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The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

Description: This report discusses congress and its restrictions on federal debt. It further discusses about the recent economic slowdown that led sharply higher deficits in recent years, which led to series of debt limit increases.
Date: June 1, 2011
Creator: Austin, D. Andrew & Levit, Mindy R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Judicial Discipline Process: An Overview

Description: The first part of this report covers the process for handling complaints against federal judges and judicial discipline, which was enacted on November 2, 2002 as the Judicial Improvements Act of 2002. The second part of this report covers two impeachments during the 111th Congress, those of Judge Samuel B. Kent and Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr.
Date: April 7, 2011
Creator: Barbour, Emily C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy and Water Development: FY2011 Appropriations

Description: This report discusses the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill that provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of Independent agencies.
Date: February 16, 2011
Creator: Behrens, Carl E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy and Water Development: FY2012 Appropriations

Description: This report discusses the energy and water development appropriations bill that provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies.
Date: August 16, 2011
Creator: Behrens, Carl E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Supreme Court Nominations: Senate Floor Procedure and Practice, 1789-2011

Description: This report examines the ways in which the Senate has handled the 160 Supreme Court nominations the President has sent to the Senate. As the purpose of this report is to examine the forms taken by Senate proceedings on these 160 nominations, it treats each nomination as a separate case. It is not couched in terms of the smaller number of different individuals nominated or the ultimate outcome the confirmation process may have had for each individual.
Date: March 11, 2011
Creator: Beth, Richard S. & Palmer, Betsy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Excise Tax on Gasoline and the Highway Trust Fund: A Short History

Description: This report discusses Excise taxes that have been long a part of our country's revenue history. It also discusses about the Highway Revenue Act of 1956 that establishes the federal Highway Trust Fund for the direct purpose of funding the construction of an interstate highway system.
Date: November 3, 2011
Creator: Bickley, James M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Terrorism Information Sharing and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report describes the NSI, the rationale for the sharing of terrorism-related SARs, and how the NSI seeks to achieve this objective. It examines the privacy and civil liberties concerns raised by the initiative and identifies other oversight issues for Congress.
Date: December 28, 2011
Creator: Bjelopera, Jerome P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Biomass: Comparison of Definitions in Legislation Through the 111th Congress

Description: This report discusses the use of biomass as an energy feedstock, which is emerging as a potentially viable alternative to address U.S. energy security concerns, foreign oil dependence, rural economic development, and diminishing sources of conventional energy. Biomass (organic matter that can be converted into energy) may include food crops, crops for energy (e.g., switchgrass or prairie perennials), crop residues, wood waste and byproducts, and animal manure. This report discusses legislation … more
Date: January 6, 2011
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi & Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Solar Projects: DOE Section 1705 Loan Guarantees

Description: This report discusses the solar energy initiative and the political implications. The objective of this report is to provide Congress with insight regarding solar projects supported by Department of Energy (DOE’s) loan guarantee program, the risk characteristics of these projects, and how other DOE loan guarantee projects are either similar to or different from the Solyndra solar manufacturing project.
Date: October 25, 2011
Creator: Brown, Phillip
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Congressional Research Service and the American Legislative Process

Description: The Legislative Reference Service, it was charged with responding to congressional requests for information. For more than 50 years, this department assisted Congress primarily by providing facts and publications and by transmitting research and analysis done largely by other government agencies, private organizations, and individual scholars. In 1970, Congress enacted a law transforming the Legislative Reference Service into the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and directing CRS to devote … more
Date: April 12, 2011
Creator: Brudnick, Ida A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 111th Congress

Description: This report synthesizes the multi-tiered debate over immigration reform into key elements: legal immigration; legalization; immigration control; refugees, asylees, and humanitarian migrants; and alien rights, benefits, and responsibilities. It delineates the issues for the 111th Congress on permanent residence, temporary admissions, border security, worksite enforcement, employment eligibility verification, document fraud, criminal aliens, and the grounds for inadmissibility.
Date: January 18, 2011
Creator: Bruno, Andorra; Ester, Karma; Lee, Margaret Mikyung; Siskin, Alison & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Response: Civil Liability of Volunteer Health Professionals

Description: This report discusses the patchwork of federal and state laws that operate to protect volunteers, which can include volunteer health professionals (VHPs), and those laws that trigger liability protection only for VHPs — with a focus on some of the midwestern states in addition to the Gulf region.
Date: January 19, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tort Suits Against Federal Contractors: An Overview of the Legal Issues

Description: This report provides an overview of key legal issues that have been raised to date in recent tort suits against government contractors. Most of these issues pertain to jurisdiction, or the court’s power over the parties or subject matter of the case. A number of cases are pending that could affect courts’ treatment of the issues discussed here.
Date: April 7, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Côte d’Ivoire Post-Gbagbo: Crisis Recovery

Description: This report discusses about Côte d’Ivoire which is emerging from a severe political-military crisis that followed a disputed November 28, 2010, Presidential runoff election between former president Laurent Gbagbo and his, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara.
Date: May 3, 2011
Creator: Cook, Nicolas
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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