Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The original anthrax vaccine was developed in the 1950s and was first produced on a large scale by Merck. The BioPort Corporation in Michigan is now the sole facility in the United States capable of producing the vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licenses biological products and their production facilities. The manufacturer is required to comply with current good manufacturing practices, which regulate personnel, buildings, equipment, production controls, records, and other aspects of the vaccine manufacturing process. When there is a major change in the manufacturing process, the manufacturer must submit evidence to FDA showing that the change does not have any adverse effects. The manufacturer must also ensure that the quality of the product is maintained. In the case of the anthrax vaccine, the Michigan facility did not notify FDA of several changes to the manufacturing process in the early 1990s, and no specific studies were done to confirm that vaccine quality was not affected. FDA inspections found several deficiencies, many of which were not corrected in a timely manner."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report compares data on the number of registered voters for the 40 largest counties in the United States with estimates of voting age populations for those jurisdictions. GAO found that none of the counties have voter registration numbers that exceed the number of eligible voting age residents."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In addition to the end of the Cold War and the resulting military force structure downsizing, three events have shaped the depot maintenance environment. First, the base realignment and closure process has reduced DOD's Cold War era infrastructure from 38 military depots to 19. Second, as recommended in various studies, DOD has increasingly relied on defense contractors for depot maintenance and related logistics activities. Third, depot maintenance personnel have been cut by 59 percent, the third highest percent of any category of DOD personnel. DOD has not effectively managed the restructuring of its depot maintenance and related programs. In its earlier and ongoing reviews of defense maintenance and related logistics issues, GAO has identified several management weaknesses in the areas of policy, planning, recapitalization, human capital issues, financial management, performance of maintenance programs, and meeting legislative requirements. As GAO's recent performance accountability report on defense issues notes, logistics activities represent a key management challenge. Maintenance is an important part of those activities, and DOD is at a critical point with respect to the future of its maintenance programs that is linked to its overall logistics strategic plan."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the non-profit and non-partisan Federal City Council's (FCC) proposal to use the current site of the Washington Convention Center for the National Museum of American Music (NMAM). The FCC proposal which is now in the conceptual stage anticipates that NMAM will be located at the existing Convention Center site and that it will be part of a major mixed-use complex that includes retail, entertainment, and performance venues. The total estimated cost for FCC's mixed-use proposal is $1.1 billion, with $172.5 million attributed to the music museum. The proposal estimates that the District would receive annual land rent of $13 million, equivalent to a seven-percent return on the estimated land value of $183 million. FCC spent $300,000 in federal appropriations on the project management services provided by the Smithsonian Institution. The District of Columbia has not yet considered any proposals for the use of the Convention Center site. The Mayor has established a task force to study the possible uses for the site, and it is developing a process to both solicit and evaluate independently generated proposals for the site."

Congress established the Census Monitoring Board to observe and monitor all aspects of the preparation and implementation of the 2000 decennial census. After the completion of the 200 census, many thoughtful parties continue a sincere debate over the implementation of statistical adjustment as a means of increasing the accuracy of the census and for its use in redistricting and the allocation of government funds and services. On March 1, 2001, the Census Bureau's Executive Steering Committee overseeing the post-census evaluation phase, the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.), recommended against adjusting the count. Reasonable people, including leading statisticians, have reviewed the statistical adjustment methodology and have raised legitimate questions. This report attempts to put that methodology into perspective and add to what will be further debate and discussion on how all of us as shareholders can continue to work together to ensure the most accurate census possible.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "At the federal level the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking to better protect human subjects in biomedical research by enhancing the visibility of its human subjects protection activities, improving its monitoring of compliance with relevant regulations by institutions and investigators, and strengthening enforcement of those regulations. HHS has also issued new guidance and is collecting information to improve oversight and monitoring at the institutional level. HHS activities directed at the investigator level consist largely of educational efforts to heighten investigators' awareness of and compliance with ethical policies and practices in conducting research. Overall, HHS' actions appear promising, but GAO has some concerns about the pace and scope of HHS' efforts to ensure the safety and protection of participants in clinical trials."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This correspondence provides information on (1) factors affecting retail gasoline prices in Oregon, including transportation costs, taxes, costs of full service, and other supply and demand conditions and (2) how gasoline price trends in Portland, Oregon, compare with trends in other West Coast cities. GAO identified several factors affecting gasoline prices in Oregon, including (1) higher-than-average costs associated with transporting gasoline from refiners to consumers because Oregon has no refining capability and a greater proportion of its gasoline demand comes from rural driving, (2) higher-than-average state gasoline taxes, and (3) a prohibition on self-service gasoline stations. GAO also found that although Portland's gas prices differ from those of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, all four cities responded similarly to rapid price changes. Retail prices in all four cities follow similar patterns with respect to major periods of price increases and decreases."

