This report discusses legislative initiatives to address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century.

This report discusses the background, status, and current issues of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The Defense Department's F-35 Lightning II JSF is one of three aircraft modernization programs in tactical aviation, the others being the Air Force F-22A fighter and the Navy F/A-18E/F fighter/attack plane.

This fiscal year Annual Report on Major State Investment Funds presents the financial performance for Texas' major investment funds.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As a group, Asian American and Pacific Islanders represent about 5 percent of the U.S. population and hold about 8 percent of the college degrees. To better understand the educational attainment and average incomes of the subgroups that comprise this population, the Committee asked: 1) What are Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups' educational attainment and household income levels? (2) What challenges, if any, Asian American and Pacific Islander students face in pursuing and completing their post-secondary education? and (3) What federal and institutional resources do institutions with large Asian American and Pacific Islander student enrollment use to address the particular needs of these students? GAO analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education (Education) and spoke with officials and Asian American and Pacific Islander students at eight postsecondary institutions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Space Shuttle Program is currently supported by over 1,500 active suppliers, some of whom are the only known or certified source of a particular material, part or service. The retirement of the Shuttle and transition to planned exploration activities, as called for in the President's Vision for Space Exploration, creates the need for NASA to begin making decisions today about its supplier base needs for the future. GAO was asked to (1) describe NASA's plans and processes for managing its supplier base through the Shuttle's retirement and the transition to the Constellation's exploration activities; (2) address factors that could impact the effectiveness of those plans and processes; and (3) identify any other issues that NASA will likely encounter as the agency transitions to and implements the Constellation Program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) program to replace and supplement existing cargo processing technology. According to the fiscal year 2007 DHS appropriations act, DHS is to develop and submit an expenditure plan for ACE that satisfies certain conditions, including being reviewed by GAO. GAO reviewed the plan to (1) determine whether the expenditure plan satisfies the legislative conditions, (2) determine the status of 15 open GAO recommendations, and (3) provide observations about the expenditure plan and DHS's management of the program. To address the mandate, GAO assessed plans and related documentation against federal guidelines and industry standards and interviewed the appropriate DHS officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2005, Hurricane Katrina's impact on the Gulf Coast included damage to the environment from chemical and hazardous materials releases. Also, the widespread demolition and renovation activities still under way in New Orleans may release asbestos fibers into the air, posing a potential additional health risk. This report, conducted at the Comptroller General's initiative, addresses (1) the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) actions to assess and mitigate Katrina's environmental impacts, (2) the extent to which EPA has assurance that public health is protected from asbestos inhalation risks in New Orleans, (3) the extent to which EPA's environmental health risk communications provided useful information to the public, and (4) challenges EPA faces in addressing environmental impacts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hospitals submit data in electronic form on a series of quality measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and receive scores on their performance. Increasingly, the clinical information from which hospitals derive the quality data for CMS is stored in information technology (IT) systems. GAO was asked to examine (1) hospital processes to collect and submit quality data, (2) the extent to which IT facilitates hospitals' collection and submission of quality data, and (3) whether CMS has taken steps to promote the use of IT systems to facilitate the collection and submission of hospital quality data. GAO addressed these issues by conducting case studies of eight hospitals with varying levels of IT development and interviewing relevant officials at CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For years, GAO and others have reported that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) does not maintain effective control over the $35 billion of property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) and materials that it reports on its financial statements. GAO's report, the first in a planned series, addresses whether NASA's control environment and internal controls over NASA-held equipment provide reasonable assurance that (1) these assets are not vulnerable to loss, theft, and misuse and (2) all equipment costs are appropriately recorded in the agency's financial statements. GAO evaluated the design of NASA's property management controls by reviewing agencywide and local policies, obtaining equipment loss reports for all NASA centers, and evaluating actions taken to hold employees accountable. To confirm its understanding of the design of NASA's property controls, GAO conducted on-site visits at two NASA centers and interviewed property management officials at the remaining seven NASA centers."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Three U.S. national strategies, developed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, directed U.S. law enforcement agencies (LEA) to focus on the prevention of terrorist attacks. The strategies called for LEAs to intensify their efforts to help foreign nations identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists. GAO was asked to assess (1) the guidance for LEAs to assist foreign nations to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists and (2) the extent to which LEAs have implemented this guidance."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of concerns about changes in Earth's climate due to greenhouse gas emissions and the potential economic and environmental consequences of these changes, GAO (1) inventoried greenhouse gas emissions generated by legislative branch operations in fiscal year 2006, as well as identified trends in emissions starting from a base year of the average annual amount emitted in fiscal years 1998 through 2001, and (2) identified a strategy for reducing emissions. To perform this work, GAO followed the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and additional guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency, using data provided by officials responsible for legislative branch operations and the General Services Administration."

This report is intended for Members and staff assisting grant seekers in districts and states and covers writing proposals for both government and private foundations grants. In preparation for writing a proposal, the report first discusses preliminary information gathering and preparation, developing ideas for the proposal, gathering community support, identifying funding resources, and seeking preliminary review of the proposal and support of relevant administrative officials. The second section of the report covers the actual writing of the proposal. The last section of the report provides a listing of free grants-writing websites.

This report provides an overview of the U.S. immigration policy on asylum seekers.

This report discusses about Transnational Organized crime groups in Burma (Myanmar), that operates a multi billion dollar criminal industry that stretches across Southeast Asia.

This report summarizes statutory authorities regarding access by the government, for wither foreign intelligence or law enforcement purposes, to information related to telephone calling patterns or practices. Where pertinent, it also discusses statutory prohibitions against accessing or disclosing such information, along with relevant exceptions to those prohibitions.

This report provides information about the farm credit system which provides financial cooperative lending to agricultural and aquatic producers, rural homeowners etc.

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This report gives an overview of drug trafficking in North Korea, and issues for the U.S policy

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