Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To ensure that people claiming disability insurance program benefits can obtain legal representation at a fair price, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is required to regulate the fees that attorneys charge people to represent their disability claims before the agency. Balancing the needs of the claimants with those of their attorneys, the law limits the amount of fees that attorneys can charge claimants, but also guarantees that those fees will be paid from the claimants' past-due benefits. Inefficiencies in the current process increase both the time it takes to pay the attorney fees and the cost of administration. One segment of attorney fee processing--the fee approval process--was substantially simplified in 1991. Systems support could streamline the second segment of the processing--the fee payment--thus lowering the annual administrative costs and cutting processing time. Automation of this final segment of the fee process could help improve customer service for both claimants and their attorneys."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses lessons learned from the Department of Defense's (DOD) TRICARE contracts and their implications for the future. TRICARE's successes and maturity reflect the ability of the DOD and its contractors to work within the current contract structure. However, it has not been easy, and there are important lessons from current contract shortcomings that need to be addressed in designing future TRICARE contracts. Most, including DOD, believe that the current contracts are too large, complex, and prescriptive in nature, limiting innovation and competition. Also, numerous adjustments to these contracts have created an unstable program, and program costs have been difficult to predict, contributing to annual funding shortfalls. Additionally, financial incentives, accountability, and data quality need to be strengthened to achieve greater efficiencies. To address these weaknesses, DOD redesigned its solicitation for the next round of TRICARE contracts; however, the initial issuance was withdrawn because of internal concerns and reservations about its costs and specifications. DOD is now reassessing how to structure the TRICARE contracts and is considering the views and recommendations of the Defense Medical Oversight Committee, a group formed to oversee TRICARE."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the recruitment and the retention of nursing staff, including both nurses and nurses aides, and concerns about the future supply of these workers. The health and long-term care systems in the United States rely heavily on the services of both nurses and nurses aides, the two largest groups of health care workers. GAO found that the recruitment and the retention of both nurses and nurses aides are major concerns for health care providers. Experts and providers have reported a shortage of nurses, partly as a result of patients' increasingly complex care needs. This shortage is expected to become more serious as the population ages and the demand for nurses increases. Several factors combine to constrain the current and future supply of nurses. Like the population in general, the nurse workforce is aging; the average age of a registered nurse rose from 37 years in 1983 to 42 years in 1998. Enrollments in nursing programs have declined during the last five years, shrinking the pool of new workers available to replace those who are retiring. Many studies also report less job satisfaction among nurses, which could …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the U.S. government's rule of law assistance efforts in the new independent states of the former Soviet Union. GAO found that these efforts have had limited impact so far, and results may not be sustainable in many cases. U.S. agencies have had some success in introducing innovative legal concepts and practices in these countries. However, the U.S. assistance has not often had a major, long-term impact on the evolution of the rule of law in these countries. In some cases, countries have not widely adopted the new concepts and practices that the United States has advocated. In other cases, continuation or expansion of the innovations depends on further funding from the U.S. or other donors. In fact, the rule of law appears to have actually deteriorated in recent years in several countries, including Russia and Ukraine, according to the data used to measure the results of U.S. development assistance in the region and a host of U.S. government and foreign officials. This testimony summarizes an April 2001 report (GAO-01-354)."

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Boots. In December, 1942, Boots joined the Marine Corps. After basic training, Boots attended a small camouflaging school at Camp Lejeune before going to Camp Pendleton. At Pendleton, the 4th Marine Division formed and Boots was assigned to the 4th Pioneer Battalion. His unit's job was to organize a beachhead once Marines had landed. During the Marshall Islands invasion, Boots' unit landed on a small island near Roi-Namur to set up artillery for the larger invasion. After that, the unit went back to Maui. Next, Boots' unit invaded Saipan. He went in on the second or third wave on D-Day. Boots also went to Iwo Jima and landed with the third wave. Once on the beach, he had a hard time finding his outfit because so many of them had been killed already. He helped a friend onto an LCVP that was leaving the beach with wounded and was taken off the beach. He returned for his second landing on Iwo Jima a short time later. He stayed for 31 days. When the war ended, Boots was discharged in November, 1945.

News release celebrating DART's successes over the previous year following the release of the agency's annual report for 2000. These successes included the approval of a bond package to fund its accelerated extensions of rail lines and its highest annual ridership yet.

News release about temporary changes to DART's service schedule in observance of Memorial Day and to accommodate construction on the Blue Line rail extension.

News release about temporary changes to DART's service schedule in observance of Memorial Day and to accommodate construction on the Blue Line rail extension.