Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Perchlorate has been used for decades by the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the defense industry in manufacturing, testing, and firing missiles and rockets. Other uses include fireworks, fertilizers, and explosives. Perchlorate is readily dissolved and transported in water and has been found in groundwater, surface water, and soil across the country. Perchlorate emerged as a contaminant of concern because health studies have shown that it can affect the thyroid gland, which helps regulate the body's metabolism, and may cause developmental impairment in fetuses of pregnant women. In 2005, EPA set a reference dose of 24.5 parts per billion (ppb)--the exposure level not expected to cause adverse effect in humans. Today's testimony updates GAO's May 2005 report, Perchlorate: A System to Track Sampling and Cleanup Results is Needed, GAO-05-462. It summarizes GAO's (1) compilation of the extent of perchlorate contamination in the U.S. and (2) review of peer-reviewed studies about perchlorate's health risks. GAO's 2005 report recommended that EPA work to track and monitor perchlorate detections and cleanup efforts. In December 2006, EPA reiterated its disagreement with this recommendation. GAO continues to believe …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hospitals submit data in electronic form on a series of quality measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and receive scores on their performance. Increasingly, the clinical information from which hospitals derive the quality data for CMS is stored in information technology (IT) systems. GAO was asked to examine (1) hospital processes to collect and submit quality data, (2) the extent to which IT facilitates hospitals' collection and submission of quality data, and (3) whether CMS has taken steps to promote the use of IT systems to facilitate the collection and submission of hospital quality data. GAO addressed these issues by conducting case studies of eight hospitals with varying levels of IT development and interviewing relevant officials at CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The alleged August 2006 terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives onboard multiple commercial aircraft bound for the United States from the United Kingdom has highlighted both the continued importance of securing the civil aviation system and the potential that improvised explosive devices (IED) may be smuggled onboard passenger aircraft. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has primary responsibility for ensuring the security of civil aviation, which includes the safety of passengers and flight crew. One measure TSA uses to protect the aviation system is prohibiting individuals from carrying items that it determines to be a threat to the aircraft and its passengers into an airport sterile area or onboard an aircraft either in their carry-on bag or on their person. To implement this measure, TSA maintains a prohibited items list that informs both the Transportation Security Officers (TSO) who conduct passenger screening and the traveling public of items that will not be allowed into an airport sterile area or onboard an aircraft. In December 2005, TSA revised its prohibited items list to allow passengers to carry: (1) metal scissors with pointed tips and a blade 4 inches or less …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of concerns about changes in Earth's climate due to greenhouse gas emissions and the potential economic and environmental consequences of these changes, GAO (1) inventoried greenhouse gas emissions generated by legislative branch operations in fiscal year 2006, as well as identified trends in emissions starting from a base year of the average annual amount emitted in fiscal years 1998 through 2001, and (2) identified a strategy for reducing emissions. To perform this work, GAO followed the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and additional guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency, using data provided by officials responsible for legislative branch operations and the General Services Administration."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress established two key programs to help support air service to small communities--the Essential Air Service (EAS) providing about $100 million in subsidies per year and the Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) that provides about $20 million per year in grants. As part of its reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Congress is examining the status and outcomes of these programs. This testimony discusses (1) the history and challenges of the EAS program, (2) the implementation and outcomes of the SCASDP and (3) options for reforming EAS and SCASDP. The testimony is based on previous GAO reports, interviews with Department of Transportation officials and industry representatives as well as program updates."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In testimony before this committee and the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security in February 2007, GAO stated that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not made its management or operational decisions transparent enough to allow Congress to be sure that the Department is effectively, efficiently, and economically using its billions of dollars of annual funding. GAO also noted that its work for Congress to assess DHS's operations has, at times, been significantly hampered by long delays in obtaining access to program documents. Following the aforementioned testimonies, GAO was asked to testify about its access issues. This testimony provides information on (1) the scope of GAO's work, (2) GAO protocols for accessing agency information, (3) DHS processes for working with GAO, (4) access issues GAO has encountered, and (5) steps GAO has taken to address these issues."

The Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) is a single, highly integrated technical program for maintaining the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The SSP uses past nuclear test data along with current and future nonnuclear test data, computational modeling and simulation, and experimental facilities to advance understanding of nuclear weapons. It includes stockpile surveillance, experimental research, development and engineering programs, and an appropriately scaled production capability to support stockpile requirements. This integrated national program requires the continued use of current facilities and programs along with new experimental facilities and computational enhancements to support these programs. The Advanced Simulation and Computing Program (ASC) is a cornerstone of the SSP, providing simulation capabilities and computational resources to support the annual stockpile assessment and certification, to study advanced nuclear-weapons design and manufacturing processes, to analyze accident scenarios and weapons aging, and to provide the tools to enable Stockpile Life Extension Programs (SLEPs) and the resolution of Significant Finding Investigations (SFIs). This requires a balanced resource, including technical staff, hardware, simulation software, and computer science solutions. In its first decade, the ASC strategy focused on demonstrating simulation capabilities of unprecedented scale in three spatial dimensions. In its second decade, ASC is focused on …

