Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since September 11, 2001, the high pace of military operations has placed significant stress on U.S. operating forces. In late 2003, the Department of Defense (DOD) reported that several studies had found that tens of thousands of military personnel were performing tasks that were not military essential and that these tasks could be performed more cost effectively by civilian or private-sector contract employees. To address this matter, DOD, in fiscal year 2004, began a multiyear initiative to convert military positions, including military health care positions, to federal civilian or contract positions. Within DOD, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness (USD, P&R), has overall responsibility for issuing guidance on manpower management, which includes guidance related to determining the least costly mix of military, civilian, and contract personnel. Additionally, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) (USD (C)) and the Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation (PA&E) play key roles in determining the costs of military, civilian, and contract personnel. For example, the USD(C) is responsible for developing the composite pay rates used in developing military and civilian personnel budgets and PA&E provides leadership in developing and …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2008, GAO released a report entitled Highway Public-Private Partnerships: More Rigorous Up-Front Analysis Could Better Secure Potential Benefits and Protect the Public Interest (GAO-08-44) that reviewed: (1) the benefits, costs, and trade-offs of highway public-private partnerships; (2) how public officials have identified and acted to protect the public interest in these arrangements; and (3) the federal role in highway public-private partnerships and potential changes in this role. The enclosed statement discusses these issues."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Public safety concerns require that criminal history records and the systems that maintain them be accurate, complete, and accessible. Such records and systems enable local, state, and federal authorities, among other things, to identify individuals prohibited from purchasing firearms or ineligible to hold positions of responsibility involving children, the elderly, or disabled; enable criminal justice agencies to make decisions prosecuting and sentencing offenders; assist in completing background checks; and assist law enforcement officials in criminal investigations. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) administers the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). The goal of the NCHIP grant program is to improve the nation's safety and security by enhancing the quality, completeness, and accessibility of criminal history record information and by ensuring the nationwide implementation of criminal justice and noncriminal justice background check systems. This report responds to a provision in the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which requires us to review certain grant funding related to criminal history records. Specifically, this report provides information on grant funds awarded by BJS, updates certain information from our 2004 report on progress made in improving national criminal …

