Search Results

open access

Congressional Salaries and Allowances

Description: This report provides basic information on congressional salaries and allowances. First, the report briefly summarizes the current salary of Members of Congress, limits on their outside earned income and honoraria, and applicable health insurance and retirement benefits. Second, it provides information on allowances available to Representatives and Senators to support them in their official and representational duties as Members. Third, it provides the salaries and allowances available to the Sp… more
Date: August 5, 2004
Creator: Dwyer, Paul E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Clean Water Act Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses issues regarding the Clean Water Act. Prospects for legislative initiatives to comprehensively amend the Clean Water Act (CWA) have stalled for some time over whether and exactly how to change the law, and Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected CWA programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. For example, the 108th Congress enacted one bill amending the CWA, legislation to reauthorize the National Estuar… more
Date: December 6, 2004
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Clean Air Act Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: This report discusses major decisions on clean air issues facing the courts and the executive branch in 2006. One focus will be EPA's recent proposal to strengthen air quality standards for fine particles. Other issues of continuing interest are EPA's 2005 decisions limiting interstate transport of air pollution and establishing cap-and-trade systems for emissions from coal fired power plants, and the agency's proposed changes to New Source Review.
Date: March 21, 2006
Creator: McCarthy, James E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Particulate Matter (PM2.5): Implementation of the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Description: Particulate matter (PM), including fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and larger, but still inhalable particles (PM10), is one of the six principal pollutants for which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the Clean Air Act (CAA). This report outlines the implementation process for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS and describes issues raised as EPA and states develop implementation strategies.
Date: September 11, 2008
Creator: Esworthy, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: FY2007 Appropriations

Description: This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It summarizes the status of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity.
Date: December 1, 2006
Creator: Vincent, Carol H.; Bearden, David M.; Corn, M. L.; Gorte, Ross W.; Humphries, Marc; Sheikh, Pervaze A. et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

House Committees: Categories and Rules for Committee Assignments

Description: This report discusses procedures for committee assignments, which both House and party rules detail. House rules address the election and membership of committees, especially limitations on membership. The Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference rules designate categories of committees and specify service limitations in addition to those in the House rules.
Date: February 25, 2005
Creator: Schneider, Judy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Minority Rights and Senate Procedures

Description: This report discusses the nature of Senate procedures and various opportunities that the minority has to influence the process. The rules of the Senate emphasize the rights and prerogatives of individual Senators and, therefore, minority groups of Senators. The Senate's rules also are a source of other minority rights, including the right to propose non-germane amendments to most bills and to prevent bills from being referred to committees that might not consider and report them.
Date: August 22, 2005
Creator: Schneider, Judy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Amending Process in the House of Representatives

Description: This report summarizes many of the procedures and practices affecting the amending process on the floor of the House of Representatives. The process gives Members an opportunity to change the provisions of the bills and resolutions on which they are going to vote; it can be among the most complex as well as the most important stages of legislative consideration.
Date: April 16, 2003
Creator: Davis, Christopher M. & Bach, Stanley
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Capitol Visitors' Center: An Overview

Description: This report presents the cost of the Capitol Visitors' Center (CVC), the most extensive addition to the Capitol since the Civil War, which is estimated at between $380 million and $395 million. Altogether $357.3 million in appropriated funds are available for project. An additional $65 million has been raised for construction of the center through private donations and the sale of commemorative coins.
Date: November 7, 2003
Creator: Stathis, Stephen W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources

Description: This report introduces selected basic sources that are useful in obtaining background information or specific facts on the status of federal legislative or regulatory initiatives. It includes telephone, online, and media sources are included, as well as pertinent directories, such as those of organizations that track areas of interest. Annotations describing each source's contents and organization are included so that researchers can select those that most closely fit their needs. Internet addr… more
Date: March 2, 2004
Creator: Davis, Carol D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

