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Proposed Change to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) under S. 113

Description: This report discusses S. 113, a bill to extend the coverage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ("FISA") to non-U.S. persons who engage in international terrorism or activities in preparation for terrorist acts, without a showing of membership in or affiliation with an international terrorist group.
Date: August 9, 2004
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Intelligence Community Reorganization: Potential Effects on DOD Intelligence Agencies

Description: This report discusses arguments surrounding intelligence reform legislation passed by Congress in December 2004 in response to the September 11th Terrorist Attacks and the legislation's potential impacts on the Department of Defense intelligence agencies, such as the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Date: August 6, 2004
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation

Description: This report opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays.3 It includes a discussion of visa screening policies, including inadmissibility, databases, an analysis of visa refusals, biometric visas and other major visa policy procedures. Summaries of key laws revising visa policy enacted in the 107th Congress follows. The final section analyzes selected is… more
Date: August 4, 2004
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods

Description: The 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) as modified by the FY2004 USDA appropriation (P.L. 108-199) requires country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for fresh produce, red meats, and peanuts starting September 30, 2006, and for seafood starting September 30, 2004. The House Agriculture Committee approved on July 21, 2004, a bill (H.R. 4576) to make COOL voluntary. Some lawmakers still support a mandatory program, especially after recent discoveries of “mad cow” disease in a Canadian and a U.S. cow (the lat… more
Date: August 3, 2004
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Copyright Law: Digital Rights Management Legislation

Description: Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to the technology that copyright owners use to protect digital media. This report surveys several of the DRM bills that were introduced in the 107th Congress and those that are pending in the 108th Congress. Generally, the bills are directed at two separate goals. One goal is to increase access to digitally-protected media for lawful purposes. The other attempts to thwart digital piracy and would do so by enhancing civil and criminal sanctions for digital … more
Date: August 2, 2004
Creator: Jeweler, Robin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Exempting Food and Agriculture Products from U.S. Economic Sanctions: Status and Implementation

Description: In approving the FY2001 agriculture appropriations act, Congress codified the lifting of unilateral sanctions on commercial sales of food, agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical products to Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Sudan, and extended this policy to Cuba (as enacted in by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, or TSRA). Congressional opponents of TSRA's prohibitions on private U.S. financing of agricultural sales, public financing of eligible exports, and t… more
Date: July 29, 2004
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Position of Director of National Intelligence: Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses arguments surrounding the proposed position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a replacement for the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), who would oversee the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. Intelligence Community.
Date: July 29, 2004
Creator: Cumming, Alfred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act

Description: This report is intended to provide an overview of the Adequate Yearly Process (AYP) concept and several related issues, a description of the AYP provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, and an analysis of the implementation of these provisions by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the states. It will be updated when major administrative actions are taken by ED, or substantial new data on state implementation become available.
Date: July 28, 2004
Creator: Riddle, Wayne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.N. System Funding: Congressional Issues

Description: This report includes information regarding congressional issues of United Nations system funding. Topics of discussion include United Nations assessed budgets, voluntary programs, and peacekeeping operations.
Date: July 22, 2004
Creator: Bite, Vita
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money

Description: Prior to enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), P.L. 107-155, the term “soft money” generally referred to unregulated funds, perceived as resulting from loopholes in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), 2 U.S.C. §§ 431 et seq. Generally, the intent of BCRA, (effective Nov. 6, 2002), which amends FECA, is to restrict the raising and spending of soft money. This Issue Brief discusses constitutional and legal issues surrounding two major types of soft money that BCRA … more
Date: July 21, 2004
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: Prospects for legislative initiatives to comprehensively amend the Clean Water Act have stated for some time over whether and exactly how to change the law, and Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected Clean Water Act programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. This report contains information on the issues and actions regarding the Clean Water Act addressed in the 108th Congress.
Date: July 21, 2004
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Child Care Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses the FY2003 Appropriations, FY2004: Comparing President Bush's Budget Proposals to the final Appropriations levels, President Bush's FY2005 Budget Request and Hearings.
Date: July 20, 2004
Creator: Gish, Melinda
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The 2003 Tax Cut: Proposals and Issues

Description: This report provides a brief description of each tax cut proposal, including major proposals offered by the Democrats in both the House and the Senate during 2003. It discusses the distributional affects of the proposals and potential effects on short and long term economic growth.
Date: July 16, 2004
Creator: Brumbaugh, David L. & Richards, Don C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Criminal Charges in Corporate Scandals

Description: Since the collapse of Enron Corp. in late 2001, there has been a series of scandals involving major U.S. corporations. Recurring elements in the scandals include improper or fraudulent accounting, self-enrichment by corporate officers, stock trading on inside information, and the destruction or falsification of business records. This report tracks post-Enron criminal charges.
Date: July 16, 2004
Creator: Jickling, Mark & Janov, Paul H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation, and Electricity Conservation Issues

Description: In the 108th Congress, debate over energy efficiency programs has focused on budget, oil, natural gas, and electricity issues, and provisions in the omnibus energy policy bill, S. 2095, H.R. 6, and S. 14/S. 1149. The Bush Administration’s FY2005 budget request for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Efficiency Program sought $875.9 million, including $543.9 for R&D and $332.0 million for grants. In the first session, the omnibus energy bill (H.R. 6) had several significant tax and regulat… more
Date: July 15, 2004
Creator: Sissine, Fred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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