This report describes in detail the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), the centerpiece of the Bush Administration's efforts to prepare foreign security forces to participate in international peacekeeping operations. This report lists the funding and allocations set aside for GPOI, as well as the function of GPOI and its future.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina illustrated that effective preparation and response to a catastrophe requires a joint effort between federal, state, and local government. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is responsible for heading the joint effort. In January 2008, DHS released the National Response Framework (NRF), a revision of the 2004 National Response Plan (2004 Plan), the national preparation plan for all hazards. In response to the explanatory statement to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 and as discussed with congressional committees, this report evaluates the extent to which (1) DHS collaborated with non-federal stakeholders in revising and updating the 2004 Plan into the 2008 NRF and (2) FEMA has developed policies and procedures for managing future NRF revisions. To accomplish these objectives, GAO reviewed DHS and FEMA documents related to the revision process, analyzed the relevant statutes, and interviewed federal and non-federal officials who held key positions in the revision process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza (AI) has spread to nearly 60 countries over the past few years, killing millions of birds and more than 170 humans. Controlling the virus in poultry is key to reducing the risk of a human pandemic. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for planning for AI outbreaks in poultry, with states' assistance. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for coordinating the federal response for certain emergencies and developing policy documents that serve as a basis for national emergency planning. GAO described the steps USDA is taking to prepare for highly pathogenic AI and identified key challenges. GAO reviewed response plans, statutes, and regulations; visited poultry operations; interviewed federal, state, and industry officials in five states that experienced outbreaks; and reviewed 19 state plans."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided over $6.7 billion in fiscal year 2008 to housing agencies to operate, modernize, and develop about 1.2 million public housing units. It is important that HUD exercise sufficient oversight of housing agencies to help ensure that public housing funds are being used as intended and properly managed. In this report, GAO examines HUD's oversight processes for detecting housing agencies at risk of inappropriate use and mismanagement of public housing funds. GAO analyzed HUD financial data on about 3,300 housing agencies, compared HUD's oversight policies with program and agency objectives, and interviewed agency officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has the primary federal responsibility for reducing crashes involving large trucks and buses that operate in interstate commerce. FMCSA decides which motor carriers to review for compliance with its safety regulations primarily by using an automated, data-driven analysis model called SafeStat. SafeStat uses data on crashes and other data to assign carriers priorities for compliance reviews. GAO assessed (1) the extent to which changes to the SafeStat model could improve its ability to identify carriers that pose high crash risks and (2) how the quality of the data used affects SafeStat's performance. To carry out its work, GAO analyzed how SafeStat identified high-risk carriers in 2004 and compared these results with crash data through 2005."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) transferred from the General Services Administration (GSA) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). FPS provides physical security and law enforcement services to about 9,000 GSA facilities. To accomplish its mission of protecting GSA facilities, FPS currently has an annual budget of about $1 billion, 1,100 employees, and 15,000 contract guards located throughout the country. Recently, FPS has faced several challenges protecting GSA facilities and federal employees. This report provides information and analysis on (1) FPS's operational challenges and actions it has taken to address them, (2) funding challenges FPS faces and actions it has taken to address them, and (3) how FPS measures the effectiveness of its efforts to protect GSA facilities. To address these objectives, we conducted site visits at 7 of FPS's 11 regions and interviewed FPS, GSA, tenant agencies, and local law enforcement officials."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. government owns about 3,500 properties overseas at more than 220 locations, including embassy and consular office buildings, housing, and land. The Department of State is responsible for acquiring, managing, and disposing of these properties. In 1996, GAO reported that the State Department did not have an effective process for identifying and selling unneeded overseas real estate, and that decisions concerning the sale of some properties had been delayed for years because of parochial conflicts among the parties involved. The State Department has taken steps to implement a more systematic process for identifying unneeded properties by (1) requesting posts to annually identify excess, underutilized, and obsolete property and (2) requesting its own staff and Inspector General officials to place greater emphasis on identifying such property when they visit posts. The State Department has significantly increased its sales of unneeded properties in the last 5 years. From 1997 through 2001, it sold 104 overseas properties for over $404 million, almost triple the proceeds compared with the previous 5 year period. However, the department still has a large number of unneeded properties that have not yet been …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Senior Department of Defense (DOD) and military service officials have testified that they face increasing difficulties in carrying out realistic training at military installations. There are eight "encroachment" issues that affect or have the potential to affect military training and readiness. The eight encroachment issues are: endangered species habitat on military installations, unexploded ordnance and munitions constituents, competition for radio frequency spectrum, protected marine resources, competition for airspace, air pollution, noise pollution, and urban growth around military installations. Whenever possible, the services work around these issues by modifying the timing, tempo, and location of training, as well as the equipment used. However, these workarounds are becoming increasingly difficult and costly and they compromise the realism essential to effective training. Over time, the military services report they have increasingly lost training range capabilities because of encroachment. Each of the four installations and two major commands GAO visited reported having lost some capabilities in terms of the time training ranges were available or the types of training that could be conducted. Higher-than-average population growth around installations makes further encroachment losses likely. Despite the loss of some capabilities, service …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWPRA) of 1996 changed the nation's cash assistance program for needy families with children. The former program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), was replaced with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, which provides states with $16.5 billion each year through 2002 to serve this population. TANF's goals include ending the dependence of needy families on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; preventing and reducing the incidence of nonmarital pregnancies; and encouraging two-parent families. PRWORA expanded the scope of services that could potentially be contracted out, such as determining eligibility for TANF, which had traditionally been done by government employees. Moreover, with the large drop in TANF caseloads nationally, a greater share of federal TANF block grant funds and state funds is now devoted to various support services that are typically contracted out. Although PRWORA expanded the flexibility of states to design and administer TANF programs, its also limited the ability of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to regulate states' TANF programs. Contracting with nongovernmental entities to provide …

