Congressional Research Service Reports - 170 Matching Results

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State Governance of Elementary and Secondary Education: No Description Available.
The Department of Energy’s Spallation Neutron Source Project: Description and Issues: This report describes the SNS's management, project costs, schedule, site selection, and funding, and discusses issues raised by some congressional critics of the project, such as management problems, potential cost overruns, and schedule delays.
Defense Cleanup and Environmental Programs: Authorization and Appropriations for FY2000: Although Congress authorizes most federal programs for multiple years, it annually authorizes programs for national defense as well as appropriating funding for them each fiscal year. Of the activities traditionally authorized and funded, the Department of Defense (DOD) administers the following six environmental programs: environmental restoration, compliance, cleanup at base closure sites, pollution prevention, environmental technology, and natural resource conservation.
Hog Prices: Questions and Answers: This report discusses price changes in the pork industry. In late 1998, the lowest hog prices in decades created a crisis in the pork industry and prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Congress to take a series of actions to assist producers, including direct cash payments, and the purchase of extra pork products to reduce market supplies. The industry sought additional aid as low prices persisted into 1999.
Humane Treatment of Farm Animals: Overview and Selected Issues: Animal protection activists in the United States are seeking modifications (or even curtailment) of many practices long considered acceptable and necessary to animal agriculture. Examples include rearing large numbers of livestock and poultry in close confinement; performing surgery such as tail-docking or beak trimming; housing layer hens in cages; and isolating veal calves in crates.
Agriculture and Fast Track Trade Legislation: This report considers the issue of new "fast track" in Congress. The report discusses that the new legislation could be used to negotiate new trade deals with countries in Latin America and Asia. Moreover, the report summarizes the agricultural debates on the issue.
Agriculture and Fast Track Trade Legislation: Senate and House committees in October reported legislation for new fast track authority enabling the Administration to negotiate trade agreements with foreign countries and to submit them to Congress for consideration under expedited procedures. Many agricultural and food industry interests are among the export-dependent enterprises that support new fast track authority, arguing that foreign trading partners will not seriously negotiate with an Administration that lacks it. However, some agricultural groups argue that fast track provides them with inadequate opportunities for dealing with their issues, and that it ultimately will lead to new agreements that benefit foreign more than U.S. producers, at least in some commodity sectors. Neither bill was taken to the floor in 1997 because of insufficient votes for passage in the House. However, the President is expected to seek approval in 1998.
Appropriations for FY2000: An Overview: This report provides an overview of Congressional Research Service (CRS) products on the FY2000 appropriations and summarizes selected congressional actions on regular and supplemental appropriations, budget resolutions, budget reconciliation measures, and other selected legislation affecting appropriations.
Environmental Reauthorizations and Regulatory Reform: Recent Developments: If general regulatory reform bills were enacted, debates on statute-specific reauthorizations could shift from regulatory reforms to the substantive regulatory requirements of each Act. In this case, regulatory reform could consist of proposals to modify statutory requirements to reduce costs to the private sector and State and local governments, to increase flexibility, and to reduce or compensate regulatory impacts on the value of private property. At issue would be a series of potential tradeoffs, for example among efficiency of environmental regulations, national consistency versus local flexibility, protection of private property rights, and degrees of health and environmental protection.
DOE Laboratory Restructuring Legislation: Interest in restructuring (including eliminating) the Department of Energy (DOE) and its laboratories has increased since the end of the Cold War, and especially since the beginning of the 104th Congress. A number of non-legislative proposals and activities to this end are reviewed, including DOE's own proposals for "alignment and downsizing" of the Department and its laboratories.
Public Speaking and Speechwriting: Selected References: 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
Appropriations for FY2000: District of Columbia: Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on the District of Columbia.
An Endangered Species Act Issue for Southeastern Florida: Johnson’s Seagrass: No Description Available.
