Congressional Research Service Reports - 168 Matching Results
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- Asylum and Related Protections for Aliens Who Fear Gang and Domestic Violence
- This report examines asylum claims with specific focus on gang and domestic violence. It provides background on the topic and also outlines the U.S. Attorney General's decision in "Matter of A-B-," as well as recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in light of that ruling.
- Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background on issues affecting the Arctic region on a large number of topics including research, policy, and governance of the region. It also outlines specific issues for Congressional consideration such as transportation, pollution, affects on people and animals, and geopolitical concerns.
- An Overview of U.S. Immigration Laws Regulating the Admission and Exclusion of Aliens at the Border
- This report discusses U.S. immigration law as it relates to the Trump Administration's zero tolerance policy to criminally prosecute migrants who unlawfully enter the United States at the southern border; a policy which has led to the separation of children from parents awaiting prosecution for unlawful entry.
- Iran Nuclear Agreement
- This report discusses the Iran nuclear agreement that was made on July 14, 2015 and the lifting of sanctions related to their nuclear weapons programs which occurred on January 16, 2016. It also outlines Iran's obligations under the agreement and Congressional discussion of adjustments to the agreement or withdrawal.
- Doing Business with Iran: EU-Iran Trade and Investment Relations
- This report discusses the European Union's (EU's) resumption of business with Iran after the signing of the 2015 nuclear disarmament agreement which led to the lifting of nuclear related sanctions. It outlines rates of business and major investments in Iran by European companies and the effect possible U.S. re-imposition of sanctions against Iran may have on the market and U.S.-EU relations.
- Privatization and the Constitution: Selected Legal Issues
- This report focuses on the constitutional principles and judicial decisions that may constrain certain types of privatization that involve private and government-created entities.
- China's February 2017 Suspension of North Korean Coal Imports
- This report discusses China's suspension of coal trade with North Korea for the remainder of 2017 which keeps China in compliance with an UN agreement to limit coal buying from North Korea that was implemented in November 2016 in response to continued nuclear tests by North Korea. Coal's value as an export to North Korea, China's trade with North Korea, quantities of coal and its value that was imported into China in 2016 and 2017, and possible reasons and implications for China's decision are discussed.
- Cuba: Issues for the 114th Congress
- This report is divided into three major sections analyzing Cuba's political and economic environment, U.S. policy, and selected issues in U.S.-Cuban relations.
- Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides an overview of Arctic-related issues for Congress, and refers readers to more in-depth CRS reports on specific Arctic-related issues. The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region's future.
- Transportation Security: Issues for the 114th Congress
- This report examines aviation, transit and passenger rail security, as well as port and maritime security. The difficulty and cost of protecting the transportation sector from attack raises a core question for policymakers: how much effort and resources to put toward protecting potential targets versus pursuing and fighting terrorists.
- Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides an overview of Arctic-related issues for Congress, and refers readers to more in-depth CRS reports on specific Arctic-related issues.
- Cuba: Issues for the 114th Congress
- This report is divided into three major sections analyzing Cuba's political and economic environment, U.S. policy, and selected issues in U.S.-Cuban relations. A final section of the report provides a listing of bills and resolutions introduced in the 114th Congress.
- Iran's Foreign Policy
- This report provides an overview of Iran's foreign policy, which has been a subject of numerous congressional hearings and of sanctions and other legislation for many years. The report analyzes Iranian foreign policy as a whole and by region.
- Iran's Foreign Policy
- This report provides an overview of Iran's foreign policy, which has been a subject of numerous congressional hearings and of sanctions and other legislation for many years. The report contains some specific information on Iran's relations with these countries, but refers to other CRS reports for more detail, particularly on the views of individual countries towards Iran. The report also makes reference to Iran's efforts to utilize its ties to various countries to try to mitigate the effects of U.S. sanctions.
- Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentences: The Safety Valve and Substantial Assistance Exceptions
- This report contains the safety valve and substantial assistance exceptions on the federal mandatory minimum sentences.
- The Budget Control Act of 2011: Legislative Changes to the Law and Their Budgetary Effects
- This report provides information about The Budget Control Act of 2011. The BCA provides Legislative Changes to the Law and Their Budgetary Effects.
