A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) of 2007 amended the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by doubling the frequency of lobbyists' reporting and increasing criminal and civil penalties. This is GAO's second report in response to the Act's requirement for GAO to annually (1) determine the extent to which lobbyists can demonstrate compliance with the Act by providing support for information on their registrations and reports, (2) describe challenges identified by lobbyists to complying with the Act, and (3) describe the resources and authorities available to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia's efforts to enforce the Act. For this report, GAO placed increased emphasis on written documentation to support disclosure reports. GAO reviewed a random sample of 100 lobbyist disclosure reports filed during the first three quarters of calendar year 2008. GAO also selected a random sample of 100 reports of federal political contributions, filed for the first time, for mid-calendar-year 2008. This methodology allowed GAO to generalize the sample results to the populations of 40,169 lobbying activity disclosure reports and 6,048 reports with contributions filed. GAO met with lobbyists regarding …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the potential viability of high speed rail in the United States. Federal and other decision makers have had a renewed interest in how high speed rail might fit into the national transportation system and address increasing mobility constraints on highways and at airports due to congestion. This testimony is based on our report issued March 19, 2009, entitled High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing Financial and Other Challenges and Establishing a Clear Federal Role. In preparing the report, we reviewed federal legislation; interviewed federal, state, local, and private sector officials, as well as U.S. project sponsors; and reviewed high speed rail development in France, Japan, and Spain. More detailed information on our scope and methodology appears in the March 19, 2009, report. We conducted our work in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. This statement focuses on (1) the factors affecting the economic viability of high speed rail projects, including difficulties in determining the economic viability of proposed projects; (2) the challenges in developing and financing high speed rail systems; and (3) the federal role in the potential development of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Our nation's wildland fire problems have worsened in the past decade. The Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and four agencies within the Department of the Interior (Interior) are responsible for managing fires on federal lands. Federal appropriations to these agencies for wildland fire management have more than doubled since the late 1990s, averaging $2.9 billion annually in recent years. Rising wildland fire costs have challenged the agencies to meet their land management responsibilities. This testimony, based on previous GAO reports, discusses (1) the budgetary and programmatic effects of the increasing cost of fire management activities and (2) steps the agencies could take to help contain wildland fire expenditures and steps they could take, and Congress could consider, to reduce the need to transfer funds from other programs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "n 2008, the cumulative cost growth in the Department of Defense's portfolio of 96 major defense acquisition programs was $296 billion and the average delay in delivering promised capabilities to the warfighter was 22 months. These poor outcomes mean that other critical defense and national priorities may go unfunded and that warfighters may go without the equipment they need to counter the changing threats that they face. GAO has examined extensively the issues in DOD's weapon system programs from the perspective of best practices in product development, and believes that significant improvements are possible. Because the ability to measure knowledge, processes, and outcomes is critical to achieving these improvements, GAO has used metrics to review the management and health of these programs from within the framework of best practices. This testimony discusses: 1) "knowledge metrics," used to determine how well programs manage technology, design, and manufacturing risks; 2) outcome metrics--concerning cost, schedule, and capability--that serve as "health indicators" of how well programs are being executed in terms of predicted outcomes; and 3) the prerequisites that GAO believes must be met in order for a program's plans and goals …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is in the process of implementing its new human capital system for managing civilian personnel--the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). Key components of NSPS include compensation, classification, and performance management. Implementation of NSPS could have far-reaching implications, not just for DOD, but for civil service reform across the federal government. As of February 2009, about 205,000 civilian employees were under NSPS. Based on GAO's prior work reviewing performance management in the public sector, GAO developed an initial list of safeguards that NSPS should include to ensure it is fair, effective, and credible. In 2008, Congress directed GAO to evaluate, among other things, the extent DOD implemented accountability mechanisms, including those in 5 U.S.C. section 9902(b)(7) and other internal safeguards in NSPS. This statement is based on GAO's September 2008 report, which determined (1) the extent to which DOD has implemented internal safeguards to ensure NSPS was fair, effective, and credible; and (2) how DOD civilians perceive NSPS and what actions DOD has taken to address these perceptions. For that report, GAO analyzed relevant documents and employee survey results; interviewed appropriate officials; and conducted …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of Defense (DOD) and State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have relied extensively on contractors to support troops and civilian personnel and carry out reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. While recognizing the benefits of using contactors, GAO and others have noted the risks and challenges associated with relying on contractors. To help increase contractor oversight, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 directed DOD, State, and USAID to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan that identified a database to track information on contractor personnel and contracts performed in the two countries. In their July 2008 MOU, the agencies designated the Synchronized Pre-Deployment and Operational Tracker database (SPOT) as their system for tracking the required information. GAO's testimony addresses how contractor personnel and contract information can aid agencies in managing contracts and the status of SPOT's implementation. It is drawn from GAO's ongoing and prior contingency contracting work. This work involved meeting with agency officials, including those in Iraq, and reviewing agency documents. GAO obtained agency views on previously unreported information, which the agencies …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

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

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

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas that includes campus and local news along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas that includes campus and local news along with advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

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

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

Funeral program for Brother Collie Edward Hodges, born July 8, 1922 and died March 22, 2009. The funeral was held April 1, 2009 at Jacobs Chapel United Methodist Church, officiated by Rev. Johnny Toy. The funeral arrangements were made through Sutton-Sutton Mortuary, Inc. and he was buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery near San Antonio, Texas.

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

A senior recital presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall.

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

Monthly newspaper from Mineral Wells, Texas that includes history and travel stories along with advertising.

Newsletter focusing on information for and about the business community in Hutto, Texas, along with advertising.

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.