Congressional Research Service Reports - 146 Matching Results

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Environmental Protection: From the 103rd to the 104th Congress: This report analyzes environmental issues at a pivotal period, between the Democratic-controlled 103rd Congress and the Republican-led 104th Congresses.
U.S. Trade Performance: Recent Trends and Prospects: Report ...
Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S.: Staging a Comeback?: After four years of decline, foreign direct investment in the United States showed sharp gains in 1993 and 1994. Japan remained the largest foreign direct investor in the U.S. economy in 1993, despite a sharp slow down in investments by Japanese firms compared with British firms, the second largest direct investors. The overall foreign direct investment position in U.S. businessesand real estate - or the accumulated book value of all foreign investments - increased by $20 billion in 1993, nearly three times faster than the amount recorded in 1992. Preliminary data indicate that foreigners' investments could surpass $30 billion in 1994. Economists generally believe that foreign direct investment yields positive net benefits to both the recipient and the investing countries. For some American firms, foreign investments have been especially beneficial, because they supplied the firms with funds during times when many U.S. commercial banks were unwilling to finance them.
Crime Control Assistance Through the Byrne Programs: No Description Available.
Child Support: Changes Enacted or Proposed in the 103rd Congress: No Description Available.
General Overview of United States Antitrust Law: This report presents brief summaries of (1) the primary United States antitrust statutes, and (2) some of the activities which are generally considered to be violations of those laws. There is also some reference to the prohibition against unfair competition and the "unfairness" jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). There is not, however, any discussion of the extraterritorial reach of the United States antitrust laws. Further, the laws whose descriptions follow do not constitute all of the statutes which are applicable to antitrust issues, but rather, constitute those which are most often utilized.
The Exchange-Rate System: Return to Bretton Woods?: This report focuses on the exchange-rate system set up at Bretton Woods, its breakdown in the 1970s, the current system of managed floating and, finally, proposals to return part or all the way to a more fixed-rate system.
The Former Soviet Union and U.S. Foreign Aid: Implementing the Assistance Program, 1992-1994: In fiscal year 1994, the new states of the former Soviet Union became collectively the second largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance made available from all sources. Whether and how the assistance program is helping to bring about democratic systems and free market economies is increasingly a question of interest to Congress and the public at large.
U.S.-Japan Trade: Framework Talks and Other Issues: No Description Available.
Border Environment Cooperation Commission and North American Development Bank : Background and Issues: This report presents Background and Issues of Border Environment Cooperation Commission and North American Development Bank.
The Property Rights Issue: The property rights issue arises because societal goals are sometimes pursued through government restrictions on the use of private property. At bottom, it is the age-old conflict between public goals and private rights.
Committee System: Rules Changes in the House, 104th Congress: This fact sheet details changes in the committee system contained in H. Res. 6, Rules of the House for the 104th Congress.
Deregulation as Market Opening in Japan: Deregulation of Japan's economy is of interest to the United States because regulations may work as nontariff barriers to U.S. exports and contribute to the $60 billion U.S. bilateral merchandise trade deficit. Excessive regulations also may hamper the ability of the Japanese economy to recover from recession and to augment world wide economic growth. The United States has submitted a request of about 200 items that it would like Japan to deregulate. Negotiations are continuing under the Framework Talks, and some of the items will likely be included in the Japanese government's five-year plan to deregulate and liberalize its economy.
Federal Gun Control Laws: The Second Amendment and Other Constitutional Issues: This report examines the historical, legal, and constitutional arguments for and against an individual right to bear firearms under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Those who favor federal gun control laws tend to assert that the Second Amendment has been correctly interpreted by the courts to confer only a collective right, which may be exercised through state militias. Those who oppose gun control laws tend to assert that the Second Amendment should be interpreted to grant an individual right to bear arms for lawful purposes, subject to appropriately minimal restrictions.
