A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DHS's and the Coast Guard did not meet the SAFE Port Act's requirement that IOCs be established at high-priority ports by October 2009, in part because the Coast Guard was not appropriated funds to establish the IOCs until 14 months after enactment of the law, and the definition of an IOC was evolving during this period. However, the Coast Guard plans to establish IOCs at all 35 of its sectors. According to the Coast Guard's analysis of sector status reports, none of its sectors have achieved IOCs with full operating capability. According to the Coast Guard’s Chief of IOC Implementation, as well as its Information Sharing Executive Agent, continued support is needed from DHS to increase port-partner participation and the success of the IOC initiative. DHS has recently begun to support efforts to increase port-partner participation and further IOC implementation, such as facilitating the review of an IOC management directive. It is too early to determine, though, if and when IOCs will achieve their intended goal of sharing information and coordinating operations with port partners."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During fiscal year 2011, OFS addressed several of the internal control issues related to the significant deficiency we reported for fiscal year 2010 concerning its accounting and financial reporting processes. However, remaining uncorrected control deficiencies along with other control deficiencies that we identified in this area in fiscal year 2011 collectively represented a continuing significant deficiency in OFS’s internal control over its accounting and financial reporting processes. Specifically, while OFS improved its review and approval process for preparing its financial statements, notes, and Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) for TARP for fiscal year 2011, we continued to identify incorrect amounts and inconsistent disclosures in OFS’s draft financial statements, notes, and MD&A that were significant, but not material, and that were not detected by OFS. For fiscal year 2011, we also identified deficiencies in other OFS accounting and financial reporting procedures related to: (1) recording of noncash transactions, (2) recording of warrant adjustments, and (3) accounting for Public-Private Investment Fund (PPIF) equity distributions."

Photograph of Muir String Quartet members Peter Zazofsky (back left) and Michael Reynolds (2nd from right) instructing students on String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12 during a masterclass held in Voertman Hall. Students Ekatarina Tarasova (front left), Sun Hye Oh (center), and Lejing Zhou (right) are holding the violin, violin, and cello, respectively.

Photograph of Muir String Quartet members Peter Zazofsky (2nd from left) and Michael Reynolds (3rd from right) instructing students Ekatarina Tarasova (left), Sun Hye Oh (3rd from left), Lejing Zhou (2nd from right), and Veronika Vassileva (right) on String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12 during a masterclass held in Voertman Hall. Zazofsky is pointing to Tarasova as members of the group laugh.

Photograph of University of North Texas student Thao Huynh performing String Quartet in F Major during a masterclass hosted by the Muir String Quartet. Huynh is reading from sheet music on a stand as she plays the violin.

Photograph of University of North Texas student Josip Kvetek playing violin for String Quartet in F Major during a masterclass hosted by the Muir String Quartet.

Photograph of Muir String Quartet member Peter Zazofsky (3rd from left) instructing students on String Quartet in F Major during a masterclass held in Voertman Hall. Quartet member Michael Reynolds (right) and University of North Texas students Josip Kvetek (left), Thao Huynh (2nd from left), Sebastian Šimek (3rd from right), and Alexis Barnett (2nd from right) are watching as Zazofsky plays the violin.

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

Since President Bush signed the FY2005 Intelligence Authorization bill in December 2004, no subsequent intelligence authorization legislation was enacted until the FY2010 bill was signed by President Obama in October 2010 (after the end of FY2010), becoming P.L. 111-259. Although the National Security Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement has been satisfied in recent years by one-sentence catchall provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities. This procedure meets the statutory requirement but has, according to some observers, weakened the ability of Congress to oversee intelligence activities.

Prompt global strike (PGS) would allow the United States to strike targets anywhere on Earth with conventional weapons in as little as an hour. This capability may bolster U.S. efforts to deter and defeat adversaries by allowing the United States to attack high-value targets or “fleeting targets” at the start of or during a conflict. Congress has generally supported the PGS mission, but it has restricted funding and suggested some changes in funding for specific programs. Some concerns that Congress has shown are the Department of Defenses' rationale for the mission, the Air Force's ability to set up the system in a timely manner, and how the new START Treaty between the US and Russia will affect the system.

Nearly half a million miles of pipeline transporting natural gas, oil, and other hazardous liquids crisscross the United States. While an efficient and fundamentally safe means of transport, many pipelines carry materials with the potential to cause public injury and environmental damage. The nation's pipeline networks are also widespread and vulnerable to accidents and terrorist attack. As it oversees the federal pipeline safety program and the federal role in pipeline security, Congress may wish to assess how the various elements of U.S. pipeline safety and security fit together in the nation's overall strategy to protect transportation infrastructure. Pipeline safety and security necessarily involve many groups: federal agencies, oil and gas pipeline associations, large and small pipeline operators, and local communities. Reviewing how these groups work together to achieve common goals could be an oversight challenge for Congress.

This report discusses legislative action that applied the Budget Control Act (BCA)-mandated spending reduction to FY2012 defense funding legislation was taken by the Senate Appropriations Committee on September 7, 2011, when it adopted discretionary spending ceilings for each of its 12 subcommittees that required the Defense Subcommittee to cut $25.9 billion from the President's request for programs funded by the DOD Appropriations bill. On September 15, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported an amended version of the House-passed DOD Appropriations bill (H.R. 2219) that would cut $29.3 billion from the Administration request.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Weekly student newspaper from San Antonio College in San Antonio, Texas that includes campus news along with advertising.

Student newspaper of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.

Photograph of University of North Texas students Ekatarina Tarasova (2nd from left), Sun Hye Oh (center), and Lejing Zhou (right) performing String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12 during a masterclass hosted by the Muir String Quartet. Muir Quartet members Peter Zazofsky (left) and Michael Reynolds (2nd from right) are watching as the students play the violin, violin, and cello, respectively.

Photograph of University of North Texas students Ekatarina Tarasova (left), Sun Hye Oh (2nd from left), Lejing Zhou (2nd from right), and Veronika Vassileva (right) performing String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12 during a masterclass hosted by the Muir String Quartet. Muir Quartet member Michael Reynolds (center) is looking at the book in his hand as the students play the violin, violin, cello, and viola, respectively.

Photograph of Muir String Quartet member Peter Zazofsky (left) instructing University of North Texas student Sun Hye Oh (right) on String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12 during a masterclass held in Voertman Hall. Oh is sitting beside Zazofsky with a violin.

Photograph of University of North Texas students (l-r) Josip Kvetek, Thao Huynh, Sebastian Šimek, and Alexis Barnett performing String Quartet in F Major during a masterclass hosted by the Muir String Quartet. The students are playing the violin, violin, viola, and cello, respectively.

Photograph of University of North Texas students (l-r) Thao Huynh, Sebastian Šimek, and Alexis Barnett performing String Quartet in F Major during a masterclass hosted by the Muir String Quartet. The students are playing the violin, viola, and cello, respectively.

Photograph of Muir String Quartet members Michael Reynolds (3rd from right) and Peter Zazofsky (right) instructing students on String Quartet in F Major during a masterclass held in Voertman Hall. Students Josip Kvetek (left), Thao Huynh (2nd from left), Sebastian Šimek (3rd from left), and Alexis Barnett (2nd from right) are holding the violin, violin, viola, and cello, respectively.

University of North Texas program announcing the "Four Bold Goals," featuring the UNT Symphony Orchestra, presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall.