Agenda for the June 6, 2008 biennial meeting and proposed bylaw changes of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus.

Agenda for the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Executive Board Meeting on June 6, 2008. TSDC Executive Board Meeting State Convention on June 6, 2008 with a breakdown of various topics discussed including treasurers report, and other businesses.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Collaboration between the federal government and the aviation industry has led to reductions in aviation emissions, but growing air traffic has partially offset these reductions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), together with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and others, is working to increase the efficiency, safety, and capacity of the national airspace system and at the same time reduce aviation emissions, in part, by transforming the current air traffic control system to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). This effort involves new technologies and air traffic procedures that can reduce aviation emissions and incorporates research and development (R&D) on emissions-reduction technologies. Reducing aviation emissions is important both to minimize their adverse health and environmental effects and to alleviate public concerns about them that could constrain the expansion of airport infrastructure and aviation operations needed to meet demand. This testimony addresses (1) the scope and nature of aviation emissions, (2) the status of selected key federal efforts to reduce aviation emissions, and (3) next steps and challenges in reducing aviation emissions. The testimony updates prior GAO work with FAA data, literature …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Coast Guard, a multi-mission maritime military service within the Department of Homeland Security, has requested more than $9 billion for fiscal year 2009 to address its responsibilities for homeland security missions (such as undocumented migrant interdiction) and non-homeland security missions (such as environmental protection). Integral to conducting its missions, is the Deepwater program--a 25-year, $24 billion effort to upgrade or replace vessels and aircraft. This testimony discusses: budget request and trends, and performance statistics, challenges in balancing operations across multiple missions, and Deepwater affordability, management, and its impact on operations. GAO's comments are based on products issued from 1997 to 2008. This testimony also discusses on-going work related to patrol boat operations. To conduct its work, GAO analyzed documentation and interviewed relevant officials."

News release about DART celebrating 25 years since voters approved the creation of DART and the agency's plans for the future.

News release about a forum for construction contractors and vendors to learn about opportunities to provide design-build services for the next phase of DART's rail expansion.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During the last decade, conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)--one of the world's poorest countries--led directly or indirectly to the deaths of an estimated 5.4 million Congolese. A U.S.-supported peace process began in 2001, and the country's first democratically elected president in 40 years was inaugurated in 2006. However, conflict in the country has continued. In enacting the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006 (the Act), Congress established 15 U.S. policy objectives that address humanitarian, social development, economic and natural resource management, governance, and security concerns in the DRC. The Act mandated that GAO review U.S. programs in the DRC that support these policy objectives. In this testimony, based on its December 2007 report, GAO identifies (1) U.S. programs and activities that support the Act's objectives, (2) major challenges hindering the accomplishment of the objectives. For its report, GAO obtained and analyzed program documents for seven U.S. agencies--the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Defense (DOD), Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor (DOL), State, and the Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). GAO also met with officials …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The achievement of the Department of Defense's (DOD) mission is dependent in large part on the skills and expertise of its civilian workforce--which consists of almost 700,000 personnel, who develop policy, provide intelligence, manage finances, and acquire and maintain weapon systems. With more than 50 percent of its civilian personnel becoming eligible to retire in the next few years, DOD may find it difficult to fill certain mission-critical jobs with qualified personnel. Strategic workforce planning, an integral part of human capital management, helps ensure that an organization has staff with the necessary skills and competencies to accomplish its strategic goals. We have previously reported that it is critical that DOD engage in effective strategic workforce planning to ensure that its human capital reforms have maximum effectiveness and value. In 2007, we reported that strategic human capital management remained a high-risk area because the federal government now faces one of the most significant transformations to the civil service in half a century, as momentum grows toward making governmentwide changes to agency pay, classification, and performance management systems. In January 2006, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 20065 …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the Department of Energy (DOE) was established in 1977, one of its missions has been to promote the nation's energy security through research, development, and demonstration of advanced technologies for meeting future energy demands and diversifying the nation's energy portfolio. As part of this mission, DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy conducts research, development, and demonstration activities in partnership with industry to advance a diverse supply of clean power technologies. The fiscal year 2008 budget for these activities was $1.7 billion. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, the first comprehensive energy legislation in more than a decade, includes provisions to address the nation's long-term energy challenges. Key goals of the act include diversifying the nation's energy supply by promoting alternative and renewable sources of energy and by investing in science and technology. Provisions in the act promote the use of solar and wind power, establish a loan-guarantee program to encourage private investment in new energy technologies, and authorize demonstration projects for producing ethanol from cellulosic sources such as forest residues, agricultural residues, and scrap wood. To provide DOE with more flexibility to enter into agreements …

Email chain between David Stallman and Brian Moffitt discussing Stallman's and Helen Snapp's trip to North Carolina for a WASP appearance.

