A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a mandate in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) of 2003 requiring GAO to assess consumers' understanding of credit reporting. The FACT Act, among other things, extended provisions governing the credit reporting system and addressed ongoing concerns about inaccuracies in credit reports. For example, the act expanded access to credit information by entitling consumers to one free credit report each year. It also established the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) to improve consumers' understanding of credit issues. This report examines consumers' understanding and use of credit reports and scores and the dispute process and looks at factors that may influence their understanding of credit reporting."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) represents one of the largest reorganizations of government agencies and operations in recent history. Significant management challenges exist for DHS as it merges the multiple management systems and processes from its 22 originating agencies in functional areas such as human capital and information technology. GAO was asked to identify opportunities for DHS to improve its management integration."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1998, Congress passed the Veterans Programs Enhancement Act, which authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a new loan guarantee program for the construction or rehabilitation of multifamily transitional housing projects specifically designed to provide housing for homeless veterans. The program is intended to increase the amount of housing available, as well as provide other services to encourage addiction recovery and reestablish work and social relationships. GAO was asked to examine why no multifamily housing projects are operational, given that the VA's loan guarantee program was authorized 6 years ago. Specifically, GAO was asked to provide information on (1) actions VA has taken to implement the Transitional Housing Loan Guarantee Program and (2) issues that have affected program implementation."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "FCS is the core of Army efforts to create a lighter, more agile, capable force: a $108 billion investment to provide a new generation of 18 manned and unmanned ground vehicles, air vehicles, sensors, and munitions linked by an information network. Although system development and demonstration began in May 2003, the program was restructured in July 2004, including processes to make FCS capabilities available to current forces. GAO has been asked to assess (1) FCS technical and managerial challenges; (2) prospects for delivering FCS within cost and scheduled objectives; and (3) options for proceeding."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Plentiful, relatively inexpensive energy has been the backbone of much of modern America's economic prosperity and the activities that essentially define our way of life. The energy systems that have made this possible, however, are showing increasing signs of strain and instability, and the consequences of our energy choices on the natural environment are becoming more apparent. The reliable energy mainstay of the 20th century seems less guaranteed in the 21st century. As a nation, we have witnessed profound growth in the use of energy over the past 50 years--nearly tripling our energy use in that time. Although the United States accounts for only 5 percent of the world's population, we now consume about 25 percent of the energy used each year worldwide. Looking into the future, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that U.S. energy demand could increase by about another 30 percent over the next 20 years. To aid the subcommittee as it evaluates U.S. energy policies, GAO agreed to provide its views on energy supplies and energy demand as well as observations that have emerged from its energy work. This testimony is based on GAO's …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony outlines (1) the impact of the recent increased operational tempo on the process used to reimburse Army Guard soldiers for travel expenses and the effect that travel reimbursement problems have had on soldiers and their families; (2) the adequacy of the overall design of controls over the processes, human capital, and automated systems relied on for Army Guard travel reimbursements; (3) whether the Department of Defense's (DOD) current efforts to automate its travel reimbursement process will resolve the problems identified; and (4) other DOD actions to improve the accuracy and timeliness of Army Guard travel reimbursements."

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To meet its human capital needs, the Department of Defense (DOD) must convince several hundred thousand people to join the military each year while, at the same time, retain thousands of personnel to sustain its active duty, reserve, and National Guard forces. Since September 11, 2001, DOD has launched three major military operations requiring significant military personnel--Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The high pace of military operations combined with the level of casualties in Iraq and other factors, such as lengthy overseas deployments, have raised concerns about DOD's ability to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of personnel who possess the skills and experience needed. This testimony presents GAO's preliminary findings on (1) the extent to which the active duty, reserve, and Guard components have met their overall recruiting and retention goals, (2) the degree to which the components have met their recruiting and retention goals for selected hard-to-fill critical occupations, and (3) steps the components have taken to enhance their recruiting and retention efforts. This testimony focuses on enlisted personnel. In continuing its work, GAO will assess the reliability of …

BRAC 2005 Intelligence Joint Cross-Service Group Meeting Minutes of March 16, 2005. The document is redacted.

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Electronic message from David A. Stallman to Betty Budde, Frances Sargent, Lois Hailey, and Helen Snapp, sent on March 16, 2005, discussing the inclusion of an article featuring Mary Nicholson, published in the March issue of Our State. Pages 210 and 211 of the article discuss Camp Davis and Liberty Field at Camp Stewart.

