A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma (the Gulf Coast hurricanes) caused more than $118 billion in estimated property damages across the Gulf Coast region in 2005. The Small Business Administration (SBA) helps individuals and businesses recover from disasters through its Disaster Loan Program. GAO initiated work to determine how well SBA provided victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes with timely assistance. This report, the first of two, focuses primarily on the Disaster Credit Management System (DCMS) and disaster loan process. Here, GAO evaluates (1) what affected SBA's ability to provide timely disaster assistance and (2) actions SBA took after the disasters to improve its response to disaster victims. In conducting this study, GAO analyzed data on loan applications and assessed key aspects of SBA's acquisition and implementation of DCMS."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past several years, we have reported examples of hundreds of Army National Guard and Army Reserve (Army Guard and Reserve) soldiers who received inaccurate and untimely payroll payments due to a labor-intensive, error-prone pay process; human capital weaknesses; and the lack of integrated pay and personnel systems. As part of that work, we reported several cases for which mobilized Army Reserve soldiers never reported for active duty and improperly received pay that they did not earn. If a soldier remains absent, without authority, from his or her unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away permanently, a soldier is guilty of desertion. Desertion from the military is a serious offense. The civilian law enforcement community sometimes assists the Army on desertion cases. For example, the U.S. Army Deserter Information Point (USADIP) enters data about soldiers in deserter status into the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Crime Information Center's (NCIC) Wanted Person File that is used by civilian law enforcement officers. Whenever a civilian law enforcement officer has reason to question someone about any apparent unlawful activity, standard practice for the law enforcement officer …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The first wave of baby boomers(born between 1946 and 1964) will become eligible for Social Security early retirement benefits in 2008. In addition to concerns about how the boomers' retirement will strain the nation's retirement and health systems, concerns also have been raised about the possibility for boomers to sell off large amounts of financial assets in retirement, with relatively fewer younger U.S. workers available to purchase these assets. Some have suggested that such a sell-off could precipitate a market "meltdown," a sharp and sudden decline in asset prices, or reduce long-term rates of return. In view of such concerns, we have examined (1) whether the retirement of the baby boomers is likely to precipitate a dramatic drop in financial asset prices; (2) what researchers and financial industry participants expect the effect of the boomer retirement to have on financial markets; and (3) what role rates of return will play in providing retirement income in the future. We have prepared this report under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative as part of the continued effort to assist Congress in addressing these …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS), hospitals generally receive fixed payments for hospital stays based on diagnosis-related groups (DRG), a system that classifies stays by patient diagnosis and procedures. CMS is required to at least annually update DRG payments to address changes in the cost of inpatient care. CMS uses charge-based weights to update these payments. Cost-based weights are used to set payments in the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS). The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 required GAO to study IPPS payments in relation to costs. During the course of GAO's work, CMS proposed a new cost-based method for determining DRG weights. This report (1) examines the applicability of CMS's cost-based method--used for the OPPS--to weight DRGs in the IPPS and (2) evaluates whether CMS's proposed approach is an improvement over its OPPS method for setting cost-based weights. Using fiscal year 2002 cost reports and claims from 2001, 2002, and 2003 to examine the applicability of the OPPS method, GAO estimated costs for 1,025 IPPS hospitals whose Medicare cost reports most consistently reflected the total charges and number of Medicare stays …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Major acquisitions in the Department of Defense's (DOD) force transformation rely on maintaining technological superiority to ensure U.S. military dominance. Failure to identify and protect critical technologies makes U.S. military assets vulnerable to cloning, neutralization, or other action that degrades current and anticipated capabilities. To help minimize these risks, DOD's Militarily Critical Technologies Program developed and periodically updates two lists of technologies--the Militarily Critical Technologies List (MCTL) and the Developing Science and Technologies List (DSTL). While the lists are primarily intended to inform U.S. export control decisions, they can also inform counterintelligence activities, research plans, and technology protection programs, making MCTL and DSTL fundamental resources for security decisions. To ensure these lists are informative, GAO assessed the Militarily Critical Technologies Program's process for updating the MCTL and DSTL and determined how the lists are used to inform export control and DOD policy decisions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In January 2004, Congress established the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to administer the Millennium Challenge Account. MCC's mission is to reduce poverty by supporting sustainable, transformative economic growth in developing countries that create and maintain sound policy environments. MCC has received more than $4.2 billion in appropriations, and, as of May 2006, it had disbursed $22.4 million to four countries whose signed MCC compacts have entered into force. For the first three countries with compact entry into force--Madagascar, Cape Verde, and Honduras--GAO was requested to examine (1) key aspects that MCC reviewed, and the criteria it used, in its due diligence assessments; and (2) the structures that have been established for implementing the compacts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The continued success of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), which is administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is predicated on donor confidence that each donation reaches a legitimate charitable organization. The Ways and Means Committee's review of tax-exempt entities has led to concerns that charities listed in CFC are failing to remit payroll and other taxes to IRS as required by law. Specifically, GAO was asked to determine whether and to what extent (1) charities listed in the 2005 CFC have unpaid payroll and other taxes; (2) selected charities, their directors, or senior officers are abusing the federal tax system; and (3) OPM screens charities for federal tax problems before allowing them to be listed with CFC."