A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 mandated that GAO review whether the transition assistance program (TAP) is meeting the needs of service members leaving the military. GAO (1) assessed TAP administration, including program participation, and (2) identified actions agencies are taking to improve TAP and challenges that remain. TAP serves military personnel with at least 180 days of active duty who separate or retire and members of the Reserves and National Guard who are released from active duty, a process termed demobilization. Recently, the Reserves and National Guard have been called to active duty in greater numbers than at any other time since the Korean War."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Americans spend billions of hours each year providing information to federal agencies by filling out information collections (forms, surveys, or questionnaires). A major aim of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) is to balance the burden of these collections with their public benefit. Under the act, agencies' Chief Information Officers (CIO) are responsible for reviewing information collections before they are submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. As part of this review, CIOs must certify that the collections meet 10 standards set forth in the act. GAO was asked to assess, among other things, this review and certification process, including agencies' efforts to consult with the public. To do this, GAO reviewed a governmentwide sample of collections, reviewed processes and collections at four agencies that account for a large proportion of burden, and performed case studies of 12 approved collections."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Perchlorate, a primary ingredient in propellant, has been used for decades in the manufacture and firing of rockets and missiles. Other uses include fireworks, flares, and explosives. Perchlorate has been found in drinking water, groundwater, surface water, and soil in the United States. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reviewed studies of perchlorate's health effects and reported in January 2005 that certain levels of exposure may not adversely affect healthy adults but recommended more studies be conducted on the effects of perchlorate exposure in children and pregnant women. GAO determined (1) the estimated extent of perchlorate in the United States, (2) what actions have been taken to address perchlorate, and (3) what studies of perchlorate's health risks have reported."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internet protocol (IP) provides the addressing mechanism that defines how and where information such as text, voice, and video move across interconnected networks. Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4), which is widely used today, may not be able to accommodate the increasing number of global users and devices that are connecting to the Internet. As a result, IP version 6 (IPv6) was developed to increase the amount of available IP address space. It is gaining momentum globally from regions with limited address space. GAO was asked to (1) describe the key characteristics of IPv6; (2) identify the key planning considerations for federal agencies in transitioning to IPv6; and (3) determine the progress made by the Department of Defense (DOD) and other major agencies to transition to IPv6."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Maintaining the integrity of the U.S. passport is essential to the State Department's efforts to protect U.S. citizens from terrorists, criminals, and others. State issued about 8.8 million passports in fiscal year 2004. During the same year, State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security arrested about 500 individuals for passport fraud, and about 300 persons were convicted. Passport fraud is often intended to facilitate other crimes, including illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and alien smuggling. GAO examined (1) how passport fraud is committed, (2) what key fraud detection challenges State faces, and (3) what effect new passport examiner performance standards could have on fraud detection."

High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) applications require high line charge density ion beams. An efficient method to obtain this type of beams is to extract a long pulse, high current beam from a gun at high energy, and let the beam pass through a decelerating field to compress it. The low energy beam-bunch is loaded into a solenoid and matched to a Brillouin flow. The Brillouin equilibrium is independent of the energy if the relationship between the beam size (a), solenoid magnetic field strength (B) and line charge density is such that (Ba){sup 2} is proportional to the line charge density. Thus it is possible to accelerate a matched beam at constant line charge density. An experiment, NDCX-1c is being designed to test the feasibility of this type of injectors, where we will extract a 1 microsecond, 100 mA, potassium beam at 160 keV, decelerate it to 55 keV (density {approx}0.2 {micro}C/m), and load it into a 2.5 T solenoid where it will be accelerated to 100-150 keV (head to tail) at constant line charge density. The head-to-tail velocity tilt can be used to increase bunch compression and to control longitudinal beam expansion. We will present the physics design and …

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Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Optometry Board and to contact lens prescriptions and the dispensing of contact lenses.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to providing information about respiratory syncytial virus under certain continuing education programs.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to a landowner's liability for injuries incurred during certain recreational activities.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to measures to support efforts of municipalities and counties to recruit or retain special events.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to member restrictions for commissioners of the Texas Workforce Commission.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the establishment of a statewide maintenance program for boll weevil and pink bollworm eradication.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to audits of emergency services districts.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to funds to be used for nuclear decommissioning purposes by electric utilities.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to uniform law on documents of title.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate honoring Sally Ann Reynolds, former director of the Legislative Reference Library for her remarkable career in state government.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 9, 2005.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate honoring Bill Foy, head basketball coach at Paris Junior College, on his selection as the Junior College Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate recognizing May 4, 2005, as Paris/Lamar County Day at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate commending Randolph Robert Reed of Pearland for his completion of the BP MS150 Bike Ride.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate giving legislative authorization to a Vietnam War monument for the Capitol grounds, subject to state law and rules of the State Preservation Board.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate opposing the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency (SMART) Act and any similar federal legislation that would interfere with the ability of state governments to regulate the business of insurance.