Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office
Published: 2006-04-26T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: We are pleased to appear before the Congress today in support of the fiscal year 2007 budget request for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). This request will help us continue our support of the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and will help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. Budget constraints in the federal government grew tighter in fiscal years 2005 and 2006. In developing our fiscal year 2007 budget, we considered those constraints consistent with GAO's and Congress's desire to "lead by example." In fiscal year 2007, we are requesting budget authority of $509.4 million, a reasonable 5 percent increase over our fiscal year 2006 revised funding level. In the event Congress acts to hold federal pay increases to 2.2 percent, our requested increase will drop to below 5 percent. This request will allow us to continue making improvements in productivity, maintain our progress in technology and other transformation areas, and support a full-time equivalent (FTE) staffing level of 3,267. This represents an increase of 50 FTEs over our planned fiscal year 2006 staffing level and will allow us to rebuild our workforce to a level that will position us to better respond to increasing supply and demand imbalances in areas such as disaster assistance, the global war on terrorism, homeland security, forensic auditing, and health care. This testimony focuses on our budget request for fiscal year 2007 to support the Congress and serve the American people and on our performance and results with the funding you provided us in fiscal year 2005.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: Our fiscal year 2007 budget request will provide us the resources necessary to achieve our performance goals in support of the Congress and the American people. This request will allow GAO to improve productivity and maintain progress in technology and other transformation areas. We continue to streamline GAO, modernize our policies and practices, and leverage technology so that we can achieve our mission more effectively and efficiently. These continuing efforts allow us to enhance our performance without significant increases in funding. Our fiscal year 2007 budget request represents a modest increase of about $25 million (or 5 percent) over our fiscal year 2006 revised funding level--primarily to cover uncontrollable mandatory pay and price level increases. This request reflects a reduction of nearly $5.4 million in nonrecurring fiscal year 2006 costs used to offset the fiscal year 2007 increase. This request also includes about $7 million in one-time fiscal year 2007 costs, which will not recur in fiscal year 2008, to upgrade our business systems and processes. As the Congress addresses the devastation in the Gulf Coast region from Hurricane Katrina and several other major 2005 hurricanes, GAO is supporting the Congress by assessing whether federal programs assisting the people of the Gulf region are efficient and effective and result in a strong return on investment. In order to address the demands of this work; better respond to the increasing number of demands being placed on GAO, including a dramatic increase in health care mandates; and address supply and demand imbalances in our ability to respond to congressional interest in areas such as disaster assistance, homeland security, the global war on terrorism, health care, and forensic auditing, we are seeking Congress's support to provide the funding to rebuild our staffing level to the levels requested in previous years. We believe that 3,267 FTEs is an optimal staffing level for GAO that would allow us to more successfully meet the needs of the Congress. In preparing this request and taking into account the effects of the fiscal year 2006 rescission, we revised our workforce plan to reduce fiscal year 2005 hiring and initiated a voluntary early retirement opportunity for staff in January 2006. These actions better support GAO's strategic plan for serving the Congress, better align GAO's workforce to meet mission needs, correct selected skill imbalances, and allow us to increase the number of new hires later in fiscal year 2006. Our revised hiring plan represents an aggressive hiring level that is significantly higher than in recent fiscal years, and it is the maximum number of staff we could absorb during fiscal year 2006. These actions will also position us to more fully utilize our planned FTE levels of 3,217 and 3,267 in fiscal years 2006 and 2007, respectively.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to appear before the Committee today in support of the fiscal  year 2007 budget request for the U.S. Government Accountability Office  (GAO). This request will help us continue our support of the Congress in  meeting its constitutional responsibilities and will help improve the  performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for  the benefit of the American people.
Budget constraints in the federal government grew tighter in fiscal years  2005 and 2006.  In developing our fiscal year 2007 budget, we considered  those constraints consistent with GAO’s and the Committee’s desire to  “lead by example.” In fiscal year 2007, we are requesting budget authority  of $509.4 million, a reasonable 5 percent increase over our fiscal year 2006  revised funding level. In the event Congress acts to hold federal pay  increases to 2.2 percent, our requested increase will drop to below 5  percent. This request will allow us to continue making improvements in  productivity, maintain our progress in technology and other  transformation areas, and support a full-time equivalent (FTE) staffing  level of 3,267. This represents an increase of 50 FTEs over our planned  fiscal year 2006 staffing level and will allow us to rebuild our workforce to  a level that will position us to better respond to increasing supply and  demand imbalances in areas such as disaster assistance, the global war on  terrorism, homeland security, forensic auditing, and health care.
