A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Plan sponsors and participants paid a range of fees for services, though smaller plans typically paid higher fees as a percentage of plan assets. For example, the average amount sponsors of small plans reported paying for recordkeeping and administrative services was 1.33 percent of assets annually, compared with 0.15 percent paid by sponsors of large plans. Larger plans were more likely to pass recordkeeping fees along to participants, but when fees were passed along to participants in small plans, those in large plans paid lower fees than those in small plans. Participants also paid for investment and plan consulting fees—through fees deducted from their plan assets—in more instances than sponsors."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy relied on its 2009 Radar/Hull Study as the basis to select DDG 51 over DDG 1000 to carry the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) as its preferred future surface combatant—a decision that may result in a procurement of up to 43 destroyers and cost up to $80 billion over the next several decades. The Radar/Hull Study may not provide a sufficient analytical basis for a decision of this magnitude. Specifically, the Radar/Hull Study:"

Report that provides information on the levels of deficit reduction if the Budget Control Act's (BCA) automatic cuts are implemented as under current law and contrasts that with the alternative proposals offered by some Members of Congress and President Obama. It also discusses specific determinations made by the Office of Management and Budget regarding the exempt/non-exempt status of certain programs, as well as a discussion of information to be disclosed regarding the FY2013 BCA sequester impact.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "USCP generally has enhanced retirement benefits, a higher minimum starting salary, and a wider variety of protective duties than other federal police forces in the DC metro area that GAO reviewed, but has similar employment requirements. Even though USCP, Park Police, Supreme Court Police, and Secret Service Uniformed Division are federal police forces, they provide enhanced retirement benefits similar to those offered by federal law enforcement agencies that have additional investigative duties. These enhanced benefits allow their officers to retire early and accrue retirement pensions faster than other federal police forces. USCP and these three forces also offered among the highest minimum entry-level salaries—ranging from $52,020 to $55,653—than the other six forces GAO reviewed, which had minimum entry-level salaries ranging from $38,609 to $52,018. USCP reported routinely having a wider variety of duties than most other forces. These duties ranged from routinely protecting members of Congress to protecting buildings. USCP and most of the forces generally have similar employment requirements, such as being in good physical condition."

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.

This report provides Congress with official, unclassified, background data from U.S. government sources on transfers of conventional arms to developing nations by major suppliers for the period 2004 through 2011. All agreement and delivery data in this report for the United States are government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) transactions. Similar data are provided on worldwide conventional arms transfers by all suppliers, but the principal focus is the level of arms transfers by major weapons suppliers to nations in the developing world.

An abridgement of CRS RL 33679, covering the rights to notice, attendance, and participation in the federal criminal justice process. It covers amendments that became active in December, 2008.

An overview of rights afforded to federal crime victims. The report describes who qualifies for these rights and follows with a description of the rights.

Report that covers the contentious travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba from the 1960s to the present time. Congress under the Obama Administration is easing restrictions on family, marketing, agricultural, and medical sales travel. The report also covers legislative action that has taken place in the 112th Congress to harshen travel restrictions.

Report that provides links to selected authoritative resources related to cybersecurity issues, including: legislation, hearings in the 112th Congress, data and statistics, and cybersecurity glossaries.

This report provides links to selected authoritative resources related to cybersecurity issues, including: legislation, hearings in the 112th Congress, data and statistics, and cybersecurity glossaries.

This report provides links to selected authoritative resources related to cybersecurity issues, including: legislation, hearings in the 112th Congress, data and statistics, and cybersecurity glossaries.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The average cost to count each housing unit rose from $70 in 2000 to $97 in 2010 (in constant 2010 dollars). While the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) made changes to its budget structure from 2000 to 2010, they did not document the changes that would facilitate comparisons over time and cannot identify specific drivers of this cost growth. According to GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, an agency can strengthen its ability to control costs by using available cost data to make comparisons over time and identify and quantify trends. The Bureau faces the fundamental challenge of striking a balance between how best to control costs without compromising accuracy. However, the Bureau’s inability to identify specific actionable factors affecting past growth will make it difficult for the Bureau to focus its efforts to control costs for the 2020 Census."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "After studying the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) process since September 2010, the Joint Staff began initiating actions in October 2011 to better prioritize capability needs and align those needs with available budgetary resources. Specifically, according to Joint Staff officials, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) has begun to consider the benefits and affordability of new capabilities within the context of joint capability areas and to evaluate possible duplication before validating new capability requirements. The Joint Staff has begun to implement a new approach to support JROC prioritization of capability needs, but the new approach is still evolving and has not been fully developed and clearly documented. New guidance does not clearly outline goals of the new approach, develop and communicate the analytic approach envisioned to support JROC decision making, or set out criteria and accompanying measures of progress. GAO previously reported that JCIDS’s ability to prioritize needs could be improved if it had an analytic approach to reviewing and validating proposals that would help ensure that the most important capability needs of the department are addressed. Until the Joint Staff takes steps to …

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This report looks at how controversies stemming from various importance given to different aspects of United States energy policy affect the legislation on energy policy, particularly during election years.

