At various times, Congress has given the President statutory authority not to spend appropriated funds. That authority was elaborated and made more systematic with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which permitted the President to delay the expenditure of funds (deferral authority) and to cancel funds (rescission authority). To rescind funds, the President needed the support of both houses within 45 days.

Concern has been growing that the pace of U.S. technological advancement is declining, with negative consequences for U.S. economic growth, productivity, and international competitiveness. Because technology can contribute to economic growth and productivity increases, congressional interest has focused on how to augment private sector technological development. Legislative activity over the past decade has created a policy for technology development, albeit an ad hoc one. Because of the lack of consensus on the scope and direction of a national policy, Congress has taken an incremental approach aimed at creating new mechanisms to facilitate technological advancement in particular areas and making changes and improvements as necessary.

The 104th Congress enacted four bills modifying provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and held numerous oversight hearings, as EPA and the states continued to implement requirements of the Act's 1990 Amendments. The Amendments set deadlines for issuance of new regulations and attainment of air quality standards.

In response to the foreign challenge in the global marketplace, the United States Congress has explored ways to stimulate technological advancement in the private sector. The government has supported various efforts to promote cooperative research and development activities among industry, universities, and the federal R&D establishment designed to increase the competitiveness of American industry and to encourage the generation of new products, processes, and services. Among the issues before Congress are whether joint ventures contribute to industrial competitiveness and what role, if any, the government has in facilitating such arrangements.

This report examines the economic and political situation in Cuba, including the human rights situation, and U.S. policy toward Cuba. The report also analyzes a number of issues facing Congress in U.S. policy toward Cuba, including: the overall direction of U.S. policy; challenges to U.S. policy in the World Trade Organization; restrictions on commercial food and medical exports; restrictions on travel; bilateral drug trafficking cooperation; Cuba and terrorism; funding for U.S.-government sponsored radio and television broadcasting to Cuba; the Russian signals intelligence facility in Cuba; migration issues; and compensation to the families of those Americans killed in 1996 when Cuba shot down two U.S. civilian planes. The report cites legislation that was passed in the 106th Congress, and also tracks legislative action on these various issues in U.S. policy toward Cuba in the 107th Congress.

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county clerk must file a judgment issued by a "common law court" (RQ-876)

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; Whether the term "organizations" in Government Code section section 2306.028 includes a city (ID# 34647)

Production and decay (CP) asymmetries at {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup {minus}} collider, in extensions of the Standard Model (SM) are reported. Production asymmetries appear to be very promising for a large range of parameters, decays are less effective. Importance of flavor- changing scalar currents involving the top are emphasized. At lepton colliders, the top-anticharm final state is uniquely suited for such searches. At a muon collider there is the novel possibility of tree level {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup {minus}} {r_arrow} t{ovr c}. This talk is based on works done in collaboration with David Atwood and Laura Reina. 10 refs., 8 figs.

The QCD structure of the electroweak bosons is reviewed and the lepton structure function is defined and calculated. The leading order splitting functions of electron into quarks are extracted, showing an important contribution from {gamma}-Z interference. Leading logarithmic QCD evolution equations are constructed and solved in the asymptotic region where log{sup 2} behavior of the Parton densities is observed. Possible applications with clear manifestation of ``resolved`` photon and weak bosons are discussed. 8 refs., 3 figs.

Several key operating variables affecting off-gas flammability in a slurry-fed radioactive waste glass melter are discussed, and the methods used to prevent potential off-gas flammability are presented. Two models have played a central role in developing such methods. The first model attempts to describe the chemical events occurring during the calcining and melting steps using a multistage thermodynamic equilibrium approach, and it calculates the compositions of glass and calcine gases. Volatile feed components and calcine gases are fed to the second model which then predicts the process dynamics of the entire melter off-gas system including off-gas flammability under both steady state and various transient operating conditions. Results of recent simulation runs are also compared with available data

The purpose of this report is to motivate and outline a program of data analysis, for data obtained from radar returns from ocean surfaces perturbed by internal waves and wind-wave interactions. The ultimate aims of this analysis are to provide the appropriate statistics of the signals returned from these ocean surfaces for: (1) use in implementing and evaluating optimum and near-optimum signal processing procedures for detecting and evaluating (i.e., measuring) these internal wave effects and, (2) to provide quantitative physical insight into both the surface scatter and subsurface mechanisms which determine the received radar signals. Here the focus is initially on the needed statistics of the radar returns. These are primarily: (i) the (instantaneous) amplitude and envelope probability densities, (pdf`s) and distributions (PDFS) of the returns and, (ii) analogous statistics for the intensities (associated with the pixel data). Also required are: (iii) space-time covariance data of the returns, for further improvement of detection capabilities. Preliminary evidence and earlier experiments suggest that these data [(i), (ii)] are nongaussian and strongly so at times. This in turn, if not properly taken into account, can greatly degrade signal detection in the usual weak-signal regimes [1],[2].

