Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, the Department of Defense (DOD) has relied on more than 600,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve components to support various operations abroad and at home. In particular, from September 2001 to July 2007, the department deployed more than 434,000 reservists to support operations in DOD's Central Command area of responsibility that includes Afghanistan and Iraq. Furthermore, DOD has modified its mobilization policy, which had previously limited the cumulative amount of time that reservists could be involuntarily called to active duty for the Global War on Terrorism. Under DOD's new policy, which went into effect in January 2007, involuntary mobilizations for reserve component service members are generally limited to no more than 12 months, and there are no cumulative limits on these involuntary mobilizations. While on active duty, reservists may be unable to take the required professional development courses or periodic tests needed to retain their professional currency in fields such as accounting or software engineering. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects rights of qualifying National Guard members, reservists, and certain other members of the uniformed services returning to their civilian …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal laws and regulations require that safety-related transportation professionals undergo screening to ensure that they can safely perform their jobs. Medical certification and background checks of selected pilots, vessel masters, and commercial drivers are part of the requirements for licensing these workers. Certification or licensing also includes testing workers' knowledge and skills required for the jobs. These checks are critical because physically or mentally unfit transportation workers pose a danger to themselves and to the public. Because of concerns raised by recent investigations of the reliability of pilot medical certifications, Congress asked us to first describe the requirements for medical and background checks for selected transportation workers. Accordingly, we addressed the following questions for (1) medical certification and (2) background checks: What are the regulations governing pilots, vessel masters, and commercial drivers and what role do government entities have in completing the certifications and background checks? A second report, which will be issued mid-2008, will provide information about the steps that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) takes to check the accuracy of pilot medical certificates. Federal regulations require that pilots have both pilot certificates and medical certificates prior …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2007 and 2006. As part of these audits, we performed a review of the general and application information security controls over key BPD financial systems. In our audit report on the Schedules of Federal Debt for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2007 and 2006, we concluded that BPD maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt related to financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations as of September 30, 2007, that provided reasonable assurance that misstatements, losses, or noncompliance material in relation to the Schedule of Federal Debt would be prevented or detected on a timely basis. However, we found matters involving information security controls that we do not consider to be significant deficiencies. As it relates to controls over financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, BPD mitigated the potential effect of such control …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A growing portion of federal spending is related to buying services such as administrative, management, and information technology support. Services accounted for about 60 percent of total fiscal year 2006 procurement dollars. The Services Acquisition Reform Act (SARA) of 2003 established an Acquisition Advisory Panel to make recommendations for improving acquisition practices. In January 2007, the panel proposed 89 recommendations to improve federal acquisition practices. GAO was asked to testify on how the panel recommendations compare to GAO's past work and identify how the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) expects the recommendations to be addressed. This statement is based on GAO's analysis of the advisory panel's report. GAO's analysis is included in its December 2007 report titled, Federal Acquisition: Oversight Plan Needed to Help Implement Acquisition Advisory Panel Recommendation, (GAO-08-160)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) helps protect U.S. competitiveness by granting patents for new ideas and innovations. Increases in the volume and complexity of patent applications have extended the time for processing them. Concerns continue about the agency's efforts to attract and retain qualified patent examiners who can meet the demand for patents and help reduce the growing backlog of unexamined patent applications. In 2007, GAO reported on (1) USPTO's process for making its annual hiring estimates and the relationship of these estimates to the patent application backlog; (2) the extent to which patent examiner hiring has been offset by attrition, and the factors that may contribute to this attrition; and (3) the extent to which USPTO's retention efforts align with examiners' reasons for staying with the agency. GAO recommended that USPTO comprehensively evaluate the assumptions it uses to establish its production goals. USPTO agreed to implement this recommendation once it determines the effect of recent initiatives designed to increase the productivity of the agency through a more efficient and focused patent examination process. This testimony is based on GAO's 2007 report, which was based in …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2007, a series of Washington Post articles about conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center highlighted problems in the Army's case management of injured servicemembers and in the military's disability evaluation system. These deficiencies included a confusing disability evaluation process and servicemembers in outpatient status for months and sometimes years without a clear understanding about their plan of care. These reported problems prompted various reviews and commissions to examine the care and services to servicemembers. In response to problems at Walter Reed and subsequent recommendations, the Army took a number of actions and DOD formed a joint DOD-VA Senior Oversight Committee. This statement updates GAO's September 2007 testimony and is based on ongoing work to (1) assess actions taken by the Army to help ill and injured soldiers obtain health care and navigate its disability evaluation process; and to (2) describe the status, plans, and challenges of DOD and VA efforts to implement a joint disability evaluation system. GAO's observations are based largely on documents obtained from and interviews with Army, DOD, and VA officials. The facts contained in this statement were discussed with representatives from …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2005, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the Secure Border Initiative (SBI), a multiyear, multibillion-dollar program to secure U.S. borders. One element of SBI is the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) SBI program, which is responsible for developing a comprehensive border protection system through a mix of security infrastructure (e.g., fencing) and surveillance and communication technologies (e.g., radars, sensors, cameras, and satellite phones). GAO was asked to monitor DHS progress in implementing CBP's SBI program. This testimony provides GAO's observations on (1) technology implementation; (2) the extent to which Border Patrol agents have been trained and are using SBI technology; (3) infrastructure implementation; and (4) how the CBP SBI program office has defined its human capital goals and the progress it has made to achieve these goals. GAO's observations are based on analysis of DHS documentation, such as program schedules, contracts, status, and reports. GAO also conducted interviews with DHS officials and contractors, and visits to sites in the southwest border where SBI deployment is under way. GAO performed the work from November 2007 through February 2008. DHS generally agreed with GAO's findings."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States depends on space assets to support national security activities as well as civil and commercial activities. The Department of Defense (DOD) depends on space assets to support a wide range of military missions to include intelligence collection; battlefield surveillance and management; global command, control, and communications; and navigation assistance. This operational dependence on space has placed new and increasing demands on current space systems and organizations to meet Joint Force Commanders' needs. Moreover, concerns have increased regarding emerging threats that could affect the United States' and other countries' access to the free use of space. GAO plans to issue a report regarding ORS acquisition issues by April 2008, and by July 2008 we will issue a report regarding how ORS is being developed to satisfy warfighter needs. However, GAO is providing Congress this letter because during the course of our work on how Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) is being developed to satisfy warfighter needs, GAO learned that the National Security Space Office developed a National Security Space Strategy in 2004, but it has not been issued. GAO is bringing this matter to Congress' attention because …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Eligibility of particular owners to sign a zoning change protest under section 211.006(d), Local Government Code (RQ-0654-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Implementation of changes to tax proceedings required by recently enacted House Bill 1010, which provides for the consolidation of appraisal districts (RQ-0655-GA)