Email sent from Lisa Thomas to Allen J. Daniels stating "I want to make sure we are not missing anything for the state convention."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1996, the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, now within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Social Security Administration (SSA) began operating a voluntary pilot program, recently named the E-Verify program, to provide participating employers with a means for electronically verifying employees' work eligibility. Legislation has been introduced in Congress to require all employers to electronically verify the work authorization status of their employees. In this testimony GAO provides observations on the E-Verify system's capacity and costs, options for reducing delays and improving efficiency in the verification process, ability to detect fraudulent documents and identity theft, and vulnerability to employer fraud and misuse. This testimony is based on GAO's products issued from August 2005 through June 2007 and updated information obtained from DHS and SSA in April 2008. We analyzed data on employer use, E-Verify guidance, and other reports on the employment verification process, as well as legislative proposals and regulations."

General Ledger for the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus.

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

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since September 11, 2001, the need to secure U.S. borders has increased in importance and attracted greater public and Congressional attention. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has spent billions of dollars to prevent the illegal entry of individuals and contraband between ports of entry--government-designated locations where DHS inspects persons and goods to determine whether they may be lawfully admitted into the country. Yet, while DHS apprehends hundreds of thousands of such individuals each year, several hundreds of thousands more enter the country illegally and undetected. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a component of DHS, is the lead federal agency in charge of securing our nation's borders. This testimony summarizes GAO's work on DHS's efforts on selected border security operations and programs related to (1) inspecting travelers at U.S. ports of entry, (2) detecting individuals attempting to enter the country illegally between ports of entry, and (3) screening of international travelers before they arrive in the United States and challenges remaining in these areas. GAO's observations are based on products issued from May 2006 through February 2008. In prior reports, GAO has recommended various actions to …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hospitals submit data on a series of quality measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and receive scores on their performance. CMS instituted the Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update Program (APU program) to collect the quality data from hospitals and report their rates on the measures on its Hospital Compare Web site. For hospital quality data to be useful to patients and other users, they need to be reliable, that is, accurate and complete. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 directed CMS to implement a value-based purchasing program for Medicare that beginning in fiscal year 2009 would adjust payments to hospitals based on factors related to the quality of care they provide. This statement provides information on (1) how hospitals collect and submit quality data to CMS and (2) how CMS works to ensure the reliability of the quality data submitted. This statement is based primarily on Hospital Quality Data: HHS Should Specify Steps and Time Frame for Using Information Technology to Collect and Submit Data (GAO-07-320, Apr. 25, 2007) and Hospital Quality Data: CMS Needs More Rigorous Methods to Ensure Reliability …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)--Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System (FHLBank System), play a critical role in the nation's housing finance system. However, concerns exist that the fragmented federal oversight structure for the GSEs is not well positioned to help ensure that they operate in a safe and sound manner and fulfill their housing missions. This testimony provides information on the GSEs' missions and risks, the current regulatory structure, and proposed regulatory reforms. To prepare this testimony, GAO relied on a substantial body of previous work and updated its analysis in light of recent events."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For more than a decade, GAO has reported that Medicare has paid higher than market rates for medical equipment and supplies provided to beneficiaries under Medicare Part B. Since 1989, Medicare has used fee schedules primarily based on historical charges to set payment amounts. But this approach lacks flexibility to keep pace with market changes and increases costs to the federal government and Medicare's 44 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 required the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--the agency that administers Medicare--to test competitive bidding as a new way to set payments. CMS did this through a demonstration in two locations in which suppliers could compete on the basis of price and other factors for the right to provide their products. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) required CMS to conduct competitive bidding on a large scale and suppliers to obtain accreditation. GAO was asked to describe the effects that competitive bidding could have on Medicare program payments and suppliers and the need for adequate oversight to ensure quality and access for beneficiaries in a competitive …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the 1960s, classified satellite information collected by intelligence agencies has been used, from time to time, by federal civilian agencies and other non-intelligence entities for civil, scientific, and environmental purposes (such as mapping, disaster relief, and environmental research). These uses have historically been coordinated by the Civil Applications Committee (CAC) led by the U.S. Geological Survey, a component of the Department of the Interior. Following the events of September 11, 2001, attention has turned to information sharing as a key element in developing comprehensive and practical approaches to defending against potential terrorist attacks. Having information on threats, vulnerabilities, and incidents can help an agency better understand the risks and determine what preventive measures should be implemented. The ability to share such terrorism-related information can also unify the efforts of federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as the private sector in preventing or minimizing terrorist attacks. Exchanging terrorism-related information continues to be a significant challenge for federal, state, and local governments--one that we recognize is not easily addressed. Accordingly, since January 2005, we have designated information sharing for homeland security a high-risk area. Citing a growing …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1992, GAO has published long-term fiscal simulations of what might happen to federal deficits and debt levels under varying policy assumptions. We developed our long-term model in response to a bipartisan request from Members of Congress who were concerned about the longterm effects of fiscal policy. GAO runs two simulations: (1) "Baseline Extended" follows the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) September baseline estimates for the first 10 years and then simply holds revenue and spending other than large entitlement programs constant as a share of gross domestic product (GDP); and (2) The "Alternative" simulation is based on historical trends and recent policy preferences. Discretionary spending grows with GDP rather than inflation during the first 10 years, Medicare physician payment rates are not reduced as in CBO's baseline, and all tax provisions are extended until 2018 and then revenues are brought back to about their historical level. We update our simulations as new estimates become available from CBO and the Social Security and Medicare Trustees. This update incorporates CBO's most recent baseline projections that were released in September. This product responds to congressional interest in receiving updated simulation results."

