Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2009, Congress created two new programs as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act): (1) the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and (2) the Grants to States for Low-Income Housing Projects in Lieu of Low-inome Housing Credits Program under Section 1602 of the Recovery Act (Section 1602 Program) administered by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Congress created these new programs to address the lack of private investment capital in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects after the credit market was disrupted in 2008. Both programs were intended to provide gap financing for stalled, "shovel-ready" projects and to offset a drop in tax credit demand and pricing. Under these programs, state Housing Finance Agencies (HFA) administer federal funds in the form of grants and loans from HUD and Treasury to fill financing gaps in planned tax credit projects."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter formally transmits and summarizes an oral briefing we gave on April 12, 2010, in response to House of Representatives Explanatory Statement, 155 Cong. Rec. H2113 (daily ed., Feb. 23, 2009), accompanying the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-8, 123 Stat. 524) (2009). GAO was directed to review the indirect costs the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) paid the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Specifically, our objectives were to (1) describe CDC's methodology for determining and allocating indirect costs to bill ATSDR for administrative services and (2) determine if the methodology CDC uses to bill ATSDR appropriately considers relevant laws and guidance."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women made up nearly 47 percent of the total workforce in the United States in July 2010. Women's participation in the labor force, particularly among women with children, is much higher today than several decades ago. For example, using data from the Current Population Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that couples in which only the husband worked represented 18 percent of married couple families in 2007, compared with 36 percent in 1967. In addition, an increasing proportion of women are attaining higher education. Among women aged 25 to 64 in the labor force, the proportion with a college degree roughly tripled from 1970 to 2008. Further, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the percentage of female officials and managers in the private sector increased from just over 29 percent in 1990 to 36.4 percent in 2002. Although women's representation across the general workforce is growing, there remains a need for information about the challenges women face in advancing their careers. In 2001, using 1995 and 2000 data from the Current Population Survey, we found women were …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Participation in school sports can benefit children but also carries a risk of injury, including concussion. Concussion is a brain injury that can affect memory, speech, and muscle coordination and can cause permanent disability or death. Concussion can be especially serious for children, who are more likely than adults both to sustain a concussion and to take longer to recover. These factors may affect return-to-play decisions, which determine when it is safe for an athlete to participate in sports again. GAO was asked to testify on concussion incurred in high school sports. This statement focuses on (1) what is known about the nationwide occurrence of concussion, (2) federal concussion prevention programs, (3) the components of key state laws related to the management of concussion, and (4) the recommendations of voluntary nationwide concussion management guidelines. To do this work, GAO conducted literature searches; reviewed injury databases, state laws, and documents from federal agencies and organizations that conduct work in high school athletics or sports medicine; and interviewed federal officials and experts who identified key state laws and nationwide guidelines and provided other information. GAO shared the information in this …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) policies and procedures for product preparation. ATSDR investigates community exposures related to chemical sites and releases; works with federal, tribal, state, and local agencies to identify potential exposures; assesses associated health effects; and recommends actions to stop, prevent, or minimize these harmful effects. In conducting these activities, the agency publishes many types of public health products, including public health assessments, health consultations, health study reports, and exposure investigations. Recent reports by the Institute of Medicine and ATSDR's Board of Scientific Counselors have identified various concerns such as the appropriateness and quality of the data used in ATSDR's products, the methodology and design of the studies, and clearance policies. This committee has held two previous hearings that focused on its concern about the quality of ATSDR's products. In response, ATSDR has noted that multiple factors have posed challenges for the agency, including limitations in the ability of available science to answer community questions about the effect of chemical exposures, limitations in ATSDR's ability to collect data related to exposures, and reductions since 2004 in the number of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies face a complicated set of decisions in finding the right mix of government and contractor personnel to conduct their missions. While contractors, when properly used, can play an important role in helping agencies accomplish their missions, GAO has found that agencies face challenges with increased reliance on contractors to perform core agency missions. Congress and the Executive branch also have expressed concern as to whether federal agencies have become over-reliant on contractors and have appropriately outsourced services. A March 2009 Presidential memorandum tasked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to take several actions in response to this concern. Based on GAO's prior work, this statement discusses (1) civilian agencies' development and implementation of guidelines to consider whether contracted functions should be brought in-house --a process known as insourcing; (2) OMB's proposed policy on work reserved for federal employees; (3) challenges agencies face in managing the federal workforce; and (4) key tools available for insourcing and related efforts."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In August and September 2009, Humana--a large private health insurer--sent a letter to the approximately 930,000 beneficiaries enrolled in its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, advising that leading health reform proposals could adversely affect MA beneficiaries. Signed by Humana's Chief Medical Officer, the letter stated that if proposed funding cuts became law, "millions of seniors and disabled individuals could lose many of the important benefits and services that make MA health plans so valuable," and encouraged beneficiaries to contact their members of Congress and ask them to protect MA funding. Once the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) learned about the mailing, the agency directed Humana on September 18, 2009, and all other MA organizations on September 21, 2009, to immediately stop all communications to beneficiaries about the potential impact of health reform legislation while CMS investigated whether such communications violated federal laws, regulations, or MA program guidance. CMS issued clarifying guidance to all MA organizations on October 16, 2009, and took compliance action against some organizations, closing its investigation. CMS is responsible for overseeing communications between MA organizations and beneficiaries enrolled in their plans. Because MA organizations …

