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Airborne Laser (ABL): Issues for Congress

Description: This report examines the airborne laser (ABL) program and budget status. It also examines a variety of related issues, including the questionable maturity of ABL technologies, the number of ABL platforms the United States should acquire, and to what degree the United STates should invest in alternative technologies in the event that the ABL may not prove successful. This report does not provide a detailed technical assessment of the ABL program (see CRS Report RL30185, The Airborne Laser Anti-M… more
Date: July 9, 2007
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher & Hildreth, Steven A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict

Description: This report presents an overview of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. This is a clash between the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination that is occurring in the Caucasus, creating the longest inter-ethnic dispute in the former Soviet Union. The report includes the background and analysis of history, warfare and peace process in the region. The report discusses the Armenian and Azerbaijani perspective, the role and views of others (Iran, Turkey, Russia), as well as the U.S. p… more
Date: August 9, 2002
Creator: Migdalovitz, Carol
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict

Description: This report presents an overview of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. This is a clash between the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination that is occurring in the Caucasus, creating the longest inter-ethnic dispute in the former Soviet Union. The report includes the background and analysis of history, warfare and peace process in the region. The report discusses the Armenian and Azerbaijani perspective, the role and views of others (Iran, Turkey, Russia), as well as the U.S. p… more
Date: July 9, 2003
Creator: Migdalovitz, Carol
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Arming Pilots Against Terrorism: Implementation Issues for the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program

Description: The report discusses the issues regarding the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135), which contains provisions to arm pilots of passenger aircraft and gives deputized pilots the authority to use force, including lethal force, to defend the flight deck against criminal and terrorist threats. The report includes the legislative Background, implementation issues, equipment, training, operational procedures and costs.
Date: January 9, 2004
Creator: Elias, Bartholomew
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Army Aviation: The RAH-66 Comanche Helicopter Issue

Description: Although it has been a high priority Army program, a number of factors have complicated the RAH-66 Comanche program. Since its inception, the program has been restructured several times–postponing the initial operational capability (IOC) and increasing overall program costs. Presently, there is debate within the Army regarding whether the program should be reduced significantly to make funds available to pursue other modernization priorities.
Date: January 9, 2002
Creator: Bolkcom, Christopher
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Authorization and Appropriations for FY2004: Defense

Description: This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Energy and Water. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.
Date: December 9, 2003
Creator: Belasco, Amy & Daggett, Stephen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Ballistic Missile Defense: Historical Overview

Description: For some time there has been a growing sense of urgency to develop and deploy effective missile defenses against a range of long and short range ballistic missile threats. Although many might believe this to be relative new to U.S. national security objectives, such interest has been ongoing since the end of World War II. Many current technologies being investigated date their start to the 1980s, and earlier. This effort has been challenging technically and politically controversial. Some $110 … more
Date: July 9, 2007
Creator: Hildreth, Steven A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Border Security: Key Agencies and Their Missions

Description: This report briefly describes the role of various agencies in securing the borders of the United States. These agencies are the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the United States Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Date: April 9, 2009
Creator: Haddal, Chad C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues

Description: This report provides a brief background analysis and recent developments regarding China’s Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles. The report includes topics such as: Recent Proliferation Transfers, chemical, nuclear, and missile technology sales to Iran, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, trade controls, nonproliferation and arms control.
Date: May 9, 2007
Creator: Kan, Shirley A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues

Description: Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. China has taken some steps to mollify U.S. concerns about its role in weapons proliferation. Skeptics question whether China's cooperation in weapons nonproliferation has warranted President Bush's pursuit of stronger bilateral ties. This report discus… more
Date: December 9, 2004
Creator: Kan, Shirley A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Cost of Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Enhanced Security

Description: This CRS report estimates that the Department of Defense (DOD) has received over $201 billion for combat operations, occupation, and support for military personnel deployed or supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for enhanced security at military installations, collectively called the “global war on terrorism.”
Date: February 9, 2005
Creator: Belasco, Amy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Counterterrorism Research and Development: Funding, Priority-setting, and Coordination

