Committee Reports for the Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution, compiled for the July 30 - August 1, 2010 Board of Managers meeting.

This CRS report, updated as warranted, discusses policy issues regarding military-to-military (mil-to-mil) contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of major contacts and crises since 1993. The first part of this CRS Report discusses policy issues regarding such military-to-military (mil-to-mil) contacts. The second part provides a record of such contacts since 1993, when the United States resumed exchanges after suspending them in response to the Tiananmen Crackdown in 1989. Congress has exercised important oversight.

This is a report on The Constitutional right of privacy: Supreme court decisions and Congressional Action in Brief.

At the Southern Methodist University Geothermal Laboratory in Dallas, Texas, the Earth`s surface and internal temperature are studied. With financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy, a data base containing geothermal temperature well information for the United States is being developed. During this calendar quarter, activity with this project has continued involving several different tasks: planning and development of the geothermal system thermal-well data base and temperature-depth data, development of the specifications for the data base, and completion of an initial inventory of the geothermal areas for which data are available.

This report provides a side by side comparison of the HEA reauthorization proposals in the Senate-passed version of S. 1642 and the House-passed version of H.R. 4137 to current law

The Numerical Data Advisory Board (NDAB) is an advisory body that provides expert overview, on a broad basis, of data needs and data programs as required for the advancement of science and technology. Board members, representing various disciplines, concern themselves with the quality, reliability, availability, accessibility, and dissemination of numerical data in physical, chemical, engineering, and interdisciplinary subjects as well as numeric and non-numeric data that arise in biology and geology. Topics of concern are addressed by the NDAB membership, or by specific, carefully chosen committees and panels established by NDAB in order to include experts appropriate to the subject at hand.

The effects of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) on indigenous soil populations and pure bacterial cultures were examined. The number of colony-forming units (CFU) appearing when TNT-contaminated soil was spread on 0.3% molasses plates decreased by 50% when the agar was amended with 67 {mu}g TNT mL{sup -1}, whereas a 99% reduction was observed when uncontaminated soil was plated. Furthermore, TNT-contaminated soil harbored a greater number of organisms able to grow on plates amended with greater than 10 {mu}g TNT mL{sup -1}. The percentage of gram-positive isolates was markedly less in TNT-contaminated soil (7%; 2 of 30) than in uncontaminated soil (61%; 20 of 33). Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas corrugate, Pseudomonasfluorescens and Alcaligenes xylosoxidans made up the majority of the gram-negative isolates from TNT-contaminated soil. Gram-positive isolates from both soils demonstrated marked growth inhibition when greater than 8-16 {mu}g TNT mL{sup -1} was present in the culture media. Most pure cultures of known aerobic gram-negative organisms readily degraded TNT and evidenced net consumption of reduced metabolites. However, pure cultures of aerobic gram-positive bacteria were sensitive to relatively low concentrations of TNT as indicated by the 50% reduction in growth and TNT transformation which was observed at approximately 10 {mu}g TNT mL{sup -1}. Most non-sporeforming …

This report outlines the history of various efforts, including legislative efforts and count cases, and describes one bill currently before Congress, the Justice for Former American Hostages in Iran Act of 2015.

Report reviewing the management and performance of Pearsall Independent School District's educational, financial, and operational functions.

This report describes and compares the drug- and crime-related policy restrictions contained in selected federal programs that provide assistance to low-income individuals and families: the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), and the three primary federal housing assistance programs (the public housing program, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, and the project-based Section 8 rental assistance program).

The Recovery Plan Workbook is designed for use by U.S. Army chemical installations and state and local authorities who participate in the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP). The workbook includes a model recovery plan that provides a template for preparation of an integrated CSEPP recovery plan. The workbook also provides background, explanatory, and reference materials to aid planners. The model plan provides a general example and framework for planning but is not complete without input from the local CSEPP community. Each chemical stockpile location has site-specific needs, resources, and organizational differences that will shape recovery planning. Therefore, the purpose of the model plan, in part, is to raise questions that installation, state, and local planners will have to answer to develop a site-specific recovery plan. It is recommended that a single, overarching recovery plan be developed to coordinate the activities of the installation, state, and local jurisdictions at a given site. As stated in Planning Guidance for the CSEPP, Appendix M, ''The reentry/restoration plan should be integrated and coordinated among the Army installation and other state and local jurisdictions in the IRZ and PAZ.'' The integrated approach is more efficient from a planning perspective (compared to separate, parallel plans …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Protective Service (FPS), as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for providing security services to about 9,000 federal facilities. In recent years, FPS downsized its workforce from 1,400 to about 1,000 full-time employees. In 2008, GAO expressed concerns about the impact that downsizing had on FPS's mission, and in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 Congress mandated FPS maintain no fewer than 1,200 employees. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which (1) FPS has hired and trained new staff to address its mandated staffing levels, (2) FPS has developed a strategic human capital plan to manage its current and future workforce needs, and (3) FPS's customers are satisfied with the services it provides. To address these objectives, we reviewed relevant laws and documents, interviewed officials from FPS and other federal agencies, and conducted a generalizable survey of FPS's customers."