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the J.W. and Cornelia Scarbrough House, in Austin, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

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 a county or state must defend a district attorney in a civil lawsuit , and whether a district attorney may use assets forfeiture funds to pay for her defense in such a suit (RQ-0816-GA).

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 a utility company that contracts with a county to collect the fees for the county's solid waste disposal service may suspend its own utility service for non-payment of the solid waste disposal fee (RQ-0837-GA).

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; Application of Local Government Code section 143.014(c) to municipalities that have adopted chapter 174 of the Local Government Code, the Fire and Police Employee Relations Act; reconsideration of Attorney General Opinion GA-0662(2008)(RQ-0840-GA).

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; Authority of a School district to set property tax rates under section 26.08,Tax Code(RQ-0839-GA).

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; Calculation of impact fees for a platted subdivision(RQ-0854-GA).

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; Method by which a hospital district may set an ad valorem tax rate when it has not set a tax rate since 1996(RQ-0856-GA).

Data was taken with the NASA ER-2 aircraft with the Cloud Radar System and other instruments in conjunction with the DOE ARM CLASIC field campaign. The flights were near the SGP site in north Central Oklahoma and targeted small developing convection. The CRS is a 94 GHz nadir pointing Doppler radar. Also on board the ER-2 was the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). Seven science flights were conducted but the weather conditions did not cooperate in that there was neither developing convection, or there was heavy rain.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Millions of Americans rely on private or public defined benefit pension plans, which promise to pay retirement benefits that are generally based on an employee's salary and years of service. Plan sponsors are increasingly investing in "alternative" assets such as hedge funds and private equity. This has raised concerns, given that these two types of investments have qualified for exemptions from some federal regulations and could present more risk to retirement assets than traditional investments. This testimony discusses (1) the extent to which defined benefit plans have invested in hedge funds and private equity, (2) challenges that such plans face in investing in hedge funds and private equity, (3) steps that plan sponsors can take to address these challenges, and (4) the implications of these challenges for the federal government. To prepare this statement, GAO relied primarily on its published reports on hedge funds and private equity (GAO-08-692 and GAO-08-200), and obtained new data on the extent of plan investments in hedge funds and private equity. GAO has previously recommended that the Secretary of Labor provide guidance designed to help ERISA fiduciaries better assess their ability to invest …

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This supplementary report to GAO-10-999 provides individual state appendixes for 16 states and the District of Columbia for GAO's work on the seventh of its bimonthly reviews of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act)."

