Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) class justifications included in GAO's sample were used primarily for the acquisition of weapon systems or related subsystems and components. About 77 percent covered specific weapon system development, production, sustainment, or modernization efforts; about 14 percent covered logistics support of multiple weapon systems or training systems; and the remaining 9 percent covered other requirements. Because weapon systems are typically used for many years, DOD officials told GAO class justifications provided an administrative efficiency by allowing one justification for multiple contracts that would essentially require the same justification. Most of the class justifications in GAO's sample had a total value of over $85.5 million and required approval at the highest level--the senior procurement executive of the DOD component. About 90 percent of the class justifications in GAO's sample cited only one responsible source to meet the requirements, generally because the contractor's ownership of proprietary technical data or expertise prevented the ability to compete the contract. The class justifications GAO reviewed generally cited the publication of notices of proposed contract actions on the Federal Business Opportunities website or market research to identify other qualified sources, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for approving the design and airworthiness of new aircraft and equipment before they are introduced into service. FAA approves changes to aircraft and equipment based on evaluation of industry submissions against standards set forth in federal aviation regulations and related guidance documents. In September 2011, we reported that, overall, FAA did a good job following its certification processes in assessing the composite fuselage and wings of Boeing's 787 against its airworthiness standards. However, the approval process--referred to as certification--presents challenges for FAA in terms of resources and maintaining up-to-date knowledge of industry practices, two issues that may hinder FAA's efforts to conduct certifications in an efficient and timely manner. FAA is currently assessing its certification process and identifying opportunities to streamline it."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Proton radiography has become an important tool for predicting the performance of stockpiled nuclear weapons. Current proton radiography experiments at LANSCE are confined to relatively small targets on the order of centimeters in size because of the low beam energy. LANL scientists have made radiographs with 12 and 24 GeV protons produced by the accelerator at Brookhaven National Laboratory. These energies are in the range required for hydrotest radiography. The design of a facility for hydrotest radiography requires knowledge of the cross sections for producing high-energy particles in the forward direction, which are incorporated into the Monte Carlo simulation used in designing the beam and detectors. There are few existing measurements of neutron production cross sections for proton-nuclei interactions in the 50 GeV range, and almost no data exist for forward neutron production, especially for heavy target nuclei. Thus the data from the MIPP EMCAL and HCAL, for which our group was responsible, are critical to proton radiography. Since neutrons and photons cannot be focused by magnets, they cause a background “fog” on the images. This problem can be minimized by careful design of the focusing system and detectors. The purpose of our research was to measure forward production of …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This correspondence formally transmits the briefing we prepared in response to Senate Report 110-335 accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. The Senate Report required the Comptroller General to conduct an assessment of medical and dental personnel requirements of the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, including their reserve components. To satisfy this requirement, we previously provided to Congress on April 1, 2009 a copy of the draft briefing we sent to DOD for comment."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Congress required the Small Business Administration (SBA) to implement a total of eight administrative provisions to help facilitate small business lending and enhance liquidity in the secondary markets. These administrative provisions include (1) temporarily requiring SBA to reduce or eliminate certain fees on 7(a) and 504 loans; (2) temporarily increasing the maximum 7(a) guarantee from 85 percent to 90 percent; and (3) implementing provisions designed specifically to facilitate secondary markets, such as extending existing guarantees in the 504 program and making loans to systemically important brokerdealers that operate in the 7(a) secondary market. Further, ARRA established deadlines for SBA to issue regulations that implement certain administrative provisions, such as those pertaining to facilitating secondary market activities. Specifically, ARRA required SBA to issue regulations extending the guarantee related to the 504 program within 15 days after enactment (March 4, 2009) and for making loans to systemically important broker-dealers within 30 days after enactment (March 19, 2009). ARRA also mandates that we report within 60 days after the date of enactment, April 17, 2009, on SBA's initial efforts to comply …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, state and local governments formed fusion centers, collaborative efforts to detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to criminal or terrorist activity. Recognizing that the centers are a critical mechanism for sharing information, the federal government--including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE), which has primary responsibility for governmentwide information sharing--is taking steps to partner with fusion centers. This testimony focuses on (1) the characteristics of fusion centers as of September 2007 and (2) federal efforts to help alleviate challenges centers identified. This testimony is based on GAO's October 2007 report on 58 fusion centers and related federal efforts to support them as well as updated information GAO obtained in March 2008 by reviewing plans describing selected federal efforts and attending the second annual national fusion center conference."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health-care-associated infections (HAI)--infections that patients acquire while receiving treatment for other conditions--are estimated to be 1 of the top 10 causes of death in the nation. This statement summarizes a report issued in March and released today, Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals: Leadership Needed from HHS to Prioritize Prevention Practices and Improve Data on These Infections (GAO-08-283). In this report, GAO examined (1) CDC's guidelines for hospitals to reduce or prevent HAIs and what HHS does to promote their implementation, (2) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) and hospital accrediting organizations' required standards for hospitals to reduce or prevent HAIs, and (3) HHS programs that collect data related to HAIs and integration of the data across HHS. To conduct the work, GAO reviewed documents and interviewed HHS agency and accrediting organization officials."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the enactment of key financial management reforms, such as the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 and the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA), the federal government has devoted significant resources to improving financial management activities and practices. At the same time, continuing attention is needed to address persistent, long-standing accountability problems and to redefine success for federal financial management. Successfully implementing financial management systems has been a particular challenge to the federal government. Many agency financial management systems do not routinely produce the accurate, timely, and meaningful information needed for management decision making. This forum brought together knowledgeable and recognized financial management leaders from the federal government, including the CFO, Chief Information Officer, and Inspector General communities, and selected other officials with extensive experience in financial management from both the public and private sectors. The forum addressed (1) the future of federal financial management, (2) applying lessons learned from federal financial management system implementations, and (3) strategies for transforming federal financial management culture. These highlights do not necessarily represent the views of the organizations that the participants represent, including GAO."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The fiscal year 2009 budget request for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a road map for how IRS plans to allocate resources and achieve ambitious goals for improving enforcement, improving taxpayer service, increasing research, and continuing to invest in modernized information systems. One complicating factor in implementing IRS's plans in the immediate future is the recent passage of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which creates additional, unanticipated workload for IRS. GAO was asked to (1) assess how the President's budget request for IRS allocates resources and justifies proposed initiatives; (2) determine the status of IRS's efforts to develop and implement its Business Systems Modernization (BSM) program; and (3) determine the total costs of administering the economic stimulus legislation. To meet these objectives, GAO drew upon and updated recently issued reports."

