This report provides an overview of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) budget and operations, with a focus on the Administration's FY2009 budget request for ATF.

This report discusses S. 2191 (the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008), which was reintroduced as S. 3036 with a deficit reduction amendment. In particular, it provides a comparison of five key differences between the bill and the proposed Boxer Amendment.

This report discusses S. 2191 (the Lieberman-Warner CLimate Security Act of 2008), which was reintroduced as S. 3036 with a deficit reduction amendment. In particular, it provides a comparison of five key differences between the bill and the proposed Boxer Amendment.

This report discusses concerns over climate change, often termed “global warming,” which have emerged both in the United States and internationally as major policy issues. The report discusses different treaties that address climate change, and other international meetings.

This report analyzes the war funding for the Defense Department and tracks funding for USAID and VA Medical funding.

This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, a historical overview of debt limits, and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter formally transmits the briefing in response to section 957(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 and the accompanying conference report. The act required the Comptroller General to conduct an assessment of the most recent reorganization of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) has long suffered from contract and management oversight weaknesses. Since 1990 DOE contract management has been on GAO's list of programs at high risk for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. In 2003 DOE's Office of Science (Science) unveiled its 20-year plan to acquire and upgrade potentially costly research facilities. In light of DOE's history and the potential cost of this ambitious plan, GAO was asked to examine Science's project management performance. GAO determined (1) the extent to which Science has managed its projects within cost and schedule targets, (2) the factors affecting project management performance, and (3) challenges that may affect Science's future performance. GAO reviewed DOE and Science's project management guidance and 42 selected Science projects and also interviewed DOE and laboratory officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 included provisions regarding mental health concerns and traumatic brain injury (TBI). GAO addressed these issues as required by the Act. In this report GAO discusses (1) DOD efforts to implement pre-deployment mental health screening; (2) how post-deployment mental health referrals are tracked; and (3) screening requirements for mild TBI. GAO selected the Army, Marine Corps, and Army National Guard for the review. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed DOD officials and conducted site visits to three military installations where the pre-deployment health assessment was being conducted."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has a demanding responsibility enforcing banking laws, regulating financial institutions, and protecting depositors. Effective information security controls are essential to ensure that FDIC systems and information are adequately protected from inadvertent misuse, fraudulent, or improper disclosure. As part of its audit of FDIC's 2007 financial statements, GAO assessed (1) the progress FDIC has made in mitigating previously reported information security weaknesses and (2) the effectiveness of FDIC's controls in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its financial systems and information. To do this, GAO examined security policies, procedures, reports, and other documents; observed controls over key financial applications; and interviewed key FDIC personnel."

This report explores the various issues currently facing Congress in regards to intelligence and counterterrorism activities, including the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (P.L. 108-458), signed in December 2004; the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which that act created; the importance of collaborative efforts between various intelligence agencies to successfully carry out counterterrorism measures; and other pieces of legislation relevant to such matters.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "An international peer review team with representatives from the supreme audit institutions of Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom reviewed the quality assurance system that GAO has established for managing its performance audit practice. GAO's quality assurance system encompasses its organizational structure and the policies and procedures established to provide it with reasonable assurance that it complies with Government Auditing Standards. GAO is responsible for the design of its quality assurance system and compliance with it, including the quality of its products. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on whether the system is suitably designed and operating effectively to meet its objective. The criteria the peer review team used to assess GAO's quality assurance system were drawn from GAO legislative authorities, Government Auditing Standards, 2003, and early adopted portions of the 2007 Revision, and the GAO performance audit manual. The peer review team conducted the review in accordance with the peer review standards in Government Auditing Standards, 2003, and early adopted portions of the 2007 Revision. The peer review team examined GAO's documented policies and procedures relative to applicable professional standards, reviewed documentation …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The financing of the $299 billion Medicaid program is shared between the federal government and states. States pay qualified providers for covered Medicaid services and receive federal matching funds from the Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for expenditures authorized in their state Medicaid plans. In addition to these standard Medicaid payments, most states make supplemental payments to certain providers, which are also matched by federal funds. GAO was asked for information about Medicaid supplemental payments. GAO examined (1) what information states report about supplemental payments on Medicaid expenditure reports and (2) in selected states, how much was distributed as supplemental payments, to what types of providers, and for what purposes. GAO analyzed CMS's Medicaid expenditure reports and surveyed five states that make large supplemental payments."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Military operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism, particularly those in Iraq and Afghanistan, have challenged the Department of Defense's (DOD) ability to provide needed ground forces. Section 354 of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act directed GAO to report on a number of military readiness issues. In this report, GAO addresses (1) the extent to which DOD's use of nonstandard forces to meet ground force requirements has impacted the force and (2) the extent to which DOD has faced challenges in managing the training and use of these forces, and taken steps to address any challenges. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed DOD policies, guidance, and data and interviewed department, joint, combatant command, and service officials as well as trainers and over 300 deploying, deployed, and redeploying servicemembers."