- U.S. Secret Service Protection Mission Funding and Staffing: Fact Sheet
- The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) has two broad missions, criminal investigations and protection. The protection mission, which is the focus of this fact sheet, covers the President, Vice President, their families, and candidates for those offices, along with the White House and Vice President's residence, through the Service's Uniformed Division. Protective duties also extend to foreign missions in the District of Columbia and to designated individuals, such as the DHS Secretary and visiting foreign dignitaries. This fact sheet provides information on USSS funding and staffing because congressional attention has turned to the USSS and its operations due to several recent incidents.
- U.S. Military Action Against the Islamic State: Answers to Frequently Asked Legal Questions
- This report addresses select legal questions raised by the use of military force against the Islamic State.
- Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses
- This report discusses the reasons that Iran is considered a threat to U.S. security, including Iran's nuclear program, involvement with terrorist organizations, and involvement with neighboring countries' local governments. The report also discusses ways which the U.S. hopes to modify Iran's behavior with sanctions, and the effectiveness of these sanctions.
- Disability Retirement for Federal Employees
- This report describes recent trends in the number of civil service annuitants and the financial status of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.
- Energy and Water Development: FY2014 Appropriations
- This report discusses the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill that provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Department of Energy (DOE), and several independent agencies.
- Energy Policy: 113th Congress Issues
- Report that discusses the energy policy in the United States, which is focused on three major goals: assuring a secure supply of energy, keeping energy costs low, and protecting the environment.
- Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: A Legal Analysis of 18 U.S.C. 2250
- Section 2250 outlaws an individual's failure to comply with federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act requirements. The act demands that an individual- previously convicted of a qualifying federal, state, or foreign sex offense- register with state, territorial, or tribal authorities. This report contains information on the obligation to register and maintain registration, knowing failure to register, Constitutional considerations, and more as related to the issue.
- Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides an overview of Arctic-related issues for Congress, and refers readers to more in-depth CRS reports on specific Arctic-related issues.
- H.R. 1549: Helping Sick Americans Now Act
- This report contains information on the Helping Sick Americans Now Act, which provides funding for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan and eliminates the requirement that eligible individuals be uninsured for at least six months before being allowed to participate in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, as well as other changes to the Affordable Care Act.
- The Child Tax Credit: Current Law and Legislative History
- This report provides background information on the child tax credit. Specifically, this report provides an overview of the child tax credit under current law, as well as a legislative history of this tax benefit, which helps explain its purpose and current structure.
- Flow of Business: Typical Day on the Senate Floor
- Several authorities govern the daily chamber work of the Senate: its standing rules, standing orders, unanimous consent agreements, precedent, and tradition. Because these authorities have different influence at certain times, no Senate session day is truly typical. This report discusses procedures and business that usually occur every session day, and refers to certain business items that may occur less frequently.
- Cuba: Issues for the 112th Congress
- Cuba remains a one-party communist state with a poor record on human rights. The country's political succession in 2006 from the long-ruling Fidel Castro to his brother Raul was characterized by a remarkable degree of stability. This report contains information on U.S. policy as related to Cuba, legislative action, and more related information.
- How FDA Approves Drugs and Regulates Their Safety and Effectiveness
- This report is a primer on drug approval and regulation: it describes how drugs are approved and come to the market, including FDA's role in that process and FDA and industry roles once drugs are on the pharmacy shelves.
- EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?
- This report examines 40 major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA since January 2009, providing details on the regulatory action itself, presenting an estimated timeline for completion of the rule and provides the EPA's estimates of costs and benefits where available. It provides background information on recent EPA regulatory activity to help address issues raised by this activity, as well as factors that will affect the timeframe in which these regulations will take place.
- Hydraulic Fracturing and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): Selected Issues
- This report provides an overview of two situations in which agencies are arguing that they do not need to conduct a comprehensive environmental review of hydraulic fracturing under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
- Solar Projects: DOE Section 1705 Loan Guarantees
- This report discusses the solar energy initiative and the political implications. The objective of this report is to provide Congress with insight regarding solar projects supported by Department of Energy (DOE’s) loan guarantee program, the risk characteristics of these projects, and how other DOE loan guarantee projects are either similar to or different from the Solyndra solar manufacturing project.
