Congressional Research Service Reports - 49 Matching Results
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- Critical Infrastructures: Background and Early Implementation of PDD-63
- No Description Available.
- Internet Taxation: Issues and Legislation
- The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) placed a three-year moratorium on the ability of state and local governments to (1) impose new taxes on Internet access or (2) impose any multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. The act grandfathered the state and local access taxes that were “... generally imposed and actually enforced prior to October 1, 1998 ....” This report discusses issues of state and local taxation of Internet transactions because commerce conducted by parties in different states over the Internet.
- Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs
- This report provides an overview of the "digital divide", which is a term used to describe a perceived gap between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications and information technologies and those who do not.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- This document includes discussion of the debate over government policy regarding industrial competitiveness and technological advancement. Technology and competitiveness, federal roles, and various approaches are among topics mentioned in this report.
- U.S. Space Programs: Civilian, Military, and Commercial
- This report includes information regarding civilian, military, and commercial U.S. space programs. Interagency coordination, international cooperation, and space program issues are among topics discussed in this report.
- The DHS Directorate of Science and Technology: Key Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- NASA’s Space Shuttle Program: Space Shuttle Appropriations FY1992-FY2002
- This report shows the funding the George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush Administrations requested for the space shuttle program between FY1992 and FY2002, the funding provided in the House and Senate appropriations bills each year, and the final funding appropriated after the House-Senate conference. It also summarizes the explanations given in report language for congressional changes to the funding requested.
- Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Legislation in the 110th Congress
- This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 110th Congress. Most action in the second session has focused on provisions in the economic stimulus bill and the Farm Bill. Most action in the first session focused on the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Additional action was focused on funding-related bills for energy efficiency and renewable energy, especially H.R. 2641, the Energy and Water Appropriations bill for FY 2008, which was subsumed by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate Over Government Policy
- This report includes discussion over the debate over government policy regarding industrial competitiveness and technological advancement. Technology and competitiveness, legislative initiatives, and various approaches are among topics discussed in this report.
- Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments
- This report mainly discusses about the U.S. Defense Deployments on Guam. The U.S military is building up forces on he U.S territory of Guam to maintain deterrence and war fighting capabilities for possible reason to disaster.
- The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Funding Issues and Activities
- No Description Available.
- Selected Environmental Provisions in the Energy Bill (H.R. 6/S. 2095)
- This report provides a short discussion of selected environmental provisions involving limits on the use of MTBE; a renewable fuel mandate for gasoline; stricter regulation of underground storage tanks; Clean Water Act requirements for oil and gas exploration; incentives and R&D funding for alternative fuels and vehicles; energy efficiency and conservation incentives; hydroelectric relicensing; ozone compliance deadlines; use of mining wastes; and hydraulic fracturing.
- Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues
- This report includes information related to energy efficiency, including history, various bills and budgets, and conservation. Climate change and energy security related to energy efficiency are also discussed in this report.
- Information Technology (IT) Management: The Clinger-Cohen Act and the Homeland Security Act of 2002
- This report discusses the effect of provisions like the Clinger-Cohen Act and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 on Information Technology (IT) management. It compares the effects of these acts on IT and potential issues are brought the forefront, with appropriate congressional action due.
- Leaking Underground Storage Tanks: Prevention and Cleanup
- This report provides an overview of the prevention and cleanup of the leaking underground storage tanks.
- Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2006 Appropriations
- No Description Available.
- The Advanced Technology Program
- This report summarizes the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and its creation. According to the report, the ATP was created to insure competitive technologies with broad applications throughout multiple industries. The report also covers information surrounding the budget of the program and its funding.
- The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act
- This report provides a summary and explanation of the provisions in the HITECH Act, which is intended to promote the widespread adoption of health information technology (HIT) for the electronic sharing of clinical data among hospitals, physicians, and other health care stakeholders. It gives an overview of prior actions taken by Congress and the Administrations to promote HIT, and briefly describes efforts by the 109th and 110th Congresses to enact comprehensive HIT legislation.
- Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer
- This report provides an overview of nanotechnology, nanomanufacturing, and public understanding of and attitudes toward nanotechnology. Congress has demonstrated continuing support for nanotechnology and has directed its attention primarily to three topics that may affect the realization of this hoped for potential: federal research and development (R&D) in nanotechnology; U.S. competitiveness; and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns.
- The Google Library Project: Is Digitization for Purposes of Online Indexing Fair Use Under Copyright Law?
- This report provides background on the Google Library Project, legal issues raised by digitization and indexing projects, and the proposed settlement between Google and rights holders.
- Science, Technology, and American Diplomacy: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides an overview of current U.S. international S&T policy; describes the role of the Department of State (DOS), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other federal agencies; and discusses possible policy options for Congress. It focuses on international science and technology diplomacy, where American leadership in science and technology is used as a diplomatic tool to enhance another country's development and to improve understanding by other nations of U.S. values and ways of doing business.
- Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer
- This report provides an overview of the nanotechnology that is believed by many to offer extraordinary economic and societal benefits, which are discussed in more detail in other CRS reports—and two others: nanomanufacturing and public understanding of and attitudes toward nanotechnology.
- The U.S. Science and Technology Workforce
- This report provides an overview of the status of the U.S. science and technology (S&T) workforce, and identifies some of the issues and options that are currently being discussed in Congress.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology: An Overview
- This report discusses the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that has a mandate to increase the competitiveness of U.S. companies. NIST research also provides the measurement, calibration, and quality assurance techniques that underpin U.S. commerce.
- The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement: A Brief Description
- No Description Available.
- The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement: A Brief Description
- No Description Available.
- Data Security: Federal and State Laws
- Security breaches involving electronic personal data have come to light largely as a result of the California Security Breach Notification Act, a California notification law that went into effect in 2003. In response, the states and some Members have introduced bills that would require companies to notify persons affected by such security breaches. By December 2005, 35 states had introduced data security legislation and 22 states had enacted data security laws.
- Data Security: Federal Legislative Approaches
- This report discusses the core areas addressed in federal legislation, including the scope of coverage (who is covered and what information is covered); data privacy and security safeguards for sensitive personal information; requirements for security breach notification (when, how, triggers, frequency, and exceptions); restrictions on social security numbers (collection, use, and sale); credit freezes on consumer reports; identity theft penalties; causes of action; and preemption.
- Science and Technology Policy: Issues for the 109th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Internet Development and Information Control in the People's Republic of China
- Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has exerted great effort in manipulating the flow of information and prohibiting the dissemination of viewpoints that criticize the government or stray from the official Communist party view. The introduction of Internet technology in the mid-1990’s presented a challenge to government control over news sources, and by extension, over public opinion. While the Internet has developed rapidly, broadened access to news, and facilitated mass communications in China, many forms of expression online, as in other mass media, are still significantly stifled. This report discusses the history of this issue and examines the U.S.'s response.
- Technology Transfer: Use of Federally Funded Research and Development
- Report on government spending for research and development of technology, with a focus on how that R&D can be transferred to other areas, including recent developments, background issues, the rationale behind federal activity, and more.
- The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Funding Issues and Activities
- This report discusses the High-Performance Computing and Communications Program Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-194), which was passed to enhance the effectiveness of the various high-performance computing programs. The HPCC Program has evolved over time and is now called the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program, to better reflect its expanded mission.
- Computer Services Personnel: Overtime Pay Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
- The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), as amended, is the primary federal statute in the area of minimum wages and overtime pay. Through administrative rulemaking, the Secretary of Labor has established two tests through which to define eligibility under the Section 13(a)(1) exemption: a duties test and an earnings test. In the 106th Congress, legislation was introduced by Representatives Andrews and Lazio that would have increased the scope of the exemption: first, by expanding the range of exempt job titles, and then, through a relative reduction in the value of the earnings threshold or test. For example, were the minimum wage increased to $6.15 per hour, as pending proposals would do, the value of the computer services exemption threshold would be 4.5 times the federal minimum wage. Ultimately, neither bill was enacted, but the issue has re-emerged as H.R. 1545 (Andrews) and H.R. 546 (Quinn).
- Internet Taxation: Issues and Legislation in the 109th Congress
- This report discusses issues of state and local taxation of Internet transactions because commerce conducted by parties in different states over the Internet.
- Industrial Competitiveness and Technological Advancement: Debate over Government Policy
- This report summarizes the debate on the government policy regarding industrial competitiveness and technological advancement and its influence on the U.S. economy. It discusses the most recent developments, dives into the background and analysis of the topic, and talks about congress' plans and approach.
- Internet: An Overview of Key Technology Policy Issues Affecting Its Use and Growth
- The growth of the Internet may be affected by issues now being debated by Congress. This report summarizes several key technology policy issues.
- Creating a National Framework for Cybersecurity: An Analysis of Issues and Options
- Cyber- security refers to three things: measures to protect information technology; the information it contains, processes, and transmits, and associated physical and virtual elements (which together comprise cyberspace); the degree of protection resulting from application of those measures; and the associated field of professional endeavor. This report aims to examine what kind of national cyber-security framework may be needed and how it might be implemented, and it addresses three questions: 1. Where are the major cyber-security weaknesses currently, and where might weaknesses be anticipated in the future? What are the major means of leverage for addressing those weaknesses? What roles should government and the private sector play in the use of those means of leverage to address current and potential future weaknesses?
- Internet Privacy: Overview and Pending Legislation
- No Description Available.
- Internet Statistics: Explanation and Sources
- No Description Available.
- High Performance Computers and Export Control Policy: Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs
- Some policymakers, believing that disparities in broadband access across American society could have adverse economic and social consequences on those left behind, assert that the federal government should play a more active role to avoid a “digital divide” in broadband access. One approach is for the federal government to provide financial assistance to support broadband deployment in underserved areas. Others, however, believe that federal assistance for broadband deployment is not appropriate. Some opponents question the reality of the “digital divide,” and argue that federal intervention in the broadband marketplace would be premature and, in some cases, counterproductive.
- Technology Transfer: Use of Federally Funded Research and Development
- No Description Available.
- Cooperative R&D: Federal Efforts to Promote Industrial Competitiveness
- In response to the foreign challenge in the global marketplace, the United States Congress has explored ways to stimulate technological advancement in the private sector. The government has supported various efforts to promote cooperative research and development activities among industry, universities, and the federal R&D establishment designed to increase the competitiveness of American industry and to encourage the generation of new products, processes, and services. Among the issues before Congress are whether joint ventures contribute to industrial competitiveness and what role, if any, the government has in facilitating such arrangements.
- Critical Infrastructure: Control Systems and the Terrorist Threat
- This report addresses the cyber-vulnerability of critical infrastructure industries which regularly use industrial control systems. Industrial control systems may be vulnerable to infiltration by different routes, including wireless transmission, direct access to control system computers, exploitation of dial-up modems used for maintenance, or through the Internet. This report will specifically discuss the potential for access to industrial control systems through the Internet.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- Internet Voting: Issues and Legislation
- No Description Available.
- E-Commerce Statistics: Explanation and Sources
- Congress will play a vital role in many e-commerce policy issues, including Internet taxation, encryption and electronic authentication (i.e., digital signatures), intellectual property protection (i.e., patent or copyright infringement), computer network security, and privacy safeguards for individuals and organizations, as well as consideration of how European Union (EU) and World Trade Organization (WTO) policies may affect U.S. e-commerce activities. This report addresses the complexities of measuring e-commerce growth, and provides background information on government and private firms’ methods for estimating it.