Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's achievements in fiscal year 2000, its current plans and future challenges, and its budget request for fiscal year 2002. Financial benefits to taxpayers as a result of GAO's work totaled more than $23 billion in fiscal year 2000--a $61 return on every dollar invested in GAO. During fiscal year 2001, GAO continued to focus its work on the major issues facing Congress, such as Social Security, and worked with leaders in the House and the Senate to strengthen congressional oversight. GAO requested a budget of about $430 million in fiscal year 2002. This funding level will allow GAO to maintain a staff of 3,275 full-time equivalent employees. In the coming fiscal year, GAO plans to increasingly emphasize issues that are of significant congressional and public concern and to take steps internally to address its two major management challenges--human capital and information technology."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the status of the FTS 2001 long distance telecommunication program. The General Services Administration (GSA) failed to meet its goal of completing the transition from FTS 2000 to the FTS 2001 contracts by December 6, 2000. Several factors contributed to the delays, including staffing shortages and turnover, contractor billing problems, and contract-related modifications. As of April 11, 2001, the overall FTS 2001 transition was about 92 percent complete. The transition of voice services from FTS 2000 and FTS 2001 is almost entirely complete and switched data services and dedicated transmission services are about 82 and 88 percent complete, respectively. The remaining transition requirements are scheduled for completion by the end of June 2001. Nevertheless, the collective effect of delays encountered during this complex transition has jeopardized the timely achievement of FTS 2001's goals of (1) ensuring best service and price to the government and (2) maximizing competition. GSA has taken steps to position the FTS 2001 program for greater success, including developing better telecommunications planning procedures and improving contractor billing. This testimony summarizes a March 2001 GAO report, GAO-01-289."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1998, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been undergoing a major effort to modernize its overall structure. This report examines the status of the IRS' efforts to improve its research operations. GAO discusses the (1) steps IRS has taken to modernize its research operations since October 1, 2000, (2) areas of concern raised in past reports and studies of IRS research operations, and (3) status of IRS' efforts to address these concerns within the new research operations. GAO found that IRS has completed the creation of research units within each of its operational divisions to work together collaboratively and has continuously placed staff in key leadership positions. IRS is just beginning its efforts to address past areas of concern. Challenges involving research leadership, human capital, organizational infrastructure, systems and data management, customer focus, and performance measures must still be addressed."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2000, Medicare made more than $200 billion in payments to hundreds of thousands of health care providers who served nearly 40 million beneficiaries. Because of the program's vast size and complexity, GAO has included Medicare on its list of government areas at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. GAO first included Medicare on that list in 1990, and it remains there today. GAO has continually reported on the efforts of the Health Care Financing Administration -- recently renamed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) -- to safeguard Medicare payments and streamline operations. CMS relies on its claims administration contractors to run Medicare. As these contractors have become more aggressive in identifying and pursuing inappropriate payments, providers have expressed concern that Medicare has become to complex and difficult to navigate. CMS's oversight of its contractors has historically been weak. In the last two years, however, CMS has made substantial progress. GAO has identified several areas in which CMS still need improvement, especially in ensuring that contractors provide accurate, complete, and timely information to providers on Medicare billing rules and coverage policies."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress, the Department of Defense, and GAO have expressed concerns about the readiness of U.S. forces to carry out combat missions. To ensure that Army units can fulfill their missions, the Army decided to staff all active units at 100 percent with personnel at authorized grades and skills over fiscal years 2000-2003. The initiative has had mixed results. On the positive side, some combat divisions that have been routinely staffed at less than authorized levels are now staffed in the aggregate at 100 percent. On the negative side, because of the effort to staff the combat divisions and armored regiments at 100 percent, the staffing levels of some nondivisional units, including early deploying combat support units, have decreased. According to Army officials, some management decisions are affecting the Army's ability to achieve the goals for the manning initiative. The Army's ability to fully achieve and sustain its manning initiative goals will depend on its future management decisions on funding, recruiting, and retention."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The current federal peanut program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is designed to support producers' incomes while ensuring an ample supply of domestically produced peanuts. To achieve these goals, the program controls the domestic supply of peanuts and guarantees producers a minimum price for their crops. This price substantially exceeds the price for peanuts in world markets. The program uses two mechanisms to control the domestic supply of peanuts--a national quota on the number of pounds that can be sold for edible consumption domestically and import restrictions. Only producers holding quota, either through ownership or rental of farmland, may sell their peanuts domestically as "quota" peanuts. Generally, all other production, referred to as "additional" peanuts, must be exported or crushed for oil or meal. The program protects producers' incomes through a two-tiered system that sets minimum support prices for quota and for additional peanuts. GAO and others have criticized the program because it provides substantial benefits to a relatively small number of producers who hold most of the quota, generally restricts nonquota holders from producing peanuts for the U.S. domestic market, and increases consumers' cost. In …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses states' plans for operating their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs in the event of an economic downturn. GAO found that the data available on the levels and adequacy of states' reserves is insufficient and misleading. Furthermore, most states have done little planning for economic contingencies. Many states cite obstacles to saving money for possible economic downturns. Although TANF funds can be set aside in a budgetary reserve, state officials said that they are concerned that the accumulation of unspent TANF funds might signal that the funds are not needed. Another option for states would be to save their own funds in a general purpose rainy day account, but state officials said that welfare would have to compete with other state priorities when these funds are released from state treasuries. There are now federal contingency mechanisms for states to access additional federal resources in the event of a recession or other emergency--the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs and the Federal Loan for State Welfare Programs. However, states generally found these programs too complex and restrictive, and would most likely find other ways to …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Murphy Williams. Williams recalls details about his ancestors in North Carolina prior to discussing his education. Williams went to seminary in the fall of 1941. He finished seminary in May 1944 and then entered the Navy as a chaplain. One of his first duty assignments was visitations to parents who had lost sons in the war. Another assignment took him to a Navy air facility in Groton, Connecticut. In July, 1945, Williams was assigned to Tinian and remarks on the activity there leading up to the atomic attacks; he also recalls using CBs to build a chapel. After the war, Williams’ wife moved to Tinian and then Saipan when dependents were allowed. When they returned to the US, Williams elected for a discharge.

A printed email regarding the Texas Stonewall Democrats and their growing inclusion into the State Democratic Executive Committee.