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The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Alvin Orsland. Orsland joined the Marine Corps in June of 1944. He went to Hawaii in November of 1944, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division. In February of 1945 they participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima, which Orsland provides details of his experiences as a rifleman through the battle. He was discharged in July of 1946 as a Corporal.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bert Cooper. Upon graduation from high school in February 1944 he joined the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and was assigned to the First Marine Division. In transit to the division, his ship encountered a Japanese submarine off Okinawa, which was driven off or sunk by depth charges. Upon arrival at Okinawa several days after the initial invasion he recalls an incident when hundreds of Marines were attacked by a Japanese kamikaze while disembarking down cargo nets. He recounts being picked up by ten wheeler trucks on the beach driven by African American Army soldiers. During that time he tended to the wounded and recounts several stories involving badly wounded and dying Marines. In two instances, the dying Marine despaired that no one would remember them, and Cooper emphatically stated that "I will remember you my entire life." He next recalls reenlisting to go to Korea where he served on the hospital ship USS Haven (AH-12) during the invasion of Inchon, Korea. Cooper recalls severe casualties from frostbite. By this time the service had been integrated and he recalls the heroism of the African American troops and instances …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dorothy Rufi. Mrs. Rufi’s maiden name is Roehning. She arrived in Washington D.C. to work at the Coast Guard headquarters in 1942. She was assigned to a secretarial pool of four women who worked for Rear Admiral Harvey F. Johnson. She mentions blackouts and an air raid drill. She returned to her home to Minnesota in 1944.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Dr. Patrick H. McKay. Born in San Antonio, Texas in 1924, he discusses the hard times experienced by his family during the Depression. He joined Army ROTC in high school. After graduating, he was inducted into the Army in September 1943. He was sent on the USS West Point (AP-23) to Papua, New Guinea. He describes his experiences and training during the transit. He describes his time at Milne Bay, as a Private assigned to the 158th Regimental Combat Team, known as the" Bushmasters." He describes his unit's attack on a small island off the coast of New Guinea. His regiment's next action was at Noemfoor Island, New Guinea in July and August 1944. He recalls Tokyo Rose saying before the landing that "the blood-thirsty Bushmasters are going to meet a wall of steel.” He recalls several banzai attacks during the battle. His unit next made an assault on Lingayen Gulf in Luzon, Philippines. Their objective was the headquarters for the 17th Japanese Army unit under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita in Baguio. Next, his unit was sent to fight its way through the outskirts of Manila. …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edward Nielsen. Nielsen joined the Army in January, 1941 and trained at Fort Knox. He was a good driver and was used to instruct other recruits in how to drive tanks. He discusses his experiences during the Louisiana Maneuvers prior to the war. When the war started, he headed for England with the 1st Armored Division be fore shipping to North Africa. Nielsen describes fighting in tanks in North Africa. Nielsen was captured by the Germans in February 1943. He was eventually evacuated through Tunis to a POW camp near Munich. He escaped with a friend only to be captured again after a few days. When the war ended, he had been liberated and was in American hands, waiting to go back to the US. When he returned, he was discharged in the fall of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Edward Nielsen from Medaryville, Indiana. He discusses undergoing Amry training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, before being assigned as B Company of the 69th Army Regiment at Fort Knox as a private. Afterwards he got lucky and was assigned to drive a truck from Louisiana to North Carolina, Mr. Nielsen describes this as the best job he ever had in the Army. After Pearl Harbor he is transferred to the 1st Armored Division and Regiment, 2nd Battalion. He was then transported from fort Knox to Ireland then to England for a short time before being shipped out to Oran in North Africa. On the way to Oran, the ship he was on was almost hit by a missile shot by a German U-boat, but it instead hit another ship that was nearby. By the time Mr. Nielsen reached Oran he was a segreant Tank Commander. He also relays a time he warned his Company Commander about German Tiger Tanks being in their area and being ignored only for them to show up a few days later resulting in one captain deserting and being captured by German soldiers. Mr. Nielsen …

Transcript of an oral interview with Garvin Kowalke. He discusses joining the Army Air Corps, going to Air Cadet training to become a pilot, training on various aircraft (AT-17, UC-78, P-36, P-33, T-6, BT-13, B-17, B-29) before becoming a B-29 pilot. He shipped out to Guam and flew standard and fire bombing runs over Japan. He discusses having to ditch the plane on the way back to Guam once when the engines failed, seeing another B-29 crew have to bail out over Toyko Bay and get picked up by a US submarine that was in the Bay, getting pulled down to the fires when they were trying to hide in the smoke to avoid Japanese fighter planes, getting caught in a storm by Mount Fujiyama, collecting data such wind direction, speed and temperature over Hiroshima for future bombing runs, which turned out to be for the bombers who dropped the atomic bomb, then flying over the city two days after the bombing and gauging how high the radiation levels were at different altitudes. He also talks about being in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, becoming a B-57 pilot, and adopting a baby boy from Germany after the war, then a …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with