This issue brief discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC). After a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, funding distribution, the types of projects the program funds, AIP and PFC policy issues, and the allowable use of AIP funds for airport security purposes.

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This report presents casualty data compiled by the Department of Defense (DOD), as tallied from the agency’s press releases.

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The House passed a bill (H.R. 3146) on September 24 to extend TAIF, mandatory child care, abstinence education, and transitional Medicaid, on current terms, through March 31, 2004. In the absence of legislation these programs would expire on September 30. The Senate Finance Committee approved a comprehensive TAIF preauthorization proposal of Chairman Chuck Grassley on September 10. Entitled Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE), the legislation would extend TANF, mandatory child care, abstinence education, and transitional Medicaid for 5 years, FY2004 through FY2008. It would raise TANF work participation standards, increase weekly work hours, add new countable work activities,

The purpose of this analysis is to provide a generally consistent comparison of the benefits provided to peanut quota holders and producers and proposed benefits concerning tobacco. It is not the intention of this analysis to attempt to determine the appropriate size of these buyout payments.

Weekly student newspaper from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "More than 34 million workers and retirees in 30,000 single-employer defined benefit pension plans rely on a federal insurance program managed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to protect their pension benefits, and the program's long-term financial viability is in doubt. Over the last decade, the program swung from a $3.6 billion accumulated deficit (liabilities exceeded assets), to a $10.1 billion accumulated surplus, and back to a $3.6 billion accumulated deficit, in 2002 dollars. Furthermore, despite a record $9 billion in estimated losses to the program in 2002, additional severe losses may be on the horizon. PBGC estimates that financially weak companies sponsor plans with $35 billion in unfunded benefits, which ultimately might become losses to the program. This testimony provides GAO's observations on the factors that contributed to recent changes in the single-employer pension insurance program's financial condition, risks to the program's long-term financial viability, and changes to the program that might be considered to reduce those risks."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "During the Senate Armed Services Committee's September 4, 2003 hearing on the Department of Defense's (DOD) proposed lease of 100 Boeing KC-767A aerial refueling aircraft, Congress expressed concern about a significant "bow-wave" funding requirement in future years to pay for leasing and then buying these 100 aircraft at the end of their leases, while continuing efforts to modernize the remainder of the tanker fleet. Subsequently, Congress requested that DOD analyze the option of leasing 25 aircraft, followed by a procurement of the remaining 75 aircraft. The Deputy Secretary of Defense responded to the request on September 22, 2003, identifying several alternative acquisition strategies, with associated cost and savings estimates. On September 25, 2003, Congress asked that GAO review the DOD response and assess the validity of the department's assumptions and the accuracy of the cost and savings estimates, and identify any other alternative acquisition strategies that the Committee should consider. This letter responds to that request."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On September 4, 2003, GAO provided the Senate Committee on Armed Services our observations on the Air Force's proposed lease of 100 Boeing 767 aircraft modified for aerial refueling, to be known as the KC-767A. At the hearing, the Committee heard testimony from the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) concerning the results of a study it did on the estimated acquisition cost of each aircraft. IDA concluded that $120.7 million was a reasonable price for a KC-767A aerial refueling aircraft. At the time of the hearing, we had just obtained access to the IDA study and were not in position to comment on it. On September 5, 2003, the Committee's Chairman and Ranking Minority Member asked us to analyze the IDA study and provide our assessment. This letter responds to that request. Our objectives were to assess the reasonableness of IDA's approach to the issue of pricing the KC-767A aircraft and to provide any comments that we had on its methodology used to estimate the base prices and costs for each aircraft."

The observation of the top (t) quark served as one of the major confirmations of the validity of the standard model (SM) of particle interactions. Through radiative corrections of the SM, the mass of the top quark, along with that of the W boson, provide the best indication for the value of the mass of the hypothesized Higgs boson. The mass of the W is known to a precision of < 0.1%, while the uncertainty on the mass of the top quark is at the 4% level. Improvements in both measurements are required to limit the range of mass that the Higgs boson can assume in the SM, and, of course, to check whether that agrees with expectation. It is therefore important to develop techniques for extracting the mass of the top quark that can provide the sharpest values possible.

We summarize what has been learned about the neutrino mass spectrum and neutrino mixing, identify interesting open questions that can be answered by accelerator neutrino facilities of the future, and discuss the importance and physics of answering them.

The discoveries and open questions in neutrino physics, as reported at Neutrino 2002 and more recently, are reviewed from a theoretical perspective.

