Congressional Research Service Reports - 44 Matching Results
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- The 2014 Ebola Outbreak: International and U.S. Responses
- This report discusses the Ebola virus disease (Ebola or EVD), which is a severe, often fatal disease that was first detected near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1976.
- Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: EPA's Air Compliance Agreement
- This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, intended to produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a "safe harbor" from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.
- The Berry Amendment: Requiring Defense Procurement to Come from Domestic Sources
- This report examines the original intent and purpose of the Berry Amendment and legislative proposals to amend the application of domestic source restrictions, as well as potential options for Congress.
- Bills of Attainder: The Constitutional Implications of Congress Legislating Narrowly
- This report discusses congressional bills of attainder, defined by the Supreme Court as "law[s] that legislatively determine guilt and inflict punishment upon an identifiable individual without provision of the protections of a judicial trial." The report specifically examines the two main criteria courts use to determine whether legislation is a bill of attainder: specificity and punishment.
- China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The report discusses the question of how the United States should respond to China's military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning.
- China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities--Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The report discusses the question of how the United States should respond to China's military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning.
- China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress
- This report focuses on the implications that certain elements of China's military modernization may have for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The issue for Congress addressed in this report is: How should China's military modernization be factored into decisions about U.S. Navy programs? Congress's decisions on this issue could significantly affect future U.S. Navy capabilities, U.S. Navy funding requirements, and the U.S. defense industrial base, including the shipbuilding industry.
- China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy--Key Statements from Washington, Beijing, and Taipei
- This report provides background information regarding U.S. policy on "One China". The second part of this report discusses the highlights of key statements by Washington, Beijing, and Taipei.
- Conventional Prompt Global Strike and Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues
- This report provides an overview of the rationale for the PGS mission and the possible deployment of conventional warheads on long-range ballistic missiles or boost-glide systems in support of this mission and reviews the Air Force and Navy efforts to develop these systems. The report also summarizes congressional reaction to these proposals, then provides a more detailed account of the issues raised by these concepts and programs.
- Deadlocked Votes Among Members of the Federal Election Commission (FEC): Overview and Potential Considerations for Congress
- The report addresses those questions by exploring deadlocked votes in rulemaking, enforcement matters, and advisory opinions (AOs) during the current Commission's first year in office -- from July 2008 through June 2009 -- when concern over deadlocks has most recently reemerged.
- Drug Control: Reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
- No Description Available.
- Electric Utility Policy: Comparison of House-Passed H.R. 6 and S.Amdt. 1412, 108th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Energy and Water Development: FY2010 Appropriations
- This report discusses the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill that provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Department of Energy (DOE), and several independent agencies.
- Farm and Food Support Under USDA's Section 32 Program
- This report discusses "Section 32", which is a permanent appropriation that since 1935 has earmarked the equivalent of 30% of annual customs receipts to support the farm sector through a variety of activities. Today, most of this sizeable appropriation (totaling approximately $6 billion each year) is transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) child nutrition account.
- Federally Supported Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Programs
- This report provides background information on the types of water supply and wastewater treatment projects traditionally funded by the federal government and the several existing programs to assist communities with water supply and wastewater recycling and treatment.
- Floor Procedure in the House of Representatives: A Brief Overview
- This report outlines the floor procedure in the House of Representatives. The House considers bills and resolutions on the floor under several different sets of procedures governing the time for debate and the opportunities for amendment. Some procedures allow 40 or 60 minutes for debate; others permit debate to continue until a majority of Members vote to end it. Some procedures prohibit most or all floor amendments; others allow Members to offer any amendments that meet the requirements of the House's rules and precedents. Notwithstanding these differences, the rules, precedents, and practices of the House generally are designed to permit the majority to work its will in a timely manner.
- Floor Procedure in the House of Representatives: A Brief Overview
- The House considers bills and resolutions on the floor under several different sets of procedures governing the time for debate and the opportunities for amendment. Some procedures allow 40 or 60 minutes for debate; others permit debate to continue until a majority of Members vote to end it. Some procedures prohibit most or all floor amendments; others allow Members to offer any amendments that meet the requirements of the House’s rules and precedents. Notwithstanding these differences, the rules, precedents, and practices of the House generally are designed to permit the majority to work its will in a timely manner. This report provides a brief overview of this procedure.
- The Global Economic Downturn and Protectionism
- This report develops three scenarios to approximate different dimensions of the relationship between the global economic downturn and protectionism. The scenarios are not predictions, but descriptions of how and why pressures for protection could be manifested and transmitted under different circumstances and assumptions.
- Health Insurance: Small is the New Large
- This report discusses aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that expand the definition of small employer to include employers with 100 or fewer employees. States must implement the expanded definition for plan years beginning in 2016, but have the option of implementing the expanded definition prior to the deadline.
- Homeland Security: Side-by-Side Comparison of H.R. 5005 and S. 2452, 107th Congress
- This report provides a comparison of the two bills.
- The House of Representatives Apportionment Formula: An Analysis of Proposals for Change and Their Impact on States
- This report examines the methods and formulas used to reapportion seats in the House of Representatives following a Census. Although modern Congresses have rarely considered the issue of the formula used in the calculations, this report describes apportionment options from which Congress could choose and the criteria that each method satisfies.
- House Rules and Precedents Affecting Committee Markup Procedures
- This report briefly discusses these procedures as they relate to legislative business conducted on the floor and in committee.
- How Can the Results of a Presidential Election Be Contested?
- This report discusses methods of contesting presidential election results on the basis of miscounts or fraud.