I am proud of the work we accomplished this past fiscal year in support of  the Congress and the American people. We provided our congressional  clients with timely, objective, and reliable information on how well  government programs and policies are working and, when needed,  recommendations for improvement. In the years ahead, our support to the  Congress will likely prove to be even more critical because of the  pressures created by our nation’s current and projected budget deficit and  growing long-term fiscal imbalance.  Indeed, as it considers those fiscal  pressures, the Congress will be grappling with tough choices about what  government does, how it does business, and who should do the  government’s business.  GAO is a valuable tool for helping the Congress  review, reprioritize, and revise existing mandatory and discretionary  spending programs and tax policies.  Additionally, through its involvement  domestically with the federal, state, and local audit community and  internationally with its national audit office counterparts, GAO has  played—and will continue to play—an important role in helping to ensure  the financial integrity of U.S. funds expended at home and abroad.  GAO- led efforts to develop and implement the first-ever strategic plans for the  National Intergovernmental Audit Forum and the International  Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions have helped improve the  effectiveness of these audit organizations and GAO to work more  efficiently and cost-effectively.
In an effort to identify areas for potential improvement, GAO underwent  two peer reviews in fiscal year 2005. We obtained a clean opinion on our  performance audit practice from an international team of experienced  auditors—the first time that we have sought such an opinion. The  independent reviewers concluded that we have designed and implemented  an effective system of quality controls to provide reasonable assurance of  complying with generally accepted government auditing standards, which  are designed to ensure that audits of government activities are objective,  independent, and reliable. This opinion validated that the Congress and  the American people can rely on our work and products.  Also during  fiscal year 2005, GAO received an unqualified report, or clean opinion, on  the results of the external peer review of its financial audit practice.   External peer reviews are conducted on a 3-year cycle, and this is the  fourth such clean opinion that GAO has received from an external peer  reviewer since the program began in fiscal year 1996.  The external peer  reviewer, KPMG LLP, found that the system of quality control for GAO's  financial auditing practice met professional standards and that GAO in fact  complied with the standards.
In fiscal year 2005, we met or exceeded targets for 10 of our 14  performance measures, while setting or matching all-time records for 3  measures. We documented $39.6 billion in financial benefits—a return of  $83 for every dollar we spent—and over 1,400 nonfinancial benefits—a  record for us. Our targets for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 will continue to  challenge the agency in our efforts to support the Congress and serve the  American people.  Beginning with fiscal year 2006, we will add 2 internal  operations measures to the list.  These 2 new performance measures will  assess how well our mission and people are supported by our  infrastructure operations staff.
In fiscal year 2005, we issued two products that will assist the Congress as  it addresses future challenges. Recognizing the importance and scope of  these reports, we provided a copy to every member of Congress and each  Committee, as well as the White House. Our report entitled 21st Century  Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government provides a  series of illustrative questions related to 12 areas of federal activity as well  as our perspective on various strategies and approaches that should be  considered as a possible means to address the issues and questions raised  in the report. Drawing on our institutional knowledge and extensive  program evaluation and performance assessment work for the Congress,  we presented over 200 specific 21st century questions illustrating the types  of hard choices our nation needs to face as it reexamines what the federal  government should do, how it should do it, and how it should be financed.  We also issued our High-Risk Series: An Update, which identifies federal  areas and programs at risk of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement  and those in need of broad-based transformations. The issues affecting  many of these areas and programs may take years to address, and the  report will serve as a useful guide for the Congress’s future programmatic  deliberations and oversight activities. The current administration has  looked to our high-risk program in shaping governmentwide initiatives  such as the President's Management Agenda, which has at its base many of  the areas we had previously identified as high risk. The Office of  Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with GAO, is currently  working to ensure that agencies develop detailed action plans to address  high-risk areas, with the ultimate objective, over time, of seeing these  items removed from our high-risk list.
As in past years, during fiscal year 2005, our work covered a number of  major topics of concern to the nation and, in some cases, the world. For  example, we reported on the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, the  financial condition of the airline industry, spending and reconstruction  activities related to Iraq and Afghanistan, and strengthening the visa  process as an antiterrorism tool. We also examined the Department of  Defense’s (DOD’s) transformation challenges, base realignment and  closure issues, increasing the strategic focus of federal acquisitions,  protecting against identity theft, the oversight of electricity markets, zero  down-payment mortgages, and immigration enforcement. We testified  many times before the Congress, contributing to the public debate on a  variety of topics that included Social Security reform, pension reform,  postal reform, GSE oversight, wildland fire management, gasoline prices,  the flu vaccine, veterans’ health care, benefits for members of the  Reserves and National Guard, digital broadcast television, long-term  health care financing, passport fraud detection, reducing the tax gap,  information security, and a range of financial management and  accountability issues.  In addition, we conducted a range of work on a  variety of legislative branch agencies and projects, including the Capitol  Visitor Center, the Architect of the Capitol, and the U.S. Capitol Police.
This past year we also continued to take steps internally to help us achieve  our goal of being a model federal agency and a world-class professional  services organization. These steps helped us to address our three major  management challenges—human capital, physical security, and  information security. Through the GAO Human Capital Reform Act of  2004, the Congress granted GAO several additional human capital  flexibilities that will allow us, among other things, to move to an even  more performance-oriented and market-based compensation system. As  you have heard me say many times, our most valuable asset is our people,  and the flexibilities granted in this act will help us to continue to  modernize our people-related policies and strategies, which, in turn, will  help ensure that we are well-equipped to serve the Congress and the  American people in the years to come. As a result, we are continuing to  take a range of actions designed to modernize our human capital policies  and practices. In fiscal year 2005, we adopted a broad pay band approach  and a more performance-oriented pay system for our administrative staff.  In fiscal year 2006, we implemented a more market-based and skills-,  knowledge-, and performance-oriented classification and pay system for  all of our employees.
My testimony today will focus on our budget request for fiscal year 2007 to  support the Congress and serve the American people and on our  performance and results with the funding you provided us in fiscal year  2005.
subsections: section_title: GAO’s Fiscal Year 2007 Request to Support the Congress
paragraphs: Our fiscal year 2007 budget request will provide us the resources  necessary to achieve our performance goals in support of the Congress  and the American people.  This request will allow GAO to improve  productivity and maintain progress in technology and other  transformation areas.  We continue to streamline GAO, modernize our  policies and practices, and leverage technology so that we can achieve our  mission more effectively and efficiently.  These continuing efforts allow us  to enhance our performance without significant increases in funding.  Our  fiscal year 2007 budget request represents a modest increase of about $25  million (or 5 percent) over our fiscal year 2006 revised funding level— primarily to cover uncontrollable mandatory pay and price level increases.   This request reflects a reduction of nearly $5.4 million in nonrecurring  fiscal year 2006 costs used to offset the fiscal year 2007 increase.  This  request also includes about $7 million in one-time fiscal year 2007 costs,  which will not recur in fiscal year 2008, to upgrade our business systems  and processes.
As the Congress addresses the devastation in the Gulf Coast region from  Hurricane Katrina and several other major 2005 hurricanes, GAO is  supporting the Congress by assessing whether federal programs assisting  the people of the Gulf region are efficient and effective and result in a  strong return on investment.  In order to address the demands of this  work; better respond to the increasing number of demands being placed  on GAO, including a dramatic increase in health care mandates; and  address supply and demand imbalances in our ability to respond to  congressional interest in areas such as disaster assistance, homeland  security, the global war on terrorism, health care, and forensic auditing,  we are seeking your support to provide the funding to rebuild our staffing  level to the levels requested in previous years.  We believe that 3,267 FTEs  is an optimal staffing level for GAO that would allow us to more  successfully meet the needs of the Congress.
