Congressional Research Service Reports - 41 Matching Results

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Social Security Administration: Administrative Budget Issues

Description: The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Social Security program (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and provides administrative support to Medicare and several other federal programs. Total SSA spending in FY2008 was about $658 billion, about 99% of which was mandatory spending on benefit payments. This report focuses on SSA’s administrative spending, which is discretionary and amounts to about 1% of SSA’s … more
Date: August 20, 2009
Creator: Scott, Christine
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Budget Reconciliation Process: Motions to Instruct Conferees

Description: The report discusses the budget reconciliation process that operates as an adjunct to the budget resolution process. The chief purpose of the reconciliation process is to enhance congress's ability to change current law in order to bring revenue, spending, and debt-limit levels in conformity with the policies expresses in the budget resolution.
Date: July 20, 2009
Creator: Keith, Robert
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mountaintop Mining: Background on Current Controversies

Description: Mountaintop removal mining involves removing the top of a mountain in order to recover the coal seams contained there. This practice occurs in several Appalachian states. It creates an immense quantity of excess spoil (dirt and rock that previously composed the mountaintop), which is typically placed in valley fills on the sides of the former mountains, burying streams that flow through the valleys. Critics say that, as a result of valley fills, stream water quality and the aquatic and wildlife… more
Date: April 20, 2009
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Lands Managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service (FS): Issues for the lllth Congress

Description: This report discusses actions that Congress is considering, which could affect the various uses and management of federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, such as: legislation, administrative or regulatory proposals, and litigation and judicial decisions. Issue areas include onshore energy resources, administration of hardrock mining, wildfire protection, management of wild horses and burros, designation of the National Landscape Conservation System, w… more
Date: February 20, 2009
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.; Hardy Vincent, Carol; Alexander, Kristina & Humphries, Marc
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Overview of Filipino Veterans' Benefits

Description: This report defines the four specific groups (Regular Philippine Scouts, Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, Recognized Guerilla Forces, and New Philippine Scouts) of Filipino nationals who served under the command of the United States. It also outlines the Rescission Acts of 1946, benefit changes since 1946, current benefits for Filipino veterans by group, and recent legislative proposals and legislation, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5).
Date: February 20, 2009
Creator: Scott, Christine; Panangala, Sidath Viranga & Davis, Carol D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Estimates of Carbon Mitigation Potential from Agricultural and Forestry Activities

Description: This report presents a brief overview of the available estimates from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carbon mitigation studies, and then discusses some of the limitations of the available data and modeling results. It includes informationa bout estimated current emissions and sequestration, estimated addtional potential sequestration, limitations of mitigation potential estimates, and considerations for Congress.
Date: February 20, 2009
Creator: Johnson, Renée; Gorte, Ross W.; Yacobucci, Brent D. & Schnepf, Randy
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Net Neutrality: The Federal Communications Commission's Authority to Enforce Its Network Management Principles

Description: This report discusses the major debate over the government's role in the Internet. Legally, the question appears to be whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) currently has the authority to regulate the ways in which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) manage Internet traffic over their networks.
Date: February 20, 2009
Creator: Ruane, Kathleen A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Controversies over Redefining "Fill Material" Under the Clean Water Act

Description: On May 3, 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) announced a regulation redefining two key terms, "fill material" and "discharge of fill material," in rules that implement Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. This report discusses the 2002 rule, focusing on how it changes which material and types of activities are regulated under Section 404 and the significance of these issues, especially for the mining industry.
Date: April 20, 2009
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration of Foreign Workers: Labor Market Tests and Protections

Description: This report discusses §1611, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which requires companies receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding to comply with the more rigorous labor market rules of H-1B dependent companies if they hire foreign workers on H-1B visas.
Date: March 20, 2009
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Selected Health Funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Description: This report compares funding provided for selected Health and Human Services (HHS) programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) conference report (H.Rept. 111-16) with the recommendations in the House- and Senate-passed versions of H.R. 1. It also briefly discusses ARRA's provisions on HIT and comparative effectiveness research as they relate to the funding.
Date: February 20, 2009
Creator: Redhead, C. S.; Colello, Kirsten J.; Lister, Sarah A.; Reyes-Akinbileje, Bernice; Smith, Pamela W. & Sommers, Andrew R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Insolvency of Systemically Significant Financial Companies: Bankruptcy vs. Conservatorship/Receivership

Description: This report first discusses the purposes behind the creation of a separate insolvency regime for depository institutions. The report then compares and contrasts the characteristics of depository institutions with systemically significant financial companies (SSFCs). Next, the report provides a brief analysis of some important differences between the FDIC's conservatorship/receivership authority and that of the Bankruptcy Code.
Date: April 20, 2009
Creator: Carpenter, David H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cars and Climate: What Can EPA Do to Control Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources?

Description: This report discusses legislation being considered by congress to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change. It discusses the EPA's authority under Title II and provides information regarding the mobile sources that might be regulated under this authority. Among these sources, motor vehicles (passenger cars and light trucks, including SUVs) are assumed to be the most likely initial targets for regulation, both because a petition addressing these sources began E… more
Date: April 20, 2009
Creator: McCarthy, James E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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NATO's 60th Anniversary Summit

Description: This report provides an overview and analysis of the key issues to be discussed at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) April summit on April 3 and 4, 2009.
Date: March 20, 2009
Creator: Belkin, Paul; Ek, Carl; Mages, Lisa & Mix, Derek E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Funding for Education in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5)

Description: This report provides a brief overview of the key provisions related to education programs that are or will be administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) that were included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) under Division A, Title VIII, Department of Education, and under Title XIV, State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. It also includes a discussion of relevant provisions that were included in the House and Senate bills.
Date: February 20, 2009
Creator: Skinner, Rebecca R.; Smole, David P.; Lordeman, Ann & Riddle, Wayne C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses the role of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), including an overview of the history of science and technology advice to the President, issues and options for Congress regarding (OSTP) Director, OSTP management and operations, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The report also discusses actions taken by the Obama Administration regarding OSTP.
Date: March 20, 2009
Creator: Stine, Deborah D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Protective Service and Contract Security Guards: A Statutory History and Current Status

Description: This report discusses the Federal Protective Service (FPS) - within U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - is responsible for protecting federal government property, personnel, visitors, and customers, including property leased by the General Services Administration (GSA). This report describes the FPS in brief as well as legislative actions currently being discussed in the 111th Congress that could affect FPS in the future.
Date: August 20, 2009
Creator: Reese, Shawn
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Competition in Federal Contracting: An Overview of the Legal Requirements

Description: This report describes the legal requirements pertaining to competition that presently apply to federal procurement contracts. Among other things, it discusses what contracts are subject to competition requirements; what constitutes full and open competition for government contracts; what is meant by "full and open competition after exclusion of sources"; and circumstances permitting agencies to award contracts on the basis of other than full and open competition.
Date: August 20, 2009
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions

Description: This report discusses the four major principles underlie current U.S. policy on permanent immigration: the reunification of families, the admission of immigrants with needed skills, the protection of refugees, and the diversity of admissions by country of origin.
Date: July 20, 2009
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy CG(X) Cruiser Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: This report discusses the reasoning behind the development of the Navy CG(X) cruiser program, the budgetary actions taking place to enable their development, selected technical specifics of their design, and various other information relating to defense procurement costs.
Date: November 20, 2009
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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