None

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Among the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) many tools to collect outstanding taxes is its ability to use the property of a taxpayer as security for an outstanding tax debt. IRS exercises this power when it files a federal tax lien against the property of a taxpayer. As part of its tax collection activities, IRS reported filing more than 548,000 tax liens against taxpayer property in fiscal year 2003. Since a lien encumbers taxpayer property, IRS's ability to file a lien is a powerful tool in enforcing the tax laws. With this power, however, comes the responsibility to ensure that liens are released timely once taxpayers satisfy their tax debt. The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) addresses timeliness by requiring IRS to release liens within 30 days of the tax debt's satisfaction. If IRS fails to timely release federal tax liens, taxpayers can suffer undue hardship and burden. Because federal tax liens appear on commercial credit reports, (1) businesses may be unable to obtain necessary credit because lenders may assume they are bad credit risks, (2) individuals may miss an opportunity to buy a home or an automobile because they …

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; Whether section 1305.003(14) of the Texas Occupations Code exempts from state licensing requirements all persons performing electrical work for a private industrial business, even if a person is not an employee of the private industrial business (RQ-0233-GA)

Deposit summary of $60.00 made on February 10, 2005. Included is a letter from Glenda V. Thompson to Al Daniels discussing membership dues for October through December 2004.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "At the center of any agency transformation, such as the one envisioned for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are the people who will make it happen. Thus, strategic human capital management at DHS can help it marshal, manage, and maintain the people and skills needed to meet its critical mission. Congress provided DHS with significant flexibility to design a modern human capital management system. DHS and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have now jointly released the final regulations on DHS's new human capital system. Last year, with the release of the proposed regulations, GAO observed that many of the basic principles underlying the regulations were consistent with proven approaches to strategic human capital management and deserved serious consideration. However, some parts of the human capital system raised questions for DHS, OPM, and Congress to consider in the areas of pay and performance management, adverse actions and appeals, and labor management relations. GAO also identified multiple implementation challenges for DHS once the final regulations for the new system were issued. This testimony provides preliminary observations on selected provisions of the final regulations."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) regulatory process for recognizing tribes was established in 1978. The process requires groups that are petitioning for recognition to submit evidence that they meet certain criteria--basically that the petitioner has continuously existed as an Indian tribe since historic times. Critics of the process claim that it produces inconsistent decisions and takes too long. Congressional policymakers have struggled with the tribal recognition issue for over 27 years. H.R. 4933 and H.R. 5134, introduced in the 108th Congress, and H.R. 512, which was introduced last week, have focused on the timeliness of the recognition process. This testimony is based in part on GAO's report, Indian Issues: Improvements Needed in Tribal Recognition Process (GAO-02-49, November 2, 2001). Specifically, this testimony addresses (1) the timeliness of the recognition process as GAO reported in November 2001 and (2) the actions the Department of the Interior's Office of Federal Acknowledgment has taken since 2001 to improve the timeliness of the recognition process."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns were raised about the system Medicare uses to determine annual changes to physician fees--the sustainable growth rate (SGR) system--when it reduced physician fees by almost 5 percent in 2002. Subsequent administrative and legislative actions modified or overrode the SGR system to avert fee declines in 2003, 2004, and 2005. However, projected fee reductions for 2006 to 2012 have raised new concerns about the SGR system. Policymakers question the appropriateness of the SGR system for updating physician fees and its effect on physicians' continued participation in the Medicare program if fees are permitted to decline. At the same time, there are concerns about the impact of increased spending on the long-term fiscal sustainability of Medicare. GAO was asked to discuss the SGR system. Specifically, this statement addresses the following: (1) how the SGR system is designed to moderate the growth in spending for physician services, (2) why physician fees are projected to decline under the SGR system, and (3) options for revising or replacing the SGR system and their implications for physician fee updates and Medicare spending. This statement is based on GAO's most recent report on the …

A record of the list of special awards presented at the Texas Daily Newspaper Association meetings. The record is categorized by the year the award was given, the name of the special award, how the award looked when being presented, the recipients of the awards and the purpose of it.

News release about the role DART Rail and the TRE played in boosting membership at the "Get Motivated!" seminars at the American Airlines Center and Reunion Arena, which mutually benefited DART and TRE ridership, leading to record levels of ridership on the TRE.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In a recently completed report for Congress, we evaluated how the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS) makes eligibility determinations for its rural housing programs. As part of that review, we used 2000 census data to determine the populations of the rural areas that received RHS housing program loans and grants. We obtained information on the RHS loans and grants provided to communities, from October 1998 through April 2004, from databases maintained by USDA's Information Resource Management (IRM) in St. Louis, Missouri. As with any system, the accuracy of the data and the process used for entry affects reliability and usefulness for management and reporting purposes. During our review, we identified several issues that raised concerns about the accuracy of the information in the IRM databases. For example, while we originally intended to geocode (that is, match) 5 years of the national RHS housing loan and grant portfolio to specific communities, the time needed to ensure the reliability of the data required us to limit much of our analysis to five states (Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Ohio). This report is a follow-up on our …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a Congressional request that, in conjunction with our audit of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal year 2004 financial statements, we review the agency's procedures for handling and processing receipts and taxpayer information at the Brookhaven service center campus. As a result of the increased percentage of taxpayers filing returns electronically, IRS designed a detailed business plan to reduce the number of service center campuses that process paper returns. In fiscal year 2004, Brookhaven became the first service center campus to downsize its submission processing function, leading to changes in its operations and a significant reduction in the volume of taxpayer receipts and information processed. Congress requested this review in light of these significant changes in operations and IRS's desire to benefit from the Brookhaven experience in planning for future submission processing rampdowns. Specifically, we were asked to (1) review the policies and procedures IRS developed to safeguard and process taxpayer receipts and information at the modified Brookhaven operation and (2) offer recommendations, if any, for improving internal controls at Brookhaven and at other submission processing centers that will undergo future rampdowns. To accommodate …

Printed emails from Michael Moon to the Dallas Stonewall Democrats about Austin weekend.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The rural America of 2005 is far different from the rural America of the 1930s, when the federal government first began to provide housing assistance to rural residents. Advances in transportation, computer technology, and telecommunications, along with the spread of suburbia, have linked many rural areas to urban areas. These changes, along with new fiscal and budget realities, raise questions about how Rural Housing Service (RHS) programs could most effectively and efficiently serve rural America."

Calendar page printout from the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas website.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. government officials working overseas are at risk from terrorist threats. Since 1968, 32 embassy officials have been attacked--23 fatally--by terrorists outside the embassy. As the State Department continues to improve security at U.S. embassies, terrorist groups are likely to focus on "soft" targets--such as homes, schools, and places of worship. GAO was asked to determine whether State has a strategy for soft target protection; assess State's efforts to protect U.S. officials and their families while traveling to and from work; assess State's efforts overseas to improve security at schools attended by the children of U.S. officials; and describe issues related to protection at their residences."

Collection of BRAC related news clippings and articles

Document discussing Fort Monmouth and the major areas of importance at Fort Monmouth that need to be visited during the six hour BRAC commission walk through.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, Incorporated, for fiscal years 2003 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the American War Mothers for fiscal year 2003. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Catholic War Veterans of the United States of America, Incorporated, for fiscal year 2003. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society of the United States of America, for fiscal year 2003. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Fleet Reserve Association for fiscal years 2003 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Former Members of Congress, Incorporated, for fiscal year 2003. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Future Farmers of America for Fiscal Years 2003 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."