The economic rationale for interventions in energy markets helps inform the debate surrounding energy tax policy. This report begins by providing background on the economic rationale for energy market interventions, highlighting various market failures. After identifying possible market failures in the production and consumption of energy, possible interventions are discussed. The report concludes with an analysis of energy tax policy as it stands at the start of the 112th Congress.

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), agencies, and interagency statistical committees have distinct roles in identifying opportunities to improve federal information collection efforts. OMB exercises several authorities that promote the system’s efficiency, including overseeing and approving agency information collections. The website Reginfo.gov provides the public with information, such as cost and burden, on collections that OMB reviews, though GAO’s review identified some discrepancies in selected items. OMB periodically issues guidance to agencies on complying with federal requirements for information collections, but this guidance generally does not prescribe specific actions to take. GAO’s analysis of agencies’ documentation of active surveys indicated that 77 percent included detailed descriptions of efforts to identify duplication, while those that did not tended to be for collections that are unlikely to duplicate existing information; and 75 percent reported actions beyond those required by statute to solicit external input. OMB, through enhanced guidance, could promote additional awareness of options agencies can take to identify duplication and solicit input. Interagency committees, which primarily draw members from the 13 agencies that have statistics as their primary focus, are particularly important in helping ensure collaboration. …

This document represents a proposed outline for conducting a Before and After Study of the DART Green Line, a major extension of DART's light rail transit (LRT) system. Such studies track the costs and impacts of the extension of Red Line service into the North Central Corridor and analyze the accuracy of forecasts made during project planning. As the Green Line initially began as two separate planning corridors, the Northwest Corridor and the Southeast Corridor, this planned study replaced original planned studies of the two corridors.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) protects the U.S. homeland through two distinct but interrelated missions: (1) homeland defense, which defends against threats such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and cyber incidents; and (2) civil support, which involves supporting other federal agencies in responding to major domestic disasters, emergencies, and special events. DOD has issued and updated several key pieces of doctrine, policy, and strategy for homeland defense and civil support, but it has not updated its primary Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support since it was initially issued in 2005 and does not have a process--similar to that for its joint publications and directives-- to do so. The Joint Staff determined in August 2010 that joint publications on homeland defense needed a complete revision. The joint publication on civil support is also being revised. U.S. Northern Command, the combatant command responsible for homeland defense, is revising these publications to reflect changes in national and department priorities and to incorporate lessons learned from exercises and events such as Hurricane Katrina. Still, such key national and department-level strategies and significant events are not reflected in DOD's …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "HUD’s fiscal year 2011 expenditure plan, which seeks to obligate about $114 million for seven modernization projects, along with enterprisewide services and program management, satisfies both sets of statutory conditions contained in the 2011 appropriations act. Specifically, for the first set of statutory conditions, the plan identified the functional and performance capabilities, mission benefits, lifecycle costs, and key milestones for each of the projects. For example, the plan described specific and measurable mission benefits associated with HUD’s Place-Based Performance Management System project, such as reducing the time to compile performance information from 50 hours to 20 hours. In addition, the plan described costs associated with the lifecycle of each project, providing details on funds needed for major work activities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In-country, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its implementing partners face a range of factors that, to varying degrees, affect their ability to target food assistance effectively to vulnerable groups. These factors include (1) the quality of data used to identify and reach recipients, (2) host government policies, and (3) sharing of rations among recipients and community members. Targeting effectiveness is reduced when data quality is poor, host government policies cause distortions in program design and implementation, and sharing prevents food rations from being consumed by the intended recipients in the intended amounts. USAID and its implementing partners try to mitigate such challenges by, for example, employing technology to improve data quality, coordinating closely with government officials to foster better relationships, and educating recipients about proper food usage to reduce sharing. In some cases, host governments have facilitated targeting efforts by, for example, establishing national targeting guidelines that set a common standard, or national statistical offices that assist in collecting data. Nevertheless, ensuring that food assistance reaches intended recipients remains difficult."

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a term that loosely refers to obsolete, broken, or irreparable electronic devices. Because e-waste is generated in high volumes in the United States and contains hazardous materials, it is a growing area of domestic concern. Currently, e-waste is essentially unregulated at the federal level and can be disposed of with common household garbage in municipal solid waste landfills or incinerators. Recently, momentum has developed for domestic legislation restricting U.S. e-waste exports. These restrictions could take many forms, including a partial or total ban on e-waste exports, an e-waste export licensing system, or a quota on e-waste exports. This report looks at how such legislation could affect and work with prior US disposal laws.