Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The major network carriers dominate traffic at most of their large hubs and extensive evidence exists that fares in markets where competition is absent are consistently above competitive levels. GAO believes that the oversight scheme contemplated when the industry was deregulated--with antitrust enforcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and oversight of unfair trade practices by the Department of Transportation (DOT)--has not been entirely successful in preserving and ensuring competition. Although the current legislative scheme grants explicit authority for DOT to regulate unfair competitive practices, the legislation does give DOT substantial leeway on the scope of its action. Thus, with the range of competitive challenges confronting the industry and directly affecting consumers, especially in the face of unprecedented industry consolidation, GAO believes there is merit in the overall intent of the proposed Aviation Competition Restoration Act to direct DOT to actively monitor the state of competition in the industry and to institute remedial actions as appropriate."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We appreciate the opportunity to assist the Subcommittee in monitoring progress on the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) project. GAO's remarks will focus on (1) the Architect of the Capitol's (AOC) construction progress since the last CVC hearing on February 16, 2007; and (2) the project's expected cost at completion and funding status. Today's remarks are based on our review of schedules and financial reports for the CVC project and related records maintained by AOC and its construction management contractor, Gilbane Building Company; our observations on the progress of work at the CVC construction site; and our discussions with the CVC team (AOC and its major CVC contractors), AOC's Chief Fire Marshal, and representatives from the U.S. Capitol Police. We also reviewed AOC's construction management contractor's periodic schedule assessments, potential change order log, and weekly reports on the progress of interior wall and floor stone installation. In addition, we reviewed the contract modifications made to date. At the last CVC hearing, we reported that our assessment of the project's schedule and expected cost at completion was still somewhat constrained because the CVC team was analyzing the impact on the …

News release about DART's expanded and updated paratransit fleet, which includes GPS navigation systems on all buses.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is the single largest U.S. energy consumer. About three-fourths of its total consumption consists of mobility energy--the energy required for moving and sustaining its forces and weapons platforms for military operations. GAO was asked to discuss DOD's efforts to manage and reduce its mobility energy demand. This testimony addresses (1) energy issues that are likely to affect DOD in the future, (2) key departmental and military service efforts to reduce demand for mobility energy, and (3) DOD's management approach to guide and oversee these efforts. This testimony is based primarily on work conducted for a report that GAO issued today (GAO-08-426) on DOD's management of mobility energy."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A key element of the President's Management Agenda is the expansion of electronic government (e-government) to enhance access to information and services, particularly through the Internet. In response, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) established a task force that selected a strategic set of initiatives to lead this expansion. GAO previously reviewed the completeness of the information used for choosing and overseeing these initiatives, including business cases and funding plans."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Established in 1971, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) library network provides access to critical environmental information that the agency needs to fulfill its mission of protecting human health and the environment. The library network also provides information and services to the public. In fiscal year 2006, the network included 26 libraries across headquarters, regional offices, research centers, and laboratories. These libraries were independently operated by several different EPA program offices, depending on the nature of the libraries' collections. In 2006, facing proposed budget cuts, EPA issued a plan to reorganize the network beginning in fiscal year 2007. The plan proposed a phased approach to closing libraries and dispersing, disposing of, and digitizing library materials. GAO was asked to summarize the findings in its report being released today, Environmental Protection: EPA Needs to Ensure That Best Practices and Procedures Are Followed When Making Further Changes to Its Library Network (GAO-08-304). GAO made four recommendations in this report aimed at best practices and procedures that EPA should follow when continuing to reorganize its library network. The agency agreed with the recommendations."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The availability of child pornography has dramatically increased in recent years as it has migrated from printed material to the World Wide Web, becoming accessible through Web sites, chat rooms, newsgroups, and now the increasingly popular peer-to-peer file-sharing programs. These programs enable direct communication between users, allowing users to access each other's files and share digital music, images, and video. GAO was requested to determine the ease of access to child pornography on peer-to-peer networks; the risk of inadvertent exposure of juvenile users of peer-to-peer networks to pornography, including child pornography; and the extent of federal law enforcement resources available for combating child pornography on peer-to-peer networks. GAO's report on the results of this work (GAO-03-351) is being released today along with this testimony. Because child pornography cannot be accessed legally other than by law enforcement agencies, GAO worked with the Customs Cyber-Smuggling Center in performing searches: Customs downloaded and analyzed image files, and GAO performed analyses based on keywords and file names only."