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act Reauthorization: Historically, coastal states managed marine sport and commercial fisheries in nearshore waters, where most marine seafood was caught. However, as fishing techniques improved and offshore resources were discovered, more fishers ventured farther offshore.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Living Resources Provisions: On November 16, 1994, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention) entered into force, but not for the United States. The LOS Convention was the culmination of more than 10 years of intense negotiation. However, the United States chose not to participate in this Convention in the early 1980s without changes to parts dealing with deep seabed mineral resources beyond national jurisdiction. After a 1994 Agreement amended parts of the LOS Convention dealing with deep seabed mineral resources, the LOS Convention, Annexes, and Agreement package was formally submitted to the U.S. Senate on October 7, 1994, for advice and consent to accession and ratification (Senate Treaty Doe. 103-39) and is awaiting Senate action. This short report describes provisions of the Convention relating to living marine resources and discusses how these provisions comport with current U.S. marine policy.
Pfiesteria: Congress, federal agencies, and affected states are seeking to better understand Pfiesteriapiscicida (a recently identified species of dinoflagellate) and related species, whose blooms release toxins that can harm fish and possibly human health under certain conditions. Although menhaden, an industrial fish used primarily in fishmeal and oil production, is the dominant species observed to have been killed by these organisms, consumers have reduced their purchases of Chesapeake Bay seafood after extensive media coverage highlighted toxic events. Both the water and lipid-soluble toxins of Pfiesteria and related species have been blamed for adverse health effects in people who have come in contact with affected waters.
Cash and Noncash Benefits for Persons With Limited Income: Eligibility Rules, Recipient and Expenditure Data, FY1996-FY1998: This report provides basic eligibility rules, recipient numbers, and FY1996-FY1998 expenditure data for 80 programs that have provided cash or non-cash benefits to low-income persons.
The Weatherization Assistance Program: A Fact Sheet: The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Weatherization Assistance PRogram (WAP) is one of the largest energy conservation programs in the nation. The DOE program is implemented in a 50 states, the District of Columbia and Native American Tribes. It weatherizes an average of 70,000 dwellings per year. The program strives to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings occupied by low-income persons in order to reduce their energy consumption and lower their fuel bills. It targets vulnerable groups including the elderly, people with disabilities, and families with children.
Campaign Finance Debate in the House: Substitute No. 13 (ShaysMeehan) and Non-Germane Amendments: This report offers a summary of Shays/Meehan and the 24 non-germane amendments under House Resolution 458, arranged by category and shown with all substitutes to which each was to be offered.
Campaign Finance Reform: Comparison of Current Law with H.R. 3 and S. 3, As Passed by the House and Senate in the 103d Congress: No Description Available.
Campaign Financing: Highlights and Chronology of Current Federal Law: This report provides a summary of major provisions of federal law and a chronology of key legislative and judicial actions.
Campaign Financing: Highlights and Chronology of Current Federal Law: Current law governing financial activity of campaigns for federal office is based on two principal statutes: the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971, as amended in 1974, 1976, and 1979, and the Revenue Act of 1971. These laws were enacted to remedy widely perceived shortcomings of existing law, the Corrupt Practices Act of 1925, and in response to reports of campaign finance abuses over the years, culminating in the 1972-1974 Watergate scandal. This report provides a summary of major provisions of federal law and a chronology of key legislative and judicial actions.
Appropriations for FY1998: U.S. Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies: No Description Available.
Appropriations for FY1999: U.S. Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies: This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture Appropriations. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity.
Appropriations for FY1999: U.S. Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies: Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture Appropriations.
Appropriations for FY2000: U.S. Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies: Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture Appropriations.
The Emergency Agricultural Provisions in the FY1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act: No Description Available.
Grazing Fees and Rangeland Management: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM, Department of the Interior) and the Forest Service (Department of Agriculture) manage approximately 70% of the 650 million acres of land owned by the federal government and many of these lands are classified as rangeland. Both agencies have well-established programs permitting private livestock grazing. The Administration issued new, controversial BLM rangeland management rules effective in August 1995. Supporters contended that the Administration's new rules were a step forward in sound resource management, but some believed they did not go far enough to protect rangelands and riparian areas. Many in the ranching community opposed the new rules, believing that they would ultimately reduce private livestock activity on federal lands, and increase operating costs. This report examines the debate over federal grazing management.
