Congressional Research Service Reports - 71 Matching Results
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- The Unification of Germany: Background and Analysis of the Two-Plus-Four Talks
- No Description Available.
- Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress in the 1990s
- Japan-U.S. relations are more uncertain and subject to greater strain today than at any time since World War II. Longstanding military allies and increasingly interdependent economic partners, Japan and the United States have worked closely together to build a strong, multifaceted relationship based on democratic values and interests in world stability and development. But Japan today is our foremost economic and technological competitor. The Cold War thaw, discord in U.S.-Japanese relations over the Iraq-Kuwait crisis of 1990-1991, a protracted U.S. recession, and exigencies of U.S. election-year politics raised new questions about the appropriate U.S. policy toward this Asian ally.
- Biotechnology, Indigenous Peoples, and Intellectual Property Rights
- This report examines intellectual property right in pharmaceuticals in a particular context, namely, medicinal products and processes derived from the biodiversity resources of areas inhabited by indigenous peoples. This report discusses the international law regarding intellectual property rights in traditional knowledge and the American laws regarding traditional knowledge.
- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Indonesia "Summit" in 1994
- This report discusses the Ministerial and Leaders' Meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, set to be held in Indonesia. APEC is a consultative body with membership of seventeen Pacific Basin economies that includes both China and Taiwan. The body is working toward trade liberalization (but not a free-trade area) in the most dynamic economic region of the world.
- Intellectual Property Provisions of the GATT 1994: "The TRIPS Agreement"
- This report analyzes the intellectual property (IP) provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 -- the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, known as the "TRIPS Agreement."
- Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990
- No Description Available.
- International Science and Technology: Issues for U.S. Policymakers
- No Description Available.
- Substance Abusers: New Rules for Disability Benefits from Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance
- No Description Available.
- Biological Diversity Treaty: Fact Sheet
- As human activity continues to change and modify natural areas, widespread extinctions of plants, animals, and other types of species result. In 1992, negotiations conducted under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were completed on a comprehensive global treaty to protect biological diversity (biodiversity). In June 1993, President Clinton signed the treaty and sent it to the Senate for advice and consent. It is not pending in the Senate. The treaty entered into force on December 29, 1993. As of May 15, 1995, 118 nations had ratified the treaty.
- Defense Budget: Alternative Measures of Costs of Military Commitments Abroad
- This report contains he measures of costs of military commitments abroad and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each overseas costs.
- Japan-U.S. 1995 Automotive Dispute: Impact of 100 Percent Tariffs on Automobile Dealers by State
- There have been varying estimates of the number of U.S. automobile dealerships that would be affected by the Administration's recently announced plan to impose a 100-percent tariff on imported Japanese luxury automobiles. This report examines the assumptions which result in some of the differences. also provides a State-by-State estimate of numbers of dealers potentially affected if the higher tariffs are imposed.
- Chinese Missile and Nuclear Proliferation: Issues for Congress
- The President has identified proliferation as a primary danger to U.S. security interests. China has contributed to the danger by providing nuclear weapons technology to Pakistan, and other nuclear technology to Iran and Algeria. China has also supplied CSS-2 intermediate range ballistic missiles to Saudi Arabia, Silkworm anti-ship missiles to Iran and Iraq, and ballistic missile technology to Pakistan and perhaps Iran, North Korea and others. China developed the mobile, solid-fuel M-9 and M-11 short range ballistic missiles reportedly with Pakistan, Syria, and Iran as interested buyers.
- Tax Revisions -- Past and Future:
- No Description Available.
- The Convention on Nuclear Safety - A Fact Sheet
- Until the catastrophic accident with the former Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear power plant showed that radioactivity from a major nuclear accident could reach neighboring nations, nuclear safety was held to be an exclusively sovereign responsibility of each nation. Now it is recognized that a nuclear accident in one state can release radioactivity dangerous to another. As a result, many now view international cooperation as one way to help to assure safe operation of each nation's civil nuclear power stations.
- Credit Provisions of the Enacted 1996 Farm Bill
- No Description Available.
- A Clean Air Option: Cash for Clunkers
- No Description Available.
