Search Results

open access

Membership of the 113th Congress: A Profile

Description: This report presents a profile of the membership of the 113th Congress (2013-2014). Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births, and military service.
Date: February 28, 2013
Creator: Manning, Jennifer E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Membership of the 108th Congress: A Profile

Description: This report presents a profile of the membership of the 108th Congress. Included is information on numbers of Members, party affiliation, average age and length of service, occupations, religious affiliation, military service, female and minority Members, and foreign-born Members.
Date: July 28, 2004
Creator: Amer, Mildred L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Membership and Appointment Authority to Advisory Commissions, Boards, and Groups

Description: This report contains a compilation of commissions and boards that demonstrates the range of alternative membership-appointment structures. It includes any statutorily created advisory entity (boards, advisory panels, etc.) whose membership scheme mandates the participation of Members of Congress either as potential members or as participants in the process of appointing the membership.
Date: January 28, 2015
Creator: Glassman, Matthew Eric
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Member Organizations: Their Purpose and Activities, History, and Formation

Description: This report examines the purpose and activities of Committee on House Administration as congressional Member organizations (CMO) and the reasons Members form them. It also identifies and describes seven CMO types, and it provides an overview of the historical development of informal Member organizations since the first Congress, focusing on their regulation in the House by the Committee on House Oversight/Committee on House Administration, the rise and fall of legislative service organizations … more
Date: August 28, 2013
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay & Gerrity, Jessica C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Member Organizations: Their Purpose and Activities, History, and Formation

Description: This report examines the purpose and activities of CMOs and the reasons Members form them. It also identifies and describes seven CMO types, and it provides an overview of the historical development of informal Member organizations since the first Congress, focusing on their regulation in the House by the Committee on House Oversight/Committee on House Administration, the rise and fall of legislative service organizations, and the House’s decision in 1995 to issue regulations for establishing C… more
Date: June 28, 2010
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Beginning and End of the Terms of United States Senators Chosen to Fill Senate Vacancies

Description: This report discusses the procedures for when a Senator is chosen to fill a Senate vacancy during a session of Congress, i.e., when the appointed Senator can begin his or her term of office, and how long the Senator remains in office (until the new "Senator-elect" is sworn in and seated by the Senate).
Date: September 28, 2010
Creator: Maskell, Jack
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The House's Corrections Calendar

Description: This report discusses the establishment of the “Corrections Day”, a concept credited to Michigan Governor John Englerwhich, which is a procedure for repealing “the dumbest things the federal government is currently doing and just abolish them.”
Date: March 28, 2001
Creator: Oleszek, Walter J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Automatic Continuing Resolutions: Background and Overview of Recent Proposals

Description: This report begins by providing background on the historic frequency of federal funding gaps. Then, four major features of automatic continuing resolution (ACR) proposals since the 1980s -- time frame, funding level, activities, and duration -- are explained. This is followed by a summary of the major arguments for and against the enactment of an ACR. Finally, the last three sections of the report review congressional action that has taken place on ACR proposals, describe ACR proposals that hav… more
Date: October 28, 2013
Creator: Tollestrup, Jessica
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Foreign Aid Reform: Studies and Recommendations

Description: This report gives a brief history of modern U.S. foreign aid and modern legislative efforts to reform foreign aid practices. The report also examines various recommendations from recent studies relating to foreign aid reform.
Date: July 28, 2009
Creator: Epstein, Susan B. & Weed, Matthew C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Action on FY2016 Appropriations Measures

Description: This report provides information on the congressional consideration of the FY2016 regular appropriations bills and the FY2016 continuing resolution (CR). It also discusses the statutory and procedural budget enforcement framework for FY2016 appropriations.
Date: October 28, 2015
Creator: Tollestrup, Jessica
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Filling the Senate "Amendment Tree"

Description: This report discusses the filing process of "Amendment trees": diagrams that have developed over decades of Senate practice as a way of visualizing certain principles of precedence that govern the offering of, and voting on, amendments in the chamber.
Date: July 28, 2015
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Export-Import Bank: Reauthorization

Description: This report discusses the ongoing debate regarding the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal government corporation which is the the official export credit agency (ECA) of the U.S. Government.
Date: July 28, 2006
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Negotiated Rulemaking

Description: This report discusses negotiated rulemaking, a supplement to traditional rulemaking, which is a process in which representatives of federal agencies and affected parties work together in a committee to reach consensus on what can ultimately become a proposed rule. Although negotiated rulemaking is not appropriate for all regulations, advocates believe that the approach can speed rule development, reduce litigation, and generate more creative and effective regulatory solutions.
Date: August 28, 2006
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Questions of the Privileges of the House: An Analysis

Description: The first section of this report provides information on raising and considering questions of House privileges to provide assistance in anticipating potential House action. The second part focuses on the content of questions in an effort to provide guidance as to what the Speaker may determine constitutes a valid question. The final section provides extensive data on questions raised in the past two decades.
Date: April 28, 2015
Creator: Lynch, Megan S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate

Description: This report discusses major aspects of Senate procedure related to filibusters and cloture. The two, however, are not always as closely linked in practice as they are in popular conception. Even when opponents of a measure resort to extended debate or other tactics of delay, supporters may not decide to seek cloture (although this situation seems to have been more common in earlier decades than today). In recent times, conversely, the Senate leadership has increasingly utilized cloture as a rou… more
Date: March 28, 2003
Creator: Beth, Richard S. & Bach, Stanley
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Army Drawdown and Restructuring: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the new defense strategy, which was unveiled by senior Department of Defense (DOD) leadership based on a review of potential future security challenges, current defense strategy, and budgetary constraints. This strategy will rebalance the Army's global posture and presence, emphasizing where potential problems are likely to arise, such as the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.
Date: March 28, 2014
Creator: Feickert, Andrew
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Continuing Resolutions: Latest Action and Brief Overview of Recent Practices

Description: This report is divided into two segments. The first section provides the most recent information on the FY2011 continuing resolution. The second segment focuses on the (1) history and recent trends, including the nature, scope, and duration of CRs during the past 35 years; (2) CR types by duration; (3) major substantive legislative provisions included in some CRs; and (4) funding gaps.
Date: February 28, 2011
Creator: Streeter, Sandy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Navy Aegis Cruiser and Destroyer Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The Navy has begun a multi-billion dollar program to modernize its 84 existing Aegis cruisers and destroyers over a period of more than 20 years. This report explores this program in detail, including the reasons for the program and the oversight issues it poses for Congress. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Date: September 28, 2010
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Senate Rules Affecting Committees

Description: This report identifies and summarizes the provisions of the Senate's standing rules, standing orders, precedents, and other directives that relate to legislative activity in the Senate's standing committees. It covers four main issues: committee organization, committee meetings, hearings, and reporting.
Date: February 28, 2003
Creator: Bach, Stanley & Palmer, Betsy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Duration of Continuing Resolutions in Recent Years

Description: This report provides information on congressional practices with respect to the duration of continuing resolutions, including the use of full-year measures, and focuses particularly on the period covering FY1998-FY2011.
Date: April 28, 2011
Creator: Tollestrup, Jessica
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen