Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To meet long-standing concerns about the Department of Defense's (DOD) organization and management of national security space activities, Congress chartered the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization to study the organization and management of space activities that support U.S. national security interests and make recommendations for improvements. DOD has decided to take actions related to 10 of the commission's 13 recommendations. These include recommendations for organizational changes aimed at consolidating some activities, changing chains of command, opening lines of communications, and modifying policies to achieve greater responsibility and accountability. Many changes have been implemented within the last few months, and thus related processes and procedures have not been completed. As a result, it is too early to determine whether these changes will enable DOD to promote and protect U.S. interests in space more effectively. Moreover, DOD has not yet completed plans for achieving some long-range goals, such as developing a cadre of space professionals and integrating military and intelligence space activities. The Secretary of Defense chose not to implement three of the commission's recommendations and is instead (1) opting to establish a focal …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) seeks updated information on the addresses and maps of housing units from state, local, and tribal governments through the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program. This testimony discusses (1) the status of the LUCA program, and (2) the Bureau's response to prior issues raised by GAO as well as new challenges related to the program. The testimony is based on a GAO report issued on June 14, 2007. GAO reviewed LUCA program documents, met with and surveyed participants in the LUCA Dress Rehearsal, and interviewed Bureau officials and local officials."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "During World War I, the U.S. Army operated a large research facility to develop and test chemical weapons and explosives in the area that became the Spring Valley neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Buried ordnance, discovered there in 1993, led to the designation by the Department of Defense (DOD) of 61 acres as a formerly used defense site. Through fiscal year 2001, DOD had spent over $50 million to identify and remove hazards at the site. The government entities involved have identified and removed a large number of hazards, but the number remaining is unknown. The health risks influencing cleanup activities at Spring Valley are the possibility of injury or death from exploding or leaking ordnance and containers of chemical warfare agents and potential long-term health problems from exposure to arsenic-contaminated soil. As of April 2002, the U.S. Army estimated that the remaining cleanup activities would cost $7.1 million and take 5 years, but these estimates are unreliable. This testimony summarized a June report (See GAO-02-556)."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2003, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a new Circular A-76--which sets forth the government's competitive sourcing process. Determining whether to obtain services in-house or through commercial contracts is an important economic and strategic decision for agencies, and the use of A-76 is expected to grow throughout the federal government. In the past, however, the A-76 process has been difficult to implement, and the impact on the morale of the federal workforce has been profound. Moreover, there have been concerns in both the public and private sectors about the timeliness and fairness of the process and the extent to which there is a "level playing field" for conducting public-private competitions. It was against this backdrop that the Congress enacted legislation mandating a study of the government's competitive sourcing process, which was carried out by the Commercial Activities Panel, which was chaired by the Comptroller General of the United States. This testimony focuses on how the new Circular addresses the Panel's recommendations with regard to providing a better foundation for competitive sourcing decisions, and the challenges agencies may face in implementing the new A-76."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Congress and the President need to have reliable, useful and timely financial and performance information to make sound decisions on the current and future direction of vital federal government programs and policies. Unfortunately, except for the 2007 Statement of Social Insurance, GAO was again unable to provide assurance on the reliability of the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government (CFS) due primarily to certain material weaknesses in the federal government's internal control. GAO has reported that unless these weaknesses are adequately addressed, they will, among other things, (1) hamper the federal government's ability to reliably report a significant portion of its assets, liabilities, costs, and other related information; and (2) affect the federal government's ability to reliably measure the full cost as well as the financial and nonfinancial performance of certain programs and activities. This testimony presents the results of GAO's audit of the CFS for fiscal year 2007 and discusses the federal government's long-term fiscal outlook."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In examining the efforts of the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation to ensure that recipients corrected single audit report findings, GAO found that each agency had procedures for obtaining and distributing the audit reports to appropriate officials for action. However, they often did not issue the required written management decisions or have documentary evidence of their evaluations of and conclusions on recipients' actions to correct the audit findings. In addition, program managers did not summarize and communicate information on single audit results and recipient actions to correct audit findings to agency management."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Courts Administration Act of 1992 requires GAO to review certain aspects of the Judicial Survivors' Annuities System (JSAS), one of several survivor benefit plans applicable to federal employees. JSAS provides annuities to surviving spouses and dependent children of deceased Supreme Court Justices, judges of the United States, and other participating judicial officials. For the 3 years covered by GAO's review, the judges' contributions represented more than 50 percent of the JSAS normal costs for fiscal year 1999, but less than 50 percent for fiscal years 2000 and 2001. To cover 50 percent of JSAS estimated future normal costs, the judges' contributions would need to increase by 0.1 percentage point above the 2.2 percent of salaries paid by retired judges. However, increasing required contributions could reduce the judges' rate of participation even though increasing participation was one of the main reasons for enhancing JSAS benefits and reducing judges' contributions in 1992."