Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter formally responds to section 371 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The act requires GAO to provide an analysis of the Department of Defense's (DOD) budget submission for corrosion control and prevention and a DOD report that was to be submitted with defense budget materials to the congressional defense committees within 60 days after submission of the budget for a fiscal year. On April 3, 2008, we provided the briefing to staff of Congressional committees to satisfy the mandate and 60-day reporting requirement."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to Hurricane Katrina, homeland security risks vary widely. The nation can neither achieve total security nor afford to protect everything against all risks. Managing these risks is especially difficult in today's environment of globalization, increasing security interdependence, and growing fiscal challenges for the federal government. It is increasingly important that organizations effectively target homeland security funding--totaling nearly $65 billion in 2008 federal spending alone--to address the nation's most critical priorities. GAO convened a forum of experts on October 25, 2007, to advance a national dialogue on applying risk management to homeland security. Broadly defined, risk management is a process that helps policymakers assess risk, strategically allocate finite resources, and take actions under conditions of uncertainty. Participants included federal, state, and local officials and risk management experts from the private sector and academia. The forum addressed effective practices, challenges federal agencies face in applying risk management to homeland security, and actions that can strengthen homeland security risk management. Comments expressed during the proceedings do not necessarily represent the views of any one participant, the organizations they represent, or GAO. …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The discovery in 2004 of lead contamination in the District of Columbia's drinking water resulted in an administrative order between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the District's Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), requiring WASA to take a number of corrective actions. WASA also took additional, longer-term measures, most notably a roughly $400 million program to replace what may be 35,000 lead service lines in public space within its service area. As in WASA's case, water utilities nationwide are under increasing pressure to make significant investments to upgrade aging and deteriorating infrastructures, improve security, serve a growing population, and meet new regulatory requirements. In this context, GAO's testimony presents observations on (1) WASA's efforts to address lead contamination in light of its other pressing water infrastructure needs, and (2) the extent to which WASA's challenges are indicative of those facing water utilities nationwide. To address these issues, GAO relied primarily on its 2005 and 2006 reports on lead contamination in drinking water, as well as other recent GAO reports examining the nation's water infrastructure needs and strategies to address these needs."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 requires that agencies annually review all their programs and activities and identify those that may be susceptible to significant improper payments. It further requires those agencies with improper payments exceeding $10 million to provide a report on the actions being taken to reduce those payments. This testimony updates agency progress in implementing the act based on our review of agency fiscal year 2003 Performance and Accountability Reports for the 15 agencies and 46 programs previously cited in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-11, Section 57. It required those agencies and programs to report improper payment information to the Office of Management and Budget beginning with their fiscal year 2003 budget proposals. The areas we addressed were (1) agencies that reported improper payments information and the programs and activities on which that information was based, (2) amounts of improper payments reported, (3) initiatives agencies reported taking to reduce those payments and the results of those initiatives, and (4) impediments to the prevention or reduction of improper payments reported."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) mission is to protect the nation's transportation network. Since its inception in 2001, TSA has developed and implemented a variety of programs and procedures to secure commercial aviation and surface modes of transportation. Other DHS components, federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector also play a role in transportation security. GAO has examined (1) the progress TSA and other DHS components have made in securing the nation's aviation and surface transportation systems, and the challenges that remain, and (2) crosscutting issues that have impeded TSA's efforts in strengthening security. This testimony is based on GAO reports and testimonies issued from February 2004 to February 2008 and ongoing work regarding the security of the nation's aviation and surface transportation systems, as well as selected updates to this work conducted in April 2008. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed documents related to TSA security efforts and interviewed TSA and transportation industry officials."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was, for the second consecutive year, able to prepare financial statements that received an unqualified opinion. However, this achievement once again came through the use of substantial, costly, and time-consuming processes to compensate for serious systems and control deficiencies. IRS continues to make progress in its performance management system by using a strategic planning and budgeting process to reconcile competing priorities and initiatives with available resources. In the area of computer security, IRS corrected or mitigated many of the previously reported weaknesses, including those affecting its electronic filing systems. It also is implementing a computer security program that should help manage its risks in this area. Business Systems Modernization is IRS' ongoing program to leverage information technology and is integral to IRS achieving its customer-focused vision. To date, IRS has made progress in establishing the systems infrastructure, delivering system applications, and developing the management controls and capabilities necessary to effectively acquire and deploy modernized systems."

