Preface As the official handbook of the Federal Government, The United States Government Manual provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The Manual also includes information on quasiofficial agencies; international organizations in which the United States participates; and boards, commissions, and committees. A typical agency description includes a list of principal officials, a summary statement of the agency's purpose and role in the Federal Government, a brief history of the agency, including its legislative or executive authority, a description of its programs and activities, and a "Sources of Information" section. This last section provides information on consumer activities, contracts and grants, employment, publications, and many other areas of public interest. The 1996/97 Manual was prepared by the Presidential and Legislative Publications Unit, Office of the Federal Register. Karen L. Ashlin was Managing Editor, assisted by Scott Andreae, Brad Brooks, Anna Glover, Margaret A. Hemmig, Carolyn W. Hill, Alfred Jones, and Rachel Rondell. COVER: The U.S. Army's "buffalo soldiers," comprising the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry, served on the Western desert and plains, laid hundreds of miles of roads and telegraph lines, and protected mail coaches. They also fought with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders in Cuba during the SpanishAmerican War and remained active through the Korean War. This year's Manual cover features a print entitled "Buffalo Soldier" by the artist Kuntu. The print is copyrighted by A&H Fine Arts, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, all rights reserved. THE FEDERAL REGISTER AND ITS SPECIAL EDITIONS The Manual is published as a special edition of the Federal Register (see 1 CFR 9.1). Its focus is on programs and activities. Persons interested in detailed organizational structure, the regulatory documents of an agency, or Presidential documents should refer to the Federal Register or one of its other special editions, described below. Issued each Federal working day, the Federal Register provides a uniform system for publishing Presidential documents, regulatory documents with general applicability and legal effect, proposed rules, notices, and documents required to be published by statute. The Code of Federal Regulations is an annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register. The Code is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. The Code is kept up to date by the individual issues of the Federal Register. The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents serves as a timely, up-to-date reference source for the public policies and activities of the President. It contains remarks, news conferences, messages, statements, and other Presidential material of a public nature issued by the White House during the week reported. A companion publication to the Weekly Compilation is the Public Papers of the Presidents, which contains public Presidential documents and speeches in convenient book form. Volumes of the Public Papers have been published for every President since Herbert Hoover, with the exception of Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose papers were published privately. OTHER OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER PUBLICATIONS The Office of the Federal Register publishes slip laws, which are pamphlet prints of each public and private law enacted by Congress. Slip laws are compiled annually as the United States Statutes at Large. The Statutes volumes contain all public and private laws and concurrent resolutions enacted during a session of Congress; recommendations for executive, legislative, and judicial salaries; reorganization plans; proposed and ratified amendments to the Constitution; and Presidential proclamations. Included with many of these documents are sidenotes, U.S. Code and statutes citations, and a summary of their legislative histories. PUBLICATION AVAILABILITY The publications of the Office of the Federal Register are available for sale by writing: Superintendent of Documents P.O. Box 371954 Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954 and are also sold at Government Printing Office bookstores located in several major cities. Telephone inquiries should be directed to 202-512-1800. ELECTRONIC SERVICES The Office of the Federal Register maintains a free electronic bulletin board service, FREND (Federal Register Electronic News Delivery), for public law numbers, Federal Register finding aids, and related information. To access by modem: phone, 202275-0920. In addition, the Federal Register's public inspection list and table of contents are also available on the National Archives' Fax-on-Demand system. Phone, 301-7136905. The texts of The United States Government Manual and the Federal Register are available in electronic format. For more information, contact Electronic Information Dissemination Services, U.S. Government Printing Office. Phone, 202-512-1530. E-mail, gpoaccess@gpo.gov. FURTHER INFORMATION Information on The United States Government Manual and other publications of the Office of the Federal Register may be obtained by writing: Office of the Federal Register National Archives and Records Administration Washington, DC 20408 Inquiries should be directed by phone to 202-523-5227 or faxed to 202-523-6866. Department of Veterans Affairs Independent Establishments and Government Corporations African Development Foundation Commodity Futures Trading Commission Consumer Product Safety Commission Corporation for National and Community Service Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Environmental Protection Agency Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Social Security Administration Thrift Depositor Protection Oversight Board United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency United States Commission on Civil Rights United States Information Agency |