Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1992, GAO has published long-term fiscal simulations of what might happen to federal deficits and debt levels under varying policy assumptions. GAO developed its long-term model in response to a bipartisan request from Members of Congress who were concerned about the long-term effects of fiscal policy. In 1992 GAO said: "The federal budget is structurally unbalanced. This will do increasing damage to the economy and is unsustainable in the long term. Regardless of the approach chosen, prompt and meaningful action is essential. The longer it is delayed, the more painful it will be." These words are as relevant today as when GAO first published them. GAO updates its simulations three times a year as new estimates become available from the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook (January), Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports (early spring), and CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update (late summer)."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the extent to which retail gasoline prices in Oregon spiked from January through August 1999 and the factors that accounted for the spikes."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The events of September 11, 2001, triggered a national re-examination of the security of thousands of industrial facilities that use or store hazardous chemicals in quantities that could potentially put large numbers of Americans at risk of serious injury or death in the event of a terrorist-caused chemical release. GAO was asked to examine (1) available information on the threats and risks from terrorism faced by U.S. chemical facilities; (2) federal requirements for security preparedness and safety at facilities; (3) actions taken by federal agencies to assess the vulnerability of the industry; and (4) voluntary actions the chemical industry has taken to address security preparedness, and the challenges it faces in protecting its assets and operations. GAO issued a report on this work in March 2003 (GAO-03-439)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Census a high-risk area in part because of information technology (IT) shortcomings and uncertainty over the ultimate cost of the census, now estimated at around $15 billion. The U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) has since made improvements to various IT systems and taken other steps to mitigate the risks of a successful census. However, last year, GAO noted that a number of challenges and uncertainties remained, and much work remained to be completed under very tight time frames. As requested, this testimony provides an update on the Bureau's readiness for an effective headcount, covering (1) the status of key IT systems; (2) steps the Bureau has taken to revise its cost estimates; and (3) the extent to which critical enumeration activities, particularly those aimed at hard-to-count populations, are on track. The testimony is based on previously issued and ongoing GAO work."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information concerning Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), its near failure, and its subsequent recapitalization in September 1998."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recent events have drawn attention to the health care provided to detainees held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). For fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 2007, ICE reported that 69 detainees died while in ICE custody, and during 2008, national news organizations investigated and published reports of the circumstances surrounding several detainee deaths. Other reports have also outlined concerns about the health care provided to detainees. For example, in 2007, the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found problems with adherence to ICE's medical standards at two ICE facilities it reviewed where detainee deaths had occurred. Additionally, members of Congress, the media, and advocacy groups have raised questions about the health care provided to detainees in ICE custody. An explanatory statement accompanying the fiscal year 2009 DHS appropriations act directed ICE to fund an independent, comprehensive review of the medical care provided to persons detained by DHS and identified $2 million for that purpose. ICE was created in March 2003 as part of DHS. From fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2007, the average daily population …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter concerns a variety of issues related to identifying a universal definition of insurance and the challenges associated with doing so. We briefed congressional staff on the preliminary results of our work on June 24, 2005, and on our final results on November 29, 2005. Specifically, we provided information on (1) the elements that are commonly part of definitions of insurance, (2) a few products not universally defined as insurance or regulated across the states by their insurance departments, (3) possible regulatory implications of developing separate definitions for insurance products covering insurance risks in more than one category, (4) current developments in statutory and financial accounting communities in re-evaluating their guidelines for measuring risk transfer in reinsurance contracts, and (5) certain circumstances when finite risk contracts are used."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1992, Congress banned schools participating in federal student aid programs from paying commissions, bonuses, or other incentive payments to individuals based on their success in enrolling students or securing financial aid for them. Congress instituted this incentive compensation ban to eliminate abusive recruiting practices in which schools enrolled unqualified students who then received federal student aid funds. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Education (Education) issued regulations--commonly referred to as "safe harbors"--that allowed for 12 activities or payment arrangements that schools could use without violating the ban against incentive compensation. As of January 2010, Education was reviewing these safe harbor regulations as part of a negotiated rule making process to maintain or improve federal student aid programs. The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) mandated that GAO conduct a study on Education's enforcement of the incentive compensation ban in light of the safe harbors and report on the number of violations substantiated by the Secretary of Education since 1998, the nature of these violations, and the names of the institutions involved. As agreed with Congressional offices, this report provides information on violations of the incentive compensation ban substantiated …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This correspondence provides information on (1) factors affecting retail gasoline prices in Oregon, including transportation costs, taxes, costs of full service, and other supply and demand conditions and (2) how gasoline price trends in Portland, Oregon, compare with trends in other West Coast cities. GAO identified several factors affecting gasoline prices in Oregon, including (1) higher-than-average costs associated with transporting gasoline from refiners to consumers because Oregon has no refining capability and a greater proportion of its gasoline demand comes from rural driving, (2) higher-than-average state gasoline taxes, and (3) a prohibition on self-service gasoline stations. GAO also found that although Portland's gas prices differ from those of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, all four cities responded similarly to rapid price changes. Retail prices in all four cities follow similar patterns with respect to major periods of price increases and decreases."