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This report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) describes the development and application of a methodology to systematically and quantitatively assess predictive uncertainty in groundwater flow and transport modeling that considers the combined impact of hydrogeologic uncertainties associated with the conceptual-mathematical basis of a model, model parameters, and the scenario to which the model is applied. The methodology is based on a n extension of a Maximum Likelihood implementation of Bayesian Model Averaging. Model uncertainty is represented by postulating a discrete set of alternative conceptual models for a site with associated prior model probabilities that reflect a belief about the relative plausibility of each model based on its apparent consistency with available knowledge and data. Posterior model probabilities are computed and parameter uncertainty is estimated by calibrating each model to observed system behavior; prior parameter estimates are optionally included. Scenario uncertainty is represented as a discrete set of alternative future conditions affecting boundary conditions, source/sink terms, or other aspects of the models, with associated prior scenario probabilities. A joint assessment of uncertainty results from combining model predictions computed under each scenario using as weight the posterior model and prior scenario probabilities. The uncertainty methodology was applied to modeling of groundwater …

This report summarizes provisions of selected legislation - enacted and proposed - that address oil spill policy issues raised after the April 20, 2010, explosion and resulting oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. This report focuses primarily on oil spill policy matters that concern prevention, preparedness, response, and the liability and compensation framework.

The lower tuff confining unit (LTCU) in the Yucca Flat Corrective Action Unit (CAU) consists of a monotonous sequence of pervasively zeolitized volcanic tuff (i.e., mostly bedded with lesser nonwelded to poorly welded tuff; not fractured) (Bechtel Nevada, 2006). The LTCU is an important confining unit beneath Yucca Flat because it separates the alluvial and volcanic aquifers, where many underground nuclear tests were conducted, from the regional lower carbonate aquifer. Recent sub-CAU-scale modeling by Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Tuff Pile area of Yucca Flat (Boryta, et al., in review) includes postulated low-porosity, high-permeability zones (i.e., fractured welded-tuff aquifers) within the LTCU. This scenario indicates that such postulated low-porosity, high-permeability zones could provide fast-path lateral conduits to faults, and eventually to the lower carbonate aquifer. A fractured and faulted lower carbonate aquifer is postulated to provide a flow path(s) for underground test-derived contaminants to potential offsite receptors. The ramifications of such a scenario are obvious for groundwater flow and contaminant migration beneath Yucca Flat. This paper describes the reasoning for not including postulated low-porosity, high-permeability zones within the LTCU in the Tuff Pile area or within the LTCU in the Yucca Flat CAU-scale model. Both observational and analytical data …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "World Trade Organization (WTO) members rely on trade remedies in the form of duties or other import restrictions to protect their industries from injury due to unfair foreign trade practices or unexpected import surges. There is congressional concern that the WTO, created in 1995 to administer trade rules, is interfering with this ability. There is also congressional concern that the WTO is not treating the United States fairly in resolving trade remedy disputes. A congressional requester asked GAO to identify trends in WTO trade remedy disputes since 1995, including the outcomes of these disputes and how they affected members' ability to impose trade remedies. The requester also asked GAO to discuss the standards of review that the WTO applies when ruling on trade remedy disputes and to present U.S. agencies' and legal experts' views on the WTO's application of these standards and related trade remedy issues. In their comments on a draft of this report, the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission stated that the report needed to put more emphasis on U.S. agencies' concerns about the potential adverse impact of WTO rulings …

This annual report discusses environmental monitoring at two manufacturing and test operations sites operated in the Los Angeles area by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International Corporation (Rocketdyne). These are identified as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) and the DeSoto site. The sites have been used for manufacturing, R&D, engineering, and testing in a broad range of technical fields, primarily rocket engine propulsion and nuclear reactor technology. The DeSoto site essentially comprises office space and light industry with no remaining radiological operations, and has little potential impact on the environment. The SSFL site, because of its large size (2,668 acres), warrants comprehensive monitoring to assure protection of the environment. SSFL consists of four administrative areas used for research, development, and test operations as well as a buffer zone. A portion of Area I and all of Area II are owned by the U.S. Government and assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A portion of Area IV is under option for purchase by the Department of Energy (DOE).

This report provides an overview of U.S.-China commercial ties, identifies major issues of contention, describes the Trump Administration's trade policies toward China, and reviews possible outcomes.

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