James A. Laux. Born in 1925, he was drafted into the Navy in 1943. He was accepted into the submarine service. He describes his training at sub school. He reached New Guinea in 1944 and was assigned to his first submarine, the USS Pintado (SS-387), in 1945. He served as a 3rd Class Motor Machinist Mate. He describes sinking two floating mines while off the coast of Java as well as a near-miss with depth charges dropped by Japanese planes. They also rescued downed American pilots while on patrol off the coast of Japan. He describes the living conditions on the submarine. He shares an anecdote about celebrating the end of the war on the way back to the U.S. with a concoction of alcohol called depth charge rum. He was discharged in May 1946. He shares an anecdote about hitchhiking home to Ohio from California. The conning tower of the Pintado is on display at the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Interview with Joseph B. Brown of Abilene, Texas, who is a World War Two veteran of the United States Marine Corps. In the interview, Mr. Brown recalls memories of growing up and his time in the Marines, particularly from training, being wounded, and working campaigns in the South Pacific.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ken Cook. Born in Dallas, Texas on January 19, 1927, he joined the Navy in October 1943 and attended boot camp in San Diego. Upon completing boot camp, he was ordered to engineering school in Gulfport, Mississippi and was assigned to the USS Sigourney (DD-643) for the duration of the war. He reported aboard Sigourney in May 1944 as a Fireman Striker, but after serving a stint as Mess Cook, changed his rating to Cook Striker. He recounts being aboard the vessel during July 1945 in San Pedro, California, when the crew was ordered to stand by for inspection due to a reported "theft of articles from a sailor's locker." Liberty was cancelled, the inspection was never conducted, and the ship got underway after embarking a mysterious individual dressed in a Chief's uniform. He recalls that the "Chief" soon changed into civilian clothes and, to his knowledge, spoke to almost no one during the ensuing days as the vessel sailed north to the Alaskan coast and a rendezvous with the USS Washington (BB-56). The Sigourney pulled alongside the Washington, which had the ship's band turned out and playing, …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lester Wilson. Wilson was born on 11 April 1916 in Helix, Oregon. Upon graduating from high school in 1933, he enrolled at Indiana University and later transferred to the University of Arizona. In 1942 he enlisted in the US Navy. After six weeks of boot training he was sent to Range Finders School. Completing school, he traveled by troop train to Pier 92 in New York City. He then reported aboard the newly commissioned USS Earle (DD-635) at Charlestown Navy Yard, New York. He tells of experiences while escorting troop ships to North Africa and during the invasion of Sicily. He also recalls being part of a divisionary force during the Normandy invasion. Returning to the United States in 1945, the ship was converted to a Destroyer Mine Sweeper (DSM-42). The ship was on a shakedown cruise when Japan surrendered. Wilson was discharged soon thereafter.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lyman Mereness. Mereness joined the Navy in May of 1942. He received his wings in March of 1943. He served with the 8th Bomb Squadron. Beginning August of 1943, they served as the air group aboard the USS Intrepid (CV-11). Mereness supported the invasion of Hollandia and the Philippines Campaign, completing 39 combat missions. He was discharged in September of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Mike Rubin. Rubin discussed his father, M. J. Rubin. M. J. Rubin was born in Amarillo, Texas in the 1920s. He joined the Navy as a Corpsman shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Upon finishing boot camp in San Diego, California he was transferred to the Second Marine Division and sent to New Zealand. His first action was at Tarawa. He was then sent to Pearl Harbor where the Second Marine Division was reconstituted. Following the reconstitution he was sent to Saipan where he was wounded by mortar fire and suffered battle fatigue and returned to the States. He received three Silver Stars during his four years overseas.

Transcript of an oral interview with Norman Apelt. He discusses his service in the US Army Air Corps as an airplane mechanic in Pampa, Texas. After the war ended, Apelt was assigned duty in occupied Japan.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Allender. Allender was born in Oskaloosa, Iowa 21 November 1925 and enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school in 1943. He qualified for sonar school while in boot camp and went to San Diego. Upon graduating from the school, he was sent to duty aboard the USS YMS-387, an auxiliary motor minesweeper. He describes his time on the YMS, engaged in coastal minesweeping and training prospective minesweeper crews. He left the minesweeper in December 1944 and was assigned to the commissioning crew of a coastal patrol craft in Portland, Oregon in the spring of 1945. He describes convoy duty between Pearl Harbor and the South Pacific, and operations near Eniwetok, Saipan, Guam and Ulithi. He recalls that following the Japanese surrender, his patrol craft was sent to Yap to accept the surrender of the Japanese garrison. The ship left Ulithi in November 1945 and returned to Charleston, South Carolina for decommissioning. He was discharged from the Navy in April 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Sybil Bale. Bale was born in Clovis, New Mexico in 1920. In 1940 she went to Washington, D.C. to work for the Lend Lease Program as a secretary. She tells of seeing the program grow from a staff of four with four secretaries to over 750 employees when she left in 1941. Returning to New Mexico, Sybil was employed by the Selective Service Draft Board as an auditor and tells of the work it entailed. She describes the classification process of civilians including those who worked on the Manhattan Project. She tells of getting married in 1952 to a career Marine and of her life married to a World War II veteran who also served in Korea and Vietnam.