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses H.R. 3268, the "Government Accountability Office (GAO) Act of 2007" and other GAO reforms, to discuss the results of the survey that Congress previously requested that the Employee Advisory Council (EAC) conduct of all GAO employees (except Senior Executive Service/SL and interns) on GAO's Band II restructuring and the Watson Wyatt market-based compensation study used to set salary ranges. The EAC was established by Comptroller General David Walker to provide a consolidated forum for him to meet with representatives from the various employee liaison groups (e.g. Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities, Blacks In Government, Gay and Lesbian Employee Association, etc.) so that these groups could voice the concerns of their constituency groups. He also decided to include representatives from each of the staff positions (i.e. Administrative Professional Support Staff (APSS), attorneys, and each of the Band levels). Consequently, the EAC was chartered in January 2000 to serve as an advisory body to the Comptroller General and other senior executives by seeking and conveying the views and concerns of the individual employee groups they represent, proposing solutions to those concerns where appropriate, providing input by …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "More than one in six nonelderly Americans are uninsured today. The lack of insurance coverage does not affect all Americans equally, varying widely among demographic groups as well as geographically. An estimated 42.1 million Americans were uninsured in 1999, which is down from 43.9 million in 1998. Although the decline in the number of uninsured is welcome news, it is too early to know whether this reflects a reversal in the trend. Recent expansions of public programs, such as the implementation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and the tight labor market likely contributed to the improved coverage. Even with these positive factors, the number of uninsured remains high, and any significant downturn in economic conditions could lead to a resumption in the growth of their numbers. The uninsured population is a diverse group, including individuals working in different industries and firms of all sizes as well as of different income levels, ages, races and ethnicities, and geographic locations. The heterogeneous nature of the 42 million uninsured Americans suggests that consideration of a combination of strategies must be appropriate in any efforts to expand health insurance coverage."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses findings from two GAO reports that relate to Maryland's pending legislation on pesticide reporting. To determine how the nation's information on pesticide illnesses could be improved, GAO has worked with two federal agencies--the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Center for Environmental Health. These agencies told GAO that establishing state pesticide illness reporting systems are key to improving the national information on acute pesticide illnesses. For example, according to NIOSH, state-based reporting systems are the best available data source for identifying epidemics, clusters of diseases, emerging pesticide problems, and populations at risk. Currently, about half of the states have some requirement that pesticide incidents be reported. However, only six states have a formal pesticide illness reporting and investigation system, and another three states have more limited systems. If Maryland decides to develop a formal pesticide illness reporting system, they may wish to consider these two important recommendations made by experts at federal agencies: (1) laws that require health care officials to report pesticide-related illness and injury. and (2) improving the training of health care professionals in pesticide incident handling."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) managed care program, TRICARE, focusing on: (1) DOD's requirements for and oversight of network adequacy; (2) the content and methodology of DOD's July 1999 report to Congress on network adequacy; and (3) the changes to network adequacy requirements that DOD anticipates under its next round of TRICARE contracts, referred to as managed care support 3.0."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on whether military active duty service personnel, retirees, and their dependents not enrolled in the Department of Defense's (DOD) TRICARE program, are obtaining nonemergency medical care through Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) emergency departments, focusing on the: (1) services' efforts to determine requirements for MTF emergency departments; (2) type of care emergency departments are providing; and (3) extent to which emergency department patients were TRICARE enrollees."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. and international experts raised concerns that unsecured radiological sources posed a significant security threat to the United States and the international community. If certain types of these sources were obtained by terrorists, they could be used to produce a radiological dispersion device, or dirty bomb. In response, the Department of Energy (DOE) established the International Radiological Threat Reduction Program to identify, recover, and secure vulnerable, high-risk radiological sources. GAO was asked to (1) assess DOE's progress in securing sources in foreign countries, (2) identify DOE's current and planned program costs, and (3) determine the extent to which DOE has coordinated its efforts with other federal agencies and with international organizations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2007, GAO issued a report--Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE's International Radiological Threat Reduction Program Needs to Focus Future Efforts on Securing the Highest Priority Radiological Sources, (GAO-07-282)--that addressed these matters. To carry out its work, GAO reviewed DOE policies, plans and budgets; observed installed physical security upgrades; and interviewed senior DOE, Department of State (State), and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials."

