Interview with Fritz Kornegay, a signal engineer in the US Army during WWII. He describes his time in the military and coming home post-war.

The vision document provides an overview of the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) long-term strategic plan to enhance scientific understanding of global climate change.This document is a companion to the comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program.

Text about the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth that was published in the "Essentials" section of a July 2003 Texas Highways magazine article.

Text for an article about the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth that was published in the July 2003 issue of Texas Highways magazine.

Resource list for an article about the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth that was published in the July 2003 issue of Texas Highways magazine.

Query letter from Randy Mallory to Jill Lawless dated July 1, 2003 regarding a proposed piece about the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas.

Query letter from Randy Mallory to Jill Lawless dated July 2, 2003 about a Texas Highways magazine article about Bigfoot and the Texas Bigfoot Research Center (TBRC).

Transcript of the third public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States held July 9,2003 at the Russel Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. This hearing focused on "Terrorism, al Queda, and the Muslim World." The Commission heard testimony from experts on the character of the transnational terrorist threat, the relationships of Arab states to these groups, and the phenomenon of violent extremism within the Muslim community.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Gonzales Memorial Museum and Amphitheatre, in Gonzales, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, narrative, and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Southern Pacific Freight Depot, in Brenham, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, narrative, and photographs.

Document about the McKinney chapter of the Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution.

Document about the McKinney chapter of the Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution.

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; Whether the Hutto Education Development Corporation may pay for construction of a hippopotamus statue as a promotional purpose (RQ-0038-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; Whether a legislator may engage ina business providing consulting, marketing, and public relation services to business clients that have dealings with local and federal officials and local governmental bodies (RQ-0016-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: Whether Occupations Code, section 1704.304, providing that certain persons may not recommend a bail bond surety, an attorney, or a law firm to a criminal defendant, precludes those persons from furnishing a list of attorneys or bail bond sureties (RQ-0022-GA)