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Small businesses, which are important to the U.S. economy for their roles in job creation and technological development, must be able to protect and profit from their innovations. One way to protect their innovations on a global basis is to obtain U.S. and foreign patents. These businesses, however, face numerous impediments when trying to patent their goods or processes abroad. These impediments, which GAO identified in a July 2002 report, include high costs, limited resources, and limited knowledge among small businesses about foreign patent laws and systems. Because of concern that small businesses, particularly high technology firms, were not obtaining patent protection abroad and thus were losing potential sales in foreign markets, GAO was asked to (1) identify the factors that patent law experts believe small businesses should consider as they decide whether to seek patent protection abroad and provide information on how small businesses viewed these factors and (2) identify the steps that small businesses should take to improve their foreign patent efforts, according to our survey of patent law experts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Minority employees at the EPA reported for a number of years that the agency had discriminated against them based on their race and retaliated against them for filing complaints. These issues were aired at hearings held by the House Committee on Science at which EPA said it would take actions to ensure a fair and discrimination free workplace. GAO was asked to review (1) the accuracy of EPA's equal employment opportunity (EEO) data, (2) various issues about the processes used to resolve discrimination complaints, and (3) the disciplinary actions taken for managers who discriminate."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's achievements in fiscal year 2000, its current plans and future challenges, and its budget request for fiscal year 2002. Financial benefits to taxpayers as a result of GAO's work totaled more than $23 billion in fiscal year 2000--a $61 return on every dollar invested in GAO. During fiscal year 2001, GAO continued to focus its work on the major issues facing Congress, such as Social Security, and worked with leaders in the House and the Senate to strengthen congressional oversight. GAO requested a budget of about $430 million in fiscal year 2002. This funding level will allow GAO to maintain a staff of 3,275 full-time equivalent employees. In the coming fiscal year, GAO plans to increasingly emphasize issues that are of significant congressional and public concern and to take steps internally to address its two major management challenges--human capital and information technology."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spent $500 million and the Department of Defense (DOD) spent $240 million for medical and surgical supplies in fiscal year 2001. Since the 1980s, To achieve greater efficiencies through improved acquisition processes and increased sharing of medical resources, VA and DOD signed a memorandum of agreement in 1999 to combine their buying power. VA and DOD saved $170 in 2001 by jointly procuring pharmaceuticals, by agreeing on particular drugs to be purchased, and contracting with the manufacturers for discounts based on their combined larger volume. VA and DOD have not awarded joint national contracts for medical and surgical supplies as envisioned by their memorandum of agreement, and it is unlikely that the two departments will have joint national contracts for supplies anytime soon. However, a few VA and DOD facilities have yielded modest savings through local joint contracting agreements. The lack of progress have made in jointly contracting for medical and surgical supplies has, in part, been the result of their different approaches to standardizing medical and surgical supplies. Other impediments to joint purchasing have been incomplete procurement data and the inability …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Commercial Activities Panel is a congressionally mandated panel to study, and make recommendations for improving, the policies and procedures governing the transfer of commercial activities from government to contractor personnel. The growing controversy surrounding competitions under the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76 to determine whether the government should obtain commercially available goods and services from the public or private sectors led to the establishment of this Panel. In establishing the Panel, several steps were taken to ensure representation from all major stakeholders as well as to ensure a fair and balanced process. To ensure a broad range of views on the Panel, a Federal Register notice was used to seek suggestions for the Panel's composition. As the Panel began its work, it recognized the need for a set of principles for sourcing decisions. These principles provide for an assessment of what does or does not work in the current A-76 process and provide a framework for identifying needed changes. Many of the Panel's recommendations can be accomplished administratively under existing law, and the Panel recommends that they be implemented as soon as practical. The Panel …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's review of the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation efforts to ensure that federal award recipients corrected single audit findings found that required documentation of management decisions and the evaluation of and conclusions on the adequacy of recipient actions to correct single audit findings was lacking. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse received 34,000 single audit reports during calendar year 2000 with six thousand of these containing audit findings. Despite these impressive figures, questions exist about whether (1) all required single audits are performed, (2) federal award recipients are adequately monitoring subrecipent use of federal awards and the correction of single audit findings, and (3) the audits are performed in accordance with government auditing standards."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) processes for monitoring the quality of dialysis facilities for end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Conference of State Societies, Washington, District of Columbia, for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance, and the report included the auditor's opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly on a cash basis of accounting."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following several hurricanes in 2005, the need to rebuild and repair destroyed and damaged homes and buildings in the Gulf Coast region may create opportunities for making energy efficiency improvements and realizing energy cost savings. While numerous federal agencies are involved in the recovery process, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Energy (DOE) interact with the states on a regular basis regarding matters of energy efficiency. This report, initiated under the authority of the Comptroller General of the United States, examines (1) the extent of opportunities for incorporating energy efficiency improvements in the Gulf Coast reconstruction, (2) potential challenges to realizing the energy cost savings during the reconstruction, and (3) the role of HUD and DOE in promoting energy efficiency in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. GAO limited the scope of its work to Louisiana and Mississippi since these states experienced the majority of the hurricane damage. GAO assessed opportunities for incorporating energy efficiency measures by conducting site visits and interviewing federal, state government officials; home builders; and energy efficiency experts. GAO also worked with a DOE national laboratory …