This report discusses political, economic, and security challenges facing Azerbaijan, including the unsettled conflict in the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region. A table provides basic facts and biographical information. Related products include CRS Report RL33453, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests, by Jim Nichol.

Under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have recently implemented a series of initiatives to address long-term radiological surveillance needs at former nuclear test sites in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The aim of this radiological surveillance monitoring program (RSMP) is to provide timely radiation protection for individuals in the Marshall Islands with respect to two of the most important internally deposited fallout radionuclides-cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs) and long-lived isotopes 239 and 240 of plutonium ({sup 239+240}Pu) (Robison et al., 1997 and references therein). Therefore, whole-body counting for {sup 137}Cs and a sensitive bioassay for the presence of {sup 239+240}Pu excreted in urine were adopted as the two most applicable in vivo analytical methods to assess radiation doses for individuals in the RMI from internally deposited fallout radionuclides (see Hamilton et al., 2006a-c; Bell et al., 2002). Through 2005, the USDOE has established three permanent whole-body counting facilities in the Marshall Islands: the Enewetak Radiological Laboratory on Enewetak Atoll, the Utrok Whole-Body Counting Facility on Majuro Atoll, and the Rongelap Whole-Body Counting Facility on Rongelap Atoll. These whole-body counting facilities are operated and maintained by trained Marshallese technicians. …

The 100-C-9:1 main process sewer pipeline, also known as the twin box culvert, was a dual reinforced process sewer that collected process effluent from the 183-C and 190-C water treatment facilities, discharging at the 132-C-2 Outfall. For remedial action purposes, the 100-C-9:1 waste site was subdivided into northern and southern sections. The 100-C-9:1 subsite has been remediated to achieve the remedial action objectives specified in the Remaining Sites ROD. The results of verification sampling show that residual contaminant concentrations do not preclude any future uses and allow for unrestricted use of shallow zone soils. The results also demonstrate that residual contaminant concentrations are protective of groundwater and the Columbia River.