A User's Guide to the Congressional Record

Description: This report discusses use of the Congressional Record, which is a substantially verbatim account of remarks made during the proceedings of the House and Senate, subject only to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections. It consists of four main sections: the proceedings of the House and Senate, the Extensions of Remarks, and the Daily Digest.
Date: October 27, 2005
Creator: Amer, Mildred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Sponsorship and Cosponsorship of Senate Bills

Description: This report discusses the sponsorship and co-sponsorship of Senate bills. A Senator who introduces a bill or other measure in the Senate is called its sponsor. Senators may together submit a bill, but the first-named Senator is considered the chief sponsor; the others are considered cosponsors.
Date: June 21, 2004
Creator: Sachs, Richard C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Membership of the 109th Congress: A Profile

Description: This report presents a profile of the membership of the 109th Congress. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age and length of service, occupation, religious affiliation, female and minority Members, foreign-born Members, and military service.
Date: November 29, 2006
Creator: Amer, Mildred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Selected Privileges and Courtesies Extended to Departing and Former Senators

Description: This report provides information on selected privileges and courtesies (with the exception of federal health insurance, life insurance, and retirement benefits) extended to departing and former Senators. Some are derived from law and Senate Rules, but most are courtesies that have been extended as a matter of custom.
Date: September 14, 2004
Creator: Amer, Mildred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Expulsion, Censure, Reprimand, and Fine: Legislative Discipline in the House of Representatives

Description: This report discusses the processes of expulsion and censure in the House of Representatives. The House is expressly authorized within the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 5, clause 2) to discipline or "punish" its own Members. It is designed as a measure to protect the institutional integrity of the House of Representatives, its proceedings and its reputation.
Date: January 25, 2005
Creator: Maskell, Jack
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

How Special Rules Regulate Calling up Measures for Consideration in the House

Description: This fact sheet describes how a special rule -- a House resolution that regulates consideration of a specific legislative measure named in the resolution -- may set terms for consideration by Representatives. It includes information about the system of privilege, forms of consideration, and how the rules are used to manage the agenda.
Date: December 5, 2005
Creator: Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Flow of Business: Typical Day on the Senate Floor

Description: This report discusses procedures and business that usually occur every session day, and notes certain business items that may occur less frequently. Several authorities govern the daily chamber work of the Senate: the standing rules, the "standing orders," unanimous consent agreements, precedent, and tradition. Because these authorities have different influence at certain times, no Senate session day is truly typical.
Date: July 25, 2005
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Budget Resolution Enforcement

Description: This report briefly discusses the annual budget resolution, which sets forth Congress's budget plan for a period of at least five fiscal years. It includes total levels of new budget authority, outlays, revenues, the deficit, and the public debt for each of the fiscal years covered. Once a budget resolution is adopted, Congress may enforce its provisions, through points of order, at several levels: the total levels of spending and revenues, the level of resources allocated to committees, and th… more
Date: November 22, 2006
Creator: Heniff, Bill, Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Hearings in the U.S. Senate: A Guide for Preparation and Procedure

Description: This report discusses hearings in the U.S. Senate and is divided into four main sections: (1) the role of hearings in the committee process, types of hearings, and broad organizational issues, (2) a discussion of the planning process, (3) how a hearing is held, and (4) activities committees often undertake following a hearing.
Date: July 19, 2004
Creator: Sachs, Richard C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Overrides of Presidential Vetoes

Description: This report discusses Congress' power to override presidential vetoes. The President's veto authority is among his most significant tools in legislative dealings with Congress. It is effective not only in preventing the passage of legislation undesirable to the President, but also as a threat, sometimes forcing Congress to modify legislation before it is presented to the President.
Date: April 7, 2004
Creator: Sollenberger, Mitchel A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) for Law Enforcement

Description: This report provides a brief history of how the current National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) system evolved and operates. It includes information about issues that may be of concern to Members and committees of the 107th Congress, such as whether expanding NIBIN to include new gun purchases could be construed as a step toward a national gun registry system. The report also summarizes bills introduced in the 107th Congress related to NIBIN.
Date: July 3, 2001
Creator: Boesman, William C. & Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen