Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) prepositions equipment at strategic locations around the world to enable it to field combat-ready forces in days, rather than the weeks it would take if equipment had to be moved from the United States to the locations of conflicts. These prepositioned materiel and equipment sets have played an important role in supporting ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, sustained operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a toll on the condition and readiness of military equipment. Over the last few years, we have identified a number of ongoing and long-term challenges regarding DOD's prepositioned stocks. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 added an annual reporting requirement to Title 10 of the United States Code that directs DOD to submit a report to the congressional defense committees on the status of prepositioned materiel and equipment as of the end of each fiscal year, no later than the date of the submission of the President's annual budget request. For this report, our objective was to determine what additional information in future DOD reports on the status of its prepositioned materiel and …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked us to estimate the state allocations that would likely occur in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for the Medicaid funding included in Section 5001 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which is currently being debated by the Senate. This correspondence responds to your request for state-by-state, quarter-by-quarter estimates of the Medicaid funding states would receive under the section of the proposed legislation that temporarily increases the FMAP."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Burning coal generates about 50 percent of the nation's electricity and produces air pollution that can pose a significant threat to human health and ecosystems. The Department of Energy (DOE) predicts that demand for electricity will increase nationally by 26 percent between 2007 and 2030, and DOE's Energy Information Administration projects that Texas's electricity demand will steadily increase through 2030. This increasing demand for electricity in Texas has in recent years led to proposals for 33 new coal-burning, electricity-generating units across the state. The Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish national ambient air quality standards for six pollutants to protect public health and welfare. These six pollutants, also known as criteria pollutants, are carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxides, particulate matter, ozone, and lead. In Texas, ozone is the criteria pollutant of primary concern. States are primarily responsible for ensuring attainment and maintenance of national ambient air quality standards once EPA has established them. States submit state implementation plans to EPA for approval that provide for the attainment and maintenance of air quality standards. If the state fails to submit this plan, submits …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government invests significantly in medical education through various programs to help ensure that the anticipated supply of new physicians meets the nation's health care needs. Medicare, the federal health care program for elderly and certain disabled people, subsidizes training for medical school graduates in hospitals and other teaching institutions by helping to support the increased costs associated with postgraduate medical training. These subsidy payments provided hospitals and other teaching institutions with an additional $8.76 billion for postgraduate medical training in fiscal year 2008. In addition, Medicaid, a joint federal and state program that finances health care for certain low-income individuals, provides funding for graduate medical education. In order to pay for medical school tuition and related fees, students often rely on loans to finance their education. The Department of Education (Education) administers loan programs that are available to medical school students. These loans may be made by private lenders and guaranteed by the federal government or made directly by the federal government through a student's school. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) administers various scholarships, loans, and loan repayment programs for disadvantaged students and those …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) management of the 287(g) program. Recent reports indicate that the total population of unauthorized aliens residing in the United States is about 12 million. Some of these aliens have committed one or more crimes, although the exact number of aliens that have committed crimes is unknown. Some crimes are serious and pose a threat to the security and safety of communities. ICE does not have the agents or the detention space that would be required to address all criminal activity committed by unauthorized aliens. Thus, state and local law enforcement officers play a critical role in protecting our homeland because, during the course of their daily duties, they may encounter foreign-national criminals and immigration violators who pose a threat to national security or public safety. On September 30, 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act was enacted and added section 287(g) to the Immigration and Nationality Act. This section authorizes the federal government to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, and to train selected state and local …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Terrorists and foreign governments regularly attempt to obtain sensitive dual-use and military technology from manufacturers and distributors within the United States. Although the Department of State (State) or Department of Commerce (Commerce), or both, must grant approval to export sensitive military and dual-use items, publicly reported criminal cases show that individuals can bypass this requirement and illegally export restricted items such as night-vision goggles. In the wrong hands, this technology poses a risk to U.S. security, including the threat that it will be reverse engineered or used directly against U.S. soldiers. Given the threat, the subcommittee asked GAO to conduct undercover tests to attempt to (1) purchase sensitive dual-use and military items from manufacturers and distributors in the United States; and (2) export purchased items without detection by domestic law-enforcement officials. To perform this work, GAO used fictitious individuals, a bogus front company, and domestic mailboxes to pose as a buyer for sensitive items. GAO, in coordination with foreign law-enforcement officials, also covertly attempted to export dummy versions of items. GAO