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.

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.

Aid and military reimbursements made to Pakistan from 2002-2011. The list is divided by agency.

This report analyzes the current unrest in Syria and the U.S. response to the Syrian government's crackdown against demonstrators. It also provides background information on U.S. sanctions against the Asad regime and its supporters.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), also called the Lighting II, is a new strike fighter being procured in different versions by the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. The F-35 program is the Department of Defense's (DOD's) largest weapon procurement program in terms of total estimated acquisition cost. This report details the Obama Administration's proposed FY2010 defense budget requests for F-35 program funding and outlines the issues that Congress must consider when deciding whether to approve, reject, or modify the administration's funding requests.

The 112th Congress may consider reforms of the U.S. export control system. The balance between national security and export competitiveness has made the subject of export controls controversial for decades. Through the Export Administration Act (EAA), the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and other authorities, the United States restricts the export of defense items or munitions; so-called “dual-use” goods and technology—items with both civilian and military applications; certain nuclear materials and technology; and items that would assist in the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons or the missile technology used to deliver them. U.S. export controls are also used to restrict exports to certain countries on which the United States imposes economic sanctions. At present, the EAA has expired and dual-use controls are maintained under IEEPA authorities.

This report looks at the funding and Congressional oversight for the U.S.-Mexican governments joint effort to curb drug trafficking and violence via the Initiative.

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: Authority of a licensing agency to obtain criminal history information regarding an applicant (RQ-0820-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; Authority of the Sandy Land Underground Water Conservation District to transfer certain assets to an individual or other entity (RQ-0904-GA)

