Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring Emma Jean Schulle on her retirement as the Caldwell County district clerk.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to recognizing March 28, 2007, as Paris/Lamar County Day at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to recognizing March 27 and 28, 2007, as Longview/Gregg County Days at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to commending the Together Rx Access card program and participating pharmaceutical companies for their efforts to help uninsured Texans get prescription medication at reduced rates.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of David Lee Crowson of Longview.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Homer L. Thornton, Jr., of Paris, Texas, on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the next 5 years the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) expects to invest $49 billion in the Ballistic Missile Defense System's (BMDS) development and fielding. MDA's strategy is to field new capabilities in 2-year blocks. In January 2006, MDA initiated its second block--Block 2006--to protect against attacks from North Korea and the Middle East. Congress requires GAO to assess MDA's progress annually. GAO's March 2007 report addressed MDA's progress during fiscal year 2006 and followed up on program oversight issues and the current status of MDA's quality assurance program. GAO assessed the progress of each element being developed by MDA, examined acquisition laws applicable to major acquisition programs, and reviewed the impact of implemented quality initiatives."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This is the companion product to GAO-07-413. This document presents selected results of GAO's survey of the departments of transportation (DOT) in 50 states and the District of Columbia to obtain information on the extent to which states have implemented practices to make roads safer for older drivers. The questions in our survey were posed to obtain information on the extent to which states have incorporated Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recommendations to design roads with features to enhance safety for older drivers, reasons for state DOTs rejecting FHWA recommendations, the proportion of practitioners that have been trained in state DOTs to implement FHWA recommendations, and the extent to which states have developed plans and programmed projects for older driver safety. The survey was e-mailed to DOT officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and we obtained a response from each of the survey recipients. We do not include responses for all survey questions. Specifically, this document does not include narrative responses that we received. Additionally, this document does not contain responses to questions 4 and 6 because many states did not answer these …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian) is the world's largest museum complex and research organization. The age of the Smithsonian's structures, past inattention to maintenance needs, and high visitation levels have left its facilities in need of revitalization and repair. This testimony discusses our prior work on some effects of the condition of the Smithsonian's facilities and whether the Smithsonian has taken steps to maximize facility resources. It also discusses the current estimated costs of the Smithsonian's needed facilities projects. In addition, it describes preliminary results of GAO's ongoing work on the extent to which the Smithsonian developed and implemented strategies to fund these projects, as GAO recommended in prior work. The work for this testimony is based on GAO's 2005 report, Smithsonian Institution: Facilities Management Reorganization Is Progressing, but Funding Remains a Challenge; GAO's review of Smithsonian documents and other pertinent information; and interviews with Smithsonian officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is implementing three tax system changes during the 2007 filing season that potentially could impact compliance by taxpayers as well as IRS's service to taxpayers. These changes are (1) the telephone excise tax refund (TETR), which can be requested by all individuals and entities that paid the excise tax regardless of whether they have an obligation to file a tax return, (2) the option to deposit refunds into up to three accounts, hereafter referred to as the split refund option, and (3) the extension of some tax provisions that had expired, hereafter referred to as the extender provisions. Because the 2007 filing season may be complicated by these changes, the Senate Committee on Finance asked GAO to determine the effects of these changes on compliance and taxpayer service including (1) the number of individuals or entities affected by these changes, (2) how the changes were expected to affect compliance and the results of compliance activities to date, and (3) the impact of the changes on returns processing and taxpayer service. GAO analyzed IRS documents and data from IRS databases and interviewed …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As people age, their physical, visual, and cognitive abilities may decline, making it more difficult for them to drive safely. Older drivers are also more likely to suffer injuries or die in crashes than drivers in other age groups. These safety issues will increase in significance because older adults represent the fastest-growing U.S. population segment. GAO examined (1) what the federal government has done to promote practices to make roads safer for older drivers and the extent to which states have implemented those practices, (2) the extent to which states assess the fitness of older drivers and what support the federal government has provided, and (3) what initiatives selected states have implemented to improve the safety of older drivers. To conduct this study, GAO surveyed 51 state departments of transportation (DOT), visited six states, and interviewed federal transportation officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In light of the pressing need for rental housing affordable to low-income households and concerns that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) may not be committed to maintaining its Section 8 project-based housing stock--a key source of such housing--Congress directed GAO to assess HUD's efforts to preserve its project-based housing and recommend ways to improve these efforts. This report discusses (1) patterns in the volume and characteristics of HUD's Section 8 project-based properties; (2) tools and incentives that are available to encourage property owners to stay in the program; and (3) the views of property owners, managers, and industry representatives on HUD's preservation efforts. To address these issues, GAO analyzed HUD data, reviewed pertinent legislation and regulations, and interviewed HUD officials and industry representatives."

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This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, that would produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.

The 2001 recession was unusually mild and brief by historical standards. At 120 months, the expansion that preceded it had been the longest in U.S. history. Is this a coincidence? A body of research concludes that it is not. This report discusses several theories for what caused this phenomenon.

This report is about new directions from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the 110th Congress.

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According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the release of waste from animal feedlots to surface water, groundwater, soil, and air is associated with a range of human health and ecological impacts and contributes to the degradation of the nation's surface waters. This report provides background on the revised environmental rules, the previous Clean Water Act rules and the Clinton Administration proposal, and perspectives of key interest groups on the proposal and final regulations. It also identifies several issues that could be of congressional interest as the implementation of the revised rules proceeds.

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This report is on The Anticipated Effects of Depository Institutions Paying Interest on Checking Accounts.

This report reviews recent incidents of fraud and deception relating to seafood and examines several policy issues. Congress may become involved in oversight of how federal agencies are addressing these issues, and legislation related to these concerns may be introduced.

This report reviews the types of air emissions from livestock and poultry operations and their human health and environmental impacts. It then discusses provisions of several federal laws concerned with environmental impacts, beginning with the Clean Water Act, because protecting water resources has been the primary regulatory focus regarding livestock and animal operations.

On June 30th, 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations that would revise a 2003 Clean Water Act rule governing waste discharges from large confined animal feeding operations. This proposal was necessitated by a 2005 federal court decision, resulting from challenges brought by agriculture industry groups and environmental advocacy groups, that vacated parts of the 2003 rule and remanded other parts of analysis and clarification.