To investigate transient binary nucleation, both qualitatively and quantitatively, we numerically solved the birth-death equations for vapor-to-liquid phase transitions. We found that in its early transient stages, binary nucleation rarely, if ever, occurs via the saddle point. Instead most binary systems pass through a temporary stage in which the region of maximum flux extends over a ridge on the free energy surface before reaching the state of saddle point nucleation. Both the number of particles formed and their composition may be affected, and this could be very important for nucleation in glasses and other condensed mixtures for which timescales are very long. In order to plan experiments, accurate estimates of the time lag are important. We therefore directly calculated the time lag for the saddle point flux using our numerical results and compared it with the available analytical predictions. Although the analytical results over-estimate the time lag by factors of 2-6, the numerical results followed the predicted analytical trends quite closely under most conditions.

The purpose of this technical implementing procedure (TIP) is to describe the calibration of the Mettler AT200 analytical balance or similar type balance (henceforth called the balance). This balance is used for activities of the Scientific Investigation Plan (SIP) ''Metal Barrier Selection and Testing'' (SIP-CM-01, WBS {number_sign} 1.2.2.5.1). In particular, it will be used for Activity E-20-50, ''Long-Term Corrosion Studies.'' The balance will be used for weighing test specimens and reagent chemicals. However, it is not limited to these uses. The calibration procedures consist of activating the internal (self) calibration of the apparatus, and weighing and recording of traceable standards. The balance is equipped with self (internal) calibration and linearization capabilities. It has an internal (built in) set of weights which are used for self calibration. The standard weights are traceable to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Bonneville Power Administration`s (Bonneville) information resources include computer-related equipment, spare parts, and computer software. The objective of this audit was to determine whether Bonneville acquired and accounted for computer-related equipment properly. We found positive aspects in Bonneville`s management of computer-related equipment. However, improvements could be made in implementing credit card and property procedures. Specifically, we found that improvements were needed to (1) control credit card purchases, (2) ensure that equipment was tagged and included in property records, (3) maintain accountability over spare parts, and (4) identify unused equipment. As a result, about $90,000 of equipment was bought by personnel whose authority to purchase was not properly documented, and about $182,000 of purchases lacked supporting invoices. In addition, one maintenance support group had over $109,000 of spare parts shortages. Furthermore, Bonneville could have saved about $803,000 had unused equipment been redistributed within Bonneville or to other Federal and state agencies. Management concurred with the recommendations to improve internal controls.

The Petroleum Marketing Monthly provides information and statistical data on a variety of crude oils and refined petroleum products. The publication presents statistics on crude oil costs and refined petroleum products sales for use by industry, government, private sector analysts, educational institutions, and consumers. Data on crude oil include the domestic first purchase price, the f.o.b. and landed cost of imported crude oil, and the refiners` acquisition cost of crude oil. Refined petroleum product sales data include motor gasoline, distillates, residuals, aviation fuels, kerosene, and propane. The Petroleum Marketing Division, Office of Oil and Gas, Energy Information Administration ensures the accuracy, quality, and confidentiality of the published data in the Petroleum Marketing Monthly.

This is the Savannah River Technology Center Monthly Report for September 1995

Ultrashort laser pulse tissue ablation has demonstrated advantages of greatly reduced required energy and collateral damage. These advantages stem directly from the fact that laser energy is absorbed nonlinearly in a time too hsort for significant thermal dn hydrodynamic response. The high peak power and short pulse duration both have implications for practical fiber delivery systems.

This is the final report to the United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP) on the use of Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition (EBPVD) to make rapid tooling for functional prototyping of metal mold processes. Historically this process has been successfully applied to the production of mold inserts for the plastics injection mold industry. Our approach for this project was to use the same technique to produce dies which could be used to make a few thousand light metal (aluminum and magnesium) prototype parts. The difficulty encountered in this project was that the requirements for the die casting industry, both in size and material requirements, were considerably more stringent than those encountered in the plastics injection industry. Consequently our technique, within the allotted time and budget constraints, was not able to meet the requirements set forth by USAMP. The remainder of this report is organized into five sections. The first discusses the technique in some detail while the second discusses a successful application. The third section discusses issues with this process while the fourth specifically discusses the work done in this project. The last is a short summary and conclusion section.

The purpose of this technical implementing procedure (TIP) is to describe the procedure used to obtain dimensional and weight information for test specimens and enter that data into an electronic database. This TIP applies to Activity E-20-50, ''Long-Term Corrosion Studies'', and it pertains to weighing and measuring of specimens, and the storage of that data in an electronic database. Data is stored in the electronic database ''Microsoft Access''. Data is entered by electronic data transfer from a digital caliper (Fowler Ultra-Cal Mark III) and an electronic analytical balance (Mettler AT200).