This report discusses the relationships between the United States and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as these three nations' political and economic conditions. The report also discusses key related issues in the second session of the 111th Congress, including the question of the United States' role in the South Caucasus, the significance of regional energy resources to U.S. interests, and other pertinent issues.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "By deploying armed air marshals onboard selected flights, the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), a component of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), plays a key role in helping to protect approximately 29,000 domestic and international flights operated daily by U.S. air carriers. GAO was asked to examine (1) FAMS's operational approach or "concept of operations" for covering flights, (2) to what extent this operational approach has been independently evaluated, and (3) the processes and initiatives FAMS established to address workforce-related issues. GAO analyzed documented policies and procedures regarding FAMS's operational approach and a July 2006 classified report based on an independent evaluation of that approach. Also, GAO analyzed employee working group reports and other documentation of FAMS's processes and initiatives for addressing workforce-related issues, and interviewed the FAMS Director, other senior officials, and 67 air marshals (selected to reflect a range in levels of experience). This report is the public version of a restricted report (GAO-09-53SU) issued in December 2008."

The report discusses the Conservative Reserve Program enacted in 1985, that provides payments to farmers to take highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland out of production for ten years or more. It also discusses CRP'S several other subprograms.

This report outlines the Edangered Species Act (ESA) provisions most relevant to the act's impacts on private property and surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law.

This report summarizes changes to current law across the major provisions of H.R. 2 that would occur if The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) were enacted.

This report documents a detailed buckling evaluation of the primary tanks in the Hanford double-shell waste tanks (DSTs), which is part of a comprehensive structural review for the Double-Shell Tank Integrity Project. This work also provides information on tank integrity that specifically responds to concerns raised by the Office of Environment, Safety, and Health (ES&H) Oversight (EH-22) during a review of work performed on the double-shell tank farms and the operation of the aging waste facility (AWF) primary tank ventilation system. The current buckling review focuses on the following tasks: (1) Evaluate the potential for progressive anchor bolt failure and the appropriateness of the safety factors that were used for evaluating local and global buckling. The analysis will specifically answer the following questions: (a) Can the EH-22 scenario develop if the vacuum is limited to -6.6-inch water gage (w.g.) by a relief valve? (b) What is the appropriate factor of safety required to protect against buckling if the EH-22 scenario can develop? (c) What is the appropriate factor of safety required to protect against buckling if the EH-22 scenario cannot develop? (2) Develop influence functions to estimate the axial stresses in the primary tanks for all reasonable combinations of tank …

The essential difference between Revision 1 and the original issue of this report is the analysis of the anchor bolts that tie the steel dome of the primary tank to the concrete tank dome. The reevaluation of the AP anchor bolts showed that (for a given temperature increase) the anchor shear load distribution did not change significantly from the initially higher stiffness to the new secant shear stiffness. Therefore, the forces and displacements of the other tank components such as the primary tanks stresses, secondary liner strains, and concrete tank forces and moments also did not change significantly. Consequently, the revised work in Revision 1 focused on the changes in the anchor bolt responses and a full reevaluation of all tank components was judged to be unnecessary.

The essential difference between Revision 1 and the original issue of this report is in the spring constants used to model the anchor bolt response for the anchor bolts that tie the steel dome of the primary tank to the concrete tank dome. Consequently, focus was placed on the changes in the anchor bolt responses, and a full reevaluation of all tank components was judged to be unnecessary. To confirm this judgement, primary tank stresses from the revised analysis of the BES-BEC case are compared to the original analysis and it was verified that the changes are small, as expected.

This report provides a potential conceptual model of how to frame homeland security intelligence (HSINT), including geographic, structural/statutory, and holistic approaches. Given that state, local, tribal, and private sector officials play such an important role in HSINT, the holistic model, one not constrained by geography or levels of government, strikes many as the most compelling. The report argues that there is, in effect, a Homeland Security Intelligence Community (HSIC). Although the HSIC's members are diffused across the nation, they share a common counterterrorism interest. The proliferation of intelligence and information fusion centers across the country indicate that state and local leaders believe there is value to centralizing intelligence gathering and analysis in a manner that assists them in preventing and responding to local manifestations of terrorist threats to their people, infrastructure, and other assets. At the policy and operational levels, the communication and integration of federal HSINT efforts with these state and local fusion centers will likely remain an important priority and future challenge.

