None

This report summarizes the bill as passed by the House and analyzes the potential impact of its provisions were they to become law.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) enforces the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which sets certain minimum standards for private sector pension plans. On the basis of GAO's prior work, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions asked GAO to review EBSA's enforcement program. Specifically, this report assesses (1) the extent to which EBSA has improved its compliance activities since 2002; (2) how EBSA's enforcement practices compare to those of other agencies; and (3) what obstacles, if any, affect ERISA enforcement. To do this, we reviewed EBSA's enforcement strategy and operations, and interviewed officials at EBSA, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), among others."

This report discusses the federal tax treatment of alien individuals, i.e., foreign nationals, who are working in the United States.

This report provides an overview of the U.S. balance of payments, an explanation of the broader role of capital flows in the U.S. economy, an explanation of how the country finances its trade deficit or a trade surplus, and the implications for Congress and the country of the large inflows of capital from abroad.

This report discusses federal flood-related infrastructure investments, such as levees, floodwalls, and dams.

This report discusses efforts to improve the delivery of health and long-term care services for individuals who are dually enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare, which generally includes the elderly and some individuals with disabilities.

This report provides background information on the types of water supply and wastewater treatment projects traditionally funded by the federal government and the several existing programs to assist communities with water supply and wastewater recycling and treatment.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) spent about 40 percent of the total defense budget to operate and maintain the nation's military forces in fiscal year 2005. Operation and maintenance (O&M) funding is considered one of the major components of funding for readiness. O&M appropriations fund the training, supply, and equipment maintenance of military units as well as the infrastructure of military bases. Over the past several years, DOD has increasingly used contractors, rather than uniformed or DOD civilian personnel, to provide O&M services in areas such as logistics, base operations support, information technology services, and administrative support. The House Appropriations Committee directed GAO to examine growing O&M costs and support services contracting. This GAO report (1) identifies the trends in O&M costs and services contracts and the reasons for the trends, (2) discusses whether increased services contracting has exacerbated the growth of O&M costs, and (3) provides perspectives on the benefits and concerns associated with increased contracting for support services. GAO analyzed DOD's O&M appropriations, budgets, and services contract costs over a 10-year period and developed case studies of outsourced O&M-related work at three installations. GAO …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has a demanding responsibility enforcing banking laws, regulating financial institutions, and protecting depositors. As part of its audit of the calendar year 2006 financial statements, GAO assessed (1) the progress FDIC has made in correcting or mitigating information security weaknesses previously reported and (2) the effectiveness of FDIC's system integrity controls to protect the confidentiality and availability of its financial information and information systems. To do this, GAO examined pertinent security policies, procedures, and relevant reports. In addition, GAO conducted tests and observations of controls in operation."

This report provides a detailed history of mental health parity legislation, including a discussion of bills introduced in each Congress, and accompanying legislative action, including hearings, markups, and floor votes. This legislation is in response to concerns about the coverage of mental health benefits in group health plans, which is often much more restricted than the coverage of physical illness. Updated May 18, 2007.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Small businesses engaged in manufacturing, typically those with 500 or fewer employees, comprise about 90 percent of all U.S. manufacturers and employ 6 million workers. Recent studies have shown that small manufacturing businesses face a number of challenges in their efforts to remain competitive, including the inability to obtain operating and investment capital, a lack of familiarity with new business practices, and difficulty in finding independent advice and skilled employees. To help these businesses overcome such challenges, many federal agencies provide financial and nonfinancial technical services through targeted or general programs or create interagency work groups to better coordinate their efforts and more effectively support these businesses. In this context, GAO identified (1) federal programs that provide services to support small businesses engaged in manufacturing and (2) federal interagency efforts that focus on issues of concern to small manufacturing businesses. To identify these programs and efforts, GAO obtained documentation from 19 federal agencies. In commenting on a draft of this report, 18 of the 19 agencies made technical comments that we have incorporated as appropriate. GAO is not making recommendations in this report."

This report discusses United States foreign operations appropriations for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which primarily support democracy-related programs, particularly rule of law training, and support Tibetan communities. The U.S. Congress has played a leading role in providing funding for such programs, which has grown from $10 million in FY2002 to $23 million in FY2006. Major funding areas include legal training, legal aid, criminal defense, labor rights, and non-governmental organization (NGO) development in China, monitoring human rights conditions in the PRC from outside China, and preserving Tibetan culture.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program was designed to replace aging vessels and aircraft and information capabilities with new and upgraded assets and equipment. GAO's prior work raised concerns about the Coast Guard's efforts to upgrade or acquire assets on schedule and manage the Deepwater prime contractor. This report responds to congressional direction contained in a conference report accompanying the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fiscal year 2007 appropriations bill. GAO addressed two objectives: (1) What is the status of key Deepwater assets and how is the Coast Guard addressing any asset-related challenges that have been encountered? (2) What is the status of the Coast Guard's overall management of the Deepwater contract? GAO's work is based on reports, memorandums, and data on the plans and management of the Deepwater program and interviews with key officials. GAO is not making any new recommendations. DHS and the Coast Guard reviewed a draft of this report and concurred with our findings."

None

None

None

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress granted financial regulators flexibility to establish their own compensation systems and required certain agencies to seek to maintain comparability with each other in pay and benefits to help the agencies overcome impediments to recruiting and retaining employees and avoid competing for the same employees. In response to a request, this report reviews (1) how the performance-based pay systems of 10 financial regulators are aligned with six key practices for effective performance management systems, (2) the actions these agencies have taken to assess and implement comparability in pay and benefits, and (3) the extent to which employees in selected occupations have moved between or left any of the agencies. GAO analyzed agency guidance and policies, agency data on performance ratings and pay increases, agency pay and benefits surveys, data from the Central Personnel Data File, and interviewed agency officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2005, the United Nations (UN) has been attempting to reform its management processes, in part to help ensure that resources are used effectively and efficiently. Some of these reforms focus on improving oversight and accountability at the United Nations. In this report, GAO examines the extent to which selected UN organizations' (1) internal audit offices have implemented professional standards for performing audits and investigations, (2) evaluation offices have implemented UN evaluation standards, and (3) governing bodies are provided with information about the results of UN oversight practices. GAO obtained and analyzed international standards and relevant documents from six of the largest UN organizations, and also met with U.S. and UN officials."

This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, that would produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.

An archaeological survey report of a proposed gas well and pipeline route in Wise County,Texas, performed to determine whether any historic resources were located on the proposed construction sites.

None

This report provides an overview of the government's long-term fiscal shortfall attributed to Social Security.

This report reviews and briefly describes the major proposals that would change the federal student loan programs to achieve savings in mandatory spending and the proposals that would enhance student aid benefits or result in changes to existing federal student aid programs.