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides about 45 percent of all electric power consumed in the Pacific Northwest--Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The power that BPA markets and distributes is generated in large part at hydroelectric projects including dams in the Federal Columbia River Power System. BPA also owns and operates about 75 percent of the region's services. Under the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980, BPA is responsible for ensuring an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply for the Pacific Northwest. To do so, BPA balances the needs of its customers against the highly variable water resources available for generating electricity. In maintaining this balance, BPA sometimes buys and sells or otherwise exchanges power with utilities with entities within and outside the Pacific Northwest. In addition to providing power, BPA is required under the 1980 act, various other laws, treaties and court cases, to "protect, mitigate, and enhance" fish and wildlife resources. Recently, BPA has witnessed a substantial deterioration in its financial condition. For example, BPA's cash reserves of $811 million at the end of fiscal year 2000 had fallen $188 million …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since September 11, 2001, visa operations have played an increasingly important role in ensuring the national security of the United States. The Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Justice, as well as other agencies, are involved in the visa process. Each plays an important role in making security decisions so that potential terrorists do not enter the country. In two GAO reports, we assessed the effectiveness of the visa process as an antiterrorism tool."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) faces financial and related management problems that are pervasive, complex, long-standing, and deeply rooted in virtually all business operations throughout the department. These problems have impeded the department's ability to provide complete, reliable, and timely business information to the Congress, DOD managers, and other decision makers. Of the 25 areas on our governmentwide "high-risk" list, 6 are DOD program areas, and the department shares responsibility for 3 other high-risk areas that are governmentwide in scope. DOD's problems in each of these areas hinder the efficiency of operations, and leave the department vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. For fiscal year 2003, DOD's information technology (IT) budget request was over $26 billion. More specifically, to support its business operations, DOD reports that it currently relies on about 2,300 systems, including accounting, acquisition, logistics, and personnel systems that will cost about $18 billion--nearly $5.2 billion for business systems and $12.8 billion primarily for business systems infrastructure--in fiscal year 2003 to operate, maintain, and modernize. As we have previously reported, this environment was not designed to be, but rather has evolved into, an overly complex and …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has been providing ongoing assistance to the Capitol Preservation Commission and the Senate and House Appropriations Committees in their monitoring and oversight of the Capitol Visitor Center construction project. Given the current decisions facing the Congress, this testimony covers (1) management of the project, (2) the estimated cost for the project, (3) the status of the project's schedule, and (4) actions that Congress and the AOC should consider taking to address funding gaps and other current project issues and risks."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Despite a recent decline in the population that smokes, smoking is considered the leading cause of preventable death in this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 2 million deaths in the 5-year period from 1995 through 1999 were attributable to cigarette smoking. CDC, part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a primary source of information on the health consequences of smoking tobacco. CDC reported its most recent estimates of selected health consequences of cigarette smoking in an April 2002 issue of its publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC reported that, on average, over 440,000 deaths, 5.6 million years of potential life lost, $82 billion in mortality-related productivity losses, and $76 billion in medical expenditures were attributable to cigarette smoking each year from 1995 through 1999. CDC and others tasked with making such estimates face challenges. They build estimates on a set of assumptions and make choices about the data sources and methods used, each of which may have limitations that must be weighed against its advantages. Policymakers at both the state and federal levels have relied on …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent news articles in over 30 states and prominent mental health advocacy organizations have described the difficulty many parents have in accessing mental health services for their children. As these reports documented, some parents choose to place their children in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems in order to obtain the mental health services that their children need. Senators Susan Collins and Joseph Lieberman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs asked GAO to testify on: (1) the number and characteristics of children voluntarily placed in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to receive mental health services, (2) the factors that influence such placements, and (3) promising state and local practices that may reduce the need for child welfare and juvenile justice placements. This testimony is based on our April 2003 report on the results of a study addressing these same objectives. For that report, we surveyed state child welfare directors in all states and the District of Columbia and juvenile justice officials in 33 counties in the 17 states with the largest populations of children under age 18. We surveyed juvenile justice officials at the …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1986, the United States entered into a Compact of Free Association with the Pacific Island nations of the Federated States of Micronesia, or FSM, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or RMI. The Compact provided about $2.1 billion in U.S. funds, supplied by the Department of the Interior, over 17 years (1987-2003) to the FSM and the RMI. These funds were intended to advance economic development. In a past report, GAO found that this assistance did little to advance economic development in either country, and accountability over funding was limited. The Compact also established U.S. defense rights and obligations in the region and allowed for migration from both countries to the United States. The three parties recently renegotiated expiring economic assistance provisions of the Compact in order to provide an additional 20 years of assistance (2004-2023). In addition, the negotiations addressed defense and immigration issues. The House International Relations and Resources Committees requested that GAO report on Compact negotiations. This testimony discusses negotiated changes to the levels and structure of future assistance, including the potential cost to the U.S. government. Further, it reviews accountability, defense, and …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1986, the United States entered into a Compact of Free Association with the Pacific Island nations of the Federated States of Micronesia, or FSM, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or RMI. The Compact provided about $2.1 billion in U.S. funds, supplied by the Department of the Interior, over 17 years (1987-2003) to the FSM and the RMI. These funds were intended to advance economic development. In a past report, GAO found that this assistance did little to advance economic development in either country, and accountability over funding was limited. The Compact also established U.S. defense rights and obligations in the region and allowed for migration from both countries to the United States. The three parties recently renegotiated expiring economic assistance provisions of the Compact in order to provide an additional 20 years of assistance (2004-2023). In addition, the negotiations addressed defense and immigration issues. The House International Relations and Resources Committees requested that GAO report on Compact negotiations."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2003, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a revised Circular A-76, which represents a comprehensive set of changes to the rules governing competitive sourcing--one of five governmentwide items in the President's Management Agenda. Determining whether to obtain services in-house or through commercial contracts is an important economic and strategic decision for agencies, and the use of Circular A-76 is expected to grow throughout the federal government. In the past, however, the A-76 process has been difficult to implement, and the impact on the morale of the federal workforce has been profound. Concerns in the public and private sectors were also raised about the timeliness and fairness of the process for public-private competitions. It was against this backdrop that the Congress enacted legislation mandating a study of the A-76 process, which was carried out by the Commercial Activities Panel, chaired by the Comptroller General of the United States. This testimony focuses on how the new Circular addresses the Panel's recommendations reported in April 2002, the challenges agencies may face in implementing the new Circular A-76, and the need for effective workforce practices to help ensure …