A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) receives over 300,000 patent applications each year. Before the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, USPTO was required by law to keep the information on patent applications confidential until a patent was granted. The act modified this requirement and mandated that USPTO publish most patent applications 18 months after filing. One exception to this requirement is available to patent applicants filing only in the United States. These applicants can request that their application not be published. The act required GAO to provide information on how patent applications have been affected by the 18-month publication provisions. GAO was required to determine (1) the number of patent applications filed only in the United States, and (2) whether certain differences exist between published and unpublished patent applications. Specifically, GAO examined differences relating to whether the applicant was a large or small entity, the percentage of patents issued by USPTO and applications abandoned by the applicants, and the length of time between filing an application and when USPTO issued a patent or the application was abandoned."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Rural Housing Service's (RHS) Section 521 Rental Assistance Program provides rental subsidies to about 250,000 rural tenants through 5-year contracts with project owners; 20-year contracts were also issued from 1978 through 1982. In early 2003, RHS reported hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpended balances, primarily tied to 5- and 20-year contracts issued from 1978 through 1982. Since contracts remain active until all funds are expired, some of these contracts will likely last as long as 38 years. GAO was asked to assess (1) the activity level of rental assistance contracts issued from 1978 through 1997 that have unexpended balances and the possibility of deobligating these balances, and (2) the activity level of rental assistance contracts issued from 1998 through 2002 and the accuracy of RHS's estimates of the rate at which these funds would be used. The Department of Agriculture commented on our responses to these questions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO is required to review the steps taken by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to avoid exceeding the debt ceiling during the 2003 debt issuance suspension period. The committee also directed GAO to determine whether all major accounts that were used for debt ceiling relief have been properly credited or reimbursed. Accordingly, GAO determined whether Treasury followed its normal investment and redemption policies and procedures for the major federal government accounts with investment authority, analyzed the financial aspects of actions Treasury took during this period, and analyzed the impact of policies and procedures Treasury used to manage the debt during the period."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program paid about $36 billion in benefits to about 6.9 million recipients in 2003. In recent years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has identified a general increase in the amount of annual overpayments made to recipients who are not present in the U.S. as required by SSI program guidelines--a problem we refer as "residency violations." This problem has caused concern among both program administrators and policy makers. As such, GAO was asked to determine what is known about the extent to which SSI benefits are improperly paid to individuals who are not present in the United States and to identify any weaknesses in SSA's processes and policies that impede the agency's ability to detect and deter residency violations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance (Commission) was created on December 28, 2000, by the National Moment of Remembrance Act (Act). The Commission received appropriated funds in fiscal years 2003 and 2002. Its purpose is to sustain the American spirit through acts of remembrance for those who died serving their country, not only on Memorial Day, but also throughout the year. We are required by the Act to audit the financial transactions of the Commission, and this report covers our work on its fiscal years 2003 and 2002 financial transactions."

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: Validity of a local ordinance that allows a nonconforming sign to be replaced with a new nonconforming sign (RQ-0129-GA).

This report summarizes the current developments in U.S-PRC relations, including current and pending congressional actions involving the PRC. It also points out U.S. Policy Trends and Key Issues in U.S- PRC Relations.

This report discusses the key role Congress played in formulating an aid program for the former Soviet Union in 1992. Focusing on tensions in the political and legislative system, it delineates congressional achievements — chief of which was the Freedom Support Act. The legislation that was ultimately produced became the basis on which future debate would be conducted regarding how the United States could continue to influence events in the former Soviet Union and assist its transition to an open market economy and democratic institutions.