Congressional Research Service Reports - 1,190 Matching Results

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DOD Leases of Foreign-Built Ships: Background for Congress

Description: The Department of Defense (DOD) in recent years has leased some foreign-built cargo ships for total periods, including options and renewals, of almost 10 years -- a length of time that some observers argue effectively circumvents a legal requirement that U.S. military ships be built in U.S. shipyards. These observers, particularly the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA), have proposed reducing the current five-year legal limit on ship leases to two years for foreign-built ships. DOD has opp… more
Date: September 28, 2010
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

Description: This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, an historical overview of debt limits, and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.
Date: November 4, 2010
Creator: Austin, D. Andrew & Levit, Mindy R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

Description: This report briefly discusses the Small Business Innovation Development Act (P.L. 97-219), which in 1982 established Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs designed to increase participation of small innovative companies in federally funded research and development (R&D). The report also discusses the program's extensions and reauthorization activity over the years.
Date: August 4, 2010
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program: An Overview

Description: This report provides a brief overview of The Hollings Manufacturing Partnership (MEP), which is a program of regional centers set up to assist small and medium-sized manufacturing companies use knowledge and technologies developed under the auspices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Date: March 24, 2009
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Regulatory Reform: Analysis of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) as Proposed by the Obama Administration and H.R. 3126

Description: This report provides a brief summary of the President's Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 (the CPFA Act or the Act) and delineates some of the substantive differences between it and H.R. 3126, as introduced. It then analyzes some of the policy implications of the proposal, focusing on the separation of safety and soundness regulation from consumer protection, financial innovation, and the scope of regulation. The report then raises some questions regarding state law preemption, s… more
Date: July 17, 2009
Creator: Carpenter, David H. & Jickling, Mark
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Labor Market during the Great Depression and the Current Recession

Description: This report analyzes the labor market experiences of workers during the 1930s, which encompassed the almost five years of the Great Depression. Because it was a period very distant and different from today, considerable time is devoted to examining the employment and unemployment measures available at that time. The report ends by comparing the labor market conditions of the 1930s with those encountered by workers thus far during the recession that began in December 2007.
Date: June 19, 2009
Creator: Levine, Linda
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Debarment and Suspension of Government Contractors: An Overview of the Law Including Recently Enacted and Proposed Amendments

Description: The amount spent on government contracts, coupled with widely reported contractors misconduct, has generated congressional interest in debarment and suspension. The 110th Congress enacted several bills addressing debarment and suspension, including the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, and several others, all of which are detailed in this report.
Date: November 19, 2008
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy

Description: This report describes the open economy and society of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as U.S. concern over proliferation of advanced technology due to said open economy and the UAE's lax export controls. This report describes these issues in relation to a recently-signed U.S.-UAE civilian nuclear agreement. It also provides a general description of the UAE's government and political structure, as well as the effects of the recent global economic downturn on the UAE in general and on the… more
Date: April 20, 2009
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program: An Overview

Description: This report provides a brief overview of The Hollings Manufacturing Partnership (MEP), which is a program of regional centers set up to assist small and medium-sized manufacturing companies use knowledge and technologies developed under the auspices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Date: June 29, 2009
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

Description: A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) is a mechanism established by P.L. 99-602, the Federal Technology Transfer Act, to allow the transfer of technology, knowledge, and expertise from government laboratories to the private sector for further development and commercialization. The government provides support in the way of overhead for research and development performed in the federal laboratory and is prohibited from providing funding directly to the partner in the collaborat… more
Date: November 17, 1998
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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DOD's Dual-Use Strategy

Description: In an effort to reduce the costs of its military systems and gain greater access to state-of-the-art technologies, the Department of Defense is pursuing what is being called a "dual-use" strategy. This strategy seeks to make greater use of the commercial sector in developing and manufacturing military goods. This report discusses issues raised over the implementation of this strategy.
Date: July 3, 1997
Creator: Moteff, John D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Role in Technology Development

Description: The federal government has traditionally played a role in fostering technological progress. This has involved both direct federal research and development (R&D) funding and indirect measures that create incentives for increased private sector investments in innovation. However, this mix of initiatives was challenged since the 104th Congress. While support for all on-going efforts continues, some programs have been funded at reduced levels. However, since FY2001, appropriations appear to have re… more
Date: July 30, 2002
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Financial Crisis: Impact on and Response by the European Union

Description: According to the most recent National Threat Assessment, the global financial crisis and its geopolitical implications pose the primary near-term security concern of the United States. Over the short run, both the EU and the United States are attempting to resolve the financial crisis while stimulating domestic demand to stem the economic downturn. These efforts have born little progress so far as the economic recession and the financial crisis have become reinforcing events, causing EU governm… more
Date: June 24, 2009
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Davis-Bacon Act: Institutional Evolution and Public Policy