In preparing this request and taking into account the effects of the fiscal  year 2006 rescission, we revised our workforce plan to reduce fiscal year  2005 hiring and initiated a voluntary early retirement opportunity for staff  in January 2006.  These actions better support GAO’s strategic plan for  serving the Congress, better align GAO’s workforce to meet mission needs,  correct selected skill imbalances, and allow us to increase the number of  new hires later in fiscal year 2006.  Our revised hiring plan represents an  aggressive hiring level that is significantly higher than in recent fiscal  years, and it is the maximum number of staff we could absorb during fiscal  year 2006.  These actions will also position us to more fully utilize our  planned FTE levels of 3,217 and 3,267 in fiscal years 2006 and 2007,  respectively.
Our fiscal year 2007 budget request includes approximately $502 million in  direct appropriations and authority to use about $7 million in estimated  revenue from rental income and reimbursable audit work. Table 1  summarizes the changes we are requesting in our fiscal year 2007 budget.
Our fiscal year 2007 budget request supports three broad program areas:   Human Capital, Engagement Support, and Infrastructure Operations.   Consistent with our strategic goal to be a model agency, we have  undertaken a number of initiatives to implement performance-based,  market-oriented compensation systems; adopt best practices; benchmark  service levels and costs; streamline our operations; cross-service and  outsource activities; and leverage technology to increase efficiency,  productivity, and results.
The Human Capital Program provides the resources needed to support a  diverse, highly educated, knowledge-based workforce comprising  individuals with a broad array of technical and program skills and  institutional memory.  This workforce represents GAO’s human capital— its greatest asset—and is critical to the agency’s success in serving the  Congress and the nation.  Human Capital Program costs represent nearly  80 percent of our requested budget authority.
To further ensure our ability to meet congressional needs, we plan to  allocate approximately $17 million for Engagement Support to: conduct travel, a critical tool to accomplish our mission of following  the federal dollar cross the country and throughout the world, and to  ensure the quality of our work; contract for expert advice and assistance when needed to meet  congressional timeframes for a particular audit or engagement; and ensure a limited presence in the Middle East to provide more timely,  responsive information on U.S. activities in the area.
In addition, we plan to allocate about $91 million—or about 18 percent of  our total request—for Infrastructure Operations programs and initiatives  to provide the critical infrastructure to support our work. These key  activities include information technology, building management,  knowledge services, human capital operations, and support services.
section_title: Performance, Results, and Plans
paragraphs: In fiscal year 2005, the Congress focused its attention on a broad array of  challenging issues affecting the safety, health, and well-being of Americans  here and abroad, and we were able to provide the objective, fact-based  information that decision makers needed to stimulate debate, change laws,  and improve federal programs for the betterment of the nation.  For  example, as the war in Iraq continued, we examined how DOD supplied  vehicles, body armor, and other materiel to the troops in the field;  contributed to the debate on military compensation; and highlighted the  need to improve health, vocational rehabilitation, and employment  services for seriously injured soldiers transitioning from the battlefield to  civilian life.  We kept pace with the Congress’s information needs about  ways to better protect America from terrorism by issuing products and  delivering testimonies that addressed issues such as security gaps in the  nation’s passport operations that threaten public safety and federal efforts  needed to improve the security of checked baggage at airports and cargo  containers coming through U.S. ports.  We also explored the financial  crisis that weakened the airline industry and the impact of this situation  on the traveling public and airline employees’ pensions. We performed this  work in accordance with our strategic plan for serving the Congress,  consistent with our professional standards, and guided by our core values  (see appendix 1). See table 2 for examples of how GAO assisted the nation  in fiscal year 2005.
subsections: section_title: Outcomes of Our Work and the Road Ahead
paragraphs: During fiscal year 2005 we monitored our performance using 14 annual  performance measures that capture the results of our work; the assistance  we provided to the Congress; and our ability to attract, retain, develop,  and lead a highly professional workforce (see table 3).  For example, in  fiscal year 2005 our work generated $39.6 billion in financial benefits,  primarily from actions agencies and the Congress took in response to our  recommendations. Of this amount, about $19 billion resulted from changes  to laws or regulations, $12.8 billion resulted from agency actions based on  our recommendations to improve services to the public, and $7.7 billion  resulted from improvements to core business processes.  See figure 1 for  examples of our fiscal year 2005 financial benefits.
