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Farm Commodity Provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill (P.L. 113-79) (open access)

Farm Commodity Provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill (P.L. 113-79)

This report describes the farm commodity programs in Title I of the 2014 farm bill for "covered commodities" such as wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, and peanuts. Producer support is provided for the 2014-2018 crop years primarily through either statutory ("reference") prices or historical revenue guarantees based on the five most recent years of crop prices and yields.
Date: March 28, 2014
Creator: Shields, Dennis A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Budget Control Act of 2011: Legislative Changes to the Law and Their Budgetary Effects (open access)

The Budget Control Act of 2011: Legislative Changes to the Law and Their Budgetary Effects

This report provides information on the levels of deficit reduction that would occur if the Budget Control Act's (BCA) automatic cuts are implemented as under current law, contrasted with alternative proposals offered by some Members of Congress and President Obama. It also discusses specific determinations made by the Office of Management and Budget regarding the exempt/non-exempt status of certain programs, as well as a discussion of information to be disclosed regarding the FY2013 BCA sequester impact.
Date: March 6, 2014
Creator: Levit, Mindy R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Crude Oil Export Policy: Background and Considerations (open access)

U.S. Crude Oil Export Policy: Background and Considerations

This report provides background and context about the crude oil legal and regulatory framework, discusses motivations that underlie the desire to export U.S. crude oil, and presents analysis of issues that Congress may choose to consider during debate about U.S. crude oil export policy.
Date: March 26, 2014
Creator: Brown, Phillip; Pirog, Robert; Vann, Adam; Fergusson, Ian F.; Ratner, Michael & Ramseur, Jonathan L.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Aereo and FilmOn X: Internet Television Streaming and Copyright Law (open access)

Aereo and FilmOn X: Internet Television Streaming and Copyright Law

This report begins with a discussion of the technology used by Aereo and FilmOn X that permit subscribers to watch live broadcast television as well as already-aired programming. It then examines the public performance right in the Copyright Act and discusses the interpretation of the transmit clause and public performance right by the courts in the Aereo and FilmOn cases. The report concludes with a brief overview of future litigation by these parties and related legislative proposals in the 113th Congress.
Date: March 20, 2014
Creator: Lanza, Emily M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internet Domain Names: Background and Policy Issues (open access)

Internet Domain Names: Background and Policy Issues

This report discusses the Domain Name System (DNS), which is the distributed set of databases that contain address numbers mapped to corresponding domain names, making it possible to send and receive messages and to access information on the Internet. The report includes background on the DNS and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that manages the servies, as well as related issues for the 113th Congress.
Date: March 28, 2014
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Worker Participation in Employer-Sponsored Pensions: A Fact Sheet (open access)

Worker Participation in Employer-Sponsored Pensions: A Fact Sheet

The main part of this report is a fact sheet that provides data on the percentage of American workers who have access to and who participate in employer-sponsored pension plans. The data was collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) through the National Compensation Survey (NCS).
Date: March 26, 2014
Creator: Topoleski, John J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit (open access)

Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit

This report provides an overview of the U.S. balance of payments, an explanation of the broader role of capital flows in the U.S. economy, an explanation of how the country finances its trade deficit or a trade surplus, and the implications for Congress and the country of the large inflows of capital from abroad.
Date: March 24, 2014
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Terrorism Risk Insurance: Issue Analysis and Overview of Current Program (open access)

Terrorism Risk Insurance: Issue Analysis and Overview of Current Program

This report looks at the background and current Congressional status of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.
Date: March 28, 2014
Creator: Webel, Baird
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Base Closures: Frequently Asked Questions (open access)

Military Base Closures: Frequently Asked Questions

This report discusses military base closures and Frequently Asked Question that examine the provisions in the Constitution and in permanent statute that define and limit federal authority to disestablish or diminish employment at defense sites.
Date: March 19, 2014
Creator: Else, Daniel H.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Marijuana: Medical and Retail -- Selected Legal Issues (open access)

