Congressional Research Service Reports - 3,267 Matching Results
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- Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments
- The United States military has been building up forces on the U.S. territory of Guam to increase deterrence and power projection for possible responses to crises and disasters, counter-terrorism, and contingencies in support of South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, or elsewhere in Asia. But the defense buildup on Guam is moderate. China has concerns about the defense buildup. Guam's role has increased with plans to withdraw some U.S. forces from Japan and South Korea. This report describes in brief detail the various cooperative efforts, including financial efforts, undertaken by the U.S. and the above nations.
- Landsat and the Data Continuity Mission
- This report discusses the U.S. Landsat Mission, which has collected remotely sensed imagery of the Earth's surface for more than 35 years. The two satellites currently in orbit are operating beyond their designed life and may fail at any time. Most Landsat data is used by federal agencies. Efforts to commercialize Landsat operations have not been successful. This report discusses issues facing Congress regarding funding for new Landsat satellites.
- Peacekeeping/Stabilization and Conflict Transitions: Background and Congressional Action on the Civilian Response/Reserve Corps and other Civilian Stabilization and Reconstruction Capabilities
- This report provides background information relating to the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) in the Office of the Secretary of State. This report also discusses proposals and tracks related legislative action.
- Social Security Administration: Administrative Budget Issues
- The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Social Security program (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and provides administrative support to Medicare and several other federal programs. Total SSA spending in FY2008 was about $658 billion, about 99% of which was mandatory spending on benefit payments. This report focuses on SSA’s administrative spending, which is discretionary and amounts to about 1% of SSA’s total spending. This funding is provided in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
- The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11
- This report analyzes war funding for the Defense Department and tracks funding for USAID and VA Medical funding.
- Increases in Tricare Costs: Background and Options for Congress
- This report discusses budgetary matters for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), specifically regarding past instances of debate regarding the Tricare system. The dollar amounts allocated to health care in the budget of the DOD have more than doubled since FY2001, growing from about $17 billion to over $44.8 billion in FY2009.
- Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of Fire Grant Funding
- This report discusses the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, also known as fire grants of the FIRE Act grant program, which provides federal grants directly to local fire departments and unaffiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations to help address a variety of equipment, training, and other firefighter-related and EMS needs. This report also discusses the possible reauthorization of AFG and the related Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters (SAFER) program.
- Defense: FY2010 Authorization and Appropriations
- On February 26, 2009, the Administration released the broad outlines of its federal budget request for FY2010, listing for each Cabinet department and for several independent agencies the total discretionary budget authority President Obama would request, but providing no additional details. Full details of the request were made public May 7, 2009. This report summarizes the budget request in an abbreviated yet detailed format.
- FY2009 Spring Supplemental Appropriations for Overseas Contingency Operations
- This report discusses the White House's request for supplemental appropriations that include funding for defense, foreign affairs, and domestic fire fighting. The report details the different programs and areas that the appropriations would fund, including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, preparedness and emergency management measures relating to the swine flu outbreak, border security between the United States and Mexico, benchmark assessment in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and other general defense operations.
- Long-Range Ballistic Missile Defense in Europe
- This report discusses how successive U.S. governments have urged the creation of an anti-missile system to protect against long-range ballistic missile threats from adversary states. The proposed U.S. system has encountered resistance in some European countries and beyond.
- Navy Attack Submarine Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses Navy procurement of Virginia-class (SSN-774) nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) at a rate of one-per-year for the past several years. The procurement rate is scheduled to increase to two boats per year starting in FY2011. A total of 11 boats have been procured through FY2009. The eight Virginia-class submarines to be procured in the five-year period FY2009-FY2013 (boats 11 through 18) are being procured under a multiyear procurement (MYP) arrangement.
- Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and presents potential issues for Congress concerning the Navy's ship force-structure goals and shipbuilding plans. Decisions that Congress makes on Navy shipbuilding programs can substantially affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.
- Navy Role in Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses the nature of Navy involvement in irregular warfare (IW) and counterterrorism (CT) operations, which have received an increased emphasis since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The overall issue for Congress is how much emphasis to place on IW and CT activities in future Navy budgets, and whether decisions reached by Department of Defense (DOD) on this issue in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) are appropriate.
- Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities: A Summary and Issues for the 111th Congress
- This report summarizes several emergency management and homeland security programs, and identifies and analyzes potential issues for the 111th Congress. These issues include the purpose and number of assistance programs; the evaluation of the use of grant funding; the determination of eligible grant recipients; the programs' funding amounts; and the programs; funding distribution methodologies.
- FY2009 Spring Supplemental Appropriations for Overseas Contingency Operations
- This report discusses the White House's request for supplemental appropriations that include funding for defense, foreign affairs, and domestic fire fighting.
- The Global Peace Operations Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report describes in detail the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), the centerpiece of the Bush Administration's efforts to prepare foreign security forces to participate in international peacekeeping operations. This report lists the funding and allocations set aside for GPOI, as well as the function of GPOI and its future.
- America COMPETES Act and the FY2010 Budget
- This report discusses in detail the America COMPETES Act, which is intended to increase the nation's investment in research and development (R&D), and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This report discusses the funding increases authorized by the act for various relevant institutions, e.g., the National Science Foundation (NSF); the act's education activities intended to enhance the skills of STEM educators; and if Congress will continue to similarly fund the America COMPETES Act in the FY2010 budget.
- Selected Health Funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which the President signed into law on February 17, 2009, provided more than $17 billion in supplemental FY2009 discretionary appropriations for biomedical research, public health, and other health-related programs within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This report discusses the health-related programs and activities funded by ARRA, including details of how the administering HHS agencies and offices plan to allocate, award, and spend the funds.
- Authoritative Resources on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
- This report presents a list of authoritative resources designed to assist in responding to a broad range of questions and concerns about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), P.L. 111-5. Links to the full text of the act, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, White House fact sheets, and federal, state, and municipal government websites are included, along with other useful information.
- Navy CG(X) Cruiser Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report explores the reasoning behind the development of the new cruiser called the CG(X), the budgetary actions taking place to enable their development, selected technical specifics of their design, and various other information relating to defense procurement costs.
- Navy LPD-17 Amphibious Ship Procurement: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
- This report discusses the Navy's FY2009 shipbuilding plan that calls for procuring an 10th San Antonio (LPD-17) class amphibious ship in FY2011. This report discusses the procurement cost estimates of this ship, as well as related issues for Congress.
- Setting and Valuing Health Insurance Benefits
- This report briefly describes some of the key concepts and policy issues around specifying and valuing health insurance benefits.
- State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2009 Appropriations
- This report analyzes the FY2009 appropriations request, recent-year funding trends, and congressional action for FY2009.
- The Marines' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV): Background and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), which is an armored amphibious vehicle program that originated in the 1980s to replace the 1970s-era Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV). This report also explores the developmental difficulties experienced by the EFV program and discusses potential related issues for Congress.
- Budget Reconciliation Measures Enacted Into Law: 1980-2008
- This report identifies and briefly summarizes the 19 budget reconciliation measures enacted into law during the period covering 1980, when reconciliation procedures first were used by both chambers, through 2008, the last year of the 110th Congress.
- The Budget Resolution and Spending Legislation
- This report discusses the rules and practices that govern consideration of spending and other budgetary legislation under each congressional chamber's constitutional authority.
- FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program: Overview and Issues
- This report provides an overview and discussion of federal hazard mitigation assistance. Hazard mitigation can potentially reduce federal costs by decreasing the level of damage from future disasters. Of the $96.1 billion expended for disaster assistance since 1989, FEMA allocated $4.4 billion for hazard mitigation activities to prevent or ease the impact of natural disasters.
- Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program: An Overview
- This report provides a brief overview of The Hollings Manufacturing Partnership (MEP), which is a program of regional centers set up to assist small and medium-sized manufacturing companies use knowledge and technologies developed under the auspices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
- Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide: Federal Assistance Programs
- This report provides an overview of the "digital divide", which is a term used to describe a perceived gap between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications and information technologies and those who do not.
- The Global Peace Operations Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report describes in detail the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), the centerpiece of the Bush Administration's efforts to prepare foreign security forces to participate in international peacekeeping operations. This report lists the funding and allocations set aside for GPOI, as well as the function of GPOI and its future.
- The International Space Station and the Space Shuttle
- This report discusses recent developments and funding for the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle program.
- Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt
- This report presents current data on estimated ownership of U.S. Treasury securities and major holders of federal debt by country. Federal debt represents the accumulated balance of borrowing by the federal government. To finance federal borrowing, U.S. Treasury securities are sold to investors, directly from the Treasury or on the secondary market to individual private investors, financial institutions in the United States or overseas, and foreign, state, or local governments.
- Iraq: Reconstruction Assistance
- Following the 2003 intervention in Iraq, the United States undertook a large-scale assistance program meant to stabilize the country, rehabilitate economic infrastructure, and introduce representative government, among other objectives. Even as the U.S. military role in Iraq winds down, this program, funded through a mix of appropriations accounts, will continue to be scrutinized closely by the 111th Congress. This report describes recent developments in this assistance effort.
