A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Prior GAO reports have identified problems with the Department of Defense's (DOD) management and oversight of contractors supporting deployed forces. GAO issued its first comprehensive report examining these problems in June 2003. Because of the broad congressional interest in U.S. military operations in Iraq and DOD's increasing use of contractors to support U.S. forces in Iraq, GAO initiated this follow-on review under the Comptroller General's statutory authority. Specifically, GAO's objective was to determine the extent to which DOD has improved its management and oversight of contractors supporting deployed forces since our 2003 report. GAO reviewed DOD policies and interviewed military and contractor officials both at deployed locations and in the United States."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While tens of thousands of manufacturing workers have received services through the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, until 2002, farmers and fishermen impacted by imports did not have access to similar assistance. The Trade Act of 2002 (Trade Act) established a new program, TAA for Farmers, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide technical assistance, a cash payment of up to $10,000 a year, and access to Department of Labor (Labor) training and reemployment services for farmers and fishermen who face significant price declines due to increased imports. The Trade Act provides for up to $90 million each year through fiscal year 2007 for the costs to carry out the program. Trade Act programs are due for reauthorization in 2007. To be eligible for benefits, farmers and fishermen--called producers--must complete a two-part process each year. First, a group of producers of a commodity must submit a petition to USDA on behalf of all producers in one or more states. The petition must demonstrate that the price of the commodity for the most recent marketing year declined by at least 20 percent from the …