Key Foreign and Defense Policy Issues in the 104th Congress: The new post-Cold War world and the role of the United States will be shaped by action on a wide variety of foreign policy and defense issues. The 104th Congress will debate many of these issues and help determine the outcome as it considers the National Security Act proposed by House Republicans in the Contract with America and takes up bills on foreign policy and defense agencies, programs, and budgets.
Trade Issues in the 103rd Congress: Trade and trade-related issues are prominent parts of the agenda of the 103rd Congress. The Congress has already acted on some issues, in particular the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It will have to consider legislation to implement the trade agreements reached during the Uruguay Round of the GATT, which was completed on Dec. 15,1993.
Clean Water Issues in the 104th Congress: For the 104th Congress, reauthorization of the Clean Water Act would seem likely to be a priority, since the Act was last amended in 1987 and authorizations expired on September 30, 1990. But legislative prospects in the 104th Congress are uncertain. Clean water also was a priority for the 103rd Congress, but, in 1994, Congress ran out of time and did not act on comprehensive amendments. Many of the issues proved to be too complex and controversial to be resolved easily, while Congress also was considering a large agenda of environmental and other bills. Controversies arose in connection with issues specific to the Clean Water Act and a trio of regulatory relief issues that became barriers to a number of bills in the 103rd Congress.
The Listing of a Species: Legal Definition and Biological Realities: The 103d Congress will debate the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 2 which expired on October 1, 1992. The Act has recently generated controversy, even though it passed in 1973 with virtually no opposition. Much of the debate concerns specific actions that would jeopardize particular species or populations. However, the controversy has been fueled by the discrepancies between two sets of legal definitions and the subtle biological realities that they approximate
The Federal Debt: Who Bears Its Burdens?: This report discusses the federal debt, which quintupled from FY1980 to FY1995 and went from 26% to 50% of GDP. The report examines changing ideas in regards to what segment of the population most feels the effects of growing government debt, and how its effects manifest.
Pakistan Aid Cutoff: U.S. Nonproliferation and Foreign Policy Considerations: U.S. aid and arms sales to Pakistan generally had been prohibited since October 1990 because the President could not make a required annual certification to Congress under Section 620E(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act, the so-called "Pressler Amendment," that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear explosive device. However, on February 12, 1996, the President signed into law the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for FY1996, which includes provisions that significantly relax previous restrictions on U.S. aid to Pakistan.
Appropriations for FY1999: Defense: This report is a guide to appropriations of Defense for FY1999.
Appropriations for FY1999: Defense: Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to CRS reports that provide analytical perspectives on the 13 annual appropriations bills, and other related appropriation measures. It does not include a detailed explanation or description of the budget or appropriations processes. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittees.
Research and Development Funding: Fiscal Year 1998: President Clinton requested $75.469 billion for R&D in FY1998, a 2.2% increase over FY1997. However, this request would have increased the actual conduct of R&D less than 2.2% due to a proposed 50% increase associated with upfront funding for major research facilities, mostly in DOE.
Hong Kong's Return to China: Implications for U.S. Interests: In the months approaching China's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, policy analysts are trying to assess how the territory will fare under Chinese rule. The answer is important to U.S. interests because of the enormous U.S. economic presence in Hong Kong; because any adverse developments in Hong Kong are likely to affect U.S.-China relations; and because China's promise to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under the "one-China, two-systems" policy has major implications for Taiwan. But given the political situation, the American ability to affect the course of events in Hong Kong seems marginal unless the U.S. decides to confront Beijing more directly. Developments in U.S.-China relations in 1994-1995 suggest Washington might be hesitant to do so.
Norwegian Commercial Whaling: Issues for Congress: On May 16, 1996, 23 Members of Congress sent a letter to President Clinton expressing their concern over Norway's announcement that it intended to permit its whalers to kill as many as 425 minke whales that year. The co-signers urged the President "to take decisive action to prevent Norway from resuming its illicit whale harvesting," including the possible use of economic sanctions. For its 1997 hunt, Norway has increased its quota to 580 animals.