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2006, about 18,000 undervotes were reported in Sarasota County in the race for Florida's 13th Congressional District (Florida-13). After the election results were contested in the House of Representatives, the task force unanimously voted to seek GAO's assistance in determining whether the voting systems contributed to the large undervote in Sarasota County. In October 2007, GAO presented its findings on the review of the voting systems and concluded that while prior tests and reviews provided some assurance that the voting systems performed correctly, they were not enough to provide reasonable assurance that the voting systems in Sarasota County did not contribute to the undervote. GAO proposed that a firmware verification test, a ballot test, and a calibration test be conducted. The task force requested that GAO proceed with the proposed additional tests. GAO also verified whether source code escrowed by Florida could be rebuilt into the firmware used in Sarasota County. To conduct its work, GAO conducted tests on a sample of voting systems used in Sarasota County during the 2006 general election. GAO witnessed the rebuild of the firmware from the escrowed …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "At various stages throughout the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has withdrawn equipment from its stored, or prepositioned, stock sets around the world, as well as from its afloat stocks, thus depleting a large portion of its prepositioned stocks. The Army prepositions equipment at diverse strategic locations in order to field combat-ready forces in days rather than the weeks it would take if equipment had to be moved from the United States to the location of the conflict. The Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS) program supports the National Military Strategy and is an important part of the Department of Defense's (DOD) overall strategic mobility framework. The APS program depends on prepositioned unit sets of equipment and sustainment stocks to enable troops to deploy rapidly and train with prepositioned equipment before beginning combat operations. As we testified in January 2007 and March 2006, however, sustained continuing operations have taken a toll on the condition and readiness of military equipment, and the Army faces a number of ongoing and long-term challenges that will affect both the timing and cost of equipment repair and replacement, particularly to its prepositioned …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government's spending on the Medicare Advantage (MA) program has grown substantially in recent years, from approximately $60 billion in 2006 and $77 billion in 2007 to an estimated $91 billion in 2008. MA organizations provide health care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries through private health plans, thus offering an alternative to the original Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program. Payments to MA organizations are, in part, based on the projected expenditures organizations submit in their bids for providing Medicare-covered services, as well as actual enrollment and beneficiary health status. Once Medicare payments are determined, they are not modified based on differences between actual and projected expenses. MA organizations are not required to submit claims data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--the agency that administers Medicare--but they must report actual expenditures for the year 2 years prior to the upcoming contract year. For example, MA organizations reported their actual 2006 expenditures in their bid submission for contract year 2008. When MA organizations submit their bids, the actual expenditures reported in their bid submissions reflect the MA organizations' most recent full calendar year of actual expenditure data. In …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relied on service acquisitions to meet its expansive mission. In fiscal year 2006, DHS spent $12.7 billion to procure services. To improve service acquisition outcomes, federal procurement policy establishes a preference for a performance-based approach, which focuses on developing measurable outcomes rather than prescribing how contractors should perform services. This testimony focuses on how contract outcomes are influenced by how well DHS components have defined and developed contract requirements and performance standards, as well as the need for improved assessment and oversight to ensure better acquisition outcomes. GAO's statement is based on its report being released today, which reviewed judgmentally selected contracts for eight major investments at three DHS components--the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)-- totaling $1.53 billion in fiscal years 2005 and 2006; prior GAO and DHS Inspector General reviews; management documents and plans; and related data, including 138 additional contracts, primarily for basic services from the Coast Guard, CBP, TSA, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To address the challenges that the nation faces, it will be important for federal agencies to change their cultures and create the institutional capacity to become high-performing organizations. This includes recruiting and retaining a federal workforce able to create, sustain, and thrive in organizations that are flatter, results-oriented, and externally focused. In 2001, GAO identified strategic human capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area because federal agencies lacked a strategic approach to human capital management that integrated human capital efforts with their missions and program goals. Although progress has been made since that time, strategic human capital management still remains a high-risk area. This testimony, based on a large body of completed work issued from January 2001 through April 2008, focuses on (1) challenges that federal agencies have faced in recruiting and hiring talented employees, (2) progress in addressing these challenges, and (3) additional actions that are needed to strengthen recruiting and hiring efforts. In its prior reports, GAO has made a range of recommendations to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)--the government's personnel agency--and to agencies in such areas as hiring, workforce planning, and diversity management; a …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Physical infrastructure is critical to the nation's economy and affects the daily life of virtually all Americans--from facilitating the movement of goods and people within and beyond U.S. borders to providing clean drinking water. However, this infrastructure--including aviation, highway, transit, rail, water, and dam infrastructure--is under strain. Estimates to repair, replace, or upgrade aging infrastructure as well as expand capacity to meet increased demand top hundreds of billions of dollars. Calls for increased investment in infrastructure come at a time when traditional funding for infrastructure projects is increasingly strained, and the federal government's fiscal outlook is worse than many may understand. This testimony discusses (1) challenges associated with the nation's surface transportation, aviation, water, and dam infrastructure, and the principles GAO has identified to help guide efforts to address these challenges and (2) existing and proposed options to fund investments in the nation's infrastructure. This statement is primarily based on a body of work GAO has completed for the Congress over the last several years. To supplement this existing work, GAO also interviewed Department of Transportation officials to obtain up-to-date information on the status of the Highway Trust …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Millions of people rely on the services of Social Security Administration (SSA) field offices. In fiscal year 2007, SSA's approximately 1,300 field offices provided service to about 42 million customers. People use these offices to apply for Social Security cards, apply for retirement and disability benefits, establish direct deposit, and a host of other services. While customers may conduct their business using SSA's online, telephone, or other service options, many prefer the personalized contact provided in field offices. Over the last several years, staffing reductions have challenged field offices' ability to manage work, while continuing to deliver quality customer service. To assess how field offices are managing these challenges, GAO was asked to determine (1) the effect that reduced staffing levels may be having on field office operations and (2) the challenges that SSA faces in meeting future service delivery needs. This statement is drawn from GAO's ongoing study on field offices for the committee, which is expected to be issued later this year. To conduct this work, GAO interviewed SSA officials in headquarters, and other components, and analyzed various data on SSA's workloads and other data. In …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony is 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) and AOC's Chief Fire Marshal. We also reviewed AOC's construction management contractor's periodic schedule assessments."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has had long-standing, serious problems with its numerous military component-unique personnel and pay systems, including accurately paying its military personnel on time and monitoring and tracking them to, from, and within their duty stations. For example, in the early 1990s, Army Reserve and National Guard troops received inaccurate or late pay and benefits after serving in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. We previously reported that the lack of integration among DOD's multiple military personnel and pay systems, among other things, caused these and similar errors. To address these and other problems, in February 1998, DOD initiated a program to design and implement the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System (DIMHRS). DIMHRS is intended to provide a joint, integrated, standardized personnel and pay system for all military components (including active and reserve components). In November 2004, DOD accepted the design of the first phase of DIMHRS for personnel and pay functions and then proceeded with development of the system. Meanwhile, as we reported in 2006, some Army Reserve and National Guard troops continued to receive inaccurate pay resulting in part from a lack …

