This report discusses price changes in the pork industry. In late 1998, the lowest hog prices in decades created a crisis in the pork industry and prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Congress to take a series of actions to assist producers, including direct cash payments, and the purchase of extra pork products to reduce market supplies. The industry sought additional aid as low prices persisted into 1999.

Many states have devoted significant efforts to respond to the desire for home and community-based care for persons with disabilities and their families. Nevertheless, financing of nursing home care, chiefly by Medicaid, still dominates most states’ spending for long-term care today. To assist Congress in understanding issues that states face in providing long-term care services, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) undertook a study of 10 states in 2002. This report, one in a series of 10 state reports, presents background and analysis about long-term care in Indiana.

This Issue Brief examines DOD’s four largest tactical aircraft modernization programs. The background section provides a brief description of each program, and a discussion of how tactical aircraft fit into the military air operations: the missions they typically perform and how they contrast to longer-range combat aircraft.

Under the current Bush Administration, U.S.-China-Taiwan relations have undergone a number of changes. Initially, the new Administration seemed to abandon the longstanding U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan in favor of “strategic clarity” that placed more emphasis on Taiwan’s interests and less on PRC concerns. Among other things, President Bush publicly stated that the The United States would do “whatever it takes” to help Taiwan’s defense — an unprecedented a statement which no prior U.S. President has made. In April 2001, the President also approved a substantial sale of U.S. weapons to Taiwan, including Kidd-class destroyers, antisubmarine P-3 “Orion” aircraft, and diesel submarines. The White House also was more accommodating to visits from Taiwan officials than previous U.S. Administrations, and permitted visits from Taiwan’s president in 2001 and 2003, and from Taiwan’s VicePresident and Defense Minister in 2002.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, heightened awareness about the vulnerability to the terrorist attack of all modes of transportation. Port security has emerged as a significant part of the overall debate on U.S. homeland security. The overarching issues for Congress are providing oversight on current port security programs and making or responding to proposals to improve port security.

Interest in desegregating schools throughout multi-district metropolitan areas has increased as a result of litigation in the Federal courts concerning cross-district integration of students in Detroit, Indianapolis, Louisville, and W Wilmington metropolitan areas. Experience with school desegregation efforts involving a central city school district and its suburban independent school districts is very limited. Throughout the Southeast, school districts generally cover larger geographical areas than in other regions of the Nation. In these districts, various examples can be found of school desegregation efforts involving a central city and its surrounding suburbs; however, these areas have involved only one school district.

The combined efforts of the food industry and the regulatory agencies often are credited with making the U.S. food supply among the safest in the world. Nonetheless, many food-related health issues persist. At issue is whether the current U.S. regulatory system has the resources and structural organization to protect consumers from these dangers. Also at issue is whether the federal food safety laws themselves, first enacted in the early 1900s, have kept pace with the significant changes that have occurred in the food production, processing, and marketing sectors since then.

This report provides a comprehensive list of existing laws and pending legislation containing conditions, limitations, and reporting requirements for U.S. foreign assistance to Pakistan. It will track the debate on this topic and resulting changes.

This report provides introduction of Dr. James Parkinson, diagnosis of Parkinson's syndromes, the age of onset of the disease, racial origin and incidence rate of Parkinson's, as well as survival after the onset of Parkinson's.

"The objective of this multi-university/agency partnership between Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), and Texas A&M University (TAMU) is to build on the progress made through the UTCM seed funding to produce high-quality transportation professionals from underrepresented groups through research and other real-world experiences."