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Thomas Jeter. Jeter was drafted into the Navy in 1943. He found boot camp to be tough, and some men committed suicide there. Jeter attended fire-control school in Bainbridge and then boarded USS New York (BB-34) as a fire controlman, working with highly classified computers and gyroscopes. Because his commanding officer was a childhood friend, Jeter turned down promotions to avoid misperceptions of favoritism. He instead served as the telephone man and orderly for the captain. In combat, Jeter served as the main battery director, witnessing the bloody aftermath of friendly fire from his battle station at Iwo Jima. After a kamikaze attacked the ship at Okinawa, Jeter saved the rising sun emblem from its wing as a souvenir. Upon returning to the States, Jeter guarded German prisoners at Norfolk. After his discharge, he earned a degree in physics on the GI Bill, later befriending several Japanese colleagues through his work.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Roy Hughes. Hughes joined the Navy in July of 1943. He completed Midshipman School in December of 1944. Beginning in January of 1945, he served as a Fighter Director aboard USS Kasaan Bay (CVE-69). They completed anti-submarine patrols and combat operations through Guam and Okinawa. He returned to the US and was discharged around late 1945, early 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Shelby Brown. Brown joined the Navy around 1942. Beginning April of 1943, he served as Seaman Second Class aboard USS Nashville (CL-43). Brown and his division took care of the fantail of the ship and the five turrets in their main battery. In August they traveled to Pearl Harbor to join carrier task forces for strikes on Marcus and Wake islands. They traveled to Espiritu Santo, crossing the equator, and had a shellback initiation. From Espiritu they shelled targets on New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands. They provided support for landings on Bougainville and Leyte. Brown recalls the ship being hit by a kamikaze, off Negros Island in December of 1944. In May of 1945 they provided fire support for the landings on Borneo. He was discharged in December of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Earl Ewing. Ewing enlisted in the Marine Corps in March of 1943. He was trained as a tanker and was sent to the Pacific as a replacement crewman where he joined the 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion. He crewed LVTs during the invasions of Guam and Iwo Jima. His LVT was hit and caught fire during the landing on Guam. During the battle for Iwo Jima, Ewing’s LVT was sent inland to retrieve wounded Marines and he had to guide it through a minefield. Ewing was discharged on 7 December 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Howard Parr. Parr was inducted into the Army in July 1942 where he served as a radio operator in the Signal Corps. In 1944 he was sent to OCS to become an officer in the Signal Corps. In November 1944, he was sent to Finschhafen, New Guinea to serve with the 3169th Signal Service Battalion. He later volunteered to serve in a signal unit attached to the 273rd Heavy Construction Company, an engineering unit consisting of primarily African-American troops. The unit was eventually shipped to the Philippines. Parr left active duty in February 1946, but remained in the Army Reserve.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John Campbell. Campbell joined the Merchant Marine in March of 1942. He began as a wiper working in the engine room. Campbell soon found work on the North Atlantic convoy. His ship was torpedoed and sunk on the way to Murmansk. His next ship hit a mine and was forced to run aground. Campbell was a crewman on a ship that arrived at Cherbourg after the storm that destroyed the Mulberry Harbor. He also manned a diesel engine on a barque that made runs to France. Campbell was forced to spend time in a Naval hospital upon his return to the States for convoy fatigue. Next, he traveled to the Mediterranean where his ship transported a chemical warfare unit. Campbell eventually ended up in the Pacific near the end of the war to transport munitions for the invasion of Japan. He made one final voyage to Brazil after the surrender.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Wallace Morger. Morger enlisted into the Marine Corps Reserves on 13 October 1942. After boot camp in San Diego, Morger went to the naval station in Newport, Rhode Island to study electronics for three months. Morger then went to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina where he joined the 16th Pioneer Battalion. They joined the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. Morger was transferred out of the pioneer battalion and became the police sergeant in charge of clean-up duties and the battalion bugler. After a special pre-embarkation furlough, the entire division was shipped to Camp Tarawa, Hawaii arriving in the middle of September 1944. When the division shipped out, no one knew where they were going to Iwo Jima. Morger landed with the 7th or 8th wave as part of the 28th Regiment, First Battalion, Company C. He talks of the devastating fire they took once ashore and all the caves and spider holes that the Japanese hid in. For the first 10 days of fighting, Morger was in charge of security for the stretcher bearers. He was at the base of Mount Suribachi when he saw the flag go …