- The Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory
- This report discusses the issues involved with determining whether the Arecib Ionospheric Observatory is more cost-effective than replacing it with newer, available technology. The Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory is a radio and radar telescope located in Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
- The Federal Government Debt: Its Size and Economic Significance
- This report explains the different measures of the U.S. government debt, discusses the historical growth in the debt, identifies the current owners of the debt, presents comparisons with government debt in other countries, and examines the potential economic risks associated with a growing federal debt.
- Homeland Security Department: FY2009 Appropriations
- This report describes the FY2009 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Administration requested a net appropriation of $38, 849 million in budget authority for FY2009.
- Energy Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5)
- This report discusses the energy appropriations in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5). It includes background information, a summary of provisions, and detailed explanations of the relevant appropriations and tax provisions.
- The Technology Innovation Program
- This report discusses the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is designed "to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need," according to the authorizing legislation. Grants are provided to small and medium-sized firms for individual projects or joint ventures with other research organizations.
- Technology Transfer: Use of Federally Funded Research and Development
- This report discusses the federal use of technology transfer, a process by which technology developed in one organization, in one area, or for one purpose is applied in another organization, in another area, or for another purpose.
- Economic Stimulus: Issues and Policy
- This report discusses the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included tax cut and spending provisions totaling at a cost of $787 billion in an attempt to mitigate the economic fallout of the housing and financial crises on the general economy. The report examines issues surrounding fiscal stimulus such as timeliness, the magnitude of stimulus, long-term effects and previously adopted policies.
- Authoritative Resources on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
- This report presents a list of authoritative resources designed to assist in responding to a broad range of questions and concerns about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), P.L. 111-5. Links to the full text of the act, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, White House fact sheets, and federal, state, and municipal government websites are included, along with other useful information.
- Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities: A Summary and Issues for the 111th Congress
- This report summarizes several emergency management and homeland security programs, and identifies and analyzes potential issues for the 111th Congress. These issues include the purpose and number of assistance programs; the evaluation of the use of grant funding; the determination of eligible grant recipients; the programs' funding amounts; and the programs' funding distribution methodologies.
- Defense: FY2009 Authorization and Appropriations
- This report discusses issues related to defense funding in the wake of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, generally referred to as the "economic stimulus" bill. The President's FY2009 budget request, released February 4, 2008, included $611.1 billion in new budget authority for national defense.
- Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN) Homeporting at Mayport: Background and Issues for Congress
- This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Navy's proposal to homeport a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) at Mayport, Florida. Transferring a CVN from Norfolk, Virginia, to Mayport would also shift the local economic activity associated with homeporting a CVN, which some sources estimate as being worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
- Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges
- This report assesses the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation since FY2005. Since FY2005, no annual intelligence authorization bill has been enacted. Although the National Security Act requires intelligence activities to be specifically authorized, this requirement has been satisfied in recent years by one-sentence catch-all provisions in defense appropriations acts authorizing intelligence activities.
- Selected Health Funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- This report compares funding provided for selected Health and Human Services (HHS) programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) conference report (H.Rept. 111-16) with the recommendations in the House- and Senate-passed versions of H.R. 1. It also briefly discusses ARRA's provisions on HIT and comparative effectiveness research as they relate to the funding.
- Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of Fire Grant Funding
- This report discusses the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, also known as fire grants of the FIRE Act grant program. The program provides federal grants directly to local fire departments and unaffiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations to help address a variety of equipment, training, and other firefighter-related and EMS needs. This report also discusses the possible reauthorization of AFG and the related Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters (SAFER) program.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Budget for FY2009
- This review gives an overview of the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requested for the 2009 fiscal year (FY2009) by President Bush on February 4, 2008. Bush Administration priorities for the NOAA budget included restoring funding for some programs that were flat-funded or cut for FY2008; recapitalizing aging facilities, equipment, vessels, buildings, and other infrastructure; and ensuring that NOAA satellite programs meet mission requirements and are kept to schedule.
- Foreign Aid: An Introduction to U.S. Programs and Policy
- This report addresses a number of the more frequently asked queries regarding the U.S. foreign aid program, its objectives, costs, organization, the role of Congress, and how it compares to those of other aid donors. In particular, the discussion attempts not only to present a current snapshot of American foreign assistance, but also to illustrate the extent to which this instrument of U.S. foreign policy has changed from past practices, especially since the end of the Cold War and the launching of the war on terror.
- Financing Recovery from Large-Scale Natural Disasters
- This report provides an analysis of the challenges facing property and casualty insurance and reinsurance companies in financing large-scale natural disasters, particularly during financial market turmoil.