- Identity Theft: Trends and Issues
- This report first provides a brief federal legislative history of identity theft laws. It analyzes the current trends in identity theft, including prevalent identity theft-related crimes, the federal agencies involved in combating identity theft, and the trends in identity theft complaints and prosecutions.
- Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges
- This report assesses the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation since FY2005. Since FY2005, no annual intelligence authorization bill has been enacted. Although the National Security Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement has been satisfied in recent years by one-sentence catch-all provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities.
- Interrogation of Detainees: Requirements of the Detainee Treatment Act
- This report discusses provisions of the Detainee Treatment Act concerning standards for the interrogation and treatment of detainees.
- Latin America and the Caribbean: Fact Sheet on Leaders and Elections
- This fact sheet tracks the current heads of government in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and provides the dates of the last and next election for head of government. It also provides the national independence date for each country.
- Legal Issues Relating to State Health Care Regulation: ERISA Preemption and Fair Share Laws
- This report provides an overview of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preemption, discusses legal challenges to fair share laws, and analyzes the fair share requirements included as part of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act.
- Medical Loss Ratio Requirements Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): Issues for Congress
- This report provides a detailed description of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148) requirements for Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) reporting and rebates as specified in regulations, including components of the MLR formula, state flexibility and waivers, and the nature of rebates to policyholders. The report also addresses issues that have been raised about the MLR provisions since the ACA was enacted, namely the treatment of insurance commissions paid to brokers and agents.
- Membership of the 113th Congress: A Profile
- This report presents a profile of the membership of the 113th Congress (2013-2014). Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births, and military service.
- Mountaintop Mining: Background on Current Controversies
- Mountaintop removal mining involves removing the top of a mountain in order to recover the coal seams contained there. This practice occurs in several Appalachian states. It creates an immense quantity of excess spoil (dirt and rock that previously composed the mountaintop), which is typically placed in valley fills on the sides of the former mountains, burying streams that flow through the valleys. Critics say that, as a result of valley fills, stream water quality and the aquatic and wildlife habitat that streams support are destroyed by tons of rocks and dirt. The mining industry argues that mountaintop mining is essential to conducting surface coal mining in the Appalachian region and that surface coal mining would not be economically feasible there if producers were restricted from using valleys for the disposal of mining overburden. Mountaintop mining is regulated under several laws, including the Clean Water Act. This report provides background on regulatory requirements, controversies, and legal challenges to Clean Water Act regulation of mountaintop mining.
- NATO's Wales Summit: Expected Outcomes and Key Challenges
- This report provides an overview of the NATO's Wales summit's main agenda items and expected outcomes, highlighting key challenges, U.S. policy priorities, and potential issues for Congress.
- Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress
- This report discusses the process of naming Navy ships, which have traditionally been chosen and announced by the Secretary of the Navy. Rules for giving certain types of names to certain types of Navy ships have evolved over time.
- Reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts: Procedural and Operational Changes
- This report begins with an overview of both the FISC and the FISA Court of Review, including the jurisdiction of these courts, how the judges are appointed, and the FISC's practices and procedures for reviewing and issuing surveillance orders. The report then discusses the scope and underlying legal principles behind congressional regulation of the procedures of the federal courts, and applies those principles with respect to the various proposals to reform the FISA judicial review process.
- Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests
- This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in Russia, focusing on the impact of Vladimir Putin's leadership and the leadership of his successor, Dmitriy Medvedev, both of which have steered Russia away from progress toward democratization. The report also discusses the state of the economy since the Soviet collapse in 1999, how the recent global economic downturn has affected Russia, the state of Russia's military, and the current relationship between Russia and the United States.
- Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2004
- This report summarizes by what measures the Constitution requires Congress to determine its own pay, the annual payment adjustment procedure, changes in pay over time since 1789, and related legislation.
- SEC Climate Change Disclosure Guidance: An Overview and Congressional Concerns
- This report briefly describes the Guidance; provides opposing views on the Guidance, including past congressional legislation; summarizes a study on potential corporate costs and benefits of implementing the Guidance; and examines the impact of the Guidance from the perspectives of investors, corporations, and finance professionals.
- Senate Legislative Procedures: Published Sources of Information
- The Senate publishes its rules, precedents, and other related information so that Senators and their staff have convenient access to the Senate’s legislative procedures and can gauge how those procedures are likely to apply in various situations. Information about the Senate’s legislative procedures is published in four official documents. This report briefly discusses these documents.
- Social Services Block Grant: Background and Funding
- The Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) is a flexible source of funds that states use to support a wide variety of social services activities. States have broad discretion over the use of these funds. In FY2009, the most recent year for which expenditure data are available, the largest expenditures for services under the SSBG were for child care, foster care, and special services for the disabled. This report provides background and funding information about the SSBG.
- Stormwater Permits: Status of EPA's Regulatory Program
- This report discusses the EPA's federally-mandated program for controlling stormwater discharges from industrial plants and municipalities.
- Supreme Court: Length of the Scalia Vacancy in Historical Context
- This report provides data and analysis related to the potential length of the current vacancy on the Supreme Court caused by the death of Antonin Scalia on February 13, 2016. Specifically, this report provides the number of days the Scalia vacancy will have existed on specified future dates if a nominee has not been confirmed.
- Tolling U.S. Highways
- This report provides a brief history of tolling on federal roads and relevant current law. It also discusses financial realities on toll roads and tolling policy issues.
- Treatment of Noncitizens in H.R. 3200
- This report outlines the treatment of noncitizens under H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. The report analyzes specific provisions in H.R. 3200, and whether there are eligibility requirements for noncitizens in the selected provisions.
- Vocational Rehabilitation Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as Amended: Program Operation and Issues
- This report outlines the programs under the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1973.