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the President's proposal for addressing social security and use of the budget surplus."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the President's proposal for addressing social security and use of the budget surplus."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Postal Service's (USPS) conversion strategy for preparing for the year 2000 crisis, focusing on: (1) year 2000 planning documents and their year 2000 guidance; and (2) internal development standards."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new rule on the control of air pollution from new motor vehicles. GAO noted that: (1) the new rule is designed to reduce the emissions from new passenger cars and light trucks, including pickup trucks, vans, minivans, and sport utility vehicles; (2) the new rule finalizes a single set of tailpipe emission standards that will, for the first time, apply to all passenger cars, light trucks, and larger passenger vehicles operated on any fuel; (3) the new rule requires reduced gasoline sulfur levels nationwide; and (4) EPA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the safety of large commercial trucks on the nation's highways, focusing on: (1) trends in crashes involving large trucks; (2) factors that contribute to such crashes; and (3) the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's (OMCHS) activities to improve the safety of large trucks."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the challenges of effective emergency preparedness for, response to, and recovery from major emergencies, including catastrophic incidents. Effective emergency preparedness and response for major events requires the coordinated planning and actions of multiple players from multiple first responder disciplines, jurisdictions, and levels of government as well as nongovernmental entities. Effective emergency preparedness and response requires putting aside parochialism and working together prior to and after an emergency incident. September 11, 2001 fundamentally changed the context of emergency management preparedness in the United States, including federal involvement in preparedness and response. The biggest challenge in emergency preparedness is getting effective cooperation in planning, exercises, and capability assessment and building across first responder disciplines and intergovernmental lines. DHS has developed several policy documents designed to define the federal government's role in supporting state and local first responders in emergencies, implement a uniform incident command structure across the nation, and identify performance standards that can be used in assessing state and local first responder capabilities. Realistic exercises are a key component of testing and assessing emergency plans and first responder capabilities, and the Hurricane PAM planning exercise demonstrated …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. government (USG), non-USG coalition, and DOD contractor personnel perform various roles in the ANP training program. These roles include: (1) serving as advisors and mentors to build ministerial capacity in areas such as financial and human resource management at the Afghan Ministry of Interior; (2) serving as mentors and trainers to develop Afghan commanders’ abilities to operate training sites and provide training to ANP recruits in areas such as criminal investigation, weapons, survival skills, and physical fitness; and (3) serving as embedded mentors to help deployed ANP units develop civilian policing skills. DOD contractor personnel also provide maintenance, logistics, and security support at training sites.As of November 2011, about 778 USG, non-USG coalition, and DOD contractor personnel provided ANP training and mentoring at 23 NATO-managed sites. Approximately 66 percent of these trainers and mentors were non-USG coalition personnel, 21 percent were USG personnel, and the remaining 13 percent were DOD contractor personnel. In addition, about 2,825 DOD contractor personnel provided maintenance, logistics, and security services at 12 NATO-managed training sites."

Special orders no. 23 specifies that the directives in general order no. 30 of December 28, 1864 will be suspended. By command of Major general Sheridan, this special order states that leaves of absence and furloughs will be halted until further orders.

Received of W. A. Morris the sum of $10 for Court Attorney fees for a case.

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Status of "recess gubernatorial appointees who are replaced by other nominees before the senate has had the opportunity to conform or reject them in a regular or special session (RQ-490)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether section 142.005 of the Health and Safety Code applies to nonprofit `corporations and related questions (RQ-491)

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; Whether an establishment that furnished food and shelter to four or more persons who are unrelated to the proprietor and that requires those persons to obtain personal care services through the proprietor's licensed home health agency is an assisted living facility that must be licensed under section 247.021(a) of the Health and Safety Code (RQ-0381-GA)

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; Whether the seal placed on certified copies of documents recorded in the county clerk's office must be raised (RQ-0394-GA)

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; Whether article VIII, section 6b of the Texas Constitution permits a commissioners court to distribute county permanent school funds reductions to a school district based on students attending school in the district who have transferred from another school district (RQ-0386-GA)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Construction of the term "school bus" for purposes of Senate Bill 1, Act of of May 27, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 260, 1995 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2207 and related questions (RQ-846)