Marijuana: Medical and Retail -- Selected Legal Issues

This report discusses state medical marijuana laws that grants registered patients, their doctors, and providers immunity from the consequences of state law.
Date: March 25, 2014
Creator: Garvey, Todd & Doyle, Charles
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Large Partnerships: Characteristics of Population and IRS Audits (open access)

Large Partnerships: Characteristics of Population and IRS Audits

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report provides data on the number and characteristics of large partnerships as well as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits of large partnership returns. For purposes of this report, GAO did not identify a statutory, IRS, or industry-accepted definition of a large partnership. Instead, GAO used a combination of criteria for partner size and asset size used by IRS to define large partnerships as those that reported having 100 or more direct partners and $100 million or more in assets. The number of large partnerships increased from 720 in tax year 2002 to 2,226 in tax year 2011. Large partnerships also increased in terms of the average number of direct partners and average asset size. IRS had data on two categories of large partnership return audits. First, the number of completed field audits of large partnership returns increased from 11 in fiscal year 2007 to 31 in fiscal year 2013. Second, IRS counted audits closed through its campus function, which increased from 42 to 143 over the same period. Unlike field audits, campus function audits generally do not entail a review of the books and records of the …
Date: March 19, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Food Aid: Prepositioning Speeds Delivery of Emergency Aid, but Additional Monitoring of Time Frames and Costs Is Needed (open access)

International Food Aid: Prepositioning Speeds Delivery of Emergency Aid, but Additional Monitoring of Time Frames and Costs Is Needed

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reduces the average delivery time frame for emergency food aid by prepositioning food domestically—that is, in warehouses in the United States—and overseas. GAO estimates that compared with USAID's standard shipping process, which can take several months, prepositioning food aid shortened delivery time frames by an average of almost a month for shipments to the World Food Program (WFP). GAO also estimates that prepositioning shortened delivery time frames by an average of more than 2 months for other organizations—“cooperating sponsors”—that receive USAID grants. In addition, USAID reduces delivery time frames when it diverts shipments en route to overseas prepositioning warehouses to areas with immediate needs. For all cooperating sponsors, GAO estimates that diversions saved, on average, about 2 months."
Date: March 5, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Health Care: Acquisition Process for TRICARE's Third Generation of Managed Care Support Contracts (open access)

Defense Health Care: Acquisition Process for TRICARE's Third Generation of Managed Care Support Contracts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) within the Department of Defense (DOD) used the acquisition process prescribed by federal regulations to acquire health care services for the TRICARE Program through the third generation of TRICARE's managed care support contracts (MCSC). This process included a three-phased contract award process outlined in the figure below."
Date: March 7, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Whistleblower Protection Program: Opportunities Exist for OSHA and DOT to Strengthen Collaborative Mechanisms (open access)

Whistleblower Protection Program: Opportunities Exist for OSHA and DOT to Strengthen Collaborative Mechanisms

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has taken steps to include auto industry employees in its Whistleblower Protection Program and has coordinated with the Department of Transportation (DOT) on whistleblower issues, but interagency collaborative mechanisms could be strengthened. Among other steps, OSHA is developing procedures for how it will investigate claims from auto employees and estimates most of its efforts will be completed in 2014. OSHA documents its collaboration with DOT's component agencies on whistleblower protections by developing memorandums of agreements (MOA), and currently MOAs cover aviation and rail employees; the agencies are considering developing MOAs to cover other transportation sectors such as commercial motor-carrier employees. Officials from both OSHA and DOT believe it is important to identify or refer potential claims of retaliation and safety violations to each other. In September 2012, GAO concluded that collaboration is critical when meaningful results that the federal government seeks to achieve require the coordinated efforts of more than one federal agency. Among others, key practices of effective collaboration include clearly delineating roles and responsibilities and monitoring progress. OSHA and DOT officials agree that following GAO's key practices …
Date: March 19, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Critical Infrastructure Protection: Observations on Key Factors in DHS's Implementation of Its Partnership Approach (open access)