This report tracks nominations made by President George W. Bush to judgeships on the U.S. courts of appeals, the U.S. district courts, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. It lists and keeps count of all nominations made to these courts during the 110th Congress, including pertinent actions taken by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate. It also tracks the number of judicial vacancies on the courts (including vacancies classified by the federal judiciary as "judicial emergencies"), the number of nominations pending to fill the vacancies, and the names of the pending nominees. It presents the number of persons nominated by President Bush to each category of lower Article III court during his entire presidency (breaking down each total to show the number confirmed, pending, returned and not re-nominated, and withdrawn). Last, it provides a tabular comparison of President Bush's lower court nominee statistics with those of the four Presidents who immediately preceded him.

This report summarizes important recent developments in Pakistan and in Pakistan-U.S. relations. These include high-profile political assassinations in early 2011; the Raymond Davis affair involving a CIA operative accused of murder in the city of Lahore; and the May killing of Osama bin Laden in the city of Abbottabad, among others. The report also summarizes key issues in the bilateral relationship.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Government agencies have a long-standing obligation under the Privacy Act of 1974 to protect the privacy of individuals about whom they collect personal information. A number of additional laws have been enacted in recent years directing agency heads to designate senior officials as focal points with overall responsibility for privacy. GAO was asked to (1) describe laws and guidance that set requirements for senior privacy officials within federal agencies, and (2) describe the organizational structures used by agencies to address privacy requirements and assess whether senior officials have oversight over key functions. To achieve these objectives, GAO analyzed the laws and related guidance and analyzed policies and procedures relating to key privacy functions at 12 agencies."

This report discusses a bill providing $212.2 billion in supplemental appropriations for FY2008 and FY2009. The measure includes $169.1 billion for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, $9.9 billion for international affairs programs, and $33.1 billion for domestic programs, of which $15.6 billion is for extended unemployment compensation.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the World Trade Center (WTC) attack, the Congress appropriated more than $8 billion to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency for response and recovery activities. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received some of this funding to establish health screening and monitoring programs for responders to the disaster and later received additional appropriations to fund treatment. In total, about $369.2 million has been appropriated or awarded for the WTC health programs. GAO previously reported on problems that these programs have had in ensuring the availability of services for all responders. GAO was asked to examine lessons from the WTC health programs that could guide future programs. GAO examined (1) lessons from the programs' experience and (2) HHS actions or plans that incorporate the lessons. GAO interviewed WTC health program officials and other experts and reviewed DHS and HHS documents."

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Constitutionality of section 41(e)(3) of the Probate Code, which permits a probate court to declare that a parent may not inherit from his own child if the parent has been convicted of one of several crimes against a child (RQ-0649-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether an educational institution violates article 6228a-5, section 9(a)(4)–(7) of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes if the institution contracts with a third-party administrator that is owned by or otherwise affiliated with a company that sells qualified 403(b) investment products to the institutions employees (RQ-0653-GA)

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies are required to use the procedures contained in OMB Circular A-76 in determining whether commercial services should be performed by government personnel or through contracts with private-sector entities. In general, the circular instructs agencies to base these decisions on competitions among public and private-sector entities conducted in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Under the FAR, agencies have broad discretion in establishing the criteria they will use to select the winners of these competitions. An agency may decide, for example, that selection of the lowest priced, acceptable offer would best meet its needs. The FAR advises that this may be appropriate when requirements are clearly defined and the risk of unsuccessful performance is minimal. On the other hand, the FAR says that it may be in the best interest of an agency to provide for selecting other than the low offer when requirements are less definite, development work is required, or the risk of unsuccessful performance is high. An evaluation scheme that allows for considering the relative importance of both price and technical factors (such as an offeror's management capability, experience, or ability to apply …

This report describes provisions in the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-234) related to Section 32 appropriations and how non-transferred money (funding not put toward child nutrition programs) may be spent. It includes an overfiew of how Section 32 funds have generally been used and the implications of the new restrictions.