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses possible strategies for improving the rate of federal employment of individuals with disabilities. This testimony is based on our October 2010 report that discussed barriers to the employment of people with disabilities in the federal workforce and leading practices that could be used to overcome these barriers. To identify these barriers and leading practices, we solicited the views of a wide range of knowledgeable individuals through a survey and forum held at GAO on July 20, 2010. Participants in the forum concluded (1) Top leadership commitment is key to implementing and sustaining improvements in the employment of individuals with disabilities. (2) Accountability is critical to success. (3) Regularly surveying the workforce on disability issues provides agencies with important information on potential barriers. (4) Better coordination within and across agencies could improve employment outcomes for employees with disabilities. (5) Training for staff at all levels can disseminate leading practices throughout the agency. (6) Career development opportunities inclusive of people with disabilities can facilitate advancement and increase retention. (7) A flexible work environment can increase and enhance employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. (8) Centralizing funding within …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria cause an estimated 14 million cases of foodborne illnesses each year, resulting in about 60,000 hospitalizations and 1,800 deaths. Foodborne illness symptoms can range from mild gastroenteritis to life-threatening renal syndromes. The populations most susceptible to the more serious symptoms include very young children, individuals 60 years and older, pregnant women, and people who have a weakened immune system. In 2007, about 20 to 25 percent of the U.S. population was in this high-risk category. Moreover, consumers' vulnerability to foodborne illness is increasing as a result of changes in demographics, among other things. For example, older Americans will make up an estimated 20 percent of the U.S. population by 2015. The pathogens that account for much of the most severe foodborne illness can be greatly reduced by subjecting food to ionizing radiation, also known as food irradiation. Many experts believe that irradiation can be effectively incorporated into an establishment's food safety program to further ensure the safety of the food against pathogens. Irradiation can also be used as a phytosanitary …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "NNSA has successfully ensured that the nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe and reliable in the absence of underground nuclear testing, accomplishing this complicated task by using state-of-the-art facilities as well as the skills of top scientists. Nevertheless, NNSA does not have reliable enterprise-wide management information on program budgets and costs, which potentially increases risk to NNSA’s programs. For example, in June 2010, GAO reported that NNSA could not identify the total costs to operate and maintain essential weapons activities facilities and infrastructure. In addition, in February 2011, GAO reported that NNSA lacks complete data on, among other things, the condition and value of its existing infrastructure, cost estimates and completion dates for planned capital improvement projects, and critical human capital skills in its contractor workforce that are needed for its programs. As a result, NNSA does not have a sound basis for making decisions on how to most effectively manage its portfolio of projects and other programs and lacks information that could help justify future budget requests or target cost savings opportunities. NNSA recognizes that its ability to make informed decisions is hampered and is taking steps to …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Applying PHMSA’s new distribution integrity management requirements to low-stress transmission pipelines would result in less prescriptive safety requirements for these pipelines. Overall, requirements for distribution pipelines are less prescriptive than requirements for transmission pipelines in part because the former operate at lower pressure and pose lower risks in general than the latter. For example, the integrity management regulations for transmission pipelines allow three types of in-depth physical inspections. In contrast, distribution pipeline operators can customize their integrity management programs to the complexity of their systems, including using a broader range of methods for physical inspection. While PHMSA officials stated that “less prescriptive” does not necessarily mean less safe, they also stated that distribution integrity management requirements for distribution pipelines can be more difficult to enforce than integrity management requirements for transmission pipelines. Currently, PHMSA can grant special permits to modify requirements for individual pipelines, if merited, but applying the new distribution integrity management requirements to low-stress transmission pipelines would affect all such pipelines."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While plan representatives GAO contacted generally stated that their hedge fund and private equity investments met expectations in recent years, a number of plans experienced losses and other challenges, such as limited liquidity and transparency. National data indicated that hedge fund and private equity investments were significantly affected by the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and plans and experts GAO contacted indicated that pension plan investments were not insulated from losses. Most of the 22 plan representatives GAO interviewed said that their hedge fund investments met expectations overall, despite, in some cases, significant losses during the financial crisis. A few plan representatives, however, expected hedge fund investments to be much more resilient in turbulent markets, and found the losses disappointing. Given the long-term nature of private equity investments, almost all of the representatives were generally satisfied with these investments over the last 5 years. Some plan representatives described significant difficulties in hedge fund and private equity investing related to limited liquidity and transparency, and the negative impact of the actions of other investors in the fund—sometimes referred to as co-investors. For example, representatives from one plan reported they …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is the world's largest and most complex entity, with about $3.5 trillion in outlays in fiscal year 2010 funding a broad array of programs and operations. GAO maintains a program to focus attention on government operations that it identifies as high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or the need for transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. Since 1990, GAO has designated over 50 areas as high risk and subsequently removed over one-third of the areas due to progress made. This biennial update describes the status of high-risk areas listed in 2009 and identifies any new high-risk area needing attention by Congress and the executive branch. Solutions to high-risk problems offer the potential to save billions of dollars, improve service to the public, and strengthen the performance and accountability of the U.S. government."