Chinese Missile and Nuclear Proliferation: Issues for Congress: Congressional Research Service: Chinese Missile and Nuclear Proliferation: Issues for Congress
A Department of Science and Technology: A Recurring Theme: Consolidation of many Federal research and development (R&D) activities into a Department of Science and Technology (S&T) has been proposed repeatedly since World War D, including in the last Congress. The trend, however, has been toward the creation of mission agencies with supporting R&D capabilities. Analyses of arguments for and against consolidation indicate that valid reasons exist on both sides of the issue. Specific consolidation proposals may be considered again during the 104th Congress.
China-U.S. Trade Issues: U.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. China is now the third largest U.S. trading partner, its second largest source of imports, and its fourth largest export market. However, U.S.-China commercial ties have been strained by a number of issues, including a surging U.S. trade deficit with China, China's refusal to float its currency, and failure to fully comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, especially its failure to provide protection for U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR). This report explores these issues in detail, especially concerning the lack of protection for U.S. IPR.
Tax Incentives for Alcohol Fuels: The blender's tax credits were specifically enacted to complement the excise tax exemptions, so as to help support farm incomes by finding another market for corn, sugar, and other agricultural products that are the basic raw materials for alcohol production. More recently, proponents of expanding the alcohol fuels tax incentives argue that they reduce smog and improve air quality.
Substance Abusers: New Rules for Disability Benefits from Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance: No Description Available.
Space Stations: Congress continues to debate NASA's Europe, Japan, and Canada to build the plan to build a permanently occupied space station. They plan to provide station. Controversial since its inception in 1984, the space station, called Freedom for many years, was redesigned several times. Now it is tentatively called Alpha.
An Overview of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE): Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) central contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The MTPE program provides scientific information so policymakers and scientists can formulate strategies to mitigate human impacts on Earth's environment, such as ozone depletion, deforestation, and possible global warming.
Commuter and Large Air Carriers: Is It Time For One Level of Safety?: No Description Available.
Section 301: Its Operation and Prospects for Future Use by the United States: Sections 301 through 309 of the Trade Act of 1974 (as amended), commonly referred to as Section 301, is one of principal means by which the United States addresses "unfair" foreign barriers to U.S. exports and enforces U.S. rights under trade agreements.
Government Procurement and U.S. Trade Policy: Governments are the largest single group of buyers of nondefense goods and services and represent a market valued at hundreds of billions of dollars for suppliers.[1] In 1994, the U.S. Federal Government spent approximately $155 billion on nondefense goods and services.
Regional Free Trade Partners and U.S. Interests: What's Next?: No Description Available.
Federal Presidential Libraries: No Description Available.
Japan's New Era of Coalition Governance: Implications for U.S. Interests and Policy: Recent Japanese political instability has complicated U.S.-Japan relations and posed new challenges to the achievement of important American economic, foreign policy and security objectives. Since July 1993 Japan has been governed by coalitions under three different prime ministers. The first coalition, under Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, pushed through electoral and campaign finance reform legislation of potentially long-term significance, but failed to overcome political, bureaucratic and interest group resistance to its economic and administrative reform agenda. Its successor's have appeared to have progressively less power and will to carry out promised reforms or assume international leadership commensurate with Japan's global economic weight.
Unfunded Mandate Reform Act: A Brief Summary: The Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 (S. 1; H.R. 5) responds to the concerns of many State and local officials with regard to costs placed upon them by "unfunded mandates." Generally, unfunded mandates are responsibilities or duties placed on one level of government by another without paying the costs of carrying out such responsibilities or duties.
Membership of the 104th Congress: A Profile: No Description Available.
Comparison of 501(c )(3) and 501(c )(4) Organizations: This paper briefly compares the differences between tax-exempt organizations described in Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) and those described in section 501(c)(4). Although some organizations can qualify as either a 501(c)(3) or a 501(c)(4) organization, there are two outstanding differences between the two categories which may make one type of exemption more desirable than the other: deductibility of contributions and ability to lobby without significant limits.
Financial Services Trade with Japan: The 1995 U.S.-Japan Financial Services Agreement further liberalizes aspects of Japan's financial markets, particularly in asset management, corporate securities, cross-border financial services, and in providing greater transparency for administrative procedures. Implementation will have to be monitored, however, and some issues still remain unresolved.