Due to the materials that are processed through 2H Evaporator, scale is constantly being deposited on the surfaces of the evaporator pot. In order to meet the requirements of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Analysis/Evaluation (NCSA/NCSE) for 2H Evaporator, inspections of the pot are performed to determine the extent of scaling. Once the volume of scale reaches a certain threshold, the pot must be chemically cleaned to remove the scale. Prior to cleaning the pot, samples of the scale are obtained to determine the concentration of uranium and plutonium and also to provide information to assist with pot cleaning. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was requested by Liquid Waste Organization (LWO) Engineering to obtain these samples from two locations within the evaporator. Past experience has proven the difficulty of successfully obtaining solids samples from the 2H Evaporator pot. To mitigate this risk, a total of four samplers were designed and fabricated to ensure that two samples could be obtained. Samples had previously been obtained from the cone surface directly below the vertical access riser using a custom scraping tool. This tool was fabricated and deployed successfully. A second scraper was designed to obtain sample from the nearby vertical thermowell and a …

The public, automakers, and policymakers have long worried about trade-offs between increased fuel economy in motor vehicles and reduced safety. The conclusion of a broad group of experts on safety and fuel economy in the auto sector is that no trade-off is required. There are a wide variety of technologies and approaches available to advance vehicle fuel economy that have no effect on vehicle safety. Conversely, there are many technologies and approaches available to advance vehicle safety that are not detrimental to vehicle fuel economy. Congress is considering new policies to increase the fuel economy of new automobiles in order to reduce oil dependence and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The findings reported here offer reassurance on an important dimension of that work: It is possible to significantly increase the fuel economy of motor vehicles without compromising their safety. Automobiles on the road today demonstrate that higher fuel economy and greater safety can co-exist. Some of the safest vehicles have higher fuel economy, while some of the least safe vehicles driven today--heavy, large trucks and SUVs--have the lowest fuel economy. At an October 3, 2006 workshop, leading researchers from national laboratories, academia, auto manufacturers, insurance research industry, consumer and environmental groups, …

This report allocates California's 2004 statewide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fuel combustion to the 58 counties in the state. The total emissions are allocated to counties using several different methods, based on the availability of data for each sector. Data on natural gas use in all sectors are available by county. Fuel consumption by power and combined heat and power generation plants is available for individual plants. Bottom-up models were used to distribute statewide fuel sales-based CO2 emissions by county for on-road vehicles, aircraft, and watercraft. All other sources of CO2 emissions were allocated to counties based on surrogates for activity. CO2 emissions by sector were estimated for each county, as well as for the South Coast Air Basin. It is important to note that emissions from some sources, notably electricity generation, were allocated to counties based on where the emissions were generated, rather than where the electricity was actually consumed. In addition, several sources of CO2 emissions, such as electricity generated in and imported from other states and international marine bunker fuels, were not included in the analysis. California Air Resource Board (CARB) does not include CO2 emissions from interstate and international air travel, in the official California …

This report is categorized into five categories: (I) Introduction, (II) Housing Practices in Which Discrimination is Prohibited, (III) Familial Discrimination and Housing for Older Persons, (IV) Discrimination Based on Handicap, (V) Enforcement of the Fair Housing Act.

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Large simulation codes can take on the order of hours to compile from scratch. In Kull, which uses generic programming techniques, a significant portion of the time is spent generating and compiling template instantiations. I would like to investigate methods that would decrease the overall compilation time for large codes. These would be methods which could then be applied, hopefully, as standard practice to any large code. Success is measured by the overall decrease in wall clock time a developer spends waiting for an executable. Analyzing the make system of a slow to build project can benefit all developers on the project. Taking the time to analyze the number of processors used over the life of the build and restructuring the system to maximize the parallelization can significantly reduce build times. Distributing the build across multiple machines with the same configuration can increase the number of available processors for building and can help evenly balance the load. Becoming familiar with compiler options can have its benefits as well. The time improvements of the sum can be significant. Initial compilation time for Kull on OSF1 was {approx} 3 hours. Final time on OSF1 after completion is 16 minutes. Initial compilation time …

This report provides a selection of materials for locating information on foreign countries and international organizations. In the general information section, it presents sources giving an overview of politics, economics, and history.

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