On April 29, 2005, Congress completed action on the FY2006 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 95, H.Rept. 109-62). This measure contains reconciliation instructions that require authorizing committees to report legislation to reduce spending on mandatory programs within each committee’s jurisdiction. To reduce spending in mandatory U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, conferees instructed the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to reduce mandatory spending by $173 million in FY2006 and $3.0 billion over five years (FY2006-FY2010). The Bush Administration earlier proposed changes to several mandatory USDA programs, which it said would save $5.7 billion over five years (and which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) subsequently scored at $9.4 billion in reductions). The agriculture committees must determine how to divide the cuts among the various programs under their jurisdiction by September 16, 2005.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Airport and Airway Trust Fund (Trust Fund) was established in 1970 to help fund the development of a nationwide airport and airway system and to fund investments in air traffic control facilities. It provides all of the funding for FAA's accounts such as the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides grants for construction and safety projects at airports, the Facilities and Equipment (F&E),which funds technological improvements to the air traffic control system, and the Research, Engineering, and Development (RE&D). In addition, the Trust Fund provides some funding for FAA's operations account. To fund these accounts, the Trust Fund relies on a number of taxes for revenue, including passenger ticket, fuel, and cargo taxes that are paid by passengers and airlines. Since 1970, revenues have generally exceeded expenditures--resulting in a surplus or an uncommitted balance. In 2004, the Trust Fund's year end uncommitted balance was about $2 billion. A number of structural changes in the aviation industry and external events have affected revenues flowing into and out of the Fund and have caused some aviation stakeholders to speculate about the Fund's financial condition. The various taxes that accrue …

Photograph of the grounds of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. A small window has been cut high up into the far wall, and a large group of cacti grows against the wall to the left of the photo. There is a clay pot on the ground to the right of the window.

Photograph of a memorial plaque at the Alamo featuring a bronze relief of the men from Gonzales. Under the bronze relief, it says, "Erected in grateful recognition of the supreme act of heroism of the thirty two men from Gonzales who gave their lives in the Alamo in response to the appeal of Travis."

Photograph of a close-up view of a bronze plaque on a memorial at the Alamo, showing a relief of the Alamo defenders. They march in a line towards the Alamo, and are surrounded on both sides by plants. They all carry guns.

Photograph of a plaque at the Alamo dedicated by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. It says, "Part of the San Antonio de Valero Mission. 'Blood of heroes hath stained me; let the stones of the Alamo speak that their immolation be not forgotten.' The tablet placed by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the fall of the Alamo."

Photograph of a plaque at the Alamo honoring two opposing visions that helped preserve the Alamo. It says, "Adina Emelia de Zavala 1861-1955. Clara Driscoll 1881-1945. Two loyal members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, each in her own way responsible for preserving this historic site." A bronze Texas seal has been placed on the plaque between their names.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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Photograph of the side of a building at the Alamo site. Benches are interspersed with bushes along the wall of the building. A woman in a blue skirt is taking a picture to the left of the photo.

We report the chemical bonding structure and valence band alignment at the HfO{sub 2}/Ge (001) interface by systematically probing various core level spectra as well as valence band spectra using soft x-rays at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. We investigated the chemical bonding changes as a function of depth through the dielectric stack by taking a series of synchrotron photoemission spectra as we etched through the HfO{sub 2} film using a dilute HF-solution. We found that a very non-stoichiometric GeO{sub x} layer exists at the HfO{sub 2}/Ge interface. The valence band spectra near the Fermi level in each different film structure were carefully analyzed, and as a result, the valence band offset between Ge and GeO{sub x} was determined to be {Delta}E{sub v} (Ge-GeO{sub x}) = 2.2 {+-} 0.15 eV, and that between Ge and HfO{sub 2}, {Delta}E{sub v} (Ge-HfO{sub 2}) = 2.7 {+-} 0.15 eV.

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Photograph of a plaque honoring Clara Driscoll at the Alamo. It reads: "Lest we forget: title to the Alamo Mission property, acquired through her efforts and her personal fortune, was conveyed by Clara Driscoll to the State Of Texas. Sept. 5th 1905: 'That the sacred shrine be saved from the encroachments of commercialism and stand through eternity a monument incomparable to the immortal heroes who died that Texas might not perish.' March 2nd, 1927."

Weekly newspaper from The Colony, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Cuero, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The Soft Gamma-ray Detector (SGD) on board NeXT (Japanese future high energy astrophysics mission) is a Compton telescope with narrow field of view, which utilizes Compton kinematics to enhance its background rejection capabilities. It is realized as a hybrid semiconductor gamma-ray detector which consists of silicon and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) detectors. It can detect photons in an energy band 0.05-1 MeV at a background level of 5 x 10{sup -7} counts/s/cm{sup 2}/keV; the silicon layers are required to improve the performance at a lower energy band (<0.3 MeV). Excellent energy resolution is the key feature of the SGD to achieve both high angular resolution and good background rejection capability. Its ability to measure gamma-ray polarization opens up a new window to study gamma-ray emission in the universe. We will present the development of key technologies to realize the SGD; high quality CdTe, low noise front-end VLSI and bump bonding technology. Energy resolutions of 1.7 keV (FWHM) for CdTe pixel detectors and 1.1 keV for silicon strip detectors have been measured. We also present the validation of Monte Carlo simulation used to evaluate the performance of the SGD.

Photograph of the monument in front of the Alamo site, showing close-up detail of the sculptures. A group of men are depicted, most of whom are standing, on the left; toward the right, two men are moving a cannon and two others are seated. Two of the standing men are identified as William B. Travis and Davy Crockett. Beneath the sculpture, there is a list of names for the men who died at the Alamo.

Photograph of a detail of a tower at Mission San José. The tower boasts a dome with a cross at the top.

The International Linear Collider based on superconducting RF cavities requires the damping rings to have extremely small equilibrium emittance, huge circumference, fast damping time, and large acceptance. To achieve all of these requirements is a very challenging task. In this paper, we will present a systematic approach to designing the damping rings using simple cells and non-interlaced sextupoles. The designs of the damping rings with various circumferences and shapes, including dogbone, are presented. To model realistic wigglers, we have developed a new hybrid symplectic integrator for faster and accurate evaluation of dynamic aperture of the lattices.

This report discusses congressional concerns, which focus on security and the role of the United Nations (U.N.), human rights, and East Timor's boundary disputes with Australia and Indonesia. East Timor emerged in 2002 as an independent state after a long history of Portugese colonialism and later, Indonesian rule. Under several different mandates, the United Nations has provided peacekeeping, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, and capacity building to establish a functioning government. Many challenges remain, including the need for economic development and sustained support by the international community.

Photograph of an arched gateway leading to the grounds of the Alamo. The gate is chained off, and is made of wrought iron. There are two lamps mounted on either side of the gate.

Photograph of the wooden entry gateway into Mission San José. A cactus plant is visible through the open gate, and a woman wearing a black hat stands in the foreground.

Photograph of an entry to the church at Mission San José. One of the double doors is open, and there is a balcony with a wrought iron railing above the doorway.