Congressional Research Service Reports - 514 Matching Results
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- The Islamic State’s Acolytes and the Challenges They Pose to U.S. Law Enforcement: In Brief
- This report outlines the broad challenges for federal law enforcement agencies in identifying and confronting the challenges posed by the Islamic State in the United States. This report also highlights the interagency efforts taken in preempting terrorists in the screening processes, visa fraud, and stopping the radicalization of individuals.
- Remedies for Patent Infringement
- This report discusses the current legal system rules for patent infringement cases and current bills introduced in Congress related to patents.
- State and Local "Sanctuary" Policies Limiting Participation in Immigration Enforcement
- This report discusses legal issues related to state and local measures that limit law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The report begins by providing a brief overview of the constitutional principles informing the relationship between federal immigration authorities and state and local jurisdictions, including the federal government's power to preempt state and local activities under the Supremacy Clause, and the Tenth Amendment's proscription against Congress directly "commandeering" the states to administer a federally enacted regulatory scheme.
- Medical Malpractice Liability Reform: Legal Issues and Fifty-State Survey of Caps on Punitive Damages and Noneconomic Damages
- No Description Available.
- The Department of Defense Rules for Military Commissions: Analysis of Procedural Rules and Comparison with Proposed Legislation and the Uniform Code of Military Justice
- This report provides a background and analysis comparing military commissions as envisioned under M.C.O. No. 1 to general military courts-martial conducted under the UCMJ. The report notes some of the criticism directed at the President’s M.O., and explains how those concerns are addressed by the military commission orders and instructions. The report provides two charts to compare the regulations issued by the Department of Defense and standard procedures for general courts-martial under the Manual for Courts-Martial. The second chart, which compares procedural safeguards incorporated in the regulations with established procedures in courts martial, follows the same order and format used in CRS Report RL31262, Selected Procedural Safeguards in Federal, Military, and International Courts, in order to facilitate comparison with safeguards provided in federal court and the International Criminal Court.
- Partial-Birth Abortion: Recent Developments in the Law
- No Description Available.
- Money Laundering: An Abridged Overview of 18 U.S.C. 1956 and Related Federal Criminal Law
- Money laundering is a federal crime, commonly understood as the process of cleansing the taint from the proceeds of crime. This report describes in detail the various aspects of money laundering in regards to federal criminal law.
- Energy and Water Development: FY2018 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).
- Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues
- No Description Available.
- Electricity Restructuring: Comparison of Comprehensive Bills
- Once considered the nation's most regulated industry, the electric utility industry is evolving into a more competitive environment. Currently, the focus of this development is the generating sector, where the advent of new generating technologies has lowered both entry barriers to competitors of traditional utilities and the marginal costs of those competitors below those of some traditional utilities. This technological advance has combined with legislative initiatives, such as the Energy Policy Act (EPACT), to encourage the introduction of competitive forces into the electric generating sector.
- Habitat Modification and the Endangered Species Act: The Sweet Home Decision
- This report discusses the Endangered Species Act, the regulation of the Fish and Wildlife Service defining "harm" for purposes of the "take" prohibitions of the Endangered Species Act.
- Securities Litigation Reform: Unfinished Business?
- No Description Available.
- Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress
- The Superfund program for cleaning up the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites was created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). This report discusses recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
- War on Drugs: Legislation in the 108th Congress and Related Developments
- No Description Available.
- Capital Punishment: An Overview of Federal Death Penalty Statutes
- This report lists the current federal capital offenses and summarizes the procedures for federal civilian death penalty cases. Several laws are relevant to the topic including: P.L. 103-322, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994; the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996; and P.L. 107-197, the Terrorist Bombings Convention Implementation Act of 2002.
- Education Vouchers: Constitutional Issues and Cases
- This report details the constitutional standards that currently apply to indirect aid programs and summarizes all of the pertinent state and federal court decisions, including the Ohio case that will be heard by the Supreme Court. On September 25, 2001, the Supreme Court agreed to review a case raising the controversial issue of the constitutionality of education vouchers. In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris the Sixth Circuit held Ohio’s Pilot Scholarship Program, which provided up to $2500 to help low-income students in Cleveland’s public schools attend private schools in the city, to violate the establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment.