Many of the benefits that result from our work cannot be measured in  dollar terms. During fiscal year 2005, we recorded a total of 1,409 other  benefits. For instance, we documented 75 instances where information we  provided to the Congress resulted in statutory or regulatory changes, 595  instances where federal agencies improved services to the public, and 739  instances where agencies improved core business processes or  governmentwide reforms were advanced. These actions spanned the full  spectrum of national issues, from ensuring the safety of commercial airline  passengers to identifying abusive tax shelters. See figure 2 for additional  examples of GAO’s other benefits in fiscal year 2005.
One way we measure our effect on improving the government’s  accountability, operations, and services is by tracking the percentage of  recommendations that we made 4 years ago that have since been  implemented. At the end of fiscal year 2005, 85 percent of the  recommendations we made in fiscal year 2001 had been implemented,  primarily by executive branch agencies. Putting these recommendations  into practice will generate tangible benefits for the nation over many  years.
During fiscal year 2005, experts from our staff testified at 179  congressional hearings covering a wide range of complex issues (see   table 4). For example, our senior executives testified on improving the  security of nuclear material, federal oversight of mutual funds, and the  management and control of DOD’s excess property. Over 70 of our  testimonies were related to high-risk areas and programs (see table 5).
section_title: Financial Benefits
subsections: section_title: Other Benefits
paragraphs: Our work is reflected in this law in different ways. In our May 2004 testimony on the use of biometrics  for aviation security, we reported on the need to identify how biometrics will be used to improve  aviation security prior to making a decision to design, develop, and implement biometrics. Using  information from our statement, the House introduced a bill on July 22, 2004, directing the  Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to establish system requirements and performance  standards for using biometrics, and establish processes to (1) prevent individuals from using  assumed identities to enroll in a biometric system and (2) resolve errors. These provisions were later  included in an overall aviation security bill and were eventually included in the Intelligence Reform  and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, enacted in December 2004.
We conducted a body of work assessing the physical screening of airport passengers and their  checked baggage. We found that the installation of systems that are in line with airport baggage  conveyor systems may result in financial benefits, according to TSA estimates for nine airports. We  also found that the effectiveness of the advance passenger screening under the process known as  Secure Flight was not certain. TSA agreed to take corrective actions in these areas, and the  Congress required TSA in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Protection Act to prepare a plan and  guidelines for installing in-line baggage screening systems, and enacted measures to promote  Secure Flight’s development and implementation.
We reported on the verification of identity documents for drivers’ licenses, noting that visual  inspection of key documents lent itself to possible identity fraud. To demonstrate this, our  investigators were able to obtain licenses in two states using counterfeit documents and the Social  Security numbers of deceased persons. The Congress established federal identification standards for  state drivers’ licenses and other such documents and mandated third-party verification of identity  documents presented to apply for a driver’s license.
We assisted the Congress in crafting major improvements to a program intended to compensate  individuals who worked in DOE facilities and developed illnesses related to radiation and hazardous  materials exposure. In a 2004 report, we identified features of the originally enacted program that  would likely lead to inconsistent benefit outcomes for claimants, in part because the program  depended on the varying state workers compensation systems to provide some benefits. We also  presented several options for improving the consistency of benefit outcomes and a framework for  assessing these options. When the Congress enacted the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense  Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, it revamped this energy employees’ benefit program. Among  other changes, this law federalized the payment of worker compensation benefits for eligible energy  contractor employees and provided a schedule of uniform benefit payments.
Our work over the past several years has helped the Congress to establish and assess the impacts  of the recreational fee demonstration program. Under this trial program, the Congress authorized the  National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the  Forest Service to charge fees to visitors to, among other things, reduce the maintenance backlog at  federal parks and historic places and protect these lands from visitor impacts. Since the program’s  inception in 1996, we have identified issues that needed to be addressed to improve the program’s  effectiveness that included providing (1) a more permanent source of funds to enhance stability,  since the current program had to be reauthorized every 2 years; (2) the participating agencies with  greater flexibility in how and where they apply fee revenues; and (3) improvements in interagency  coordination in the collection and use of revenue fees to better serve visitors by making the payment  of fees more convenient and equitable and reducing visitor confusion about similar or multiple fees  being charged at nearby or adjacent federal recreational sites. As a result of this body of work, the  Congress addressed these issues by passing the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act in  December 2004. This act permits federal land management agencies to continue charging fees at  campgrounds, rental cabins, high-impact recreation areas, and day-use sites that have certain  facilities. The act also provides for a nationally consistent interagency program, more on-the-ground  improvements at recreation sites across the nation, enhanced visitor services, a new national pass  for use across interagency federal recreation sites and services, and public involvement in the  program.
