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The Supreme Court Addresses Corps of Engineers Jurisdiction Over "Isolated Waters": The SWANCC Decision

Description: On January 9, 2001, the Supreme Court handed down Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At issue in SWANCC was the scope of Clean Water Act section 404, which requires permits for the discharge of dredged or fill materials into "navigable waters," defined by the Act as "waters of the United States." Section 404 is the charter for the federal wetlands permitting program.
Date: February 16, 2001
Creator: Meltz, Robert & Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Terrorism at Home: A Quick Look at Applicable Federal and State Criminal Laws

Description: Terrorists' attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania have stimulated demands that the terrorists responsible and those like them be brought to justice. American criminal law already proscribes many of these acts of terrorism and there have been proposals to expand that coverage. The conduct we most often associate with terrorism – bombings, assassinations, armed assaults, kidnapping, threats – … more
Date: October 3, 2001
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Terrorism Abroad: A Quick Look at Applicable Federal and State Laws

Description: Terrorists' attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania have stimulated demands that the terrorists responsible and those like them be brought to justice. American criminal law already proscribes many of these acts of terrorism and there have been proposals to expand that coverage.
Date: October 3, 2001
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Intelligence and Law Enforcement: Countering Transnational Threats to the U.S.

Description: This report looks at the separate roles and missions and distinct identities of intelligence and law enforcement agencies. This report also addresses congressional oversight of the law enforcement intelligence relationship that is spread among a number of House and Senate committees, each of which has only partial jurisdiction.
Date: January 16, 2001
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Abortion Law Development: A Brief Overview

Description: This report summarizes the history of legislation on abortion. Moreover, the report discusses the conflict that surrounds the history of the court cases and how it has effected legislation passed since Roe v. Wade. The report also covers how Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton did not cover a variety of issues that have since been raised by states seeking to restrict abortion.
Date: January 2, 2001
Creator: Jon, Shimbukuro O.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration: S Visas for Criminal and Terrorist Informants

Description: In response to the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Congress passed legislation making permanent a provision that allows aliens with critical information on criminal or terrorist organizations to come into the United States in order to provide information to law enforcement officials. This legislation (S. 1424) became P.L. 107-45 on October 1, 2001. The law amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide permanent authority for the administration of the “S” visa, which was scheduled … more
Date: December 3, 2001
Creator: Ester, Karma
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Trade Legislation in the 106th Congress: An Overview

Description: The 106th Congress completed action on a number of major trade initiatives. The impact on American firms and workers was a paramount concern in the passage of this legislation. Most notably, bills were passed to establish "normal trade relations" with China, deepen economic ties with the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, enhance trade benefits for 24 Caribbean Basin countries, and to ease trade sanctions on Cuba and other countries. Congress also voted to maintain U.S. participation in the World… more
Date: March 7, 2001
Creator: Ahearn, Raymond J. & Jones, Vivian C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance in the 2000 Federal Elections: Overview and Estimates of the Flow of Money

Description: Federal election law regulates money in federal elections through a ban on union and corporate treasury money, limits on contributions, and uniform, periodic disclosure of receipts and expenditures. Money raised and spent under these laws to directly influence federal elections is commonly known as hard money. Money that is largely outside the restrictions and prohibitions of the federal regulatory framework–but raised and spent in a manner suggesting possible intent to affect federal elections… more
Date: March 16, 2001
Creator: Cantor, Joseph E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China: Labor Conditions and Unrest

Description: This report discusses the China's Labor condition and Chinese government attempt to implement laws and programs that protect labor rights and provide social welfare benefits while punishing labor rights activists and independent union organizer.
Date: October 15, 2001
Creator: Lum, Thomas
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pakistan-U.S. Relations

Description: This report includes information regarding Pakistan. Information including historical background, Pakistan and U.S. relations, and U.S. aid to Pakistan is detailed in this report.
Date: September 14, 2001
Creator: LePoer, Barbara Leitch
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Alabama School Prayer Case: Chandler v. Siegelman

