Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Events preceding and following the attacks of September 11, 2001, spotlighted ineffective information sharing, particularly related to intelligence and law enforcement activities, as a serious weakness. Poor information sharing hinders effectively identifying vulnerabilities and coordinating efforts to detect attacks. GAO monitored the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to enhance the security of the tax filing process, to study how terrorist-related threat information is shared with IRS. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses task forces and electronic means to share terrorist-related threat information with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). More specifically, it shares information through its involvement with TIGTA and others in Joint Terrorism Task Forces and through electronic arrangements such as the National Threat Warning System. For its part, TIGTA uses formal communications to disseminate threat information to IRS. TIGTA and IRS officials were satisfied with the FBI's and TIGTA's information-sharing procedures, respectively."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Centennial of Flight Commission was created in November to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. The Commission is to provide recommendations and advice to the President, Congress, and federal agencies on the most effective ways to encourage and promote national and international participation and sponsorships in commemoration of the centennial of powered flight. All 156 of the Commission's recorded obligations and expenditures during fiscal year 2001 were supported by documentation that was approved by management. The Commission recorded no donations, user fees, or in-kind donations for fiscal year 2001. The Commission's financial records for fiscal year 2001 contained some minor errors that went unnoticed due to a lack of complete records being maintained by the Commission, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration which provide administrative support to the Commission."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the investigation of diploma mills that illegally sell fraudulent academic degrees to individuals that use them to gain positions and increase income based upon these documents. Per request, GAO handled the undercover operation and successfully purchased a degree from a diploma mill to demonstrate how easily one can be purchased. Individuals found guilty of purchasing such documents were contacted and interviewed as well, further concluding the identity of a diploma mill, Degrees-R-Us. The owner was questioned and admitted to the sales of approximately 100 fraudulent degrees over the past 2 years when his business began. This matter will be investigated by both the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Postal Service as well."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress requested that GAO investigate weaknesses in the Department of Education's administration of student loans for postsecondary education under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. As a result of the undercover investigation, GAO exposed vulnerabilities in the administration of the FFEL Program. GAO set up a fictitious school and sought and obtained approval for student loans totaling $55,500 on behalf of three fictitious students purportedly attending the school."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "E-government refers to operations that enhance delivery of government information and services. Enterprise architectures provides for successful delivery of e-government applications, which in turn promise improved government performance and accountability. Under the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) leadership, the president's fiscal year 2003 budget proposes 24 e-government initiatives, most involving multiple agencies. These initiatives have laudable goals, including the elimination of redundant, nonintegrated business operations and systems which could save billions of dollars. The success of these initiatives depends in large part on whether they are pursued within the context of enterprise architectures. Approved architectures for most of these initiatives do not currently exist. OMB has been a proponent of enterprise architectures and has recently devoted increased attention to them. However, it can and should play a larger role. The maturity framework and benchmark data about 116 departments, component agencies, and independent agencies GAO reviews in this testimony provide important baseline information against which targeted improvement across the government can be defined and measured."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To help limit air pollution, about a third of the states use gasoline that contains methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), which burns cleaner. However, MTBE has migrated into wells and groundwater from leaking underground tanks used to store gasoline. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the responsibility through the Underground Storage Tank Program and works through the states to ensure that tanks do not leak and, if they do, that the contamination is cleaned up. To help states cover the program costs, Congress annually provides grants from a trust fund it created in 1986. Most of the 50 states have reported finding MTBE when they discover gasoline contamination in their tank sites and increasingly, in their groundwater, surface water, and drinking water. States have made progress in addressing the releases they have discovered, including MTBE contamination, but face a continuing and substantial cleanup workload. States typically depend on tank owners or operators to pay some of the cleanup costs and cover the remainder with their own funding programs and depend on relatively small federal trust fund grants to pay staff to oversee cleanups and administer their programs."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As more and more of the baby boomers enter retirement age, spending for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security is expected to absorb correspondingly larger shares of federal revenue and crowd out other spending. The aging of the baby boomers will also increase the demand for long-term care and contribute to federal and state budget burdens. The number of disabled elderly who cannot perform daily living activities without assistance is expected to double in the future. Long-term care spending from public and private sources--about $137 billion for persons of all ages in 2000--will rise dramatically as the baby boomers age. Without fundamental financing changes, Medicaid--which pays more than one-third of long-term care expenditures for the elderly--can be expected to remain one of the largest funding sources, straining both federal and state governments."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony comments on legislation that would elevate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Cabinet status. Today, EPA's mission, size, and scope of responsibilities place it on a par with many Cabinet departments. The United States is the only major industrial power without a Cabinet-level environmental organization. It is important to consider that (1) environmental policy be given appropriate weight as it cuts across the domestic and foreign policies that other Cabinet departments implement and enforce and (2) the head of the agency is able to deal as an equal with his or her counterparts within the federal government as well as the international community. Conferring Cabinet status on EPA would not in itself change the federal environmental role or policies, but it would clearly have an important symbolic effect. Regardless of its status, however, EPA must respond more effectively to its fundamental management challenges. These challenges include (1) placing the right people with the appropriate skills where they are needed and (2) gaining access to high-quality environmental, natural, and social data on which to base environmental decisions. EPA must have the flexibility to use innovative approaches to …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) proposed reorganization and realignment plans. The FBI's plans are part of a broader effort to fundamentally transform the federal government in light of recent trends and long-range fiscal challenges. As it moves into the 21st century, the country faces several key trends, including global interdependence; diverse, diffuse, and asymmetrical security threats; rapidly evolving science and technologies; dramatic shifts in the age and composition of the population; important quality of life issues; and evolving government structures and concepts. The second phase of the reorganization focuses on major aspects of FBI's realignment efforts, including realigning staff, building analytical capacity, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, and recruiting. Other issues include (1) major communications and information technology improvements, (2) development of an internal control system that will ensure protection of civil liberties as investigative constraints are loosened, and (3) management of the ripple effect that changes at the FBI will have on other aspects of the law enforcement community. As the FBI moves to effectively meet the realities and challenges since September 11, it should reconsider employing the major elements of successful transformation …

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 state owns artifacts removed from state lands prior to the adoption of the Antiquities Code in 1969, and related questions (RQ-0416-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 peace officers serving as off-duty security guards on casino boats have attorney to make arrests and related questions (RQ-0422-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; When a constable is requried to furnish evidence that he has been issued a permanent peace officer's license (RQ-0431-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 designated representative of an authorized agent of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission is a peace officer for purposes of sections 7.193 and 26.215 of the Texas Water Code (RQ-0438-JC)

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Roy Carter. Carter enlisted in the Navy in January 1942 and went into the V-7 program until he finished college. He trained to be a motor machinist’s mate and went aboard USS LST-543 in February 1944 in Illinois. They took the ship down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. He was aboard during the Normandy invasion and rode USS LST-543 to the Pacific in April 1945 to deliver troops to Saipan, the Philippines and Okinawa. After returning to the US, Carter was discharged in February 1946. Carter describes several aspects of life aboard an LST and relates several anecdotes.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Cecil Carlisle. Carlisle served in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M, and graduated in January of 1943 as a Corporal. He went on to complete Officer Candidate School and became a second lieutenant. He joined the Army, the Coast Artillery, working with automatic weapons including .50-caliber machine guns and 40mm antiaircraft cannons. He was first assigned to Camp Hahn in Riverside, California where he served as a platoon commander, conducting antiaircraft gunnery and field training. From there he was transferred to complete pilot training through the Army Air Forces and received his wings in the fall of 1944. He did not go overseas, as flights were halted to England as the war was scaling down. He then flew as copilot for Navigation Training School, back and forth from Texas to Florida. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Vestine Schroeder. Schroeder joined the Marines in October of 1942. After boot camp he was assigned to guard duty on North Island in California. He received additional training in the supply room, and was transferred to the Marine base in El Centro, California with Air Group 35. Schroeder worked on the instruments aboard the planes at the base. He did not go overseas, and remained in California for the duration of the war. He was discharged in May of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Otto Keith Williams. He was born on 10 December 1918 in Tacoma, Washington and after completing two years of college, during which he earned a private pilot's license, he was drafted into the Navy in February 1941 and completed flight training in Corpus Christi, Texas in July 1942. He then transferred into the Marine Corps and was sent to Glenview, Illinois where he completed carrier qualifications in October 1942. He joined Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-214 in Hawaii where he flew Grumman F4F Wildcats. Following training in Hawaii, his squadron embarked on the USS Nassau (CVE-16) in February 1943 and sailed to Espiritu Santo. His squadron then flew to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, where they provided fighter support for several months flying Wildcats and then F4U Corsairs. Following the Russell Island campaign Williams was transferred to VMF-215 where he participated in the invasion of Bougainville in November 1943. He spent three tours in Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands and flew 100 missions, but had no encounters with airborne Japanese aircraft. In January 1945 he was transferred to the USS Cape Gloucester (CVE-109), which sailed for Okinawa. Following several weeks …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Tim Dearman. Dearman joined the Navy around 1942. He served as Third Class Fireman aboard USS Holland (AS-3), and traveled to Pearl Harbor. Beginning in 1944, he was transferred to USS Pilotfish (SS-386), working in the engine room. They completed patrol missions to Midway and Guam, and Dearman was promoted to Third Class Machinist Mate.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Melvin Harmon. He discusses becoming a paratrooper, his time on Guadalcanal, Bougainville and other battles in the Solomon Islands and getting malaria.

An invitation to a Black Tie Dinner that has a Tango theme. The invitation lists the details of the events and also features the board of directors and beneficiaries for the Black Tie Dinner.