Our work is reflected in this law in different ways. At the time of our August 2003 report, the original  1999 expiration date for the franchise fund pilots operating at the Departments of Commerce,  Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, the Interior, and the Treasury and at the  Environmental Protection Agency had been extended three times. These franchise funds, authorized  by the Government Management Reform Act of 1994, are part of a group of 34 intragovernmental  revolving funds that were created to provide common administrative support services required by  many federal agencies. For example, the Commerce Franchise Fund’s business line provides IT  infrastructure support services to the agency. We concluded that increasing the period of  authorization would help ease concerns of current and potential clients about franchise fund stability  and might allow franchise funds to add new business lines, and we suggested that the authorizations  be extended for longer periods. The Congress provided permanent authority to the Treasury  franchise fund in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, passed on December 8, 2004.
In 2003, we reported that most agencies could not retain the proceeds from the sale of unneeded  property and this acted as a disincentive to disposing of unneeded property. We stated in our high- risk report on federal real property that it may make sense to permit agencies to retain proceeds for  reinvestment in real property where a need exists. Subsequently, in the Consolidated Appropriations  Act, 2005, the Congress authorized the Administrator of GSA to retain the net proceeds from the  conveyance of real and related personal property. These proceeds are to be deposited into the  Federal Buildings Fund and are to be used as authorized for GSA’s real property capital needs.
In December 2003, we reported that 184 out of 213 Alaska Native villages are affected, to some  extent, by flooding and erosion. However, these villages often have difficulty qualifying for federal  assistance to combat their flooding and erosion problems. In our report, we recommended that the  Denali Commission adopt a policy to guide investment decisions and project designs in villages  affected by flooding and erosion. In this legislation, the Congress provided the Secretary of the Army  with the authority to carry out “structural and non-structural projects for storm damage prevention and  reduction, coastal erosion, and ice and glacial damage in Alaska, including relocation of affected  communities and construction of replacement facilities.”
To improve the federal government’s ability to collect billions of dollars of outstanding criminal debt,  we recommended in a 2001 report, that the Department of Justice work with other agencies involved  in criminal debt collection, including the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the Department of  the Treasury (Treasury), and OMB, to develop a strategic plan that would improve interagency  processes and coordination with regard to criminal debt collection activities. The conference report  that accompanied the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, directed the Attorney General to  assemble an interagency task force for the purposes of better managing, accounting for, reporting,  and collecting criminal debt.
Our report found that the Department of Education’s (Education) system for resolving noncompliance  with the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act is protracted. We found that resolution of  noncompliance cases often takes several years, in part because Education took a year on average  from the time it identified noncompliance to issue a report citing the noncompliance. We therefore  recommended that Education improve its system of resolving noncompliance by shortening the  amount of time it takes to issue a report of noncompliance and by tracking changes in response times  under the new monitoring process. In response to our recommendation, Education has instituted an  improved process for managing and tracking the various phases of the monitoring process, which  includes the creation of a database to facilitate this tracking. This new tracking system will enable  Education to better monitor the status of existing noncompliance, and thus enable the department to  take appropriate action when states fail to come into compliance in a timely manner.
In 2004, we found that the 24-hour 1-800-MEDICARE help line, operated by the Centers for Medicare  & Medicaid Services (CMS), did not answer 10 percent of the calls we placed to test its accuracy,  often because it automatically transferred some calls to claims administration contractors that were  not open for business at the time of the call. This call transfer process prohibited callers from  accessing information during nonbusiness hours, even though 1-800-MEDICARE operates 24 hours  a day. As a result, we recommended that CMS revise the routing procedures of 1-800-MEDICARE to  ensure that calls are not transferred or referred to claims administration contractors’ help lines during  nonbusiness hours. In response, CMS finished converting its call routing procedures. As a result,  calls placed after normal business hours will be routed to the main 1-800-MEDICARE help line for  assistance.