Critical Infrastructure Protection: Observations on Key Factors in DHS's Implementation of Its Partnership Approach

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's prior work has identified several key factors that are important for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement its partnership approach with industry to protect critical infrastructure. DHS has made some progress in implementing its partnership approach, but has also experienced challenges coordinating with industry partners that own most of the critical infrastructure."
Date: March 26, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Native American Housing: Additional Actions Needed to Better Support Tribal Efforts (open access)

Native American Housing: Additional Actions Needed to Better Support Tribal Efforts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Indian tribes and tribally designated housing entities face both external and internal challenges in carrying out affordable housing activities under the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program, which was authorized by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA). The most commonly identified external challenges included the often remote location of tribal lands and lack of infrastructure such as running water and sewer systems. Meeting these challenges can significantly increase development costs. For example, one Arizona tribe saw its costs double because materials had to be brought in by helicopter. Tribes also identified differing federal agency requirements, particularly for environmental reviews, as a challenge that delayed projects and increased costs when IHBG and other funds were combined. Further, tribes were concerned that recent changes in federally authorized training and technical assistance could reduce their quality and frequency, in part because of the reduced role of a longstanding provider. The most commonly identified internal challenges were recipients' limited administrative capacity, conflicts within tribes that impact housing priorities and planning, and cultural preferences for certain types of housing. The Navajo Nation's housing entity, the largest …
Date: March 27, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past year, the overall size of DOD's major defense acquisition program portfolio decreased, from 85 programs to 80, while the estimated cost has increased by $14.1 billion. The average time to deliver initial capability to the warfighter also increased by 2 months. The slight cost increase can be attributed to the addition of one program, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. This furthers a trend for decreased portfolio size seen for the past three years. Although the overall cost of the 2013 portfolio increased, 50 of the 80 programs decreased costs, and 64 percent of programs increased their buying power. There are still some programs that have performed poorly, both over the past year and in the longer term. Fifty-five percent of the current portfolio funding has been appropriated, leaving approximately $682 billion needed for future funding. About forty-five percent of this remaining funding represents cost growth from initial estimates, a clear indicator that DOD needs to do more to control cost growth."
Date: March 31, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Food Aid: Better Agency Collaboration Needed to Assess and Improve Emergency Food Aid Procurement System (open access)

International Food Aid: Better Agency Collaboration Needed to Assess and Improve Emergency Food Aid Procurement System

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly manage international emergency food aid procurement, the agencies disagree about the usefulness of the Web Based Supply Chain Management system (WBSCM) to manage the entire process. WBSCM had significant deficiencies when it was implemented in April 2011, which led USAID to discontinue using it to procure ocean freight for bulk commodities, manage prepositioned or stockpiled commodity inventory, and track food aid shipments. For example, WBSCM was slow and time consuming to use and its process to procure ocean freight for bulk commodities was not compatible with USAID's process to negotiate contracts with ocean freight vendors. USDA currently uses WBSCM to procure food aid commodities, while USAID procures ocean freight using other systems not connected to WBSCM. Since March 2012, USDA has made changes to WBSCM, and USDA officials assert that these changes address some of the problems that led to USAID's decision to discontinue use of the system."
Date: March 26, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Competitive Procurement (open access)

The Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Competitive Procurement

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While the previous two-contract structure of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program met Department of Defense (DOD) needs for unprecedented mission success and an at-the-ready launch capability, the scope of its capability contract limited DOD’s ability to identify the cost of an individual launch, as direct launch costs were not separated from other costs. Minimal insight into contractor cost or pricing data meant DOD may have lacked sufficient knowledge to negotiate fair and reasonable launch prices."
Date: March 4, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Facility Security: Additional Actions Needed to Help Agencies Comply with Risk Assessment Methodology Standards (open access)

Federal Facility Security: Additional Actions Needed to Help Agencies Comply with Risk Assessment Methodology Standards