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), authorizes retail grocers, called regular WIC vendors, to provide the food benefit. Recently, some states have seen an increase in vendors called WIC-only vendors, who stock only WIC food and accept only WIC vouchers. Both vendor types accept WIC vouchers in exchange for a cash payment, or redemption, from WIC state agencies with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant funds. To determine what effect WIC-only vendors' growth would have on program expenditures, in the absence of recent cost containment legislation, Congress asked GAO (1) what is known about WIC-only vendors' growth and their share of the WIC market in recent years, (2) to what extent do WIC-only and regular WIC vendors differ, and (3) what would WIC-only vendors' contribution to WIC program expenditures have been, if their market share increased. GAO analyzed national WIC vendor data, interviewed WIC state officials about vendors' business practices, and analyzed redemption data from California, Texas and Florida."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Visa Waiver Program enables citizens of 27 participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without first obtaining a visa. The program was created to promote the effective use of government resources and to facilitate international travel without jeopardizing U.S. national security. Indeed, in fiscal year 2004, more than 15 million travelers entered the United States under this program. The United States last expanded the Visa Waiver Program's membership in 1999 with the addition of Portugal, Singapore, and Uruguay; in recent years, other countries have expressed a desire to become members. In addition, Members of Congress have recently introduced bills calling for the expansion of the program. In February 2005, President Bush announced that the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and State (State) would develop a strategy, or "Road Map Initiative," to clarify to prospective candidates the statutory requirements for designation as a participating country--and work with countries to help them comply with these requirements. In response to a Congressional request, this report describes (1) the process for gaining admission into the Visa Waiver Program and (2) the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, there were 48 federally declared disasters in 2005. Two of these disasters--Hurricanes Katrina and Rita--resulted in a prolonged interruption of child welfare services and the dispersion of thousands of children in Louisiana's foster care system to 19 states. As a result, there has been growing interest in the extent to which states have developed strategies to cope with disasters that could result in the dispersion of children in the child welfare system. Congress asked us to conduct a study of the challenges facing state child welfare systems, including the development of plans for dealing with the dispersion of children in the child welfare system due to disasters. This report addresses state child welfare disaster planning. Specifically, we are providing information on (1) the number of states that have statewide child welfare disaster plans and the primary components of those plans, (2) the extent to which states that experienced federally declared disasters in 2005 also had child welfare disaster plans, and (3) how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) supports states' efforts to develop child welfare disaster plans."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "At least 26 federal entities distribute grants, often with differing administrative requirements. As a result, grantees may be diverting resources from program objectives to comply with varying administrative requirements. Congress, attempting to reduce this inefficiency, passed the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, commonly referred to as P.L. 106-107. It required the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure that agencies streamline processes, develop common systems, and consult with grantees; it also required GAO to evaluate the law's effectiveness. In response, this report discusses aspects of grant administration that grantees identified as inadequate to meet the act's goals and on which further action was needed. GAO reviewed grantee comments on changes needed, obtained views from grantee associations and users of the Web portal called Grants.gov, performed detailed site visits at selected grantees, and obtained views of OMB."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1980, the Department of the Interior (Interior) established regulations to provide a uniform approach for taking land in trust. Trust status means the government holds title to the land in trust for tribes and individual Indians. Trust land is exempt from state and local taxes. The Secretary of the Interior has delegated primary responsibility for processing, reviewing, and deciding on applications to take land in trust to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). As part of this process, BIA must seek comments from affected state and local governments. Congress directed GAO to study BIA's processing of land in trust applications to determine the extent to which (1) BIA followed its regulations, (2) applications were processed in a timely manner, and to (3) identify any concerns raised by state and local governments about land in trust applications. GAO is also providing information on problems with BIA's data on the processing of land in trust applications."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program provides funding for housing, economic development, and other community development activities. In fiscal year 2006, Congress appropriated about $4.2 billion for the program. Administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the CDBG program provides funding to metropolitan cities and urban counties, known as entitlement communities, and to states for distribution to nonentitlement communities. This report discusses (1) how recipients use CDBG funds, including the extent to which they comply with spending limits, (2) how HUD monitors recipients' use of CDBG funds, and (3) how HUD holds recipients that have not complied with CDBG program requirements accountable. To address these objectives, we visited 20 recipients, analyzed HUD data, and interviewed HUD staff."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1990s, growth in the use of the Internet has revolutionized the way that our nation communicates and conducts business. While the Internet originated as a U.S. government-sponsored research project, the vast majority of its infrastructure is currently owned and operated by the private sector. Federal policy recognizes the need to prepare for debilitating Internet disruptions and tasks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with developing an integrated public/private plan for Internet recovery. GAO was asked to summarize its report being released today--Internet Infrastructure: DHS Faces Challenges in Developing a Joint Public/Private Recovery Plan, GAO-06-672 (Washington, D.C.: June 16, 2006). This report (1) identifies examples of major disruptions to the Internet, (2) identifies the primary laws and regulations governing recovery of the Internet in the event of a major disruption, (3) evaluates DHS plans for facilitating recovery from Internet disruptions, and (4) assesses challenges to such efforts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Visa Waiver Program enables citizens of 27 countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. In fiscal year 2004, more than 15 million people entered the country under the program. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the risks that aliens would exploit the program to enter the United States became more of a concern. In this report, we (1) describe the Visa Waiver Program's benefits and risks, (2) examine the U.S. government's process for assessing potential risks, and (3) assess actions taken to mitigate these risks. We met with U.S. embassy officials in six program countries, and reviewed relevant laws, procedures, and reports on participating countries."

