A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Coast Guard, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, has made progress in developing its Common Operational Picture (COP) by increasing the information in the COP and increasing user access to this information, but the Coast Guard has also faced challenges in developing COP-related systems. The Coast Guard has made progress by adding internal and external data sources that allow for better maritime domain awareness--the effective understanding of anything associated with the global maritime domain that could affect the United States. In addition, the COP has made information from these sources available to more COP users and decision makers throughout the Coast Guard. However, the Coast Guard has also experienced challenges in meeting the COP's goals and implementing systems to display and share COP information. For example, it experienced challenges when it deployed its Enterprise Geographic Information System (EGIS), a tool that did not meet user needs. The challenges Coast Guard personnel experienced with EGIS included system slowness and displays of inaccurate information. Our prior work found similar challenges with other Coast Guard COP-related systems not meeting intended objectives. For example, in February …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State (State) and the Department of Defense (DOD) provide guidance to address the Leahy laws, but State's guidance for implementing one requirement of the State Leahy law is unclear. State has used a variety of mechanisms to provide guidance to address the Leahy laws, including guidance to address six of seven new procedural requirements added to the State Leahy law in December 2011. State officials anticipate issuing guidance to address the seventh requirement by October 2013. DOD has provided guidance to address the DOD Leahy law through a 2004 Joint Staff message, and DOD officials said DOD personnel also follow State guidance. While State has provided guidance to embassies to address the duty-to-inform requirement of the State Leahy law, officials at six of the eight embassies GAO visited said that they would like additional guidance that clarifies how to implement the requirement. The duty-to-inform requirement directs State to inform the foreign government if funds are withheld under the law and, to the maximum extent practicable, assist the foreign government in bringing those responsible to justice. With clarifying guidance, embassies will be better able …

This report provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Navy's irregular warfare (IW) and counterterrorism (CT) operations. The Navy's IW and CT activities pose a number of potential oversight issues for Congress, including the definition of Navy IW activities and how much emphasis to place on IW and CT activities in future Navy budgets.

This report provides a brief overview of the three unemployment insurance programs — unemployment Compensation (UC), temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08), and Extended Benefits (EB) — that may currently pay benefits to eligible unemployed workers.

This report presents figures showing trends in discretionary budget authority as a percentage of GDP by subfunction within each of 17 budget function categories, using data from President Obama's FY2014 budget submission. The report also provides a graphical overview of historical trends in discretionary budget authority from FY1976 through FY2012, preliminary estimates for FY2013 spending, and the levels consistent with the President's proposals for FY2014 through FY2018.

This report examines debates over what constitutes an unfunded federal mandate and UMRA's implementation. It focuses on UMRA's requirement that CBO issue written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in legislation, its procedures for raising points of order in the House and Senate concerning unfunded federal mandates in legislation, and its requirement that federal agencies prepare written cost estimate statements for federal mandates in rules.

This report provides summary data on the number of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives who first entered Congress between the 64th Congress (1915-1917) and the 113th Congress (2013-2014).

This report provides background information regarding military assistance in securing America's borders. The report discusses the role of Armed Forces that provide support to law enforcement and immigration authorities.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet, which performs a variety of missions supporting U.S. interests in polar regions.

This report provides an overview of Arctic-related issues for Congress, and refers readers to more in-depth CRS reports on specific Arctic-related issues.

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on multiyear procurement (MYP) and block buy contracting (BBC), which are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of defense acquisition programs.

This report reviews Argentina's financial crisis, the bond exchanges of 2005 and 2010, ongoing litigation, prospects for a final solution, related U.S. legislation, and broader policy issues. These include lessons on the effectiveness and cost of Argentina's default strategy, the ability to force sovereigns to meet their debt obligations, and ways to avoid future defaults like Argentina's.

Annual financial report of the El Paso County Community College District for fiscal year 2012 providing statements of assets, revenues, expenses, taxes, and other relevant data.

Annual report describing the condition of Texas pavements based on distress ratings and ride quality measurements from the Pavement Management Information System (PMIS) during fiscal years 2010-2013. "The report includes the percentage of lane miles in 'Good' or better condition, trends for the major highway systems (IH, US, SH and FM) and pavement types (ACP, CRCP and JCP), trends for pavement distress types and maintenance level of service information" (p. ii).

Annual financial report of the Texas Pension Review Board documenting income, expenditures, and other relevant financial information for fiscal year 2013.

This report provides background information on the child tax credit. Specifically, this report provides an overview of the child tax credit under current law, as well as a legislative history of this tax benefit, which helps explain its purpose and current structure.

Several authorities govern the daily chamber work of the Senate: its standing rules, standing orders, unanimous consent agreements, precedent, and tradition. Because these authorities have different influence at certain times, no Senate session day is truly typical. This report discusses procedures and business that usually occur every session day, and refers to certain business items that may occur less frequently.

This report considers the U.S. Department of Agriculture's program for Research, Education, and Economics (REE). Moreover, the report discusses the amount of funding for the REE and debates the direction of it.

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This report contains information on the Helping Sick Americans Now Act, which provides funding for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan and eliminates the requirement that eligible individuals be uninsured for at least six months before being allowed to participate in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, as well as other changes to the Affordable Care Act.