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Biosimilars Action Plan: Balancing Innovation and Competition
"Congress has given the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as part of the agency's mission to promote and protect the public health, responsibility for implementing laws intended to strike a balance between encouraging and rewarding innovation in drug development and facilitating robust and timely market competition. Maintaining this balance between innovation and access requires a mix of statutory and regulatory measures, such as creating incentives for innovation in the form of exclusivity periods; modernizing regulatory requirements to maintain efficient, predictable and science-based pathways for drug review with the aim of reducing the time, uncertainty, and cost of drug development; and supporting a competitive marketplace through the efficient approval of lower-cost generic and biosimilar alternatives."
United States. Food and Drug Administration
2018-07
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Create Your Family Emergency Communication Plan
"Communication networks, such as mobile phones and computers, could be unreliable during disasters, and electricity could be disrupted. Planning in advance will help ensure that all the members of your household--including children and people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, as well as outside caregivers--know how to reach each other and where to meet up in an emergency."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2018-07
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Workplace Solutions: Preventing Deaths and Injuries of Fire Fighters Working at Basement and Other Below-Grade Fires
From the Document: "Fire fighters are at significant risk of injury or death when fighting fires in basements or floors below-grade level. The increased risk is due to limited entry and egress; working above the fire; weakened floor structures; being caught in the fire's flow path; unknown fire load; ventilation issues; utility panels, hanging wires, meters, and connections; and appliances. These risks can lead to fire fighter entrapment from floor collapse, burns, and asphyxiation. Fire departments should conduct a complete 360-degree size-up to locate the fire, attack the fire externally, and reassess fire conditions prior to conducting interior operations."
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
2018-07
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Down, but Not Out: An Updated Examination of the Islamic State's visual Propaganda
As the physical territory held by the group known as the Islamic State diminished in 2016-2017, concern about the status of the group's "virtual" caliphate increased. This report focuses on one aspect of that virtual caliphate: the production of visual propaganda by the group's official media bureaus. Using this dataset of more than 13,000 pieces of official visual propaganda distributed from January 2015 to June 2018, this report examines how the production of such pieces has changed over this timeframe in terms of the number of pieces distributed, the geographic dynamics associated with the production of propaganda, and the content featured in these products.
Combating Terrorism Center (U.S.)
Milton, Daniel J. (Daniel James)
2018-07
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Sampling, Laboratory and Data Considerations for Microbial Data Collected in the Field
"In-order to collect the data necessary to assess the efficacy of remediation efforts following a microbiological contamination incident, a well-defined and thorough sampling and analysis plan (SAP) needs to be developed and implemented. This document summarizes elements that should be considered when planning, developing and implementing a sampling and analysis plan (SAP) for microbiological contamination incidents in which the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be responsible for supporting sampling and analysis. It is intended to be an informational companion to users of the EPA's Microbiological Sampling and Analysis Plan (MicroSAP) tool. The MicroSAP is an online tool which steps users through development of SAPs for microbiological contamination incidents for the following sampling stages; site characterization sampling, verification sampling, waste characterization sampling, and post-decontamination sampling. This document includes considerations for: lines of evidence (Section 2.0); field sampling (Section 3.0); laboratory analyses and reporting (Section 4.0); and data quality assessment and interpretation (Section 5.0)."
United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Research and Development
Silvestri, Erin; Hall, Kathy; Chambers-Velarde, Yildiz . . .
2018-07
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Exposure Pathways to High-Consequence Pathogens in the Wastewater Collection and Treatment Systems
"This report describes a conceptual exposure model based upon a review of the relevant literature for fate and transport elements for pathogens when present in wastewater systems. A screening process is then presented that evaluates emerging pathogens for the presence of two characteristics: (1) the potential to exhibit high-consequence disease transmission characteristics in wastewater systems, and (2) the potential to exhibit viable exposure pathways (VEP) for human receptors who have contact with wastewater systems. The screening process is developed for use with pathogens with varying levels of available data. However, the screening process is designed to be usable with pathogens with limited data, and for the screening process to incorporate quantitative data when it is available. Furthermore, this report assists users on the selection and use of data on surrogate microorganisms in decision-making for elements of the screening process. Lastly, case studies for the EBOV [Ebola virus(es)] and the spore form of 'Bacillus anthracis' are then presented to illustrate use of the screening process to evaluate pathogens and the presence of VEP."
