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Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

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President Clinton requested $75.469 billion for R&D in FY1998, a 2.2% increase over FY1997. However, this request would have increased the actual conduct of R&D less than 2.2% due to a proposed 50% increase associated with upfront funding for major research facilities, mostly in DOE.

Trade and trade-related issues are prominent parts of the agenda of the 103rd Congress. The Congress has already acted on some issues, in particular the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It will have to consider legislation to implement the trade agreements reached during the Uruguay Round of the GATT, which was completed on Dec. 15,1993.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a taxing unit is entitled to the exception from the waiver of sovereign immunity for claims arising from tax collection under the Texas Tort Claims Act when it acquires real property pursuant to section 34.05 of the Tax Code (RQ-2046)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Authority of the El Paso County Juvenile Probation Board to enter into contracts or authorize expenditures without the commissioners court's approval (RQ-939)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county’s single-employer, self-funded medical benefit plan is subject to certain provisions of the Insurance Code, and related questions (RQ-508)

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Appointment of a fire department head under Government Code section 419.032, appointment of and temporary fil-in workof a part-time fire protection employee under Government Code section419.0321, and rule-making authority to define duties related to fire suppression as used in Government Code section 419.0321 (ID# 22316)

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Border Patrol hiring, focusing on: (1) the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) ability to meet its 5-year goal to increase the Border Patrol's onboard strength by 1,000 agents each year from fiscal years (FY) 1997 through 2001; (2) INS' efforts to improve its recruiting efforts and hiring process; (3) changes in the years of experience and level of supervision of Border Patrol agents during INS' increased hiring; and (4) the ability of INS' basic training program to support the pace at which Border Patrol agents have been hired, including whether the Border Patrol Academy anticipates having the capacity to meet future growth."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the District of Columbia's management of the development of the Comprehensive Automated Personnel and Payroll System (CAPPS), focusing on whether the District has effectively planned and managed CAPPS."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the conduct and findings of the Air Force's Ranch Hand study on the long-term health effects of exposure to herbicides, such as Agent Orange, in Vietnam, and assessed the study's impact on determinations of veterans' compensation, focusing on: (1) whether the study's findings and data have been properly and promptly reported and disseminated; (2) the statistical limitations of the study and whether they have been adequately reported and communicated; (3) the measures established to monitor the study's conduct and to prevent improper influence, particularly those involving the Ranch Hand Study's Advisory Committee; and (4) the impact of the study on determinations of diseases for which Vietnam veterans are eligible to receive compensation benefits."

The ground-state band of the Z=102 isotope {sup 254}No has been identified up to spin 14, indicating that the nucleus is deformed. The deduced quadruple deformation, {beta} = 0.27, is in agreement with theoretical predictions. These observations confirm that the shell-correction energy responsible for the stability of transfermium nuclei is partly derived from deformation. The survival of {sup 254}No up to spin 14 means that its fission barrier persists at least up to that spin.

EQPT is a data file preprocessor for the EQ3/6 software package. EQ3/6 currently contains five primary data files, called datao files. These files comprise alternative data sets. These data files contain both standard state and activity coefficient-related data. Three (com, sup, and nea) support the use of the Davies or B-dot equations for the activity coefficients; the other two (hmw and pit) support the use of Pitzer`s (1973, 1975) equations. The temperature range of the thermodynamic data on these data files varies from 25{degrees}C only to 0-300{degrees}C. The principal modeling codes in EQ3/6, EQ3NR and EQ6, do not read a data0 file, however. Instead, these codes read an unformatted equivalent called a data1 file. EQPT writes a datal file, using the corresponding data0 file as input. In processing a data0 file, EQPT checks the data for common errors, such as unbalanced reactions. It also conducts two kinds of data transformation. Interpolating polynomials are fit to data which are input on temperature adds. The coefficients of these polynomials are then written on the datal file in place of the original temperature grids. A second transformation pertains only to data files tied to Pitzer`s equations. The commonly reported observable Pitzer coefficient parameters …

Earlier this year the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory achieved ''first plasma''. The Central Instrumentation and Control System was used to support plasma operations. Major elements of the system include the Process Control System, Plasma Control System, Network System, Data Acquisition System, and Synchronization System. This paper will focus on the Process Control System. Topics include the architecture, hardware interface, operator interface, data management, and system performance.

We are in the midst of constructing an amplifier laboratory (Arnplab) that will be the physics and engineering proving ground for fill sized segmented glass amplifiers of designs that will outfit the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and Laser Megajoule (LMJ) projects. Amplab will demonstrate the cornerstone mechanical, electrical and optical concepts that support the NW and LMJ amplifier schemes. Here we address the optical diagnostics that will be used to characterize optical performance of the amplifiers. We describe, the apparatus that will be used in pulsed measurements of gain distribution and wave-front distortions. The large aperture diagnostic system or LADS, is now being built through a collaborative effort between CEL-V and LLNL. The LADS will provide measurements of gain and wave front distortions over the fill extracting aperture of the NIF and LMJ prototype amplifiers. The LADS will be able to address each of eight apertures via motorized stages and following semi-automated alignment, take data on the aperture of interest. The LADS should be operational in mid-1997 at LLNL and will be used to characterize the optical performance of the very first fill scale prototype 4 x 2 NIF and LMJ amplifiers. It will be transported to Bordeaux, France to …

The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is a major receiver of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) for disposal. Currently, all LLW received at NTS is shipped by truck. The trucks use highway routes to NTS that pass through the Las Vegas Valley and over Hoover Dam, which is a concern of local stakeholder groups in the State of Nevada. Rail service offers the opportunity to reduce transportation risks and costs, according to the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (WM-PEIS). However, NTS and some DOE LLW generator sites are not served with direct rail service so intermodal transport is under consideration. Intermodal transport involves transport via two modes, in this case truck and rail, from the generator sites to NTS. LLW shipping containers would be transferred between trucks and railcars at intermodal transfer points near the LLW generator sites, NTS, or both. An Environmental Assessment (EA)for Intermodal Transportation of Low-Level Radioactive Waste to the Nevada Test Site (referred to as the NTSIntermodal -M) has been prepared to determine whether there are environmental impacts to alterations to the current truck routing or use of intermodal facilities within the State of Nevada. However, an analysis of the potential impacts outside the State of Nevada …