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the City of Lake Jackson's sales and use tax election proposition allows expenditure of the taxes for an access road to service underdeveloped commercially zoned property (RQ-0454-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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether article III, section 50 of the Texas Constitution prohibits the Texas Commission for the Blind from contracting with the United States government to operate various vending facilities on federal property under the Federal Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 U.S.C. ch. 6A, if the contract "create[s] financial exposure to the State for a multi-million dollar service agreement with...Federal Departments" (RQ-0455-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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a member of a school district board of trustees may simultaneously hold the office of county treasurer (RQ--458-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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Validity of a school district policy regarding corporal punishment and physical restraint of students.

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 Edwards Aquifer Authority may Promulgate rule prohibiting certain permits or contracts with recharge facilities constructed prior to September 1, 1993 (RQ-0737-GA).

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: Relative authority of the State Board of Education and the Commissioner of Education with regard to the adoption of academic excellence evaluators and the evaluation of school districts under chapter 39 of the Education Code (RQ-0607-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, under sections 25.001 and 25.002 of the Education Code, a child who is newly enrolled in a public school may be prohibited from attending the school during the thirty-day period allowed to produce (1) immunization records; (2) proof that the child is not required to be immunized; or (3) proof that the child may be provisionally admitted under section 38.001(e), Education Code (RQ-0124-GA)

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 Automobile Thef Prevention Authority may assess a fee for insurance on, and use its funds to investigate the theft of, self-propelled farm equipment, construction equipment, boats, and aircraft (RQ-0127-GA)

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 Commission for the Blind may impose costs for providing information to its licensees under the Federal Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 United States Code section 107 (RQ-0134-GA)

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This letter summarizes the issue of overpayments to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and several other federal agencies that resulted from payroll processing errors at the National Finance Center (NFC), and the resulting actions NFC took to address the issue. In the course of testing payroll transactions as part of our audit of the IRS's fiscal years 2003 and 2002 financial statements we found that for some employees of IRS, NFC incorrectly computed agency mandatory contributions to TSP of 2 percent on the employees' base pay instead of the statutorily required 1 percent. We also found that certain employees of other agencies had also been affected, and that these excess contributions had occurred from September 1999 through September 2003. As a result, IRS and these other agencies made contributions to TSP that exceeded statutory requirements for those employees during this period."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony is based on GAO's review of schedules and financial reports for the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) project and related records maintained by AOC and its construction management contractor, Gilbane Building Company; GAO's observations on the progress of work at the CVC construction site; and GAO's discussions with the CVC team (Architect of the Capitol (AOC) and its major CVC contractors) and AOC's Chief Fire Marshal. GAO also reviewed AOC's construction management contractor's periodic schedule assessments, proposed change order log, and weekly reports on construction progress. In addition, GAO reviewed the contract modifications made to date."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1995, the Department of Defense (DOD) began an effort to implement a standard departmentwide travel system, the Defense Travel System (DTS). This testimony is based on previously issued GAO reports and testimonies that highlighted challenges confronted by DOD in the implementation of DTS. More specifically, today's testimony focuses on prior GAO reporting concerning (1) the lack of quantitative metrics to measure the extent to which DTS is actually being used, (2) weaknesses with DTS's requirements management and system testing, and (3) two key assumptions related to the estimated cost savings in the September 2003 DTS economic analysis were not reasonable. Today's testimony also highlights some actions that DOD could explore to help streamline its administrative travel processes such as using a commercial database to identify unused airline tickets."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) estimated the 2010 Census would cost $11.5 billion, including $3 billion on automation and technology. At a March hearing, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) stated that the Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) program was likely to incur significant cost overruns and announced a redesign effort. At that time, GAO designated the 2010 Decennial Census as high risk, citing long-standing concerns in managing information technology (IT) investments and uncertain costs and operations. This testimony is based on past work and work nearing completion, including GAO's observation of the address canvassing dress rehearsal. For IT acquisitions, GAO analyzed system documentation, including deliverables, cost estimates, other acquisitions-related documents, and interviewed Bureau officials and contractors. This testimony describes the implications of redesign for (1) dress rehearsal and decennial operations, (2) IT acquisitions management, and (3) Decennial Census costs."

Keynote address for the 2004 University Scholars Day delivered by Dr. Samuel Matteson. This keynote speaker discusses common threads of thought and practice that run through what is called "research."

Email from Shannon Bailey to Rick Walker about Bailey's inability to attend a meeting.

Emails between Stan Main and Nancy Russell regarding a meeting, forwarded to Rick Walker.

Printed driving directions from MapQuest from Dallas to Austin.

Deposit summary of a total of $125 from the Dallas National Bank on April 15, 2004.