Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Congress has found that the Iranian government continues to engage in systematic and ongoing violations of human rights, including the suppression of freedom of expression. Such violations have reportedly increased in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election in Iran on June 12, 2009. Of particular concern has been the Iranian regime's crackdown on freedom of expression and interference with the use of the Internet, mobile phones, and other means of communication in order to restrict the free flow of information. According to a Freedom House report, the Iranian authorities have employed extensive and sophisticated methods to tamper with Internet access, mobile phone services, and satellite broadcasting; monitor dissenters online; and use monitored information to intimidate and arrest dissenters. The U.S. government, governments of other nations, and nongovernmental organizations have expressed concern that firms outside Iran have aided the Iranian government in monitoring and suppressing its citizens' activities. For example, in 2008, Nokia Siemens Network, as part of a contract for mobile phone network technology, sold communications monitoring equipment to the Iranian government. As a result of credible reports that the Iranian government misused the technology …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to section 322 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. Section 322 required the Secretary of Defense to contract for a study on the capability and efficiency of the depots of the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide the logistics capabilities and capacity necessary for national defense. DOD placed a task order under an existing contract with LMI, Inc. (LMI) to complete the study, which was to address a range of issues specified in section 322. As required by section 322, the task order specified that the contractor submit an interim report on its study to the Senate and House Committees on Armed Services not later than 1 year after the commencement of the study and a final report not later than 22 months after the date on which the Secretary of Defense enters into the contract. LMI submitted its interim report, containing background information and summary data on the DOD depot maintenance enterprise, to the Committees on Armed Services in December 2009. The final report, containing conclusions and recommendations, was provided to the Committees on Armed Services in February …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Prior to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Department of Defense (DOD) personnel with flame resistant (FR) uniforms were mainly aviators, fuel handlers, and tank crews. With the growing prevalence of the improvised explosive device (IED) threat, all ground forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have been exposed to the possibility of fire-related injuries. The Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 extended to 2015 the authority to procure fire resistant rayon fiber for the production of uniforms from certain foreign countries, provided by section 829 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 and originally set to expire in 2013. This letter discusses the briefing developed in response to the requirement in the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 to report on the supply chain for FR fiber for the production of military uniforms. Specifically, the act required GAO to analyze several elements of the supply chain, including the current and anticipated sources of FR rayon fiber; actions DOD has taken to identify alternatives to FR rayon fiber; impediments to the use of such alternatives; and the …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare voluntary outpatient prescription drug insurance program, known as Medicare Part D, provided prescription drug coverage for about 23 million beneficiaries--eligible individuals 65 years and older and eligible individuals with disabilities--enrolled in the program in 2010. Under Part D, Medicare beneficiaries may enroll in prescription drug plans offered by private companies, known as sponsors, that contract with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that administers the Medicare program. Sponsors may have multiple contracts with CMS to provide drug coverage, with each contract offering one or more distinct Part D plans. Sponsors compete for beneficiary enrollment on the basis of plan premiums and benefit designs. Sponsors also vary in the content of their formularies--the list of covered drugs and associated utilization management (UM) requirements. UM requirements include (1) step therapy, which requires that a beneficiary try lower-cost drugs before a sponsor will cover a more costly drug; (2) prior authorization, which requires a beneficiary to obtain the sponsor's approval before a drug is covered for that individual; and (3) quantity limits, which restrict the dosage or number …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA) of 1990 established locality pay to achieve pay comparability between federal and nonfederal jobs within the United States. Because FEPCA established pay localities only for areas within the United States, federal employees permanently stationed overseas, including members of the Foreign Service, did not receive locality pay. As the Washington, D.C., locality rate grew to over 24 percent in 2010, the pay gap between federal employees who receive locality pay and those who do not widened considerably. To close this gap, the fiscal year 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act granted the Department of State (State) temporary authority to provide locality pay at the Washington, D.C., rate, also known as Overseas Comparability Pay, to Foreign Service personnel posted overseas. State is implementing this pay in three phases. Currently, Foreign Service personnel serving overseas receive 16.52 percent comparability pay, approximately twothirds of the Washington, D.C., locality rate. State had planned to implement the third and final phase of comparability pay, raising it to 24.22 percent, in August 2011. However, these plans have been delayed by the administration's freeze on federal salaries and the passage of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of Defense (DOD) and State (State) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have collectively obligated billions of dollars for contracts and assistance to support U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. The work of GAO and others has documented shortcomings in DOD's contract management and oversight, and its training of the non-acquisition workforce. Addressing these challenges can help DOD meet warfighter needs in a timely and costconscious manner; mitigate the risks of fraud, waste, and abuse; and minimize the operational risks associated with contractors. This testimony addresses the extent to which (1) DOD's Contracting Officer's Representatives (COR) are prepared for their roles and responsibilities and provide adequate contract oversight in Afghanistan; (2) DOD, State, and USAID vet non-U.S. firms for links to terrorist and insurgent groups in Afghanistan; and (3) DOD has implemented GAO's past recommendations. The testimony is based on GAO's recently published reports and testimonies on operational contract support, including a June 2011 report on vetting of non-U.S. vendors in Afghanistan, as well as providing preliminary observations as a result of ongoing audit work in Afghanistan. GAO's work included analyses of a wide range …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Morton Averack. Averack joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the age of 16, having been recruited from his high school, the School of Aviation in New York, where he had already acquired drafting skills. He and a Japanese-American teenager worked together to map the city of Mukden. The last map of the city had been made in 1933, and the OSS was tasked with updating it as part of its efforts to know the whereabouts of General Wainwright. Averack and his partner worked 17-hour days, sleeping in cots beside their shared drafting board. They were granted a 24-hour leave only once every few weeks. Averack requested aerial photographs of certain areas, and after examining photographs under a stereoscope he would make additions to the map. The work was painstaking and exacting, and mistakes had to be bleached out after being drawn in India ink. After a year-and-a-half, the prisoner-of-war camp was finally located, and Wainwright was rescued. Averack’s work complete, he was discharged in late 1945. Despite never being granted the benefits of the GI Bill, he earned a degree in engineering and enjoyed a varied …

Transcript of an oral interview with Bobbie W. Noble. He joined the Navy at 17 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was aboard the USS North Carolina in early 1942. Noble did not finish high school and he received all his training aboard ship. He was in New York City when the French liner Normandie caught fire and capsized. He served as a powder hoist operator in the center gun of the number 3 turret. The North Carolina, after her shakedown cruise, spent the winter anchored in Portland, Maine before heading through the Panama Canal on the way to Guadalcanal, where she was torpedoed. Noble goes on the describe heading for Pearl Harbor for repairs and the ship receiving updated anti-aircraft armaments. Noble goes on to discuss friendly fire, burials at sea, the rigors of battle at Iwo Jima, kamikazes at Okinawa and life aboard a battleship during World War II.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Myer-Hall House, in Houston, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

News release about the addition of four extra light rail trains between two DART stations to accommodate extra traffic to a fireworks show in Fair Park.