Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over two decades ago, Congress deregulated the airline industry, phasing out the federal government's control over domestic fares and routes served and allowing market forces to determine the price, quantity, and quality of service. Concerned that air service to some small communities would suffer in a deregulated environment, Congress established the Essential Air Service (EAS) program as part of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The act guaranteed that communities served by air carriers before deregulation would continue to receive a certain level of scheduled air service. As of July 1, 2002, the EAS program provided subsidies to air carriers to serve 114 communities--79 in the continental United States and another 35 in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. From 1995 to July 2002, the net member of EAS-subsidized communities increased by four in the continental United States. Several factors--including increasing carrier costs, limited passenger revenue, and increasing numbers of eligible communities requiring subsidized service--are likely to affect potential future subsidy requirements of the EAS program. GAO identified and evaluated major categories of options to enhance the long-term viability of the EAS program, each of which has associated potential …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. surface and maritime transportation systems include roads, mass transit systems, railroads, and ports and waterways. One of the major goals of these systems is to provide and enhance mobility, that is, the free flow of passengers and goods. Mobility provides people with access to goods, services, recreation, and jobs; provides businesses with access to materials, markets and people; and promotes the movement of personnel and material to meet national defense needs. During the past decade, total public sector spending increased for public roads and transit, remained constant for waterways, and decreased for rail. Passenger and freight travel are expected to increase over the next 10 years, according to Department of Transportation projections. Passenger vehicle travel on public roads is expected to grow by 24.7 percent from 2000 to 2010. Passenger travel on transit systems is expected to increase by 17.2 percent over the same period. Amtrak has estimated that intercity passenger rail ridership will increase by 25.9 percent from 2001 to 2010. The key factors behind increases in passenger travel, and the modes travelers choose, are expected to be population growth, the aging of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Every year, some meat and poultry products are contaminated with microbial pathogens--such as Salmonella and E. coli--that cause foodborne illnesses and deaths. To improve the safety of meat and poultry products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) introduced additional regulatory requirements for meat and poultry plants. These requirements are intended to ensure that plants operate food safety systems that are prevention-oriented and science-based. These systems, called Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems, were phased in from January 1998 through January 2000 at all meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants. As the foundation of the HACCP system, plants are responsible for developing HACCP plans that, among other things, identify all of the contamination hazards that are reasonably likely to occur in a plant's particular production environment, establish all of the necessary steps to control these hazards, and have valid scientific evidence to support their decisions. GAO found that FSIS is not ensuring that all plants' HACCP plans meet regulatory requirements. As a result, consumers may be unnecessarily exposed to unsafe foods that can cause foodborne illnesses. In particular, …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed regulations issued by the Department of Defense (DOD) to cover transfers from a new fund created by Congress to finance the cost of expanded health care programs' benefits for Medicare-eligible uniformed services retirees and their eligible dependents. These health care programs include pharmacy benefits and coverage of the deductible portion of Medicare benefits. The Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 established the Department of Defense Medicare Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund in the U.S. Treasury. Beginning on October 1, 2002, the fund will finance DOD's liabilities under the uniformed services retiree health programs for Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. The legislation requires that (1) the Secretary of Defense establish by regulation the methods for calculating amounts to be transferred periodically from the fund to applicable appropriations that incur the programs' cost and (2) the Comptroller General report to the Secretary of Defense and to Congress on the adequacy and appropriateness of these regulations within 30 days of receiving them from the Secretary. GAO found that regulations establishing the methods for calculating transfers from the fund to finance eligible health care costs were issued in …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) established the public's right of access to government information, on the basis of openness and accountability. The 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act (e-FOIA) Amendments extended these principles to include electronic access to information. Under the act, the Department of Justice provides implementing guidance to agencies. In addition, agencies report annually to Justice on their FOIA operations. GAO was asked to determine, among other things, (1) agencies' progress in improving their timeliness in responding to requests for information and (2) the actions Justice has taken on previous GAO recommendations (GAO-01-378, Mar. 16, 2001) to improve data quality in annual reports and on-line availability of government information."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Government and private-sector entities rely on satellites for services such as communication, navigation, remote sensing, imaging, and weather and meteorological support. Disruption of satellite services, whether intentional or not, can have a major adverse economic impact. Techniques to protect satellite systems from unauthorized use and disruption include the use of robust hardware on satellites, physical security and logical access controls at ground stations, and encryption of the signals for tracking and controlling the satellite and of the data being sent to and from satellites. When using commercial satellites, federal agencies reduce risks by securing the data links and ground stations that send and receive data. However, federal agencies do not control the security of the tracking and control links, satellites, or tracking and control ground stations, which are typically the responsibility of the satellite service provider. It is important to the nation's economy and security to protect against attacks on its computer-dependent critical infrastructures (such as telecommunications, energy, and transportation), many of which are privately owned. In light of the nation's growing reliance on commercial satellites to meet military, civil, and private sector requirements, omitting satellites …

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Pilot Records Improvement Act, enacted on October 9, 1996, responded to seven fatal commercial air carrier accidents that were attributed, in part, to errors by pilots who had been hired without background checks. The act, which took effect on February 6, 1997, requires air carriers, before making final hiring decisions, to obtain information for the past 5 years on a pilot applicant's performance, qualifications, and training from the Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), employers, and the National Driver Register (NDR). The act also includes provisions to protect pilots' rights. FAA oversees compliance with the act and has broad responsibility for overseeing aviation safety. According to GAO's analyses of FAA and NDR databases and carriers' responses to GAO's surveys, compliance with the act has generally increased since it went into effect, but compliance is not always complete or timely. The available data are not adequate to determine industrywide compliance. According to their responses to GAO's surveys, carriers are not always aware of the act's requirements for protecting pilots' rights. FAA has taken limited steps to oversee compliance with PRIA. Under the act and its …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to specific questions related to GAO's testimony. Specifically, this report discusses(1) what incentives could be used by agency managers to encourage more effective cooperation and coordination of information pertaining to homeland security; (2) what legal or regulatory barriers exist that hinder effective electronic communication among federal agencies, with state and local government organization and the private sector; (3) what steps could be taken to protect information in shared databases while allowing full use in homeland security context; (4) how challenges to leveraging the United States' strengths can be met and if there are models in the military or elsewhere that may be of assistance; (5) GAO's opinion of the progress being made by government on the challenges to developing and implementing a national preparedness strategy for homeland security; (6) why Extensible Markup Language is useful for better information sharing; and (7) if agencies are currently implementing any customer relationship management technologies."

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story. This story aired at

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This report discusses human resources management issues addressed in H.R. 5005 as passed by the House and the Lieberman substitute amendment to H.R. 5005.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Tri-weekly student newspaper from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

A weekly student newspaper from the Rice University in Houston, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Weekly newspaper from Grandview, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Newspaper from Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.

Weekly magazine containing news, information about events, interviews, and articles of interest to the gay and lesbian community in Texas, with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Boerne, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Brady, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.