Federal law mandates support for farmers through various programs, including direct payments. USDA, through its Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), calculates direct payments using a formula that factors in "base acres," a measure of a farm's crop production history based on the number of acres planted on the farm during certain past years. The term base acres refers to a farm's average planted acreage of specific crops during those years; the term does not refer to specific physical acres on that farm.

In 2010, federal agencies reported about 3.35 billion square feet of building space to the FRPP: 79 percent of the reported building space was federally owned, 17 percent was leased, and 4 percent was otherwise managed. The data indicated that the agencies used most of the space-about 64 percent-as offices, warehouses, housing, hospitals, and laboratories. The five agencies we reviewed-GSA, DOE, Interior, VA, and USDA-reported owning or leasing more than 866 million square feet of building space, or about 25 percent of the total reported square footage for all agencies.

The FBF, administered by GSA, is a quasi-revolving fund financed by rents received from other agencies and authorized and established by the Public Buildings Act Amendments of 1972. Instead of GSA receiving direct appropriations, the FBF operates as the primary means of financing the operating and capital costs associated with federal space, but GSA sometimes receives supplemental appropriations to meet repair or new construction needs.

Affordable Care Act (PPACA), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, extended CHIP funding through 2015, prohibited states from lowering children's existing Medicaid and CHIP eligibility through 2019, and included provisions that aim to expand adults' and certain children's eligibility for and enrollment in these programs.

DOD operates six geographic combatant commands, each with an assigned area of responsibility (see fig. 1). Each geographic combatant command carries out a variety of missions and activities, including humanitarian assistance and combat operations, and assigns functions to subordinate commanders. Each command is supported by a service component command from each of the services and by a theater special operations command. The Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force have key roles in making decisions on where to locate their forces when they are not otherwise employed or deployed by order...

States' concealed carry laws can allow handgun owners, under certain conditions, to carry a loaded handgun either concealed on a person, in a vehicle, or in public. "Concealed carry" means a person may carry a handgun in a manner so that others cannot see the handgun. Generally, these laws apply to handguns-i.e. pistols and revolvers; therefore, for the purposes of this report, we use this category to define firearms.

The 2010 National Security Strategy emphasizes the importance of strengthening our security and resilience at home and building capability to respond to and recover from major chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive incidence.

As part of a comprehensive effort to increase the operational efficiency of federal technology assets, federal agencies are shifting how they deploy IT services. OMB issued a "Cloud First" policy in December 2010 that requires federal agencies to implement cloud-based solutions whenever a secure, reliable, and cost-effective cloud option exists; and to migrate three technology services to a cloud solution by June 2012.

The Internal Revenue Service has a demanding responsibility in collecting taxes, processing tax returns, and enforcing the nation's tax laws. It relies extensively on computerized systems to support its financial mission-related operations and on information security controls to protect financial and sensitive taxpayer information that resides on those system.

The F-35 Lighting 11, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, is the Department of Defense's most costly and ambitious aircraft acquisition, seeking to simultaneously develop and field three aircraft variants for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and eight international partners.