State Department and Related Agencies FY1998 Appropriations: No Description Available.
Line Item Veto Act of 1996: Lessons from the States: The Line Item Veto Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-130) authorizes the President to cancel discretionary budget authority, new entitlements, and limited tax benefits. When this authority becomes available on January 1, 1997, it will change the dynamics among all three branches of government. In response to presidential decisions to cancel certain provisions, Congress may change the way it drafts bills and committee reports. Lawsuits will bring these presidential and congressional actions before federal courts, raising a number of constitutional and statutory questions.
State Techniques to Blunt the Governor's Item-Veto Power: The Line Item Veto Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-130) authorizes the President to cancel discretionary budget authority, new entitlements, and limited tax benefits. This authority became available on January 1, 1997; will Congress now resort to a variety of techniques and strategies to circumscribe the President's power? Legislators and legislative committees at the state level have used various tactics to counteract, blunt, or neutralize the governor's item-veto power.
The Line Item Veto Act: Procedural Issues: At various times, Congress has given the President statutory authority not to spend appropriated funds. That authority was elaborated and made more systematic with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which permitted the President to delay the expenditure of funds (deferral authority) and to cancel funds (rescission authority). To rescind funds, the President needed the support of both houses within 45 days.
Environment and the World Trade Organization (WTO) at Seattle: Issues and Concerns: This meeting of the decision making body of the WTO was expected to make decisions that would lead to another round of negotiations on a wide variety of trade rules and related issues. Although the United States continues to assert the necessity of pursuing the twin goals of free trade and environmental protection and to argue that these need not be in conflict, controversy remains over how the multilateral trading system should address the specifics of environmental issues.
Private Mortgage Insurance: Cancellation Options: No Description Available.
Russian Missile Technology and Nuclear Reactor Transfers to Iran: Many in Congress and the Clinton Administration charge that Russian entities are assisting Iran in developing ballistic missiles. Russia is also building a nuclear power station and is finishing other nuclear services to, Iran. Congress has passed legislation requiring the President to impose sanctions for missile technology transfers, arms sales, nuclear technology transfers, and large-scale investments in Iran. H.R 2709, which includes the "Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1997," is one of several bills designed to tighten existing sanctions law. It was amended and passed by the Senate on May 22, 1998, and by the House on June 9 by very large bipartisan majorities. Nevertheless, President Clinton vetoed the bill on June 23 and said he would work to sustain the veto.
Russian Missile Technology and Nuclear Reactor Transfers to Iran: This report discusses the U.S. response to the Russian Government potentially violating the Missile Technology Control Regime. The report details the accusations made against Russia, and the progression of Iran's nuclear power program. It also highlights the connection these allegations have with respect to U.S. policy and the sanctions that were introduced by the U.S. Congress as a result.
Below-Cost Timber Sales: An Overview: The Forest Service sells some timber at prices that are less than the agency costs to administer the timber program. This report discusses these "below-cost" timber sales that have been debated by Congress for more than a decade, but no policy to address the issue has been adopted legislatively or administratively.
Federal Land and Resource Management: A Primer: Four federal agencies administer most of the U.S. government's land. The National Park Service administers the Park System for recreation use and preservation. The Fish and Wildlife Service manages wildlife refuges primarily for protecting and improving fish and wildlife habitats. The Bureau of Land Management manages the public lands for sustained yields of multiple uses - grazing, recreation, timber, and fish and wildlife. The Forest Service similarly manages the national forests. Most forests and public lands are also available for mineral exploration and development. Three special land systems are also administered by these agencies: the Wilderness System, for preserving pristine areas; the Trail System, for non-motorized recreation; and the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, for river recreation. Congress has also established many special designations for certain lands. This report summarizes the permitted and prohibited uses of lands managed by these four agencies, as well as of the many special designations. It will be updated at the beginning of the 107th Congress. For more detailed information see CRS Report 98-991, Federal Land Management Agencies: Background on Land and Resource Management.

Congressional Research Service Reports - 170 Matching Results

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