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Judson Brodie. Brodie was born on 28 February 1922 in Aiken County, South Carolina. He grew up during the Depression and enlisted in the Navy in June 1940, attending boot camp in Norfolk, Virginia. After training he attended Aviation Machinist School. He graduated in March 1941, and was assigned to VS-41, a scouting squadron attached to the USS Ranger (CV-4). He changed his rating to Aviation Ordnanceman in June 1941 and was assigned to VF-42, a squadron of F4F-3 Wildcats on USS Yorktown (CV-5). After Pearl Harbor, the ship left Norfolk and sailed through the Panama Canal. The Yorktown then took part in the first carrier raid of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Brodie was aboard Yorktown for raids on the Solomon Islands and during the Battle of the Coral Sea. He saw the Lexington sink after the crew abandoned ship. Brodie describes the action during the Battle of Midway, including the fatal attack on Yorktown by Japanese planes. He returned to Pearl Harbor in late June 1942. He returned to the Mainland and enrolled in the V-12 Program at a small college in Missouri hoping to become …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Paine. Paine joined the Navy Reserves soon after 7 December 1941. He served as a photographer’s mate in charge of a photo printing lab in Washington DC. Paine briefly discusses the equipment he used. He was discharged in 1944 when he contracted a serious case of tuberculosis and took several years to recover.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Redfearn. Redfearn joined the Navy in September 1939 and received basic training and gunner’s mate training in San Diego. Upon completion, he was assigned to Scouting Squadron 3 (VS-3). Redfearn describes creative offensive and defensive techniques employed by SBD crewmen in combat with Zeroes, such as luring a Japanese plane closer by pretending to have run out of ammunition. After completing missions at Guadalcanal with the USS Saratoga (CV-3), Redfearn returned to the States to attend the University of Texas under the V-12 program. He did not get along well with other students and felt that failing out of school was his only path to reassignment. When professors passed him anyway, thinking they were doing him a favor by keeping him in school, he had to convince them to lower his grades so that he could return to duty. He was then reassigned along with former Saratoga crewmen to the base at Patuxent and was soon promoted to chief. At the end of the war, he returned to Honolulu and oversaw the construction of military housing.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Theodore Gruhn. Gruhn joined the Navy in September 1941 after working as a carpenter. He was en route to Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. Once at Hawaii, Gruhn did shore patrol for a year until he was assigned to the USS Farenholt (DD-491) as a carpenter's mate in December 1942. In May, 1944, Gruhn transferred to the USS Abercrombie (DE-343). When the war ended, Gruhn had enough points to be discharged in October, 1945.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's follow-up on the audit of key internal controls over purchase card activity at two Navy units based in San Diego--the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Systems Center and the Navy Public Works Center (NPWC). A breakdown in internal controls over $68 million purchase card transactions in fiscal year 2000 left these two units vulnerable to fraudulent, improper, and abusive purchases and to theft and misuse of government property. Although both units improved the overall control environment, including reducing the number of cardholders, increasing the number of approving officials, and decreased purchase card usage, serious weaknesses persisted in three key control environment areas. First, SPAWAR Systems Center needs to ensure that all cardholders receive required training and that this training is documented. Second, SPAWAR Systems Center needs to more carefully implement internal review and oversight activities, which have been ineffective. Third, GAO identified a significant impairment of management "tone at the top" at SPAWAR Systems Center during the last quarter of fiscal year 2001. The two basic internal controls over the purchase card program that GAO tested remained ineffective during the last quarter …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal government grant awards to state and local governments and nonprofit organizations have risen substantially from $7 billion in 1960 to $500 billion budgeted in fiscal year 2009. In constant dollars, federal grant awards rose from about $42 billion in 1960 to $500 billion in fiscal year 2009. The auditing of federal awards, including grant funds, administered by state and local governments and nonprofit organizations is intended to be a key accountability mechanism over the proper use of federal funding. The President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) issued its Report on National Single Audit Sampling Project in June 2007, which raised significant concerns about the quality of single audits and made recommendations aimed at improving the quality of those audits. The Single Audit Act, as amended, is intended to promote sound financial management, including effective internal controls over federal grant funds administered by state and local governments and nonprofit organizations. Congress asked GAO to conduct additional audit work and analysis to identify any further actions needed to improve federal oversight and accountability for federal grant funds. Specifically, Congress asked that we (1) determine whether the federal oversight …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq articulates the desired end-state for U.S. operations in Iraq: a peaceful, united, stable, and secure Iraq, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism. Developing capable Iraqi security forces is a critical component in U.S. efforts to achieve this important goal. Since 2003, the United States has provided $15.4 billion to develop Iraqi military and police forces. DOD has also asked for an additional $5.8 billion in its fiscal year 2007 supplemental request and fiscal year 2008 Global War on Terror budget request to continue U.S. efforts to develop Iraq forces and transition security responsibilities to them. This testimony discusses the (1) results of U.S. efforts to develop Iraqi security forces, and (2) factors that affect the development of effective Iraqi security forces. This testimony is based on GAO's issued reports and ongoing work on U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq. Although we reviewed both classified and unclassified documents, the information in this statement is based only on unclassified documents."

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a member of the Board of Trustees of the San Jacinto College District may simultaneously serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Clear Brook Municipal Utility District (RQ-0596-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Community Health Center Revolving Loan Fund exists as a trust fund outside the state treasury; whether loan income is the property of the Fund; and whether chapter 136 of the Human Resources Code, which establishes the Fund, violates article III, sections 1, 50 and 51 of the Texas Constitution (RQ-0602-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county may require the owner of a “junked vehicle” to erect a fence or other screening objects in order to shield the vehicle from public view (RQ-0605-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether questioning by the Texas Ethics Commission of third-party witnesses to the circumstances giving rise to a sworn complaint violates section 571.140 of the Government Code (RQ-0599-JC)