interviewed relevant agencies to gain an understanding of which items were in demand by terrorists and foreign …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses our January 8, 2009, report that provides a framework for modernizing the outdated U.S. financial regulatory system. We prepared this work under the authority of the Comptroller General to help policymakers weigh various regulatory reform proposals and consider ways in which the current regulatory system could be made more effective and efficient. This testimony is based on our report, which (1) describes how regulation has evolved in banking, securities, thrifts, credit unions, futures, insurance, secondary mortgage markets and other important areas; (2) describes several key changes in financial markets and products in recent decades that have highlighted significant limitations and gaps in the existing regulatory system; and (3) presents an evaluation framework that can be used by Congress and others to shape potential regulatory reform efforts. On January 22, we released an update to our biennial High-Risk Series, which described high-risk areas in federal programs, including by focusing on the need for broad-based transformations to address major economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. Based on recent economic events and our past work on financial regulatory reform, we added the need to modernize the outdated U.S. financial …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress is considering proposals to establish a price on greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade program that would limit overall emissions and require covered entities to hold tradable emissions permits, or allowances, for their emissions. The purpose of such a program is to raise the cost of activities that produce emissions and thereby provide an economic incentive to decrease emissions. Carbon dioxide, which results from burning fossil fuels, is the primary greenhouse gas and accounts for about 80 percent of U.S. emissions. A cap-and-trade program would increase the cost of burning fossil fuels and other activities that generate emissions and potentially raise costs for consumers. A key decision is the extent to which the government offsets these costs. For example, the government could sell the allowances and then return the revenues to covered entities or households. The government could also give away some or all of the allowances. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the value of the allowances could total $300 billion annually by 2020. Today's testimony provides preliminary results of ongoing work assessing the potential effects of (1) allowance allocation methods, and (2) options for distributing …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, GAO designated ensuring the effective protection of technologies critical to U.S. national security interests as a high-risk area. Each year, the Department of Defense spends billions of dollars to develop and produce technologically advanced weaponry. To enhance its foreign policy, security, and economic interests, the U.S. government must approve selling these weapons and defense-related technologies overseas and has a number of programs to identify and protect the critical technologies involved in these sales. These programs include export control systems for weapons and defense-related technologies, the foreign military sales program, and reviews of foreign investments in U.S. companies. Yet, these weapons and technologies continue to be targets for theft, espionage, reverse engineering, and illegal export. This testimony (1) provides an overview of the safety net of government programs and processes aimed at ensuring the effective protection of technologies critical to U.S. national security interests and (2) identifies the weaknesses and challenges in the U.S. export control system--one of the government programs to protect critical technologies. This statement is based on GAO's high-risk report and its extensive body of work on the government's programs designed to protect technologies …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses how local and regional procurement (LRP) can provide opportunities to enhance U.S. food aid, though challenges can constrain its implementation. This hearing is of particular importance given today's environment of increasing emergencies and growing global food insecurity, in which the United States and other donors face intense pressures to feed the world's expanding undernourished population. In September 2008, the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that high food prices had resulted in the number of undernourished people reaching a record 963 million. LRP has increasingly become a key element in the multilateral food aid response over the past decade. Most bilateral donors of food aid have switched from commodity-based in-kind food aid to a cash-based food assistance program in recent years. As the largest international food aid donor, contributing over half of all food aid supplies to alleviate hunger and support development, the United States plays an important role in responding to emergency food assistance needs and ensuring global food security. The large majority of U.S. food assistance is for U.S.-grown commodities purchased competitively in the United States and shipped to recipient …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) manages over 100 construction projects with estimated costs over $90 billion and 97 nuclear waste cleanup projects with estimated costs over $230 billion. DOE has about 14,000 employees to oversee the work of more than 93,000 contractor employees. Due to DOE's history of inadequate oversight and management of contractors, GAO continues to include DOE contract and project management on its list of government programs at high risk for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. This testimony discusses (1) recent GAO work on contract and project management within two of DOE's largest program offices--the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Office of Environmental Management (EM), (2) preliminary results of ongoing GAO work on project management at NNSA's Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and (3) actions needed by NNSA and EM to improve contract and project management. GAO's reports over the past 3 years have contained nearly 60 recommendations collectively calling for DOE to ensure that project management requirements are consistently followed, to improve oversight of contractors, and to strengthen accountability. While DOE has generally …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Consequences attending a legislator's announcement of his candidacy for Governor during the first year of a two-year long term (RQ-0736-GA).

