Search Results

open access

Expedited or "Fast-Track" Legislative Procedures

Description: This report discusses expedited or "fast-track" legislative procedures, which are special procedures that Congress adopts to promote timely committee and floor action on a specifically defined type of bill or resolution.
Date: February 9, 2011
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Expedited Procedures in the House: Variations Enacted Into Law

Description: Congress enacts expedited, or fast-track, procedures into law when it wants to increase the likelihood that one or both houses of Congress will vote in a timely way on a certain measure or kind of measure. These procedures are enacted as rulemaking provisions of law pursuant to the constitutional power of each house to adopt its own rules. The house to which a set of expedited procedures applies may act unilaterally to waive, suspend, amend, or repeal them.
Date: May 11, 2011
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federal Employees' Retirement System: Benefits and Financing

Description: One or both houses of Congress may formally express opinions about subjects of current national interest through freestanding simple or concurrent resolutions (called generically "sense of the House," "sense of the Senate," or "sense of the Congress" resolutions). These opinions may also be added to pending legislative measures by amendments expressing the views of one or both chambers. This report identifies the various forms these expressions may take and the procedures governing such actions. more
Date: May 20, 2011
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

How Legislation Is Brought to the House Floor: A Snapshot of Recent Parliamentary Practice

Description: The House of Representatives has several different parliamentary procedures through which it can bring legislation to the chamber floor. Which will be used in a given situation depends on many factors, including the type of measure being considered, its cost, the amount of political or policy controversy surrounding it, and the degree to which Members want to debate it and propose amendments. This report provides a statistical snapshot of the forms, origins, and party sponsorship of these measu… more
Date: March 9, 2011
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Murder or Attempted Murder of a Member of Congress and Other Federal Officials and Employees: Implications in Federal Criminal Law and Procedure of Events in Tucson

Description: Report describing the federal procedures and attendant legal provisions generally associated with the prosecution of cases regarding the killing and attempted killing of federal officers and employees in the performance of their official duties.
Date: January 25, 2011
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications

Description: This report provides historical background on the enactment of declarations of war and authorizations for the use of force and analyzes their legal effects under international and domestic law. It also sets forth their texts in two appendices. The report includes an extensive listing and summary of statutes that are triggered by a declaration of war, a declaration of national emergency, and/or the existence of a state of war. The report concludes with a summary of the congressional procedures a… more
Date: March 17, 2011
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K. & Grimmett, Richard F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Authority to Limit Military Operations

Description: This report begins by discussing constitutional provisions allocating war powers between Congress and the President, and presenting a historical overview of relevant court cases. It considers Congress's constitutional authority to end a military conflict via legislative action. The report discusses Congress's ability to limit funding for U.S. participation in hostilities, examining relevant court cases and prior measures taken by Congress to restrict military operations, as well as possible alt… more
Date: September 8, 2011
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.; Garcia, Michael John & Nicola, Thomas J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Pakistan: U.S. Foreign Assistance

Description: This report discusses U.S. aid to Pakistan including an overview of current developments, a discussion of aid rendered before and after 9/11, the objectives of requesting aid during FY2012, and various issues that Congress needs to consider relating to this topic.
Date: July 28, 2011
Creator: Epstein, Susan B. & Kronstadt, K. Alan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

No-Fly Zones: Strategic, Operational, and Legal Considerations for Congress

Description: The ongoing uprising in Libya against the government of Muammar al Qadhafi has been the subject of ongoing domestic and international debate about potential international military intervention, including the proposed establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya. This report discusses several related issues for Congress surrounding the strategy, international authorization, congressional authorization, operations, and costs of establishing and maintaining no-fly zones.
Date: March 18, 2011
Creator: Gertler, Jeremiah; Blanchard, Christopher M.; Daggett, Stephen; Dale, Catherine; Elsea, Jennifer K. & Grimmett, Richard F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

No-Fly Zones: Strategic, Operational, and Legal Considerations for Congress

Description: This report discusses the establishment of no-fly zones and several related issues for Congress surrounding the strategy, including international authorization, congressional authorization, operations, and costs of establishing and maintaining no-fly zones.
Date: April 4, 2011
Creator: Gertler, Jeremiah; Blanchard, Christopher M.; Daggett, Stephen; Dale, Catherine; Elsea, Jennifer K. & Grimmett, Richard F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Congressional Gold Medals, 1776-2010

Description: Members of Congress and their staff frequently ask questions concerning the nature, history, and contemporary application of the process for awarding Gold Medals. This report responds to congressional inquiries concerning this process, and includes a historical examination and chronological list of these awards. It is intended to assist Members of Congress and staff in their consideration of future Gold Medal proposals, and will be updated as Gold Medals are approved.
Date: March 14, 2011
Creator: Glassman, Matthew Eric
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

War Powers Resolution: Presidential Compliance

Description: Two separate but closely related issues confront Congress each time the President introduces armed forces into a situation abroad that conceivably could lead to their involvement in hostilities. One issue concerns the division of war powers between the President and Congress, whether the use of armed forces falls within the purview of the congressional power to declare war and the War Powers Resolution. The other issue is whether or not Congress concurs in the wisdom of the action. A longer-ter… more
Date: February 23, 2011
Creator: Grimmett, Richard F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

War Powers Resolution: Presidential Compliance

Description: Two separate but closely related issues confront Congress each time the President introduces armed forces into a situation abroad that conceivably could lead to their involvement in hostilities. One issue concerns the division of war powers between the President and Congress, whether the use of armed forces falls within the purview of the congressional power to declare war and the War Powers Resolution. The other issue is whether or not Congress concurs in the wisdom of the action. A longer-ter… more
Date: April 12, 2011
Creator: Grimmett, Richard F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Committee Types and Roles

Description: This report briefly describes the structure of the congressional committee system and the types of congressional committees, as well as congressional subcommittees.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2011

Description: This report briefly describes current responsibilities and selection mechanisms for 15 House and Senate party leadership posts and provides tables with historical data, including service dates, party affiliation, and other information for each.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Speaker of the House: House Officer, Party Leader, and Representative

Description: This report discusses the three roles of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is widely viewed as symbolizing the power and authority of the House. The Speaker's most prominent role is that of presiding officer of the House. The Speaker also serves as leader of the majority party conference. The Speaker's third distinct role is that of an elected Member of the House.
Date: February 11, 2011
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Emergency Designation: Current Budget Rules and Procedures

Description: Budgetary legislation is constrained by certain enforcement rules that are generally intended to control spending, revenues, and the deficit. Since 1990, those rules have provided, in various forms, procedural mechanisms allowing Congress to effectively exempt certain budgetary amounts from such constraints by designating a provision in a measure as an emergency requirement. This report provides a brief description of the current rules and congressional procedures associated with the emergency … more
Date: January 6, 2011
Creator: Heniff, Bill, Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Legislative Procedures for Adjusting the Public Debt Limit: A Brief Overview

Description: Almost all borrowing by the federal government is conducted by the Treasury Department, within the restrictions established by a single, statutory limit on the total amount of debt that may be outstanding at any time.1 In a few instances, agencies such as the Tennessee Valley Authority operate within their own borrowing limits established separately in law. For years, the public debt limit has been codified in Section 3101(b) of Title 31, United States Code. Periodic adjustments in the debt lim… more
Date: May 2, 2011
Creator: Heniff, Bill, Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen