Congressional Research Service Reports - 111 Matching Results
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- Senate Consideration of Treaties
- No Description Available.
- Trade Promotion Authority (Fast-Track Authority for Trade Agreements): Background and Developments in the 107th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Terrorism, the Future, and U.S. Foreign Policy
- No Description Available.
- Terrorism and the Military's Role in Domestic Crisis Management: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Cybercrime: The Council of Europe Convention
- Forty-three countries, including the United States, have signed the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime of November 2001. The U.S. Senate ratified the Convention on August 3, 2006. The Convention seeks to better combat cybercrime by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative abilities, and boosting international cooperation. Supporters argue that the Convention will enhance deterrence, while critics counter it will have little effect without participation by countries in which cybercriminals operate freely. Others warn it will endanger privacy and civil liberties.
- European Security: The Debate in NATO and the European Union
- This report reviews progress within NATO to develop a European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI), and the initiative within the European Union to create a common European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). The report considers both European and U.S. perspectives on these developments. It will be updated as events warrant.
- The Middle East Peace Talks
- No Description Available.
- The Middle East Peace Talks
- No Description Available.
- The Middle East Peace Talks
- No Description Available.
- Palestinians and Middle East Peace: Issues for the United States
- No Description Available.
- Palestinians and Middle East Peace: Issues for the United States
- No Description Available.
- Palestinians and Middle East Peace: Issues for the United States
- No Description Available.
- Iraq: Compliance, Sanctions, and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- Iraq: Weapons Programs, U.N. Requirements, and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- Nuclear Arms Control: The U.S.-Russian Agenda
- No Description Available.
- International Law and the Preemptive Use of Force Against Iraq
- No Description Available.
- Drug Certification Requirements and Congressional Modifications in 2001-2002
- This report provides a brief summary of the existing drug certification requirements for drug producing and drug-transit countries, background on the experience, criticisms, and reform efforts under these provisions; a summary of early congressional options and proposals advanced in 2001, with possible advantages and disadvantages; a summary of later initiatives with legislative activity; and (5) a tracking of legislative action on the major initiatives.
- Iraq: United Nations and Humanitarian Aid Organizations
- No Description Available.
- North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program
- No Description Available.
- North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program
- No Description Available.
- Sudan: Humanitarian Crisis, Peace Talks, Terrorism, and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- U.N. System Funding: Congressional Issues
- No Description Available.
- The Law of the Sea Convention and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- Iraq: Oil-for-Food Program, International Sanctions, and Illicit Trade
- This report discusses the "oil-for-food" program (OFFP) as the centerpiece of a long-standing U.N. Security Council effort to alleviate human suffering in Iraq while maintaining key elements of the 1991 Gulf war-related sanctions regime. The program, in operation from December 1996 until March 2003, is detailed.
- The World Trade Organization: The Debate in the United States
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) went into effect in 1995, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which had been in existence since 1948. Under the WTO, the governments of the 136 member countries agree on a set of rules and principles for trade, negotiate periodically to reduce trade barriers, and participate in the dispute settlement procedure. Economists believe that, over the past 50 years, the more predictable environment for trade as well as the reduction in trade barriers has contributed to unprecedented economic prosperity for the majority of countries. On the other hand, trade liberalization under the WTO has resulted in economic costs to those whose jobs have been adversely affected, although they are relatively few compared to total employment in the United States.
- Trade Agreements: Impact on the U.S. Economy
- No Description Available.
- Terrorist Identification, Screening, and Tracking Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6
- No Description Available.
- Renditions: Constraints Imposed by Laws on Torture
- No Description Available.
- Cyprus: Status of U.N. Negotiations
- Cyprus has been divided since 1974. Greek Cypriots, nearly 80% of the population, live in the southern two thirds of the island. Turkish Cypriots live in the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (recognized only by Turkey), with about 30,000 Turkish troops providing security. U.N. peacekeeping forces maintain a buffer zone between the two. Members of Congress have urged the Administration to be more active, although they have not proposed an alternative to the U.N.-sponsored talks.
- World Heritage Convention and U.S. National Parks
- On March 6, 2001, Congressman Don Young introduced H.R. 883, the American Land Sovereignty Act. H.R. 883 requires congressional approval to add any lands owned by the United States to the World Heritage List, a UNESCO-administered list established by the 1972 World Heritage Convention. In related legislation, P.L. 106-429, in which H.R. 5526, the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs appropriations act for 2001 was referenced, contained language prohibiting funding from this bill for the United Nations World Heritage Fund. The World Heritage Fund provides technical assistance to countries requesting help in protecting World Heritage sites. This paper describes the operation of the UNESCO Convention and will be updated periodically.
