A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since September 11, 2001, more attention has been focused on the importance of identifying people who use false identity information or documents to obtain a driver license. The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers states a service to verify social security numbers (SSNs) collected during the driver licensing process. This report examines states' use of SSA's verification service, factors that may affect the usefulness of the service, and other tools states use or need to verify identity."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over the years, Committees and members of Congress have requested information about employee equal opportunity and diversity issues at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). This report follows up on our past reports concerning diversity issues at the USPS and responds to the request of the Ranking Minority Members of the House Committee on Government Reform and its Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization for more current information on the representation of minorities and women at the USPS. Our objective was to provide data on the makeup (numbers and percentages) for each equal employment opportunity (EEO) group--white, black, Hispanic, Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN), and Native Hawaiian (Hawaiian)--and gender group of USPS career employees for USPS fiscal years 2000 through 2002. Information contained in this report was obtained from USPS databases, which we deemed sufficiently reliable for the informational purpose of this engagement."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The multibillion dollar Airport and Airway Trust Fund (Trust Fund) provides most of the funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Trust Fund relies on revenue from 10 taxes, including passenger ticket, fuel, and cargo taxes. Concerns about the financial outlook of the Trust Fund have emerged recently given the downturn in passenger air travel, requests from the airlines to suspend some of the Trust Fund taxes, and the need to reauthorize FAA's major programs in 2003. GAO was asked to determine (1) the projected financial outlook of the Trust Fund and (2) how a 1- year suspension of various taxes accruing to the Trust Fund (i.e., a tax holiday), would affect its financial status. We were asked to assess five potential tax holidays that would have begun on April 1, 2003, and ended on April 1, 2004. GAO used a model developed by FAA that made financial projections for the Trust Fund using expenditure assumptions that were based on (1) the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's May 2, 2003, and the House Subcommittee on Aviation's May 15, 2003, reauthorization proposals authorizing over …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "When taxpayers claim more withholding allowances than they are entitled to or improperly claim exemption from withholding, either no tax or too little tax is withheld from their wages. As a result, some taxpayers end up owing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) additional taxes, and if the taxes are not paid on time, they become delinquent. This report responds to a Congressional request for information on these taxpayers. Specifically, we provided information on (1) how many taxpayers claimed more than 10 allowances for federal income tax withholding purposes and (2) how many taxpayers claimed exemption from federal income tax withholding and, of those taxpayers, what proportion did not file federal income tax returns and had invalid Social Security numbers."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress recognized the importance of building the capacity of community development organizations by passing Section 4 of the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993. The act authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to partner with several national nonprofit organizations that provide funding to these community groups for such things as training, staff salaries, office equipment and supplies, and management information systems. In 2002, HUD provided $31 million for capacitybuilding activities. To help Congress with its oversight of Section 4, we reviewed the evolution and use of Section 4 funding, the importance of Section 4 funding to private sector involvement, and the management controls and measurements that are in place to assess Section 4."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Leading public organizations here and abroad recognize that a more strategic approach to human capital management is essential for change initiatives that are intended to transform their cultures. To that end, organizations are looking for ways to identify and develop the leaders, managers, and workforce necessary to face the array of challenges that will confront government in the 21st century. GAO conducted this study to identify how agencies in four countries--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom--are adopting a more strategic approach to managing the succession of senior executives and other public sector employees with critical skills. These agencies' experiences may provide insights to executive branch agencies as they undertake their own succession planning and management initiatives. GAO identified the examples described in this report through discussions with officials from central human capital agencies, national audit offices, and agencies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and a screening survey sent to senior human capital officials at selected agencies."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense is spending nearly $18 billion annually to develop, acquire, and operate satellites and other space-related systems. The majority of satellite programs that GAO has reviewed over the past 2 decades experienced increased costs and delayed schedules. DOD has recently implemented a new acquisition management policy, which sets the stage for decision making on individual space programs. GAO was asked to assess the new policy."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Under 10 U.S.C. 2466, not more than 50 percent of each military department's annual depot maintenance funding can be used for work done by private-sector contractors. The Department of Defense (DOD) also must submit two reports to the Congress annually on the division of depot maintenance funding between the public and private sectors--one about the percentage of funds spent in the previous 2 fiscal years (prior-years report) and one about the current and 4 succeeding fiscal years (future-years report). As required, GAO reviewed the two DOD reports submitted in early 2003 and is, with this report, submitting its views to the Congress on whether (1) the military services met the so-called "50-50 requirement" for fiscal years 2001-2 and (2) the projections for fiscal years 2003-7 are reasonable estimates. GAO also identified opportunities to improve the reporting process."

Quarterly publication of the Texas Comptroller's Office regarding sales and use tax in the state of Texas, including an analysis by county, analysis by industry, and related notes.

This report discuses lumber imports from Canada and provides a concise historical account of the dispute, summarizes the subsidy and injury evidence, and discusses the current issues and events.