- Iran Sanctions
- This report focuses on the United States' relationship with Iran and how the Obama Administration is handling prior administrations' economic sanctions against Iran. However, with subsequent negotiations yielding no firm Iranian agreement to compromise regarding their nuclear program, the Administration has focused on achieving the imposition of additional U.N., U.S., and allied country sanctions whose cumulative effect would be to compel it to accept a nuclear bargain.
- North Korea: Legislative Basis for U.S. Economic Sanctions
- This report discusses the economic sanctions the United States imposes on North Korea for activities related to weapons proliferation, destabilizing the region, anti-terrorism, and undemocratic governance.
- The Technology Innovation Program
- The Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was established in 2007 to replace the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). This effort is designed "to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through highrisk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need," according to the authorizing legislation. Grants are provided to small and medium-sized firms for individual projects or joint ventures with other research organizations.
- 1099 Information Reporting Requirements and Penalties as Modified by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010
- This report discuses the 2010 expansion of reporting requirements listed in IRC (Internal Revenue Code) 6041. The controversy in these expansions lies in the burden the expansion imposes on small businesses. The report also describes the pieces of legislation that have amended IRC 6041, and the implications of that legislation along with the consequences of IRC 6041.
- The U.S. Postal Service and Six-Day Delivery: Issues for Congress
- This report will examine the history of six-day mail delivery and analyze potential effects of reducing USPS delivery from six to five days. It will then examine legislative options for the 111th Congress.
- Agricultural Disaster Assistance
- This report has two sections. The first provides an overview of the current U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance programs: federal crop insurance, NAP payments, emergency disaster loans, the new Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), and four other smaller disaster programs authorized in the 2008 farm bill. The second section reviews the recent history of emergency supplemental farm disaster assistance.
- Omnibus Appropriations Acts: Overview of Recent Practices
- This report discusses Omnibus appropriations acts, which have become a significant feature of the legislative process in recent years as Congress and the President have used them more frequently to bring action on the regular appropriations cycle to a close. Following a discussion of pertinent background information, this report reviews the recent enactment of such measures and briefly addresses several issues raised by their use.
- Spectrum Policy: Public Safety and Wireless Communications Interference
- This report discusses the rebanding plan announced by the Federal Communications Commission in 2004 to consolidate public safety frequencies and those used by some other operators, such as utilities. The plan was announce in an attempt to eliminate interference caused by the close proximity and interleaving of commercial and public safety channels.
- Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007: The Role of the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate
- This report focuses on the role of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate in implementing the new lobbying registration and disclosure requirements and provides an overview of the guidance document they have jointly issued.
- CRS Issue Statement on Agricultural Trade and Development
- This report discusses about the agricultural exports that are imported both U.S. farmers and to the U.S. economy. It further discusses about expanding market opportunities for U.S. farm products through bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations that has been a long-standing aim of U.S. trade policy.
- Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances
- The first half of this report looks at the background of U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba over the last 40 years. The second half of this report looks at several initiatives from the 111th Congress that would ease U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba.
- Financial Market Supervision: Canada's Perspective
- This report presents an overview of Canada's financial system and its supervisory framework and draws some distinctions between that system and the current U.S. framework.
- F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report consists of different categories such as The F-35 in Brief, Program Origin and Milestone, International Participation etc. It also discusses about issues for congress and Legislative Activity for FY2010.
- Removing Aliens from the United States: Judicial Review of Removal Orders
- This report analyzes the jurisdictional issues in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by focusing on the procedural mechanisms used to initiate judicial review and the reach of an Article III court's jurisdiction to review a removal order.
- Calculation of Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the Renewable Fuel Standard
- The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) significantly expanded the renewable fuel standard (RFS) established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. EISA requires an increasing amount of the 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022 mandate be met with "advanced biofuels." This report defines the classification "biofuels," discusses the ongoing debate regarding several aspects of biofuels endeavors, and discusses related legislative efforts on climate change policy and low-carbon fuel standards.
- Cuba: Issues for the 111th Congress
- This report tracks developments in U.S. policy toward Cuba and legislative initiatives in the 111th Congress.
- Electronic Voting System in the House of Representatives: History and Evolution
- This report outlines the history and evolution of the use of the Electronic Voting System in the House of Representatives. The report discusses its benefits, adaptability and improvements made to the voting system over the years.
- House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct: A Brief History of Its Evolution and Jurisdiction. November 2008
- This report provides a history of the creation and evolution of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.