Report that provides a background to the detention of enemy belligerents, followed by a brief introduction to the law of war pertinent to the detention of different categories of individuals.

Report that provides links to selected authoritative resources related to cybersecurity issues, including: legislation, hearings in the 112th Congress, data and statistics, and cybersecurity glossaries.

Report that discusses the energy policy in the United States, which is focused on three major goals: assuring a secure supply of energy, keeping energy costs low, and protecting the environment.

Report that contains a brief overview of the origins, deadlines, and typical content of the President's budget.

Report that provides a background on federal marijuana policy as well as an overview of state trends with respect to marijuana decriminalization and legalization--for both medical and recreational uses. It then analyzes relevant issues for U.S. federal law enforcement as well as for the criminal organizations involved in producing, distributing, and profiting from the black market sale of marijuana. This report also outlines a number of related policy questions that Congress may confront.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The majority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) education payments were made to a small percentage of schools receiving VA funding in fiscal year 2011, primarily through the Post-9/11 GI Bill. About 5 percent of schools (654 schools) received more than $3.8 billion in aggregate VA education payments used for tuition and fees in fiscal year 2011, over 60 percent of such funding. These 654 "highly VA-funded schools" each received at least $2 million (and as much as $113 million) in Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition and fee payments from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2011 and enrolled more total students on average than other schools. Almost half of tuition and fee payments for all VA education programs were used at public schools. However, the breakdown of Post-9/11 GI Bill payments differed somewhat, with for-profit and public schools receiving about the same proportion of Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition and fee payments."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified four methods the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), within the U.S. Department of Transportation, uses to assure that recipients of federal transit funding comply with civil rights requirements: 1) requiring recipients to self-certify that they assure compliance with applicable civil rights requirements; 2) issuing guidance to inform recipients of their responsibilities; 3) administering a complaints process; and 4) conducting oversight reviews of funding recipients' compliance with laws and requirements. GAO found that FTA's policies and procedures for processing civil rights complaints incorporate nine key federal practices based on an analysis of U.S. Department of Justice guidance: 1) ensure a timely complaint process; 2) provide a complaint process that is accessible to the public; 3) acknowledge receipt of complaint to complainant; 4) document complaint allegations to be resolved; 5) document the results of any complaint investigations; 6) use informal method to resolve complaints when possible; 7) provide a formal or an informal appeals process for the results of complaints investigations; 8) after a complaint investigation is completed, monitor the recipient based on the issues involved in the complaint; and 9) oversee an effective program of compliance reviews for …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found that the Navy has made progress in addressing some of the early design and construction problems on the LCS 1 and LCS 2 seaframes, and quality defects and unit costs are declining, now that the seaframes are in steady production. Based on projected learning curves, shipyard performance can be expected to continue to improve over time. This expected progress could, however, be disrupted, as the Navy is considering potentially significant seaframe design changes. For example, the Navy is currently studying changes to increase the commonality of systems and equipment between the two ship variants, primarily with regard to the ships' combat management systems, and add new capabilities. In addition, the Navy still has outstanding gaps in its knowledge about how the unique designs of the two variants will perform in certain conditions. The lead ship of the Freedom class is currently on an extended deployment to Southeast Asia, and the Navy views this as an important opportunity to demonstrate some of the ship's capabilities and allow the crew to obtain first-hand experience with operations. Yet, developmental testing of the seaframes is ongoing, and neither variant has …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Brand USA's global campaign promotes travel to all 50 states through various television, print, billboard, Internet, and social media advertising activities, and its targeted campaigns conduct similar promotions in selected countries. To select countries for targeted campaigns, Brand USA uses several criteria, including volume of visitors and tourism revenue from the country. Brand USA launched targeted campaigns in 2012 in Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom during each country's peak travel-planning periods, and it plans to launch targeted campaigns in these and additional countries in 2013. Brand USA contracts with overseas firms to plan and coordinate marketing activities in targeted countries. In addition, partners help Brand USA promote travel to specific U.S. destinations and establish a campaign presence outside targeted countries."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. agencies and implementing partners participate in various programs with the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) or PIF-owned entities that include home mortgage financing, loan guarantees, and educational initiatives. First, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) along with PIF and other entities have committed to lend $485 million to the Affordable Mortgage and Loan Company (AMAL) to support mortgages for low- and medium-income borrowers in the West Bank. OPIC has committed to lend about $313 million; PIF has committed about $72 million, and two banks account for the balance of the committed lending. However, as of April 2013, OPIC and PIF had not yet disbursed any funds. Second, OPIC and PIF are co-guarantors in a Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF) program in the West Bank, guaranteeing up to $110 million and $50 million in loans, respectively, to nine regional banks to support lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Third, USAID officials stated that, in 2009, USAID provided a U.S. implementing partner $2.1 million for technical assistance and training to enhance the lending practices of participating banks in support of the LGF. Finally, according to USAID, it provided about …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The four countries GAO analyzed--Canada, Germany, Japan, and South Korea--offer a varied mix of programs to support their manufacturing sectors. For example, Canada is shifting emphasis from its primary research and development (R&D) tax credit toward direct support to manufacturers to encourage innovation, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Germany has established applied institutes and clusters of researchers and manufacturers to conduct R&D in priority areas, as well as a national dual training system that combines classroom study with workplace training, and develops national vocational skills standards and credentials in 350 occupations. Japan has implemented science and technology programs--with a major focus on alternative energy projects--as part of a comprehensive manufacturing strategy. South Korea has substantially expanded investments in R&D, including the development of a network of technoparks--regional innovation centers that provide R&D facilities, business incubation, and education and production assistance to industry."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has issued a number of key reports on the federal government's efforts to efficiently acquire and manage information technology (IT). While the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and federal agencies have taken steps to address underperforming IT projects and more effectively manage IT through a number of major initiatives, additional actions are needed. For example, OMB has taken significant steps to enhance the oversight accountability of federal investments by creating the IT Dashboard, an OMB public website which provides detailed information on federal agencies' major investments. However, GAO previously found there were issues with the accuracy and reliability of cost and schedule data in the Dashboard and recommended steps that OMB and agencies should take to improve these data--this is important since the Dashboard currently reports 154 investments totaling almost $10.4 billion being at risk. OMB agreed with the recommendations."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While the Department of Transportation (DOT) is not required to implement the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) recommendations, DOT and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have taken actions on the 10 FAAC recommendations that GAO reviewed. DOT and FAA officials noted that they continue to work on three recommendations as part of long-term efforts and have ongoing work related to some of the seven recommendations that they believe are addressed."