Summaries of Major Laws Implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is located within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Department of Commerce. NOAA and NMFS were created by President Nixon's Reorganization Plan No. 4 of July 9, 1970 (84 Stat. 2090). Programs now comprising NMFS had previously been located in the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries within U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the Department of the Interior.
Ecosystem Management Tools and Techniques: Proceedings of a CRS Workshop: The House Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (103rd Congress) requested that Congressional Research Service (CRS) hold a workshop on the tools and techniques of ecosystem management. The purposes of this workshop were to demonstrate tools and techniques used in scientific research on ecosystems and to address technological aspects of developing and administering a national policy for ecosystem management.
Ecosystem Management Tools and Techniques: Proceedings of a CRS Workshop: The House Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (103rd Congress) requested that Congressional Research Service (CRS) hold a workshop on the tools and techniques of ecosystem management. The purposes of this workshop were to demonstrate tools and techniques used in scientific research on ecosystems and to address technological aspects of developing and administering a national policy for ecosystem management.
The GATT and the WTO: An Overview: The Uruguay Round Agreement reduced tariffs, brought services, intellectual property, and agriculture under the discipline of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and established the World Trade Organization. Multilateral trade issues for the future include continuing services negotiations, the relationship of the environment and labor standards to trade, and investment and competition policy.
The GATT and the WTO: An Overview: Under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), eight rounds of trade negotiations lowered tariffs of developed countries to an average 3.9 percent. New areas, such as services, intellectual property rights, agriculture, and textiles and apparel, were brought under the discipline of the GATT for the first time in the Uruguay Round. The World Trade Organization (WTO), a permanent entity agreed on during the Uruguay Round, went into effect January 1, 1995. Multilateral trade issues for the future include continuing services negotiations, the relationship of the environment and labor standards to trade, and investment and competition policy.
Brownfields Program: Cleaning Up Urban Industrial Sites: The Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is a pilot project to return idle or underused industrial and commercial facilities back to productive use, in situations where redevelopment is complicated by potential environmental contamination. The program is flexible, allowing cities to use a variety of approaches in utilizing grants of up to $200,000 to develop abandoned and underused sites, neighborhoods, and small regional areas. States and Indian tribes are eligible as well as local governments.
Antarctica: Environmental Protection, Research, and Conservation of Resources: This report discusses protocols and treaties designed and implemented to protect Antarctica as a haven for environmental research, preservation, and conservation, as well as related legislation and Congressional efforts.
The China-U.S. Trade Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights: Implications for China-U.S. Trade Relations: The United States has pressed China over the past several years to improve its enforcement of U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) in China and to provide greater market access to intellectual property-related products, such as computer software, CDs, and audio-visual products. Trade tensions over these issues nearly led the United States to impose trade sanctions against China in 1992 and 1995. In March 1995, the United States and China signed a new and detailed IPR trade agreement, which pledges China to substantially reform its IPR enforcement regime and improve market access. This report examines the U.S.-Chinese IPR dispute and analyzes the implications of the new IPR agreement on future U.S.-Chinese trade relations
Implementing Acid Rain Legislation: This report discusses the broad-ranging provisions in Title IV of The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (P.L. 101-549), which raise myriad implementation issues, particularly with respect to the system of tradable "allowances."
China After Deng Xiaoping - Implications for the United States: Deng Xiaoping's death will create a vacuum at the center of political power in China. Successor leaders will decide whether to continue the recent collective leadership decision-making processes and policy emphasis on political stability and economic reform; or to press for political power in a search for personal or policy advantage. A struggle for political power in Beijing would complicate an already difficult set of problems of governance caused by rapid economic growth, social change, realignment of central and local power arrangements and other factors. Nevertheless, there are important reasons why China may effectively work its way through the leadership transition.
