have developed integrated  procedures and systems to operate effectively together on the battlefield;  and  assess the ability of weapon system acquisition programs and processes  to achieve desired outcomes.
Advance and Protect U.S. International Interests  analyze the plans, strategies, costs, and results of the U.S. role in conflict  interventions;  analyze the effectiveness and management of foreign aid programs and  the tools used to carry them out;  analyze the costs and implications of changing U.S. strategic interests;  evaluate the efficiency and accountability of multilateral organizations  and the extent to which they are serving U.S. interests; and  assess the strategies and management practices for U.S. foreign affairs  functions and activities.
Respond to the Impact of Global Market Forces on U.S. Economic and  Security Interests  analyze how trade agreements and programs serve U.S. interests;  improve understanding of the effects of defense industry globalization;  assess how the United States can influence improvements in the world  financial system;  assess the ability of the financial services industry and its regulators to  maintain a stable and efficient global financial system;  evaluate how prepared financial regulators are to respond to change and  innovation; and  assess the effectiveness of regulatory programs and policies in ensuring  access to financial services and deterring fraud and abuse in financial  markets.
section_title: Strategic Goal 3
paragraphs: Help Transform the Government’s Role and How It Does Business to  Meet 21st Century Challenges  To achieve this goal, we will provide information and recommendations on  the following:  Analyze the Implications of the Increased Role of Public and Private  Parties in Achieving Federal Objectives  analyze the modern service-delivery system environment and the  complexity and interaction of service-delivery mechanisms;  assess how involvement of state and local governments and  nongovernmental organizations affect federal program implementation  and achievement of national goals; and  assess the effectiveness of regulatory administration and reforms in  achieving government objectives.
Assess the Government’s Human Capital and Other Capacity for Serving  the Public  identify and facilitate the implementation of human capital practices that  will improve federal economy, efficiency, and effectiveness;  identify ways to improve the financial management infrastructure  capacity to provide useful information to manage for results and costs day  to day;  assess the government’s capacity to manage information technology to  improve performance;  assess efforts to manage the collection, use, and dissemination of  government information in an era of rapidly changing technology;  assess the effectiveness of the Federal Statistical System in providing  relevant, reliable, and timely information that meets federal program  needs; and  identify more businesslike approaches that can be used by federal  agencies in acquiring goods and services.
Support Congressional Oversight of the Federal Government’s Progress  toward Being More Results-Oriented, Accountable, and Relevant to  Society’s Needs  analyze and support efforts to instill results-oriented management across  the government;    highlight the federal programs and operations at highest risk and the  major performance and management challenges confronting agencies;  identify ways to strengthen accountability for the federal government’s  assets and operations;    promote accountability in the federal acquisition process;  assess the management and results of the federal investment in science  and technology and the effectiveness of efforts to protect intellectual  property; and  identify ways to improve the quality of evaluative information.    develop new resources and approaches that can be used in measuring  performance and progress on the nations 21st century challenges Analyze the Government’s Fiscal Position and Approaches for Financing  the Government  analyze the long-term fiscal position of the federal government;  analyze the structure and information for budgetary choices and explore  alternatives for improvement;  contribute to congressional deliberations on tax policy;  support congressional oversight of the Internal Revenue Service’s  modernization and reform efforts; and  assess the reliability of financial information on the government’s fiscal  position and financing sources.
section_title: Strategic Goal 4
paragraphs: Maximize the Value of GAO by Being a Model Federal Agency and a  World-Class Professional Services Organization  To achieve this goal, we will do the following:  Sharpen GAO’s Focus on Clients’ and Customers’ Requirements  continuously update client requirements;    develop and implement stakeholder protocols and refine client protocols;  and  identify and refine customer requirements and measures.