A measurement of the t{bar t} cross section at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV is carried out on a data sample of {approx}100 pb{sup -1} in the dilepton and lepton+jets channels. Overall, 46 events are observed, with an expected background of 23.7 {+-} 3.0. The t{bar t} production cross section is measured to be: {sigma}{sub p{bar p}{yields}t{bar t}} = 8.1 {sub -2.0}{sup +2.2} (stat) {sub -1.3}{sup +1.6} (sys) {+-} 0.8 (lumi) pb. The preliminary measurement of the t{bar t} cross section at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV presented at the 2003 winter conferences [1] is updated with improved object identification algorithms and a larger data sample of approximately 100 pb{sup -1}. The analyses reported herein are based on data sets taken from August 2002, until July 2003, where {approx}190 pb{sup -1} were delivered to the experiment and {approx}130 pb{sup -1} were recorded and reconstructed. As the various analysis channels have different trigger criteria and quality requirements, the integrated luminosity corresponding to each channel varies. The trigger requirements are the same as those reported in [1]. The run data quality requirements that were applied in [1] are also applied to this larger dataset and are supplemented by additional data quality requirements …

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is conducted by a multi-industry team lead by Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC), and supported by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation. Two project phases are planned for execution, including: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility at the existing Wabash River Energy Limited (WREL) plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana, and for a fence-line commercial embodiment plants (CEP) operated at Dow Chemical or Dow Corning chemical plant locations (2) Research, development, and testing (RD&T) to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues. The WREL facility is a project selected and co-funded under the Round IV of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) Clean Coal Technology Program. In this project, coal and/or other solid fuel feedstocks are gasified in an oxygen-blown, entrained-flow gasifier with continuous slag removal and a dry particulate removal system. The resulting product synthesis gas is used to fuel a combustion turbine generator whose exhaust is integrated with a …

The fourth quarter of the project was dedicated to the manufacturing of the mechanical system for wireless communications and the power generation module and inspection pre assembly of the mechanical components. Another emphasis for the quarter was the development of filter control and signal detection software. The tasks accomplished during this report period were: (1) Dimensional issues were resolved and revised drawings for manufacturing of the wireless communications gauge and power generator were completed and sent to a machine shop for manufacturing. (2) Finalized the requirements and fittings and connections for testing the tool in the Halliburton flow loop. (3) The new acoustic generator was manufactured successfully and it was delivered during this quarter. The assembly will be outsourced for plastic coating in preparation for hostile environment use. (4) The acoustic two-way communications development continued to progress. The real time firmware for the surface system was developed and the processor was able to detect and process the data frame transmitted from downhole. The analog section of the tool was also developed and it is being tested for filtering capabilities and signal detection and amplification. (5) The new transformer to drive the acoustic generator assembly was manufactured and was successfully tested. …

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

The authors measured labradorite (Ca{sub 0.6}Na{sub 0.4}Al{sub 1.6}Si{sub 2.4}O{sub 8}) dissolution rates using a mixed flow reactor from 30 to 130 C as a function of CO{sub 2} (3 x 10{sup -3} and 0.6 M), and aluminum (10{sup -6} to 10{sup -3}M) at pH 3.2. Over these conditions, labradorite dissolution can be described with a single rate expression that accounts for observed increases in dissolution rate with temperature and decreases in dissolution rate with dissolved aluminum: Rate{sub Si} (mol Labradorite cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}) = k{double_prime} x 10{sup -Ea/2.303RT} [(a{sub H{sup +}}{sup 3n}/a{sub Al{sup 3+}}{sup n})K{sub T}/(1+K{sub T} (a{sub H{sup +}}{sup 3n}/a{sub Al{sup 3+}}{sup n}))] where the apparent dissolution rate constant, k{double_prime} = 10{sup -5.69} (mol Labradorite cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}); the net activation energy, E{sub a} = 10.06 (kcal mol{sup -1}); H{sup +}-Al{sup 3+} exchange coefficient, n = 0.31; and silica rich surface complex formation constant K{sub T} = 4.5 to 5.6 from 30 to 130 C. The effect of CO{sub 2}(aq) on mineral dissolution is accounted for by changes in solution pH. At temperatures below 60 C, labradorite dissolves incongruently with preferential dissolution of Na, Ca and Al over Si.

Recording of the fourth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States on October 14, 2003 at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. The Commission heard testimony from two sets of witnesses on leadership of U.S. intelligence, intelligence and national security policy, and the effectiveness of warning against transnational threats This section includes the third panel on warning of transnational threats, with testimony from Richard Kerr, Mary O. McCarthy, and John Gannon.

Recording of the fourth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States on October 14, 2003 at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. The Commission heard testimony from two sets of witnesses on leadership of U.S. intelligence, intelligence and national security policy, and the effectiveness of warning against transnational threats. This section includes the opening statement from Chairman Kean, and the panels on leadership of U.S. intelligence, and intelligence and the national security policy.

Transcript of the fourth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States held October 14, 2003 at the Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. The Commission heard testimony from two sets of witnesses on leadership of U.S. intelligence, intelligence and national security policy, and the effectiveness of warning against transnational threats. Among the six witnesses testifying was former Secretary of Defense and Director of Central Intelligence James R. Schlesinger and former Deputy Secretary of Defense and Director of Central Intelligence, John M. Deutch.

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