Congressional Research Service Reports - 43,134 Matching Results
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- Issues Affecting Tidal, Wave, and In-Stream Generation Projects
- This report provides an overview of developments and considerations regarding wave, tidal, and in-stream energy generation technology. It summarizes federal involvement in the regulation of this new industry and highlights current issues in the field.
- EPA Policies Concerning Integrated Planning and Affordability of Water Infrastructure
- This report examines recent initiatives by EPA, an integrated planning policy, and a framework policy for assessing a community's financial capability to meet objectives and requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
- Lead in Flint, Michigan's Drinking Water: Federal Regulatory Role
- This report discusses the federal regulatory role in regards to drinking water, more specifically in the context of the Flint water crisis. EPA's current Flint responses include providing technical assistance for water testing and treatment, conducting water monitoring, and identifying lead service line locations.
- Safe Drinking Water Act: Implementation and Issues
- This report discusses key drinking water issues in the 109th Congress, including problems caused by specific contaminants, such as methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and perchlorate, as well as the related issue of the appropriate federal role in providing financial assistance for water infrastructure projects.
- Justice Antonin Scalia's Last Opinion
- This report discusses Justice Antonin Scalia's last opinion for the court (Kansas v. Carr). There, the Court reversed two decisions of the Kansas Supreme Court and held that "the Eighth Amendment [does not] require... capital-sentencing courts to instruct the jury that mitigating circumstances need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt." It also held that the Eighth Amendment did not require separate trials for two of the defendants in one of the Kansas cases.
- Social Security: The Government Pension Offset (GPO)
- This report discusses the social security benefits and the spousal benefits of individuals who are not financially dependent on their spouses because they receive benefits based on their own work records.
- The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): Program and Funding
- This report discusses Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program (LIHEAP) funds for FY2006 and FY2007. It also discusses current issues and legislation related to LIHEAP.
- U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues
- This report reviews the ongoing programs that will affect the expected size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force structure.
- Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on multiyear procurement (MYP) and block buy contracting (BBC), which are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of defense acquisition programs.
- Federal R&D Funding Under a Continuing Resolution
- This report discusses the continuing resolution, or CR (P.L. 109-383, H.J.Res. 102) which provides spending at FY2006 levels (through February 15, 2007), for those agencies lacking enacted FY2007 appropriations bills.
- Soil and Water Conservation: An Overview
- This report offers the most recent development regarding the soil and water conservation topics and current major conservation activities. The House completed action on its version of the farm bill (H.R. 2419), passing it by a vote of 231 to 191 on July 27, 2007.
- Iraq: Politics and Governance
- This report provides background and analysis on the politics of Iraq, including its communities, its governing personalities and factions, security forces and militias, and the government's human rights record.
- Abortion and Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt
- This report examines Whole Woman's Health v. Cole, the Fifth Circuit's decision, as well as the undue burden standard, and the contrasting approaches used by the federal appellate courts to determine whether an abortion regulation imposes an undue burden on a woman's ability to have an abortion.
- Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet. Congress's decisions on this issue could affect Coast Guard funding requirements, the Coast Guard's ability to perform its polar missions, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.
- U.S.-South Korea Relations
- This report contains two main parts: a section describing recent events and a longer background section on key elements of the U.S.-South Korea relationship. The end of the report provides a list of CRS products on South Korea and North Korea. The report identifies South Korean individuals by using their last name first.
- Municipal Broadband: Background and Policy Debate
- This report discusses the debate surrounding Municipal Broadband, which is controversial because it involves governmental entities entering a commercial telecommunications marketplace that had previously been the exclusive domain of private sector providers.
- Wetlands: An Overview of Issues
- This report discusses policy topics that involve wetlands. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its most recent periodic survey of changes in wetland acreage nationwide in March 2006. Covering 1998 to 2004, it concluded that during this time period there was a small net gain in overall wetland acres for the first time that this survey has been conducted. Others caution, however, that much of this gain was in ponds, rather than natural wetlands.
- Pandemic Flu and Medical Biodefense Countermeasure Liability Limitation
- This report analyzes Division C of the Department of Defense Emergency Supplemental Appropriations, P.L. 109-148, which was signed into law on December 30, 2005, and which limits liability with respect to pandemic flu and other public health countermeasures.
- The Wetlands Coverage of the Clean Water Act Is Revisited by the Supreme Court: Rapanos v. United States
- This report discusses the Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v. United States, which addressed the asserted jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over wetlands adjacent to "waters of the United States," the problematic phrase used by the Clean Water Act (CWA) to define the geographic scope of the act's wetlands permitting program.
- Burma's 2015 Parliamentary Elections: Issues for Congress
- This report discusses Burma's nationwide parliamentary elections held on November 8, 2015. The victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) against President Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) may alter the path of the country's political development. As a consequence, the Obama Administration and/or Congress may seek to adjust U.S. policies and the current approach to U.S. relations with Burma.
- Western Water Resource Issues
- This report discusses the debate over western water resources, which revolves around the issue of how best to plan for and manage the use of this renewable, yet sometimes scarce and increasingly sought after, resource.
- Air Quality: EPA's 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard
- On October 17, 2006,3 the EPA published its revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulates to provide protection against potential health effects associated with short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter (including chronic respiratory disease and premature mortality). In order to better understand EPA's actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency's final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of more stringent alternatives analyzed.
- Coast Guard Cutter Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Coast Guard's programs for procuring 8 National Security Cutters (NSCs), 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), and 58 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). The Coast Guard's proposed FY2017 budget requests a total of $467 million in acquisition funding for the three programs.
- Health Care for Dependents and Survivors of Veterans
- This report discusses the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), which is primarily a health insurance program where certain eligible dependents and survivors of veterans receive care from private sector health care providers. The report provides information regarding eligibility requirements, available benefits, and payment structures.
- Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential oversight issues for Congress on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy's current force of 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.
- Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): History and Overview
- This report provides an overview of the history of science and technology (S&T) advice to the President and discusses selected recurrent issues for Congress regarding OSTP's Director, OSTP management and operations, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).
- Mexico: Background and U.S. Relations
- This report provides an overview of political and economic conditions in Mexico, followed by assessments of some key issues of congressional interest in Mexico: security and foreign aid, extraditions, human rights, trade, migration, energy, education, and water issues.
- Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 114th Congress
- The 114th Congress continues to consider many issues related to unemployment insurance (UI) programs: Unemployment Compensation (UC), the temporary, now-expired Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08), and Extended Benefits (EB). This report gives a brief overview of the UI programs that may provide benefits to eligible unemployed workers, and briefly summarizes the President's budget proposal for FY2017.
- Gun Legislation in the 109th Congress
- This report discusses the ongoing debate over the efficacy and constitutionality of federal regulation of firearms and ammunition. The report provides background information and analysis over the pros and cons of the debate and gun related statistics.
- Iran's Nuclear Program: Tehran's Compliance with International Obligations
- This report provides a brief overview of Iran's nuclear program. Several U.N. Security Council resolutions required Iran to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) investigation of its nuclear activities, suspend its uranium enrichment program, suspend its construction of a heavy-water reactor and related projects, and ratify the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement.
- Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the John Lewis (TAO-205) class oiler shipbuilding program, a program to build a new class of 17 fleet oilers for the Navy.
- U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians
- This report discusses a number of issues relating to U.S. aid to the Palestinians that have relevance for Congress. Since the establishment of limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the mid-1990s, the U.S. government has committed more than $5 billion in bilateral economic and non-lethal security assistance to the Palestinians.
- Former Presidents: Pensions, Office Allowances, and Other Federal Benefits
- This report provides a legislative and cultural history of the Former Presidents Act. It considers the potential effects of maintaining the FPA or amending the FPA in ways that might reduce or otherwise modify a former President's benefits.
- Cars, Trucks, and Climate: EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources
- This report focuses on EPA's completed and potential actions to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from mobile sources, relying on the authorities in Title II of the Clean Air Act (CAA). We begin with a brief discussion of the petitions and court action that led to EPA's regulatory decisions.
- Nuclear Energy Policy
- This report discusses the nuclear energy policy issues facing Congress that include the implementation of federal incentives for new commercial reactors, radioactive waste management policy, research and development priorities, power plant safety and regulation, nuclear weapons proliferation, and security against terrorist attacks.
- Argentina: Background and U.S. Relations
- This report provides information and analysis relevant for Congress on the following: Assessments of U.S.-Turkey relations, Turkish foreign policy, and Turkey's strategic orientation, Turkish efforts to cooperate with the United States against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and key issues regarding Turkey's domestic politics.
- China's Currency: A Summary of the Economic Issues
- This report summarizes the main findings of CRS Report RL32165, China's Currency: Economic Issues and Options for U.S. Trade Policy.
- Particulate Matter (PM2.5): Implementation of the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
- 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.
- Student Loan Forgiveness Programs
- This report will provide an overview of the current major federal loan forgiveness programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). It will also briefly summarize some of the other major federal loan forgiveness programs. Finally, it will discuss policy issues and legislation.
- Supreme Court Vacancies That Arose During One Presidency and Were Filled During a Different Presidency
- This report provides data and analysis related to Supreme Court vacancies since 1797 that arose during one presidency and were filled during a different presidency.
- President Obama's Historic Visit to Cuba
- This report briefly discusses the details of President Obama's visit to Cuba. Before the trip, the White House set forth the goals of the visit, stating that the President would build on progress toward normalizing relations, including advancing commercial and people-to-people ties and expressing support for human rights.
- Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: FY2007 Appropriations
- 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.
- Contested Presidential Nominating Conventions: Brief Background and Questions
- This report briefly addresses selected questions about possible contested Democratic and Republican conventions that might be relevant as Members of Congress prepare for the 2016 election.
- Goldwater-Nichols at 30: Defense Reform and Issues for Congress
- This report is designed to assist Congress as it evaluates the many different defense reform proposals suggested by the variety of stakeholders and institutions within the U.S. national security community.
- Iran's Nuclear Program: Tehran's Compliance with International Obligations
- This report provides a brief overview of Iran's nuclear program and describes the legal basis for the actions taken by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board and the Security Council.
- Funding for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) at DOE: In Brief
- This report discusses issues regarding funding for carbon capture and sequestration (or storage) programs. CCS is a physical process that involves capturing man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) at its source and storing it before its release to the atmosphere.
- Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential issues for Congress on the Navy's irregular warfare (IW) and counterterrorism (CT) operations. The Navy's IW and CT activities pose a number of potential oversight issues for Congress, including how much emphasis to place on IW and CT activities in future Navy budgets.
- Trade-Based Money Laundering: Overview and Policy Issues
- This report discusses the scope of the trade-based money laundering (TBML) problem and analyzes selected U.S. government policy responses to address TBML. It includes a listing of hearings in the 114th Congress that addressed TBML.
- Bahrain: Reform, Security, and U.S. Policy
- This report discusses the current state of reform and foreign policy in Bahrain. Outward signs of the uprising against Bahrain's Al Khalifa ruling family that began on February 14, 2011 have diminished, but continued smaller demonstrations, opposition boycotts of elections, and incarceration of dissident leaders counter government assertions that Bahrain has "returned to normal."
- Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on maritime territorial and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) disputes in the East China (ECS) and South China Sea (SCS) involving China, with a focus on how these disputes may affect U.S. strategic and policy interests.