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This report discusses the Office of the House of Representatives Inspector General, which conducts audits of the financial and administrative functions of House officers and joint entities. The report includes government-wide standards for Inspectors General with regards to the distribution of audit results.

In October, 2007, the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) presented the document Interim Measure Conceptual Design (Argonne 2007a) to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Environmental Remediation (KDHE/BER), for a proposed non-emergency Interim Measure (IM) at the site of the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Centralia, Kansas (Figure 1.1). The IM was recommended to mitigate existing levels of carbon tetrachloride contamination identified in the vadose zone soils beneath the former facility and in the groundwater beneath and in the vicinity of the former facility, as well as to moderate or decrease the potential future concentrations of carbon tetrachloride in the groundwater. The Interim Measure Conceptual Design (Argonne 2007a) was developed in accordance with the KDHE/BER Policy No.BERRS-029, Policy and Scope of Work: Interim Measures (KDHE 1996). The hydrogeologic, geochemical, and contaminant distribution characteristics of the Centralia site, as identified by the CCC/USDA, factored into the development of the nonemergency IM proposal. These characteristics were summarized in the Interim Measure Conceptual Design (Argonne 2007a) and were discussed in detail in previous Argonne reports (Argonne 2002a, 2003, 2004, 2005a,b,c, 2006a,b, 2007b). The identified remedial goals of the proposed IM were as follows: (1) …

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This report discusses the Special Inspector General provisions in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, H.R. 1424, which was enacted as P.L. 110-343 on October 3, 2008. This Act created a Special Inspector General (SIG) for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). This report will compare the duties and authorities of the SIG TARP to those of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), as well as statutory IGs under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act).

This report reviews and analyzes the situation, concerns, and activities of Afro-descendants in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking nations of Latin America. It then discusses current U.S. foreign aid programs, as well as multilateral initiatives, that have directly or indirectly assisted Afro-Latinos. The report concludes with a discussion of potential policy options that have been proposed should the United States elect to provide further support for Afro-Latinos.

This report reviews the process and procedures that currently apply to congressional consideration of foreign arms sales proposed by the President.

This report is on Balkan Cooperation on War Crimes Issues.

This report provides information about the Status and Current Issues in Biotechnology in Animal Agriculture which has rapid advances.

This report provides an overview of major legislative and policy developments related to campaign finance during the 110th Congress. The report discusses legislative and oversight hearings and floor action during the period. It also explores major policy issues that are relevant for Congress, but have largely occurred away from Capitol Hill. As of this writing, approximately 50 bills devoted primarily to campaign finance have been introduced in the 110th Congress, but none have become law. A new lobbying and ethics law, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) contains campaign finance provisions related to "bundled" campaign contributions and campaign travel. That measure is the only campaign finance related bill to become law during the 110th Congress.

A linear CKM relation, {bar {eta}} = tan {Phi}{sub 3/2}({bar p} - 0.24 {+-} 0.03), involving a 1{sigma} range for {Phi}{sub 3/2}, 20{sup o} < {Phi}{sub 3/2} < 115{sup o}, is obtained from B{sup 0} {yields} K*{pi} amplitudes measured recently in Dalitz plot analyses of B{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} and B{sup 0}(t) {yields} K{sub S}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}. This relation is consistent within the large error on {Phi}{sub 3/2} with other CKM constraints which are unaffected by new b {yields} s{bar q}q operators. Sensitivity of the method to a new physics contribution in the {Delta}S = {Delta}I = 1 amplitude is discussed.

The long-term goal of DOE’s Commercial Buildings Integration subprogram is to develop cost-effective technologies and building practices that will enable the design and construction of net Zero Energy Buildings — commercial buildings that produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis — by 2025. To support this long-term goal, DOE further called for — as part of its FY07 Statement of Needs — the development by 2010 of “five cost-effective design technology option sets using highly efficient component technologies, integrated controls, improved construction practices, streamlined commissioning, maintenance and operating procedures that will make new and existing commercial buildings durable, healthy and safe for occupants.” In response, PNNL proposed and DOE funded a scoping study investigation of one such technology option set, low-lift cooling, that offers potentially exemplary HVAC energy performance relative to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. The primary purpose of the scoping study was to estimate the national technical energy savings potential of this TOS.

This report discusses the proposals of the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007. It consists of amendments to existing federal criminal law.

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