- A Clean Air Option: Cash for Clunkers
- The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 encourage states to pursue market-based approaches to improve air quality. An Accelerated Vehicle Retirement (AVR) program, commonly referred to as "Cash for Clunkers," is designed to provide an economic incentive for the owners of highly polluting vehicles to retire their automobiles permanently from use and to provide greater flexibility for private industry to reduce emissions by sponsoring such a program. The implementation of AVR programs can be controversial. This report discusses the AVR program debate and includes information on completed AVR pilot projects in selected states.
- Law of the Sea: the International Seabed Authority - Its Status and U.S. Participation Therein
- The 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, as amended by the 1994 Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the U.N. Convention, entered into force, on November 16, 1994. That action initiated establishment of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), composed of all States parties to the Convention, to administer the seabed mining regime set forth in the Convention/Agreement
- Economic Sanctions and the Former Yugoslavia: Current Status and Policy Considerations Through 1996
- No Description Available.
- Environmental Protection: How Much it Costs and Who Pays
- This report discusses a recurring issue in environmental policy: the cost of pollution control imposed on individuals, businesses, and governments.
- Environmental Protection: How Much it Costs and Who Pays
- A recurring issue in environmental policy is the cost of pollution control imposed on individuals, businesses, and government. To inform policymakers about these costs, a number of surveys and analyses have been conducted over the years. consistent, basic sources have been an annual survey of costs to manufacturers, conducted by the Bureau of Census(BOC), and an annual analysis of total costs, prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis(BEA). Overall, the BEA analysis showed the nation spent $122 billion for pollution abatement and control in 1994, or about 1.76% of Gross Domestic Product. Personal consumption expenditures for pollution control were $22 billion, government 435 billion, and business $65 billion. These 1994 data represent the end of the annual series; the BOC survey and BEA analysis have been discontinued
- Nicaragua: Changes Under the Chamorro Government and U.S. Concerns
- CRS Report of congress regarding the changes under the chamarro government and U.S concerns.
- Food and Agriculture Provisions in the FY1997 Supplemental Appropriations Act
- This report addresses Food and Agriculture provisions in the FY1997 Supplemental Appropriations Act.
- Food and Agriculture Provisions in the FY1997 Supplemental Appropriations Act
- Report providing an overview of provisions and funding related to food and agriculture program as a part of a supplemental appropriations bill (P.L. 105-18, H.R. 1871).
- Forest Roads: Construction and Financing
- This report gives an overview of Forest Roads construction and Financing. It discusses the current road system, statistics over the years.
- Forest Roads: Construction and Financing
- This report gives an overview of Forest Roads construction and Financing. It discusses the current road system, statistics over the years.
- Gasoline Excise Tax - Historical Revenues: Fact Sheet
- This report provides a fact sheet about the Gasoline Excise Tax - Historical Revenues. The gas tax was regarded as a user tax where the federal government has imposed a gasoline excise tax with the passage of the revenue act in 1932.
- Gasoline Excise Tax—Historical Revenues: Fact Sheet
- The federal government has levied a tax on gasoline since 1932. This report provides a table that examines this tax since its inception.
- Suspension of Deportation: Tighter Standards for Canceling Removal
- No Description Available.
- China-U.S. Summit, October 1997
- This report provides a brief overview of U.S. and China relations beginning October 1997.
- Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Issues
- No Description Available.
- Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: Methyl Bromide Control Measures
- This report is intended to help the reader follow changes over time in regulations domestic and international - governing methyl bromide for its potential ozone-depleting effects. Methyl bromide, like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), has been implicated by scientists in contributing to stratospheric ozone depletion, which may pose health threats to living organisms due to increased exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Methyl bromide is currently used widely as a pesticide in international agricultural commerce.
- Superfund and States: The State Role and Other Issues
- The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, or 99Superftind"), when it was enacted in 1980, gave the federal government the lead role in cleaning up the nation's worst hazardous waste sites. It did not envision that states would assume responsibility to run the program, unlike most other environmental laws. Since 1980, states have come to play an increasingly important role in waste site cleanup and now, through cooperative arrangements, have assumed lead responsibility for about 10% of federal Superfund sites (those on the National Priorities List, or NPL).
