Dear Chairman Principi and BRAC Commissioners: I was upset by the Defense Department's recommendation to close the Niagara Falls Air Force Reserve and Guard base. This recommendation is not in the nation's best interest and the BRAC Commission should reverse this decision and remove them from the closure list. It is hard to understand why the Air Force has decided to take planes, missions and jobs away from so many Air Guard and Air-Reserve bases and put them on the more costly Active Duty bases.

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse response to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting information on the impact of DoD's BRAC recommendations on the Cryptologic Systems Groups at Lackland Air Force Base.

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse Response to an e-mail from the BRAC Commission requesting information on the Air National Guard Recommendations.

Collection of BRAC related news clippings and articles. Produced for the Commission staff.

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse response to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting a COBRA run associated with the closure of Naval Air Station Brunswick, ME.

Collection of BRAC related news articles and clippings. Produced for Commission staff review.

Collection of BRAC related news articles and clippings. Produced for Commission staff review.

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse response to a letter from the BRAC Commission requesting an explanation of the 20-year Force Structure Plan number of Fast Attack Submarines (SSNs) used in the BRAC process.

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse response to an e-mail from the BRAC Commission requesting an answer to the following question : What proportion of the civil service workforce at the following Army activities is eligible for civil service retirement, that is, at least 55 years old with 30 years of federal service? (attached document includes the activities and the Clearinghouse reply)

Department of Defense Clearinghouse Response: DoD Clearinghouse response to an e-mail from the BRAC Commission requesting information on the Air National Guard Recommendations.

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 Live Oak Treaty of 1838 is still a binding agreement (RQ-0310-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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether "area encompassed" by a school district in section 130.906 of the Local Government COde refers to the total area of the district or the portion of the district that includes a national forest (RQ-0170-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, under section 158.007 of the Local Government Code, a county may include community-supervision-and-corrections-department employees in an expanded civil service system (RQ-0186-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 salary increases for elected county and precinct officers that exceed the amounts stated in the notice of proposed salary increases provided to the public under section 152.013(b) of the Local Government Code (RQ-0187-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 county clerk is requried to accept for filing a UCC financing statement in which the listed secured party is the same person as is listed debtor (RQ-0196-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 civil-service commission has jurisdiction to hear an appeal of written reprimand that does not include a suspension or disciplinary action, and related question (RQ-0176-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; Authority of a peace officer to detain a motorcyclist riding without helmet to determine whether the motorcyclist insurance (RQ-0216-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 funds set aside for textbooks may be used for the purchase of computer hardware and other equipment.

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: Residency requirements for election to Del Mar College District Board of Regents (RQ-0562-GA)

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the regulatory standards used to protect the public from the risks of low-level nuclear radiation, focusing on: (1) whether current radiation standards have a well-verified scientific basis; (2) whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have come closer to agreeing on exposure limits (how much radiation people can be safely exposed to) in the safety standards; and (3) how implementing these standards and limits may affect the costs of nuclear waste cleanup and disposal activities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) efforts to better ensure the integrity of providers who bill the Medicaid program, focusing on: (1) why it is important to take steps to ensure that only honest providers bill federal health care programs; (2) what Medicare is doing to strengthen its provider enrollment process; (3) what states are doing to ensure provider integrity in the Medicaid program; and (4) what additional opportunities exist to improve these efforts."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed four strategic goals for how it plans to support Congress in dealing with many complex issues and the challenges of government for the 21st Century."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The circumstances of armed conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan differed in many respects, but in all three cases the United States and the international community became involved in the wars and post-conflict assistance because of important national and international interests. Over the past 10 years, GAO has done extensive work assessing post-conflict assistance in Bosnia and Kosovo and, more recently, has evaluated such assistance to Afghanistan. GAO was asked to provide observations on assistance efforts in these countries that may be applicable to ongoing assistance in Iraq. Specifically, GAO assessed (1) the nature and extent of post-conflict assistance in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan; (2) essential components for carrying out assistance effectively; (3) challenges to implementation; and (4) mechanisms used for accountability and oversight."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since its inception, the Transition Assistance Program has served more than one million separating and retiring military personnel through the coordinated efforts of the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Labor (DOL), and Veterans Affairs. In fiscal year 2001, the military branches and DOL spent $47.5 million to provide transition assistance to 222,000 separating and retiring service members. Although each branch provides required preparation counseling and offers transition assistance workshops to help service members transition to civilian life, not all eligible service members receive transition assistance. Because they have considerable flexibility in designing their programs, transition assistance varies in content and delivery across the military branches. In addition, service members experienced differences in access to transition assistance depending on their unique circumstances. Isolating the impact of transition assistance on employment, education, and other outcomes is difficult because of data inadequacies and methodological challenges."