Texas Register, Volume 36, Number 6, Pages 685-884, February 11, 2011 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 36, Number 6, Pages 685-884, February 11, 2011

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Federal Register, Volume 76, Number 28, February 11, 2011, Pages 7479-7680 (open access)

Federal Register, Volume 76, Number 28, February 11, 2011, Pages 7479-7680

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: United States. Office of the Federal Register.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Speaker of the House: House Officer, Party Leader, and Representative (open access)

The Speaker of the House: House Officer, Party Leader, and Representative

This report discusses the three roles of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is widely viewed as symbolizing the power and authority of the House. The Speaker's most prominent role is that of presiding officer of the House. The Speaker also serves as leader of the majority party conference. The Speaker's third distinct role is that of an elected Member of the House.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Committee Types and Roles (open access)

Committee Types and Roles

This report briefly describes the structure of the congressional committee system and the types of congressional committees, as well as congressional subcommittees.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Market for Biomass-Based Diesel Fuel in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) (open access)

The Market for Biomass-Based Diesel Fuel in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)

This report discusses the current market for biomass-based diesel (BBD) fuels and their corresponding RINs (Renewable Identification Numbers) under the RFS. It examines the role that the RIN market may play as an economic incentive for the production of biodiesel and other BBD fuels in the future.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Yacobucci, Brent D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Implications of Egypt's Turmoil on Global Oil and Natural Gas Supply (open access)

Implications of Egypt's Turmoil on Global Oil and Natural Gas Supply

This report examines the change in Egypt's government and how this will likely not have a significant direct impact on the global oil and natural gas markets.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Ratner, Michael
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations (open access)

Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations

This report examines the possibility of the federal government reaching its statutory debt limit and not raising it, with a particular focus on government operations. First, the report explains the nature of the federal government's debt, the processes associated with federal borrowing, and historical events that may influence prospective actions. It also includes an analysis of what could happen if the federal government may no longer issue debt, has exhausted alternative sources of cash, and, therefore, depends on incoming receipts or other sources of funds to provide any cash needed to liquidate federal obligations. Finally this report lays out considerations for increasing the debt limit under current policy and what impact fiscal policy could have on the debt limit going forward.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Levit, Mindy R.; Brass, Clinton T.; Nicola, Thomas J.; Nuschler, Dawn & Shelton, Alison M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2011 (open access)

Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2011

This report briefly describes current responsibilities and selection mechanisms for 15 House and Senate party leadership posts and provides tables with historical data, including service dates, party affiliation, and other information for each.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Egypt: The January 25 Revolution and Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy (open access)

Egypt: The January 25 Revolution and Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy

This report provides an overview of Egyptian politics and current issues in U.S.-Egyptian relations. It briefly provides a political history of modern Egypt, an overview of its political institutions, and a discussion of the prospects for democratization in Egypt.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Sharp, Jeremy M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Intelligence Issues for Congress (open access)

Intelligence Issues for Congress

This report gives an overview of current intelligence issues of interest to the 112th Congress. It includes background and analysis including most recent development, ongoing Congressional concerns, specific issues for the 112th Congress, and a summary of related legislation from the 109th through the 112th Congresses.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Africa: U.S. Foreign Assistance Issues (open access)

Africa: U.S. Foreign Assistance Issues

This report discusses the issue of U.S. economic assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the importance of continued assistance in light of U.S. national security and also various U.S.-led efforts to promote reform amongst African citizens themselves. U.S. assistance finds its way to Africa through a variety of channels, including the USAID-administered DA program, food aid programs, and indirect aid provided through international financial institutions and the United Nations.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Dagne, Ted
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
United Nations Peacekeeping: Issues for Congress (open access)

United Nations Peacekeeping: Issues for Congress

This report serves as a tracking report for action by Congress on United Nations peacekeeping. Funding and provisioning issues are examined.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Browne, Marjorie Ann
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues (open access)

Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues

This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues related to the transfer of Guantanamo detainees, the continued detention of such persons in the United States, and the possible removal of persons brought into the country. It also discusses selected constitutional issues that may arise in the criminal prosecution of detainees, emphasizing the procedural and substantive protections that are utilized in different adjudicatory forums.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Garcia, Michael John; Elsea, Jennifer K.; Mason, R. Chuck & Liu, Edward C.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Legislative Branch: FY2011 Appropriations (open access)

Legislative Branch: FY2011 Appropriations

This report discusses budgetary issues of the legislative branch of the U.S. government during Fiscal Year 2011.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Brudnick, Ida A.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
International Food Aid: U.S. and Other Donor Contributions (open access)

International Food Aid: U.S. and Other Donor Contributions

This report provides three indicators of the U.S. contribution to global food aid: (1) shipments of major donors compiled by the International Grains Council (IGC), (2) U.S. contributions to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), and (3) the U.S. commitment under the 1999 Food Aid Convention (FAC).
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E. & Canada, Carol
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans Affairs: The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims— Judicial Review of VA Decision Making (open access)

