A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) spent about 40 percent of the total defense budget to operate and maintain the nation's military forces in fiscal year 2005. Operation and maintenance (O&M) funding is considered one of the major components of funding for readiness. O&M appropriations fund the training, supply, and equipment maintenance of military units as well as the infrastructure of military bases. Over the past several years, DOD has increasingly used contractors, rather than uniformed or DOD civilian personnel, to provide O&M services in areas such as logistics, base operations support, information technology services, and administrative support. The House Appropriations Committee directed GAO to examine growing O&M costs and support services contracting. This GAO report (1) identifies the trends in O&M costs and services contracts and the reasons for the trends, (2) discusses whether increased services contracting has exacerbated the growth of O&M costs, and (3) provides perspectives on the benefits and concerns associated with increased contracting for support services. GAO analyzed DOD's O&M appropriations, budgets, and services contract costs over a 10-year period and developed case studies of outsourced O&M-related work at three installations. GAO …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Small businesses engaged in manufacturing, typically those with 500 or fewer employees, comprise about 90 percent of all U.S. manufacturers and employ 6 million workers. Recent studies have shown that small manufacturing businesses face a number of challenges in their efforts to remain competitive, including the inability to obtain operating and investment capital, a lack of familiarity with new business practices, and difficulty in finding independent advice and skilled employees. To help these businesses overcome such challenges, many federal agencies provide financial and nonfinancial technical services through targeted or general programs or create interagency work groups to better coordinate their efforts and more effectively support these businesses. In this context, GAO identified (1) federal programs that provide services to support small businesses engaged in manufacturing and (2) federal interagency efforts that focus on issues of concern to small manufacturing businesses. To identify these programs and efforts, GAO obtained documentation from 19 federal agencies. In commenting on a draft of this report, 18 of the 19 agencies made technical comments that we have incorporated as appropriate. GAO is not making recommendations in this report."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with hundreds of billions of dollars in supplemental and annual appropriations for military operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). DOD's reported annual costs for GWOT have shown a steady increase from about $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to about $98.4 billion in fiscal year 2006. So far in fiscal year 2007, Congress has provided DOD with $70 billion in annual appropriations for GWOT. To continue its GWOT operations, DOD has requested an additional $93.4 billion in supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2007 and $141.7 billion in appropriations for fiscal year 2008. The United States' commitments to GWOT will likely involve the continued investment of significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult trade-offs as the nation faces an increasing long-range fiscal challenge. The magnitude of future costs will depend on several direct and indirect cost variables and, in some cases, decisions that have not yet been made. DOD's future costs will likely be affected by the pace and duration of operations, the types of facilities needed to support troops overseas, redeployment plans, and …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter summarizes our review of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) implementation of the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) revised Circular No. A-123, Management's Responsibility for Internal Control (A-123) during fiscal year 2006. These requirements are applicable to the 24 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies, including the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), of which IRS is a significant component. The objectives of our review, which was conducted as part of our audit of IRS's fiscal year 2006 financial statements, were to determine whether (1) IRS appropriately planned and implemented its assessment of internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the requirements of OMB Circular No. A-123, (2) IRS performed sufficient work to support its related assurance statement to Treasury, and (3) IRS's assurance statement appropriately represented the status of IRS's internal control over financial reporting."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In August 2006, we reported to Congress on the results of our review, which Congress requested, of factors affecting Hispanic representation in the federal workforce and efforts being taken by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and other agencies related to Hispanic representation. We reported that EEOC and OPM require agencies to analyze their workforces to help ensure equal employment opportunity and that EEOC requires agencies to analyze subsets of their workforce to determine whether barriers to such opportunities may exist. As indicated in that report, and as discussed with Congress, this report contains additional data on Hispanic representation in various subsets of the federal workforce with some comparisons to Hispanic representation in the Civilian Labor Force (CLF). The data in this report provide a foundation for further analyses by agency officials and policymakers as they consider a broad spectrum of issues related to Hispanic representation in the federal workforce. These data include analyses by agency, selected occupation, occupational category, grade, and among new hires. For purposes of these analyses, the federal workforce governmentwide includes civilian employees of all cabinet-level departments, independent agencies, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures the pensions of nearly 44 million private sector workers in over 30,000 employer-sponsored defined benefit pension plans. Established in 1974 as a self-financing government corporation, PBGC's primary responsibility is to insure, under statutory limits, the pension benefits of participants in covered private defined benefit plans. PBGC collects premiums from the sponsors of defined benefit pension plans and administers plans that are terminated for reasons such as plan insolvency or bankruptcy. In the event of a termination, PBGC assumes control of plan assets, determines plan benefit liabilities, and pays benefits as guaranteed by statute. In fiscal year 2006, about 612,000 plan participants and beneficiaries received $4.1 billion in benefit payments from PBGC. An additional 659,000 participants in plans already trusteed by the corporation will receive benefits from PBGC when they become eligible to retire. An increase in underfunded plan terminations in recent years increased the number of plan participants receiving and eligible for benefit payments. In 2005, PBGC reorganized, creating an additional legal department called the Office of the Chief Counsel, and placed this new office under the Chief Insurance Program Officer. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has a demanding responsibility enforcing banking laws, regulating financial institutions, and protecting depositors. As part of its audit of the calendar year 2006 financial statements, GAO assessed (1) the progress FDIC has made in correcting or mitigating information security weaknesses previously reported and (2) the effectiveness of FDIC's system integrity controls to protect the confidentiality and availability of its financial information and information systems. To do this, GAO examined pertinent security policies, procedures, and relevant reports. In addition, GAO conducted tests and observations of controls in operation."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Average health insurance premiums for plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) have risen each year since 1997. These growing premiums result in higher costs to the federal government and plan enrollees. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees FEHBP, negotiating benefits and premiums and administering reserve accounts that may be used to cover plans' unanticipated spending increases. GAO was asked to discuss its December 22, 2006 report, entitled Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Premium Growth Has Recently Slowed, and Varies Among Participating Plans (GAO-07-141). In this report, GAO reviewed (1) FEHBP premium trends compared with those of other purchasers, (2) factors contributing to average premium growth across all FEHBP plans, and (3) factors contributing to differing trends among selected FEHBP plans. GAO reviewed data provided by OPM relating to FEHBP premiums and factors contributing to premium growth. For comparison purposes, GAO examined premium data from the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and surveys of other public and private employers. GAO also interviewed officials from OPM and eight FEHBP plans with premium growth that was higher than average and six FEHBP plans with premium …

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Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the use of only parts of driver's license and social security numbers in certain court documents.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the notice required for the lease of real property by certain counties when responding to particular emergency circumstances.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the billing of anatomic pathology services; providing penalties.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the liability of certain licensed or registered professionals for damages arising from certain services provided during an emergency.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to credit card marketing activities at postsecondary educational institutions; providing a civil penalty.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the capacity of the permanent school fund bond guarantee program.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to postponement of jury service in certain counties.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives recognizing the Lubbock Independent School District on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives commending the members of the Texas Young Lawyers Association for their service to the community.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of Mattie Katherine Bills of Paris, Texas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of successful businessman and Dallas Holocaust Museum cofounder Martin Donald.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of Robert Bruce Staples, Jr., of Paris, Texas/

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to extending appreciation to the professionals of the juvenile probation system on Texas Juvenile Probation Day at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of Zane Daniel Newsom of Paris, Texas.