There is an envelope addressed to the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus at Dallas, Texas from Charles Mullins. There is also a registration form filled out by Charles Mullins for the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Statewide Conference in Austin, including contact information and workshop selections in Technology Tips for Clubs, Maximize Your Contact With Elected Officials, and Building a Bigger Club.

There is an envelope addressed to the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus at Dallas, Texas from Jay Narey. There is also a registration form filled out by Jay Narey for the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Statewide Conference in Austin, including contact information and workshop selections in Making Your Endorsement Matter, Raise Money Without Even Trying, and Maximize Your Contact With Elected Official.

There is an envelope addressed to the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus at Dallas, Texas from Lumber at McAllen, Texas. There is also a registration form filled out by David J. Lumber for the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Statewide Conference in Austin, including contact information and workshop selections in Legal Tips for Political Action Committees, Building a Bigger Club, and Raise Money Without Even Trying.

Photocopy of an envelope addressed to Al Daniels at Dallas Texas from TCSD at Fort Worth, Texas.

Photocopy of an envelope addressed to Al Daniels at Dallas, Texas from Daniel Graney at San Antonio, Texas.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document is an E-supplement to GAO-09-144. It presents information from a GAO survey of states' trade offices throughout the United States on the nature of states' export promotion services and their partnerships with the Commercial Service (CS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. We surveyed these offices to obtain information including (1) the types of export promotion services these states' trade offices provide and the user fees charged, (2) the number of state trade office staff providing these services, (3) whether small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) can use state grant programs or direct payments to defray the cost of CS's export promotion programs and services, (4) the importance of CS services to the operations of states' trade offices, and (5) the effect of CS user fees on SMEs' participation in CS export promotion programs. We surveyed all 50 states' trade offices and received responses from 45 of them. For a further discussion of our scope and methodology, see Export Promotion: Commerce Needs Better Information to Evaluate Its Fee-Based Programs and Customers. (GAO-09-144). We administered the survey from May 2008 to October 2008 in accordance with …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the protection of children during disaster recovery and to provide highlights of our July 2009 report entitled Hurricane Katrina: Barriers to Mental Health Services for Children Persist in Greater New Orleans, Although Federal Grants Are Helping to Address Them. The greater New Orleans area has yet to fully recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, 2005. One issue of concern in the recovery is the availability of mental health services for children. In our report, we estimated that in 2008 about 187,000 children were living in the greater New Orleans area--which we defined as Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard parishes. Many children in the greater New Orleans area experienced psychological trauma as a result of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and studies have shown that such trauma can have long-lasting behavioral, psychological, and emotional effects on children. Poor children in this area may also be at additional risk, because studies have also shown that children who grow up in poverty are at risk for the development of mental health disorders. In 2007 the poverty rate for each of …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jackie Redstone and Chris Jenkins. Redstone and Jenkins are sisters who were born in Belgium. They moved to China when their father took a job as an engineer at a coal mine north of Peking. When the Japanese invaded, the Belgian engineers were kept on, in order to keep production running. Food was scarce, and the flour they were given for rations had worms, but the family was able to maintain a robust garden and tend to their livestock. Their father kept a radio well hidden in the home, and the girls were petrified every time Japanese soldiers came looking for it. Their town was eventually liberated by Marines, whom the family then visited in the United States after the war. They later returned to China as it was coming under communist rule, and their father began working for the Marshall Plan. The girls eventually immigrated to the United States, and they each married a military man.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Claude Hudson. Hudson joined the Army in late 1943 and received basic training in Miami Beach, having already completed his first year of college. After being sent to a college training detachment, he was selected for pilot training and began pre-flight at Maxwell Field. Upon completion of flight school, he was assigned to the Second Combat Cargo Squadron and sent to India. There he piloted a C-47, dropping supplies to British troops along the border of Burma. He would sometimes fly to the Bay of Bengal for recreational swimming. He was later assigned to transport horses and mules to China, which would have made it difficult to bail out in the event of an emergency. From his station in China, he often visited Kunming, which was an hour away by plane. Hudson returned home and was discharged in the fall of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Roy Burger. Burger was drafted into the Army in May of 1942. He served with the 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in a mortar platoon. He provides some details of basic training and volunteering for the parachute troops. In the spring of 1944 he traveled to England. On 6 June 1944 Burger made his first combat jump at midnight into Normandy, France. In September of 1944 his second jump was into Holland during Operation MARKET GARDEN. They were given orders to head to Bastogne, Belgium, where they defeated a German patrol surrounding their group. Burger was discharged in 1945 and awarded 3 Battle Stars.

News release about DART's reduced service schedule in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

News release about DART's "Poetry in Motion" program, in which poems are placed in advertising spaces on DART vehicles to promote greater appreciation of poetry in North Texas.