- The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Proposed Quota Increase: Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Commemorative Observances 1997 and 1998: A Chronological List
- No Description Available.
- Child Support Enforcement: New Reforms and Potential Issues
- This report contains the new reforms and potential issues of child support enforcement.
- Child Support Enforcement: New Reforms and Potential Issues
- This report discusses the background, issues, enforcement and the reforms of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193), signed into law on August 22, 1996, and the major changes made to the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program.
- Federal Regulation of Working Hours: The Ballenger and Ashcroft Proposals (H.R. 1 and S. 4)
- During the 104 Congress, legislation was considered that would have altered the 40-hour workweek and overtime pay requirements for private sector workers. In somewhat altered form, such legislation [H.R. 1 (Ballenger) and S. 4 (Ashcroft)] has been reintroduced in the 105 Congress. This report, very briefly, summarizes the issues presented by H.R. 1 and S. 4.
- Federal Regulation of Working Hours: The Ballenger and Ashcroft Proposals (H.R. 1 and S.4)
- No Description Available.
- Foreign Military Troops in the United States
- This report discusses to what extent and why military personnel and forces from foreign nations are sometimes stationed in the United States
- Patent Reform: Overview and Comparison of S. 507 and H.R. 400
- H.R. 400 and S. 507 are similar but different omnibus patent reform proposals. Both bills generally transform the Patent and Trademark Office into a government corporation; require publication of patent applications 18 months after filing, subject to certain exceptions that differ in these bills; and extend the patent term for certain delays in patent issuance. S. 507 also contains provisions on patent reexamination reform. This report summarizes and compares the bills and reviews arguments for and against the proposals.
- Payment of Interest by the Federal Reserve to Depository Institutions: An Analysis
- No Description Available.
- Attempt To Commit A Federal Crime: S. 171, A Proposed General Statute
- There is no general federal statute proscribing criminal attempts; the federal criminal statutes are written in such a manner so as to include only the attempt to commit a specific substantive crime or substantive offense. Therefore, a specific in intent crime would require that the offender specifically intended to devise a scheme intended to commit the crime. The government, on the other hand, must present proof by inferences from the circumstances that the offender possessed the specific intent to commit the crime. This approach to the law has led to a patchwork of attempt statutes- leaving gaps in coverage, and failing to satisfactorily define exactly what constitutes an attempt in all circumstances an attempt in all circumstances. It is also the intent of the legislation to fill the gaps found in the current attempt statutes. This report will be updated if legislative activity warrant.
- Kosovo and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- Kosovo and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- National Tests: Administration Initiative
- No Description Available.
- National Tests: Administration Initiative
- The Clinton Administration is encouraging states and local educational agencies (LEAs) to administer new national tests to 4th-grade pupils in reading and 8th-grade pupils in mathematics each year beginning in 2000. Participation in the tests would be voluntary and would not affect a state or LEA’s eligibility for federal aid programs. These tests would be based on existing assessments that were developed with federal financial support. The federal government would oversee the development of the tests, paying the costs for this as well as technical assistance, and the initial round of test administration, using funds under the Fund for the Improvement of Education (FIE).
- Overview Of State Charter School Laws
- No Description Available.
- Overview of State Charter School Laws
- CRS Report for Congress entailing information about state charter school laws. Topics include, all 50 states.
- Electricity Restructuring: Comparison of S.1401, H.R. 655, H.R. 1230, S. 722, H.R. 1960, and S. 2287
- Once considered the nation's most regulated industry, the electric utility industry is evolving into a more competitive environment. At the current time, the focus of this development is the generating sector, where the advent of new generating technologies, such as gas-fired combined cycle, has lowered both entry barriers to competitors of traditional utilities and lowered the marginal costs of those competitors below those of some traditional utilities. This technological advance has been combined with legislative initiatives, such as the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT), to encourage the introduction of competitive forces into the electric generating sector. The questions now are whether further legislative action is desirable to encourage competition in the electric utility sector and how the transition between a comprehensive regulatory regime to a more competitive electric utility sector can be made with the least amount of economic and service disruption.