Quarterly publication of the Texas Comptroller's Office regarding sales and use tax in the state of Texas, including an analysis by county, analysis by industry, and related notes.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the Army's implementation of the Land Warrior system, focusing on: (1) the status of the system; (2) whether the level of monitoring and oversight is sufficient based on projected Land Warrior development costs; (3) how the Army is ensuring that Land Warrior will be able to operate with other digitized battlefield systems; and (4) whether technical and human factor problems still need resolution."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since Title IX of the Education Amendments was enacted in 1972, women's participation in higher education academic programs has increased significantly. Women's participation in predominantly male fields such as business, law, and medicine has also increased greatly, although changes in other predominantly male fields, such as engineering and physical science, have been smaller. In some predominantly female fields, including elementary education and nursing, there have been increases in the proportion of men receiving degrees. In the 1995-96 school year, first-year college men and women were about as likely to receive financial aid and received about the same average amounts of grant and loan aid. Men continue to outnumber women on faculties in predominantly male fields at colleges and universities. Women's participation in intercollegiate sports at four-year colleges and universities has increased while men's participation has dropped slightly, although they still participate at a higher rate than do women. On average, in the 1998-99 school year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association member schools spent more per male intercollegiate sports participant than female participant in recruiting, coaches' salaries, and operations. However, they spent more on athletic scholarships for …

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) introduced its Patient Safety Program in 1999 in order to discover and fix system flaws that could harm patients. The Program process relies on staff reports of close calls and adverse events. GAO found that achieving success requires a cultural shift from fear of punishment for reporting close calls and adverse events to mutual trust and comfort in reporting them. GAO used ethnographic techniques to study the Patient Safety Program from the perspective of direct care clinicians at four VA medical facilities. This approach recognizes that what people say, do, and believe reflects a shared culture. The focus included (1) the status of VA's efforts to implement the Program, (2) the extent to which a culture exists that supports the Program, and (3) practices that promote patient safety. GAO combined more traditional survey methods with those from ethnography, including in-depth interviews and observation."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the construction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) facility for its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) in College Park, Maryland, focusing on: (1) the General Services Administration's (GSA) authority to construct a new facility for FDA in College Park; (2) whether the requirements for building on a floodplain had been met; and (3) the planned placement of computers in the basement of the new building, specifically whether; (a) steps had been taken or will be taken to mitigate the risk of damage from water entering the basement of the building, and (b) CFSAN staff were involved in the decision to place the computer operations in the basement."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, the GAO discussed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) performance during the 1999 tax filing season, focusing on: (1) telephone service; (2) availability of walk-in services; (3) other taxpayer service efforts; (4) Earned Income Credit (EIC) noncompliance; (5) electronic filing; (6) implementation of recent tax law changes; and (7) implementation of a new return and remittance processing system."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1993, the United States agreed to buy 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium from Russia. This uranium was extracted from dismantled nuclear weapons over a 20-year period. USEC, Incorporated, (the company that acts as an executive agent for the United States) paid Russia about $1.6 billion for more than 3,000 metric tons of low enriched uranium blended from highly enriched uranium. Five of these deliveries to USEC have been delayed because, among other reasons, Russia was dissatisfied with the revenue it ws getting from the sales. By the end of 1999, USEC had received about 19 metric tons less than the agreement called for at that point in the contract. The U.S. government and USEC expect that the shortfall will be made up in the next few years. In addition to the uranium obtained from dismantled nuclear weapons, Russia is also proposing that the United States buy newly produced uranium processed in its commercial facilities. GAO recommends that this arrangement be assessed to determine its impact on the nuclear fuel industry and national security."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2000, two of the nation's largest airlines, United Airlines and US Airways, proposed merging. As part of the agreement, United and US Airways also proposed divesting some of the US Airways' assets at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to create an airline to be known as DC Air. The Justice Department is now reviewing the proposal to determine if the merger would violate U.S. antitrust laws and, if so, whether the proposed divestiture constitutes an adequate remedy. GAO reviewed the proposed merger and found that it would create an airline so large that it would spur further industry consolidation. The new airline would have more than 25 percent of the total U.S. market and would take in almost $9 billion more than the next largest airline. Although the proposed merger may benefit consumers by boosting competition in some areas, it could also eliminate competition in other areas and reduce consumer choice. DC Air would face significant competitive challenges from other airlines. DC Air would offer smaller aircraft and less frequent service but would seek to compete with other airlines by reducing its fares."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is increasingly using online applications to provide access to information and services and to conduct internal business operations. In light of this trend, strong security assurances are needed to properly safeguard sensitive, personal, and financial data, in part by ensuring that the identities of those who use such applications are appropriately authenticated. When fully and properly implemented, public key infrastructure (PKI) offers many of these assurances. In 2001, GAO reported that the federal government faces a number of challenges in deploying PKI technology (GAO-01-277). GAO was requested to follow up this work by (1) determining the status of federal PKI activities, including initiatives planned or under way at 24 major federal departments and agencies, as well as the status and planned activities of the Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA) and Access Certificates for Electronic Services (ACES) programs, and (2) identifying challenges encountered by the 24 agencies in implementing PKI initiatives since the 2001 report was issued. In commenting on a draft of this report, GSA and OMB officials generally agreed with its content and conclusions. Technical comments provided by OMB have been addressed …