Deep Seabed Mining: U.S. Interests and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea: On July 29, 1994, the United States signed the Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. This agreement substantially reforms the seabed mining provisions of the 1982 Convention, which the United States found objectionable. In signing the Agreement, President Clinton accepted provisional application of it which enables the United States to participate in the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and its organs and bodies. On November 16, 1994, the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention entered into force without accession by the United States.The treaty document was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations late in the 103d Congress and awaits committee action in the 104th Congress.
Investigative Oversight: An Introduction to the Law, Practice and Procedure of Congressional Inquiry: This report provides an overview of some of the more common legal, procedural, and practical issues, questions and problems that committees have faced in the courts of an oversight investigation.
Investigative Oversight: An Introduction to the Law, Practice and Procedure of Congressional Inquiry: This report will provide an overview of some of the more common legal, procedural and practical issues, questions, and problems that committees have faced in the course of an investigation. Following a summary of the case law developing the scope and limitations of the power of inquiry, the essential tools of investigative oversight--subpoenas, staff interviews and depositions, grants of immunity, and the contempt power -- are described. Next, some of the special problems of investigating the executive are detailed, with particular emphasis on claims of presidential executive privilege, the problems raised by attempts to access information with respect to open or closed civil or criminal investigative matters, or to obtain information that is part of the agency deliberative process, and the effect on congressional access of statutory prohibitions on public disclosure. The discussion then focuses on various procedural and legal requirements that accompany the preparation for, and conduct of, an investigative hearing, including matters concerning jurisdiction, particular rules and requirements for the conduct of such proceedings, and the nature, applicability and scope of certain constitutional and common law testimonial privileges that may be claimed by witnesses. The case law and practice respecting the rights of minority party members during the investigative process is also reviewed. The report concludes with a description of the roles played by the offices of House General Counsel and Senate Legal Counsel in such investigations.
Military Retirement and Veterans' Compensation: Concurrent Receipt Issues: This report describes the history and background of the offset and the legislative history of recent attempts to eliminate or reduce the offset. It delineates and analyzes the arguments for and against eliminating or reducing the offset and allowing concurrent receipt, and addresses the issues of costs, precedents in other Federal programs, purposes of the two programs, and equity issues. Finally, options other than full concurrent receipt are mentioned.
California Air Quality FIP - A Fact Sheet: On April 10, 1995, President Clinton signed P.L. 104-6, which contained a provision that rescinds the Federal air quality implementation plan (FIP) for the South Coast, Ventura, and Sacramento areas of California.(1) As a result, the FIP issued by EPA has no further force and effect, and California will continue pursuing approval of its own State implementation plan (SIP) in lieu of the FIP. Promulgation of the FIP was perceived by some within the State as having a detrimental effect on California's industries and economy resulting from costly and burdensome air pollution control measures contained in the plan.
The Northern Right Whale: This report summarizes the fact that northern right whale is the most endangered among all the whale species. The National Marine Fisheries Service is taking extra measures to protect these whales from any negative human interactions.
India-U.S. Relations: Although the end of the Cold War has freed U.S.-India relations from the constraints of a bipolar world, relations continue to be affected by the burden of history, most notably the longstanding India-Pakistan regional rivalry. The main areas of U.S. and congressional interest in India include nuclear weapons and missile proliferation, regional stability, human rights, and economic policy issues.
Natural Resource "Subsidy" Issues: In 1993, the Clinton Administration proposed eliminating many natural resource "subsidies" and increasing fees for many Federal services. Among the proposals advanced were increases in existing grazing and recreation fees and new mining and commercial fishing fees. Other proposals would have affected timber sales and water deliveries from Federal projects. Many of these proposals have been advanced by fiscal conservatives in the 104th Congress to reduce the Federal budget deficit.
Intelligence Implications of the Military Technical Revolution: The availability of precise, real-time intelligence has been an integral part of a military technical revolution being implemented by the Department of Defense for post-Cold War conflicts and peacekeeping operations. Providing this intelligence requires new types of equipment, analysis and organizational relationships within the U.S. intelligence community.

Congressional Research Service Reports - 146 Matching Results

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