The senses of hearing and balance rest upon mechanoelectrical transduction by the hair bundles of hair cells in the inner ear. Located at the apical cellular surface, each hair bundle comprises several tens of stereocilia and a single kinocilium that are interconnected by extracellular proteinaceous links. Using electron-microscopic tomography of bullfrog saccular sensory epithelia, we examined the three-dimensional structures of ankle or basal links, kinociliary links, and tip links. We observed clear differences in the dimensions and appearances of the three links. We found two distinct populations of tip links suggestive of the involvement of two proteins or splice variants. We noted auxiliary links connecting the upper portions of tip links to the taller stereocilia. Tip links and auxiliary links show a tendency to adopt a globular conformation when disconnected from the membrane surface.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

The United States provides assistance to 47 African countries, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has 23 missions in Africa. In recent years, U.S. assistance to Africa saw a major increase, especially in health-related programs. This report provides an overview of U.S. aid to Africa, including the strategic objectives that shape U.S. aid to Africa, information about specific aid programs and initiatives, and the Obama Administration's FY2011 foreign aid budget request.

This report discusses the ongoing debate regarding the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal government corporation which is the the official export credit agency (ECA) of the U.S. Government.

None

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

None

In a policy climate where incentives to cherry pick are minimized, Managed Care Organizations can implement practices that safeguard medical privacy to the extent that data is protected from falling into the hands of third parties who could misuse it to discriminate. To the extent that these practices have been codified into the regulatory Network of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Consumers may be able to rest easy about their genetic data being revealed to third parties who may discriminate. However, there are limitations to the use of policy instruments to prevent the discrimination of an entire genre of clients by market driven managed care organizations. Policy measures, to assure that knowledge of genetic conditions and their future costs would not be used by market driven managed care organizations to implement institutional policies and products that would implicitly discriminate against a genre of clients with genetic conditions, present difficulties.