Congressional Research Service Reports - 92 Matching Results

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Animal Agriculture: Selected Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: Various issues important to animal agriculture have generated interest among lawmakers in the first session of the 108th Congress. For example, under the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) many food stores in 2004 must provide country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on ground and fresh cuts of beef, beef, pork, and lamb. The House-passed USDA appropriation for FY2004 (H.R. 2673) would block funding to implemented COOL for meats. The Senate Committee version (S. 1427) lacks the ban.
Date: October 15, 2003
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Animal Waste and Water Quality: EPA Regulation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

Description: This report describes the revised environmental rules of the Clean Water Act, the background of previous Clean Water Act rules and the Clinton Administration proposal for revising these rules, and perspectives of key interest groups on the proposal and final regulations. It also identifies several issues likely to be of congressional interest as implementation of the revised rules proceeds.
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Appropriations for FY2003: Interior and Related Agencies

Description: Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, consolidated, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittees.
Date: March 15, 2003
Creator: Hardy-Vincent, Carol & Boren, Susan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Appropriations for FY2003: Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education

Description: Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittees.
Date: January 15, 2003
Creator: Irwin, Paul M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Background and Issues

Description: This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for energy development. The report discusses arguments for and against such development and related pieces of legislation. It does not analyze specific proposals to develop or protect the Refuge. Rather, it provides basic material for analyzing possibilities and implications of the major issues that have been the focus of the legislative debate over its fate.
Date: May 15, 2003
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs

Description: Some policymakers, believing that disparities in broadband access across American society could have adverse economic and social consequences on those left behind, assert that the federal government should play a more active role to avoid a “digital divide” in broadband access. One approach is for the federal government to provide financial assistance to support broadband deployment in underserved areas. Others, however, believe that federal assistance for broadband deployment is not appropriat… more
Date: September 15, 2003
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: 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.
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Reisch, Mark
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money

Description: Prior to enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), P.L. 107-155, the term “soft money” generally referred to unregulated funds, perceived as resulting from loopholes in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), 2 U.S.C. §§ 431 et seq. Generally, the intent of BCRA, (effective Nov. 6, 2002), which amends FECA, is to restrict the raising and spending of soft money. This Issue Brief discusses constitutional and legal issues surrounding two major types of soft money that BCRA … more
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Financing

Description: This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competi… more
Date: December 15, 2003
Creator: Cantor, Joseph E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests

Description: This report provides an overview of U.S. policy concerns and relations with countries in central Asia. The report discusses issues such as Fostering Pro-Western Orientations, Obstacles to Peace and Independence, Democratization and Human Rights, Security and Arms Control, Trade and Investment, and provides an Aid Overview.
Date: August 15, 2003
Creator: Nichol, Jim
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Care Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report includes recent developments in federal child care programs and tax provisions. The report discusses several federal programs that support child care or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. The report presents the legislative activity in the 108th Congress in regard to child care legislature and provisions.
Date: September 15, 2003
Creator: Gish, Melinda
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Pornography: Constitutional Principles and Federal Statutes

Description: The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996, P.L. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009- 26, added a definition of “child pornography” that include visual depictions of what appears to be a minor engaging in explicit sexual conduct, even if no actual minor was used in producing the depiction. On April 16, 2002, in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, the Supreme Court held this provision unconstitutional to the extent that it prohibited pictures that were not produced with actual minors. (This case is discuss… more
Date: October 15, 2003
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal

Description: The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) calls for disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geologic repository that is unlikely to be disturbed for thousands of years. Low-level waste sites are a state responsibility under the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980. Pursuant to that act, 10 regional compacts for disposal of low level waste have been approved by Congress. Three commercial low-level waste sites are currently operating, in the states of South Carolina, Utah, and Washin… more
Date: September 15, 2003
Creator: Holt, Mark
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Commemorative Postage Stamps : History, Selection Criteria, and Revenue Potential

Description: This report provides information about the History, Selection Criteria, and Revenue Potential of Commemorative Postage Stamps. The Commemorative stamp program contributed an estimated $174 million in retained revenues for the USPS in the fiscal year 2002.
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Stevens, Nye
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A CRS Review of 10 States: Home and Community-Based Services — States Seek to Change the Face of Long-Term Care: Indiana

Description: Many states have devoted significant efforts to respond to the desire for home and community-based care for persons with disabilities and their families. Nevertheless, financing of nursing home care, chiefly by Medicaid, still dominates most states’ spending for long-term care today. To assist Congress in understanding issues that states face in providing long-term care services, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) undertook a study of 10 states in 2002. This report, one in a series of 10 … more
Date: December 15, 2003
Creator: Tilly, Jane; O'Shaughnessy, Carol & Weissert, Rob
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cyprus: Status of U.N. Negotiations

Description: Cyprus has been divided since 1974. Greek Cypriots, nearly 80% of the population, live in the southern two thirds of the island. Turkish Cypriots live in the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (recognized only by Turkey), with about 30,000 Turkish troops providing security. U.N. peacekeeping forces maintain a buffer zone between the two. Members of Congress have urged the Administration to be more active, although they have not proposed an alternative to the U.N.-sponsored talks.
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Migdalovitz, Carol
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Defense Research: DOD's Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Program

Description: Congress supports the research and development efforts of the Department of Defense (DOD) with a Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The appropriation primarily supports the development of the nation’s future military hardware and software and the technology base upon which those products rely. It is the federal government’s single largest research and development account. Besides supporting the nation’s military needs, some of the technology developed with RDT&E f… more
Date: May 15, 2003
Creator: Moteff, John D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Electoral College: Reform Proposals in the 108th Congress

Description: American voters elect the President and Vice President of the United States under a complex arrangement of constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and political party practices known as the electoral college system. Despite occasional close elections, this system has delivered uncontested results in 46 of 50 elections since adoption of the 12th Amendment, effective in 1804. Throughout this period, nevertheless, it has been the subject of persistent criticism and many reform proposals… more
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Endangered Species Act: Consideration of Economic Factors

Description: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides for the listing and protection of species that are found to be “endangered” or “threatened” – species that might become extinct. The listing of a species as endangered triggers the prohibitions in the Act against “taking” (killing or harming) individuals of the protected species, unless a permit is obtained to take individuals incidental to an otherwise lawful proposed action, or an exemption for the proposed action is obtained. Unauthorized taking of a… more
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Baldwin, Pamela
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues

Description: In the 108th Congress, debate over energy efficiency programs has focused on budget, oil, natural gas, and electricity issues, and provisions in the omnibus energy policy bill, S. 2095, H.R. 6, and S. 14/S. 1149. The Bush Administration’s FY2005 budget request for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Efficiency Program sought $875.9 million, including $543.9 for R&D and $332.0 million for grants. In the first session, the omnibus energy bill (H.R. 6) had several significant tax and regulat… more
Date: April 15, 2003
Creator: Sissine, Fred
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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