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The Edge Coordinating Committee (ECC) was formed in July 14-15, 2004 when OFES Theory Team invited 14 plasma researchers to a two-day meeting in Germantown, MD to discuss the state of edge-plasma research in the U.S. with a focus on theory and modeling (see http://www.mfescience.org/ecc/ ecc/). At that time, OFES tasked the ECC with providing, in about a six month period, a report on the present status of key issues in this area together with a roadmap of what range of activities should be undertaken in the next five years to resolve these issues. This document is a response to that charge. Future edge-plasma research described here is assumed to fit into a budget constraint of a ''flat budget,'' with some additional activities cited for budget increases of as much as 50%. To obtain some measure of the relative fraction of OFES Theory funding presently devoted to edge plasma research, the OFES Theory Team informally surveyed funded work they support in this area at National Labs, Universities, and industry. John Mandrekas reported to us that approximately 10% of the present budget goes to edge-physics areas at 10 institutions, for a total of {approx}$2.5M each year. While not explicitly estimated, we …

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During the two year period of funding we have focused on the following topics: Guiding of microtubule movement on kinesin-coated, structured surfaces, directed assembly of oriented microtubule networks, and the interaction between synthetic materials and biological components in hybrid devices based on microtubules and kinesin motors. Additional efforts have been made and are still on- going in controlling the motor activity, and loading and unloading of cargo. In all aspects, the collaboration with the team at Sandia has been critical. A constant intellectual and material connection has been maintained by frequent visits, videoconferences, and exchanges of parts and supplies, such as microfabricated structures and motor proteins. The scientific advances made through this collaboration have been documented in seven publications in high- impact journals and an encyclopedia, discussed in invited talks at the annual meetings of MRS and ACS, and publicized by journalists in “The Scientist” and “Nature Materials Nanozone”. One double Ph.D. degree in Bioengineering and Nanotechnology has been completed (John Clemmens).

The objective of this research is to widen the application of foam to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by investigating fundamental mechanisms of foams in porous media. This research is to lay the groundwork for more-applied research on foams for improved sweep efficiency in miscible gas, steam and surfactant-based EOR. Task 1 investigates the pore-scale interactions between foam bubbles and polymer molecules. Task 2 examines the mechanisms of gas trapping, and interaction between gas trapping and foam effectiveness. Task 3 investigates mechanisms of foam generation in porous media.

Secondary electron emission in Hall thrusters is predicted to lead to space charge saturated wall sheaths resulting in enhanced power losses in the thruster channel. Analysis of experimentally obtained electron-wall collision frequency suggests that the electron temperature saturation, which occurs at high discharge voltages, appears to be caused by a decrease of the Joule heating rather than by the enhancement of the electron energy loss at the walls due to a strong secondary electron emission.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1998, the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) E-rate program has committed more than $13 billion to help schools and libraries acquire Internet and telecommunications services. Recently, allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse by some E-rate program participants have come to light. As steward of the program, FCC must ensure that participants use E-rate funds appropriately and that there is managerial and financial accountability surrounding the funds. This testimony is based on GAO's February 2005 report GAO-05-151, which reviewed (1) the effect of the current structure of the E-rate program on FCC's management of the program, (2) FCC's development and use of E-rate performance goals and measures, and (3) the effectiveness of FCC's program oversight mechanisms."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Modularity is a major restructuring of the entire Army, involving the creation of brigade combat teams that will have a common design and will increase the pool of available units for deployment. The Army is undertaking this initiative at the same time it is supporting the Global War on Terrorism, and developing transformational capabilities such as the Army Future Combat Systems. To achieve modularity, the Army currently estimates it will need $48 billion. The Department of Defense's (DOD) request for fiscal year 2005 supplemental funds includes $5 billion for modularity. The Army plans for another $5 billion to be funded from fiscal year 2006 supplemental funds and the remaining $38 billion from DOD's annual appropriation from fiscal years 2006 through 2011. Our testimony addresses: (1) the Army's goals and plans for modularity, (2) challenges the Army faces in staffing and equipping its modular combat brigades, (3) key decisions that could affect requirements, and (4) the Army's cost estimates and funding plans. This testimony is based on ongoing GAO work examining Army modularity plans and costs. Our work has been primarily focused on the Army's active forces."

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