Congressional Research Service Reports - 18 Matching Results
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- Defense Research: A Primer on the Department of Defense’s Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program
- This report describes the basic elements and issues of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program. It defines basic activities supported by the program, presents budget trends, discusses the management of program, and describes the infrastructure in which the program is implemented. This report is for staff new to the area of defense research and for senior staff interested in historical trends.
- Conventional Arms Transfers: President Clinton's Policy Directive
- President Clinton released details of his Conventional Arms Transfer Policy on February 17, 1995, which are embodied in Presidential Decision Directive 34 (PDD-34). The President's action followed several months of internal debate and discussion by the Clinton Administration, the first detailed examination of conventional arms transfer policy since the Cold War's end.
- The Assault Weapons Ban: Review of Federal Laws Controlling Possessions of Certain Firearms
- This report reviews the 1994 assault weapons ban, which is effective for ten years on 19 types of semiautomatic assault weapons. The Act builds upon a 60-year history of federal regulation of firearms. The report also summarizes the pre-1994 federal gun control laws, analyzes the major cases relating to constitutional and statutory challenges to these laws, and reviews judicial and legislative developments since enactment of the ban.
- Iraqi Chemical and Biological Weapons (CBW) Capabilities
- No Description Available.
- Weapons of Mass Destruction - the Terrorist Threat
- The possibility of a terrorist attack using nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons is an ongoing debate in the national security policy arena. While terrorist motivations have traditionally been political onesthat would not benefitfrom such an attack, concern is now voiced over a possible trend of inflicting greater numbers of casualties. Terrorists most likely to attempt attacks with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are extremist religious millenarian groups and small splinter terrorist cells. N
- Cruise Missile Inventories and NATO Attacks on Yugoslavia: Background Information
- This short report provides background information on the Air Force’s Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM) and the conventionally armed version of the Navy’s Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile (TLAM).
- Nuclear Weapons Testing and Negotiation of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
- A nuclear test ban is the oldest item on the nuclear arms control agenda; Congress has debated the issue since the start of the nuclear age. Three treaties limit testing to underground only, with a maximum force equal to 150,000 tons of TNT.
- North Korea: U.S. Policy and Negotiations to Halt Its Nuclear Weapons Program: An Annotated Chronology and Analysis
- On October 21, 1994, the United States and North Korea signed an accord that, if fully implemented on a step-by-step basis, could resolve a prolonged confrontation over Pyongyang's suspected nuclear weapons program. The accord came after 17 months of volatile talks, marked periodically by American threats to seek United Nations economic sanctions and various dire warnings and implied military threats from Pyongyang. Although the Clinton Administration maintains that the agreement fulfills its long-standing basic negotiating objectives, the accord differs significantly from earlier U.S. negotiating positions in regard to the timing and sequencing of actions by both parties, and includes some new elements.
- Korean Crisis, 1994: Military Geography, Military Balance, Military Options
- The United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) currently seek ways to convince the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it should forego the manufacture of nuclear weapons, initially by allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct full inspections of suspected facilities. North Korea thus far has refused, although it did agree to an incomplete examination of declared sites early in March 1994. This report reviews military options open to each side as the United Nations, United States, and South Korea explore ways to resolve the resultant crisis peacefully despite threats of war from Pyongyang.
- China: Possible Missile Technology Transfers from U.S. Satellite Export Policy - Background and Chronology
- Members of Congress are concerned about whether U.S. firms have provided technology or expertise to China for use in its ballistic missile program and whether a series of decisions by the Clinton Administration on satellite exports have facilitated legal or illegal transfers of missile-related technology to China. The New York Times reported in April 1998 that the Justice Department is conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into whether Loral Space and Communications (of New York), and Hughes Electronics (of Los Angeles) violated export control laws. The firms are alleged to have shared their findings with China on the cause of a Chinese rocket’s explosion while launching a U.S.-origin satellite in February 1996. In sharing their conclusions, the companies are said to have provided expertise that China could use to improve its ballistic missiles, including their guidance systems. This CRS report provides detailed background information, significant Congressional action, and a comprehensive chronology. The events summarized here, based on various open sources and interviews, pertain to various aspects of U.S. foreign and security policy.
- Russian Missile Technology and Nuclear Reactor Transfers to Iran
- No Description Available.
- Nuclear Sanctions: Section 102(b) of the Arms Export Control Act and Its Application to India and Pakistan
- No Description Available.
- Department of Energy Abolition? Implications for the Nuclear Weapons Program
- This report considers how abolition might affect the U.S. nuclear weapons program. It provides background on the weapons program and the debate on what organization should control it; summarizes the debate over managing the program, including criticisms of DOE’s management and issues in deciding where to place the program, and presents four options for the weapons program. It considers pros and cons for each option. This report should be of value for understanding consequences of alternative organizational “homes” for the weapons program for those considering legislation to abolish DOE.
- Nuclear Weapons Production Complex: Environmental Compliance and Waste Management
- The aging nuclear weapons production complex, managed by the Department of Energy (DOE), faces enormous environmental and waste management problems. Several hundred billion dollars may be needed to clean up leaking waste pits, groundwater contamination, growing accumulations of radioactive waste, and uncontrolled liquid discharges at DOE facilities. DOE's cleanup program is carried out by the Office of Environmental Management (EM). Cleanup funding escalated rapidly after the end of the Cold War, although it has plateaued at about $6 billion per year under the Clinton Administration.
- Defense Research: DOD's Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Program
- The Administration has requested $34.4 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) program for FY2000. This is almost $3 billion below what was available for RDT&E in FY1999. In addition, the 6-year budget would maintain RDT&E between $34 billion and $35 billion over the next 6 years. In constant dollars, RDT&E spending will decline.
- Defense Research: A Primer on the Department of Defense's Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT and E) Program
- This report describes the basic elements and issues of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program. It defines basic activities supported by the program, presents budget trends, discusses the management of program, and describes the infrastructure in which the program is implemented. This report is for staff new to the area of defense research and for senior staff interested in historical trends.
- Defense Research: A Primer on the Department of Defense's Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT and E) Program
- This report describes the basic elements and issues of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program. It defines basic activities supported by the program, presents budget trends, discusses the management of program, and describes the infrastructure in which the program is implemented. This report is for staff new to the area of defense research and for senior staff interested in historical trends.
- U.N. Security Council Consideration of North Korea's Violations of its Nuclear Treaty Obligations
- Since early 1993, North Korea has refused to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This is contrary to North Korea's obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its 1992 safeguards agreement with the Agency. Following North Korean obstruction of an inspection in March 1994, the IAEA referred the issue to the U.N. Security Council. The Clinton Administration is set to propose that the Council act against North Korea, possibly including the imposition of sanctions. However, the opposition of China to sanctions and the ambivalent attitude of Russia has resulted in a decision by the Administration to propose initial action by the Council short of sanctions. Measures short of sanctions could end up as the totality of U.N. action.