United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Research and Development
Chattopadhyay, Sandip; Taft, Sarah
2018-07
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US Outer Continental Shelf Oil Spill Casual Factors Report (2018)
"This report discusses the causal factors of oil spills of 50 bbls or more in the GOM [Gulf of Mexico] and PAC [Pacific Ocean] OCS [Outer Continental Shelf] and Arctic OCS through three sections. Section 2 of the report discusses the GOM and PAC OCS causal factors based on the US OCS Oil Spill Statistics Report (ABSG [ABS Group Consulting, Inc] 2018). Section 3 considers the climate and conditions of the Arctic that may be oil-spill causal factors on the Arctic OCS. Section 4 analyzes the influence of Arctic factors on the causal factors of the GOM and PAC OCS. [...] This report will utilize Kent's words of estimative probability (Kent 2008) to describe the likelihood of oil spill causal factors occurring in each of the discussed OCS regions. The categorical estimations of probability are qualitative descriptions for ranges of certainty in Error! Reference source not found. This language does not guarantee the quantitative probabilities associated with the descriptions, but it frames the factors for discussion on relative likelihoods. For example, causal factors described as 'chances about even' are those that are just as likely or unlikely to occur and lead to an oil spill after an event."
United States. Department of the Interior; United States. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement
Myers, Joe; Roberts, Benjamin, 1991-; Lee, Brandon . . .
2018-07
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Department of Homeland Security: Components Could Improve Monitoring of the Employee Misconduct Process, Report to Congressional Requesters
"Department of Homeland Security (DHS) component agencies CBP (Customs and Border Protection), ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and TSA (Transportation Security Administration) are responsible for securing the nation's borders, enforcing immigration laws, and overseeing the security of transportation systems.Recent studies of these components' employee misconduct investigation and disciplinary processes have highlighted the importance of having appropriate internal controls. GAO (Government Accountability Office) was asked to review CBP, ICE, and TSA employee misconduct investigation and adjudication processes. This report (1) summarizes data on misconduct cases that were opened from fiscal years 2014 through 2016 and closed by the time of GAO's review; (2) examines the extent to which CBP, ICE, and TSA implement internal controls in their employee misconduct and discipline processes; and (3) assesses how CBP, ICE, and TSA monitor the performance of their employee misconduct processes. For each component, GAO reviewed policies, guidance, and timeliness performance reports; analyzed case management information system data; and interviewed officials involved in investigation and adjudication processes."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Military Review: The Professional Journal of the U.S. Army [July-August 2018]
This edition of "Military Review" includes the following articles: "The 75th Ranger Regiment Military Intelligence Battalion: Modernizing for Multi-Domain Battle," by Paul A. Lushenko; "Developing a Light Infantry-Robotic Company as a System," by Zachary L. Morris; "Reconnaissance beyond the Coordinated Fire Line Division Warfighter Trends," by Paul E. Roberts; "The Suwalki Gap: A Proving Ground for Cluster Munitions, " by Gregory Fetterman; "A Central Asian Perspective on Russian Soft Power: The View from Tashkent," by Robert F. Baumann; "The Decades-Long 'Double-Double Game': Pakistan, the United States, and the Taliban," by Thomas F. Lynch III; "Many Voices Telling One Story: Public Affairs Operations across Africa in Support of Combatant Commanders," by Jason Welch; "Preparing Security Force Assistance Brigades for the Complexity of Human Interaction," Brent A. Kauffman; "Lebanese Armed Forces Implementing Instruments of National Power as Lines of Effort to Engage a Palestinian Refugee Camp," by Jean Dagher; "Mexico's Fight against Transnational Organized Crime," by R. Evan Ellis; and "China-Latin America Arms Sales: Antagonizing the United States in the Western Hemisphere?" by George Gurrola.
Army University Press (U.S.)
2018-07
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Optionally Piloted Helicopters: A Primer on a Potentially Game-Changing Technology That Promises to Save Lives, Property, and Money in Wildland Fire
"This background paper is a primer on the subject of optionally piloted helicopters (OPH) and their potential to bring game-changing technology to wildland fire that promises to save lives, property, and money. Able to perform all the functions of a traditional helicopter in the piloted mode, OPH have provided expanded mission coverage and proven their ability to operate in hazardous environments without risking the safety of pilots. In the wildland fire mission, OPH hold the promise of becoming the first 'direct-action' unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), capable of conducting manned initial/extended attack and logistics support flights during traditional manned flight operating periods, while also filling historical aerial coverage gaps at night and during daytime periods of reduced visibility due to smoke. This paper outlines the distinct differences between small-unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) used to collect data, discern information, and develop actionable knowledge. These 'indirect action' sUAS serve an important role and have already proven their worth in only two seasons of sustained application in the wildland fire mission. Their unique attributes, current successes, and future use are discussed. The paper will also discuss the topic of optionally piloted airplanes and their possible future integration in the air tanker role. Specifically, the non-technological barriers to their widespread integration and use are addressed."
United States. Department of the Interior
2018-07
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Game Theory for Adaptive Defensive Cyber Deception
"In prior game theory work, cyber deception games have generally been modeled as non-cooperative, sequential games, where the quality and authenticity of the signal is being manipulated. This work relies on a signal, which can be deceptive, being actively pushed to the attacker. We have formulated a new framework for cyber deception games in which each player has their own perception of the game being played and the moves being taken. A particular player may manipulate other players' perceived payoffs to induce them to take sub-optimal actions. This model of deception seeks to address defender interactions with an attacker following the initial deployment of cyber defenses addressed by previous work. Our primary contribution is a model of defensive cyber deception that incorporates defender control of attacker perception of the cyber environment. Our ultimate goal it to inform future cyber defense systems, enabling more sophisticated responses to attacker behaviors and improving defensive posture."
United States. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego (U.S.)
Ferguson-Walter, Kimberly; Fugate, Sunny; Mauger, Justin . . .
2018-07
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Cooperative, Trusted Software Repair for Cyber Physical System Resiliency
"Cyber physical systems (CPS) form a ubiquitous, networked computing substrate, which is increasingly essential to our nation's civilian and military infrastructure. These systems must be highly resilient to adversaries, perform mission critical functions despite known and unknown vulnerabilities, and protect and repair themselves during or after operational failures and cyber-attacks. We believe that an automated CPS repair approach that can prevent failures of related, mission-critical systems is a necessary component to support the resiliency and survivability of our nation's infrastructure. We developed and evaluated techniques to cooperatively repair certain general classes of cyber physical systems, and to increase the confidence of human operators in the trustworthiness of the repairs and the subsequent system behavior. We used embedded systems platforms, including quadrotor autonomous vehicles, to demonstrate and validate our approach."
Air Force Research Laboratory (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio). Information Directorate
Weimer, Westley; Forrest, Stephanie; Le Goues, Claire . . .
2018-07
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FEMA Daily Operations Briefings, July 1 - 7, 2018
This document is a compilation of all the FEMA Daily Operations Briefings from July 1 - 7, 2018. The FEMA Daily Operations Briefing provides an overview of the current emergency management situation nationwide and includes a summary of current significant events, weather activity, recent emergency declarations and projections for the coming week.
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2018-07-01?
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Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities: Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation
"President Donald J. Trump established the policy of his Administration to regulate the U.S. financial system in a manner consistent with a set of Core Principles. These principles were set forth in Executive Order 13772 on February 3, 2017. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), under the direction of Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, prepared this report in response to that Executive Order. The reports issued pursuant to the Executive Order identify laws, treaties, regulations, guidance, reporting, and record keeping requirements, and other Government policies that promote or inhibit federal regulation of the U.S. financial system in a manner consistent with the Core Principles. [...] For this report, Treasury incorporated insights from the engagement process for the previous three reports issued under the Executive Order and also engaged with additional stakeholders focused on data aggregation, nonbank credit lending and servicing, payments networks, financial technology, and innovation."
United States. Department of the Treasury
2018-07
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Federal Employee Misconduct: Actions Needed to Ensure Agencies Have Tools to Effectively Address Misconduct, Report to Congressional Requesters
"GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to examine how executive branch agencies address employee misconduct. This report (1) describes the process agencies are required to follow in responding to employee misconduct; (2) identifies alternative approaches to the formal process that agencies can use and assesses what factors affect agencies' responses to misconduct; (3) describes trends in removals and other adverse actions resulting from misconduct; and (4) identifies key practices agencies can use to help them better prevent and address misconduct. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed relevant sections of title 5 of the U.S.C; analyzed MSPB[Merit Systems Protection Board] and OPM [Office of Personnel Management ] data, and interviewed, among others, agency officials and subject-matter experts."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Forensic Sciences: Latent Print Examination Manual
From the Scope: "The quality assurance program for the fingerprint program includes: [1] Testing proficiency [2] Peer review [3] Validating techniques and procedures [4] Maintaining equipment[.]"