United States Department of Agriculture scientists at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center  research contagious animal diseases that have been found in other countries. The mission of the  facility, now administered by DHS, is to develop strategies for protecting the nation’s animal  industries and exports from these foreign animal diseases. In our September 2003 report, Combating  Bioterrorism: Actions Needed to Improve Security at Plum Island Animal Disease Center, we made  several recommendations to improve security at the facility and reduce vulnerability to terrorist  attacks. Among other things, we recommended that the Secretary of Homeland Security, in  consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, enhance incident response capability by increasing the  size of the guard force. DHS has informed us that this has been completed. According to the Director  of Plum Island, DHS has more than doubled the number of guards assigned on each shift on Plum  Island.
DOD spending on service contracts approaches $100 billion annually, but DOD’s management of  services procurement is inefficient and ineffective and the dollars are not always well spent. Many  private companies have changed management practices based on analyzing spending patterns and  coordinating procurement efforts in order to achieve major savings. We recommended that DOD  adopt the effective spend analysis processes used by these leading companies and use technology  to automate spend analysis to make it repeatable. In response, DOD is developing new technology to  do that. According to DOD and contractor project managers, one phase of the project was completed  in December 2004. In March 2005, DOD approved a business case analysis to seek follow-on  funding for developing a DOD-wide spend analysis system.
As part of our audit of Air Force purchase card controls, we identified transactions that Air Force  officials acknowledged to be fraudulent as well as potentially fraudulent transactions that the Air  Force had not identified. To improve Air Force oversight of purchase card activity and facilitate the  identification of systemic weaknesses and deficiencies in existing internal control and the  development of additional control activities, we recommended that the Air Force establish an  agencywide database of known purchase card fraud cases. In lieu of establishing a separate  agencywide database, during fiscal year 2003, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations initiated  quarterly reporting on its purchase card investigations to the DOD IG for macro-level analysis of  systemic weaknesses in the program. Our ongoing collaboration with the DOD IG on DOD’s  purchase card program confirmed that the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations is working  effectively with DOD’s IG on data-mining techniques for detection of potentially improper and  fraudulent purchase card transactions. As a result of our work, the Air Force has taken action to  reduce the financial risk associated with undetected fraud and abuse in its purchase card program.
For the 2000 Census, the United States Census Bureau (Bureau) printed material used to train  census workers only in English, except in Puerto Rico where training materials were available in  Spanish. However, to better prepare census workers—some of whom speak Spanish as their first  language—to locate migrant farm workers and other hard-to-count groups, we recommended that the  Bureau consider providing training materials in languages other than English to targeted areas. In  response to our recommendation, the Bureau is researching foreign-language data collection  methods as part of its preparations for the 2006 Census test and, more generally, plans to identify  areas and operations that will require in-language training materials for areas with very large, new  migrant populations where it will not be possible to hire bilinguals. Moreover, the Bureau’s June 2005  request for proposals for a Field Data Collection Automation System includes a requirement for the  contractor to provide training applications and materials in English and Spanish for the handheld  computers enumerators are to use to count nonrespondents.
subsections: section_title: GAO’s High-Risk Program
paragraphs: Issued to coincide with the start of each new Congress, our high-risk  update, first used in 1993, has helped Members of the Congress who are  responsible for oversight and executive branch officials who are  accountable for performance. Our high-risk program focuses on major  government programs and operations that need urgent attention or  transformation to ensure that our government functions in the most  economical, efficient, and effective manner possible. Overall, our high-risk  program has served to identify and help resolve a range of serious  weaknesses that involve substantial resources and provide critical services  to the public. Table 5 details our 2005 high-risk list.
section_title: Concluding Remarks
paragraphs: We are grateful for the Congress’s continued support of our joint effort to  improve government and for providing the resources that allow us to be a  world-class professional services organization. We are proud of the  positive impact we have been able to affect in government over the past  year and believe an investment in GAO will continue to yield substantial  returns for the Congress and the American people. Our nation will  continue to face significant challenges in the years ahead. GAO’s expertise  and involvement in virtually every facet of government positions us to  provide the Congress with the timely, objective, and reliable information it  needs to discharge its constitutional responsibilities.
This concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any questions  the Members of the Committee may have.