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Global Climate Change

Description: This report briefly reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional activity focused specifically on climate change.
Date: October 29, 2004
Creator: Justus, John R. & Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mad Cow Disease: Agricultural Issues for Congress

Description: This report discuses lumber imports from Canada and provides a concise historical account of the dispute, summarizes the subsidy and injury evidence, and discusses the current issues and events.
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Higher Education Act: Reauthorization Status and Issues

Description: This report provides an overview of postsecondary education (institutions and students), an overview of the Higher Education Act (HEA) with a focus on its most significant programs and provisions, and a discussion of major issues that have been, or may be, of interest to the Congress during the HEA reauthorization process.
Date: October 20, 2004
Creator: Stedman, James B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Homeland Security: Defending U.S. Airspace

Description: This report discusses about Air Defense Challenge, Command & Control, Intercept and Surveillance.
Date: October 13, 2004
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation

Description: This report opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. It includes a discussion of visa screening policies, including inadmissibility, databases, an analysis of visa refusals, biometric visas and other major visa policy procedures. Summaries of key laws revising visa policy enacted in the 107th Congress follows. The final section analyzes selected issu… more
Date: October 13, 2004
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Copyright Law: Digital Rights Management Legislation

Description: Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to the technology that copyright owners use to protect digital media. This report surveys several of the DRM bills that were introduced in the 107th Congress and those that are pending in the 108th Congress. Generally, the bills are directed at two separate goals. One goal is to increase access to digitally-protected media for lawful purposes. The other attempts to thwart digital piracy and would do so by enhancing civil and criminal sanctions for digital … more
Date: October 1, 2004
Creator: Jeweler, Robin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Funding for Unauthorized Aliens' Emergency Medical Expenses

Description: This report discusses the amount of money spent, as well as the amount of federal funds available to provide emergency medical care to unauthorized (illegal) aliens in the United States. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the amount of money spent for emergency medical care for unauthorized aliens since most hospitals do not ask patients their immigration status. Additionally, prior to the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-173) o… more
Date: October 18, 2004
Creator: Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for the 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses the United States and Mexico relations and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The major issues discussed by Congress are trade, migration/border security, drug trafficking, and political issues.
Date: October 26, 2004
Creator: Storrs, K. Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm Credit Services of America Ends Attempt to Leave the Farm Credit System

Description: This report discusses Farm Credit Services of America's (FCSA) attempt at leaving the Farm Credit System (FCS) — a government-sponsored enterprise — to be bought by a private company. The option to leave the System is allowed by statute under the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended, but has been exercised only once, and did not involve an outside purchaser.
Date: October 22, 2004
Creator: Monke, Jim
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal Legislation in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses policy and legislation regarding fish and marine mammals. These animals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas. Commercial and sport fishing are jointly managed by the federal government and individual states. Many laws and regulations guide the management of these resources by federal agencies.
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Regulation: Industry Changes Prompt Need to Reconsider U.S. Regulatory Structure

Description: A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In light of the passage of the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and increased competition within the financial services industry at home and abroad, GAO was asked to report on the current state of the U.S. financial services regulatory structure. This report describes the changes to the financial services industry, focusing on banking, securities, futures, and insurance; the structure of the U.S. and other … more
Date: October 6, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Homeland Security: Management Challenges Remain in Transforming Immigration Programs

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assumed responsibility for the immigration enforcement and services programs of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in 2003. The three DHS bureaus with primary responsibility for immigration functions are U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (IC… more
Date: October 14, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Aviation Safety: FAA Needs to Strengthen the Management of Its Designee Programs

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The safety of the flying public and the reliability of the nation's aircraft depend, in part, on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) regulation and certification of the aviation industry. FAA delegates the vast majority of its safety certification activities to about 13,600 private persons and organizations, known as "designees," which are currently grouped into 18 different programs. Among othe… more
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S.-China Trade: Opportunities to Improve U.S. Government Efforts to Ensure China's Compliance with World Trade Organization Commitments

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "China's 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) required China to reform its economy and trade practices. As part of ongoing work, GAO reviewed how the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and State pursued China's WTO compliance in 2003. Specifically, this report (1) discusses the scope and disposition of China's compliance problems, (2) reviews th… more
Date: October 6, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Management Could Benefit from Improved Strategic Planning and Increased Oversight

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary asked GAO to determine (1) the extent of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' compliance with the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993, (2) what federal oversight is provided to the Commission, and (3) the status of the implementation of recommendations from GAO's past reviews of the Commission."
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medicare Physician Payments: Concerns about Spending Target System Prompt Interest in Considering Reforms

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns were raised about the current system Medicare uses to determine annual changes to physician fees--the sustainable growth rate (SGR) system--when fees were reduced by 5.4 percent in 2002. Subsequent administrative and legislative actions modified or overrode the SGR system, resulting in fee increases for 2003, 2004, and 2005. However, projected fee reductions for 2006-2012 have raised new concer… more
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Management: Improved Financial Systems Are Key to FFMIA Compliance

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The ability to produce the data needed to efficiently and effectively manage the day-to-day operations of the federal government and provide accountability to taxpayers has been a long-standing challenge to most federal agencies. To help address this challenge, the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires the 23 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies to implement and maintain… more
Date: October 1, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Office of Federal Student Aid: Better Strategic and Human Capital Planning Would Help Sustain Management Progress

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, the Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) managed about $60 billion in new financial aid. In 1998, the Congress designated FSA as a performance-based organization. In so doing, it specified purposes for the agency, such as to reduce program costs and increase accountability of its officials, and provided flexibilities such as allowing FSA to pay bonuses. Also FSA is requ… more
Date: October 6, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Public Community Colleges and Technical Schools: Most Schools Use Both Credit and Noncredit Programs for Workforce Development

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The goal of most American workers--a well-paying job--will be increasingly linked to adequate training in the coming years. Such training will be key to competing for the 21 million new jobs the Department of Labor projects will be created in the 2002 to 2012 period. People already in, or seeking to enter, the workforce often turn to the nation's more than 1,100 public community colleges and technical s… more
Date: October 18, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Enforcement: DHS Has Incorporated Immigration Enforcement Objectives and Is Addressing Future Planning Requirements

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had five interior (non-border-related) immigration enforcement objectives to address federal immigration law violations: identify and remove criminal aliens from the United States; deter and dismantle alien trafficking and smuggling; respond to community reports and complaints about illegal immigration; minimize immigration benefit fraud; and block… more
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medicare: Appropriate Dispensing Fee Needed for Suppliers of Inhalation Therapy Drugs

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) revised the payment formula for most of the outpatient drugs, including inhalation therapy drugs, covered under Medicare part B. Under the revised formula, effective 2005, Medicare's payment is intended to be closer to acquisition costs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that administers Medicar… more
Date: October 12, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medicare: Incomplete Plan to Transfer Appeals Workload from SSA to HHS Threatens Service to Appellants

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare appeals process has been the subject of widespread concern in recent years because of the time it takes to resolve appeals of denied claims. Two federal agencies play a role in deciding appeals--the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Currently, neither agency manages and oversees the entire multilevel process. In the Medicare Prescrip… more
Date: October 4, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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American Community Survey: Key Unresolved Issues

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Congress asked GAO to review operational and programmatic aspects of the Census Bureau's ACS that will affect the reliability of small geographic area data. The ACS will be a mail survey of about 3 million households annually, whose results will be cumulated over 5 years to produce estimates that will replace information previously provided by the Decennial Census long form. In addition, annual data… more
Date: October 7, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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