This report discusses the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which was created by Title I of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322). The mission of the COPS program is to advance community policing in all jurisdictions across the United States. Legislation introduced in the 111th Congress would reauthorize the COPS program through FY2014 and reestablish COPS as a multi-grant program. This report provides an overview and analysis of issues Congress might choose to consider when taking up legislation to reauthorize the COPS program.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 24 agencies participating in the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative made progress towards the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) goal to close 40 percent, or 1,253 of the 3,133 total federal data centers, by the end of 2015, but OMB has not measured agencies’ progress against its other goal of $3 billion in cost savings by the end of 2015. Agencies closed 420 data centers by the end of December 2012, and have plans to close an additional 548 to reach 968 by December 2015—285 closures short of OMB’s goal. OMB has not determined agencies’ progress against its cost savings goal because, according to OMB staff, the agency has not determined a consistent and repeatable method for tracking cost savings. This lack of information makes it uncertain whether the $3 billion in savings is achievable by the end of 2015. Until OMB tracks and reports on performance measures such as cost savings, it will be limited in its ability to oversee agencies’ progress against key goals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 21 communities surrounding the 23 Department of Defense (DOD) installations closed in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round have used strategies such as forming a local redevelopment authority and seeking federal grants to deal with the closures. Some economic data for these communities are comparable to national averages, with some variation. For instance, GAO found that 52 percent (11 of 21) of communities had unemployment rates lower than the national average of 8.9 percent, although the rates ranged from a low of 6.1 percent to a high of 16.8 percent. Sixty-two percent (13 of 21) of the closure communities had real per capita income growth rates higher than the national average of 0.14 percent for the period from 2006 through 2011. Since 2005, 23 other installations have experienced population increases that have resulted in net growth of about 191,000 military and civilian personnel (a 36 percent increase), and their corresponding communities have used several strategies to accommodate this growth, including forming a regional working group composed of representatives from affected jurisdictions."

Effective radioprotection for human space travelers hinges upon understanding the individual properties of charged particles. A significant fraction of particle radiation astronauts will encounter in space exploratory missions will come from high energy protons in galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and/or possible exposures to lower energy proton flux from solar particle events (SPEs). These potential exposures present major concerns for NASA and others, in planning and executing long term space exploratory missions. We recently reported cell survival and transformation (acquisition of anchorage-independent growth in soft agar) frequencies in apparently normal NFF-28 primary human fibroblasts exposed to 0-30 cGy of 50MeV, 100MeV (SPE-like), or 1000 MeV (GCR-like) monoenergetic protons. These were modeled after 1989 SPE energies at an SPE-like low dose-rate (LDR) of 1.65 cGy/min or high dose rate (HDR) of 33.3 cGy/min delivered at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at BNL.

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This report details the chemical and radionuclide contaminant results for the characterization of the 2013 First Quarter sampling of Tank 50 for the Saltstone Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC). Information from this characterization will be used by Waste Solidification Engineering (WSE) to support the transfer of low-level aqueous waste from Tank 50 to the Salt Feed Tank in the Saltstone Facility in Z-Area, where the waste will be immobilized. This information is also used to update the Tank 50 Waste Characterization System. The following conclusions are drawn from the analytical results provided in this report: SRR WAC targets or limits were met for all analyzed chemical and radioactive contaminates unless noted in this section; {sup 59}Ni, {sup 94}Nb, {sup 247}Cm, {sup 249}Cf, and {sup 251}Cf are above the requested SRR target concentrations. However, they are below the detection limits established by SRNL; Norpar 13 and Isopar L have higher detection limits compared with the Saltstone WAC. The data provided in this report is based upon the concentrations in the sub-sample, and due to the limited solubility in aqueous solution, may not represent the concentrations of the analytes in Tank 50; and, The low insoluble solids content increases the measurement uncertainty for …

This report focuses on some of the federal regulatory programs overseeing storage of ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonia by retailers. It discusses federal occupational safety, environmental, and security statutes and regulations applicable to each chemical. Select policy issues regarding these federal regulatory programs will be highlighted.

This report discusses the current issues in Burma (Myanmar) in regards to political prisoners and the resulting U.S. sanctions against the nation. It includes an introduction and definitions; information about current estimates of prisoners and prisoner releases; the relation of political prisoners, parliamentary elections and national reconciliation; and U.S. sanctions and U.S. efforts regarding political prisoners, as well as relevant issues for Congress to consider.

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At the beginning of 2013, Congress enacted the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which made certain modifications to the child tax credit enacted in 2001 and 2003 permanent, while extending other modifications made in 2009 temporary for five years. This report contains information on current law, who is eligible to claim the child tax credit, economic analysis, policy proposals and options, and figures related to the child tax credit.

This report considers the acquisition of new planes for the Air Force. Specifically, the report considers budgetary issues.

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Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to creation of the Judicial Branch Certification Commission and the consolidation of judicial profession regulation.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the regulation of speech-language pathology and audiology.

Joint resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate proposing a constitutional amendment to eliminate an obsolete requirement for a State Medical Education Board and a State Medical Education Fund.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to prepaid funeral benefits contracts.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to extending a local behavioral health intervention pilot project.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the number of members of the Texas Historical Commission.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the elimination of the licensing and registration requirements for ringside physicians and timekeepers for combative sports events.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the documentary fee charged in connection with the sale of certain recreational vehicles and boats.

Proceedings of the Senate of Texas for the 58th day of the regular session of the 83rd Legislature documenting legislation, reports, discussions, votes, and points-of-order.

Humans may b exposed to highly energetic charged particle radiation as a result of medical treatments, occupational activitie or accidental events. In recent years, our increasing presence and burgeoning interest in space exploration beyond low Earth orbit has led to a large increase in the research of the biological effects ofcharged particle radiation typical of that encountered in the space radiation environment. The study of the effects of these types of radiation qualities in terms ofDNA damage induction and repair is fundamental to understand mechanisms both underlying their greater biological effectiveness as we)) as the short and long term risks of health effects such as carcinogenesis, degen rative diseases and premature aging. Charged particle radiation induces a variety of DNA alterations, notably bistranded clustered damages, defined as two or more closely-opposed strand break , oxidized bases or abasic sites within a few helical turns. The induction of such highly complex DNA damage enhances the probability of incorrect or incomplete repair and thus constitutes greater potential for genomic instability, cell death and transformation.