A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As the world's population tripled during the past century, demand for the finite amount of freshwater resources increased six-fold, straining these resources for many countries, including the United States. The United Nations estimates that, worldwide, more than 1 billion people live without access to clean drinking water and over 2.4 billion people lack the basic sanitation needed for human health. Freshwater supply shortages--already evident in the drought-ridden western United States--pose serious challenges and can have economic, social, and environmental consequences. Multiple federal agencies share responsibility for managing freshwater resources, but consolidated information on the federal government's financial support of these activities is not readily accessible. GAO was asked to determine for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 how much financial support federal agencies provided for freshwater programs in the United States and abroad. For the purposes of this report, freshwater programs include desalination, drinking water supply, flood control, irrigation, navigation, wastewater treatment, water conservation, water dispute management, and watershed management."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Overfishing may have significant environmental and economic consequences. One tool used to maintain fisheries at sustainable levels is the individual fishing quota (IFQ), which sets individual catch limits for eligible vessel owners or operators. This is GAO's third study on IFQ programs. For this study, GAO determined (1) the costs of managing (i.e., administering, monitoring, and enforcing) IFQ programs and how these costs differ from pre-IFQ management costs; (2) what, if any, IFQ management costs are currently being recovered by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); and (3) ways to share the costs of IFQ programs between government and industry."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) ability to provide superior capabilities to the warfighter is dependent on its ability to incorporate rapidly evolving, cutting-edge microelectronic devices into its defense systems. While many commercial microelectronics advances apply to defense systems, DOD has some unique microelectronics needs not met by industry. Therefore, to maintain military superiority, DOD has the challenge of exploiting state-of-the-art commercial microelectronics technology and focusing its research investments in areas with the highest potential return for defense systems. Given the importance of advanced microelectronics to defense systems and the rapid changes in these technologies, Congress asked GAO to (1) identify and describe DOD and federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) facilities that receive funding from DOD for microelectronics production or research prototyping and (2) describe how DOD coordinates investments in microelectronics research."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare physician fee schedule adjusts physician fees for area differences in physicians' costs of operating a private medical practice. Three separate indices, known as geographic practice cost indices (GPCI), raise or lower Medicare fees in an area, depending on whether the area's physician practice costs are above or below the national average. The three GPCIs correspond to the three components of a Medicare fee: physician work, practice expense, and malpractice expense. Advocates for rural physicians have criticized the GPCIs, which lower fees in areas where costs are below the national average. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 directed GAO to evaluate Medicare's method of geographic adjustment. This report examines the extent to which Medicare's GPCIs are valid in their design and appropriate in the data and methods used in their construction, and affect physician incomes, location, recruitment, and retention."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report is a publicly available version of our report on the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated our original report as Limited Official Use because of the sensitive and specific nature of the information it contained. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the DHS bureau responsible for protecting the nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry, has the dual goals of preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States and also facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Approximately 90 percent of the world's cargo moves by container. Addressing the threat posed by the movement of containerized cargo across U.S. borders has traditionally posed many challenges for CBP, in particular balancing the bureau's border protection functions and trade enforcement mission with its goal of facilitating the flow of cargo and persons into the United States. CBP has said that the large volume of imports and its limited resources make it impossible to physically inspect all oceangoing containers without disrupting the flow of commerce, and it is unrealistic to expect that all containers warrant …

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Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate designating February 28 to March 1, 2005, as Tyler Days at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate congratulating J. Lindsey Bradley, Jr., on his receipt of the 2004 Earl M. Collier Award for Distinguished Health Care Administration.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate congratulating the Red Raiders football team of Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler on winning the state Class 5A Division I football championship.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate honoring Philip A. Berkebile on his retirement from the Texas Daily Newspaper Association.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate in memory of Judge Fidencio M. Guerra, Sr.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate concurrent resolution honoring the life of civil rights leader James Leonard Farmer, Jr.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate honoring Gail Platt of Lubbock for her 20 years of service to the Texas Community College Teachers Association.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate designating February 2005 as Black History Month in Texas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate designating February 22, 2005, as Panola County Day at the Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate congratulating the Kilgore High School football team on winning the 2004 UIL Class 4A Division II State Football Championship.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate congratulating Miss Texas USA 2005 Tyler Willis of Brownfield.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate recognizing February 28, 2005, as West Day at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate congratulating the Crawford High School Pirates football team on their championship season.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate congratulating the Crawford High School Band on their contribution to the community.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate recognizing National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, February 27 through March 5, 2005.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate designating September 2005 as Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate honoring Verlin Callahan of Cedar Creek for his service to the Independent Cattlemen's Association of Texas and the wider Central Texas community.