United States. Drug Enforcement Administration
2018-07
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IP Regional Service Delivery Model / Program & Services [presentation]
From the Document: "The Regional Service Delivery Model: [1] Enables targeted delivery of IP [infrastructure protection] services, especially in response to evolving threats; [2] Allows for a more thorough understanding of each region's risks, stakeholders, and needs and allows for delivery of services tailored to each region; [3] Tailors outreach and engagements to industries and sectors that are more prevalent in each region; [4] Allows for integrated physical-cyber threat mitigation; [5] Shortens the response time to stakeholder requests for information and services."
United States. Department of Homeland Security
2018-07
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Securing High Value Assets
From the Introduction: "High value assets (HVAs) are 'Federal information systems, information, and data for which an unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction could cause a significant impact to the United States' national security interests, foreign relations, economy, or to the public confidence, civil liberties, or public health and safety of the American people.' HVAs enable mission-essential functions and operations, provide services to citizens, generate and disseminate information, and facilitate greater productivity and economic prosperity. Agencies are responsible for the information technology (IT) assets and the personal information entrusted to their organizations by hundreds of millions of Americans. A strategy that frames, assesses, responds to, and monitors risk to HVAs is thus essential. Such a strategy needs to prevent compromise and loss of data, as well as disruption of critical services and operations involving HVAs."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Office of Cybersecurity and Communications
2018-07
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DHS Resilience Framework: Providing a Roadmap for the Department in Operational Resilience and Readiness
From the Executive Summary: "Since May 1998, Presidential and Federal Directives and Executive Orders have been issued on protecting national critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure are those assets and systems that are so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of them would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health, or safety. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there has been a notable shift in emphasis from protecting critical infrastructure but to also ensuring that communities and Federal agency infrastructure are resilient. Simply stated, resilience is the ability to adapt to changing conditions and withstand and rapidly recover from disruption. Hazards and threats that can cause disruptions can take many forms, including natural, technological, and human caused. These could entail, for example, severe weather, power outages, roadway failures, acts of terror, and cyberattacks."
United States. Office of Homeland Security
2018-07
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Reported Injuries to U.S. Personnel in Cuba: State Should Revise Policies to Ensure Appropriate Internal Communication of Relevant Incidents, Report to Congressional Requesters
"U.S. diplomats and their families in Havana, Cuba, were affected by incidents that were associated with injuries, including hearing loss and brain damage. State has reported that over 20 U.S. diplomats and family members in Havana have suffered from medical conditions believed to be connected to the incidents, which began in late 2016 and have continued. By law, State is generally required to convene an ARB [Accountability Review Board] within 60 days of incidents that result in serious injury at, or related to, a U.S. mission abroad, but the Secretary of State can determine that a 60 day extension is necessary. According to State's policy, M/PRI [Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation] is responsible for initiating and leading State's ARB incident vetting process.This report is part of a broader request to review State's response to the incidents in Cuba. In this report, GAO [Government Accountability Office] examines the extent to which State's ARB policy ensures that M/PRI is made aware of incidents that may meet the ARB statute criteria. GAO analyzed relevant federal laws, State policies, and other State documents. GAO also interviewed cognizant State officials."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Activation of Body-Worn Cameras Without Responder Manipulation: Operational Field Assessment Report
From the Executive Summary: "Most commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) body-worn cameras currently in use by law enforcement personnel must either be manually activated when needed or they are set to continuously record while worn. In the former case, responders may fail to activate their cameras in rapidly developing emergency situations, while in the latter case, large amounts of irrelevant video and audio data are obtained that may nevertheless need to be digitally archived. Hitron Technologies Inc. (Hitron) developed the body-worn camera prototypes that were assessed during this operational field assessment (OFA) to address these limitations for U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate's (S&T) First Responder Technologies Division (R-Tech). The prototypes were designed to automatically activate based on trigger signals transmitted wirelessly from any of four critical event sensors: a holster sensor that detects the unlatching of a holster weapon retaining strap, an occupancy sensor that detects responders exiting their vehicles, an audio sensor that detects elevated sound levels and a hemodynamic sensor that detects an increase in the wearer's pulse rate."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate; National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (U.S.)