- Why Certain Trade Agreements Are Approved as Congressional-Executive Agreements Rather Than as Treaties
- Trade agreements such asthe NAFTA and the GATT Uruguay Round agreements have been approved by majority vote of each House of Congress rather than by twothirds vote of the Senate — that is, they have been treated as congressional-executive agreements rather than astreaties. The congressional-executive agreement has been the vehicle for implementingCongress' long-standing policy ofseeking trade benefitsfor the United States through reciprocal trade negotiations. In a succession of statutes, Congress has authorized the President to negotiate and enter into tariff and nontariff barrier (NTB) agreements for limited periods, while mandating that NTB and free trade area agreements negotiated under this authority could enter into force for the United States only if approved by both Houses in a bill enacted into public law and other statutory conditions were met.
- Trade and the Americas
- No Description Available.
- China and the World Trade Organization
- China has sought over the past several years to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international agency that administers multilateral trade rules. China’s WTO membership (as well as that of Taiwan’s) was formally approved at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. On December 11, 2001, China officially became a WTO member. WTO membership will require China to significantly liberalize its trade and investment regimes, which could produce significant new commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses. A main concern for Congress is to ensure that China fully complies with its WTO commitments.
- Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Demarcation and Succession Agreements: Background and Issues
- This report discusses the content of and issues related to the ABM Treaty Succession and Demarcation Agreements signed in September 1997.
- Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
- No Description Available.
- Chemical Weapons Convention: Issues for Congress
- The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, extending its coverage to not only governmental but also civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention's implementation. Chemical Weapons Convention implementing legislation, as S. 610, passed the Senate unanimously on May 23, 1997. This legislation, which was an amendment in the nature of a substitute reported from the Judiciary Committee, provides the statutory authority for domestic compliance with the Convention's provisions. It sets criminal and civil penalties for the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, possession, or use of chemical weapons.
- Chemical Weapons Convention: Issues for Congress
- The CWC bans the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons by members signatories. It also requires the destruction of all chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities. Neither the United States nor Russia will be able to meet the original CWC’s deadlines for destruction of their CW stockpiles, and have been granted extensions to at least 2012. The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, extending its coverage to not only governmental but also civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention’s implementation.
- United Nations System Funding: Congressional Issues
- No Description Available.
- Palestinians and Middle East Peace: Issues for the United States
- No Description Available.
- Sudan: Humanitarian Crisis, Peace Talks, Terrorism, and U.S. Policy
- No Description Available.
- U.S.-EU Cooperation Against Terrorism
- No Description Available.
- Organization of American States: A Primer
- No Description Available.
- Terrorism and National Security: Issues and Trends
- No Description Available.
- United Nations Peacekeeping: Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)
- On August 5, 2004, the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic signed the Dominican Republic- Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, or the DR-CAFTA. The DR-CAFTA was negotiated as a regional agreement in which all parties would be subject to the “the same set of obligations and commitments,” but with each country defining its own separate schedules for market access. It is a comprehensive and reciprocal trade agreement, which distinguishes it from the unilateral preferential trade arrangement between the United States and these countries as part of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), as amended. It liberalizes trade in goods, services, government procurement, intellectual property, investment, and addresses labor and environment issues.
- The U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA): Challenges for Sub-Regional Integration
- No Description Available.
- Palestinians and Middle East Peace: Issues for the United States
- No Description Available.
- Morocco-U.S. Free Trade Agreement
- The United States and Morocco reached agreement on March 2, 2004, to create a free trade agreement (FTA). The FTA is intended to strengthen bilateral ties, boost trade and investment flows, and bolster Morocco’s position as a moderate Arab state. More than 95% of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products will become duty-free upon entry into force of the agreement. The Senate approved implementing legislation (S. 2677) on July 2, 2004, by a vote of 85-13 and the House approved identical legislation (H.R. 4842) on July 22, 2004, by a vote of 323-99. The next day, the Senate passed House approved H.R. 4842 without amendment by unanimous consent.
- Lawsuits Against State Supporters of Terrorism: An Overview
- Since 1996, American victims of international terrorist acts supported by certain States designated by the State Department as supporters of terrorism — Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and until recently, Iraq — have had the option of bringing suit in federal court to seek monetary damages. Holders of judgments against these States, however, have encountered difficulties in their efforts to collect, despite congressional efforts to make blocked (or “frozen”) assets of such States available for attachment by judgment creditors. A recent court decision invalidating plaintiffs’ cause of action under the 1996 law raises uncertainties about the future of lawsuits against terrorist States. This report provides an overview of these issues, including a summary of a lawsuit against Iran by former hostages, Roeder v. the Islamic Republic of Iran, and a lawsuit against Iraq by former prisoners of war (POWs), Acree v. the Republic of Iraq, as well as a brief synopsis of relevant legislative proposals (H.R. 1321, H.R. 865, H.Con.Res. 93). These issues are covered in greater depth in CRS Report RL31258, Suits Against Terrorist States By Victims of Terrorism.
- Trade Promotion Authority: Possible Vote on Two-Year Extension
- No Description Available.