This report provides a summary of contested election cases from the 73rd Congress through the 109th Congress, 1933 to 2005. The descriptions primarily provide information concerning the nature of the action and the disposition of the case. The summary is limited to only those cases that were considered by the House of Representatives; cases decided at the state level are beyond the scope of this report.

Section 401 of the Clean Water Act requires that an applicant for a federal license or permit provide a certification that any discharges from the facility will comply with the Act, including water quality standard requirements. Disputes have arisen over the states' exercise of authority under Section 401. Until recently, much of the debate over the Section 401 certification issue has been between states and hydropower interests. A 1994 Supreme Court decision which upheld the states' authority in this area dismayed development and hydroelectric power interest groups. The Court revisited these issues in a 2006 ruling that unanimously upheld the states' authority to condition hydropower licenses. The dispute between states and industry groups about Section 401 authority has been a legislative issue on several occasions, but Congress has not responded by modifying the provision's scope. In addition, there has been interest in clarifying whether Section 401 certification applies to nonpoint source discharges, such as rainfall runoff, as well as point source discharges from pipes or ditches.

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 Federal Reserve notes are eligible as collateral for repurchase agreements under chapters 404 and 2256 of the Government Code—Clarification of Attorney General Opinion GA-0324 (2005) (RQ-0438-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 a county participating in Operation Linebacker may use Justice Assistance Grant funds to pay its sheriff or a constable compensation, such as overtime, in addition to the salary appropriated in the existing county budget (RQ-0444-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 a county that wishes to abandon a drainage easement or right-of-way should comply with Transportation Code section 251.058(b), Local Government Code section 263.002, or Local Government Code section 272.001 (RQ-0462-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: Sabine County Hospital District’s authority and duties (RQ-0466-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: Authority of a county commissioners court to appoint a county road administrator who is not a road engineer (RQ-0472-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; Appropriate construction of Local Government Code chapter 373A authorizing a city to establish homestead preservation districts and reinvestment zones (RQ-0471-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; Gillespie county attorney's authority to use money in the hot check fund to sponsor a children's book (RQ-0473-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 the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services may contract with a governmental entity to provide substitute care and case management services (RQ-0475-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 the Open Meetings Act requires specific notice of a non-binding vote on a "personal endorsement" motion (RQ-0477-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; Authority of a Type A general-law municipality to annex land outside its extraterritorial jurisdiction (RQ-0480-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; Application of chapter 706 of the Texas Transportation Code, which permits a political subdividion contract with the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide information necessary for the department to deny renewal of the driver's license of a person who fails to appear in court or fails to pay or satisfy a judgement ordering payment of a fine and costs (RQ-0481-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 a deputy sheriff may use a county petrol vehicle to perform off duty security work (RQ-0482-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 s city may use the proceeds of certificates of obligations for a water system improvement project that is different from the one contemplated when the certificates were issued (RQ-0483-GA)