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress and the President have called for various homeland security efforts to be based on risk management--a systematic process for assessing threats and taking appropriate steps to deal with them. GAO examined how three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) components were carrying out this charge: the Coast Guard, which has overall responsibility for security in the nation's ports; the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), which awards grants for port security projects; and the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate (IAIP), which has responsibility for developing ways to assess risks across all types of critical infrastructure. GAO's work focused on identifying the progress each DHS component has made on risk management and the challenges each faces in moving further."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns about the impact of foreign trade on U.S. manufacturing have focused attention on federal programs designed to help domestic firms that have been harmed by imports. One such program, the Department of Commerce's Trade Adjustment Assistance program, seeks to help U.S. firms adopt strategies to become more competitive. The program is run by the Economic Development Administration (EDA). GAO reviewed the nature and extent of Trade Adjustment Assistance as well as the outcomes of this assistance. GAO found that for fiscal years 1995 through 1999, EDA certified 157 firms annually as eligible for trade adjustment assistance and approved business recovery for about 127 firms each year. An average of $9.8 million dollars was spent by each of the 12 regional Trade Adjustment Assistance Centers operating under cooperative agreements with EDA. The impact of the program on firms is inconclusive because EDA does not formally monitor and track program outcomes of program recipients. Instead, EDA sets annual numerical goals for certifications and approved business recovery plans for each of the centers. As a result, EDA does not have the information necessary to systematically assess center performance …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Telecommunications Act of 1996 expanded the concept of universal telephone service to include telecommunication support services for eligible schools and libraries. Under this program, called the "e-rate program," schools and libraries can apply for discounts on telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections. GAO found that the Universal Service Administrative Company's (USAC) Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) committed more than $3.7 billion to applicants during the 1998 and 1999 program years. However, a significant amount of this money has not yet been paid out, even though the deadlines for applicants and vendors to use the funds has been extended more than once. In addition, more funding would be available for eligible requests if SLD's review procedures were more effective at identifying and denying ineligible requests. Despite procedures requiring reviewers to deny funding for ineligible items and to confirm that conditionally eligible services are being used according to program rules, GAO identified millions of dollars in funds incorrectly committed to ineligible products and services. Finally, SLD's practice of approving most vendors' invoices without reviewing how and where the committed funds are actually being spent leaves the …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and several states reviewed by GAO have established financial assistance programs to encourage the assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of brownfields. The programs run by EPA and the states differ in certain aspects, however. Namely, there are differences in the forms of assistance provided, the eligibility criteria, and overall strategies. From fiscal years 1995 through 2000, EPA provided $246.9 million for brownfields assistance while the five states reviewed by GAO provided a combined total of $136 million. GAO found that EPA and the states have difficulty in determining whether their programs are achieving their overall goals. Although EPA maintains a database to track the progress of its program, the data it collects are limited because recipients of EPA's assistance are not required to report on the status of their cleanup projects. The states also have limited information, primarily because they do not track the economic benefits of the assistance they provide or they use forecasted results, rather than actual results, to measure progress."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Custom Service's Modernization efforts, focusing on: (1) the status of Customs' implementation of the informed compliance strategy; and (2) whether trade compliance under the new program had improved."