2018-07
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CRCL Newsletter (July 2018)
"The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) supports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as it secures the nation while preserving individual liberty, fairness, and equality under the law." This issue of the CRCL Newsletter contains the following articles: "Secretary Nielsen Statement on FEMA 2017 Hurricane Season After-Action Report"; "CRCL Convenes Community Roundtables in Columbus"; "CRCL Hosts Meeting with Sikh Community Organizations"; "CRCL Attends Federal Interagency Meeting with Diverse Communities"; "DHS Announcement on Temporary Protected Status for Yemen and Somalia"; "Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Fourteenth Amendment"; "CRCL on the Road, July"; and "CRCL on the Road Ahead, August."
United States. Department of Homeland Security
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
2018-07
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Supplement Analysis for the Removal of One Metric Ton of Plutonium from the State of South Carolina to Nevada, Texas, and New Mexico
From the Scope of this Document: "This supplement analysis evaluates potential impacts from the repackaging and transportation of one metric ton of plutonium in containers at Savannah River Site (SRS), staging and repackaging of plutonium at Pantex and/or NNSS [Nevada National Security Site], and storage of the plutonium for pit production at LANL [Los Alamos National Laboratory]. Transportation between the sites and onsite is also evaluated. The mission activities at each site are described."
United States. Department of Energy; United States. National Nuclear Security Administration
2018-07
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Tax Fraud and Noncompliance: IRS Could Further Leverage the Return Review Program to Strengthen Tax Enforcement, Accessible Version, Report to Congressional Requesters
From the Highlights: "Tax noncompliance, including refund fraud, threatens the integrity of the tax system and costs the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars annually. RRP [Return Review Program] is IRS [Internal Revenue Service]'s primary pre-refund system for detecting and preventing the issuance of invalid refunds. IRS reported that between January 2015 and November 2017 RRP prevented the issuance of more than $6.51 billion in invalid refunds. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to examine RRP's capabilities. This report (1) describes how RRP detects and selects suspicious returns and prevents invalid refunds; (2) assesses how IRS monitors and adapts RRP; and (3) examines what else, if anything, IRS can do to strengthen RRP and use it to address other enforcement issues."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Aviation Security: Basic Training Program for Transportation Security Officers Would Benefit from Performance Goals and Measures, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "TSA [Transportation Security Administration] is responsible for ensuring that all airline passengers and their property are screened for items that could pose a threat to airplanes and passengers at 440 airports across the United States. Since 2016, TSO [Transportation Security Officer] Basic Training-- initial training for newly hired TSOs, including both TSA-employed and private screeners--has consisted of an intensive two-week course at the TSA Academy located at FLETC [Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers]. TSA has obligated about $53 million for the program from its inception through March 2018. In 2015 and 2017, the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General raised questions about the effectiveness of checkpoint screening, which prompted concerns about training. GAO was asked to review TSA's training of new TSOs. This report (1) describes the reasons why TSA established the TSO Basic Training program; (2) discusses factors OTD [Office of Training and Development] considers when updating TSO Basic Training curriculum; and (3) assesses the extent to which TSA evaluates its TSO Basic Training program. GAO [Government Accountability Office] reviewed documents on the development and modification of TSO Basic Training curriculum; visited FLETC; interviewed TSA officials; and compared TSA's program evaluation to leading practices. [...] GAO recommends that TSA establish specific goals and performance measures for the TSO Basic Training program. TSA concurred with the recommendation."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Public Transit Partnerships: Additional Information Needed to Clarify Data Reporting and Share Best Practices, Report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate
From the Highlights: "The public transit landscape is changing, as advances in technology have enabled more on-demand mobility services, such as ride-sourcing and bike-share services. In response, some transit agencies have started to partner with private mobility companies with the aim of offering public transit riders more efficient and convenient options through on-demand services. FTA [Federal Transit Administration] supports public transportation systems through a variety of federal grant programs. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review various issues related to such partnerships. This report examines, among other things: (1) the types of partnership projects that selected transit agencies have initiated with private mobility companies and (2) how DOT's [Department of Transportation] efforts and funding and federal requirements may impact such partnerships. GAO interviewed DOT officials and reviewed DOT documents; interviewed 16 local transit agencies and 13 private mobility companies involved in transit partnerships; and reviewed 22 projects initiated by the selected partners, including 5 funded by the Mobility on Demand Sandbox grant program. GAO selected these partners to represent a range of service types and geographic locations; the results are non-generalizable."