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Three of the nine selected agencies' risk assessment methodologies that GAO reviewed—the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of State (State)—fully align with the Interagency Security Committee's (ISC) risk assessment standards, but six do not—the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Federal Protective Service (FPS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As a result, these six agencies may not have a complete understanding of the risks facing approximately 52,000 federal facilities and may be less able to allocate security resources cost-effectively at the individual facility level or across the agencies' facility portfolios. ISC's The Risk Management Process for Federal Facilities ( RMP ) standard requires that agencies' facility risk assessment methodologies must (1) consider all of the undesirable events identified in the RMP as possible risks to federal facilities, and (2) assess the threat, consequences, and vulnerability to specific undesirable events. Six of the nine agencies' methodologies GAO reviewed do not align with ISC's standards because the methodologies do not (1) consider …
Date: March 5, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Rulemaking: Regulatory Review Processes Could Be Enhanced (open access)

Federal Rulemaking: Regulatory Review Processes Could Be Enhanced

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, GAO found that agencies had conducted more retrospective reviews of the costs and benefits of existing regulation than was readily apparent, especially to the public. Requirements in statutes or executive directives were sometimes the impetus for reviews, but agencies more often conducted these retrospective reviews based on their own discretionary authorities. Agencies reported that discretionary reviews more often generated actions, such as amending regulations or changes to guidance. GAO also found that multiple factors, such as data limitations and lack of transparency, impeded agencies' reviews. GAO made 7 recommendations in 2007 to improve the effectiveness and transparency of retrospective regulatory reviews. Among GAO's recommendations were: minimum standards for documenting and reporting completed review results; including public input as a factor in regulatory review decisions; and consideration of how agencies will measure the performance of new regulations. In 2011 and 2012, the administration issued new directives to agencies on how they should plan and conduct analyses of existing regulations that addressed each of GAO's recommendations."
Date: March 11, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Postal Service: Action Needed to Address Unfunded Benefit Liabilities (open access)

U.S. Postal Service: Action Needed to Address Unfunded Benefit Liabilities

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The extent to which the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has funded its liabilities varies due to different statutory funding requirements specific to each benefit program and USPS's financial means to make payments. For example, USPS has been required to prefund its pension benefit liability over decades, and as shown in the table below, its pension liability is 94 percent funded. Prefunding USPS's retiree health benefits began in 2007, and the liability is about half funded. In contrast, USPS funds its workers' compensation benefits on a pay-as-you-go basis, and the entire liability is unfunded. The largest unfunded liabilities, in order of decreasing size, are $48 billion for retiree health, $19 billion for pensions, and $17 billion for workers' compensation. The rules for calculating the amount that USPS must fund each year differ among the pension and retiree health programs, including variations in amortization periods, recognition of any surpluses, use of actuarially determined versus fixed payments, and actuarial assumptions."
Date: March 13, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Student Loans: Oversight of Defaulted Loan Rehabilitation Needs Strengthening (open access)

Federal Student Loans: Oversight of Defaulted Loan Rehabilitation Needs Strengthening

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Education (Education) relies on collection agencies to assist borrowers in rehabilitating defaulted student loans, which allows borrowers who make nine on-time monthly payments within 10 months to have the default removed from their credit reports. Education works with 22 collection agencies to locate borrowers and explain repayment options, including rehabilitation. From fiscal years 2011 to 2013, Education collected about $9 billion on over 1.5 million loans through rehabilitation, most of which was recovered by collection agencies."
Date: March 12, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Student Loans: Better Oversight Could Improve Defaulted Loan Rehabilitation (open access)

Federal Student Loans: Better Oversight Could Improve Defaulted Loan Rehabilitation

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Education (Education) relies on collection agencies to assist borrowers in rehabilitating defaulted student loans, which allows borrowers who make nine on-time monthly payments within 10 months to have the default removed from their credit reports. Education works with 22 collection agencies to locate borrowers and explain repayment options, including rehabilitation. From fiscal years 2011 to 2013, Education collected about $9 billion on over 1.5 million loans through rehabilitation, most of which was recovered by collection agencies."
Date: March 6, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library