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 an individual or company may set up a plat copying machine in a county clerk's office or in another area of the county courthouse (RQ-0379-GA).

A list of Texas newspaper winners who will receive an award from the Texas Daily Newspaper Associations during their annual meeting. The newspaper to receive an award are the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, Bryan-College Station Eagle, the Austin American-Statesman and The Dallas Morning News/Quick.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the American Chemical Society for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2003 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the American Council of Learned Societies for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the American Gold Star Mothers, Incorporated, for fiscal years 2003 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance, and the audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements were presented fairly on a modified cash basis of accounting."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the National Theatre and Academy for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2003 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Aviation Hall of Fame, for fiscal years 2003 and 2002. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America for the Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2003. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Blinded Veterans Association for fiscal year 2003. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance, and the audit report included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit reports covering the financial statements of the Boy Scouts of America, for fiscal year 2003. GAO's review disclosed no reportable instances of noncompliance with the financial reporting requirements of the law. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2004 and again in June 2005, GAO testified that some Department of Defense (DOD) and civilian agency federal contractors abused the federal tax system with little consequence. Previous problems we identified with contractors with unpaid taxes have led to concerns over whether any interagency contractors, such as those on the General Services Administration's (GSA) federal supply schedule, failed to pay their taxes. GSA, through its federal supply schedule and other interagency contracts, arranges for federal agencies to purchase billions of dollars of goods and services directly from private vendors. GAO was asked to determine if GSA contractors, including both contractors that were paid by GSA and GSA interagency contractors, have unpaid federal taxes, and if so, to (1) determine the magnitude of tax debts owed by GSA contractors; (2) identify examples of GSA contractors that have tax debts and are also engaged in potentially abusive, fraudulent, or criminal activities; and (3) determine whether GSA screens contractors for tax debts and criminal activities prior to awarding contracts and at the exercise of any government contract options."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the interest of national security and personal privacy and for other reasons, federal agencies place dissemination restrictions on information that is unclassified yet still sensitive. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have both issued policy guidance on how and when to protect sensitive information. DOE marks documents with this information as Official Use Only (OUO) while DOD uses the designation For Official Use Only (FOUO). GAO was asked to (1) identify and assess the policies, procedures, and criteria DOE and DOD employ to manage OUO and FOUO information; and (2) determine the extent to which DOE's and DOD's training and oversight programs assure that information is identified, marked, and protected according to established criteria."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The radio-frequency spectrum is used to provide an array of wireless communications services that are critical to the U.S. economy and various government missions, such as national security. With demand for spectrum exploding, and most useable spectrum allocated to existing users, there is growing concern that the current spectrum management framework might not be able to respond adequately to future demands. This testimony, which is based on previous GAO reports, provides information on (1) the extent to which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted market-based mechanisms for commercial use, (2) the extent to which market-based mechanisms have been adopted for federal government users of spectrum, (3) options for improving spectrum management, and (4) potential barriers to spectrum reform."

A piece by T. D. Jakes titled "Let it Go for 2006!" about the new year and moving forward.

Email from Shannon Bailey to Al on May 14, 2006 discussing upcoming events and contribution to the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus organization.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "After the events of September 11, 2001, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) assumed the function of passenger prescreening--or the matching of passenger information against terrorist watch lists to identify persons who should undergo additional security scrutiny--for domestic flights, which is currently performed by the air carriers. To do so, TSA has been developing Secure Flight. This testimony covers TSA's progress and challenges in (1) developing, managing, and overseeing Secure Flight; (2) coordinating with key stakeholders critical to program operations; (3) addressing key factors that will impact system effectiveness; and (4) minimizing impacts on passenger privacy and protecting passenger rights."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns have been raised about the fairness of the "bid down" approach of the Department of Commerce's Information Technology Solutions Next Generation (COMMITS NexGen) contract. In response to these concerns, the fiscal year 2006 Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and Related Agencies appropriations conference report requested our review of COMMITS NexGen. This letter transmits the briefing document we provided to Congress on May 15, 2006, concerning a variety of issues related to the COMMITS NexGen contract. Specifically, we provided information on (1) how the COMMITS NexGen contract is structured to meet its intended goals, (2) what effect the tier system has on the task order competition process, and (3) what oversight and internal control procedures Commerce has implemented to address the risks of interagency contracting."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On November 9, 2005, GAO testified before Congress at a hearing on "Access Delayed: Fixing the Security Clearance Process, Part II." This letter responds to three questions for the record posed by Congress."