Report reviewing the management and performance of the Wharton Independent School District's (WISD's) educational, financial, and operational functions.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the General Accounting Office's (GAO) Performance Plans for Fiscal Year 2007. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual plan informs the Congress and the American people about what we expect to accomplish on their behalf in the coming fiscal year. It sets forth our plan to make progress toward achieving our strategic goals for serving the Congress and the American people. This framework not only shows the relationship between our strategic goals and strategic objectives, but also show major themes that could potentially affect our work."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Acquisition of products and services from contractors consumes about a quarter of discretionary spending governmentwide and is a key function in many federal agencies. In fiscal year 2005 alone, federal government contracting involved over $388 billion. The work of the government is increasingly being performed by contractors, including in emergency and large-scale logistics operations such as hurricane response and recovery and the war in Iraq. Many agencies rely extensively on contractors to carry out their basic missions. The magnitude of the government's spending and dependence on contractors make it imperative that this function be performed as efficiently and effectively as possible. Yet, acquisition issues are heavily represented on GAO's list of government high-risk areas. In the 21st century, the government needs to reexamine and evaluate its strategic and tactical approaches to acquisition. To identify and discuss the key issues confronting the federal acquisition community, the Comptroller General hosted a forum in July 2006 that brought together acquisition experts from inside and outside the government. Participants shared their insights on challenges and opportunities for improving federal acquisition in an environment of increasing reliance on contractors and severe …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) and Congress have expressed concern with the frequency and length of time that volunteer reservists serve on active duty. In fiscal year 2006, DOD nearly doubled its fiscal year 2005 estimate for the total maximum levels of reservists volunteering to be on active duty for operational support. Congress required GAO to review the reasons behind the increases and expressed an interest in understanding which reservists were being included or excluded from these numbers. In this report, GAO (1) identified the factors that led to the increase in DOD's requests for the maximum number of volunteer reserve personnel authorized to be on active duty for operational support since DOD's initial request in fiscal year 2005 and (2) assessed the extent to which the reserve components have consistently reported the number of reservists serving in an operational support capacity since 2005. In conducting this review, GAO analyzed agency documents and interviewed DOD officials."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Beginning in the late nineteenth century the federal government began an effort to assimilate Indians by transferring them from communal tribal existence to individual land ownership. The Act of February 8, 1887, commonly referred to as the General Allotment Act, initiated the federal government's Indian allotment policy. The act authorized the President to allot parcels of land to individual Indians--generally in sizes of 40, 80, or 160 acres--on Indian reservations and on public lands. The act was implemented by the Department of the Interior's (Interior) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Under this authority, BIA issued millions of acres of individual allotments on Indian reservations, and BLM issued thousands of acres of individual Indian allotments on public lands. However, in 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act largely reversed the federal government's Indian allotment policy and replaced it with a policy that encouraged tribal self-governance. Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act also provided the Secretary of the Interior new authority to acquire land, on and off reservations, on behalf of federally recognized tribes or their members. While the Indian Reorganization Act ended BIA's authority …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The September 11 attacks showed that agencies must balance the need to protect and share sensitive information to prevent future attacks. Agencies classify this information or designate it sensitive but unclassified to protect and limit access to it. The National Archives' Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) assesses agencies' classification management programs, and in July 2004 and April 2005 recommended changes to correct problems at the Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). GAO was asked to examine (1) DOJ's and FBI's progress in implementing the recommendations and (2) the management controls DOJ components have to ensure the proper use of sensitive but unclassified designations. GAO reviewed ISOO's reports and agency documentation on changes implemented and controls in place, and interviewed security program managers at DOJ, its components, and ISOO to examine these issues."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because terrorists do not operate on a 9-5 schedule, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its operational components have established information gathering and analysis centers that conduct activities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Staff at these operations centers work to help detect, deter, and prevent terrorist acts. DHS has determined that out of 25 operations centers, four require higher levels of collaboration that can only be provided by personnel from multiple DHS agencies, and other federal, and sometimes state and local, agencies. For these four multi-agency operations centers, this report (1) describes their missions, products, functions, and customers and (2) assesses the extent to which DHS efforts to promote collaboration among the multiple agencies responsible for the centers reflect key practices for enhancing and sustaining collaborative efforts. To do so, GAO visited operations centers, reviewed data and reports from the centers, and interviewed center and other DHS officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been unable to collect at least $480 million in antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duties. In July 2004, CBP revised its policy regarding the continuous bonds (CB) that importers post. The policy potentially significantly increases the amount of the bonds for affected importers. Following the application of the policy to imports of shrimp as a "test case," U.S. importers and trading partners initiated legal action to prevent CBP from continuing to apply the policy. GAO examined why and how CBP revised its CB policy, how CBP implemented the revised policy, and the effects of the revised policy."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), which number around 100, undertake capital projects to provide appropriate settings for learning, but many face challenges in doing so. In 1992, Congress created the HBCU Capital Financing Program to help HBCUs fund capital projects by offering loans with interest rates near the government's cost of borrowing. We reviewed the program by considering (1) HBCU capital project needs and program utilization, (2) program advantages compared to other sources of funds and schools' views on loan terms, (3) the Department of Education's (Education) program management, and (4) certain schools' perspectives on and Education's plan to implement loan provisions specifically authorized by Congress in June 2006 to assist in hurricane recovery efforts. To conduct our work, we reviewed applicable laws and program materials and interviewed officials from federal agencies and 34 HBCUs."