This report discusses the relative stability of Canada's financial system in comparison to the financial systems of other nations around the globe that are suffering from the current financial crisis. This report presents an overview of Canada's financial system and its supervisory framework and draws some distinctions between that system and the current U.S. framework.

The current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought renewed attention to the needs of veterans, including the needs of homeless veterans. As the number of veterans increases due to the current wars, there is concern that the number of homeless veterans could rise commensurately. The current economic downturn also has raised concerns that homelessness could increase among all groups, including veterans. Several issues regarding veterans and homelessness have become prominent, in part because of the current conflicts, which this report discusses in detail.

This report consists of a brief table summarizing casualty data compiled by the Department of Defense (DOD), including fatalities during Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 19, 2003, and since May 1, 2003, including statistics on those wounded, but not killed, since March 19, 2003.

The Afghan central government's limited writ and widespread official corruption are helping sustain a Taliban insurgency, and have fed pessimism about the Afghanistan stabilization effort. This report discusses the current tumultuous political state of Afghanistan, focusing particularly on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his struggle with the Taliban terrorist group. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the U.S. with regard to these struggles, and describes various U.S. efforts currently underway to help Afghanistan build a stable government and economy.

Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet Union June 1940, and regained its independence on August 27, 1991. Shortly thereafter, Moldova faced challenges from Turkic-speaking Gagauz and ethnic Russians, both residing in Moldova's Dniestr valley, who proclaimed separatist "republics." Other challenges facing Moldovans include pursuing economic reform and choosing between potential reunification with their ethnic cohorts in Romania and forging an independent identity.

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) researchers are investigating and developing a rotary microfilter for solid-liquid separation applications at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Because of the success of that work, the Hanford Site is evaluating the use of the rotary microfilter for its Supplemental Pretreatment process. The authors performed rotary filter testing with a full-scale, 25-disk unit with 0.5 {micro} filter media manufactured by Pall Corporation using a Hanford AN-105 simulant at solids loadings of 0.06, 0.29, and 1.29 wt%. The conclusions from this testing are: (1) The filter flux at 0.06 wt% solids reached a near constant value at an average of 0.26 gpm/ft{sup 2} (6.25 gpm total). (2) The filter flux at 0.29 wt% solids reached a near constant value at an average of 0.17 gpm/ft{sup 2} (4 gpm total). (3) The filter flux at 1.29 wt% solids reached a near constant value at an average of 0.10 gpm/ft{sup 2} (2.4 gpm total). (4) Because of differences in solids loadings, a direct comparison between crossflow filter flux and rotary filter flux is not possible. The data show the rotary filter produces a higher flux than the crossflow filter, but the improvement is not as large as seen in …

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To achieve super high luminosity, high current beams with very short bunch length are needed, which carry high intensity EM fields. For ILC, two bunch trains with bunch length of 300 {micro}m and bunch charge of 3.2nC are needed to collide at the IR to achieve the ILC luminosity goals. When the 300 {micro}m bunches pass through the IR chamber, wakefields will be excited, which will cause HOM power flowing through the IR chamber beam pipe to the final doublets due to the high frequency characteristic of the induced wakefields. Since superconducting technology is adopted for the final doublets of ILC BDS, whose operation stability might be affected by the HOM power produced at the IR chamber, quench might happen. In this paper, we did some analytical estimation and numerical simulation on the wakefield effects in ILC IR chamber.