Geothermal exploration and subsequent characterization of potential resources typically employ a variety of geophysical, geologic and geochemical techniques. However, since the data collected by each technique provide information directly on only one or a very limited set of the many physical parameters that characterize a geothermal system, no single method can be used to describe the system in its entirety. Presently, the usual approach to analyzing disparate data streams for geothermal applications is to invert (or forward model) each data set separately and then combine or compare the resulting models, for the most part in a more or less ad hoc manner. However, while each inversion may yield a model that fits the individual data set, the models are usually inconsistent with each other to some degree. This reflects uncertainties arising from the inevitable fact that geophysical and other exploration data in general are to some extent noisy, incomplete, and of limited sensitivity and resolution, and so yield non-unique results. The purpose of the project described here is to integrate the different model constraints provided by disparate geophysical, geological and geochemical data in a rigorous and consistent manner by formal joint inversion. The objective is to improve the fidelity of …

The response of a recently acquired Canberra{trademark} Alpha Analyst 'Blue' system (Chamber Number's 173-208) used by the Hazards Control, Radiation Safety Section, WBC/Spectroscopy Team has been studied with respect to an existing Canberra system. The existing Canberra system consists of thirty Alpha Analyst dual chambers Model XXXX comprising a total of sixty detectors (Chambers Number's 101-124 and 137-172). The existing chambers were previously compared to an older system consisting of thirty-six Model 7401 alpha spectrometry chambers (Chamber Number's 1-36) Chambers 101-124 and 137-172 are DOELAP accredited. The older system was previously DOELAP accredited for the routine Alpha Spectroscopy program used in LLNL's in vitro bioassay program. The newly acquired Alpha Analyst system operates on a network with software that controls and performs analysis of the current Alpha Analyst system (Chamber Number's 101-124 and 137-172). This exact same software is used for the current system and the newly acquired system and is DOELAP accredited. This document compares results from the existing Alpha System with the newer Alpha Analyst system.

The carbon-to-oxygen ratios and graphitic nature of a rangeof black carbon standard reference materials (BC SRMs), high molecularmass humic-like substances (HULIS) and atmospheric particles are examinedusing scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) coupled with nearedge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. UsingSTXM/NEXAFS, individual particles with diameter>100 nm are studied,thus the diversity of atmospheric particles collected during a variety offield missions is assessed. Applying a semi-quantitative peak fittingmethod to the NEXAFS spectra enables a comparison of BC SRMs and HULIS toparticles originating from anthropogenic combustion and biomass burns,thus allowing determination of the suitability of these materials forrepresenting atmospheric particles. Anthropogenic combustion and biomassburn particles can be distinguished from one another using both chemicalbonding and structural ordering information. While anthropogeniccombustion particles are characterized by a high proportion ofaromatic-C, the presence of benzoquinone and are highly structurallyordered, biomass burn particles exhibit lower structural ordering, asmaller proportion of aromatic-C and contain a much higher proportion ofoxygenated functional groups.

A treatability study was conducted at Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant's (RBAAP) Site 17, to evaluate the effectiveness of a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) for the treatment of hexavalent chromium (Cr{sup 6+}). The chromium contamination at Site 17 is hydrologically isolated and unsuitable for standard extraction and treatment (pump and treat). The majority of the chromium contamination at Site 17 is trapped within the fine grain sediments of a clay/slit zone (45 to 63). The PRB was established above and adjacent to the contaminated zone at Site 17 to reduce the hexavalent chromium as it leaches out of the contaminated clay/silt zone separating the A zone from the A zone. Site 17 and the monitoring network are described in the In-Situ Chromium Reduction Treatability Study Work Plan (CH2MHILL, January 2004). The PRB was created by reducing naturally occurring Fe{sup 3+} to Fe{sup 2+} with the injection of a buffered sodium dithionite solution into subsurface chromium source area. The Cr{sup 6+} leaching out of the contaminated clay/silt zone and migrating through the PRB is reduced by Fe{sup 2+} to Cr{sup 3+} and immobilized (Amonette, et al., 1994). The sodium dithionite will also reduce accessible Cr{sup 6+}, however the long-term reductant is the …

The electronic structure of nanowires in contact withmetallic electrodes of experimentally relevant sizes is calculated byincorporating the electrostatic polarization potential into the atomisticsingle particle Schrodinger equation. We show that the presence of anelectrode produces localized electron/hole states near the electrode, aphenomenon only exhibited in nanostructures and overlooked in the past.This phenomenon will have profound implications on electron transport insuch nanosystems. We calculate several electrode/nanowire geometries,with varying contact depths and nanowire radii. We demonstrate the changein the band gap of up to 0.5 eV in 3 nm diameter CdSe nanowires andcalculate the magnitude of the applied electric field necessary toovercome the localization.

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Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives congratulating Vincent Paul Young, Jr., for his selection as Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives in memory of Stephen Robert Sandler.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives recognizing United Parcel Service of America, Incorporated, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives recognizing April 17, 2007, as Texas Retired Educators Day.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring Deetrice Wallace for being named the 2007 Harris County Teacher of the Year.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Assistance League of Austin.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to welcoming Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez home to Texas following his retirement from the U.S. Army.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring Charles "Tex" Harrison of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating September 2007 as Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of Donna Annita High of Paris.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of Commissioner Micheal Roger Blackburn of Lamar County.