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the terms of its 1976 Covenant with the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) administered its own immigration systems from 1978 to 2009. The 2008 Consolidated Natural Resources Act called for the establishment of a transition program, to phase in U.S. immigration law in the CNMI and to phase out the CNMI's current program for non-U.S. citizen (noncitizen) foreign workers; implementation of the transition program began on November 28, 2009. The act requires, among other things, that the CNMI government provide the Secretary of Homeland Security all Commonwealth immigration records, or other information that the Secretary deems necessary, to assist in the implementation of the transition program. The CNMI government has tracked the immigration status of foreign residents with two databases, the Labor and Immigration Identification and Documentation System and the Labor Information Data System. A third database, the Border Management System, tracks visitor arrivals and departures. We were asked to describe (1) the history and key attributes of the three databases and (2) the status of these databases during the transition to federal control of CNMI immigration. To address these objectives, GAO …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Workforce board officials and their partners in the 14 initiatives cited a range of factors that facilitated building innovative collaborations. Almost all of the collaborations grew out of efforts to address urgent workforce needs of multiple employers in a specific sector, rather than focusing on individual employers. The partners in these initiatives made extra effort to engage employers so they could tailor services such as jobseeker assessment, screening, and training to address specific employer needs. In all the initiatives, partners remained engaged in these collaborations because they continued to produce a wide range of reported results, such as an increased supply of skilled labor, job placements, reduced employer recruitment and turnover costs, and averted layoffs. While these boards were successful in their efforts, they cited some challenges to collaboration that they needed to overcome. Some boards were challenged to develop comprehensive strategies to address diverse employer needs with WIA funds. For example, some boards’ staff said that while their initiatives sought to meet employer needs for higher-skilled workers through skill upgrades, WIA funds can be used to train current workers only in limited circumstances, and the boards used …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In a review of 30 major ATC acquisition programs, all of which will contribute to the transition to NextGen, GAO found that costs for 11 of the 30 programs have increased from their initial estimates by a total of $4.2 billion and 15 programs experienced delays. The 11 acquisitions that experienced cost increases account for over 60 percent of FAA’s total acquisition costs ($11 billion of $17.7 billion) for the 30 programs. The 15 acquisitions that experienced schedule delays, of which 10 also had cost increases, ranged from 2 months to more than 14 years and averaged 48 months."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The foreign postal operators (foreign posts) in industrialized countries in GAO's review have been experiencing declining letter mail volumes and have modernized their delivery and retail networks to address this challenge. As requested, GAO reviewed the innovations and initiatives that foreign posts are using and the lessons the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) might learn to help it address plummeting mail volumes and record financial losses. This report examines initiatives foreign posts have implemented to improve mail delivery and retail networks and related results, and modernization strategies used by foreign posts that can inform consideration of proposals to improve USPS's financial condition and customer service. GAO selected foreign posts in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland as case studies based on characteristics, such as delivery and retail changes and country size and location. GAO reviewed foreign posts' documents, including annual reports and strategic plans related to delivery and retail network changes and innovations. GAO met with foreign post officials, toured their retail facilities, received briefings on their delivery and retail networks and other areas, and met with regulators, labor unions, and mailers to obtain their views …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For fiscal years 2009 and 2010, the Fund’s recorded transactions consisted of 136 investment and operating transactions recorded and accounted for by the Library. The Fund’s recorded transactions were authorized in advance, supported by documentation, and accurately accounted for. However, while the Fund’s transactions were generally recorded promptly, we did identify five instances where transactions were not promptly recorded by the Library. We found that all recorded transactions were in compliance with the applicable laws that we deemed significant to the objectives of our audit."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal years 2001 through 2010, the Department of Defense's (DOD) spending for health care increased from about $19 billion to nearly $49 billion, representing approximately 6 percent of DOD's total spending in fiscal year 2001 and approximately 9 percent in fiscal year 2010. This health care spending primarily funds TRICARE--DOD's program that provides health care to active duty personnel and other beneficiaries, including retired servicemembers. According to DOD, the increase in its health care spending can be attributed to factors such as growth in the number of TRICARE beneficiaries. From fiscal years 2001 through 2010, the number of TRICARE beneficiaries increased by nearly 15 percent, from 8.3 million to 9.5 million beneficiaries. To help reduce DOD's health care costs, Congress passed section 707 of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (section 707), which went into effect January 1, 2008. Section 707 prohibits employers with 20 or more employees from offering financial or other incentives to their employees who are eligible for TRICARE to not enroll in the employer-sponsored health insurance plan or to terminate such coverage. Historically, some employers offered financial or …

This report discusses U.S. security assistance to Taiwan (calling itself Republic of China (ROC)), including policy issues for Congress and legislation.

This report discusses the reasons that Iran is considered a threat to U.S. security, including Iran's nuclear program, involvement with terrorist organizations, and involvement with neighboring countries' local governments. The report also discusses ways which the U.S. hopes to modify Iran's behavior with sanctions, and the effectiveness of these sanctions.

Items for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation listed by priority, name and method of financing.