Press release from the Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters discussing the Academy's twenty-third season of events and the opener for the season which hosted a number of ambassadors from Africa.

Press release from the Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters discussing the opening of the Academy's 23rd season which featured a variety of performances and was hosted on September 11, 1999.

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county judge or his parent may act as a surety on a bail bond in the county where he presides and related questions.

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether an ad hoc intergovernmental working group is subject to the Open Meetings Act, chapter 551 of the Government Code (RQ-0096-JC)

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the Texas Council in Developmental Disabilties may engage in lobbying activities (RQ-0085-JC)

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the Upper Guadalupe River Authority is authorized to compel septic tank users to connect to a sewage disposal system, and related questions; reconsideration of Attorney General Opinion JM-961 (1988) (RQ-0110-JC)

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county or district clerk may withhold fee from funds deposited as cash bail bond (RQ-0113-JC)

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program, focusing on: (1) the Bureau of the Census' operational experience to date in implementing LUCA; and (2) local governments' views of the adequacy of local resources to conduct LUCA and of the quality of materials and assistance the Bureau has provided."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO clarified when it is appropriate for a political appointee to receive a career position in the federal government."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's Chemical Demilitarization Program, focusing on the : (1) extent to which the program retains significant levels of prior years' appropriations in excess of spending plans; (2) amounts of reported unallocated appropriations and unliquidated obligations from prior years' appropriations; (3) extent to which more obligations have been liquidated than previously reported; (4) primary reasons for the reported unliquidated obligations; and (5) actions that have affected or will affect unliquidated obligations."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO discussed the status of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's: (1) investigations and recommendations; (2) pay structure and use of staff; and (3) contracting activities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) management controls over four block grant programs, focusing on whether: (1) HUD's monitoring of grantees under the Grants Management System is adequate; and (2) the Integrated Disbursement and Information Systems (IDIS) provides the data HUD needs to accurately assess grantees' performance."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program's impact on the census address list, focusing on: (1) the importance of local government participation in updating the census address list; (2) the options available to local governments if the Bureau of the Census does not include their address change recommendations in the address list; (3) the percentage of total addresses that were eligible to participate in LUCA 1998; (4) the accuracy of the Master Address File (MAF); and (5) whether local governments declined to participate in LUCA 1998 because of their frustrations with the inaccurate and incomplete information that the Bureau sent for their review."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's plan to execute simulated year 2000 exercises, focusing on: (1) the methodology to be used to simulate the year 2000; (2) the potential information that will be collected as a result of implementing the plan; (3) the adequacy of the planned tests; and (4) assessing the impact that the plan will have on military readiness."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) new rule concerning containing pseudorabies in swine. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would establish the animal health regulations to provide for the payment of indemnity for the voluntary depopulation of herds of swine known to be infected with pseudorabies; (2) APHIS states that the payment of indemnity will encourage depopulation of infected herds and, therefore, will reduce the risk of other swine becoming infected with the disease; and (4) APHIS complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD), General Services Administration's (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) new rule on the federal acquisition regulation concerning affirmative action in federal procurement. GAO noted that: (1) the rule adopts as final the interim rules that were the subject of GAO's major rule report issued on July 16, 1998; (2) the interim rules reformed affirmative action in federal procurement to ensure compliance with the constitutional standards established by the Supreme Court; (3) the only significant change in the interim rules involves the provision allowing contractors acting in good faith to rely upon the self-representations of their subcontractors as to their status as small disadvantaged business concerns; (4) the period of time for subcontractors to become certified under rules issued by the Small Business Administration has been extended by the final rule until September 30, 1999; (5) this change does not affect the factual statements or the conclusions concerning the agencies' compliance with the statutes and executive orders discussed in the July 16, 1998, major rule report; and (6) DOD, GSA, and NASA complied …

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO commented on the legality of recent regulations authorizing the reduction of the origination fee charged in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Student Loan Program. In GAO's view, the regulations conflict with a statutory requirement that the Department of Education charge a 4 percent origination fee for loans made under the Direct Loan Program."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the District of Columbia's Courts' funding of Criminal Justice Act (CJA) obligations, focusing on two funding sources from the District of Columbia's Appropriations Act of 1999. GAO noted that: (1) the first proviso to the appropriation provides that of the $121 million, up to $6.9 million shall be for the Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) Program and up to $25,036,000 shall be for CJA cases, $31,936,000 in total; (2) because the District of Columbia Appropriations Act of 1999 restricts the amount of the Federal Payment to the District of Columbia Courts that may be used for CJA, any reprogramming to CJA from funds for CCAN or other court operations would be reprogramming that falls within statutory law; (3) accordingly, statutory law would require a written notice of the reprogramming to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees 30 days before the reprogramming takes place; (4) whether a June 21 letter constituted the Courts' reprogramming notice and, if so, whether that notice satisfies statutory law is a matter for the Courts in the first instance to determine; and (5) if CCAN funds, or other fiscal year …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its review of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) strategies and operations in the 1990s, focusing on: (1) the major enforcement strategies, programs, initiatives, and approaches DEA has implemented in the 1990s to carry out its mission; and (2) whether DEA's strategic goals and objectives, programs and initiatives, and performance measures are consistent with the Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Drug Control Strategy."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on a letter published in the Washington Times by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees and others having business with the agency alleging mismanagement by EPA and retaliation against whistleblowers, focusing on: (1) providing specific information on the allegations made by the 20 individuals and EPA's response to the allegations; and (2) whether these and other individuals sought relief under whistleblower statutory provisions and, if so, the resolution or status of the cases and whether the 20 individuals are still employed by or have business with the agency."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) information management initiatives, focusing on the: (1) status of EPA's efforts to create a central office responsible for information management, policy, and technology issues; and (2) major challenges that the new office needs to address in order to achieve success in collecting, using, and disseminating environmental information."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed managing debt in a time of budget surpluses."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) management and oversight of the administrative funds associated with the Wildlife Restoration Program and the Sport Fish Restoration Program, focusing on: (1) recapping the results of GAO's July 20, 1999, testimony on the management and oversight of the Federal Aid Program; (2) options to improve the program's use of administrative funds; and (3) providing additional information related to the use of administrative funds identified in GAO's July 1999 testimony."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Forest Service's change in accounting for roadbed costs recorded in its Timber Sales Program Information Reporting System, focusing on: (1) how federal accounting standards are developed; (2) the rationale behind the treatment of stewardship land in federal accounting standards; (3) the rationale behind the Forest Service's accounting change; and (4) whether the Forest Service appropriately implemented the Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standard (SFFAS) No. 6as it relates to timber roadbed costs."