Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia Appropriations Act of 2001 provided $250,000 for a contract to study and develop a plan to simplify the compensation systems, schedules, and work rules for DC government employees. The act placed several conditions on the appropriation, one of which was that GAO review the proposed solicitation for the contract to ensure that it adequately addressed all of the elements stipulated in the act. Government officials initially told GAO that they planned to apply the $250,000 payment to existing contracts that were being used in the District's independent effort to reform its classification and compensation systems--and therefore would not carry out the conditions that Congress had set for receipt of the funds. More recently, however, the officials said that they no longer plan to use the funds because doing so would delay the District's reform effort."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To handle staffing shortages and rising workloads, states and other engineering and construction organizations have been relying more on contractors do work that was previously done in-house. This trend is reflected in two state highway departments that GAO visited. Both Arizona and South Carolina were relying extensively on consulting engineers to handle large parts of their workloads. Two recent studies also identified ways in which organizations acquiring design and construction services have dealt with staffing shortages and increased workloads. These include team building, partnering, and involving all stakeholders in the early stages of a project's development and in design review activities throughout the project. The acting Director of the District of Columbia's Department of Public Works, Division of Transportation (DDOT) has started to reorganize the Department to improve performance. Specifically, he plans to increase the use of contractors to supplement DDOT's staff and has established cooperative relationships with other governmental agencies by adopting strategies and best practices that others have found to be effective. The Director also plans to reorganize staff into four project teams that will have all the disciplines necessary to be responsible and accountable for …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This letter responds to congressional interest in the communications between Curt Hebert, Jr., Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and Kenneth Lay, Chairman of Enron Corporation which were discussed in an article in the New York Times on May 25, 2001. Concerns were raised these communications might have violated federal criminal statutes or ethics regulations. GAO found that there was no evidence that the Chairman attempted to use public office for private gain or that Mr. Lay offered anything of value to Mr. Herbert."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) are establishing a medical surveillance system for the health care needs of military personnel and veterans. The system will collect and analyze information on deployments, environmental health threats, disease monitoring, medical assessments, and medical encounters. GAO has identified weaknesses in DOD's medical surveillance capability and performance during the Gulf War and Operation Joint Endeavor. Investigations into the unexplained illnesses of Gulf War veterans uncovered many deficiencies in DOD's ability to collect, maintain, and transfer accurate data on the movement of troops, potential exposures to health risks, and medical incidents during deployment. DOD has several initiatives under way to improve the reliability of deployment information and to enhance its information technology capabilities, though some initiatives are several years away from full implementation. The VA's ability to serve veterans and provide backup to DOD in times of war will be enhanced as DOD increases its medical surveillance capability."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Military Strategy states that the U.S. military should be able to fight and win two nearly simultaneous wars. Recently, concerns have been raised about whether the U.S. mobility capabilities may be inadequate to quickly transport the military forces and supplies necessary to execute strategy. This correspondence provides updated information on the readiness status of U.S. airlift and aerial refueling aircraft. Specifically, GAO provides (1) mission capable data for various military aircraft, (2) fiscal year 2000 average mission capable rates, and (3) data on aircraft that are not mission capable for supply and cannibalization rates for fiscal years 1997-2000."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As part of its business systems modernization program, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is acquiring a system known as the Custodial Accounting Project (CAP). In September 2000, Congress directed that IRS limit its spending on CAP until IRS provided a compelling business case for investing in this project and started managing CAP as an integrated part of the business systems modernization program. GAO found that IRS has satisfied both of these directives. However, its business case guidance does not explicitly specify cost-effectiveness analyses as a way to economically justify proposed investments and define when and how these analyses should be prepared. As a result, IRS runs the risk of spending time and money developing future business cases for proposed system solutions that, like CAP, cannot be adequately justified on the basis of costs and benefits alone."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Association of Counties contends that rural roads do not receive the level of funding needed to make these roads safer. Rural local roads, which account for more than half of the 8.2 million miles of roadways in the United States, had the highest rate of fatalities per vehicle mile traveled of all types of roadways--over six times that of urban interstates. This report reviews federal highway funding on a state-by-state basis for fiscal years 1992 through 2000 by individual federal highway program and type of roadway. GAO found that about 59 percent of all federal highway funds available to states during fiscal years 1992 through 2000 were spent on urban roads; the rest went to rural roads. Although only about 40 percent of all vehicle miles were traveled on rural roads, about 60 percent of the traffic accident fatalities in 1999 took place on rural roads. The four largest federal highway aid programs that provided funding were the Surface Transportation, National Highway System, Interstate Maintenance, and Bridge Replacement Programs."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The District of Columbia has taken various steps to implement a performance management process, and Congress has continued to provide oversight to strengthen the District's ability to efficiently and effectively deliver results to its taxpayers. This testimony discusses GAO's (1) ongoing review of the District's fiscal year 2000 performance report; (2) report issued in April 2001 on the implementation of the District's new financial management system; and (3) report being issued in May 2001 on the District's decision not to use money that Congress provided to help simplify the District's compensation systems, schedules, and work rules. GAO found that although the fiscal year 2000 report more fully met statutory requirements than did the 1999 report, performance planning, measurement and reporting is still a work in progress in the District. The District continues to face significant challenges in its efforts to put in place a financial management framework that ensures timely and reliable data on the cost of the District's operations. Finally, the District no longer plans to use the $250,000 appropriated by Congress for reform of the District's classification and compensation systems because doing so would delay their …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) farm loan programs, which are run by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). GAO (1) provides an overview of the financial condition of FSA's farm loan portfolio as of September 30, 2000 and (2) explains its decision to remove the farm programs from its high-risk list. GAO found that FSA had more than $16.6 billion in outstanding farm loans as of September 30, 2000; direct loans accounted for slightly more than half of this amount and guaranteed loans for slightly less than half. Of the $16.6 billion, about $2.1 billion was owed by borrowers who were delinquent on repaying their FSA loans. Most (87 percent) of the $2.1 billion was owed on direct farm loans. Although the total amount due on the problem loans remains high, this financial position reflects improvement in FSA's direct loan portfolio in recent years as well as a continuation of a relatively healthy guaranteed loan portfolio. In January 2001, GAO removed FSA's farm loan programs from its high-risk list. Several actions taken by Congress and USDA, many of which GAO recommended, have significantly improved the operation …