Notes of Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Executive Board Conference Call on April 27, 2008 discussing committee reports, bylaws, and other businesses. Also, handwritten notes regarding TSDC Conference Call on April 27, 2008. The first three pages are on yellow lined paper, and the fourth page is on white lined paper.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act to reform security clearance processes. Much of GAO's experience in evaluating personnel security clearance processes over the decades has consisted of examining the Department of Defense's (DOD) program, which maintains about 2.5 million clearances on servicemembers, DOD civilian employees, legislative branch employees, and industry personnel working for DOD and 23 other federal agencies. Long-standing delays in processing applications--and other problems in DOD's clearance program--led GAO to designate it a high-risk area in 2005. GAO also has documented clearance-related problems in other agencies. For this hearing, GAO was asked to identify key factors that could be applied in personnel security clearance reform efforts. To identify key factors, GAO drew upon its past reports and institutional knowledge. For those reports, GAO reviewed laws, executive orders, policies, reports, and other documentation related to the security clearance process; examined samples of cases of personnel granted top secret eligibility; compared documentation in those sampled cases against federal standards; and interviewed a range of cognizant government officials."

Email addressing several issues that will be discussed during a conference call between board members.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Allan Golden. Golden joined the Navy in 1942 and after three weeks of boot training at San Diego, he boarded a ship bound for Noumea, New Caledonia. Upon his arrival he was assigned to the base post office. He was then sent to Fiji to serve as a LCVP driver. He participated in the invasion of Bougainville and describes the procedure of landing troops on the beaches. He returned to the United States in 1944 and was assigned as captain on a tug boat. One of the jobs assigned to his tug was towing targets for F4U fighters to practice strafing.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Hobart Martin. Martin was drafted into the Army in February of 1943. In early 1944 he completed a college training detachment at Centenary College in Louisiana. From there he was assigned to Company E in the 342nd Infantry Regiment, 86th Infantry Division. They were assigned to La Havre, France in February of 1945 due to the Battle of the Bulge. His regiment was involved in much combat in France until they departed in June of 1945. In September they arrived in the Philippines, where he assisted with clerical work. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant and worked in the headquarters company. Martin was discharged in February of 1946.

Printed web page with a summary of the book "Go Home Little Fifinella", written by Winnie LoPinto. A photo of the author as a young WASP with a plane can be seen at the top of the page.

This report is a rapid assessment analysis undertaken to inform the UK's Eliasch Review on the role of international finance mechanisms to preserve global forests in tackling climate change. The results should be used with an understanding of the caveats specified at the end of the report.

Supplementary materials accompanying an article on improving saccharification efficiency of alfalfa stems through modification of the terminal stages of monolignol biosynthesis.

The second part of the legislative appropriations request from the Texas Department of Insurance for fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

Agency strategic plan for the Texas Animal Health Commission describing the organization's planned services, activities, and other goals during fiscal years 2009 through 2013.

Handwritten notes on Dimasa with special focus on tone, vowel length, and final glottals. Includes regional word list, words with final -p and -k, and minimal pairs and triplets demonstrating vowel length distinctions in adjectival forms.