- Terrorism Risk Insurance: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- Safe Drinking Water Act: Implementation and Issues
- No Description Available.
- Treatment of "Battlefield Detainees" in the War on Terrorism
- No Description Available.
- Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS): Current Legislative Issues
- The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program was created by Title I of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322). The mission of the COPS program is to advance community policing in all jurisdictions across the United States. Legislation introduced in the 111th Congress would reauthorize the COPS program through FY2014 and reestablish COPS as a multi-grant program. This report provides an overview and analysis of issues Congress might choose to consider when taking up legislation to reauthorize the COPS program.
- Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: An Overview
- This report provides an overview on the veto power vested in the President by Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution. The veto power has proven to be an effective tool for the chief executive in his dealings with Congress.
- Courts Rulings During 1994 on Constitutional Taking Claims Against the United States
- In 1994, the second session of the 103rd Congress saw the political pressure exerted by property rights bills ascend new heights. Members supporting property rights legislation sought to add such provisions to nearly every major environmental bill. Opponents, including several committee chairmen, therefore declined to move the bills, and gridlock resulted.
- Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS): Current Legislative Issues
- This report provides an overview of issues Congress may consider when taking up legislation to reauthorize the Community Oriented Policing Services program.
- Federal Employees' Retirement System: Benefits and Financing
- This report discusses the retirement systems in place for federal employees including the Civil Service Retirement System (for employees hired before 1984) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (for employees hired in 1984 or later). Both programs require participants to contribute toward the cost of their pensions through a payroll tax.
- The Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the 109th Congress: Conflicting Values and Difficult Choices
- The 109th Congress is considering proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act (ESA; P.L. 93-205, 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1543). Major issues in recent years have included changing the role of science in decision-making, modifying critical habitat (CH) procedures, incorporating further protection and incentives for property owners, and increasing protection of listed species, among others. In addition, many have advocated enacting as law some ESA regulations promulgated during the Clinton Administration. This report identifies other bills that have been introduced in the 109th Congress to address specific concerns related to how the ESA is implemented and how endangered species are managed.
- Background and Legal Issues Related to Stem Cell Research
- In August 2001, President Bush announced that federal funds, with certain restrictions, may be used to conduct research on human embryonic stem cells. Federal research is limited to “the more than 60” existing stem cell lines that were derived (1) with the informed consent of the donors; (2) from excess embryos created solely for reproductive purposes; and (3) without any financial inducements to the donors. No federal funds may be used for the derivation or use of stem cell lines derived from newly destroyed embryos; the creation of any human embryos for research purposes; or cloning of human embryos for any purposes.
- Education of the Handicapped Act
- This report adresses the education of the handicapped act, its amendments, and a legislative background and section by section summary.
- Positive Train Control (PTC): Overview and Policy Issues
- This report gives and overview of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and discusses policy issues related to it. Congress passed the Act following several high-profile train accidents; it mandates positive train control (PTC) on many passenger and freight railroads by December 31, 2015.
- Social Security: The Public Servant Retirement Protection Act (H.R. 4391/S. 2455)
- No Description Available.
- Medicare Prescription Drug Provisions of S.1, as Passed by the Senate, and H.R. 1, as Passed by the House
- This report discusses differences in the specifics of the prescription drug provisions in S. 1 and H.R. 1 and provides a side-by-side comparison of the Title I provisions of both bills.
- The Constitutionality of Regulating Political Advertisements: An Analysis of Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.
- On June 25, 2007, in a 5-4 decision, the Sumpreme Court in Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. FEC affirmed a lower court ruling, finding that a provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, prohibiting corporate or labor union treasury funds from being spent on advertisements broadcast within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election, was unconstitutional as applied to ads that Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. sought to run. In later decisions, it was ruled that advertisements that may reasonably be interpreted as something other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate are not the functional equivalent of express advocacy and, therefore, cannot be regulated. This report examines and analyzes these decisions and how they effect campaign law.
- Northern Island:Background and recent developments
- This report is a collection of materials concerning Northern Ireland , especially background information and recent developments.
- Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: A Legal Analysis of 18 U.S.C. 2250
- Section 2250 outlaws an individual's failure to comply with federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act requirements. The act demands that an individual- previously convicted of a qualifying federal, state, or foreign sex offense- register with state, territorial, or tribal authorities. This report contains information on the obligation to register and maintain registration, knowing failure to register, Constitutional considerations, and more as related to the issue.
- Federal Prison Industries: UNICOR
- No Description Available.
- Chief Administrative Officer of the House: History and Organization
- This report provides the history and organization of the Chief Administrative Officer of the House.
- Appropriations for FY2000: Treasury, Postal Service, Executive Office of the President, and General Government
- This report discusses Treasury, Postal Service, Executive Office of the President, and General Government Appropriations for FY2000.
- Hydropower License Conditions and the Relicensing Process
- No Description Available.
- Federal Prison Industries
- No Description Available.
- International Criminal Court Cases in Africa: Status and Policy Issues
- The International Criminal Court (ICC) has, to date, opened cases exclusively in Africa. Cases concerning 25 individuals are open before the Court, pertaining to crimes allegedly committed in six African states: Libya, Kenya, Sudan (Darfur), Uganda (the Lord's Resistance Army, LRA), the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. This report provides background on current ICC cases and examines issues raised by the ICC's actions in Africa.
- The Supreme Court Opinion on Reading the Bible and Reciting the Lord's Prayer in the Public Schools
- This report is on Opinion of Supreme Court on Reading Bible.
- Federal Tort Reform Legislation: Constitutionality and Summaries of Selected Statutes
- This report considers the constitutionality of federal tort reform legislation, such as the products liability and medical malpractice reform proposals that have been introduced for the last several Congresses. Tort law at present is almost exclusively state law rather than federal law, although, as noted in the appendix to this report, Congress has enacted a number of tort reform statutes.
- Appropriations for FY2000: U.S. Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies
- This report discusses the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations for FY2000.
- H.R. 3964: Analysis of Key Provisions
- This report provides summary and analysis of H.R. 3964, the Sacramentro-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act, as passed by the House of Representatives on February 5, 2014.
- Authority to Enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in the Wake of the Homeland Security Act: Legal Issues
- For decades, the administrative authority to interpret, implement, enforce, and adjudicate immigration law within the U.S. lay almost exclusively with one officer: the Attorney General. The most general statement of this power was found in §103(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), the statute that comprehensively regulates immigration law in the United States. With the transfer of nearly all immigration functions to the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003, however, §103(a)(1) of the INA has necessarily required various modifications to clarify the respective authorities newly obtained by the Secretary of Homeland Security and retained by the Attorney General.
- Legislative Support: Useful Telephone Numbers and Internet Addresses
- This report, one of a series of reports on the legislative process, provides a brief list of telephone numbers, room numbers, and Internet addresses (where available) of use to congressional staffers engaged in legislative procedure and research.
- Issues Regarding a National Land Parcel Database
- This report provides a summary of some of the issues regarding the creation of a national land parcel database, or cadastre. The report identifies some of the perceived needs for a national cadastre, legislative and administrative options that could lead to a national land parcel database, and some of the challenges and concerns. The report also summarizes and briefly discusses recommendations in a 2007 National Research Council (NRC) report that concluded "...a national approach is necessary to provide a rational and accountable system of property records."
- Abortion Services and Military Medical Facilities
- The purpose of this report is to describe and discuss the provisions for providing abortion services to military personnel, their dependents, and other military health care beneficiaries at military medical facilities. The report describes the history of these provisions, with particular emphasis on legislative actions. Finally, this report discusses a number of proposals to modify the law, as well as other related legislative and administrative actions.
- A Brief Overview of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008
- This report is a brief Overview of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, enacted as Title V of P.L. 110-252 that provides enhanced educational benefits for veterans and service members.
- FY2018 Appropriations for Department of Justice Grant Programs
- This report discusses the funding for a variety of grant programs through the Department of Justice (DOJ).
- Pending ACA Legal Challenges Remain as Congress Pursues Health Care Reform
- This report discusses developments since January 2017 related to legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and health care reform.