List of members in 2001 with addresses and other contact information.

Interview with Itasco Sampson Wilson, teacher and pianist from Kerrville, Texas. Mrs. Wilson talks about coming to Kerrville to teach at the "Kerrville Colored School," life for African-Americans in the area, the African-American community, and her personal life.

Interview with Joe Marcus "J.M." Auld, Jr., a Texan rancher from Kerrville, Texas. Mr. Auld identifies his family members (including Kerr County pioneers who immigrated from Scotland), describes the difficulties of ranch life, and mentions local cultural phenomena. The interview includes stories of "Indians," eradicating the screwworm fly from Kerr County, and life during the Great Depression. He also discusses the role of game hunting to today's ranchers.

Printed list of Texas Senate Members as of March 2001.

Printout of a list of House Districts for Dallas County.

Email from Abb Dickson to Rick Walker and Roland Jarvis on March 16, 2001, discussing Texas Court upholding Sodamy Law.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Wendell Leon Stewart. Stewart joined the Navy in February of 1944. He completed gunnery school and served the remainder of the war as Shipfitter 3rd Class in Boat Pool 15-1 in Cavite, Philippines. He completed large welding repair jobs on ships. Stewart returned to the US and was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Clevenger. Clevenger was born in Fulton County, Indiana in May 1925 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in March 1944. Following boot camp and communications training in January 1945, he embarked aboard the USS Meriwether (APA-203) in San Diego and sailed to Pearl Harbor. He boarded another troopship in Hawaii and sailed to Saipan. Clevenger then boarded USS LST-641 bound for Okinawa. During that transit the LST sailed through a typhoon. He was assigned to the 1st Provisional Anti-aircraft Artillery Group of III Amphibious Corps and landed on Okinawa on 5 April 1945. His group operated 90mm artillery and he describes the features of the radar system. His duties included communicating by radio and telephone with other anti-aircraft batteries on the island. He frequently heard Tokyo Rose broadcasting American music. He had several close calls with Japanese bombers and was on Okinawa when Japan surrendered. He was transferred to the First Marine Division and embarked on the USS Randall (APA-224) on 30 September bound for China. His convoy encountered nearly 1,000 mines in the Yellow Sea. He was badly burned while in China, but soon recovered and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Anne Noreen Bauer. She was born on 30 July 1915 in Monterey, Indiana. After graduation from high school she attended St. Joseph Hospital in Mishawaka, Indiana, where she received her nurse's training. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, she joined the Army Nurse Corps, was commissioned and reported to Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana in August 1942. She was sent to California where she embarked on the USS West Point (AP-23). She recalls the ship hitting a whale during the transit. Eventually, she arrived at a hospital in Calcutta, India where she was assigned as supervisor in charge of surgery and head nurse of the Intensive Care Unit. She describes her experiences during her 18 months in Calcutta, including the Japanese bombings. Next she was sent to Kandy, Ceylon which was under the command of Lord Louis Mountbatten, where she was stationed for a year as head nurse of the ward. She recalls being invited to Mountbatten's quarters for dinner and engaging him in a conversation where he recounted that he "knew all about Mishawaka, Indiana," her birthplace. She recalls that the Women's Army Corps had just been formed and she …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Milton Seale. Seale joined the Army in July of 1939. From July through October of 1942, he served with the 36th Infantry Division in the Louisiana Maneuvers. In October of 1943, he completed flight training and served with the 405th Fighter Squadron. In February of 1944, they deployed to England. From February through the end of the war, they completed combat missions over France, including a pre-invasion attack of Normandy, and destruction of a German armored division. Seal returned to the US and received his discharge in December of 1945.

Document of the meeting notes from a Black Tie Dinner meeting. The notes list who was present or absent in the meeting. A brief summary of the meeting consists of records of the actions the officials did as well.

Researchers at NASA and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), studying changes in tropical precipitation patterns, have noted a higher frequency of El Niños and La Niñas over the last 21 years. In addition, when either of those events occur, the world can expect more months with unusually high or low precipitation with droughts more common than floods over land areas.

News release concerning the death of DART's Vice President of Diversity and Economic Opportunity, Dr. Warren "Doc" Morgan.

Document of an email from Sue Wyll and Alessandra Ogren. The email is written in an informal tone and Wyll is requesting information for how an event should be planned.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Raymond S. Pugh. He discusses his experiences serving on the aircraft carrier the USS Hornet and some of their more exciting missions and battles against the Japanese int he Pacific Theatre during World War Two.