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 list of roughly 200 congressional liaison offices with phone numbers, addresses, and other contact information.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal grant and loan funding for activities that reduce mobile source diesel emissions is fragmented across 14 programs at the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). From fiscal years 2007 through 2011, the programs obligated at least $1.4 billion for activities that have the effect of reducing mobile source diesel emissions. The programs have varying goals and purposes; nevertheless, each program allows or requires a portion of its funding to support activities that reduce mobile source diesel emissions, such as replacing fleets of older diesel trucks or school buses with natural gas vehicles. In addition, each of the 14 programs overlaps with at least one other program in the specific activities they fund, the program goals, or the eligible recipients of funding. GAO also identified several instances of duplication where more than one program provided grant funding to the same recipient for the same type of activities. However, GAO was unable to determine whether unnecessary duplication exists because of limited information on program administrative costs, among other things. GAO did not find any gaps among the programs, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2010 to 2012, Education awarded over half ($493 million of $937 million) of Investing in Innovation (i3) grants funds as validation grants, and most awards went to partnerships involving nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit organizations partnering with school consortia accounted for a large portion of i3 funds largely because they have won four ($170 million) of the five scale-up grants that Education made in competitions through 2012."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "BOP’s use of authorities to reduce a federal prisoner’s period of incarceration varies. BOP primarily utilizes three authorities—the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP), community corrections, and good conduct time."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This supplemental report is a companion to Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends in U.S. and Chinese Economic Engagement (GAO-13-199). This supplement presents the results of our case studies of U.S. and Chinese economic engagement in three sub-Saharan African countries--Angola, Ghana, and Kenya. We conducted these case studies to compare the United States' and China's trade, grants and loans, and investment activities in sub-Saharan Africa. For contextual information about the three countries and additional information on U.S. and Chinese engagement in sub-Saharan Africa broadly, see GAO-13-199."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force's schedule that supported the February 2012 Milestone B decision for the Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System (DEAMS) did not meet best practices. The cost estimate did meet best practices, but the issues associated with the schedule could negatively affect the cost estimate. GAO found that the schedule supporting the Air Force's decision to invest in DEAMS partially or minimally met the four characteristics for developing a high-quality and reliable schedule. For example, the schedule did not reflect all government and contractor activities, and resources were not assigned to specific activities. The schedule also lacked a valid critical path, preventing management from focusing on the activities most likely to cause critical program delays if they are not completed as planned. In addition, a schedule risk analysis was not conducted to predict a level of confidence in meeting the program's completion date."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As part of its efforts to identify high-risk cargo for inspection, CBP uses various sources of information to screen containers in advance of their arrival in the United States. For example, in 2009, CBP implemented the Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements to collect additional information for targeting. The additional cargo information required, such as country of origin, is to be provided to CBP in advance of arrival of the cargo containers at U.S. ports. In September 2010, GAO recommended that CBP establish milestones and time frames for updating its targeting criteria to include additional information. In response, CBP updated its targeting criteria in January 2011."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States and other G-7 countries have ECAs that support domestic exports, but Ex-Im differs from other ECAs in several important ways, including its explicit mission to promote domestic employment. The G-7 ECAs range from government agencies to private companies contracted by governments. Most of these ECAs, including Ex-Im, are expected to supplement, not compete with, the private market. Ex-Im offers direct loans, which were increasingly utilized during the recent financial crisis, while European ECAs do not."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From 2009 through 2012, certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA)—a type of advanced-practice nurse specializing in anesthesia care—billed Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) for a minimal share of selected chronic pain procedures, less than ½ of 1 percent of these procedures in each year. Physicians without board certification in pain medicine billed for the majority of selected procedures each year, while pain physicians consistently billed for roughly 40 percent of selected procedures. Furthermore, although the number of chronic pain procedures billed by all rural providers increased from 2009 through 2012, the number of procedures billed by rural CRNAs declined over the period. Of all CRNA claims for selected procedures, the share billed by CRNAs in rural areas fell from 66 percent in 2009 to 39 percent in 2012."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2013. GAO very much appreciates the confidence Congress has shown in the efforts to help support the Congress in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve government performance and accountability for the benefit of the American people."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART Office) within the Department of Justice (DOJ) has determined that 19 of the 37 jurisdictions that have submitted packages for review have substantially implemented the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Although the SMART Office has determined that 17 of the jurisdictions that submitted packages have not yet substantially implemented SORNA, the office concluded that 15 of these 17 jurisdictions have implemented at least half of the SORNA requirements; the office has not yet made a determination for 1 jurisdiction that submitted a package. A majority of nonimplemented jurisdictions reported that generating the political will to incorporate the necessary changes to their state laws and related policies or reconciling legal conflicts are among the greatest challenges to implementation. For example, officials from 27 nonimplemented jurisdictions reported reconciling conflicts between SORNA and state laws--such as which offenses should require registration--as a challenge to implementing SORNA. Officials from 5 of 18 jurisdictions that responded to a survey question asking how DOJ could help address these challenges reported that the SMART Office could provide greater flexibilities; …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Contracting officials from Air Force and Interior generally did not perform lease versus purchase analyses for selected contracts. Based on contract file reviews and discussions with contracting officials, we found that analyses were not performed and that contracting officials had not considered the alternative acquisition method for 24 of the 32 selected contracts. For the 8 contracts with lease versus purchase analyses, 5 were documented in the contract files and 3 were performed but were not documented, according to contracting officials. In most cases, contract files did not contain basic information to make lease or purchase decisions, such as the length of time the equipment would be used. Even files containing documentation of analyses generally did not address the full range of criteria specified in the FAR. For example, the analyses typically lacked a discussion of the financial and operating advantages of alternate approaches that would help contracting officials determine the appropriate acquisition method. Contracting officials noted that their decision to lease or purchase equipment often depends on the nature of the requirement, such as a short-term need for equipment, based on documents or other correspondence from the …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force based its Guide on existing NASA policy and procedures with respect to payload risk classification and launch vehicle certification. Payloads are classified based in part on factors such as national significance, payload complexity and cost, and are assigned a risk tolerance level accordingly. The Air Force, NASA, and NRO are working to coordinate and share information to facilitate launch vehicle certification efforts; however, each agency will determine for itself when certification has been achieved. As a result, some duplication and overlap of efforts could occur. The Air Force has also added other prerequisites to certification for new entrants that are not captured within the Guide, such as an approved implementation plan and a cooperative research and development agreement. According to the Air Force, these agreements are legal mechanisms intended to enable data sharing between the Air Force and new entrants, while protecting the interests of both."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "View Chinese version of Highlights (PDF, 1 page)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies reported an estimated $115.3 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2011, a decrease of $5.3 billion from the prior year reported estimate of $120.6 billion. The $115.3 billion estimate was attributable to 79 programs spread among 17 agencies. Ten programs accounted for about $107 billion or 93 percent of the total estimated improper payments agencies reported for fiscal year 2011. The reported decrease in fiscal year 2011 was primarily related to three programs—decreases in program outlays for the Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance program, and decreases in reported error rates for the Earned Income Tax Credit program and the Medicare Advantage program. Further, the Office of Management and Budget reported that agencies recaptured $1.25 billion in improper payments to contractors, vendors, and healthcare providers in fiscal year 2011. Over half of this amount, $797 million, can be attributed to the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor program which identifies Medicare overpayments and underpayments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federally funded programs to expand broadband access encompass but do not specifically target small businesses. These programs—the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program, Community Connect Grants, Connect America Fund, Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program—have eligibility requirements based on the need of an area, as well as deployment requirements that can maximize the number of businesses served. For example, the Community Connect grants require providers to serve all businesses and residences in deployment areas. Since these federal programs do not target deployment to small businesses, they do not measure the impact on small businesses. However, BIP has a specific goal to increase access to rural Americans and provide broadband speeds to businesses, and in August 2013, the United States Department of Agriculture reported BIP's funding had resulted in over 5,800 businesses' receiving new or improved broadband service since 2009. Other programs have broader goals and measures related to the program's purpose, such as serving schools and libraries."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Governmentwide fraud prevention control weaknesses over the SDVOSB program leave it vulnerable to fraud and abuse. In October 2009, GAO reported on 10 selected firms that misrepresented their status as SDVOSBs, which allowed them to win approximately $100 million in SDVOSB set-aside and sole-source contracts. Cases like this happen because the SDVOSB program relies on firms to self-certify annually in the federal government’s contractor registry that they are owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, but most agencies do not validate this information. In fact, GAO found that the program lacks key fraud prevention framework elements, which include preventing firms from fraudulently entering the program, detecting and monitoring for continuing compliance, and investigating firms that abuse the program."

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate allowing the Senate to adjourn for more than 3 days.

This report gives an historical overview of debt limits, discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.

This report discusses the American International Group (AIG), which was the largest direct recipient of government financial assistance during the recent financial crisis.

This report provides current and historical information on the budget resolution. It provides a list of the budget resolutions adopted and rejected by Congress since implementation of the Budget Act, and describes their formulation and content. The report also provides information on the consideration and adoption of budget resolutions.

Unemployment compensation (UC) benefits have been fully subject to the federal income tax since the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-514). Individuals who receive UC benefits during a year may elect to have the federal (and in some cases state) income tax withheld from their benefits. This report provides an overview of the taxation of UC benefits and legislation related to taxing UC benefits.

This report discusses Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, Criticisms of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, Continuing Congressional Concerns and Executive Branch Oversight.