Veterans Affairs: The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims— Judicial Review of VA Decision Making

This report discusses legislation enacted by the 111th Congress to address funding, operations, and benefit appeal procedures within the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims (CAVC).
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Weimer, Douglas Reid
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Security Assistance Reform: “Section 1206” Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Security Assistance Reform: “Section 1206” Background and Issues for Congress

Section 1206 is the first major DOD authority to be used expressly for the purpose of training and equipping the national military forces of foreign countries. This report provides background on the pre-Section 1206 status of security assistance authorities, the factors contributing to the enactment of Section 1206, its purpose, scope, and funding.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Serafino, Nina M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reducing Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Military Retirees and the Bipartisan Budget Act: In Brief (open access)

Reducing Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Military Retirees and the Bipartisan Budget Act: In Brief

This report discusses the reduction of cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for military retirees through the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA). It includes an overview of the changes, demographics of military retirees, and potential effects of the changes.
Date: February 11, 2014
Creator: Belasco, Amy
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

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. The report is written in response to the Coast Guard's budget request for a new polar ice breaker (none are currently in operation).
Date: February 11, 2014
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S.-China Trade: United States Has Secured Commitments in Key Bilateral Dialogues,  but U.S. Agency Reporting on Status Should Be Improved (open access)

U.S.-China Trade: United States Has Secured Commitments in Key Bilateral Dialogues, but U.S. Agency Reporting on Status Should Be Improved

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO identified 298 trade and investment commitments made by China in the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT)—184 since 2004—and the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and its predecessor—114 since 2007. The commitments range from affirmations of open trade principles to sector-specific actions. GAO identified 11 issue areas to characterize the content of each commitment. The prominence of issue areas, measured in number of commitments associated with an issue area, differs between the dialogues, reflecting differences in the dialogues' structure and focus. Intellectual property rights commitments are among those most common in the JCCT and investment commitments are among those most common in the S&ED. (For a detailed inventory of commitments and their categorization, see GAO-14-224SP .)"
Date: February 11, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personnel Security Clearances: Actions Needed to Ensure Quality of Background Investigations and Resulting Decisions (open access)

Personnel Security Clearances: Actions Needed to Ensure Quality of Background Investigations and Resulting Decisions

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Several agencies have key roles and responsibilities in the multi-phased personnel security clearance process, including the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) who, as the Security Executive Agent, is responsible for developing policies and procedures related to security clearance investigations and adjudications, among other things. The Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget chairs the Performance Accountability Council that oversees reform efforts to enhance the personnel security process. The security process includes: the determination of whether a position requires a clearance, application submission, investigation, and adjudication. Specifically, agency officials must first determine whether a federal civilian position requires access to classified information. After an individual has been selected for a position that requires a personnel security clearance and the individual submits an application for a clearance, investigators—often contractors—from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) conduct background investigations for most executive branch agencies. Adjudicators from requesting agencies use the information from these investigations and federal adjudicative guidelines to determine whether an applicant is eligible for a clearance. Further, individuals are subject to reinvestigations at intervals based on the level of security clearance."
Date: February 11, 2014
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Depot Maintenance: Additional Information Needed to Meet DOD's Core Capability Reporting Requirements (open access)

Depot Maintenance: Additional Information Needed to Meet DOD's Core Capability Reporting Requirements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) 2012 Biennial Core Report complies with two of the three biennial reporting elements of Section 2464 by including information on core capability requirements and planned workloads available for maintaining these requirements. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) reported core capability requirements totaling about 70 million direct labor hours for the military services. Also, OSD reported a total of about 92 million direct labor hours for planned workloads with an estimated cost of about $12 billion. OSD reported complete information on core requirements and planned workload at the top-level categories, such as Sea Ships, of the work breakdown structure. The statute directs that this information be organized by work breakdown structure, which is a group of categories of equipment and technologies. The top-level category--an entire type of system or equipment--can be broken down into lower levels of detail or subcategories, such as Aircraft Carriers or Submarines, that make up the system or equipment. DOD's overall planned workloads exceed its core capability requirements, but the report shows shortfalls in certain categories for the Army and the Air Force."
Date: February 11, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Afghanistan: Key Oversight Issues (open access)

Afghanistan: Key Oversight Issues

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The key issues, based on existing GAO work, suggest specific areas for oversight on the following topics:"
Date: February 11, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Standard Missile-3 Block IIB Analysis of Alternatives (open access)

Standard Missile-3 Block IIB Analysis of Alternatives

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has previously reported that the SM-3 Block IIB program did not conduct a formal analysis of alternatives (AoA) prior to beginning technology development. AoAs provide insight into the technical feasibility and costs of alternatives by determining if a concept can be developed and produced within existing resources. Although the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is not required to do an AoA for its programs because of its acquisition flexibilities, GAO has previously reported that an AoA can be a key step to ensure that new programs have a sound acquisition basis."
Date: February 11, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library