Description: This report describes the basic R&D issues that concern the adequacy of planning/coordination mechanisms, including those in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Office of Homeland Security; which counterterrorism R&D should be transferred to a new department; and how other R&D counterterrorism activities that are not transferred should be coordinated.
Date: August 9, 2002
Creator: Knezo, Genevieve J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions

Description: This report examines the statutory procedures governing covert action and associated questions to consider. Published reports have suggested that the Pentagon has expanded its counter-terrorism intelligence activities, and some observers have asserted that the Department of Defense (DOD) may have been conducting certain kinds of counterterrorism intelligence activities that would statutorily qualify as "covert actions," and thus require a presidential finding and the notification of the congres… more
Date: February 9, 2009
Creator: Cumming, Alfred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Critical Infrastructures: Background, Policy, and Implementation

Description: The nation’s health, wealth, and security rely on the production and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, processes and organizations across which these goods and services move are called critical infrastructures (e.g. electricity, the power plants that generate it, and the electric grid upon which it is distributed). Computers and communications, themselves critical infrastructures, are increasingly tying these infrastructures together. This report aims to … more
Date: April 9, 2003
Creator: Moteff, John D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Department of Defense Role in Foreign Assistance: Background, Major Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: This report begins with a brief introduction to the three areas in which DOD plays a role in foreign assistance and to Congress's part in authorizing that role and briefly discusses the general evolution of DOD's role and the Department of State's current perception of that role based on current national security needs. The report then provides an overview of the evolution of the DOD role and current activities in the three areas cited above, with a snapshot of the varying perspectives on the D… more
Date: December 9, 2008
Creator: Serafino, Nina M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), and Department of Defense (DOD) Readiness Activities: Background and Current Law

Description: This report provides a brief overview of how the Endangered Species Act (ESA)1 and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)2 and their relevant regulations may apply to military training and readiness activities of the Department of Defense (DOD). Military activities may “take” protected creatures directly (e.g,. killing with ordnance during rifle, gunnery or assault drills), or might destroy habitat (e.g., artillery or bombing practices), even if these results are not the purpose of the activities… more
Date: August 9, 2004
Creator: Baldwin, Pamela
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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High-Threat Chemical Agents: Characteristics, Effects, and Policy Implications

Description: Terrorist use of chemical agents has been a noted concern, highlighted after the Tokyo Sarin gas attacks of 1995. The events of September 11, 2001, increased Congressional attention towards reducing the vulnerability of the United States to such attacks. High-threat chemical agents, which include chemical weapons and some toxic industrial chemicals, are normally organized by military planners into four groups: nerve agents, blister agents, choking agents, and blood agents. While the relative mi… more
Date: September 9, 2003
Creator: Shea, Dana A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Homeland Security: Coast Guard Operations - Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides information about the Background and Issues for Congress on Homeland Security Coast Guard Operations which serves as a service within the navy upon the declaration of war or when President directs until the president by executive orders it back to the peacetime parent department.
Date: December 9, 2002
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Homeland Security Research and Development Funding, Organization, and Oversight

Description: This report mainly discusses about Homeland Security Research and Development Funding, Organization, and Oversight where DHS is mandated to coordinate total federal agency homeland security R&D, which was requested at $4.0 billion. Policy issues include priority-setting within DHS and other agencies, performance monitoring.
Date: November 9, 2005
Creator: Knezo, Genevieve J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Iran Sanctions Act (ISA)

Description: This report discusses the increasing international pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear program and how that pressure discourages foreign firms from investing in Iran's energy sector, hindering Iran's efforts to expand oil production. It also discusses the history and progress of the formal U.S. effort to curb energy investment in Iran, which began with the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) in 1996
Date: March 9, 2009
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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