Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, concerns have been raised about the adequacy of dental care for low-income children. Attention to this subject became more acute due to the widely publicized case of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old boy who died as a result of an untreated infected tooth that led to a fatal brain infection. Deamonte had health coverage through Medicaid, a joint federal and state program that provides health care coverage, including dental care, for millions of low-income children. Deamonte had extensive dental disease and his family was unable to find a dentist to treat him. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which children in Medicaid experience dental disease, the extent to which they receive dental care, and how these conditions have changed over time. To examine these indicators of oral health, GAO analyzed data, by insurance status, from two nationally representative surveys of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). This statement summarizes the resulting report being released today, Medicaid: Extent of Dental Disease in Children Has Not Decreased, and Millions …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. transportation systems and the estimated 4,000 transportation facilities move over 30 million tons of freight and provide an estimated 1.1 billion passenger trips each day. Since 2001 the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has protected these systems and facilities from terrorist attack. One program TSA utilizes is the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, through which a common credential is being developed for transportation workers with access to secure areas. Ultimately planned for all transportation sectors, TSA, in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, is initially focusing the TWIC program on the maritime sector. This testimony discusses (1) the progress made in implementing the TWIC program and (2) some of the remaining program challenges. This testimony is based on GAO's September 2006 TWIC report, as well as selected updates and ongoing work. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed program requirements and guidance, documentation on the status of the TWIC program, and interviewed program officials from TSA and the Coast Guard."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) contains EPA's scientific position on the potential human health effects of exposure to more than 540 chemicals. Toxicity assessments in the IRIS database constitute the first two critical steps of the risk assessment process, which in turn, provides the foundation for risk management decisions. Thus, IRIS is a critical component of EPA's capacity to support scientifically sound environmental decisions, policies, and regulations. This testimony discusses (1) highlights of GAO's March 2008 report, Chemical Assessments: Low Productivity and New Interagency Review Process Limit the Usefulness and Credibility of EPA's Integrated Risk Information System; (2) key aspects of EPA's revised IRIS assessment process, released on April 10, 2008; and (3) progress EPA has made in completing assessments in fiscal year 2008. For the March 2008 report, GAO reviewed and analyzed EPA data and interviewed officials at relevant agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). For this testimony, GAO supplemented the prior audit work with a review of EPA's revised IRIS assessment process announced on April 10, 2008. We also updated our information on EPA's assessment productivity through September …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 required the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to accelerate the exchange of health information between the departments and to develop systems or capabilities that allow for full interoperability (generally, the ability of systems to use data that are exchanged) and that are compliant with federal standards. The act also established an interagency program office to function as a single point of accountability for the effort and whose role is to implement such systems or capabilities by September 30, 2009. Further, the act required that GAO semi-annually report on the progress made in achieving these goals; its first report was issued in July 2008. In that report, GAO described the departments' progress in sharing electronic health information, developing electronic health records that comply with federal standards, and establishing the interagency program office. In this testimony, GAO discusses its July 2008 report and updated information obtained from the departments."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter responds to a mandate in House Report No. 110-187 that directed GAO to review the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget execution, specifically to identify the factors that influence EPA's operating plan allocations to the regional offices for a selected national program and to compare and contrast these operating plan allocations with EPA's reported obligations in the regional offices. After discussing this mandate with your offices, we focused our review on EPA's enforcement and compliance assurance program in the regional offices. EPA, in partnership with state agencies, oversees compliance with 44 separate environmental programs. These programs regulate facilities--such as sewage treatment plants, petroleum refineries, and power plants--whose operations could pollute the air, water, and land, and thereby endanger public health and the environment. EPA and its regulatory partners are responsible for ensuring that these regulated facilities comply with program requirements and taking enforcement action in instances of noncompliance. EPA administers its environmental enforcement and compliance assurance responsibilities through its headquarters Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA). While OECA provides overall direction on enforcement policies, and sometimes takes direct enforcement action, EPA's 10 regional offices are responsible …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has had long-standing, serious problems with its numerous military component-unique personnel and pay systems, including accurately paying its military personnel on time and monitoring and tracking them to, from, and within their duty stations. For example, in the early 1990s, Army Reserve and National Guard troops received inaccurate or late pay and benefits after serving in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. We previously reported that the lack of integration among DOD's multiple military personnel and pay systems, among other things, caused these and similar errors. To address these and other problems, in February 1998, DOD initiated a program to design and implement the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System (DIMHRS). DIMHRS is intended to provide a joint, integrated, standardized personnel and pay system for all military components (including active and reserve components). In November 2004, DOD accepted the design of the first phase of DIMHRS for personnel and pay functions and then proceeded with development of the system. Meanwhile, as we reported in 2006, some Army Reserve and National Guard troops continued to receive inaccurate pay resulting in part from a lack …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress expanded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ability to use term appointments to fill civil service positions in 2004. NASA sought this flexibility to ensure that it could hire and retain the workforce it desired. In a joint explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-161), Congress asked us to review NASA's use of term appointments for civil servant positions. We briefed the committees on the results of our review. This report summarizes that briefing. As agreed to by the committees, this concludes our work performed under this mandate."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), now in its fourth year of operations, is to provide aid to developing countries that have demonstrated a commitment to ruling justly, encouraging economic freedom, and investing in people. MCC provides assistance to eligible countries through multiyear compact agreements to fund specific programs targeted at reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth. MCC has received appropriations for fiscal years 2004 through 2008 totaling more than $7.5 billion and has set aside about $6.4 billion of this amount for compact assistance. As of August 2008, MCC had signed compacts with 18 countries totaling approximately $6.3 billion; of the 18 signed compacts, 11 compacts had entered into force, obligating a total of approximately $3 billion. The President has requested an additional $2.225 billion for MCC for fiscal year 2009, of which MCC plans to use $1.88 billion for compact assistance to countries currently eligible for compacts. To develop these fact sheets, we compiled and summarized publicly available data from a number of sources, including our previous reporting on MCC. We used information from the World Bank and from Central Intelligence Agency Fact Books to provide a …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of the Interior's (Interior) Minerals Management Service (MMS) collected the equivalent of over $9 billion in oil and gas royalties in fiscal year 2007, more than $5 billion of which it deposited in the U.S. Treasury; it dispersed the remaining approximately $4 billion to other federal, state, and tribal accounts. These royalties--payments made to the federal government for the right to produce oil and gas from federal lands and waters--represent one of the country's largest nontax sources of revenue. The amount of oil and gas royalties MMS collects may increase if the price of energy increases and industry's demand to drill on lands and in waters controlled by the federal government continues to trend upward. Companies that develop and produce oil and gas resources from federal lands and waters do so under leases obtained from and administered by Interior--BLM for onshore leases and MMS's OEMM for offshore leases. Together, BLM and OEMM are responsible for ongoing oversight of oil and gas operations on more than 28,000 producing leases to help ensure that oil and gas companies comply with applicable laws, regulations, and agency policies. Among other …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with about $807 billion in supplemental and annual appropriations, as of September 2008, primarily for military operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). DOD's reported annual obligations for GWOT have shown a steady increase from about $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to about $139.8 billion in fiscal year 2007. 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 the amount of equipment to be repaired or replaced. DOD compiles and reports monthly and cumulative incremental obligations incurred to support GWOT in a monthly Supplemental and Cost of War Execution Report. DOD leadership uses this report, along with other information, to advise …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, combating terrorism has been one of the nation's highest priorities. As part of that effort, preventing nuclear and radioactive material from being smuggled into the United States--perhaps to be used by terrorists in a nuclear weapon or in a radiological dispersal device (a "dirty bomb")--has become a key national security objective. On April 15, 2005, the president directed the establishment, within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), whose duties include acquiring and supporting the deployment of radiation detection equipment. In October 2006, Congress enacted the SAFE Port Act, which made DNDO responsible for the development, testing, acquisition and deployment of a system to detect radiation at U.S. ports of entry. An important component of this system is the deployment of radiation portal monitors, large stationary detectors through which cargo containers and trucks pass as they enter the United States. Prior to DNDO's creation, another DHS agency--U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)--managed programs for deployment of radiation detection equipment. In 2002, CBP began the radiation portal monitor project, deploying radiation detection equipment at U.S. ports …

The paper presents UNDP's strategy to support the efforts of developing countries and vulnerable groups for scaling up mitigation and adaptation action to successfully meet the climate change challenge and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Third African Drought Adaptation Forum was held in September 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Forum was organized so that participants could exchange practical experiences, findings and ideas on how to adapt to the increasing threat of drought and climate change in the drylands of Africa. The report contains a summary of sessions and outlines key themes that emerged from the discussions.

To assist policy makers in understanding the complex issues under discussion in the negotiating process, UNDP commissioned a series of background briefing papers on the key issues under the four main "building blocks" of the current international negotiations -- mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance -- as well as land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). This document contains summaries for policy makers of these briefing papers.

The Carbon Labelling project implemented several labelling measures in Europe focused on transportation products and services with low CO2 emissions. The project promoted biodiesel, low-viscosity lubricants and ‘low carbon’ freight services. This first European carbon labelling initiative supported the discussion about measures for the greenhouse gas reduction (GHG) targets of the European Union and the role of biofuels to mitigate GHG emissions. Carbon life cycle numbers were calculated with GHG models from leading European research institutes. The identified carbon reduction numbers were used for pilot labelling initiatives via the label “CO2Star” developed by a professional advertising agency. The label and consumer information websites provided information to consumers about environmental and economic benefits of the labelled biofuels, lubricants and freight services. For instance, the German fuel distributor Q1 implemented a carbon labelling pilot programme for biodiesel (B 100) and lubricants at its fuel stations, while Dutch horticulture freight companies implemented the carbon label to promote "low carbon" freight services.

Representatives from 4 state agencies (Agency of Natural Resources, Agency of Transportation, Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets & Department of Public Service), known collectively as the Climate Change Transition Team (CCTT) worked over the past 5 months to review the recommendations in the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change(GCCC) Report (October 2007) and to develop work plans for each recommendation. The resulting report provides these draft work plans and also serves as a current inventory of ongoing activities and programs that either directly or indirectly address the climate change/GHG emission issue.

This is the final technical/scientific report for a heavy ion research program on the PHOBOS experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

This document contains a project continuation plan for the National Security Technology Incubator (NSTI). The plan was developed as part of the National Security Preparedness Project (NSPP) funded by a Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) grant. This continuation plan describes the current status of NSTI (staffing and clients), long-term goals, strategies, and long-term financial solvency goals.The Arrowhead Center of New Mexico State University (NMSU) is the operator and manager of the NSTI. To realize the NSTI, Arrowhead Center must meet several performance objectives related to planning, development, execution, evaluation, and sustainability. This continuation plan is critical to the success of NSTI in its mission of incubating businesses with security technology products and services.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Jefferson Davis Hospital, in Houston, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

Compilation of lyrics to songs related to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, printed for the 2008 WASP Reunion. Songs in this compilation include: Yankee Doodle Pilots, Roll Out the Airplanes, Would You Like to Swing on a Star?, The Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII, I Wanna Be a Miss H.P., You Left Your Father, Rugged But Right, Without Our Wings, and the Army Air Corps Song.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Legal status of a portion of a road originally built as an Ellis County road but which a later survey established as located in Navarro County (RQ-0682-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a municipal court may hear compliance applications filed under section 822.042(c) of the health and Safety Code and appeals of dangerous-dog determinations under section 822.0421(b) of the same code (RQ-0685-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county is authorized to pay a performance-based bonus to elected officials (RQ-0686-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Application of Local Government Code section 143.014(c) to municipalities that have adopted Local Government Code chapter 174, the Fire and Police Employees Relations Act (RQ-0678-GA).