A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obligated about $12 billion for acquisitions to support homeland security missions. DHS's major investments include Coast Guard ships and aircraft; border surveillance and screening equipment; nuclear detection equipment; and systems to track finances and human resources. In part to provide insight into the cost, schedule, and performance of these acquisitions, DHS established an investment review process in 2003. However, concerns have been raised about how well the process has been implemented--particularly for large investments. GAO was asked to (1) evaluate DHS's implementation of the investment review process, and (2) assess DHS's integration of the investment review and budget processes to ensure major investments fulfill mission needs. GAO reviewed relevant documents, including those for 57 DHS major investments (investments with a value of at least $50 million)--48 of which required department-level review through the second quarter of fiscal year 2008; and interviewed DHS headquarters and component officials."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS)--which consists of two kinds of motorized vehicles, a 120-mm mortar, an ammunition trailer, and fire direction equipment--is being developed to meet the United States Marine Corps' need for a weapon system that can be carried inside the MV-22 Osprey to support assault operations. The Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity (MCOTEA), the independent test agency for the Marines, conducted initial operational testing and evaluation of the EFSS from May to July 2007, and reported in September 2007, among other things, that it experienced several safety, performance, reliability, and mechanical problems. We briefed Congress on these and other issues related to the EFSS in September 2007. Subsequently, at congressional request, the Marine Corps delayed full-rate production of the EFSS until after GAO reported on the system. In December 2007, we issued our report, which described the system's safety, performance, reliability, and mechanical problems. MCOTEA retested the system in February and March 2008, focusing on determining whether the problems identified in 2007 were resolved. It reported its analysis of the test results in May 2008. In October 2008, Congress asked us to provide …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "International policies to address climate change have largely relied on market-based programs; for example, under the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) phase I (2005 to 2007) carbon dioxide emissions reductions were sought by setting a cap on each member state's allowable emissions and distributing tradable allowances to covered entities, such as power plants. Beginning operation in 2002, the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has relied on offsets, allowing certain industrialized nations to pay for emission reduction projects in developing countries--where the cost of abatement may be less expensive--in addition to reducing emissions within their borders. Legislative proposals to limit greenhouse gas emissions are under consideration in the United States. In this context, GAO was asked to examine the effects of and lessons learned from (1) the ETS phase I and (2) the CDM. GAO worked with the National Academy of Sciences to identify experts in market-based programs and gathered their opinions through a questionnaire, interviewed stakeholders, and reviewed available information."

Two important issues before Congress are (1) securing the nation's capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover/rebuild from natural catastrophe events, and (2) determining whether and how the federal government should intervene in catastrophe insurance markets. This report focuses on this issue at length, taking into consideration the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2004 and 2005; a sequence of tornadoes, wildfire, earthquakes, Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, and the 2008 Midwestern floods; and the financial market turmoil in 2008.

This report provides an overview of Senate standing committee sizes and ratios for the 94th and 110th Congresses. Also included are data on permanent select committees with legislative jurisdiction. A table for each Congress shows the party division in the Senate, total number of seats on each committee, number of seats assigned to the majority and minority parties, and, where present, number of seats assigned to independents. The tables also provide the number of majority-minority caucus seat margins in the chamber and for each committees.

This Interim Measure Work Plan/Design (IMWP/D) is supplemental to the Argonne document Interim Measure Conceptual Design for Remediation of Source Area Contamination at Agra, Kansas. The IMWP/D includes information required by Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Policy BER-RS-029, Policy and Scope of Work for Interim Measures. Specific to Policy BER-RS-029 is the requirement for several documents that will ensure that an adequate amount and type of data are collected for implementation of the IMWP/D and that data quality and safe conditions are prevailed. Such information is included in the IMWP/D as follows: Appendix A: Data Acquisition Plan--Design Testing Requirements; Appendix B: Basis of Design; Appendix C: Permits; Appendix D: Quality Assurance Project Plan; Appendix E: Health and Safety Plan; and Appendix F: Operations, Maintenance, and Monitoring Schedule. The proposed remedial technology for this project is the installation of five large-diameter boreholes (LDBs) in a source area that has been identified on the property formerly used for grain storage by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA). The goal of the LDB technology is the remediation of the source area by removal of mass quantities of contaminated soil from the vadose zone and treatment of …

Wear and corrosion of structures cuts across industries and continues to challenge materials scientists and engineers to develop cost effective solutions. Industries typically seek mature technologies that can be implemented for production with rapid or minimal development and have little appetite for the longer-term materials research and development required to solve complex problems. The collaborative work performed in this project addressed the complexity of this problem in a multi-year program that industries would be reluctant to undertake without government partnership. This effort built upon the prior development of Advanced Abrasion Resistant Materials conduct by Caterpillar Inc. under DOE Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC26-01NT41054. In this referenced work, coatings were developed that exhibited significant wear life improvements over standard carburized heat treated steel in abrasive wear applications. The technology used in this referenced work, arc lamp fusing of thermal spray coatings, was one of the primary technical paths in this work effort. In addition to extending the capability of the coating technology to address corrosion issues, additional competitive coating technologies were evaluated to insure that the best technology was developed to meet the goals of the program. From this, plasma transferred arc (PTA) welding was selected as the second primary technology that …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Bi-weekly student newspaper from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas that includes campus news and local news of interest to students along with advertising.

