Congressional Research Service Reports - 35 Matching Results
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- Research and Development Funding: Fiscal Year 2000
- The Administration requested $78.242 billion for research and development (R&D) in FY2000, 1.3% below the FY1999 estimated level of $79.267 billion. As with past proposals, the Administration requested an increase for civilian R&D, 3% to $39.761 billion, while overall defense R&D would decline 5.3% to $38.481 billion.
- Science, Technology, and Medicine: Issues Facing the 106th Congress, First Session
- Science, technology, and medicine is playing an integral part in many of the policy issues that are coming before this Congress. Legislative action in certain areas directly affects the progress of science, technology, and medicine (STM). And advances in those areas can significantly affect broader public policy issues. This issue brief provides an overview of several of those issues and identifies CRS reports that treat them in more depth.
- Desalination R and D: The New Federal Program
- The purpose of the program is to determine the most technologically efficient and cost- effective means by which useable water can be produced from saline water or water otherwise impaired or contaminated. Currently, the cost of desalting seawater is 3 to 5 times the comparable cost of desalting brackish water, which is up to twice as expensive as the treatment and delivery of other municipal water supplies (not counting sewage-related costs). Funding for the new Desalination R&D Program is provided through Bureau of Reclamation's Office of Research in the Department of the Interior
- Environmental, Health, and Safety Tradeoffs: A Discussion of Policymaking Opportunities and Constraints
- This report discusses the implications of cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment in the context of congressional and administrative decision-making structures. It identifies constraints on flexible decision-making and some implications of trying to overcome them.
- Grants and Foundations: Selected Print, Electronic, and Internet Sources on Government and Private Funding
- This report describes more than 35 print, electronic, and Internet sources of information on financial support, and lists a few of the current general guides to writing grant proposals.
- Cooperative Research and Development Agreements
- A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) is a mechanism established by P.L. 99-602, the Federal Technology Transfer Act, to allow the transfer of technology, knowledge, and expertise from government laboratories to the private sector for further development and commercialization. The government provides support in the way of overhead for research and development performed in the federal laboratory and is prohibited from providing funding directly to the partner in the collaborative effort. Currently, more than 5,000 CRADAs have been signed. As the 105th Congress determines its approach to science and technology policies, the role of CRADAs continues to be debated within the context of federal support for R&D
- R&D Partnerships: Government-Industry Collaboration
- Efforts by the 104th Congress to eliminate several government-industry-university research and development partnership programs reflected some opposition to federally funded programs designed to facilitate the commercialization of technology. Within the context of the budget decisions, the 106th Congress is expected to again debate the government's role in promoting collaborative ventures focused on generating new products and processes for the marketplace.
- National Environmental Education Act of 1990: Overview, Implementation, and Reauthorization Issues
- The National Environmental Education Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-619) established a program within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase public understanding of the environment. The program awards grants for developing environmental curricula and training teachers, supports internships and fellowships to encourage the pursuit of environmental professions, selects individuals for environmental awards, and sponsors workshops and conferences.
- The Department of Energy's Tritium Production Program
- Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen used to enhance the explosive yield of every thermonuclear weapon. Tritium has a radioactive decay rate of 5.5% per year and has not been produced in this country for weapons purposes since 1988.
- Disease Funding and NIH Priority Setting
- Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has strong political support, but a heated debate rages over the allocation of NIH funds among various diseases. NIH contends that decisions are made based on scientific opportunity while critics of the NIH process charge that spending often follows current politics and political correctness.
- Research and Development in Russia: An Important Factor for the Future
- No Description Available.
- Point and Click: Internet Searching Techniques
- No Description Available.
- How to Find Information in a Library
- For constituents who want to learn more about the topics that interest them, the Congressional Research Service has prepared this guide to locate information in libraries. It includes sources of background information (encyclopedias, almanacs, business directories, statistics, and biographical directories), current information from newspapers and magazines, organizations, foundations, government, politics, legislation, and books and periodicals. It lists a number of Internet search engines. This report will be updated from time to time.
- Cancer Research: Selected Federal Spending and Morbidity and Mortality Statistics
- This report shows federal spending at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research on selected cancer sites.
- Daylight Saving Time
- Currently, in most parts of the United States, timepieces are moved forward one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall to provide an extended daylight period during the summer months. This is known as Daylight Saving Time (DST). Much debate and many changes led to this present practice. This report provides a brief history of the issues surrounding DST, an outline of the legislation that created and modified it, and a list of references to more discussions.
- Human Embryo Research
- The FY1998 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Act, P.L. 105-78, enacted on November 13, 1997, prohibits the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from funding human embryo research in the fiscal year 1998. This ban applies to all federally supported investigations involving the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes, and studies in which a human embryo is destroyed, discarded, or knowingly exposed to the risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero as delineated in 45 CFR 46.208 (a)(2) and section 498(b) of the Public Health Service Act. The expression “human embryo or embryos” include any organism not protected under 45 CFR 46 (Protection of Human Subjects) that is derived by fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human gametes (egg and sperm, female and male sex cells, respectively) or human diploid cells. Current research involving human embryos, done in the private and international sectors pertain largely to the preimplantation embryo that results from in vitro fertilization.
- Research and Development Funding: Fiscal Year 1998
- President Clinton requested $75.469 billion for R&D in FY1998, a 2.2% increase over FY1997. However, this request would have increased the actual conduct of R&D less than 2.2% due to a proposed 50% increase associated with upfront funding for major research facilities, mostly in DOE.