Description: This report considers the events of Chandler v. James in 1997. The case was a federal district court ruling in Alabama holding up a statute to violate the establishment of religion of the First amendment. The Governor attempted to appeal the court's position to both the Supreme Court and the circuit court but was denied.
Date: June 25, 2001
Creator: Ackerman, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues

Description: Energy security, a major driver of federal energy efficiency programs in the past, came back into play as oil and gas prices rose late in the year 2000. Also, the electricity shortages in California have brought a new emphasis to the role that energy efficiency and energy conservation may play in dampening electricity demand.
Date: July 27, 2001
Creator: Sissine, Fred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Policy: Setting the Stage for the Current Debate

Description: The Bush Administration issued its plan for a national energy policy on May 16, 2001. Comprehensive energy legislation was introduced in the Senate by both parties by late March (S. 388, S. 389, S. 596, S. 597). Bills reported by several House committees (H.R. 2436, H.R. 2460, H.R. 2511, and H.R. 2587) were combined in a single bill, H.R. 4, passed by the House, August 1, 2001. The bill includes provisions that would require a reduction in light-duty truck and SUV fuel consumption, and would op… more
Date: August 13, 2001
Creator: Bamberger, Robert L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pipeline Safety: Federal Program and Reauthorization Issues

Description: The 107th Congress is considering legislation that would amend federal pipeline safety law, which directs the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to regulate pipeline transportation and storage of natural gases and hazardous liquids. Those bills also would authorize funding for the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), which is charged with implementing federal pipeline safety law. Among the topics discussed as part of the process of reauthorizing the OPS … more
Date: March 14, 2001
Creator: Rothberg, Paul F. & Hassan, Hussein D.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 106th Congress

Description: In the 106th Congress, no comprehensive activity on reauthorizing the Clean Water Act occurred, although a number of individual clean water bills were enacted. Other issues have been debated recently, such as reforming the law to provide regulatory relief for industry, states and cities, and individual landowners. The debate over many of these issues highlights differing views of the Act and its implementation by some who seek to strengthen existing requirements and others who believe that cost… more
Date: February 23, 2001
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Air Act Issues in the 107th Congress

Description: In the early months of the 107th Congress, the most prominent air quality issue has been whether state and federal regulations designed to protect air quality have had a negative impact on energy production, and, if so, whether legislation should be enacted to temporarily or permanently relax such regulations. The early discussion focused primarily on California, but with the release of the Administration's energy policy recommendations in mid-May and subsequent congressional action, it has shi… more
Date: September 5, 2001
Creator: McCarthy, James E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 107th Congress

Description: Key water quality issues that may face the 107th Congress include: actions to implement existing provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), whether additional steps are necessary to achieve overall goals of the Act, and the appropriate federal role in guiding and paying for clean water activities. Legislative prospects for comprehensively amending the Act have for some time stalled over whether and exactly how to change the law. If clean water issues receive attention in the 107th Congress, consi… more
Date: August 15, 2001
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mining on Federal Lands

Description: The General Mining Law of 1872 is one of the major statutes that direct the federal government's land management policy. The law grants free access to individuals and corporations to prospect for minerals in public domain lands, and allows them, upon making a discovery, to stake (or "locate") a claim on that deposit. A claim gives the holder the right to develop the minerals and may be "patented" to convey full title to the claimant. A continuing issue is whether this law should be reformed, an… more
Date: May 3, 2001
Creator: Humphries, Marc & Hardy-Vincent, Carol
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Generalized System of Preferences

Description: The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) extends duty-free treatment to certain products that are imported from designated developing countries. The primary purpose of the program, which the United States and other industrial countries initiated in the 1970s, is to promote economic growth and development in these countries by stimulating their exports. The program was reauthorized by the 106th Congress, retroactively from July 1, 1999, through September 30, 2001. The 107th Congress will face… more
Date: January 8, 2001
Creator: Cooper, William H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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