Dense plasma diagnostics, soft x-ray laser interferometry, converging plasmas.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews efforts by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 24 of the largest federal agencies, and the agencies' inspectors general to implement requirements set forth as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001. GAO discusses (1) OMB's assessment of the top six security weaknesses within federal agencies, (2) information security weaknesses in federal information systems, and (3) the most significant barriers to securing federal information technology resources and what can be done to overcome these barriers."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2002 would change the definition of the reserve ratio for the deposit insurance fund and provide the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with the flexibility to set the fund's designated reserve ratio within a range. Current law requires FDIC to maintain the deposit insurance fund balances at a reserve ratio of at least 1.25 percent of estimated insurance deposits. If the reserve ratio falls below that level, FDIC's Board of Directors must set semiannual assessment rates that are sufficient to increase the reserve ratio to the designated reserve ratio within a year, or in accordance with a recapitalization schedule of 15 years or less."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2002 would change the definition of the reserve ratio for the deposit insurance fund, and provide the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with the flexibility to set the fund's designated reserve ratio within a range. Current law requires FDIC to maintain the deposit insurance fund balances at a designated reserve ratio of at least 1.25 percent of estimated insurance deposits. If the reserve ratio falls below that level, FDIC's Board of Directors must set semiannual assessment rates that are sufficient to increase the reserve ratio to the designated reserve ratio within a year, or in accordance with a recapitalization schedule of 15 years or less."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) was created in to lead the national effort to end violence against women, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Since its inception, VAWO has grown both in the number of discretionary grants awarded and dollars awarded for those grants. Unfortunately, monitoring activities and impact evaluation data provide little basis to assess program results. Both VAWO and the Office of Justice Programs made a commitment to improve, citing reorganization plans that anticipate management information system as the foundation for improved grants management. However, reorganization and management information tools and are only as good as the management that wields them. Commitment to improvement and oversight are needed to ensure progress."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Commodity Credit Corporation's (CCC) Livestock Assistance Program (LAP). GAO noted that: (1) the rule would provide new terms and conditions for LAP authorized in the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1999; (2) in counties that have suffered a 40 percent or greater loss of normal grazing as a result of a natural disaster, LAP will provide emergency feed assistance for losses suffered by livestock producers in calendar year 1998; and (3) CCC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Transcript of a public hearing held by the Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals held April 16,1998 in New York. This hearing includes testimony from judges and attorneys of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the topic of the restructuring and possible division of the Ninth Circuit.

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education exceeded its rulemaking authority in promulgating title 37, section 211.80(a)(1) of the Texas Administrative Code (RQ-293)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether certain registered installers of manufactured housing must obtain certificates of necessity and public convenience from the Railroad Commission pursuant to article 911b, V.T.C.S. (RQ-2161)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority may meet in closed session to review bids for a proposed rail system (RQ-32)

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Child care facilities in building owned or leased by the State of Texas (RQ-1905)

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Liability of taxes on properrty where a tax certificate states in error that no taxes are owing thereon

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether statutes authorize adoption of a central filing procedure for the district courts of Webb County

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Construction of article 1396-2.23A(E)(4), V.T.C.S.