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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NASA Commercial Crew Program: Plan Needed to Ensure Uninterrupted Access to the International Space Station, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "In 2014, NASA awarded two firm-fixed-price contracts to Boeing and SpaceX, worth a combined total of up to $6.8 billion, to develop crew transportation systems and conduct initial missions to the ISS [International Space Station]. In February 2017, GAO [Government Accountability Office] found that both contractors had made progress, but their schedules were under mounting pressure. The contractors were originally required to provide NASA all the evidence it needed to certify that their systems met its requirements by 2017. A House report accompanying H.R. 5393 included a provision for GAO to review the progress of NASA's human exploration programs. This report examines the Commercial Crew Program, including (1) the extent to which the contractors have made progress towards certification and (2) how NASA's certification process addresses safety of the contractors' crew transportation systems. GAO analyzed contracts, schedules, and other documentation and spoke with officials from NASA, the Commercial Crew Program, Boeing, SpaceX, and two of NASA's independent review bodies that provide oversight."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Foreign Military Sales: Financial Oversight of the Use of Overhead Funds Needs Strengthening, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "The U.S. government sells defense equipment and services worth billions of dollars to foreign partners through the FMS [Foreign Military Sales] program. DSCA [Defense Security Cooperation Agency] has overall management responsibility for the program, and various other DOD components are responsible for implementing and supporting it. DSCA charges purchasers certain overhead fees for FMS operating costs, including the administrative fee and the CAS [Contract Administration Services] fee. Overall administrative expenditures were $879 million in fiscal year 2017. Overall CAS expenditures were $182 million in fiscal year 2015--the most recent year available with reliable total balance data. In past audits, GAO [Government Accountability Office] and the DOD Office of Inspector General raised questions about DOD's financial oversight of these funds. House Report 114-537 and Senate Report 114-255 included provisions that GAO review DSCA's use of these funds. This report examines DSCA's financial oversight of DOD components' use of (1) administrative and (2) CAS funds. GAO assessed the reliability of DSCA data for fiscal years 2012 through 2016 (the most recent available) on DOD components' use of these funds. GAO reviewed documentation and conducted interviews with agency officials."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Export-Import Bank: the Bank Needs to Continue to Improve Fraud Risk Management, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "According to the Bank, it serves as a financier of last resort for U.S. firms seeking to sell to foreign buyers but that cannot obtain private financing for their deals. Its programs support tens of thousands of American jobs and enable billions of dollars in U.S. export sales annually, the Bank says. The Bank is also backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, meaning that taxpayers could be responsible for Bank losses. The Export-Import Bank Reform Reauthorization Act of 2015 included a provision for GAO [Government Accountability Office] to review the Bank's antifraud controls within 4 years, and every 4 years thereafter. This report examines the extent to which the Bank has adopted the four components of GAO's Fraud Risk Framework-- commit to combating fraud; regularly assess fraud risks; design a corresponding antifraud strategy with relevant controls; and evaluate outcomes and adapt. GAO reviewed Bank documentation; interviewed a range of Bank managers; and surveyed Bank employees about the extent to which the Bank has established an organizational culture and structure conducive to fraud risk management."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
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Foreign Assistance: Better Guidance for Strategy Development Could Help Agencies Align Their Efforts, Report to Congressional Requesters
From the Highlights: "More than 20 federal agencies spend billions of dollars on U.S. foreign assistance each year. Six agencies--the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, and State; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; and the U.S. Agency for International Development--implement most of this assistance, using multiple strategies. State is responsible for coordinating their efforts. Questions have been raised about potential inefficiencies in implementing multiple foreign assistance strategies. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review the alignment of U.S. foreign assistance strategies. This report examines the extent to which strategies include key elements GAO identified, related to interagency coordination, strategic integration, and assessment of progress, that help ensure alignment. These elements are based on GAO's prior work on strategic planning and interagency collaboration. GAO reviewed 52 strategies related to health, security, and democracy assistance that were current in 2017. These included government-wide, agency, multi-agency, and regional strategies as well as strategies for two countries. GAO also reviewed agency guidance and interviewed agency officials."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2018-07