Report that discusses policy issues regarding military-to-military contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of major contacts and crises since 1993.

Weekly newspaper from Port Aransas, Texas on Mustang Island that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

The Defense Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site processes high-level radioactive waste from the processing of nuclear materials that contains dissolved and precipitated metals and radionuclides. Vitrification of this waste into borosilicate glass for ultimate disposal at a geologic repository involves chemically modifying the waste to make it compatible with the glass melter system. Pretreatment steps include removal of excess aluminum by dissolution and washing, and processing with formic and nitric acids to: 1) adjust the reduction-oxidation (redox) potential in the glass melter to reduce radionuclide volatility and improve melt rate; 2) adjust feed rheology; and 3) reduce by steam stripping the amount of mercury that must be processed in the melter. Elimination of formic acid in pretreatment has been studied to eliminate the production of hydrogen in the pretreatment systems, which requires nuclear grade monitoring equipment. An alternative reductant, glycolic acid, has been studied as a substitute for formic acid. However, in the melter, the potential for greater formation of flammable gases exists with glycolic acid. Melter flammability is difficult to control because flammable mixtures can be formed during surges in offgases that both increase the amount of flammable species and decrease the temperature in the vapor …

This report provides the results of an extent of condition construction history review for tanks 241-SY-101, 241-SY-102, and 241-SY-103. The construction history of the 241-SY tank farm has been reviewed to identify issues similar to those experienced during tank 241-AY-102 construction. Those issues and others impacting integrity are discussed based on information found in available construction records, using tank 241-AY-102 as the comparison benchmark. In the 241-SY tank farm, the third DST farm constructed, refractory quality and stress relief were improved, while similar tank and liner fabrication issues remained.

At the NRC�s request, ORAU conducted confirmatory surveys of the FNR during the period of December 4 through 6, 2012. The survey activities included visual inspections and measurement and sampling activities. Confirmatory activities also included the review and assessment of UM�s project documentation and methodologies. Surface scans identified elevated activity in two areas. The first area was on a wall outside of Room 3103 and the second area was in the southwest section on the first floor. The first area was remediated to background levels. However, the second area was due to gamma shine from a neighboring source storage area. A retrospective analysis of UM�s FSS data shows that for the SUs investigated by the ORAU survey team, UM met the survey requirements set forth in the FSSP. The total mean surface activity values were directly compared with the mean total surface activity reported by UM. Mean surface activity values determined by UM were within two standard deviations of the mean determined by ORAU. Additionally, all surface activity values were less than the corresponding gross beta DCGLW. Laboratory analysis of the soil showed that COC concentrations were less than the respective DCGLW values. For the inter-lab comparison, the DER was …

Numerical calculations were carried out to investigate a number of outstanding questions in both two-dimensional electron and cold atom systems. These projects aimed to increase our understanding of the properties of and prospects for non-Abelian states in quantum Hall matter.

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

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

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