A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Women and children refugees, who comprise 80 percent of the estimated 12 million refugees worldwide, are among the world's most vulnerable populations. They are subject to gender-based violence, including physical harm, rape, and unequal access to humanitarian assistance. GAO was asked to (1) assess efforts by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to protect refugees, especially with regard to women and girls; (2) determine what steps U.N. and international organizations have taken to prevent sexual exploitation of refugee women by humanitarian workers; and (3) describe U.S. government efforts to support adequate protection for vulnerable populations."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Value engineering (VE) is a recognized technique for reducing costs while maintaining or improving productivity and quality. The Department of Defense's (DOD) VE program consists of both government- and contractor-developed cost-reduction projects designed to reduce a system's life-cycle costs. In response to Congress' request, we agreed to provide information on (1) the role the VE program has played in supporting cost reduction in DOD weapons system programs and (2) the alternative measures program managers take to reduce costs and/or incentivize contractors."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO appeared before the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, House Committee on Armed Services on March 19, 2003, to discuss various sourcing and acquisition issues. This letter responds to a request for our views on the following questions for the record."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of concerns that not enough students who start college are completing a bachelor's degree, we examined (1) the extent to which students who enroll in a 4-year college complete a bachelor's degree and identify the factors that affect completion; (2) what states and 4-year colleges and universities are doing to foster bachelor's degree completion; and (3) what the Department of Education (Education) is doing to foster degree completion."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government has a long-term commitment to helping states construct, improve, and repair roads and bridges to meet the nation's mobility needs. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) expects to provide states about $20 billion for highway construction projects in fiscal year 2003. State departments of transportation are primarily responsible for initiating and completing projects. Many federal and state agencies with environmental responsibilities (called resource agencies) help ensure that environmental issues are considered. The environmental review of a federally funded highway project can take from several days to several years. GAO is reporting on the (1) activities involved in the environmental reviews of federally funded highway projects and (2) stakeholders' views on the aspects of environmental review, if any, that unduly add time to gaining environmental approval. GAO obtained stakeholder views from 16 transportation improvement and 12 environmental officials from a variety of federal, state, and private organizations with responsibilities for or interests in constructing federally funded highways. The Department of Transportation had no comments on a draft of this report. Other agencies provided either technical comments or did not respond to our request for comments."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Coordination of federal programs to combat terrorism overseas became even more critical as a result of the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. In response to these attacks, the federal government has taken unprecedented political, diplomatic, legal, law enforcement, financial, military, and intelligence actions to combat terrorism abroad. Among these actions is the publication of a series of new national strategies to combat terrorism. Congress asked that we develop baseline information identifying and describing federal programs and activities to combat terrorism overseas. This report describes the interagency framework and policies for planning and coordinating federal efforts to counter international terrorism. It identifies the relationships between and among the new national strategies to combat terrorism. It also describes the federal programs and activities governmentwide to detect and prevent terrorism, disrupt and destroy terrorist organizations, and respond to terrorist incidents overseas. Finally, it provides detailed matrices of selected departments' programs and activities to combat terrorism overseas. We briefed Congress previously on the preliminary results of our work and issued an interim report on Combating Terrorism: Department of State Programs to Combat Terrorism Abroad. This …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is developing a ballistic missile defense system designed to counter a wide spectrum of ballistic missile threats. A future element of this system is the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS). STSS will eventually be composed of a constellation of satellites that will work together to detect and track missiles throughout all phases of their flight. GAO was asked to analyze MDA's approach to demonstrate capabilities for STSS."

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the frequency of inspection and testing of weights and measures.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the eligibility for exemption from ad valorem taxation of public property used for certain religious purposes.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the appointment of a bailiff for the 411th District Court.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to notice to an employer of a court order requiring an employee to provide medical support for the employee's child; providing penalties.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to the wrestling team of St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas on its 500th dual meet win.

Joint resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit a person to assume an office of a political subdivision without an election if the person is the only candidate to qualify in an election for that office.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Sam Caldwell on his selection as Texas State Artist for 2004 in the two-dimensional category.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Sam Caldwell on his selection as Texas State Artist for 2004 in the two-dimensional category.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating James Dick of Round Top on his selection as Texas State Musician for 2003.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring Dixie Friend Gay on the occasion of her selection as Texas State Artist for 2003 in the three-dimensional category.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring David Hickman of Dallas on his selection as Texas State Artist for 2004 in the three-dimensional category.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring Ralph White of Austin on his selection as Texas State Artist for 2003 in the two-dimensional category.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring 2003 Texas Poet Laureate Jack Myers of Mesquite.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to resolving that the State of Texas join in the observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 29, 2003

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to commending the board of directors of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to in memory of William H. Collyns of Midland.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.