- Analysis of Ten Selected Science and Technology Policy Studies
- Since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, a number of reports have been prepared on a broad range of science and technology (S&T) policy issues, most notably dealing with national research and development (R&D) goals, priorities, and budgets, and university-government-industry relationships. This report discusses and analyzes ten of these S&T reports.
- Countries of the World and International Organizations: Sources of Information
- This report provides a selection of materials for locating information on foreign countries and international organizations. In the general information section, it presents sources giving an overview of politics, economics, and recent history. A specialized information section cites sources on human rights, immigration, international organizations, military strengths, terrorism, and other topics. Included are titles of some of the most frequently consulted bibliographic sources that are available for use in many libraries. Electronic information on foreign countries is also provided, via the Internet, by agencies of the federal government, international organizations, and related sources. Included is a list of foreign chanceries located in Washington, D.C.
- DOE Laboratory Restructuring Legislation in the 104th Congress
- Interest in restructuring (including eliminating) the Department of Energy (DOE) and its laboratories has increased since the end of the Cold War, and especially since the beginning of the 104th Congress. A number of non-legislative proposals and activities to this end are reviewed, including DOE's own proposals for "alignment and downsizing" of the Department and its laboratories.
- Science, Technology, and Medicine: Issues Facing the 105th Congress, First Session
- Science, technology, and medicine are an indisputable part of many of the policy issues that may come before the Congress this coming year. This report provides an overview of several of these issue and identifies CRS publications that treat them in more depth.
- Grants and Foundation Support: Selected Sources of Information on Government and Private Funding
- This report provides a bibliography that describe general sources of support and a few of the current general guides to writing grant proposals.
- Indirect Costs at Academic Institutions: Background and Controversy
- Federal R&D funding at academic institutions totals over $10 billion annually. About one-third pays for indirect costs or overhead; the rest supports the direct costs of conducting R&D. On May 8, 1996, OMB revised Circular A-21, governing indirect costs policies, to change the designation "indirect costs" to "facilities and administrative costs" (F&A). The Departments of Defense and of Health and Human Services negotiate to determine indirect cost rates with about 96% of U.S. and audit compliance -- DOD with a few schools and HHS with hundreds. F&A costs encompass such items as facilities maintenance and renewal, heating and cooling, libraries, salaries of administrators, and student support.
- The Role of Risk Analysis and Risk Management in Environmental Protection
- No Description Available.
- Energy Efficiency: A New National Outlook?
- In 1992, the Nation spent $522 billion for energy ($1996 constant), while energy efficiency and conservation measures were saving the economy about $275 billion per year. Energy is conserved when technical means are employed to improve efficiency or to reduce energy waste. In 1996 constant dollars, conservation research and development (R&D) funding declined from $698 million in FY1979 to $198 million in FY1988 and then climbed to $486 million in FY1994, 31% below the FY1979 peak.
- DOE Laboratory Restructuring Legislation
- Interest in restructuring (including eliminating) the Department of Energy (DOE) and its laboratories has increased since the end of the Cold War, and especially since the beginning of the 104th Congress. A number of non-legislative proposals and activities to this end are reviewed, including DOE's own proposals for "alignment and downsizing" of the Department and its laboratories.
- Cooperative R&D: Federal Efforts to Promote Industrial Competitiveness
- In response to the foreign challenge in the global marketplace, the United States Congress has explored ways to stimulate technological advancement in the private sector. The government has supported various efforts to promote cooperative research and development activities among industry, universities, and the federal R&D establishment designed to increase the competitiveness of American industry and to encourage the generation of new products, processes, and services. Among the issues before Congress are whether joint ventures contribute to industrial competitiveness and what role, if any, the government has in facilitating such arrangements.
- Fossil Energy Research and Development: Whither Coal?
- This report discusses Fossil Energy Research and Development: Whither Coal.
- Legislative Research in Congressional Offices: A Primer
- This report is on Legislative Research in Congressional Offices: A Primer.
- World Solar Summit: Launching the World Renewable Energy Program
- The World Solar Summit and proposed World Solar Program 1996-2005 address energy problems through increased use of renewable energy technologies. The World Solar Commission will host the World Solar Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe, on September 16 and 17, 1996, and it will direct the World Solar Program 1996-2005. At the Summit, the Commission is expected to adopt a World Plan ofAction and a number of Strategic Projects. The proposed World Plan of Action includes a selection of high-priority renewable energy projects at the national or regional level to be implemented between 1996 and 2005.
- Polar Research: U.S. Policy and Interests
- No Description Available.
- Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate: Marine Mammal Issues
- After global warming became a concern in the mid-1950s, researchers proposed measuring deep ocean temperatures to reveal any significant trends in core ocean warming. Acoustic thermometry can detect changes in ocean temperature by receiving low-frequency sounds transmitted across an ocean basin because the speed of sound is proportional to water temperature. Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate, or ATOC, is an international program involving 11 institutions in seven nations. It is designed as a 30-month "proof-of-concept" project to provide data on possible global climate change, with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Defense. A debate has arisen over ATOC's impact on marine mammals versus the benefits of better global warming information derived from ATOC. This report dicusses the ATOC program and related concerns.
- 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.
- International Science and Technology: Issues for U.S. Policymakers
- No Description Available.
- Japan's Science and Technology Strategies and Policies
- Japan,s rise as a leading economic power has been attributed to many factors. Increasingly, attention has focused on Japan,s ability to apply innovative technologies to develop new products. Technology development and applications are at the core of a system in which the government and the private sector facilitate industrial policies and practices. Japanese research and development efforts increasingly stress what one Japanese policymaker calls the "fusion" solution, or combining advances in different technologies to generate new products and innovations.