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Rees. Rees joined the Marine Corps in October 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. After training a few platoons as a drill instructor, he was transferred to Combat Engineers as a crane operator. He improved the airstrip at Guadalcanal and transferred supplies from LCTs to amphibious vehicles at Guam. He arrived at Iwo Jima just after D-Day and left for the States two weeks later. Although he was never on the frontlines, he was at the tail end of invasions and often operated under enemy shelling. Rees returned home and was discharged in October 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bernard Campbell. Campbell joined the Navy in May 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was sent to the submarine base at Pearl Harbor, where he became a barber. During the attack on 7 December, he was assigned to an officer, as his foot messenger. He recalls that American planes were shot down by friendly fire later that evening, before personnel were quickly advised on nighttime Identify Friend or Foe (IFF). In 1944 he was transferred to Midway, where he was coxswain of a small boat for transporting the captain of the USS Pelias (AS-14). Campbell returned home and was discharged in September 1945, just one week after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Burdell Cobb. Cobb joined the Navy after graduating high school in 1940. Upon completion of basic training, he was assigned to USS Concord (CL-10) and then transferred to an aviation squadron on Ford Island. On 7 December 1941, Cobb was on the flight line when he heard an explosion and saw smoke rising from his hangar, prompting him to sound the fire alarm. Soon, a plane emerged from the smoke and flew towards Cobb, strafing. Without hesitation, Cobb returned fire with a forty-five. He attempted to flee in a plane that was in need of repair, but he could not find a pilot and instead took cover until the raid ended. The squadron eventually relocated to New Hebrides and New Caledonia, where Cobb maintained reconnaissance seaplanes. He was briefed by intelligence personnel on the atomic bomb, shocked to hear that they could not predict what the bomb’s impact would be like. After the war, Cobb returned to the States and spent two decades as a military recruiter in Dodge City.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Charles Ide. Ide???s father completed the Naval ROTC program at the University of California at Berkley while Admiral Chester Nimitz was there. His father was among Nimitz???s first students. His father joined the Naval Reserve and became a Lieutenant in1940. His father was assigned as skipper of a net tender and he and his family of six headed to Pearl Harbor. They lived at the officer???s quarters. Charles provides some details of life in Hawaii growing up, going to school and checking on the ship with his father. They were there on 7 December 1941, and Charles describes what he witnessed that fateful day, and how his family reacted. He talks about his father???s response in providing generators to the hospital and using his station wagon for a temporary ambulance. After living in Hawaii for one year, the family traveled back to California aboard the SS Lurline. His father participated in Saipan and Okinawa and retired later as a Captain. Charles himself served in the Army.