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

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Non-native salmonids are impacting native salmonid populations throughout the Pend Oreille Subbasin. Competition, hybridization, and predation by non-native fish have been identified as primary factors in the decline of some native bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi) populations. In 2007, the Kalispel Natural Resource Department (KNRD) initiated the Kalispel Nonnative Fish Suppression Project. The goal of this project is to implement actions to suppress or eradicate non-native fish in areas where native populations are declining or have been extirpated. These projects have previously been identified as critical to recovering native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout (WCT). Lower Graham Creek was invaded by non-native rainbow (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) after a small dam failed in 1991. By 2003, no genetically pure WCT remained in the lower 700 m of Graham Creek. Further invasion upstream is currently precluded by a relatively short section of steep, cascade-pool stepped channel section that will likely be breached in the near future. In 2008, a fish management structure (barrier) was constructed at the mouth of Graham Creek to preclude further invasion of non-native fish into Graham Creek. The construction of the barrier was preceded by intensive electrofishing …

Hard, wear-resistant coatings of thin film borides based on AlMgB{sub 14} have the potential to be applied industrially to improve the tool life of cutting tools and pump vanes and may account for several million dollars in savings as a result of reduced wear on these parts. Past work with this material has shown that it can have a hardness of up to 45GPa and be fabricated into thin films with a similar hardness using pulsed laser deposition. These films have already been shown to be promising for industrial applications. Cutting tools coated with AlMgB{sub 14} used to mill titanium alloys have been shown to substantially reduce the wear on the cutting tool and extend its cutting life. However, little research into the thin film fabrication process using pulsed laser deposition to make AlMgB{sub 14} has been conducted. In this work, research was conducted into methods to optimize the deposition parameters for the AlMgB{sub 14} films. Processing methods to eliminate large particles on the surface of the AlMgB{sub 14} films, produce films that were at least 1m thick, reduce the surface roughness of the films, and improve the adhesion of the thin films were investigated. Use of a femtosecond laser …

This report first discusses the key holdings enunciated by the Supreme Court in Buckley, including those upholding reasonable contribution limits, striking down expenditure limits, upholding disclosure reporting requirements, and upholding the system of voluntary presidential election expenditure limitations linked with public financing. It then examines the Court's extension of Buckley in several subsequent cases, evaluating them in various regulatory contexts: contribution limits, expenditure limits, disclosure requirements, and political party soft money and electioneering communication restrictions.

This report defines key terms, provides a brief history of toxic substances control law, and describes key provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In addition, this report lists several references for more detailed information about the act and provides a table that cross references sections of the U.S. Code with corresponding sections of the act. The report is descriptive rather than analytic, highlights key provisions rather than providing a comprehensive inventory of the act's numerous sections, and addresses authorities and limitations imposed by statute, rather than the status of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implementation or other policy issues.

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

This report provides background information on Libya and U.S.-Libyan relations.

This report describes the evolution of congressional enforcement of congressional rules of conduct and summarizes the disciplinary action taken by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. It also discusses the recommendations of the House Special Task Force on Ethics and related proposals as well as selected other recent changes.

This report discusses the radio frequency spectrum that is used for all forms of wireless communications, including cellular telephony, paging, personal communications service, radio and television broadcast, telephone radio relay, aeronautical and maritime radio navigation, and satellite command and control. The issues discussed here refer principally to spectrum management for terrestrial technologies.

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The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Leon Shook. Shook joined the Navy in July of 1942. That fall he began his service aboard the USS Colorado (BB-45) as a machinist, a loader on 1.1-inch guns and worked with the ammunition supply. In November of 1943 they participated in the Battle of Tarawa. In July of 1944 they participated in the Battle of Tinian, where they were hit by twenty-two 7.7-inch shells, killing 42 men and wounding 365. In the fall of 1944 they participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where they were struck by 2 kamikaze suicide bombers, killing 19 men. In January of 1945 they participated in the pre-invasion of Lingayen Gulf. The Colorado was struck by accidental fire from the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), killing 69 men. Shook received 9 Battle Stars. He provides details of the various battles he participated in. He was discharged in October of 1945.

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