A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2006, about 18,000 undervotes were reported in Sarasota County in the race for Florida's 13th Congressional District (FL-13). After the contesting of the election results in the House of Representatives, the task force unanimously voted to seek GAO's assistance in determining whether the voting systems contributed to the large undervote in Sarasota County. GAO agreed with the task force on an engagement plan, including the following review objectives: (1) What voting systems were used in Sarasota County and what processes governed their use? (2) What was the scope of the undervote in Sarasota County in the general election? (3) What tests were conducted on the voting systems in Sarasota County prior to the general election and what were the results of those tests? (4) Considering the voting systems tests conducted after the general election, are additional tests needed to determine whether the voting systems contributed to the undervote? To conduct its work, GAO met with officials from the State of Florida, Sarasota County, and Election Systems and Software (ES&S)--the voting systems manufacturer--and reviewed voting systems test documentation. GAO analyzed election data to characterize …

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Grand Coulee Dam was constructed on the Columbia River in northeastern Washington State from 1933 to 1942. The reservoir behind the dam covers land on the Colville Reservation along the Columbia River and land on the adjacent Spokane Reservation along both the Columbia and Spokane rivers. Under a 1940 act, the federal government paid $63,000 and $4,700 to the Colville and Spokane tribes, respectively, for the land used for the dam and reservoir. Subsequently, the Colville tribes pursued additional claims for their lost fisheries and for "water power values" and in 1994 were awarded a lump sum payment of $53 million and, beginning in 1996, annual payments that have ranged between $14 million to $21 million. The Spokane tribe is currently pursuing similar claims. S. 1438, introduced in July 2003, is a proposed legislative settlement for the Spokane tribe's claims. While settlement proposals introduced in the 106th and 107th Congresses directed the settlement costs to be split between Bonneville and the Treasury, S. 1438 provides that the settlement be paid entirely from the Treasury. This statement for the record addresses the (1) impact of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report summarizes GAO's findings on the United States Russia Fund and its investment selection process and criteria. The United States established enterprise funds to support private sector development in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as they move from centrally planned to market-oriented economies. Enterprise funds are private, nonprofit U.S. corporations that are supposed to make loans to, or invest in, small, medium, and large businesses in which other financial institutions are reluctant to invest. The Fund is authorized to receive $440 million through the Agency for International Development. As of March 2000, the Fund had invested $114.4 million in 30 projects through its direct investment program which provides loans and equity capital to businesses in Russia. GAO found that the Fund followed its review process and criteria for selecting direct investments."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the economic state of the airline industry. Many, but not all, major U.S. passenger airlines are experiencing their second consecutive year of record financial losses. In 2001, the U.S. commercial passenger airline industry reported losses in excess of $6 billion. For 2002, some Wall Street analysts recently projected that U.S. airline industry losses will approach $7 billion, and noted that the prospects for recovery during 2003 are diminishing. Carriers have taken many actions to lower their costs and restructure their operations. Since September 2001, carriers have furloughed 100,000 staff, renegotiated labor contracts, and streamlined their fleets by retiring older, costlier aircraft. Carriers have reduced capacity by operating fewer flights or smaller aircraft. In some cases, carriers eliminated all service to communities. As the aviation industry continues its attempts to recover, Congress will be confronted with a need for increased oversight of a number of public policy issues. First, airlines' reactions to financial pressures will affect the domestic industry's competitive landscape. Second, airlines' reductions in service will likely place additional pressure on federal programs supporting air service to small communities, where travel options are already limited. …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has provided international family planning assistance through the Agency for International Development (AID) since the mid-1960s. U.S. law prohibits the use of international family planning funds for abortions and requires that all family planning programs supported by AID be voluntary. This report discusses: (1) how much family planning assistance AID provided in fiscal years 1996-1999 and plans to provide in fiscal year 2000, and (2) what procedures have been established to ensure that funds are not being used for prohibited activities. GAO found that AID provided $432 million in assistance in fiscal year 1996 and $385 million in each of fiscal years 1997-1999. AID has established multiple procedures to ensure that family planning funds are not used for prohibited activities, including specifying the restrictions in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), established in 1968, provides property owners with some insurance coverage for flood damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for managing the NFIP. Given the challenges facing the NFIP and the need for legislative reform to ensure the financial stability and ongoing viability of this program, GAO placed the NFIP on its high-risk list in March 2006. This testimony updates past work and provides information about ongoing GAO work on issues including (1) NFIP's financial structure, (2) the extent of compliance with mandatory requirements, (3) the status of map modernization efforts, and (4) FEMA's oversight of the NFIP. Building on our previous and ongoing work on the NFIP, GAO collected data from FEMA to update efforts, including information about claims, policies, repetitive loss properties, and mitigation efforts."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses what can be accomplished with FirstGov.gov and identifies challenges that should be addressed as it continues to be developed and refined. Under FirstGov, an important and previously unavailable capability--searching the entire government's web pages--was rapidly and successfully put into place. The FirstGov Board of Directors needs to address the following four issues: (1) improving site security, (2) assessing and acting upon information in the Fed-Search database that might facilitate malicious activity, (3) addressing issues regarding private sector sponsorship, and (4) developing plans for the future. An overall management plan for FirstGov.gov would be a useful vehicle for setting expectations about what general functions are likely to be achievable for FirstGov in the near term, how the site will be managed on an ongoing basis, and how progress toward the larger goals set forth in the President's December 1999 memorandum will be measured."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Service (FSS) and Federal Technology Service (FTS) play an important role in assisting agencies procure a wide range of products and services. Over the past several years, FSS and FTS purchases have significantly increased, with IT products and services being the primary source of this growth. In April 2002, we identified overlap in FSS' and FTS' IT procurement programs. A management consultant similarly found overlaps in FTS' and FSS' IT sales and marketing functions and contract offerings. To enhance FSS and FTS operational efficiency and effectiveness--in both its IT and non-IT business lines--GSA has undertaken a performance improvement initiative. This testimony focuses on GSA's actions to implement its initiative. It also discusses the importance of enhancing GSA's ability to help agencies strategically purchase products and services."

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a commissioners court may change the name of a county road (RQ-0237-JC)

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: School district responsibilities under section 25.0951(a) of the Texas Education Code (RQ-0584-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 a bail bond board may implement a rule allowing a temporary extension of the license expiration dates set forth in section 1704.162 of the Occupations Code (RQ-0585-GA)

This report focuses on relations between the United States and India, a relationship deepened in the Clinton and G. W. Bush Administrations. The Obama Administrations seeks to continue developing this relationship. Continuing U.S. interest in South Asia focuses on ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, human rights issues, caste-based discrimination, and India's economic expansion.

This report provides a historical account and analysis of the crisis through September 25, 2009. While business contraction appears to have abated, unemployment is shown to be on the rise and many businesses and countries are still facing difficulties.

This report examines the importance to the U.S. economy of China's investment in U.S. securities, as well as U.S. concerns over the possibility that China might unload a large share of those holdings, including the likelihood that this would occur, and the potential implications such action could have for the U.S. economy. The report concludes that a large sell-off of Chinese Treasury securities holdings could negatively affect the U.S. economy, at least in the short-run. As a result, such a move could diminish U.S. demand for Chinese products and thus could lower China's economic growth as well.

This report discusses how Congress should respond to the Navy's proposed force structure and shipbuilding plans. Decisions that Congress makes on this issue could significantly affect future U.S. military capabilities, Navy funding requirements, and the Navy shipbuilding industrial base.

This report takes an in-depth look at job creation estimates, including the limitations of the methodology often used to derive them and the difficulties associated with developing job estimates for green infrastructure in particular. The report views these topics in the context of the 2007-2008 recession and its aftermath.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States is the largest global food aid donor, accounting for over half of all food aid supplies to alleviate hunger and support development. Since 2002, Congress has appropriated an average of $2 billion per year for U.S. food aid programs, which delivered an average of 4 million metric tons of food commodities per year. Despite growing demand for food aid, rising business and transportation costs have contributed to a 52 percent decline in average tonnage delivered between 2001 and 2006. These costs represent 65 percent of total emergency food aid, highlighting the need to maximize its efficiency and effectiveness. This testimony is based on a recent GAO report that examined some key challenges to the (1) efficiency of U.S. food aid programs and (2) effective use of U.S. food aid."

This report examines the casualty data that was compiled by the Department of Defense (DOD), as tallied from the agency's press releases. The report provides statistics on fatalities during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003, and is ongoing, as well as on the number of fatalities since May 1, 2003. Statistics may be revised as circumstances are investigated and as all records are processed through the U.S. military's casualty system.

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This report discusses several temporary provisions affecting the taxation of capital income that were adopted in the 2001-2003 period. These provisions include lower individual tax rates, bonus depreciation, and lower individual income tax rates on dividends and capital gains.

This report begins with a brief overview of the major features of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its regulations The various proposals that have been made to amend the act since its inception more than a decade ago are then categorized and discussed. It closes with a review of legislative and regulatory activity.

This report discusses a number of privacy concerns raised by "behavioral" or "e-havioral" advertising, which enables online advertisements to be targeted directly at individual users based on their web surfing activity.

This report discusses the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which is the Navy's highest priority aviation modernization program. The Super Hornet has been approved for international export, but no sales have been made as of June 2006. Key issues surrounding the program relate to the total number of Super Hornets to be procured.

This report discusses Congressional debate of comprehensive immigration reform and other immigration-related issues that have seen legislative action or are of significant congressional interest.