GAO Reports - BriefReports News from the GAOGAO-08-784, Drug Control: Cooperation with Many Major Drug Transit Countries Has Improved, but Better Performance Reporting and Sustainability Plans A- August 13, 2008 Each year, criminal organizations transport hundreds of tons of illegal drugs from South America to the United States through a 6 million square mile "transit zone" including Central America, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Pacific Ocean. Since fiscal year 2003, the United States has provided over $950 million to support counternarcotics efforts in transit zone countries, which historically lacked the capacity to interdict ...http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08784.pdf?source=ra GAO-08-958, Transportation Security: TSA Has Developed a Risk-Based Covert Testing Program, but Could Better Mitigate Aviation Security Vulnerabilitie- August 13, 2008 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) uses undercover, or covert, testing to approximate techniques that terrorists may use to identify vulnerabilities in and measure the performance of airport security systems. During these tests, undercover inspectors attempt to pass threat objects through passenger and baggage screening systems, and access secure airport areas. In response to a congressional request, GAO examined (1) TSA's ...http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08958.pdf?source=ra GAO-08-1010R, Military Base Realignments and Closures: Army Is Developing Plans to Transfer Functions from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, to Aberdeen Prov- August 12, 2008 In September 2005, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission recommended that the Department of Defense (DOD) close Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and realign most of its technical functions to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, as one of 182 recommendations in the 2005 base realignment and closure (BRAC) round. DOD must complete the closure and realignment actions specified in the recommendation within the statutory 6-year implementation ...http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081010r.pdf?source=ra GAO-08-816R, Schedule and Timing Issues Complicate Withholding Premiums for Medicare Parts C and D from Social Security Payments, July 15, 2008- August 12, 2008 The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been withholding Medicare premiums from beneficiaries' Social Security payments since the Supplementary Medical Insurance (Part B) program was first enacted in 1965. Beginning in 2006, premium withholding became a payment option for the Medicare Advantage program (Part C) and the new program for Prescription Drug Coverage (Part D). These changes were authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug, ...http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08816r.pdf?source=ra GAO-08-957, Tax Administration: Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations, 1998-2005, July 24, 2008- August 11, 2008 Concerns about transfer pricing abuse have led researchers to compare the tax liabilities of foreign- and U.S.-controlled corporations. (Transfer prices are the prices related companies charge on intercompany transactions.) However, such comparisons are complicated because other factors may explain the differences in reported tax liabilities. In three prior reports, GAO found differences in the percentages of foreign-controlled and U.S.-controlled ...http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08957.pdf?source=ra GAO-08-1072R, Environmental Protection Agency: Standards of Performance for Petroleum Refineries, August 11, 2008- August 10, 2008 GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new rule on Standards of Performance for Petroleum Refineries. GAO found that (1) the final rule amends the current Standards of Performance or Petroleum Refineries, promulgates separate standards of performance for new, modified, or reconstructed process units at petroleum refineries; and (2) EPA complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule.http://www.gao.gov/decisions/majrule/d081072r.htm?source=ra GAO-08-862, International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005: Agencies Have Implemented Some, but Not All of the Act's Requirements, August 8, 200- August 10, 2008 The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA) was enacted to address issues of domestic violence and abuse against noncitizens (beneficiaries) married or engaged to U.S. citizens (petitioners) who have petitioned for them to immigrate to the U.S., including those who met through an international marriage broker (IMB). IMBRA mandated that GAO study the act's impact on the visa process for noncitizen spouses and fiance(e)s. ...http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08862.pdf?source=ra |