Description: This report examines policy issues the Davis-Bacon Act has sparked through the years and which remain a part of the Davis-Bacon debate of the 1990s. These include such questions as: wage rate determination procedures, reporting requirements under the Copeland Act, an appropriate threshold for activation of the statute, interagency relationships with respect to Davis-Bacon enforcement and compliance activity, administrative or judicial appeals procedures, the use of "helpers" and other low-skill… more
Date: November 30, 2007
Creator: Whittaker, William G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Countercyclical Job Creation Programs

Description: To counter the effect of recessions on workers, Congress has passed legislation to spur job creation through increased spending on public works (infrastructure) and public service programs, revenue sharing with state governments, and employment tax credits. Although the economic stimulus measure enacted during the 110th Congress did not include these direct job creation approaches, additional spending on infrastructure in particular was considered before Congress recessed. (See CRS Report RL343… more
Date: January 15, 2009
Creator: Levine, Linda
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Plant Closings, Mass Layoffs, and Worker Dislocations: Data Issues

Description: For at least 15 years Members of Congress have continued to ask: How many U.S. manufacturing plants have closed? For at least 15 years they have continued to ask: How many U.S. manufacturing plants have relocated abroad, and where have they gone? For at least 15 years the answer has been: For the most part, those questions can't be answered, based on Government data. How many plants are moving to Mexico? What industries and what States are the plants from? How many U.S. workers are losing their… more
Date: March 29, 1993
Creator: Bolle, Mary Jane
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cigarette Taxes to Fund Health Care Reform: An Economic Analysis

Description: A cigarette excise tax increase of 75 cents per pack has been proposed to finance part of the President's universal health care program. The tax enjoys considerable public support, would raise about $11 billion per year, and would be relatively simple to administer because it would increase an existing manufacturer's excise tax. This report discusses these rationales, as well as other effects of and concerns about the tax, organized into topics of market failure as a justification for the tax (… more
Date: March 8, 1994
Creator: Gravelle, Jane G. & Zimmerman, Dennis
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Advanced Technology Program

Description: President Bush's FY2008 budget request did not include financing for ATP. The FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, P.L. 110-161, replaces ATP with the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) and provides $65.2 million (with an additional $5 million in ATP FY2007 unobligated balances), 17.6% less than the previous fiscal year. P.L. 110- 69, the America COMPETES Act, authorized the creation of TIP.
Date: January 7, 2008
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Global Financial Crisis: The Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Description: This report discusses two potential roles the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have in helping to resolve the current global financial crisis: (1) immediate crisis control through balance of payments lending to emerging market and less-developed countries and (2) increased surveillance of the global economy through better coordination with the international financial regulatory agencies.
Date: October 27, 2008
Creator: Weiss, Martin A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Global Financial Crisis: The Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Description: This report discusses two potential roles the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have in helping to resolve the current global financial crisis: (1) immediate crisis control through balance of payments lending to emerging market and less-developed countries and (2) increased surveillance of the global economy through better coordination with the international financial regulatory agencies.
Date: October 30, 2008
Creator: Weiss, Martin A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Financial Market Intervention

Description: Financial markets continue to experience significant disturbance and the banking sector remains fragile. Efforts to restore confidence have been met with mixed success thus far. After attempting to deal with troubled institutions on a case-by-case basis, Treasury has proposed a plan to purchase mortgage-related assets to alleviate stress in financial markets and in the banking system. This report provides answers to some frequently asked questions concerning the financial disruptions of Septemb… more
Date: September 29, 2008
Creator: Murphy, Edward V.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Resolution Trust Corporation: Historical Analysis

Description: In a 1989 legislative response to financial troubles in the thrift industry, the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA, P.L. 101-73) was enacted. FIRREA's principal mission was to conduct a partially tax-payer funded program to address the troubles of the nation's many insolvent thrifts. To do so, it established a new entity, the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), whose mission was to address troubled thrifts by arranging their sale to other institutions … more
Date: September 26, 2008
Creator: Shorter, Gary
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Merger Review Authority of the Federal Communications Commission

Description: This report will explain the merger review process at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission). Whenever companies holding licenses issued by the FCC wish to merge, the merging entities must obtain approval from two federal agencies: the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FCC. The Commission and the DOJ do not follow precisely the same process or reasoning when examining the potential effects of proposed mergers. The Act permits the Commission to grant the transfer only if the… more
Date: August 20, 2008
Creator: Ruane, Kathleen Ann
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Primer on Energy Derivatives and Their Regulation

Description: Prices of oil and other energy commodities are set in futures and derivatives markets, where producers, commercial users, and financial speculators buy and sell contracts whose value is linked to the price of the underlying commodity. Trading occurs on regulated futures exchanges and in a largely unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) market; both forms of trading are global in scope. This report presents basic information about these markets, the instruments traded, the regulatory framework, specu… more
Date: July 15, 2008
Creator: Jickling, Mark
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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