Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to post-conviction DNA testing

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to information required to be placed in a pen packet accompanying a defendant on transfer from county jail to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the regulation of certain occupations by the Texas Real Estate Commission.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring the life of John Lance Foster of Midland.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring the life of Jay Jahnke of Houston.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of B. R. Ralston "Boots" Douglas of Lacy-Lakeview.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring the First Baptist Church of Mart on its 125th anniversary.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating May 1, 2003, as Law Day in the State of Texas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating April 2003 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Texas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating April 20-26, 2003, as Minority Cancer Awareness Week in Texas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to recognizing April 29, 2003, as Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating April 29, 2003, as Dale Earnhardt Day in Texas.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to continuation and functions of the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the continuation and functions of the State Board of Dental Examiners.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the regulation of boilers.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to in memory of J. Hugh Liedtke of Houston.

The primary focus of this issue brief is legislative action in the 108th Congress with respect to abortion. However, discussion of those legislative proposals necessarily involves a brief discussion of the leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy. For a more detailed discussion of the relevant case law, see CRS Report 95-724, Abortion Law Development: A Brief Overview.

This report provides an overview of the existing aviation tax structure and provides a brief discussion of some of the issues associated with it.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2000 and 2002, Maine and Arizona held the nation's first elections under voluntary programs that offered full state funding for political candidates who ran for legislative and certain statewide offices. The goals of these programs, passed as ballot initiatives by citizens in these states, included increasing electoral competition and curbing increases in the cost of campaigns. Congress has considered legislation for public financing of congressional elections nearly every session since 1956, although no law has been enacted. In the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (P.L. 107-155 (2002)), Congress mandated that GAO study the results of the unique public financing programs in Maine and Arizona. For the 2000 and 2002 elections in Maine and Arizona, this report provides: (1) statistics on the number of candidates who chose to campaign with public funds and the number who were elected; and (2) observations, based on limited data, regarding the extent to which the goals of the public funding programs were met."

This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competition.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, prosecuting the global war on terrorism became the United States' primary foreign policy priority. The United States focused its initial efforts on Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom because the country harbored elements of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. As a result, countries in the region--Pakistan and the five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan--became frontline states in the war on terrorism, raising the profile of U.S. relations with these countries."

This report provides an overview of U.S. policy concerns and relations with countries in central Asia. The report discusses issues such as Fostering Pro-Western Orientations, Obstacles to Peace and Independence, Democratization and Human Rights, Security and Arms Control, Trade and Investment, and provides an Aid Overview.

The 108th Congress has resumed efforts to pass tax incentives for private giving (S. 476, passed by the Senate on April 9, and H.R. 7, introduced May 7, 2003). However, these bills do not contain provisions intended to promote religious organizations as providers of federally funded social services – charitable choice provisions.. The House voted in 2001 to extend charitable choice rules, which now apply to a limited set of programs, to numerous new programs (H.R. 7 in the 107th Congress), as the President urged, but the Senate refused. However, in an Executive Order, President Bush on December 12, 2002, directed six cabinet-level departments and the Agency for International Development (AID) to bring policies concerning social service programs into line with charitable choice principles set forth in the Order.

We used high resolution Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to image compaction of linear and circular DNA by the yeast mitochondrial protein ABF2p , which plays a major role in maintaining mitochondrial DNA. AFM images show that protein binding induces drastic bends in the DNA backbone for both linear and circular DNA. At high concentration of ABF2p DNA collapses into a tight globular structure. We quantified the compaction of linear DNA by measuring the end-to-end distance of the DNA molecule at increasing concentrations of ABF2p. We also derived a polymer statistical mechanics model that gives quantitative description of compaction observed in our experiments. This model shows that a number of sharp bends in the DNA backbone is often sufficient to cause DNA compaction. Comparison of our model with the experimental data showed excellent quantitative correlation and allowed us to determine binding characteristics for ABF2. Our studies indicate that ABF2 compacts DNA through a novel mechanism that involves bending of DNA backbone. We discuss the implications of such a mechanism for mitochondrial DNA maintenance.