A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has recorded billions of dollars of disbursements and collections in suspense accounts because the proper appropriation accounts could not be identified and charged. DOD has also been unable to resolve discrepancies between its and Treasury's records of checks issued by DOD. Because documentation that would allow for resolution of these payment recording problems could not be found after so many years, DOD requested and received legislative authority to write off certain aged suspense transactions and check payment differences. The conference report (H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 107-772) that accompanied the legislation (Pub. L. No. 107-314) required GAO to review and report on DOD's use of this write-off authority."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, GAO designated modernizing federal disability programs as a high-risk area requiring urgent attention and organizational transformation to ensure that programs function as efficiently and effectively as possible. GAO found that although social attitudes have changed and medical advancements afford greater opportunities for people with disabilities to work, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs have maintained an outmoded approach that equated disability with inability to work. We have prepared this report under the Comptroller General's authority as part of a continued effort to help policymakers better understand the extent of support provided by federal programs to people with disabilities and to assist them in determining how these programs could be better aligned to more effectively meet the needs of individuals with disabilities in the 21st century. This report identifies (1) the wide array of federal programs that serve people with disabilities, and (2) the major challenges these federal programs face in the 21st century. In addition, GAO presents factors policy makers and program administrators should address in assessing whether, and how, they could be transformed to better meet 21st century challenges."

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This document describes the basic detector performance for the CCI1 device, which consists of the Si2 and Ge2 detector components.

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This report is on Clinical Trials Reporting and Publication.

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide first assumed office in February 1991, following elections that were widely heralded as the first free and fair elections in Haiti's then-186-year history. He was overthrown by a military coup in September 1991. The U.S. involved itself in this by cutting off aid to the government, imposing trade embargoes, and military intervention among other things. This report contains information on the Haitian government and U.S. Congressional concerns.

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The United States and Mexico have a special relationship as neighbors and partners under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The friendly relationship has been strengthened by President Bush’s meetings with President Fox. This report, covering trade, migration/border, drug trafficking, and political issues, will be updated on a regular basis.

The Department of the Navy (DON) has several efforts underway to transform the U.S. naval forces to prepare them for future military challenges. The Navy has organized these efforts under a conceptual framework called Sea Power 21. Key elements of naval transformation include a focus on operating in littoral waters, network-centric operations, use of unmanned vehicles, reducing personnel requirements, directly launching and supporting expeditionary operations ashore from sea bases, new kinds of naval formations, new ship-deployment approaches, and streamlined and reformed business practices. Naval transformation poses several potential issues for Congress. This report will be updated as events warrant.

This report discusses potential Navy homeland security roles include defending the United States against ballistic or cruise missile attack, defending U.S. naval bases and naval computer networks against attack, searching for terrorists at sea, and assisting civil authorities in responding to terrorist attacks. The Navy’s role in homeland security raises several potential issues for Congress.

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Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected Clean Water Act (CWA) programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. In the 109th Congress, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved S. 1400, a bill authorizing $20 billion in federal grants to capitalize state clean water infrastructure loan programs. Also, a House committee has approved bills to reauthorize several Clean Water Act programs: H.R. 624 would provide $1.5 billion in grants over six years for sewer overflow projects; H.R. 1359 would extend a pilot program for alternative water source projects; H.R. 1721 would reauthorize coastal water quality programs; and H.R. 3963 would extend the Long Island Sound Program.

The U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DRCAFTA) is the eighth free trade agreement to include labor protections.1 Labor concerns tend to focus on three main questions: (1) How strong are labor laws in DRCAFTA countries?2 (2) Are those labor laws being adequately enforced? and (3) Does DR- CAFTA comply with the principal negotiating objectives for trade agreements outlined in the Trade Act of 2002?

This report, which will be updated periodically, focuses on the interactions between Mexico and the United States on migration and border issues during the administrations of President George W. Bush and President Vicente Fox of Mexico. The discussions and agreements fall into four areas: (1) the bilateral migration talks, (2) the Partnership for Prosperity, (3) the Border Partnership Agreement, and (4) the trilateral “Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America.”

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Several environmental statutes contain national security exemptions, which the Department of Defense (DOD) can obtain on a case-by-case basis. Since FY2003, DOD has sought broader exemptions that it argues are needed to preserve training capabilities and ensure military readiness. There has been disagreement in Congress over the need for broader exemptions in the absence of data on the overall impact of environmental requirements on training and readiness.

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