This is the final technical/scientific report for a heavy ion research program on the PHOBOS experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Hicks-Lawrence House, in Brownsville, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

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 limit on increases to annual earnings used in calculation of retirement benefits of vested employees of the City of Fort Worth contravenes article XVI, section 66 of the Texas Constitution (RQ-0632-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 a county and school districts in the county may jointly develop or sell rights to the natural resources located on county school lands (RQ-0636-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 creation of a county court of law and the related divestiture of the constitutional county court's probate, juvenile, civil, and criminal jurisdiction stripped a county judge of his own powers as "magistrate" (RQ-0669-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: Constitutionality of sections 143.088 and 143.1041, Local Government Code (RQ-0699-GA)

Texas Daily Newspaper Associations' honors editorial interns who worked with The Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle in the summer of 2008 with awards. Rachel Slade who interned at The Dallas Morning News has received $250 dollar sand the H.M. Fentress Award, runner-up Michell Casady, a Houston Chronicle intern received $100 and a plaque. The document details why Slade and Casady have won the awards and their services provided to the newspaper companies.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for overseeing direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs, which includes a range of media, such as television, magazines, and the Internet. If FDA identifies a violation of laws or regulations in a DTC advertising material, the agency may issue a regulatory letter asking the drug company to take specific actions. In 2002, GAO reported on delays in FDA's issuance of regulatory letters. GAO was asked to discuss trends in FDA's oversight of DTC advertising and the actions FDA has taken when it identifies violations. This statement is based on GAO's 2006 report, Prescription Drugs: Improvements Needed in FDA's Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, GAO-07-54 (November 16, 2006). In this statement, GAO discusses the (1) DTC advertising materials FDA reviews, (2) FDA's process for issuing regulatory letters citing DTC advertising materials and the number of letters issued, and (3) the effectiveness of FDA's regulatory letters at limiting the dissemination of false or misleading DTC advertising. For its 2006 report, GAO examined FDA data on the advertising materials the agency received and reviewed the regulatory letters it issued citing prescription drug promotion from …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) was transferred from the General Services Administration (GSA) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is currently tasked with providing physical security and law enforcement services to about 8,800 facilities owned or leased by GSA. To accomplish its mission, FPS currently has a workforce of about 1,100 employees and about 15,000 contract guards located throughout the country. While there has not been a large-scale attack on a domestic federal facility since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the 1995 terrorist attack on the Oklahoma City Federal Building, it is important that FPS has sufficient resources and an effective approach to protect federal employees and members of the public that work in and visit federal facilities from the risk of crime and terrorist attacks. GAO was asked to provide information and analysis on (1) the extent to which FPS is fulfilling its mission to protect federal employees and facilities and (2) the management challenges FPS faces. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed FPS staffing data and interviewed numerous FPS officials, GSA, tenant agencies, and local police departments."

Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio approved budget for 2008 fiscal year.

Minutes for the November 8, 2008 TXSSAR meeting, held by the McKinney chapter.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with David McFaddin. McFaddin was born in Mount Gilead, Ohio on 15 August 1922 into a family of eight children. In 1941 he was inducted into the Marine Corps and placed into the V-12 Navy College Training Program. He went to Paris Island, South Carolina for boot training in 1943 followed by advanced training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He then attended Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia for three months, graduating as a second lieutenant. He was ordered to San Diego where he boarded a troop ship to Guadalcanal. Upon his arrival, he was assigned to the 6th Marine Division. On 1 April 1945, he landed on Green Beach on Okinawa as a platoon leader assigned to Company B, 22nd Marine Regiment, 1st Battalion. He recalls being in the battle for Sugar Loaf Hill. He was wounded by shell fragments and was flown to Guam for treatment in the hospital. He tells a humorous story involving him and another patient, former football All-American Alex Agase. After McFaddin recovered, he rejoined his unit while it was preparing for the invasion of Japan. Soon after Japan surrendered, the 22nd Marines …