Congressional Research Service Reports - 60 Matching Results

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The Federal Arbitration Act: Background and Recent Developments

Description: Enacted in 1925, the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) seeks to ensure the validity and enforcement of arbitration agreements in any “maritime transaction or a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce.” This report provides a brief legislative history of the FAA, as well as a review of selected cases that have interpreted the FAA. The report also discusses bills introduced during the 107th Congress that would amend the FAA for various purposes. Of the nine measures that have been intr… more
Date: June 17, 2002
Creator: Shimabukuro, Jon O.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Capital Punishment: An Overview of Federal Death Penalty Statutes

Description: 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.
Date: July 23, 2002
Creator: Bazan, Elizabeth B.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Overview of Major Provisions

Description: The Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act (IDEA) providesfundsto statesfor the education of children with disabilities. It contains detailed requirements for the receipt of these funds, including the core requirement of the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE). IDEA was comprehensively revised in 1997 by P.L. 105-17, but Congress has continued to grapple with issuesrelating to the Act. This report provides a brief overview of the Act with particular attention paid to iss… more
Date: January 11, 2002
Creator: Apling, Richard N. & Jones, Nancy L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Grand Jury

Description: This report is a brief general description of the federal grand jury, with particular emphasis on its more controversial aspects—relationship of the prosecutor and the grand jury, the rights of grand jury witnesses, grand jury secrecy, and rights of targets of a grand jury investigation.
Date: February 5, 2002
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Origination Clause of the U.S. Constitution: Interpretation and Enforcement

Description: This report analyzes congressional and court precedents regarding bills under Article I, Section 7, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution (known as the Origination Clause). It also describes the various ways in which the Origination Clause has been enforced and looks at the application of the Clause to other types of legislation.
Date: May 10, 2002
Creator: Saturno, James V.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Invasive Non-Native Species: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report compares an approach based on a species-by-species assessment, vs. one based on pathways of entry. It also assesses the choice of an emphasis on prevention vs. post hoc control and intra-state quarantine. It describes existing federal laws and federal agency roles, federal interagency cooperation, and the federal interaction with state governments. Finally, it outlines effects, costs, and issues surrounding 47 selected harmful non-native species.
Date: November 25, 2002
Creator: Corn, M. L.; Buck, Eugene H.; Rawson, Jean; Segarra, Alex & Fischer, Eric
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Amtrak Profitability: An Analysis of Congressional Expectations at Amtrak’s Creation

Description: This report is categorized into four categories: (I) Passenger Rail Service Deficits Prior to Amtrak, (II) Original Expectations for Amtrak: Administration, (III) Early Returns on Amtrak's Progress Toward Profitability, (IV) Have the Original Pre-Conditions for Amtrak Profitability Been Met?
Date: June 26, 2002
Creator: Peterman, D.Randall
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm "Counter-Cyclical Assistance"

Description: This report discusses the reauthorization of major farm income and commodity price support programs that expire after crop year 2002. Many agricultural interests expect that a new “counter-cyclical assistance” program will be an integral component of future farm policy. The intent of counter-cyclical assistance is to provide more government support when farm prices and/or incomes decline, and less support when they improve.
Date: March 7, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Womach, Jasper
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm "Counter-Cyclical Assistance"

Description: This report discusses recently approved legislation reauthorizing major farm income and commodity price support programs through crop year 2007. This legislation includes new “counter-cyclical assistance” programs for grains, cotton, oilseeds, peanuts, and milk. The intent of counter-cyclical assistance is to provide more government support when farm prices and/or incomes decline, and less support when they improve. In fact, farmers have, for many years, been eligible for various forms of coun… more
Date: May 31, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Womach, Jasper
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm Commodity Payment Limits: Comparison of Proposals

Description: This report discusses U.S. policy regard farm commodities. Greater public awareness of the size of commodity program payments reaching a comparatively small number of very large farms has focused the attention of Congress on payment limits. Limits on commodity program payments have been imposed since 1970. As part of the emergency economic assistance packages enacted each of the past three years, the payment limits have been doubled. In addition, a mechanism has been developed that allows farms… more
Date: April 26, 2002
Creator: Womach, Jasper
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Railway Labor Act: Dispute Resolution Procedures and Congressional Authority to Intervene

Description: This report provides an overview of the dispute resolution procedures under the Railway Labor Act, including the President's authority to appoint an Emergency Board; and discusses Congress' authority to intervene in railway and airline strikes.
Date: February 14, 2002
Creator: Welborn, Angie A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Welfare: Reauthorization of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program in the 107th Congress

Description: This report discusses the reauthorization of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendments of 2001. The new law maintains the FY2001 mandatory funding level, authorizes additional discretionary funding, and grants new program authority to provide mentoring services for children of prisoners. In addition, the enacted legislation allows states to use Promoting Safe and Stable Families funds for infant "safe haven" programs, provides for reallocation of unused program funds, clarifies language… more
Date: January 24, 2002
Creator: Stoltzfus, Emilie & Spar, Karen
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm Bill Trade and Food Aid Provisions

Description: This report discusses the trade provisions of omnibus farm legislation, passed in May 2002. The measure includes a trade title reauthorizing, through 2007, the major foreign food aid and agricultural export programs. It also contains other provisions affecting agricultural trade, including new country-of-origin labeling requirements for meat, seafood, and produce; and increased domestic farm subsidies with possible implications for U.S. trade relations.
Date: May 8, 2002
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation

Description: This report addresses the current policy on immigration visa issuances and options for reassigning this function to the proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. An analysis of the grounds for excluding aliens follows. The report summarizes the debate on transferring visa issuance policy functions to … more
Date: November 14, 2002
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Budget for Fiscal Year 2002

Description: The report is categorized into seven categories: (I) Background and Analysis, (II) Budget Totals, (III) Budget Action, (IV) Outlays, (V) Receipts, (VI) Surpluses or Deficits, and (VII) The Budget and The Economy.
Date: November 14, 2002
Creator: Winters, Philip D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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“Junk E-mail”: An Overview of Issues and Legislation Concerning Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail (“Spam”)

Description: This report discusses unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), also called “spam” or “junk e-mail.” Not only can it be a nuisance, but its cost may be passed on to consumers through higher charges from Internet service providers who must upgrade their systems to handle the traffic.
Date: March 1, 2002
Creator: Smith, Marcia S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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