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Key federal environmental statutes, such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which established the Superfund program, require that parties statutorily responsible for pollution bear the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites. In many cases, liable parties meet their cleanup responsibilities. However, many parties responsible for hardrock mining sites include businesses that no longer exist, having been liquidated through bankruptcy or otherwise dissolved. Under these circumstances, some hardrock mining companies that have caused environmental contamination have left the problem for others, typically the government, to address. We were asked to provide a statement for the record on the cleanup of contamination resulting from hardrock mining as it relates to our August 2005 report, Environmental Liabilities: EPA Should Do More to Ensure that Liable Parties Meet Their Cleanup Obligations (GAO-05-658). We made nine recommendations in this report aimed at reducing the government's financial burden for costly environmental cleanups. The agency generally agreed with many of the recommendations, stating its intent to further evaluate some of them."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed homes and displaced millions of individuals. In the wake of these natural disasters, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responded to the need to provide aid quickly through the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) program, which provides housing assistance, real and personal property assistance, and for other immediate, emergency needs. As of February 2006, FEMA made 2.6 million payments totaling over $6 billion. Our testimony today will (1) provide an estimate of improper and potentially fraudulent payments through February 2006 related to certain aspects of the disaster registrations, (2) identify whether improper and potentially fraudulent payments were made to registrants who were incarcerated at the time of the disaster, (3) identify whether FEMA improperly provided registrants with rental assistance payments at the same time it was paying for their lodging at hotels, and (4) review FEMA's accountability over debit cards and controls over proper debit card usage. To estimate the magnitude of IHP payments made on the basis of invalid registrations, we selected a random statistical sample of 250 payments made to hurricanes Katrina and Rita registrants as of February 2006. We also conducted …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From 1946 to 1966, the government constructed the Fort Randall and Big Bend Dams as flood control projects on the Missouri River in South Dakota. The reservoirs created behind the dams flooded about 38,000 acres of the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Indian reservations. The tribes received compensation when the dams were built and additional compensation in the 1990s. The tribes are seeking a third round of compensation on the basis of a consultant's analysis. The Congress provided additional compensation to other tribes after two prior GAO reports in 1991 and 1998 (GAO/RCED-91-77 and GAO/RCED-98-77). For those reports, GAO proposed that one recommended approach to providing additional compensation would be to calculate the difference between the tribe's final asking price and the amount that was appropriated by the Congress and then adjust that difference using the inflation rate and an interest rate to reflect a range of current values. This testimony is based on GAO's report, Indian Issues: Analysis of the Crow Creek Sioux and Lower Brule Sioux Tribes' Additional Compensation Claims (GAO-06-517, May 19, 2006). Specifically, this testimony notes that the tribes' consultant did not follow the …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Cook. Cook joined the Navy in November of 1939, and completed submarine school. Beginning April of 1942, he served as a fireman aboard the USS Silversides (SS-236). He traveled to Japan and Truk participating in 2 successful war patrols. From November of 1944 through April of 1945 he was assigned to the USS Flasher (SS-249), traveling to the South China Sea and completing war patrols five and six, sinking two Japanese destroyers, Kishinami and Iwanami. After the war ended, Cook enlisted in the Army, when he was discharged as Chief Petty Officer in August of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with L.T. Tracy. Tracy completed Machinist School prior to entering the service. Tracy joined the Navy in December of 1940 and immediately went aboard the USS Lexington (CV-2). He participated as a gunner in the Battle of the Coral Sea. His spine was injured during this battle. In late 1942 Tracy was assigned to the USS Nevada (BB-36). They participated in the invasions of Attu and Kiska, as well as supporting the Normandy and Marseilles landings. Tracy was then transferred to the USS Texas (BB-35). They provided gunfire support during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was discharged for medical reasons in January of 1947.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The recent information security breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in which personal data on millions of veterans were compromised, has highlighted the importance of the department's security weaknesses, as well as the ability of federal agencies to protect personal information. Robust federal security programs are critically important to properly protect this information and the privacy of individuals. GAO was asked to testify on VA's information security program, ways that agencies can prevent improper disclosures of personal information, and issues concerning notifications of privacy breaches. In preparing this testimony, GAO drew on its previous reports and testimonies, as well as on expert opinion provided in congressional testimony and other sources."